Chapter 239: Seed of Darkness
Chapter 239: Seed of Darkness
After the founder’s departure, the chamber fell silent.
Rhain stood quietly for a moment, then, he immediately sank his consciousness back into the System to check the true prize that had drawn him here in the first place.
[Item: Seed of Darkness.]
Rhain’s dark grey eyes locked onto the description of the item, and as he read the glowing text, his eyes widened.
[Seed of Darkness: A primordial essence fragment corresponding to a fundamental law of the world. The Abyssal Sovereign Physique is an existence that stands above the natural order. Because of its tyrannical nature, the conventional path of law comprehension is fundamentally blocked. To actively wield any Law, a host bearing the Abyssal Sovereign Physique must first assimilate the corresponding Origin Seed of that attribute. Only then can the host wield that Law’s power freely.]
Reading the description, it was as if the fog had been cleared in Rhain’s mind.
"So that’s how it is..." Rhain murmured in realization.
So, this was the reason he could perfectly understand every law, lecture Domain Masters into breakthroughs, and yet could not wield even a single percent himself.
It wasn’t a flaw in his comprehension.
It was his own physique.
His Abyssal Sovereign Physique existed outside the natural order.
It did not harmonize with the world’s laws.
It required to consume them.
The conventional path that every other cultivator in existence walked was simply not available to him.
He needed Origin Seeds.
Each one corresponding to a specific law, serving as the bridge between his physique and the fundamental laws of the world.
The Abyssal Void Domain, Second Form of the Abyssal Sovereign Technique, required the comprehension of both the Law of Darkness and the Law of Space.
He now had the seed of darkness, the key to unlock the first half of that impossibly broken technique.
If he assimilated it, he would finally be able to wield the Law of Darkness.
Combined with the Founder’s eighty percent comprehension of that exact same Law...
’I cannot imagine how strong i would be after finally being able to control my own Domain.’ Rhain thought, his heart pounding with anticipation.
He looked at the pitch-black seed hovering in the system’s inventory, and could hardly control the ravenous hunger of his physique.
Rhain didn’t care about anything else, and immediately sat crossed legged on the spot.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Rhain gave the confirmation.
’System, begin the assimilation of the Seed of Darkness.’
[Confirmation received.]
[Beginning assimilation of the Seed of Darkness.]
The pitch-black seed suddenly shot forward, sinking directly into the center of Rhain’s eyebrows, merging seamlessly within his sea of consciousness.
The moment the seed entered, an explosive reaction occurred.
BOOM!
An insatiable hunger erupted from the depths of his mind.
It was a hunger perfectly identical to the ravenous gluttony of his Abyssal Sovereign Physique.
The Seed of Darkness was practically starving.
The moment it entered into his spiritual sea, it aggressively locked onto the dark void within his dantian and began to violently devour his essence like a hungry beast.
The suction was so monstrously powerful that Rhain felt his essence reserves dropping at a visible rate.
But in exchange for the massive influx of essence the seed consumed, thin wisps of pure Law energy were released into his consciousness, threading themselves into his spiritual sea like roots burrowing into fertile soil.
They were the tangible fabric of the world’s fundamental laws, forming the missing bridge between his tyrannical physique and the natural order.
Rhain did not panic as he felt the essence in his body being devoured by an alarming rate.
Nor did he attempt to stop the seed from plundering his energy.
A faint smirk brushed past his lips.
"You want essence? I have more than enough to drown you."
With a flick of his wrist, several exquisite bottles materialized from his spatial ring.
He didn’t even bother counting them.
He simply popped the corks and dumped massive handfuls of flawless Epic-Grade elixirs directly into his mouth.
BOOM—!!!
A torrential ocean of pure, concentrated essence exploded within his stomach.
The Abyssal Sovereign Physique eagerly refined the explosive essence, converting it into pitch-black essence.
And just as quickly, the Seed of Darkness devoured that essence, converting it into a continuous stream of pure Law fragments that rained down upon Rhain’s soul.
Time lost its meaning as Rhain was completely lost in his cultivation.
As the cycle of devouring and refining continued, the sheer volume of high-grade energy rushing through his meridians caused his physical cultivation to soar alongside his law comprehension.
He had only just broken through to the sixth level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm during his ascent up the tower.
But under this relentless, explosive cycle...
CRACK!
Spirit Manifestation Realm—Level 7!
But the torrential flood of essence and the rapid assimilation of the Law of Darkness did not stop there.
Rhain simply tossed another handful of Epic-Grade pills into his mouth.
CRACK!
Spirit Manifestation Realm—Level 8!
CRACK!
Spirit Manifestation Realm—Level 9!
His aura skyrocketed, completely blowing past the boundaries of the late stages until it crashed into the absolute ceiling of the realm.
Peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm!
The momentum of the surging energy was still roaring like a wild beast.
The barrier to the Core Formation Realm was right there, ready to be smashed apart by the sheer volume of power coursing through his veins.
But right at that critical second, Rhain forcefully reined in his Abyssal Sovereign Physique.
He was unwilling to break through to the Core Formation Realm right now.
To cross a major realm boundary simply by brute-forcing it with pills, without first tempering and solidifying his foundation at the peak, was a fool’s path.
He demanded perfection, and a rushed foundation was a fatal flaw.
As his cultivation locked firmly at the Peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm, the physical manifestation of the Seed of Darkness finally spilled outward into the real world.
Swirling wisps of pitch-black essence began to leak from his pores.
It was not ordinary dark essence; it was the physical embodiment of the Law of Darkness.
The wisps swirled and multiplied, growing so impossibly thick that Rhain’s seated figure was completely shrouded in a cocoon of darkness.
Then, a sudden change occurred.
Right at the center of his forehead, precisely between his eyebrows, a mysterious mark slowly materialized.
It resembled a swirling abyss.
The moment the mark fully formed—
WHOOSH—!!!
A terrifying pitch-black darkness exploded outward from Rhain’s body.
In a fraction of a millisecond, the serene white jade floor, the illusionary sky, the drifting clouds—everything was swallowed whole.
The one hundredth floor of the Heavenly Ascendent Tower was plunged into a darkness so profound, so absolute, that one could not even see their own hands if they held them to their face.
It was a void that completely devoured the light.
In the dead center of this pitch-black hell, a pair of eyes opened.
If not for the overwhelming darkness, one would have seen that his original dark grey irises were gone.
In their place were two swirling pools of dark abyss, radiating a cold majesty that looked down upon all creation.
"So..."
Rhain’s voice echoed within the void.
It reverberated from all directions simultaneously, sounding like the voice of a god pronouncing judgment over his subjects.
"...this is the power of a Domain."
With a mere thought, Rhain willed the suppression to end.
Swoosh.
The pitch-black darkness receded as quickly as it had appeared, shrinking back into the mark on his forehead until the serene white jade chamber was restored to its former tranquility.
Rhain slowly stood up from the floor.
He had done it.
He had officially become the second person in the entire history of the Solathane Dynasty to master a Law and forge a Domain while still at the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
But unlike Lyra, who had spent years to grasp a mere ten percent of her Law, Rhain’s achievement was fundamentally at a whole another level.
He hadn’t stopped at the baseline ten percent required to form a Domain.
Thirty percent!
Rhain’s comprehension of the Law of Darkness had directly skyrocketed to a staggering thirty percent!
He could have reached an even more absurd height, perhaps forty or fifty percent—given the sheer depth of his theoretical understanding.
But the Seed of Darkness had abruptly stopped releasing the law wisps when he cut off the essence supply to suppress his cultivation.
’The seed’s unlocking process is directly tied to my cultivation realm and the essence it consumes,’ Rhain deduced with razor-sharp clarity. ’Because I reined in my cultivation at the peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm, the seed halted its progress. To push the law higher, I will need to step into the Core Formation Realm.’
But even stalled at thirty percent, the result was earth-shattering.
Thirty percent comprehension of a supreme law!
Most veteran Domain Master Realm experts who had cultivated for centuries were stuck at ten or fifteen percent.
This thirty percent mastery brought an unimaginable, qualitative leap to his overall combat strength.
If he were to face the Founder’s three Half-Step Domain Master manifestations right now, he wouldn’t need to engage in a grueling, hour-long bloody battle.
He wouldn’t even need to rely on the essence-devouring trick of the Void Fist.
He could simply deploy his Domain and crush all three of them within a few moves.
Only those who had actually controlled a Domain could truly understand its terror.
And Rhain’s Domain was not simple.
Ordinary Domains were forged through a mortal’s flawed, fragmented understanding of the world.
But Rhain’s Domain was born from an Origin Seed—the purest, truest, most unadulterated form of the law itself.
Its baseline suppressive power was exponentially stronger than normal domains.
Not to mention, it was a Darkness attribute Domain.
One of the rarest, and most lethal attributes in existence.
’With my current strength, combined with the Abyssal Sovereign Physique and my newly formed Origin Domain of Darkness...’ Rhain’s dark grey eyes flashed with confidence. ’Even if I stand face-to-face against an early-stage Domain Master Realm expert right now, I can definitely fight them.’
Rhain exhaled a long, satisfied breath.
He had entered this millennium-old death trap hoping to secure a single Sign-In reward.
And now, he was walking out with an Origin Seed, his cultivation pushed to the peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm, thirty percent comprehension of a supreme law, and the Founder’s entire lifelong inheritance.
There was nothing left for him here.
"Time to leave."