The Last King Of Darkness

Rod turned his gaze in surprise. He had never seen Asa like this: "What did you find out?"

"I saw the torrent!"

Asa shouted.

"Every Life of Man, upon reconsolidating into a human soul, leaves behind a strange trace on the spiritual mist. These traces gradually fade with time, but it takes at least over a century to completely vanish. The Evil Thought Stele can monitor and probe the spiritual mist, and after I gained control of the stele, I saw an innumerable torrent of traces forming on the spiritual mist, like a gray-white waterfall, cascading from the starry sky into the Main Material World."

"Those overlapping traces, the vast majority are less than 30 years old, particularly dense in the past 10 years. Over 30-year-old traces are extremely sparse. Master, do you know what this means?"

Rod was silent for a few seconds, then softly said: "Throughout the ages, all Life of Man have descended."

Asa appeared both excited and fearful, with fantasies about the future mixed with fear of the unknown: "Yes, Master, this is not a coincidence. There must be some factor causing all Life of Man to descend upon the Main Material World. I think it must be an immeasurable crisis, one like never before, one capable of completely destroying the world."

Asa scoffed: "Isn’t it just a dark upheaval? As if it never happened before."

"No."

Rod looked at Asa, his gaze becoming incomparably serious.

"Asa means this is the final dark upheaval, the last tide of the Black Fog. The Sea of Source is already on the verge of being completely eroded, and the world is about to fall into eternal darkness. The retreats of the Black Fog from the Primordial Epoch, Ancient Epoch, and Fire Epoch will not appear again. My fears have come true."

The pages of the Book of Knowledge hung frozen in mid-air. In an instant, it thought of many things, mumbling: "No wonder, no wonder the Master suddenly returned. I’ve always doubted, the Dream Realm shattered barely a thousand years ago, with no sign of recovery, how could there suddenly be a new Master of Dreams, it’s completely illogical."

The puppet whispered: "Dreams are indestructible. Even if completely shattered, given enough time, all Dream Fragments will return, all scattered ashes will gather. If we infer from past patterns, the next Master of Dreams should descend in ten thousand years. We originally thought the Master was an exception, inheriting the Dream Realm early for some reason."

"No!" the Book of Knowledge suddenly declared: "The Master is indeed an exception. In such a critical time, the Dream Realm chose the Master, doesn’t this demonstrate the Master’s uniqueness? Otherwise, why not choose someone else?"

Rod remained silent. He knew they only had one choice left: face this ultimate darkness and completely eradicate the Black Fog, or be completely eradicated by it. There is no second ending.

He raised his head, looking into the boundless darkness. The dense Black Fog had already submerged the Three Realms, preparing to unleash its final strike, ending the Sea of Source of this universe, dragging it completely into eternal darkness. The thirteen Primordial Gods who safeguarded this universe had already fallen and turned black, becoming the power of the Black Fog, leaving the light and the fiery humans with only one last kingdom.

With such a disparity in power, can we win?

Suddenly, Rod clenched his fist, a strong feeling of defiance rising in his heart. Why must the light fade, and the fire extinguish? Why is humanity destined to be destroyed? Even if the world is so broken, even if humans are so weak, I will defeat those fallen Primordial Gods, defeat the extremely evil, and overcome this endless darkness.

This is not impossible, because I’m not alone. Behind me stands the Heroic Spirits of all humanity over these millennia.

"Asa!"

Asa replied excitedly: "Here, Master, I have controlled the Evil Thought Stele and essentially mastered the space of evil thoughts. All the secrets within the stele are pouring into my soul!"

Rod repressed his inner excitement, brought the legacy of the entire Yanuo, opened the Teleportation Gate, and returned to Trolian.

Now, what he has to do is one thing—to bring these Lives of Man back to their former peak.

——

Royal City.

Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground.

Only two days had passed, and the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground had completely transformed. A huge building occupied the original space of the sacrificial ground, standing right in front of the Holy Fire. The surface of the building glowed with a faint Spiritual Light, emitting an indescribable strange aura.

"This is the special space we just completed."

The Great Shepherd Leader joyfully told Rod: "Its internal space has been folded about a hundred and seventy times, which is our maximum limit. In terms of size, it’s more than enough. All Spiritual Energy devices and training facilities are placed inside. There is no shortage of any material needs, and being near the Holy Fire, it’s definitely the best area for training. The only downside is the lack of monsters. Humans who need to ascend through combat might not adapt well to this area."

Rod smiled faintly: "That’s not an issue. This world is never short of monsters in the dark. I can open a Teleportation Gate in the dark, setting the exit inside, and also use the Chaos Crystal Wall to warp space, linking one end to the darkness."

The Great Shepherd Leader hesitated: "Rod, can this work? If monsters enter the Time Field, they will also be accelerated..."

Rod shook his head slightly: "Great Shepherd Leader, you do not understand the essence of time. Those within the Time Field perceive no change, monsters included. As long as we ensure the primary area is not polluted, there will be no problems. Instead, they can help us share part of the pressure. Is there anything better than this?"

The Great Shepherd Leader clutched his hands, his eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"You are right, Rod. This way, our Time Training Field is complete. Inside, both time and space have changed, allowing Primordial powerhouses in the plateau phase to quickly reach the Half King stage."

Qingyu joined them, softly saying: "This is a miraculous creation, its value comparable to a true Source Artifact. It deserves a name, Rod. Give it a name; it will become a legend of humanity, passed down through generations."

Rod looked at the building, faintly glowing, and pondered: "From this house, many Half Kings will emerge. Let it be called the Sacrificial Refining Field of the Half King."

Viheler laughed heartily and said, "Rod, your naming is excellent. I like this name, the Sacrificial Refining Field of the Half King. Indeed, when we step out again, we will be Half Kings."

Frank asked worriedly, "I need a lot of spiritual soil and plant seeds for my cultivation. Is there enough here?"

The Great Shepherd Leader replied, "It’s enough, Mr. Frank. We have prepared all the resources you four need for your cultivation. If there are any shortages or additional needs, we can be informed through special spiritual communication, and we’ll prepare and deliver them to the Sacrificial Refining Field as quickly as possible."

Chucher laughed and said, "That’s wonderful, let’s go in then!"

Rod reminded, "Before entering, make sure to take all the necessary materials. The 300 times Time Field should not be frequently entered and exited; otherwise, it will harm the soul."

Fei Xue suddenly became anxious, "Then what about me? How can I cultivate without your Life Essence?"

Rod smiled and handed her a large lump of condensed Active Blood, "This will do, it’s not necessary to use that..."

Fei Xue was immediately disappointed, "I wanted to try the 300 times impact... Wait, you clearly knew this could be used, why did you still... you bastard!"

She snatched the coagulated blood from Rod’s hand and rushed into the Sacrificial Refining Field of the Half King without looking back. Chucher smiled and bid farewell to everyone, stepping into this twisted space alongside Viheler and Frank, where they would spend a calm period and complete the final stage of their ascension.

When that special door closed, Rod knew he had taken another step on the road to becoming a True King.

The Great Shepherd Leader suppressed the excitement in his voice and said solemnly, "Mr. Rod, we can now conduct large-scale and high-rank Ascension Ceremonies. The materials you brought back far exceeded our expectations, and the grand ascension plan that had been stalled due to resource scarcity can finally proceed."

Bossivale shouted excitedly, "This is an unprecedented ascension. Trolian’s overall strength will ascend another few levels, and we will have countless new Commanders, Sovereigns, and Half Kings. The human pyramid will become larger and can support more upper structures!"

Qingyu asked, "Rod, do you have any new information on the Life of Man? We can prioritize their enhancement."

Rod replied decisively, "Yes."

"Gale, the Moon Phantom, the inheritor of the Ancient God of Phantoms, can manipulate the power of phantoms to launch deadly strikes from the shadows. This is his entire Soul Map, and the key item for the Soul Ripple is the Moon Stone."

The Great Shepherd Leader immediately issued orders to summon Gale back from the battlefield and to prepare the restoration ritual for the Soul Map, which required a large number of Souls Without Spirit, Spiritual Flowers, Light Stones, Moon Spirit Gems, Pure Star Source, Pure Star Marrow, and Moon Stones related to his own soul.

"Raki, the Sunlight Spear, the inheritor of Queen Vister during the Fire Epoch, can condense sunlight into a long spear. The key item for the Soul Ripple is the Sun Stone."

The Great Shepherd Leader issued the command once more, and the entire Trolian system began to operate at high speed.

In the Dream Realm, Asa continually transmitted more information about the Life of Man to Rod. The information for each Life of Man was actually quite extensive, their Soul Maps were extremely complex, and could not have any errors or omissions, otherwise, it could cause soul confusion, or in severe cases, collapse.

However, these Lives of Man either were Half Kings from the Fire Epoch or Ancient Gods from the Ancient Epoch; they were not the strongest of the Lives of Man, and due to some deficiencies, their ascension required more resources, longer times, and fewer combat methods.

Asa recited information for more than a dozen Lives of Man, but none were in the upper regions of the Evil Thought Stele, all were in the middle or lower levels.

The Book of Knowledge anxiously said, "Asa, can you find some powerful Lives of Man? Like the Heavenly God’s Armor, Source Heavenly God Throne, Vault of Myriad Treasures, Golden War God, and such!"

Asa angrily said, "Don’t rush me, although I control the Evil Thought Stele, there’s still resistance within it. I’m doing my best to overcome it!"

Rod reassured, "Getting the information is enough; there’s no need to deliberately seek out powerful Lives of Man."

Although he said this, Asa still felt a thorn in his heart and urgently wanted to know what the Lives of Man in the upper regions of the Evil Thought Stele were like.

After an unknown amount of time, when Asa narrated several dozen more Lives of Man, he suddenly shouted.

"I see it, I finally found a powerful Life of Man!"

"Master, you would never guess, he comes from the Primordial Epoch’s Outer God, and is a very special Life of Man. I’ve never seen this form of Life of Man before!"

Rod felt a chill in his heart and asked deeply, "Who is it? Alan?"

"No, her name is Mephit!"

Rod was shaken to his core—Mephit?

If Asa hadn’t mentioned her, he would have almost forgotten that name, but when she resurfaced in his mind, Rod felt as if nothing had changed, as though they had fought side by side just yesterday.

"What’s so special about her?" Rod asked eagerly, "What do we need to do to restore her?"

Truth be told, he very much missed the times when he fought alongside the Black Battle Group. If he could fight alongside Mephit again, that would be a remarkable thing.

Asa said solemnly, "She simultaneously inherited three Soul Ripples, from Silent Annihilation, Destruction, Doomsday Demon God Balenas, Insect Queen, and Dark Sky Demon."