Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein reacted quickly.

When the golden star shattered and scattered across the world, he managed to seize several fragments.

But that was all.

Most of the fragments were pulled toward Fermont the Deathspawn at the heart of the plane and swallowed by its enormous body.

It was like a bottomless black hole.

Even the sunlight of Divine Descendants World seemed to vanish into it, let alone the scattered remains of a fallen star.

Moreover, this world was simply too vast. No matter how fast Sein flew, he could only search the region around him.

He could not claim everything for himself either. Belphane, Ximen Feixiao, and the others fighting in the same region had also joined the scramble.

Each of them managed to seize a few fragments.

The larger pieces were roughly the size of a fingernail.

The smaller ones were barely larger than a grain of rice.

With the Faceless Mask enhancing his senses, Sein had been the first to notice the falling fragments and immediately rushed into action.

Following the mask’s calculations, he took the fastest possible route toward the largest fragment nearby.

It was a fist-sized object glowing with golden light.

Although its essence was overlord blood, it looked nothing like blood.

Instead, it resembled a slightly translucent golden stone, with dense lumen and pyro law energy seeping from within.

For Sein, it was practically the perfect treasure!

Even consuming it without further refinement would greatly strengthen his constitution.

If he refined it into a potion and combined it with other top-grade ingredients, its effects would undoubtedly become far more potent.

After all, overlord blood was nothing like a Golden Apple.

It had never been meant for ordinary humans to consume.

Traces of the overlord’s power might still linger within the blood clot. If Sein absorbed it recklessly, those remnants could harm him instead.

Aside from its value in body tempering or potion-making, overlord blood also held tremendous research value!

And that was what Sein was really after!

He had been curious about overlord-level lifeforms for a very long time.

Sein’s laboratory already housed several Rank Six biological specimens and tissue samples.

Even so, he had never obtained anything comparable to the shed exoskeleton of an overlord.[1]

After the initial scramble died down, Sein briefly surveyed the surrounding battlefield before turning toward his planetary fortress.

The fighting within Divine Descendants World was far from over.

In fact, the overlord blood scattered across the plane had ignited an entirely new wave of intense conflict.

Many surviving native forces that had been hiding in the shadows were forced to reveal themselves around the fragments’ landing sites, whether they wanted to or not.

The Dawn Empire, Insectoids, and demon legions were all more excited than ever.

Belphane had also charged toward the nearest group of combatants.

Her reaction had not been slow, but even so, she had only managed to seize two relatively small fragments of golden light.

Clearly dissatisfied with her haul, the Rank Six female knight immediately rushed toward an area where a demon legion had gathered.

Golden fragments seemed to have fallen there as well, and several hostile forces were already fighting over them.

Wherever there was chaos, there was an opportunity to profit from it.

Belphane even dared to snatch the fragments right out of the demons’ hands. She truly lived up to the fearless reputation of Magus World’s knights.

Mel, Ximen Feixiao, and the others also threw themselves into the battles that followed, scrambling for every fragment they could find.

It was truly an unprecedented spectacle.

The powerhouses on the battlefield occasionally glanced toward the sky, secretly hoping another star might fall from the heavens...

Unfortunately, that did not seem likely to happen anytime soon.

At the center of Divine Descendants World, Marduk’s battle with the Deathspawn was still raging.

In the eastern region, Venerable Muge remained locked in combat with the Swiftling King and the others.

Beyond the plane, the terrifying vortex of overlord-level power had yet to subside.

All available information indicated that the Empress of Blades and her companions were still fighting the mysterious enemy who had appeared there.

Yet amidst all this chaos, Sein somehow managed to calm himself and prepare to return to the laboratory within his planetary fortress.

Then again, that was exactly the sort of thing Sein would do.

“Master, let Yuri return with you for now. I will lead the mechanical angel legion and continue fighting for the overlord blood,” Fermera said as she flew before him.

The eight-winged angel was usually quiet and rarely addressed Sein directly as “Master”. This time, however, a trace of seriousness could be seen on her beautiful face.

Sein studied her for a moment before nodding.

Before she left, he embedded the Magic Cube into her chest.

“Stay safe,” he reminded her.

The instant the Magic Cube merged with Fermera, the eight wings behind her erupted with an even greater surge of energy.

She raised her energy lightsaber and shot toward the distant battlefield.

Only after watching Fermera disappear into the distance did Sein turn and fly back toward his planetary fortress.

***

Inside the laboratory...

Sein stood beside an experimental table with an elemental scalpel in hand, quietly observing the demigod-level stag thrashing before him.

The creature was native to Divine Descendants World.

Only half a year ago, it had been nothing more than an ordinary Rank One creature.

Yet after accidentally swallowing a minuscule drop of overlord blood, it had broken through several ranks in rapid succession. In just six months, it had reached the demigod level!

Such growth completely defied the natural laws of biological evolution.

Judging by its bloodshot eyes and swollen muscles, the power of the overlord blood had yet to fully run its course.

The stag already radiated the aura of a mid-stage demigod, yet its strength showed no sign of stabilizing.

The only problem was that its body and genetic foundation were struggling to keep up with its rapid evolution.

Over the past few months, Sein had repeatedly drained its blood and removed portions of its flesh and antlers, consuming some of its accumulated life essence in the process.

Had he not done so, the creature might have exploded before it could advance any further.

How could the blood of an overlord possibly be something an ordinary creature could endure?!

That was precisely what intrigued Sein most.

How had this stag survived the immense energy and subtle law factors contained within that drop of blood?

Why had its body not exploded the moment it swallowed it?

When Venerable Tianyang’s overlord body fell into Divine Descendants World, it first collided with the planar barrier before breaking apart and scattering across the plane. In the end, those fragments descended before the creatures of this world as meteors and countless dazzling golden sparks.

Sein narrowed his eyes in thought.

Could the overlord blood have been influenced by the planar will as it passed through the barrier, causing it to undergo a partial assimilation?

If so, that would explain why certain native creatures can absorb it despite the enormous difference in their life levels.

Could this be a defensive measure taken by the planar will after Divine Descendants World came under attack from powerful external enemies while also suffering severe internal turmoil?

If large numbers of native creatures experience sudden surges in strength after consuming overlord blood, they could indeed cause trouble for the Magus Civilization’s legions.

Drawing upon his knowledge and viewing the situation from the Magus Civilization’s perspective, Sein calmly analyzed the possibilities before him.

His reasoning was sound.

More importantly, he might have discovered a viable way to absorb overlord blood.

Sein looked down at the stag, and his eyes gradually lit up.

If I continuously absorb its blood, flesh, antlers, and other biological materials, wouldn’t that be equivalent to absorbing the overlord blood indirectly?

The stag would act as a medium. Its body would refine the useful essence while filtering out the impurities.

However, Sein quickly shook his head.

No. This stag is not good enough! I need a better medium!

A new idea flashed through his mind.

That is right... the navel of the plane!

I need to find this world’s guardians or other native beings closely connected to the planar will.

They receive the greatest favor from the planar will, so they should be able to absorb overlord blood far more efficiently.

If I use one of them as the medium and extract the refined essence afterward...

The more Sein considered the possibility, the more excited he became.

Of course, his experiment was far from complete. To verify his theory, he would need to repeat the experiment using creatures from outside Divine Descendants World as a control group.

To verify his theory, he would need to conduct the same experiment on creatures foreign to outside Divine Descendants World and use them as a control group.

Just as Sein became completely immersed in his thoughts...

BOOM!

A deafening roar shook the planetary fortress.

More precisely, the violent tremor and accompanying law fluctuations had come from beyond the plane.

Something had happened on the overlord-level battlefield where the Empress of Blades and the others were fighting.

The outcome of that battle had arrived sooner than Sein expected.

After all, less than a year had passed since Venerable Tianyang’s fall.

1. Author’s Note: Of course, Sein still had no idea what the eyeball Tourmaline had given him actually was. He had been so busy over the years that he had not even found the time to properly catalogue some of the items stored in the Ashen Fortress laboratory.

In terms of value, that eyeball was worth far more than the overlord blood Sein had just acquired, for a trace of Omnipotent Soul still lingered within it.

During his final eruption of power, Venerable Tianyang had nearly exhausted his entire Omnipotent Soul. As a result, the blood contained only raw energy, law power, and condensed flesh.

Translator’s Note: Tourmaline left Sein a gift back in chapter 1798, but he never got around to examining it. She called it a “little bead”, but apparently it was an eyeball? Damn, what a terrifying gift from such a cutie. ☜