This novel has been finished on Patreon! Thank you to all my Patrons for the support over this and the other novels <3
------------------------------------------------------
Ye Wen's complete return was undoubtedly an inspiring moment. His leadership and research capabilities had deeply impressed the inhabitants of Douluo Star over tens of thousands of years.
Soon, a being with an upper humanoid body and a lower half shrouded in swirling mist—a soul entity—was brought before Ye Wen.
This soul entity was tightly bound by golden chains that glimmered with divine energy. Any attempt to struggle would trigger the punishment mechanism embedded in the chains, unleashing golden lightning that caused the entity immense agony.
Ye Wen didn't rush to act but instead carefully observed.
One after another, several similar soul entities were brought in. Each had slight differences, particularly in their heads—their shapes varied widely, while the rest of their bodies below the neck appeared relatively normal.
Furthermore, these Demon Heaven entities' heads lacked any discernible facial features, as if they had been erased or dissolved. They could be described as "faceless."
At this moment, a researcher who had reached the level of a Tier-1 god handed Ye Wen the research data compiled thus far.
Just as Ye Wen had always encouraged Huo Yu'er to develop her independence, he generally allowed the gods under his command to play to their strengths in guiding Douluo Star's development, as long as it didn't deviate too drastically from his vision.
As Ye Wen rapidly scanned through the data, his expression grew increasingly grave.
Though he had learned from his avatar about how troublesome these Demon Heaven entities were, reading the detailed reports gave him a clearer understanding of just how formidable they truly were.
From their physical appearance, these Demon Heaven beings appeared male or female, but according to the research, they were actually genderless.
However, that wasn't the main concern. The real issue lay in their abilities.
Ye Wen's strength had nearly reached the ceiling of godhood, so he wasn't personally fazed. But based on the data, once these Demon Heaven beings descended upon a world inhabited by ordinary life forms, they instantly disrupted their rationality, amplifying their deepest negative emotions and desires. This drove ordinary beings into madness, making them akin to walking embodiments of cosmic horror.
Because of this trait, whenever the Demon Heaven Civilization discovered a world under Douluo Civilization's jurisdiction, it almost always resulted in heavy losses for Douluo.
Unlike the Kaguya Civilization, which ruthlessly plundered a world's faith energy to the point of extinction, Douluo adopted a more sustainable approach.
The Demon Heaven Civilization, however, didn't simply drive ordinary life forms into madness and mutual destruction before slaughtering entire worlds. Instead, they used the most brutal methods to extract the darkest aspects of ordinary beings' souls, harvesting negative energy to fuel their own growth.
In terms of combat capabilities, the Demon Heaven beings excelled at using soul weapons to directly attack the souls of gods. Not only did this disrupt their emotions and desires, but it also drove weaker gods into madness and spiritual collapse.
Once a god fell into such a state, the Demon Heaven beings had two options:
The first was to directly devour the god, strengthening themselves.
The second involved the Demon Heaven race's method of reproduction.
They would devour the god but not digest it entirely. Instead, they would merge their own body state with the victim's, fusing the two individuals into one before splitting apart. After the split, the former god would become a new entity, retaining both the memories of the Demon Heaven being and their original self.
At this point, the god would be completely corrupted—still technically the same being, yet no longer the same, and utterly obedient to the parent entity.
Because of this ability, the gods of Douluo Civilization had suffered significant losses.
Fortunately, with the technical support of Edward Elric, they were no longer constantly outmatched by the Demon Heaven beings.
To return to the topic, because of this reproductive method, the Demon Heaven beings formed various clans. Tracing back to their origins, the Demon Heaven Civilization could be divided into ten major clans, each led by an ancestral Demon Lord possessing power comparable to a top-tier God King.
After reviewing the data, Ye Wen could only marvel at how bizarre and difficult the Demon Heaven Civilization was to deal with.
Thus, Ye Wen's task was now clear: to develop specialized weapons to counter the Demon Heaven Civilization.
In terms of the number and quality of gods, Douluo Civilization was not inferior to the Demon Heaven Civilization. The reason they had been suppressed was due to the latter's completely alien system, unlike anything Douluo had encountered before, leaving them struggling to adapt.
Except for a few gods with specialized abilities, ordinary gods found it extremely difficult to defeat the Demon Heaven beings. And with their parasitic and splitting abilities, even losing a fight meant suffering further indignities. Truly, they were a formidable foe.
However, dealing with negative-energy-based souls was right up Ye Wen's alley, thanks to the necromantic knowledge he had learned from Irwin Elric.
Irwin's defensive limitations stemmed from his insufficient cultivation level.
But Ye Wen was a God King!
As the research progressed, Ye Wen quickly identified a solution.
Since the Demon Heaven Civilization relied on negative energy as the core of their extraordinary system, Ye Wen decided to counteract it by collecting positive energy that suppressed negativity.
The fact that the Demon Heaven Civilization could be countered proved that their abilities, while strange, were not invincible.
Moreover, in terms of emotional manipulation, the God Realm possessed the position of the God of Emotions, giving them an inherent advantage.
With Ye Wen's involvement and his wealth of experience, a strategy to counter the Demon Heaven Civilization was soon formulated for Douluo Civilization.
A century later, the battles between Douluo Civilization and the Demon Heaven Civilization underwent a complete transformation.
The emergence of the Demon-Slaying Armament placed Douluo Civilization in a highly advantageous position, enabling them to systematically suppress and annihilate the Demon Heaven forces.
However, the ten ancestral Demon Lords mentioned in the intelligence reports had yet to appear, leaving frontline warriors uneasy.
Given the scale of the conflict between the two civilizations, Ye Wen couldn't remain secluded on Douluo Star after completing his research on the Demon Heaven Civilization.
The Supreme Vast Ocean God King had arrived!
The highest leader didn't need to say or do anything—simply being present on the frontlines was enough to inspire unprecedented morale among the entire Douluo Civilization.
At the same time, Ye Wen was curious about the true strength of these ten ancestral Demon Lords, who were said to possess power equivalent to top-tier God Kings.
For years, Ye Wen's overwhelming combat prowess had left him without worthy opponents, making him feel an intense thirst for battle. His great blade yearned for action!
Perched atop the pinnacle of the Vast Ocean Ark, Ye Wen closed his eyes to rest.
As the most prestigious vessel of the entire Douluo Civilization, Ye Wen's Vast Ocean Ark stood out even in the desolate expanse of the cosmos, radiating his immense divine presence at all times.
At this moment, five terrifying fluctuations of Demon Heaven energy suddenly erupted not far from the Vast Ocean Ark!
------------------------------------------------------
Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
40+ Chapters Ahead Guaranteed.