Night of Despair

"Ah... refreshing!"

In the City of No Light, Yu Hong spread his arms wide, feeling the continuous radiation of the invisible erosion force from outside.

Even the windows could not block the incessant erosion from that crooked-mouthed, cross-eyed, black-skinned woman outside.

But this was exactly what Yu Hong needed at this moment; he needed the constant erosion strength radiating in from the opponent.

The Golden Core within him was operating at high speed, with no need to worry about damage or the meridians and body being harmed by rapid advancement, as every ten seconds would bring a comprehensive recovery.

Should any sudden issue arise within ten seconds, the Elf Ancient Tree's Call would completely take over.

Ever since he encountered this bizarre woman outside the window, Yu Hong gradually fell into this ultra-high-speed cultivation state.

The Qingyuan Heavenly River Miao Technique was soaring crazily, the Innate Body breaking through the low-level bottlenecks, and the strange radiation continually refining the secondary Golden Core's Dan Qi.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Outside the window, a tall woman covered entirely in pitch black, with purple glowing eyes and slender hands, was madly pounding on the window glass.

This woman stood a full five meters tall, her whole body like a bamboo pole, with a gaping mouth drooling and cross-eyed, appearing as if a child's random scribble on paper had come to life.

But her strength was anything but random.

The tremendous impact made the entire safety house tremble incessantly.

Nevertheless, the current safety house had extremely strong defensive capabilities, along with an automatic repair function, making it incredibly resilient. Yu Hong hadn't seen anything break through its defenses quickly in a long time.

Safety house, safety house, at this moment, the Black Black Spirit was truly the well-deserved safety house.

Unconsciously, in his haziness, he seemed to faintly hear some notification sound.

Immediately following was a crisp click.

Yu Hong jolted awake from deep meditation cultivation.

Hoo!

He exhaled heavily, and the impure Dan Qi flew out from his mouth, landing on the wall and corroding it into a shallow grey-white spot.

But soon, this grey-white spot disappeared automatically, as if it had never been there.

This was the automatic repair function of the safety house.

The first thing Yu Hong did upon waking up was to check his current cultivation level.

As he initiated inner vision, his heart skipped a beat.

"Sure enough... I broke through again... Could it be several more months have passed?"

He had anticipated breaking through the late stage of the Golden Core, but apart from the breakthrough, he was worried about the time spent.

Quickly looking up at the date clock on the table: August 11, 13:09.

"Thank goodness... only a month has passed... but I should go back and reinforce the seal before the Light Well causes more issues. However, with my current cultivation, I should be able to gradually suppress the Light Well on my own and resolve the flaws of Tai Ling Skill. I'll have to ask the teacher how to do that."

Yu Hong glanced outside.

The black woman was still furiously pounding on the safety house, looking utterly brainless.

"Do the outside monsters all have intelligence, and has this place become completely brainless?" he remarked. "Senior, do you know why this is?"

"It's simple," Su Dan immediately replied. This old guy had obviously been watching all along. Probably too bored with nothing to do.

"You're still weak and don't know what you'll face later." He paused for a moment, then continued, "The forces that surrendered, the monsters that were contaminated, could initially maintain their self-awareness during the Source Disasters. They also developed different dispositions and worldviews due to the varying nature of Source Disaster radiation. The Black Disaster is relatively more peaceful, retaining more of the self."

"This is the cognitive maintenance phase; they need to continually devour the cognition of other living beings to replenish their own ever-eroding self. This is why we view the surrendering faction as traitors because to avoid death, they turn on us and slaughter and devour us."

"After this phase comes the Unconscious Body. Before this, including Chaos Body contamination, they can only be considered conscious bodies. Conscious bodies will gradually become unconscious bodies over time. At this stage, with cognition not promptly replenished, their self-awareness will completely vanish, leaving only a shell."

"Don't underestimate just a shell; in the Unconscious Body phase, our tests indicate that their general strength can increase by a hundred to five hundred times, extremely exaggerated. It's like two different species. Though they lose consciousness, they gain terrifying speed, strength, and an undying body, all bestowed by the Source Disasters."

"This amplification must have a limit, right?" Yu Hong felt numb hearing this, over a hundred times increase seemed too exaggerated.

"Yes, it has a limit. Usually, it stops at the peak of the Contamination Level. However, the Contamination phase itself has a vast span, so hundreds of times increase is nothing." Su Dan explained, "The level that can destroy a tree with one hand is contamination, and a single breath's particles instantaneously destroying a star system is also contamination. It represents only an energy level, but many factors affect combat power."

"But contamination should have reached the stage of infinite energy, shouldn't it?" Yu Hong asked puzzledly. Many Immortal Level beings had already mastered infinite energy, such as the Light Well and Floating City's element pools. The difference was only in the output power.

"It's different. Some systems do not have so-called infinite energy, and the so-called infinite you mentioned is actually borrowed power, external power, not truly infinite. In the later stages, neither side can communicate with external power." Su Dan replied patiently. "When you reach the middle stage of contamination, you'll understand. Low-level infinite energy is useless in combat; the space-time distortions caused by the mere aftershocks of a battle are enough to render your long-distance absorption of infinite energy a useless garbage ability. By the time you extract energy from a far distance, the opponent would have countless chances to instantly kill you."

"...So, how should we cope later?" Yu Hong felt numb.

"Utilizing your own infinite energy. Transform yourself into infinite, won't that solve it?" Su Dan smiled, "You're still weak now and can't understand this. Alright, let's go back. Don't stay too long. The Black Tide is due in about six months."

"Six more months, that should be enough time. Senior, why not tell me what comes after the Unconscious stage?" Yu Hong eagerly prompted, speaking respectfully.

Perhaps from having no one to talk to for a long time, Su Dan clearly wanted to chat more and did not mention leaving again.

"The later stages? After that, there is nothing left, only the disaster of destruction."

"Nothing left?"

"Yes, even the surrender faction cannot exist any deeper within the Source Disaster. A little further in, there is the concentration zone of the Unconscious Bodies. It is a spherical region filled with countless Unconscious Bodies, many of which are the fallen failures from the surrender faction. They lose their sense of self, and their destructive power increases by hundreds of times, turning that area into an absolute destruction zone." Su Dan sighed, "We named it the Heartless Belt."

"Senior, beyond the Heartless Belt is the area where the destruction disaster exists?" Yu Hong asked.

"Yes, the destruction disaster there is constantly erupting and exploding, known as the Disaster Belt. Its intensity exceeds the highest level that Unconscious Bodies can reach several times over. And yet, it is not the true core of the Source Disaster." Su Dan sighed, "Deeper inside, we named that region the Invisible Belt. The dangers there cannot be perceived or detected. Until the moment you are destroyed, you won't know what attacked you. There is no source, no direction; many people just inexplicably disappear before our eyes... No matter how powerful your Cultivation Technique or how high your Cultivation level..."

As he spoke, he seemed to fall into some sort of personal memory.

"Senior... Senior...!?" Yu Hong sensed something was wrong and hurriedly called out to him.

It took more than ten seconds before Su Dan's voice reappeared.

"Sorry, I'm getting old; thinking about past events makes me a bit..."

"Have you been to the Invisible Belt, Senior?" Yu Hong asked.

"I have, but I could only reach there. Any deeper, we could not touch, and we didn't even know how to proceed further. We guess that it might be the core area of the Source Disaster, the true origin area. If the deeper level of the City of No Light is the source core area where our living beings can exist, then deeper inside is not a place where living beings can survive. Even the Unconscious Bodies cannot." Su Dan answered.

"Not even someone as powerful as you, Senior, can see any hope?" Yu Hong felt a faint sense of helplessness and despair rise in his heart.

Su Dan's level was far beyond his imagination, yet even at that level, he couldn't see what the core of the Source Disaster was...

So, could his current cultivation really find the path to everlasting vitality?

"The road is walked step by step. You are still weak and do not understand this principle. The more you see, the more you will lose the motivation to move forward. Don't be afraid; don't look too far ahead. Just keep moving forward, and you won't regret it. No matter where you are, in what predicament, keep moving forward. Hope will not come to those who stand still; it is something that changes and moves on its own. As you continuously approach it, it will slowly come closer to you. Remember, it is closer than you think."

Su Dan softly consoled.

"Yes... I understand, Senior." Yu Hong's heart slowly calmed down with Su Dan's words. Obviously, Su Dan used some special Cultivation Technique, making his words have a special effect.

"It's good that you understand. Go ahead, I believe you will find your own direction." Su Dan said.

Yu Hong gave a serious bow, then controlled the Black Black Spirit and retreated.

Countless black mists surged out from the surroundings of the safe house.

The next second, the safe house silently disappeared into the mist, leaving the City of No Light.

The black-skinned woman who had been relentlessly banging on the windows lost her target and finally calmed down, turned around, and returned in the direction she came from, disappearing into the darkness within moments.

The entire Land of No Light returned to its original quietness.

In the breeze, a faint lonely sigh from Su Dan could be heard.

*

*

*

Poof!

The Black Black Spirit rushed out of the Black River, entering the Wind Disaster's entrance. Outside the window brightened again, restoring the state of countless colorful threads flowing.

Yu Hong sat cross-legged, facing the gate, and began to sense the situation inside his body.

With his eyes closed, he quickly entered the consciousness space. There, the Trait Light Ball had already completed its fusion, Heart Imprint and Spiritual Sharpness had merged into a silver light ball.

With a trace of anticipation, Yu Hong reached out his hand and gently touched it.

'Fusion complete, acquired trait: Spirit Barrier.'

'Spirit Barrier (Consciousness Body density enhanced by 90%, total amount increased by 200%.)'

"...This is not bad." Yu Hong's eyes lit up. The pure increase in spiritual power and spiritual strength made this trait's effect quite good. It turned the previously useless two traits into something valuable.

He carefully sensed the changes in his own body.

Indeed, his spiritual consciousness was clearer than before, and thinking about problems became much faster. Because spiritual consciousness was hard to quantify, it could only be understood subjectively through feeling.

He wasn't sure what this trait's enhancement brought him. Anyway, becoming stronger was all that mattered.

'Then, there are still eleven left, two more fusions possible. Next....' Yu Hong thought for a moment and quickly identified two traits.

Ancient Moon Divinity and Heaven and Earth Rotation, the former is physical damage resistance, the latter is dizziness resistance.

Both were resistances, and combining them might produce a stacking effect.

He immediately brought the two light balls together.

Poof.

They merged into a washbasin-sized light ball, and a countdown appeared: '12 hours 7 minutes.'