The Rise of the Titan

On a battlefield littered with corpses, Muria, accompanied by seven chromatic dragons and hundreds of cloud giants, searched for any remaining living beings. After the Fox Emperor appeared, he crushed all the divine incarnations with overwhelming force, then decisively defeated a group of legends, leaving none to pursue Muria.

The surviving legends, terrified by the Fox Emperor's power, fled in panic, abandoning any thoughts of hunting Muria. They knew they couldn't afford to provoke such a powerful second-generation figure.

Now, in the aftermath, the Fox Emperor, who seemed to have merely come out for a stroll, glanced at Muria, then left through a space passage he created with his demonic flames, without saying a word, maintaining his usual aloof demeanor.

After the battle ended, Muria immediately released the chromatic dragons he had stored in his demi-plane, along with a squad of cloud giants already stationed there, to search the battlefield. Their tasks were to find the remains of Duanjiao and locate the severely injured Abyssal Flame Demon, Miles.

Duanjiao, the Balor Demon, was dead. Having used a self-destructive explosion, there was no way he could have survived unless he was a particularly outstanding Abyssal Lord, in which case the Abyss might have revived him. However, for the Abyss, Duanjiao, who fought for Muria, was a traitor to be eliminated upon entering the Abyss.

Now, all Muria could do for Duanjiao was to gather some of his remnants, build a grave, and erect a tombstone as a psychological comfort. He had no power to reverse time or resurrect others; even deities couldn't reverse time.

Alongside the search for Duanjiao's remains was the quest to find the possibly still alive Abyssal Flame Demon, Miles. Muria, who had a master-servant contract with Miles, could barely sense his presence, indicating that Miles wasn't completely gone.

"Muria, we found it." After draining a lake of blood formed by fallen legends, Muria inspected the corpse-laden lakebed but found nothing. Just as he felt disappointed, a shout of excitement reached him.

"Hmm?" Muria looked at the red dragon Cynthia, who was flying towards him holding half a skull. Ignoring her expression of expecting praise, he took the damaged skull.

"Miles, you're still alive despite this." Muria sensed the faint soul attached to the remaining part of the skull. Finding Miles meant it was only a matter of time before he recovered.

"Hehe, Your Highness, I'm slightly smarter than that brute." Miles' soul, barely clinging to life, communicated weakly. He had also self-destructed but had left a sliver of his soul intact.

"What do you need to recover quickly? Souls?" Muria gently inquired, holding the small skull, "How many?"

"I can't consume too much now; ordinary souls will suffice." Seeing the soul of a soul-intent level Kuo-Toa in Muria's hand, Miles responded weakly.

"Troublesome!" Muria frowned, then disdainfully crushed the Kuo-Toa soul in his hand. After purifying it with dragon flames to remove any negative emotions, he fed it to Miles' soul.

Regardless of the reasons or future benefits, this was someone who fought and self-destructed for him. Based on his current actions, Muria considered him a trusted subordinate.

"Your Highness, you're indeed powerful. That brute self-destructed, and I ended up in this state, yet you remain unscathed. Truly worthy of being the Titan and Dragon King's descendant." Miles praised, sensing Muria's unscathed and even stronger aura.

"I was ready to fight to the death, but I didn't expect my grandfather had left a safeguard on me," Muria chuckled.

"..." Miles fell silent, quietly consuming the soul fragments Muria provided.

"Are you planning to start anew from this opportunity?" Muria suddenly asked.

"What?" Miles was slightly taken aback.

"You have too few soul intent rings; you can't progress far on the legendary path. If you start over now, I'll provide offerings for you to sacrifice to the will of Hell," Muria offered an enticing suggestion, "What do you think?"

"Willing." Without hesitation, Miles agreed. Given the chance to reach higher, he would seize it to follow this powerful figure further.

"Good." Muria nodded. As the victor of this war, he had abundant high-level creature corpses and some captured souls, all excellent offerings.

Next, Muria pinpointed his location and contacted Mia and Fiona on the cloud island, asking them to send help to clean the battlefield. All the fallen and their weapons belonged to him; he wouldn't leave anything behind.

"All weapons, corpses, and even the blood-soaked soil must be transported to the cloud island. Nothing should be wasted," Muria commanded as the floating fleet from the cloud island arrived, a directive that left the dragons speechless.

Digging three feet deep? Low standards. When Muria's cleaning efforts were complete, the battlefield, spanning tens of kilometers, had been dug into a basin, shocking scavengers planning to pick up scraps.

"Not even leaving the dirt, this is too much!" A devil warlock, stunned by the vast basin and the fresh earth, remarked.

"At least leave something!" A necromancer, similarly disappointed, lamented, having found no remnants, not even a bone fragment.

"Disperse, those cleaning the battlefield are mad, leaving nothing behind."

...

"Every participant in this war was at least gold level. Everything they left behind, even a drop of blood, must be fully utilized," Muria stated seriously. "I'm building my forces now; resources are scarce, and I can't afford to be generous."

"Understood, I'll categorize and organize all your war spoils properly," Mia assured Muria, patting her chest.

As Muria was about to nod, an invisible force descended, pressing everything on the cloud islands, except Muria, to the ground—a crushing presence from a higher life form.

"Grandfather!" Seeing the black-haired, golden-eyed Titan appear suddenly, Muria, also in his Titan form, bowed slightly. After the Fox Emperor's appearance and the subsequent celestial events, Muria had guessed what happened.

"Not bad!" After scrutinizing Muria for a few moments and glancing at the cloud islands, the Wasteland Lord, having restrained most of his power, nodded approvingly. "You must have gained many insights from this battle; you're about to break through to legend!"

"Yes." Empowered by the Dragon King's strength, Muria had slain multiple legends and even briefly contested a divine incarnation, gaining significant insights.

The Wasteland Lord opened his palm, revealing a golden thread emitting divine light that made Muria dizzy. "This is the divinity of the Storm Lord, containing the elemental laws of fire, storm, and thunder. Fuse with it and comprehend the laws without being influenced by it. Are you interested in the challenge?"

Seeing the divinity, Muria's breath quickened. His body yearned to merge with it; this was a key to immortality, an irresistible temptation.

"I am." After a moment's thought, Muria agreed. Merging with divinity and understanding its laws while resisting its influence was a test of willpower.

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