Chapter 204: The Mysterious Flame

“Cain’s divine essence?”
Chen Xiao’s eyes rolled as he slowly stepped forward. With a single grab, he pierced through the immense divine power and seized the divine essence in his hand.
If it were anyone else—even a Virtual God—they would likely be crushed under the pressure emitted by the divine essence.
Gods stand atop all, inviolable. Even the weakest among them are beyond comparison to beings of other realms.
Only those who are mere half-a-step away from gods—true peak Virtual God warriors like Souhen, chosen as divine disciples by the Supreme God—have the right to challenge them.
But Chen Xiao was different. Though he lacked the power of a god, and even a Virtual God could crush him at will, his soul had already begun to merge with the Supreme Divine Essence. Even just a trace of this fusion granted him nourishment from the Supreme Divine Essence and a hint of its soully aura—something no inferior divine essence could suppress.
In short, aside from the power of the Supreme God, no other form of pressure could affect Chen Xiao.
“The divine essence of the Progenitor of Vampires, the sacred relics of the vampires… Vampires, Dark Vampires… they’re also a vast race, aren’t they?”
In the next moment, Chen Xiao changed his plans again.
“The items below may be far inferior to these divine artifacts and essences, but they’re still treasures. I can’t just waste them.”
With a single grab, the power from the Supreme God’s space spread throughout the grand hall. The Virtual Divine Artifacts, elemental stone veins, and various treasures inside were all sent to the Supreme God’s space.
“A decent harvest.”
Chen Xiao smiled. “It seems I still have the two keys to the Ocean God’s treasure vault, as well as the key to the Sirius God’s treasure vault.”
A glimmer appeared in his eyes. He turned and left through a passage in the hall.
With a wave of his hand, the Glory of the Sea God appeared above him. A blue light radiated from it, enveloping his body.
This passage seemed to provide some guidance, and Chen Xiao found himself in a blue ocean world.
In this blue ocean world, there was a black Virtual God clad in blue armor, engaged in a fierce battle with a monstrous being with a human body and fish tail.
That black Virtual God was not someone Chen Xiao had seen before; it must have been transported through another entrance.
At that moment, the two Virtual Gods were locked in combat. The monstrous being with the human body and fish tail resembled exactly the statue of the Ocean God in front of the Sea God Temple in the Kingdom of Atlantis.
The Ocean God monster wielded a trident with terrifying offensive power, forcing the black Virtual God to defend itself desperately. Yet, its blue armor emitted bursts of blue light from time to time, protecting its body.
“The Protection of the Sea God! That black Virtual God must be under the Protection of the Sea God.” Chen Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly. He reached out and retracted the Glory of the Sea God.
“I’ll take advantage when you two are both exhausted.”

A faint smile appeared on Chen Xiao’s face. “No soul? Yet he controls forces in the world of supernatural powers and turns against my Huaxia. Hehe, today I’ll make you truly soulless.” As he thought this, the demonic sword in his hand, Yuanmie, seemed to sense his mood and trembled with excitement.

“Kill!” Suddenly, the black Void God let out a loud roar. Blue light flared intensely around him, and his protective power drove back the monstrous spirit transformed from the Sea God. Immediately afterward, a black shadow blade appeared in his hand. A sense of despair filled the space instantly.

“A divine artifact! This guy actually possesses a divine artifact!” Chen Xiao’s pupils narrowed sharply. Although a single divine artifact wasn’t much in his eyes, the fact that a Void God could wield one proved that the forces behind him were no ordinary ones. Moreover, Chen Xiao had deduced that this black Void God must come from the netherworld—the same Void God behind the soulless being detected by the shadows earlier. But if a Void God could possess a divine artifact, it meant there was at least one deity backing him up.

“Death God’s Dance!” The black Void God let out a long howl. His body suddenly began spinning, and a black shadow emerged above his head. The black shadow blade in his hand flew involuntarily into the shadow’s hand, merging seamlessly without any gaps. The face of the shadow above him gradually became clearer—it was a six-winged demon with three pairs of wings on its back. The six-winged demon grasped the divine artifact, Shadow Wings, and instantly plunged into the black Void God’s body. Gradually, the black Void God’s body stopped spinning, and its appearance changed to match that of the six-winged demon.

At this point, by merging with the six-winged demon’s shadow, the black Void God’s strength soared by a significant level. Its strength, originally that of a low-level Void God, surged to nearly that of an intermediate one. Yet neither the monstrous spirit of the Sea God nor this black Void God had noticed Chen Xiao’s presence. This was a sea, and the waters were Chen Xiao’s battlefield. Even the so-called Sea God couldn’t detect him now.

“Death God’s Dance!” The black Void God, now in the form of a six-winged demon, let out another cry. Its body suddenly displayed an extremely graceful dancing posture. Every movement seemed to conform to the fundamental laws of the universe, as its existence kept jumping between parallel dimensions. The monstrous spirit of the Sea God could no longer track it.

Bang! Bang! Bang… Terrifying collision sounds continued as the Sea God’s monster was completely on the defensive. Yet its body seemed countless times stronger than the monster transformed from Cain, and such heavy blows failed to cause it even the slightest damage.

“Death God’s Dance!” Suddenly, the black Void God called out this name for the third time. A black shadow blade appeared in its hand, which it swung straight at the Sea God’s head.

That monstrous spirit of the Sea God seemed to sense danger and quickly raised its trident to defend itself.
Swish!
The trident merely provided a slight resistance before being severed in two by that shadow blade, falling to the ground.
The body of the Sea God’s monstrous spirit was also split down the middle. But this time, it did not revive—it died completely. Even true gods could be destroyed by a strike from a divine artifact, let alone this mere lower-tier Void God.
After killing this monstrous spirit, the six-winged demon shadow on the black Void God also disappeared, and the black shadow blade, “Death’s Dance,” was retracted back into its body.
“Including the protection of the Sea God, it actually possesses two divine artifacts—this guy is no ordinary foe. What kind of force is that Soulless One in the netherworld?”
Chen Xiao, hiding in the shadows, frowned slightly. If this opponent didn’t have divine artifacts, even Yuanmie could easily defeat him. But now, with the protection of the Sea God and the attack power of Death’s Dance, he was like a hedgehog with its shell up.
Boom…
The moment the Sea God’s monstrous spirit was killed, the entire space began to tremble, and the surrounding seawater was pushed back. Soon after, three massive portals appeared in that space.
Without hesitation, the black Void God emitted a blue light from the protection of the Sea God, opening one of the portals before stepping through.
Once he entered, the portal closed again.
“This Sea God is truly special—having three treasuries. Two of them are a boon to me.”
Chen Xiao pointed with one hand, and the Yuanmie Demon Sword flew out, devouring the corpse of the Sea God’s monstrous spirit.
“Suo Hen, I entrust you with the blessing of the Sea God. Collect the treasures from this treasury—be cautious at all times, prioritize safety. If in danger, return immediately to the Main God’s space. Your life isn’t meant to be wasted here.”
Chen Xiao summoned Suo Hen and handed him the blessing of the Sea God.
Suo Hen nodded, and then the two of them, holding the glory and protection of the Sea God, opened the other two portals.
Chen Xiao, carrying the glory of the Sea God, stepped directly into the central passage.
This passage was almost identical to the one Cain was in, except the flames on the walls were blue.
These blue flames appeared extremely strange, as if formed from some kind of water energy, emitting both extreme cold and heat, which reached Chen Xiao’s senses directly.
“This is…”
Chen Xiao stared at the blue flames on either side of the passage, which also emitted a faint chill. With a loud noise, it seemed as if a door in his mind had opened.
“Fire made of water? How is that possible?”
Chen Xiao gazed at the blue flames on a torch made of fish bones, lost in thought.
After a while, Chen Xiao raised his hand, and the power of the Water God slowly surged from his hand, gathering into a sphere at his fingertips.

Gradually, this mass of Primordial God power began to contract, becoming smaller and smaller. What was once nearly liquid Primordial God power was compressed into a tiny ice crystal. Cold sweat appeared on Chen Xiao’s forehead, but he could clearly feel that as this mass of Primordial God power was compressed, his mental energy and soul power also began to condense. Normally, an abler with a cultivation level below the first stage of the Domain realm would not be able to perceive the existence of a soul. However, Chen Xiao had practiced the Zhou Tian Ming Gu Method, which was itself a technique for cultivating the soul. At this point, he could already faintly sense the existence of his own soul. Boom! Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from within Chen Xiao’s body. ……