The Eye of Destiny offered two pieces of advice.
Clarify your mind and see your true nature,
And end the battle quickly.
Back when Shi Ming was still S-rank, his first S-rank opponent was Miss Yan from Lighthouse.
Miss Yan possessed the skill Flame Demon’s Kiss.
Flame Demon’s Kiss could stir a person’s most fundamental desires. With a single move or a faint smile, she could wrap her enemies around her finger. Shi Ming’s method of countering this was to use Bright Eyes of the Void to enter a state of emptiness, shutting out all temptations.
Bright Eyes of the Void was the sixth skill of Descent of the Titan.
It could suppress one’s mortal, human, or bestial nature for fifty minutes, enhancing one’s divinity and granting the ability to purge illusions, purify corruption, and perceive lucid emptiness! Descent of the Titan was an S-rank skill, but Shi Ming himself was now a Nirvana Powerhouse. Using his Nirvana-level power to cast Descent of the Titan naturally produced effects that far surpassed what he could do before.
Therefore, his initial strategy was this:
He would activate Bright Eyes of the Void from "Descent of the Titan," descend upon this wicked land and abyss of desire with an aura of righteous purification, and, with swift and decisive action, find the opportunity hidden within the ancestral land of the Desire Demon Race within fifty minutes.
With inner sanctity and outer might,
He would be invincible!
Even though Bright Eyes of the Void had average combat power, it would allow Shi Ming to "clarify his mind and see his true nature." Using it to resist crude temptations would be a piece of cake. By combining it with a few other skills and ultimate treasures, it wouldn’t be difficult to "end the battle quickly" and annihilate the Desire Demon Race.
Time to go!
As it neared twelve o’clock Earth time, Shi Ming skillfully used the synergy between the *Codex of All Nations* and "Descent of the Titan" to stop the clock at the sixth position. The Titan Power in his blood surged, infusing even his hair with a faint golden sheen. He had shed his mortal nature, gaining a sense of lucid emptiness.
WHOOSH—
Like an arrow, he shot into the world of "Food, Sex, Wealth, and Pride."
...
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...
Somewhere in the Cave of the Stars.
Aboard a lone boat, the angler felt another tug on his fishing rod. With a flick of his wrist, the rugged old man sent a three-inch, four-colored fish flying into the air. It landed squarely in his weathered hand.
’Only three inches?’
’A new star-cave?’
The angler frowned.
New star-caves usually lacked any significant foundation.
According to records stretching back thousands of years or even longer, one could at most dig up one or two decent curiosities from a new star-cave. There were almost never any ultimate treasures. They were favorites of Holy Hall-rank or Legend-rank individuals.
How could an opportunity of this level possibly cause a reaction from his Treasure Hook?
’And I wasted a precious chance on it?’
The angler’s rough hands kneaded the three-inch, four-colored fish, hoping to find more information or details. But the fish caught by the Treasure Hook only provided a set of coordinates and nothing more.
’The coordinates are close by.’
’It would only take a day to get there.’
’Since it’s so close, I’ll go take a look. If its treasure aura was strong enough to make the Treasure Hook react, perhaps that star-cave is truly extraordinary. I shouldn’t be so set in my ways, letting past experiences give me a prejudice against newly formed star-caves.’
The lone boat changed course and sped away, leaving a faint, discernible afterimage in the Star Sea.
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...
Golden Void Runes flowed over his body. With pale gold hair and tranquil, divine eyes, Shi Ming had just landed when he saw a deep abyss on the mist-shrouded ground.
Beside the abyss stood a solitary stele.
The text on it was actually the same script as on the Divine Revelation Stele. It translated to "The Insatiable Chasm of Desire."
The solitary stele was just an ordinary stone monument.
In his current state of lucid emptiness, Shi Ming didn’t notice that every stroke of the inscription held an irresistible allure. A person with a weaker mind would probably want to possess the stele for themselves the moment they saw it.
Some might even be overcome with the urge to eat it or defile it where it stood.
’It seems the ancestral land of the Desire Demon Race lies below.’
Shi Ming peered over the edge.
The bottom of the chasm was impossible to see at a glance.
’Truly an insatiable chasm of desire.’
’Bright Eyes of the Void only lasts for fifty minutes, with a ten-minute echo effect at the end. I must hurry, finish this in fifty minutes, and return to a normal Star Domain.’
The star-cave was named Food, Sex, Wealth, and Pride.
Food, the most basic need of a living being.
Sex, likewise.
Wealth, the ladder to fulfilling greater needs after basic survival is met.
Pride, a general term for all emotional inducements and temptations.
Riding on *Shedi*, Shi Ming stealthily descended into the abyss, quickly reaching the bottom of the chasm of desire.
The place was reminiscent of descriptions of Hell from many works of art and literature. On the blackened earth, an ancient grand hall stood proudly at the center, surrounded by a scattering of smaller buildings and tents. All were brightly lit. The Desire Demons had been exiled here, but it didn’t seem to have affected their spirits. They reveled in debauchery inside the tents, and a cheerful atmosphere, accompanied by a pink mist, permeated the entire bottom of the chasm.
Shi Ming roughly surveyed the scope of this ancestral land.
It was no more than 300 kilometers across, far from large.
Seeking an opportunity was merely a goal, not a form of desire. In his state of emptiness, Shi Ming felt a stronger impulse to uproot this entire defiled land and purge all wicked thoughts. This was an inherent part of the skill, as unavoidable as wanting to drink when thirsty or eat when hungry, even when cast by a Nirvana Powerhouse.
’Legend-rank Desire Demons: 1,028.’
’Holy Hall-rank Desire Demons: 11.’
’Nirvana-rank Desire Demons: 2.’
’Anywhere in the Star Sea, a foundation like this could already be considered an advanced civilization. And yet, this race had their ancestral land carved out and exiled to the Cave of the Stars. I wonder what kind of mighty powerhouse was strong enough to punish them.’
’The ancestral land is small. I’ll end this quickly, within fifty minutes!’
’First, I’ll wipe out the small fry, then kill the big ones. I can look for the opportunity slowly after that.’
With a thought from Shi Ming, a heart-shaped object shimmering with starlight manifested beside him, already activated. It was the ultimate treasure, the Heart of the Star Spirit! A magnificent, 10-meter-long pillar stood tall in the sky—the ultimate treasure, the Stone Pillar of Profanity and Transgression!
Two ultimate treasures, especially the Heart of the Star Spirit, would be a huge help in a battle between peers.
’It’s been a long time since I’ve fought. Now is the time to purge this filth!’
BOOM!
The ten-meter-tall pillar, carrying a sliver of the grace of a god at the dawn of creation, descended with a near-divine authority. It landed vertically on the ancestral statue in front of the palace, triggering a terrifying earthquake and kicking up a towering cloud of dust. A huge crack split open the palace, and it looked about to collapse!
Immediately after,
Extremely Evil Sanctuary!
Six thousand wildly twisting, malevolent tentacles sprouted from the black earth, growing like a forest in this subterranean world of tangled desires. A polluting power spread out. The world, once filled with decadent joy, seemed to have been flipped into a vat of dye. Agonized groans echoed endlessly as the joyous atmosphere shattered into clumps of pink mist that diffused around the palace.
The horrific tremor made the entire land shudder violently.
Such a cataclysm naturally snapped the two Nirvana Powerhouses of the Desire Demon Race to high alert!
"You’re courting death!" / "Who dares trespass in our race’s Holy Land?"
Unlike their surroundings, these two voices were as holy as those of saviors, of Angels, but to Shi Ming’s ears, they were no different from any other. At the same time, a proactive reminder from the Eye of Destiny appeared before his eyes.
[Fate is a wondrous thing.]
[Even in the Endless Star Sea, there are only 39 single-word Nirvana-rank skills. Perhaps your destiny and constitution are extraordinary, making you prone to attracting "kindred spirits."]
[Nirvana Skill: Desire]
[Number: 27]
["If I can’t deal with that old geezer, you think I can’t deal with you?"]
["Hahaha, to think you’d try to bully me! You’ve really picked the wrong person to mess with!"]
Shi Ming’s eyes lit up.
A numbered Nirvana skill!
This was an incredibly, incredibly rare resource!