Prime Originator

"And supposedly, the highest-level tomb, the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's tomb, is said to be the most difficult to overcome," Darlene added.

"However, it is also rumored that the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's remnant power dwells inside. Whoever overcomes the trial will obtain the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's unrivaled strength, becoming the new Eternal Night Demon Emperor and rule over the demons."

"Is that so?" Leon muttered before shaking his head with a helpless expression.

"If Arch Demon-level Tombs are already this difficult, Demon Lord-level Tombs and Demon King-level Tombs are just suicide, let alone going after the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's Tomb."

"Right."

"Yeah."

Just as Darlene and Aria agreed with Leon's words, he abruptly paused with a sudden thought. 

'Hold on. Does the Eternal Night Demon Emperor even have a tomb in this place? It's more plausible to say that the entire Eternal Night Secret Realm could be considered the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's tomb,' Leon thought.

In that case, the greatest treasure was the Eternal Night Secret Realm itself. 

If it can be refined, they would have unlimited access and time to attempt all the trials and collect their treasures without being threatened and ambushed by demons.

"Refine the Eternal Night Secret Realm, huh?" Leon softly muttered thoughtfully. 

Aria overheard him before she was stunned for a moment—only for her eyes to beam brightly in the next.

"If we can confirm that the Eternal Night Secret Realm is the inner world of the Eternal Night Demon Emperor, it is indeed possible to refine it," Aria stated before frowning shortly after.

"However, the difficulty, not to mention the danger involved, will be exceedingly high."

"Yeah…" Leon nodded before he calmly said, "However, such is the way of the world. There is no such thing as a free lunch. There are no risks without gains, and opportunities without their accompanying dangers."

"Nevertheless, we should worry about clearing this Arch Demon-level Tomb Trial before we can worry about other matters."

As Leon spoke, he shortly spread out his divine sense to scout his surroundings. 

However, he was immediately met with backlash from numerous points interfering with his divine sense, causing him to quickly retract his divine sense. 

"Even divine sense has been countered in this space. Seems like we can only rely on our wits and knowledge to overcome this trial," Leon frowned. 

"How do we do that?" Darlene asked.

"If we want to break free of this freezing mist formation and its supplementary formations messing with our senses, we have to locate the eye of the formation and deactivate it," Leon stated. 

"Of course, if it cannot be deactivated through regular methods, we can still forcefully deactivate it by destroying the eye of the formation. However, I would rather not resort to this. There is value and merit in studying an advanced formation like this."

If he could study these formations that he suspected to be at least Tier-4 or even Tier-5, it could raise his formation skills quickly and allow him to have an easier time dealing with similar situations in the future should they arise.

"But the problem is locating the formation's eye," Aria knitted her brows and stated, "We have been walking straight for some time now, but we might not actually be walking straight at all. In fact, I am sure that we have been walking in circles." 

"Unless there is a massive reserve of energy, it's impossible to continue powering the formations of such large scale. As such, this trial space we are currently trapped in shouldn't be as big as it seems."

Leon glanced at Aria silently with a nod. 

Back in the Divine Realm, Aria White used to carry out tasks for his father, the Divine Medicine King, and travel the world searching for rare herbs for alchemy refinement. 

As such, he was not surprised that Aria seemed experienced in tomb-raiding since she had access to Aria White's memories.

"It's a bit unfortunate that we are currently pressed for time due to the danger of this situation," Aria shortly sighed and said, "Otherwise, I could make use of this environment to improve my cultivation."

"Once I become a Tier-5 Formation Master, I will help you set up a suitable ice-lightning environment to cultivate in," Leon promised.

"Mm," Aria nodded with a smile. 

Shortly after, her gaze sharpened as she carefully observed her obscured surroundings for any point of interest. 

At the same time, Leon increased the size of his flame with the intent to snuff out the freezing mist by using a conflicting element to clash with it while keeping all three of them warm.

However, fighting a battle of attrition was unwise, considering he did not know how big the energy reserves for the formations are, not to mention it would exhaust him. 

Suddenly, Leon paused with a sudden realization. 

"I'm an idiot," he smiled self-mockingly and said, "We don't need to find the formation's eye. We can still deactivate the formation by completely exhausting its energy reserves."

There was no need for Leon to follow traditional methods of break formations when he had something as overbearing and unparalleled as the Nihility Law.

"Aria, protect Darlene from the cold for me."

"Alright."

Aria agreed before Leon transferred Darlene over for her protection as she warded off the cold mist with her control over the Ice Law.

Shortly after, Leon created some distance between him and the two ladies before he sharpened his gaze at the surrounding mist.

'Energy or matter, all things in existence are sustenance that can empower me!'

Swoosh—!

A strong field of nihility was shortly formed around Leon, transforming himself into a powerful black hole that swallows any and everything around it him. 

Upon contact with nihility, the cold mist disintegrated into its most primal and truest form of energy, True Grandmist Energy, before they were absorbed and stored inside Leon's Black Vortex Space. 

At the same time, the power of nihility even affected the formations' ability to function properly. Any and all laws were rendered useless in front of nihility.

As such, Leon decided to call his most basic skill of nihility [Law Breaker].

A few moments later, the cold mist in the area was noticeably reduced, increasing visibility to the point that one end of the open space could be seen. 

"Leon, I found the formation's eye!" Aria quickly informed as soon as she spotted it after the veil was lifted. 

Even so, Leon did not stop absorbing the surrounding energy and continued to fatten himself up on energy reserves.

"Don't deactivate it yet. Let me absorb for a bit longer," Leon stated.

There were not many chances to freely absorb quality energy like these. Thus, Leon intended to make the best out of it.

Several moments later, the cold mist became so thin that even the entrance to the next floor was revealed. 

"Alright. Deactivate it, Aria."

"Mm!"

Aria immediately complied after receiving the cue from Leon and struck a slightly raised red plate in the ground, causing it to click into place and obstructed the energy circuit underneath, forcing the formation's deactivation.

A few moments after that, the cold mist fully dispersed by Leon raised his flame and illuminated the entire cave that was no bigger than a few hundred feet in diameter.

Aria studied the size of the cave and nodded, thinking that the cave was not big like she had anticipated.

Shortly after, Leon returned to her side while observing the intricate markings around the cave before he said, "Seems like I can only study the formation at a later date."

The circuit details have been purposely hidden below the surface. 

If Leon wanted to study the inner workings of the formation, he would have to overturn the place and pry the ground open. 

"Come, let us head down to the next area," Leon urged before saying, "I don't think this demon's tomb will only have one obstacle for us."

After receiving consent from Aria and Darlene, Leon took the lead and reached the entrance to the lower floor before heading down the dark staircase while the brightly lit flame on his index finger.

"I'm guessing there will be at least another two trials in between us and the demon's guarded treasures," Aria commented along the way before she added, "And there's a chance these trials will be even more dangerous.

"Most likely," Leon nodded and said, "It's pretty standard for tomb owners to set up at least three trials, and the last trial before the inheritance is usually always the most difficult."

"I wonder how the others overcame these trials in the past openings of the secret realm. Do you have any idea, Darlene?"

Darlene was slightly surprised before she shook her head, "It's been 200 years since the last time anyone from the Darkmoon Tribe entered the secret realm, and most of them have died in and outside of it."

"I see…" Leon uttered. 

For Battle Masters to enter formation-based trials without a hint of knowledge in formations, it was the same as walking into a death trap. 

As such, Leon did not seem too surprised by Darlene's answer.

Shortly after reaching the bottom of the staircase, Leon and the two ladies quickly discovered another large gate guarded by two tall statues—much like the first time they entered.

"This again," Aria raised an eyebrow and muttered, "I wonder if there's going to be another recorded projection."

Click!

As if her words jinxed it, she unwittingly stepped on a pressure pad on the ground and activated the hidden mechanism set in place before the same blue-colored Arch Demon appeared once more.

"Speak of the devil."