Prime Originator

'Master, I beg you; please don't go to the central island! You can't go there!' Tak-si cried. 

'Why can't I go? What are you hiding there? Unless you explain it to me without any falsehood, I will go to the central island regardless. How do you expect me to trust you if you hide things from me?' Leon questioned it. 

'I cannot say, Master. Please understand that I have my own difficulties…!' Tak-si replied with difficulty as if it was at its wit's end while enduring something.

'Grrr! I can't take it anymore! Human or demon, I don't care what the f*ck you are; you listen here! If you dare to step a single foot on the central island, I will f*ck you up in the ass, you hear me?! Piss off!' 

The realm spirit suddenly snapped. 

However, its manner of speech completely changed, as if it underwent a personality switch—almost to the point that even its effeminate male voice sounded more womanly. 

Regardless of the reason, Leon could not help but feel his hair rising with goosebumps while getting caught off-guard at the same time.

'The f*ck did you say to me? I dare you to say it again!' Leon responded.

'Piss the f*ck off!' the realm spirit cursed. 

Leon was surprised by the abrupt change, but he could not but feel even more curious; evidently, the central island hides a great secret pertaining to the realm spirit's change. 

"Interesting…" he uttered. 

"Darlene, how are you feeling?" he turned to Darlene before asking, "Are you good to use your spatial abilities and open up another spatial passage to the central floating island?" 

"It's a bit draining, but I should be able to use it one more time before I need to rest," Darlene answered. 

However, if it didn't take so much time to move so many people through the Dark Passage at the same time, she didn't doubt that she could use Dark Passage several more times. 

Dark Passage was meant to be an instantaneous movement, but the delayed time resulted in high energy consumption.

After the group moved to the location of the power chain leading to the central floating island, Darlene sliced open the spatial rift before proceeding to slice through it again. 

Void Fracture!

However, the second spatial rift at the end of the dark passageway only opened briefly before closing again. 

"Hm?" 

Darlene knitted her brows at the discovery before deciding to open up the second spatial rift with Void Fracture again.

But like the first time, the second spatial rift quickly closed up.

At the same time, Leon and Aria quickly noticed a problem obstructing Darlene from proceeding further despite the large energy consumption draining colors from her face. 

"That's enough, Darlene," Leon stopped her attempting to use Dark Passage any further before asking, "What's the problem?"

"There seems to be some strong interference on the central floating island; it won't let me keep the spatial opening for long," Darlene answered with a frown. 

"Oh? It seems there really is something special about the central island," Aria commented. 

"Of the two floating landmasses we visited, it is clear that the dark energy is much denser compared to other places; if not for the runes on the building warding off the dark energy, this place would be engulfed in the dark clouds."

"Perhaps, the concentration of dark energy has reached an exceedingly high level that surpassed the central floating island's ability to ward off and immersed it, forming a natural barrier of strong interference?" she speculated. 

Although Aria wasn't exactly right, her words allowed Leon to draw his own conclusions. 

"You're not far from the truth, Aria; the central island has already lost its core, so it shouldn't have any ability to ward off the dark energy. And if there is such a large quantity of dark energy concentrated on the central floating island, there must be something attracting all of it."

Leon mentioned.

However, he also had another thought. 

'If nothing attracted all the dark energy to the central island, then it must… be the epicenter of the Eternal Night Demon Empress's inner world's collapse!' 

Once he thought of that possibility, he couldn't get rid of the idea.

'Stay away if you don't want to die!' the realm spirit suddenly roared with a threatening tone.

An enormous spiritual pressure gathered in the sky before bearing down on Leon—only to come in contact with his Nihility Barrier before the realm spirit shrieked. 

The spiritual pressure vanished without a trace in the next instance as if it had retreated. 

"Let us go and find out what secrets are hidden on the central floating island," Leon urged the group. 

After Aria and Darlene voiced their acknowledgment, Leon carried Darlene on his back and took the lead, flying ahead of the others. 

Sometime later, they gradually reached the boundary of the central floating island with the power chain as their guide. 

Otherwise, they would have been lost in the endless clouds of dark energy.

"T-the dark energy is so much richer here than we thought!" Saresha and the other dark fae exclaimed with pleasant expressions. 

They could feel their pores naturally opening and greedily devouring the dark energy in the atmosphere, making them feel invigorated with power.

Some even felt like they had a chance of becoming Greater Demons despite possessing a flawed energy cultivation method.

"This place is practically a holy cultivation spot for demons, yet it's only the outer boundary; I wonder what it's like at the center…" Saresha uttered with anticipation. 

"We'll find out soon enough," Leon casually said. 

The dark energy ahead of them was so thick that it practically formed a physical barrier, repelling them like elastic rubbers when they tried to force their way through.

However, Leon used the Nihility Law to clear them a path. 

Not long after, they finally themselves on the central floating island, but with zero visibility due to the dense clouds of dark energy in the place. 

Even so, Leon mapped out the entirety of the central floating island with his divine sense. 

The central floating island was only half the size of other floating islands—not in terms of its surface coverage, but its overall mass.