Chapter 426: Gold King!

The towering, iron-like Nether King immediately stripped off the Yama of the Ten Halls. Without the armor to conceal him, his emaciated, skeletal frame was laid bare.

He looked as though he had shrunk three sizes.

Su Mu was mildly surprised. He finally understood why the Nether King had kept himself so thoroughly covered the entire time, never even showing his face.

Such a skin-and-bones appearance certainly ruined the image of a king.

He guessed this had to do with the Nether King's own Law—it was why the man looked less like a human and more like a skeleton.

He didn't care what the Nether King looked like, though. Snatching the armor, he vanished instantly.

The Giant Demon's corpse vanished along with him.

This haul was a massive windfall. He had secured not only the Artifacts of the Seven Kings, but the Giant Demon Essence Blood as well.

He left without a care, leaving the robbed Seven Kings with ashen faces. They exchanged glances in dead silence, looking like beaten dogs.

The Dream World.

Su Mu set the Artifacts of the Seven Kings aside and began to dissect the Giant Demon's corpse.

Since the Artifacts of the Seven Kings were still missing the Sword of Royal Power, he obviously couldn't open the Land of Origin yet. He figured he might as well advance to the Gold King tier first.

Although it hadn't been long in reality since he became a Gold powerhouse, several years had actually passed for him. With the aid of the Dream Time Chamber and the wishes granted by Supreme Heaven, a mere Gold Law could be refined in an instant!

A long time later, Su Mu finished extracting all the essence blood from the Giant Demon's body—roughly ten milliliters in total.

This was his first time advancing to the Gold King tier. He didn't know how much essence blood he would need, so he decided to try a single drop first and see if he needed more.

He tilted the glass bottle, and a single drop of essence blood—as clear as a ruby and surging with immense power—slowly dripped into his palm.

The drop looked unremarkable, but the instant it touched his skin, Su Mu felt a scorching, overbearing power invade his body without warning.

The skin on his hand gradually flushed crimson.

Su Mu hesitated no longer and directly swallowed the essence blood. Instantly, his entire body felt as though it had been engulfed in raging flames. Every cell burned as terrifying, violent power rampaged through him.

The Gold Law of the Giant Demon immediately began to circulate. A towering, murderous aura erupted from him, and his muscles rippled rhythmically.

The essence blood slowly dissolved into his limbs and bones, its violent energy continuously washing over and transforming his body.

The aura radiating from him climbed steadily. As time passed, his presence grew increasingly terrifying. The power contained within his body condensed without erupting, causing the surrounding void to faintly distort.

A long time later, accompanied by a crisp hum, all the phenomena rushed back into his body like a reversed river.

Su Mu slowly opened his eyes. A crystalline blue light shone as dazzlingly as the stars before silently fading away.

A touch of surprise appeared on his face. "I didn't expect a single drop of essence blood to successfully advance me to the Gold King tier."

He guessed this was likely related to his continuous use of Supreme Heaven to make wishes. Through the accumulation of countless wishes, his physique had long since approached its absolute limit. Therefore, he only needed a single drop of essence blood as a catalyst to easily shatter the boundary.

"This works out perfectly. The leftover essence blood can still be put to use."

Su Mu planned to reward the essence blood to Lin Canyang, the chief candidate of the Seven Deadly Sins. Lin Canyang had put in a lot of hard work recently, running missions practically every single day.

He traveled all over the world, going wherever the nobles were to deliver grand nightmare gift packages to them.

It could be said that he had made monumental contributions toward forcing the entire world to form a unified front against the nightmares.

Recently, he had even been secretly dealing with the major divine cults cropping up in the Present World.

Coupled with his multiple cultivation sessions in the Dream Time Chamber, Lin Canyang had already developed his own Law to near completion, giving him the qualifications to advance to the Gold King tier.

With a thought, Su Mu directly pulled Lin Canyang into the dream.

Above the endless White Mist, seven ancient, oversized chairs were neatly arranged around a massive long table.

Lin Canyang, who had appeared out of nowhere, froze for a moment before his gaze locked onto the figure in the tailcoat seated at the head of the table.

He hurriedly bowed his head, his voice filled with fervent respect. "Chief Candidate of the Seven Deadly Sins greets the Leader!"

"Mm," Su Mu nodded.

"Leader, for what purpose have you summoned your subordinate this time?" Lin Canyang glanced at the empty seats, a spark of anticipation rising in his heart.

'The Leader didn't summon any of the official members, only me. Could he have an important task to assign? Could he be promoting me to an official member?'

Becoming an official member had always been Lin Canyang's greatest dream.

"You've executed your missions well recently. The Seven Deadly Sins has always been clear on rewards and punishments; this is your reward."

'A reward for me?'

Lin Canyang hurriedly looked up to see a small glass bottle filled with blood floating through the air, slowly drifting toward him.

Seeing that it was just a small bottle, Lin Canyang felt a pang of disappointment. He assumed it was a Transcendent Potion. While he knew a Transcendent Potion rewarded by the Leader would certainly be of extraordinary quality, in his heart, no treasure could compare to becoming an official member.

However, the moment he took the small vial and felt the terrifying aura contained within, his mindset shifted instantly.

"This... this is..." Lin Canyang's voice trembled with excitement. He could clearly feel the liquid inside the bottle resonating with his own body, possessing an intoxicating, inescapable allure.

"Saint Grade Giant Demon Essence Blood. With it, you can advance to the Gold King tier." Su Mu's indifferent voice echoed out Above the White Mist.

Lin Canyang was instantly overwhelmed with ecstasy! 'A Gold King!? I can actually become a Gold King?!'

He had never even dared to dream of something so wonderful. The lofty Seven Kings were renowned throughout the world; every single person knew of them. Yet, how long had it been since he joined the Seven Deadly Sins? He wasn't even an official member, yet he was actually getting the chance to become a Gold King!?

His previous mindset was completely overturned. No treasure could compare to being an official member... unless it allowed him to advance to the Gold King tier.

Thump!

Lin Canyang dropped straight to his knees, slamming his forehead heavily against the ground. "Thank you for the reward, Leader! I will never forget your profound grace! This subordinate swears to serve the Leader to the death!"

"Rise," Su Mu said, not particularly caring about Lin Canyang's loyalty. As far as he was concerned, once they boarded the pirate ship that was the Seven Deadly Sins, whether or not they were willing to serve to the death was no longer up to them.

"Yes, Leader!" Lin Canyang leaped to his feet in excitement. He clutched the Giant Demon Essence Blood, looking completely unsure of where to safely stow it.

"What have the major divine cults been up to lately?"

Lin Canyang hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Leader: the major divine cults are still largely unpresentable. They're mostly engaged in petty skirmishes and are being heavily suppressed by the Seven Great Empires. However, the Pain Divine Cult has stirred up quite a few major incidents recently.

"After being wiped out last time, the Pain Divine Cult has risen from the ashes. Not only do they have a new cult leader, but they've even taken root in the Blood Moon Empire. Word is that the Blood Moon Empire is completely overwhelmed by them right now."