Chapter 667: Nexus Continuum

"Is it related to perfection?" Grey muttered as he continued studying the beings within his Inner World.

He still couldn’t understand the phenomenon completely. The Nexus Path was built around the concept of absolute perfection, so perhaps that foundation had somehow influenced the initial state of every being born within his world.

However, another possibility was the Fate Power he had used during the creation process. Fate determined the destiny of all things, and perhaps the Fate Power had simply decided that perfection meant beginning at the 7th Rank.

As Grey continued thinking about it, another possibility crossed his mind.

The Summit of Nexus that his Pathstriders used as their foundation might have resonated with the world creation process itself. If that was the case, perhaps the resonance had established a baseline for all life within his Inner World.

Grey mentally recorded each of these theories for later investigation. There was no point in wasting time trying to reach a conclusion when he didn’t have enough information yet.

For now, he had more pressing matters to deal with.

Grey turned his attention toward the Yellow Devil King, who was still kneeling on the ground beneath the overwhelming pressure of his aura.

"Well," Grey said casually, "you picked a bad time to attack this settlement, didn’t you?"

As he spoke, Grey casually snapped his fingers.

The Hell Portal above the battlefield immediately expanded dramatically, and countless more angels began pouring out of the rift in an endless stream.

However, these angels were different from the ones he had summoned previously.

Every single one of them possessed early 13th Rank power.

That was the same base level as Grey’s own current strength.

The dimensional fabric of the Ancient Hell groaned under the immense strain. Space began cracking and distorting around the battlefield as the sheer concentration of power gathered in one location placed tremendous pressure on the realm itself.

Naturally, everyone present was stunned by the display.

The White Devil King’s jaw dropped completely.

"He’s summoning beings at the same rank as himself," he whispered in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

Prince Azrael stumbled backward, his legs barely able to support him as he stared at the countless angels descending from the portal.

Commander Vaelon, meanwhile, simply fell to his knees without even realizing it.

The Yellow Devil King stared upward at Grey, terror and confusion mixing within his eyes.

"Y-You... just what are you?!" he demanded.

Grey looked down at him with a bored expression.

"You don’t need to know."

Hearing this, the Yellow Devil King’s terror quickly transformed into desperate fury.

"I refuse to die here!" he roared.

Golden corruption suddenly exploded from his body as he activated his ultimate technique.

"Devil Union: Infinite Corruption Sovereign Manifestation!"

His form began changing rapidly. Four additional arms burst from his torso as his skin turned a deep golden color and became covered in intricate corruption patterns. At the same time, a crown of twisted horns sprouted from his skull.

His power surged dramatically, pushing past the early 13th Rank and toward the middle stage.

With all of his accumulated strength, the Yellow Devil King launched himself toward Grey.

"Abyssal Corruption Art: Thousand Souls Devouring Strike of Eternal Damnation!"

A thousand phantom claws made entirely of pure corruption materialized around him. Each claw contained the screaming faces of countless devoured souls, and all of them converged upon Grey simultaneously from every direction.

Grey didn’t move.

Instead, he finally activated his own power.

"Nexus Continuum."

The World Force generated by the billions of beings within his Inner World flooded into his body.

Purple light erupted from his form as his power began amplifying exponentially, causing his already terrifying 13th Rank strength to multiply several times over.

Grey calmly raised a single finger and pointed toward the incoming attack.

"Boring."

A beam of concentrated Nexus Axiom Energy shot from his fingertip.

The beam tore through all thousand corruption claws as though they were nothing more than paper. The phantom faces screamed before dissolving into nothingness, and the entire attack was completely annihilated.

The Yellow Devil King’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Impossible! My Ultimate Soul Corruption Technique was negated so easily?!"

Before he could react, Grey disappeared from his position.

In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of the Yellow Devil King.

"Divine Shattered Shock."

His fist connected with the Yellow Devil King’s chest.

BOOM!

The impact created a massive shockwave that flattened everything within a mile radius. Buildings crumbled, the ground cratered, and countless Yellow Devil soldiers were sent flying in every direction.

The Yellow Devil King coughed up golden blood as he was launched backward.

However, he quickly recovered and launched another counterattack.

"Corruption Devil Art: Infinite Pestilence Domain of Absolute Decay!"

A dome of sickly golden energy expanded from his body and covered the entire battlefield. Everything within the domain immediately began rotting and decaying at an accelerated rate.

Grey felt the corruption attempting to eat away at his body.

Yet instead of being concerned, he simply smiled.

"Not bad," he admitted. "But my energy doesn’t tolerate imperfection."

The moment his Nexus Energy flared outward, the golden corruption domain began cracking.

Wherever the purple light touched, the domain shattered like glass. Within seconds, the entire technique had been completely neutralized.

The Yellow Devil King’s face contorted with rage and desperation.

"How?! How are you countering everything I do?!"

He charged forward once again, all six arms raised as he gathered every remaining trace of power within his body.

"Abyssal Devil Ultimate Technique: Six Arms of Apocalyptic Destruction Capable of Ending Realms!"

Each of his six arms gathered a different form of corruption energy. Fire, poison, decay, shadow, soul corruption, and reality distortion merged together into a single devastating attack.

Grey didn’t even bother dodging.

Instead, he activated Nexus Overclock at 500% while simultaneously maintaining the amplification provided by Nexus Continuum.

Luminous circuits spread across his body as his power surged even higher.

Then, to the Yellow Devil King’s absolute disbelief, Grey caught all six attacks with his bare hands.

"You caught them?! All of them?!"

Grey tightened his grip around the corruption-covered fists.

"That Devil Union technique of yours is interesting," he commented casually. "I’ll have to look into it later."

Immediately after, he pulled the Yellow Devil King toward himself and drove his knee into the demon’s stomach.

BOOM!

The impact folded the Yellow Devil King in half before sending him crashing into the ground.

Grey descended slowly before landing beside the groaning figure.

"This battle is over."

The Yellow Devil King struggled to rise, but his body refused to obey him. The accumulated damage was simply too severe.

"Please..." he begged weakly. "Spare me..."

Grey looked down at him without a trace of mercy in his eyes.

"You came here to kill every White Devil in this settlement," Grey said flatly. "You don’t deserve mercy."

He immediately activated the Devourer of Chaos.

A localized black hole formed around his hand, and the Yellow Devil King screamed as his Inner World was forcibly ripped from his existence.

His cultivation, his power, and his very essence were devoured one after another.

Grey absorbed the enemy’s world directly into his own.

The Yellow Devil King’s body finally crumbled into dust as the last traces of his power were consumed.

Grey could immediately feel his Inner World expanding from the absorbed energy.

World Devouring was indeed one way to strengthen an Inner World.

However, he knew it couldn’t be relied upon indefinitely. Continuous devouring could eventually make an Inner World unstable, meaning the absorbed energy had to be properly refined after being devoured.

For now, Grey’s universe had reached a diameter of 21 billion light years.

It had originally been 16 billion light years, but after devouring the Yellow Devil King’s Inner World, it had expanded considerably.

That was already the starting point for many universes at the 10th Rank.

However, reaching the second level of the 10th Rank would require his universe to reach 32 billion light years in diameter, and the requirement would continue doubling with every subsequent level.

As for the name of this realm, Grey had already made his decision.

World Opening Realm.

The reason he chose World Opening instead of naming the realm after Nexus was simple.

Half of his Pathstriders would still use the Dao as their foundation when opening their worlds. Naming the entire realm after a single method would therefore be unfair.

With that thought settled, Grey looked around at the aftermath of the battle.

The Yellow Devil forces had been completely annihilated, while the Nexus Angels were currently rounding up the remaining survivors. Meanwhile, the White Devils simply stared at Grey with a mixture of awe and fear.

Seraphina soon flew over to him, stars practically shining in her eyes.

"That was incredible!" she exclaimed.

Grey merely shrugged.

"It was nothing special."

Hearing this, Seraphina’s expression became even more amazed.

Before she could say anything else, the White Devil King approached slowly with his head respectfully lowered.

"Lord Grey," he said formally, "I apologize for any offense we may have caused you during your stay. Please forgive our rudeness."

Grey raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in attitude.

"What happened to wanting your son to fight me?"

He had naturally heard about the matter while he was ascending.

The White Devil King’s face immediately turned pale at the reminder.

"That was..." He hesitated before forcing an awkward smile. "That was a terrible idea on my part. Please forget I ever suggested it."

Prince Azrael stood far away, deliberately avoiding any eye contact with Grey whatsoever.

Seeing their reactions, Grey couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Relax," he said. "I’m not going to destroy your settlement. You’ve been decent hosts so far."

The White Devil King visibly sighed in relief.

With that matter settled, Grey turned his attention toward the Hell Portal still swirling above the battlefield.

The countless Nexus Angels he had summoned remained suspended in the sky, silently awaiting his orders.

"Return to the Inner World."

The command was simple, but the angels immediately obeyed.

One by one, they flew back through the inner world portal and disappeared into the rift. After the final angel entered, the massive portal gradually closed behind them.

Just then, someone far away was staring at the spot Grey was standing at.