Chapter 1774: Chapter 1313: The Demons
Any mage who has possessed a World Secret Domain for more than ten years will discover a mechanism: the strength of a World Secret Domain is directly proportional to its size.
When the Secret Realm expands, its authority is strengthened accordingly; when the Secret Realm shrinks, its authority weakens accordingly.
But if you set the smallest unit of Secret Realm as possessing 100 authority, then a Secret Realm of 100 units in size would only have 101 authority. In other words, while the size of the Secret Realm can affect the height of its authority, the impact factor is extremely low. Even long-lived Divine Lords won’t exploit this mechanism; compared to scheming to expand the Secret Realm for that paltry bit of authority growth, using the Secret Realm to produce various resources is a far more suitable management strategy.
Moreover, the most suitable "growth environment" for a World Secret Domain is the Void Realm. If you place it in the Heavenly Kingdom and still want it to grow, then the only way is for the Divine Lord to feed it with resources, and the return on investment is abysmally low. If you truly want to raise a big Secret Realm, the only correct method is to foster it in the Void Realm and take it back once it has grown enough.
In the past, quite a few powerful Divine Lords who ruled their era indeed did this. The success rate was about half and half: half could reclaim it, while the other half were snatched away by other heaven’s-pride geniuses who used the small to win the big. Not only did they lose their Secret Realm, but the Divine Lord would often target that heaven’s pride because "my stuff was stolen," only for the heaven’s pride to grow up and counter-kill the Divine Lord instead.
The probability of this sort of thing happening seems rather high, because according to the All-knowing Weaver’s archaeology, Dazzling Star’s first World Secret Domain was obtained in exactly this way.
So for the vast majority of Divine Lords, the path of growing authority through expanding the Secret Realm is a mirage, a flower in the mirror, moon in the water.
Unless they achieve Phase Expansion.
The All-knowing Weaver gazed at the Sword Tomb Land extending to infinity, recalling the last Divine War three thousand years ago.
Contrary to what many imagine, Dazzling Star does not wipe out newborn Divine Lords to the last. As long as they can endure her continuous 24-hour barrage of Wonder, she will no longer make a move. Moreover, her waves of attacks gradually increase in strength; as long as the new Divine Lord grasps a Phase Secret Realm before the final wave, they can basically clear the trial.
But if they can’t learn it, they must die.
Rather than calling it murder, it’s better to say Dazzling Star is testing whether the new Divine Lord is qualified to be counted among Heaven. Although, from archaeology, Divine Lords in the past all needed several years to learn Phase Secret Realms, while the five of them must learn it within 24 hours... One could say that Dazzling Star, by her strength alone, has filtered out the strongest Heaven lineup in all history.
By contrast, the Extreme Master of Blood Moon is the true "I got drenched in the rain so I’ll smash your umbrellas." He is the harshest on newborn Divine Lords. Back when the All-Knowing and Senluo had just entered the Heavenly Kingdom, they were almost crushed by him and only barely managed to survive.
With this genuine little bastard, the Extreme Master of Blood Moon, as a comparison, Dazzling Star’s Death Test becomes almost acceptable. Although no one will admit it, the Divine Lords more or less revere the most ancient Dazzling Star as an elder sister, especially the Extreme Master of Blood Moon—this guy’s favorite routine is to introduce some breakthrough he has achieved, then inevitably end with "Dazzling Star, you can’t do that, can you?" just like a bratty little gremlin.
So three thousand years ago, after they formulated the plan to hunt the Source Angel, Dazzling Star, with overwhelming bearing, demanded that they provide resources to help her establish the Allstars Cage, and only then did the five Divine Lords for the first time unite to besiege Dazzling Star.
What should have been settled at the negotiating table, Dazzling Star directly moved to the battlefield, giving them a condition they could not refuse: as long as they defeated her, she would provide resources but not participate in hunting Angels.
But if she won, then the others would have to support her unconditionally.
That was the first time the All-knowing and the others witnessed Phase Expansion, and it was also the last six-lord Divine War of Heaven. After that, it was all minor skirmishes, and Dazzling Star basically stopped taking the field.
Three thousand years ago, the All-knowing Weaver had been shaken by the Phase Expansion Wonder "Infinite Radiant Starry Sky." Now, as she looked upon the Sword Tomb Land, an exceedingly rare wisp of battle intent rose in her heart.
"You are not Dazzling Star," her gaze was brighter than ever before. "And I am not the All-knowing of three thousand years ago."
"This is a battle that’s actually worth something."
The Lord of Infinite Abyss, with aged white hair, suddenly burst into roaring white flames. When the white flames dissipated, he had astonishingly reverted to a youthful form; his voice shifted from hoarse age to rich magnetism, resounding throughout the Seven Heavens:
"This is the battle I’ve been waiting for!"
"Wait, Infinite!" The Imaginary Music Master stretched out a hand to stop him. "This isn’t just your battle; they threaten the Hell Seal—"
"It’s all the same."
The Lord of Infinite Abyss took a step forward, crossing a vast distance to the edge of the End Phase. He reached out and pushed, and a door actually appeared on the surface of the Phase Curtain. As he stepped into the Sword Tomb Land, the Infinite Heavenly Kingdom simultaneously tainted the End Heavenly Kingdom, turning the Sword Tomb Land into his Extreme East Snow Plain.
Generally speaking, a Phase is a Divine Lord’s private reserve. Divine Wars at most erupt at the edge of a Phase; no matter how powerful a Divine Lord is, they cannot invade another Divine Lord’s Phase. Even Dazzling Star cannot do this.
But the Lord of Infinite Abyss is the one and only exception.
On the strength of Phase invasion alone, the Lord of Infinite Abyss is the undisputed number-one Space Mage of all ages; what’s even more terrifying is that he never stops improving. The Magic Wonder he used to enter the End Heavenly Kingdom was actually centered on the newly born, not-even-one-year-old "Sky Gate Technique Spirit," which means he can still keep up with the latest magic achievements and continuously refine his own Wonders!
"We need to defeat her anyway." The Lord of Infinite Abyss walked toward Sonia step by step, bringing with him a sky of wind and snow, like a harsh winter draping over the Sword Tomb Land. "Isn’t this a perfect opportunity?"
"The unsealing of Hell gives us a reason we can’t hold back, and her power gives us a rare chance at a test." His voice rang loud as he raised his head to look up at the seven-winged Sonia atop the giant sword scabbard. "A chance to test whether we have the qualifications to compete with Dazzling Star for the Supreme position!"
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