Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

This was not Sterl's intention to deceive Licitris.

By utilizing the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array, he could selectively draw in countless sacrificial bloods. Although this would waste the formation's potential to enhance power, it could dilute the Blood of Contamination.

Indeed, it could allow the Succubus Queen to linger for a few more days. However, the divine-level formation could only withstand the calamity from the upper realms for a few days at most.

This was primarily because the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array could counter the Blood of Contamination, while a standard formation would have little to no effect.

The only issue was that it was certainly too late to set up this formation now; they could only make use of the successfully established Heavenly Locking Formation in hell.

However, the Heavenly Locking Formation concealed the Archduke of Blood!

If Licitris aimed to suppress the Blood of Contamination, she would inevitably confront the Archduke of Blood, who wielded the Origin of Chaos!

By the way, when Sterl changed to his larger form, he took a distant look around. Using his skills as a top-tier Array Master, he confirmed that the Archduke of Blood had not activated the formation ahead of time.

Clearly, this divine-level demon also hoped to activate the formation at a time when the contamination level had peaked.

Yet, Sterl did not rush to propose any induction; he merely expressed concern as Mephistopheles in a panic.

If he mentioned the formation, it would appear too purposeful.

How could Mephistopheles know all this?

What if Licitris asked him about it? How would he answer?

Sincerity was the ultimate weapon!

The Mephistopheles that Sterl portrayed would never attempt to lie to Licitris. If he failed, all the prior manipulation would go up in flames.

Fortunately, as Sterl anticipated, other divine-level beings might react slowly, but Licitris had already arranged for a Supreme sacrifice beforehand.

She could not possibly forget about the formation within the layer of hell.

"Yes! I can't give up yet! Every extra day I can spend with you is worth it!"

Licitris revealed an incredibly radiant smile, feeling as if she were immersed in honey while looking into Mephistopheles's concerned eyes.

She activated her Divine Power to forcefully diminish the influence of the Blood of Contamination once more, restoring her to the magnificent Succubus Queen she once was.

However, this was merely superficial.

"There is a river valley in the layer of hell, where countless years of blood force have accumulated. Perhaps we could use it to slightly delay the effects of the Blood of Contamination!"

The reason Licitris only thought of this formation now was that she was not a professional Array Master like Sterl and hadn't considered the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array's potential for such a purpose.

It was only when Sterl brought up the idea of diluting the Blood of Contamination that Licitris analyzed it and saw some logic, prompting her to recall the existence of the formation.

"Let's go together."

"After all, we can't stay here much longer."

Licitris looked up at the ceiling. In the Heavenly Palace, a sculpture depicting an angel suddenly shed a drop of colorful tears from high above.

This beautifully haunting scene sent a chill down Licitris's spine.

The divine-level artifacts had been thoroughly corrupted!

The Heavenly Palace had also become part of the Blood of Contamination!

Licitris looked at Mephistopheles and nodded with a smile, speaking words that seemed to suggest they would face this together. Suddenly, she made a firm decision—

While the formation might alleviate the effects of the Blood of Contamination, her own power as a divine-level being was too vast for the formation to cleanse completely.

But… if it were Mephistopheles…

Sterl's gaze was filled with deep emotion, but his mind was racing as he quickly reviewed his plans.

He always tended to consider multiple angles.

Sterl understood well that the more complex the plan, the easier it was to fail.

In this world, there was no such thing as a perfect strategy.

Sterl's approach was to predict the general direction of certain events based on objective realities and to make multiple preparations accordingly.

One plan involved killing the Archduke of Blood.

This included inducing Licitris to become hostile toward him.

He had discreetly spread the news that the natural blood formation could resist the Blood of Contamination, which was what he had done when he changed to his larger form. Sterl estimated that at this moment, all the divine beings would have similar levels of infection.

Soon, in the river valley where the Heavenly Locking Formation was located, the divine beings from the main world and even the Lord of Evil Spirits would arrive.

In the ensuing chaos, everyone would fight to seize the formation.

As a hidden divine-level being, Sterl could briefly unleash divine-level power thanks to his Holy Spirit Bloodline, allowing him to navigate the turmoil!

All he needed was to claim the head of the Archduke of Blood!

In addition, he could directly utilize the results of his manipulation of Licitris, commanding her to fight for him.

He could also attempt to reverse-engineer the Archduke of Blood's formation within the river valley and seize it for himself…

Multiple preparations were in place.

Do what one can, and leave the rest to fate.

Having prepared for failure, he could only say that the odds of obtaining a head and gaining fortune were not low.

Yet, Sterl still felt uneasy because of the Archduke of Blood's Origin of Chaos!

Having his own Origin of Chaos, Sterl understood just how outrageous such a power was.

How could he gain such explosive combat power on the battlefield so quickly?

From an existence that struggled against a Supreme, he transformed into a being capable of effortlessly obliterating even hidden Supremes like Lovic?

Three hundred blood force directly pointed to three perfect Laws.

This was equivalent to a demigod's thousand years of hard work.

In an instant, Sterl filled the Shattered Void to its maximum!

How powerful could the supreme Sky Thunder be under the control of a divine-level being?

Sterl felt that when the Archduke of Blood had previously made his move, he might have only unleashed a fraction of his true power!

This time, he was destined to fight desperately to protect the formation!

Several divine beings would also strive to kill their equal counterparts to delay the progress of the Blood of Contamination, which meant they would fight fiercely for the kills. At that point, he might only be able to command Licitris to buy time with her life.

Would she obey?

That was difficult!

"It's okay."

Seemingly sensing Sterl's worries, Licitris suddenly grasped his hand. A faint warmth spread from her palm into Sterl's body.

"Yes, we can definitely do it."

Sterl replied, his tone firm, pushing aside any errant thoughts.

...

Soon, the two left the Heavenly Palace.

Enveloped by Divine Power, Licitris and Sterl arrived almost instantaneously in the underground river valley, where three figures were already standing.

One of them was the Lord of Evil Spirits, who had barely managed to restore himself to half his original size.

The other two were divine beings from the main world, their bodies glowing with a flickering light, but the divine light around them was occasionally tainted by an odd, multicolored dye.

It was quite unsettling to behold.

"You're here too! Good, good! Let's join forces against the enemy!"

The Lord of Evil Spirits hurried over to Licitris's side, finally feeling a bit more relaxed.

Rog had just received the news, learning through interrogation of a devout follower of a divine being from the main world, who had been fully tainted, that there was indeed a natural formation in this hell that could suppress the Blood of Contamination to a certain extent.

The Lord of Evil Spirits felt quite lucky.

If it weren't for the fact that the follower of the divine being would choose a place for Annihilation that wouldn't affect others before dying, and if he hadn't suddenly sensed a peculiar power erupting near his closed-off location and gone to investigate, he wouldn't have stumbled upon this follower.

Without extracting information from the remnants of the follower's soul, he wouldn't have made it to the location of the Heavenly Locking Formation. Had he arrived any later, the two divine beings from the main world might have already worked together to take the formation away.

Clearly, the coincidences that Rog encountered were the result of Sterl's schemes. He had manipulated the followers of the divine beings from the main world to end up near the Lord of Evil Spirits, while also informing a Swallowing Heaven player of the blood in the valley that could purify the Blood of Contamination, hinting that he should report this information to Rog for potential rewards.

The latter preparation fell flat. Rog exhibited the cunning expected from a divine-level demon, successfully rummaging through the memories of the follower of the divine being.

However, when Rog arrived at the river valley, he coincidentally ran into the two divine beings from the Golden Kingdom and Ashen.

Under normal circumstances, a fight should have broken out.

However, the divine beings from the main world hesitated due to the news that Sterl had spread using his larger form—specifically, that the valley had been affected by the contamination to a lesser degree, prompting them to investigate.

They were wary of acting immediately, fearing that they might destroy the valley's unique properties. At the same time, they were concerned that the other divine beings might suddenly turn against them while attacking the divine-level demon, leading to a stalemate.

At this moment, it appeared to be a two-on-two standoff.

In reality, each divine-level being was operating as an individual entity, eyeing each other warily.

Just then, the last ray of light descended from the sky.

Marlon, a divine being from the Hall of Valor, had been delayed for some reason but had finally arrived!

Sterl, standing behind Licitris, felt a jolt.

Thanks to his Holy Spirit Bloodline, he barely sensed the presence of the Archduke of Blood—faint and elusive. It was clear that this divine-level demon had also noticed that the formation was being targeted and, faced with five equals, chose to hide for the moment.

This eased Sterl's mind.

If the Archduke of Blood had chosen to strike directly, it would indicate that he was confident in facing five divine beings thanks to his Origin of Chaos.

How strong would that make him?

Putting Sterl aside for now, the five divine beings engaged in a brief standoff.

Suddenly, Licitris spoke up: "You all must be aware of the uniqueness of this valley, which can prolong our lives."

"If we engage in a fight now, if even one of us falls, the others will undoubtedly perish instantly under the effects of the Blood of Contamination."

"Why not collaborate to develop the formation within this valley first?"

With her experience from the previous Supreme demon's sacrifice, she believed she could leverage the Heavenly Locking Formation for an advantage, so she was the first to suggest this.

The air momentarily froze.

It wasn't a good proposal; even if they pooled all the blood gathered from an entire layer of hell, the purification they could achieve would be limited. Sharing the development meant that each individual could only extend their life by a small margin.

The three divine beings from the main world were the first to relent.

"Alright, we'll follow your lead."

"Let's first see if this blood can alleviate the contamination."

"Given the situation, we might as well band together and do our best to survive."

...

Their environment made them more cautious about life than the two demons who had advanced to divine level in hell.

Moreover, the three divine beings were not in a position to expel the two demons.

Thus, the conflict paused.