Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 123 Total War, Black God Makes His Move, Silver God Suffers Injury

"You've just been promoted to knight, how about I give you this Royal Blood Core as a greeting gift?"

Driven by the Silver Ghost King's telekinetic power, the silver crystal core floated to Hunzhen's front.

"It's not this kind of 'sincerity'."

Hunzhen shook his head again.

Such disrespect and audacity further fueled the discontent of the nobles.

However, the Silver Demon King remained unperturbed, instead asking with curiosity, "Oh? Then tell me, what is 'sincerity'?"

However, despite Yin Gui Wang's "indulgence," Hun Zhen himself felt no joy at being favored; instead, he felt increasingly cautious.

The fact that Silver Demon King casually killed the King of Blood "for him" was enough to prove how much Silver Demon King valued him.

This is also the basis for his courage to refute it a second time.

Logically speaking, with this level of attention, even if he speaks rudely, the Silver Demon King would at most only punish him.

As long as the Silver Demon King doesn't show any murderous intent, it's all within the acceptable range of Hunzhen's test.

But the truth is... the Silver Demon King still tolerated his disrespect, as if his patience with him had no limits.

Being valued and favored is certainly a good thing, but once it exceeds a certain limit, it's impossible not to suspect whether there are other hidden motives behind it.

At this point, mere disrespectful probing is probably pointless and won't make Silver Demon King reveal his true intentions.

Hunzhen intended to get straight to the point and reveal his true intentions.

So he began by revealing his personal journey.

"Lord Silver God, I have a dream. It is for this dream that I have been able to overcome all the thorns and obstacles along the way to get here. For this dream, I am willing to give my life."

He delivered a passionate speech.

However, when the nobles heard the words "I am willing to give my life," their dislike for Hunzhen lessened somewhat.

They are not afraid of death, which suits their tastes perfectly.

If such a spiritual foundation exists, then even the slightest offense to a great deity is no longer so unacceptable.

After all, they're not afraid of dying.

"If anything hinders this goal, even if it's you, Lord Silver God, I must speak my mind. Otherwise, I will die with my eyes open in disgrace!"

The Silver Demon King nodded slightly, his body contorted in a grotesque gesture: "This dream is rather intriguing."

Hunzhen nodded: "I know my position is lowly, and my dreams and intentions can only be realized through the hands of others. The reason I climb to the pinnacle of power is to attach myself to a true king, and thus achieve my true goal—to unleash a massive storm that will sweep across the entire world and even overthrow it!"

Hunzhen spread his arms wide, as if embracing the entire world, his face filled with fervor, and said, "At that moment, even if it's only for that one moment, I am the center of the world! Even if I die immediately, it will not have been in vain that I came into this world! I am but a humble mortal, yet I dare to dream of moving the world! This is the dream I pursue!"

The maniacal rhetoric made the minds of many nobles, who were merely going with the flow, tremble, and even stirred their blood, imagining themselves as the center of the world.

Though they are noble and supreme aristocrats, in the face of the world, they are no different from ordinary people. Compared to their dream of shaking the world, their past ambitions seem insignificant.

The next moment, Hunzhen's voice suddenly became low and deep.

"Therefore, the person I wish to serve must be a wise and ambitious ruler, not a god who sits high on a throne like a mascot but does nothing!"

The term "mascot" was such an arrogant and offensive derogatory term that it made the nobles, who had just begun to appreciate Hunzhen, explode in their hearts!

They no longer uttered any rebukes, but each of them looked at Hunzhen with murderous intent, waiting only for the great god's command to tear Hunzhen to pieces.

Hunzhen, seemingly unaware of all this, raised his head: "Lord Silver God, this world has been silent for far too long. Countless pointless wars, with no clear victor, have continued for millennia, with no end in sight. The sincerity I desire is a promise from you—I want to see a real war! A war that sweeps across the entire world!"

After a brief silence, the Silver Demon King finally spoke in response.

"War. Do you know what the consequences will be once a full-scale war begins?" Silver Demon King asked.

"Life was devastated, countless facilities and buildings were destroyed, and all kinds of production operations were forced to stop," Hunzhen replied.

"Not only that, you inferior races must lead the way for the king. Compared to the previous childish wars, in a real war, hundreds or even thousands of times more inferior races will be the first to die."

The Silver Demon King's voice suddenly deepened: "So many of your compatriots will fall into hell because of you in just one year. Can you live with yourself?"

Hunzhen pointed to his own prominent features, his silver wings fluttering, and said, "They are not my compatriots. Moreover... such wars may cause heavy losses to people over thousands of years, but when the war ends and the world is unified, the number of people who died in the war will probably be greatly reduced. Future generations will thank me."

"Oh."

Silver Demon King couldn't help but laugh out loud, and the oppressive atmosphere suddenly dissipated.

"Then so be it, what harm is there in starting a war?"

Like a child's play, a great war that would engulf the entire abyss was thus set in motion.

On this day, the god of the Silver Demon Clan rose from his throne, left the temple, and joined the battle between the two royal clans.

Not to mention that as a chosen knight, Hunzhen will follow the Silver Demon King closely in the subsequent wars.

As the Silver Demon God descended the steps, Hunzhen finally saw his true face.

He was a handsome young man with silver hair and wearing silver armor.

As if done intentionally, its shape and overall appearance are very similar.

Undoubtedly, this is the image of the Silver Demon King in disguise.

……

The two kings had a mutual connection, and when the Silver Demon King left the temple, the Black Demon King naturally sensed it.

Before the Dark Demon King could react, the Silver Demon King, along with a group of royal blood members and most of the nobles, abandoned the seventeenth level of the Abyss and flew towards a higher level.

As the strongest member of his race, the Silver Demon King will remain on the sixteenth floor to intercept any potential Black Demon army, leaving no one by his side except for Hunzhen, the chosen knight.

As for the other royal bloodlines and nobles, they will continue upwards, aiming to conquer the eleventh to fifteenth layers of the abyss and provide support.

The strategy is very simple: use divine power to intercept the most advanced forces of the Black Demon Clan in the seventeenth layer of the abyss, and take over all the abyss layers except for the sixteenth and seventeenth with lightning speed. Once the eleventh to fifteenth layers are taken over by the Silver Demon Clan, the Black Demon Clan's dominance will be cut off, and the shallower layers will gradually be brought under the control of the Silver Demon Clan.

Then, using these fifteen abyss layers as a foundation, the Silver Demon Clan will launch a counterattack step by step.

The gestation period of the Abyss royal family is measured in epochs, and on average, only one royal bloodline is born every ten epochs.

Unless the war lasts for hundreds or thousands of epochs, the advantage of resources will outweigh the advantage of population.

Based on this, even if the most important seventeenth floor is occupied by the Black Demon Clan, the Silver Demon Clan can quickly launch a counterattack.

The only thing that the nobles found hard to accept was that this strategy came from Hunzhen.

Under the decree of the Silver Demon King, as the "one who stirs up the storm," Hunzhen has become the mastermind of this war as he wished.

It wasn't that no members of the royal family questioned whether Hunzhen was qualified to wield such power, but under the Silver Demon King's absolute authority, they ultimately failed to make any waves.

After the war lasted for decades, as Hunzhen repeatedly issued remote commands to control tactics, leading the Silver Demon Clan to expand their advantage and win battle after battle, such doubts gradually disappeared.

As for Hunzhen himself, he was always by the side of Yin Guiwang, or rather, he was being protected by him.

For decades, he has faced numerous ambushes from the Dark Demon Clan, but thanks to his advanced knowledge, he has always been able to evade most of the threats as if he could foresee the future.

Yes, a threat.

Although a single member of the royal bloodline is someone that can be killed by the Silver Demon King with a single hand.

Just as in the tenth layer of the abyss battlefield, where nobles can rely on the legions of many lower-class warriors, in this deep inner realm, the Black Demons can also form wars and leverage each other's strengths.

However, given the Silver Demon King's strength, even a battle formation composed of less than ten thousand nobles could be easily defeated.

Only a noble army of more than 100,000 could pose a certain threat to him.

Only a noble army of millions could confront them head-on.

And through this, Hunzhen finally made a preliminary assessment of the Silver Demon King's strength.

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For the two kings, the blessing of the abyss was naturally far less than that of the nobles, since they were the beings closest to the abyss of purgatory.

Therefore, in the shallower layers where the power of the abyss is weaker, the power of the two kings is probably even greater.

It is estimated that the Silver Demon King possesses the combat power of a Marquis on his own, and with the support of the power of the sixteenth layer of the abyss, he can be compared to the high-level Marquis.

If the abyssal power of a million nobles is amplified by military formations, they may be able to reach the peak of the Marquis level.

In reality, even with royal blood, the limit for a noble to be empowered by 100,000 levels of abyssal power is reached, comparable to an ordinary immortal military lord.

If one uses a mount to unleash the Nightmare Soul Devouring technique, one can unleash a devastating attack that grants one the title of Marquis and the power to become immortal, thus posing a threat to the Silver Ghost King.

As for the million-strong legion, its power is not enhanced by one person, but rather by ten royal blood forming a traditional battle formation, with ten against one, comparable to the combat power of a barely-promoted marquis, and able to confront the Silver Ghost King head-on.

Once the Silver Demon King is entangled by the million-strong army, the situation will inevitably turn around when the Black Demon King arrives in full force.

However... for some reason, the war has lasted for decades, and even now, neither Hunzhen nor Yin Guiwang has seen the Black Demon King.

The Dark Lord neither attempted to break through the Silver Demon King's blockade to advance into the shallower battle lines, nor did he utilize the power of the Dark Lord's army to flank and weaken the Silver Demon King.

This is still the case even in the records of simulated humans.

Is it a lurking venomous snake? Or is it fearing the sudden changes in the Silver Demon Clan, worried that there is another conspiracy behind this war, and is still observing in secret?

If the war continues like this, it won't take a thousand years, just a hundred, and the Black Demon Clan will probably have no chance to reverse the situation.

Having lost the means to turn the tide, the Dark Lord was no longer able to use his many tricks.

This situation made Hunzhen somewhat anxious.

The reason he used his advanced knowledge to help Silver Demon King avoid many threats was not because he gave up on weakening Silver Demon King, but simply to lower Silver Demon King's guard and wait for the opportunity for Black Demon King to strike and severely injure Silver Demon King.

But if the Dark Lord doesn't take action, it's like putting on a show for a blind person.

After decades of relentless battles and countless clashes with legions of hundreds of thousands, the Silver Demon King has always maintained near-full strength, and it is unknown whether his energy consumption has ever exceeded 10%.

As the ancients said, haste makes waste.

But Hunzhen vaguely noticed a fact that was shaking his plans.

Although there is a connection between the two kings, it seems that... if one deliberately hides and remains in hiding, as long as the other is determined not to show itself, the other will never be able to find its trace.

Or rather, it is precisely because of this vague sense that both parties can avoid each other and obtain a safe distance.

In other words, if the Dark Lord lets the Dark Demon Clan run rampant and remains a coward, then this war could very well end like this, leading to a complete victory for the Silver Demon Clan.

This means that both the real and the simulated humans are essentially working for the Silver Demon Clan for free.

How can we tolerate this?

As time drew ever closer to the hundred-year mark calculated by Hunzhen, battle reports from the front lines indicated that half of the deep-seated forces had already fallen completely into the hands of the Silver Demon Clan.

Hunzhen finally lost his patience and, leading the Silver Demon King, made his first "mistake".

The two royal families each have millions of members, two-thirds of whom are domain lord-level combatants.

Gathering from the sixteenth and seventeenth layers of the Abyss, the Black Demon Clan has accumulated nearly two million members.

After decades of war and countless battles fought by the Silver Demon King, this amount has already been reduced by one-third.

This significantly reduces the likelihood of Silver Demon King being surrounded or ambushed.

Even under these circumstances, the Silver Demon King still found himself in crisis, besieged by a million-strong army.

Unlike the sporadic guerrilla warfare encounters with armies of millions over the past few decades, this time, due to the terrain, with the Abyss Mother Wall and the spacetime distortion domain behind them, a natural encirclement was formed.

This is the first "tough battle".

The million-strong noble army, united into battle formation, is comparable to the barely-marquis-level combat power, placing them on the same level as the Silver Demon King.

After a half-day of fierce fighting, more than half of the million-strong army had been killed or wounded, but they finally managed to inflict wounds on the Silver Demon King, showing obvious signs of energy depletion and slightly unstable power control.

As Hunzhen eagerly awaited, the Dark Lord finally made his move as promised.

In the crack of time, a gigantic, sky-covering, pitch-black demonic blade suddenly appeared, striking from afar and truly wounding the Silver Demon King.

Before his true form arrived, he only used his weapons to strike at any opening, which caused the Black Demon Clan to cheer loudly and their morale to soar.

Without any advice from Hunzhen, as long as the Silver Demon King doesn't suffer from a brain disease, he would know to avoid his sharp edge.

Without hesitation, he abandoned his attempt to hold out at his current level, refusing to retaliate. He endured the combined attacks of countless Black Demons, and despite his worsening injuries, flew into the Great Void, swimming upstream against the current.

During this process, he even grabbed Hunzhen and took him along.

A terrifying tide of time surged, and a figure as enormous as the Silver Demon King finally appeared.

Hunzhen finally saw the figure of the Black Demon King, the Silver Demon King's nemesis.

Its body length reaches thousands of kilometers, which is tens of thousands of times that of an ordinary royal blood beast. The body length of the domain lord level is comparable to the limit of the Golden Horned Beast of Luo Feng's realm lord level.

Such a massive creature, with a volume a trillion times that of an ordinary royal bloodline, is on a completely different level, even though they are both at the Domain Lord level.

The Silver Demon King is on the same level as the Black Demon King, no wonder he is regarded as a god by the Abyss royal family.

It has three pairs of black fleshy wings covered with dragon scales on its back, six arms with muscles as bulging as mountains and rocks, and a giant snake covered with black scales that coils and undulates with life extending from its tail. Its whole body has the same gray skin as the Silver Demon King, the only difference being that it is covered with jet-black secret patterns instead of silver.

At this moment, the Black Demon army lacked agility and was unable to pursue immediately. The Black Demon King finally appeared, his fleshy wings flapping as he gave chase.

(End of this chapter)