Chapter 422 — Creating a Bloodline

A crimson ladder stretching infinitely towards the "ceiling" of the soul space appeared in front of Liora.

Or rather, an inverted pyramid.

This pyramid was divided into several different sections. Six, to be exact.

The sections at the bottom started out small. However, as one ascended up the pyramid, they gradually grew bigger and far more majestic.

Liora’s eyes lingered on this pyramid for a few seconds, and she couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.

She knew that the time she had been waiting for had arrived.

Her advancement was complete. She had already become an Archdevil.

Yet, this didn’t mean that everything was over just yet.

One piece of the puzzle was missing: creating her own bloodline.

"In fact, creating my own bloodline is not the only way."

"I can also choose to inherit the bloodline of the World Devourer Ancestor since the other party is already dead."

"Considering the other party’s strength and the high level of the World Devourer bloodline, I would be stronger in the short term if I were to do so.", Liora thought.

But she didn’t hesitate to shake her head.

"Unfortunately, inheriting other people’s bloodlines will cause one’s achievements to be limited, making it impossible to surpass their true creator."

"Other Archdevils might indeed have gone crazy for an Ancient Devil bloodline and would not have cared about this drawback."

"But to me, becoming an Ancient Devil is not my final goal. How could I possibly limit my own future like this?"

Thinking of this, Liora suppressed the final doubt in her mind.

As her crimson eyes reflected the similarly colored pyramid, her mind moved.

Countless bubbles instantly emerged from her body and settled beside her, as if they were planets and she was their star.

The bubbles had different colors and exuded different, unique auras.

Some were bloody red and full of chilling, murderous intent; others were gray and wished to bring everything closer to destruction; while there were even some with several distinct but merging phenomena.

As Liora surveyed these bubbles, she felt an innate intimacy with them, as if the two were inexplicably close.

She wasn’t shocked by this. She fully understood the reason.

Each of these bubbles represented one of her abilities or the insights she had gained throughout her journey thus far.

For example...

Liora waved her hand and brought one of the bubbles closer.

As it settled in front of her face, a squirming cluster of dark shadows could be seen hidden within its outer layer.

It didn’t take her long to realize that this bubble represented her understanding of Shadows.

Although it was later upgraded to the power of Nothingness and had seemingly been "replaced", it was a fact that Liora had briefly possessed several abilities related to shadows.

Even when these abilities were later upgraded and transformed, Liora could still control shadows with just a thought.

She just chose against it, mostly relying on more destructive powers.

Regardless, her understanding of Shadows was exceptional, and the bubble representing them was one of the biggest in the room.

"The first step to create a bloodline is quite simple.", Liora thought silently.

"An Archdevil has to select the abilities that their descendants will awaken as they slowly advance."

"This is a critical step. It will later serve as the Archdevil’s foundation and is directly tied to their later advancement."

With that in mind, Liora looked at the pyramid.

She subconsciously lowered her head and stared at the section closest to the ground, the one representing the Young Devil stage.

Under her control, the bubble in her hand shot towards it and merged into that section, turning into a small star.

"Shadow Manipulation is a very comprehensive ability."

"It can not only serve as both defense and attack, but can also help the Young Devil conceal themselves.", Liora nodded in satisfaction, confirming her choice.

Then, her eyes shifted back into the other bubbles, and she scanned them one after another.

A few seconds later, she finally made her choice.

Two bubbles came closer and landed in each of her hands before she gently placed them onto the pyramid.

"The Myriad Devils Body is a perfect ability for Young Devils. It can provide them with protection, and its growth elements make it useful even in later stages."

"Similarly, Void Armament can further improve their attacking power or auxiliary abilities and enhance their combat means."

"By merging the nascent power of Nothingness and the Demon Weapon system of another world, Devils can nurture their Devil Weapon from a young age and nourish it with their demonic energy."

Concealment. Outstanding defense and physical strength. High attacking power or auxiliary means.

With just three abilities, Liora believed that she had covered all departments required by a Young Devil to stand out in the Crucible.

Originally, she had grabbed another bubble and was planning to place it onto the pyramid.

However, before the two were integrated, Liora sensed the entire pyramid shake.

Several large-scale fractures formed all over it, and it seemed as if it would explode the next moment.

Liora quickly took her hand back. It was only then that the pyramid stopped shaking and recovered.

"The Young Devil section can no longer withstand any more abilities."

"If I were to force the integration, the entire pyramid would blow up, and I would have to start all over again.", Liora judged.

This was a restriction that all Archdevils had to face.

Otherwise, every Archdevil would input all their powerful abilities into the Young Devil section and create monsters with power far beyond their peers.

Obviously, this was unacceptable. As such, limits had been imposed during the bloodline creation.

Liora frowned briefly upon sensing this, but she soon regained her composure.

She didn’t make any changes to the Young Devil section, but instead raised her head and shifted her focus onto the Lesser Devil stage.

Shortly after, several stars had appeared on it, too.

"Silent Domain can further improve their concealment abilities and make it easier to survive through their more vulnerable stage—during their arrival in the Demon World."

"Elemental Disaster—the ability to create disasters through the riot of surrounding elements—can provide them with large-scale attacks."

"Tongue of the Abyss—an ability that helped me a lot in the past—is also quite useful. Not only can it confuse enemies, but it can serve as an immature means of soul attack."

Little by little, Liora built her own bloodline.

It didn’t have to be too perfect. She could always change it later if she wanted to.

However, it at least had to be somewhat acceptable.

Though the bloodline being too weak would not affect her, there was no reason to hide anything or to hold back intentionally.

After completing the Lesser Devil section, Liora moved on to the True Devil one.

Then, she reached the Greater Devil stage.