Chapter 470 — Hollow Ancestor’s Scheme

In Liora’s field of vision, something emerged from her World of Heart the moment the Hollow Ancestor finished speaking.

It was a river, just like the Snake of Time she had previously utilized, except it was far less illusory and far more transcendent.

It transformed into a long serpent and coiled around itself, with its head ending up biting on its tail.

Liora found herself at the center of this circle, locked in place and unable to move.

The same was true for the Four Elements Devil, who had fused with her.

In fact, she sensed the other party’s state was even more dire than her own.

The reason?

Liora focused on the ouroboros snake surrounding her.

In its silver scales, she could see the outline of a person.

It was a white-haired man with crimson pupils that seemed to bleed and pale skin that suggested he hadn’t faced the sun for years.

He wore a black suit and exuded a bloody, murderous pressure, while his expression betrayed a maddening thirst for slaughter and blood.

Liora was familiar with this being.

She had seen his exact appearance when she was still a Young Devil in the Crucible, and could be said to have studied the other party for months.

"Blood God Ancestor!", the Four Elements Devil muttered the white-haired man’s name, his voice trembling in astonishment.

Unlike Liora, he quickly realized what was happening.

The mist clouding his cognition was lifted like a curtain being pulled back, allowing him to understand everything.

"Is the Blood God Ancestor your clone? Did you do all this just to have me devour him?", he addressed the Hollow Ancestor, his voice filled with terror.

However, he was unable to finish that sentence.

Following a tug, his body was ejected on its own from Liora’s World of Heart, appearing within the circle of the ouroboros serpent.

At the same time, his Throne, settled at the banks of the River of Time, started to shake violently.

Before, devouring the Catastrophe Devil had allowed it to recover and "walk" a certain distance into the past.

But now, that past appeared to have been overwritten by a bloody crimson color.

It was the influence of the Blood God Ancestor!

Or, according to his own admission, the influence of the Hollow Ancestor!

The Hollow Ancestor did not take any further action to attack his two enemies.

He watched as the ouroboros serpent bound them ever more tightly before reaching into the space in front of him and taking out an inexplicable scale.

As he weighed it in his hands, he suddenly became quite talkative, taking the initiative to speak up.

"You’ve only been an Ancient Devil for a short time. You don’t fully understand the intricacies of this stage."

"Which Ancient Devil dares to devour the timeline of other Ancient Devils so easily?", the Hollow Ancestor clicked his tongue, shaking his head with feigned disappointment.

"If things were that easy, why would so many Ancient Devils be stuck at this stage forever? Integrating the timeline of other beings is indeed beneficial and can help you trace back into history."

"However.", the Hollow Ancestor briefly paused.

"Doing so leaves you vulnerable to the influence of those beings. You’ve integrated ’my’ past, so, are you the Four Elements Devil or the Blood God Ancestor?"

While he was speaking, the Four Elements Devil did not say a word.

Not because he was shocked by the contents of his speech, but because he was struggling.

His appearance was constantly alternating. Sometimes he maintained his original appearance, while at others, he would turn into a white-haired Vampire Lord.

He gritted his teeth. His Throne rumbled as he attempted to expel the outside influence.

Given enough time, he would indeed be able to accomplish this.

Unfortunately, the Hollow Ancestor would not give him a chance.

He continued on with his earlier words:

"If you wish to devour other Ancient Devils, simple methods are no longer useful. You either need to completely overwhelm the opponent’s consciousness and spend time slowly integrating their timeline, or you need to rely on external powers."

The moment his words fell, the Hollow Ancestor tossed the scale he was holding into the air in front of him.

The scale instantly grew bigger.

At first, it was only the size of a human palm, but very quickly, it had turned larger than even the previous Demon Layer.

Its structure was odd, however.

Rather than having two weights, one on each side, like most scales, this one had hundreds of them.

The Hollow Ancestor spat out a mouthful of blood. It squirmed midair, turning into countless Devil Runes and weaving into an intricate symbol that fell onto the scale.

"Oh, Will of the Demon World, I call upon thee...", he muttered an inexplicable incantation in a solemn tone, his voice spreading throughout the ruins and going further beyond.

His call appeared to have worked.

In Liora’s perception, a familiar, ancient, and chaotic Will arrived nearly instantaneously.

Unlike the previous times she had seen it, the Will did not take action. It seemed as if it were here just to become a witness.

The Hollow Ancestor showed no surprise at this.

He merely pointed his finger towards the struggling Four Elements Devil, and the Will of the Demon World wrapped around him, moving him towards one of the scale’s weights.

This Ancient Devil, powerful enough to shake the entire Origin Sea, could not raise any resistance.

He could only watch as his body was placed onto the giant scale.

Then, the Hollow Ancestor turned his attention towards Liora. He also pointed at her, urging the Demon World to move her.

But unlike the previous time, the Hollow Ancestor was in the mood to talk to her.

"I’ve always had a feeling that there’d be a little Devil who would bring me great benefits in the future. Now I understand... That person should be you."

"You know... without your assistance, my plan would have been impossible to complete."

"It was you who brought the consciousness of my clone to the Demon Layer and created the so-called Catastrophe Devil. Even the Four Elements Devil’s escape is inseparable from you."

Saying this, the Hollow Ancestor’s gaze sharpened, his eyes locking onto Liora’s figure.

"However, I can feel that the benefits do not end there. I can sense it..."

"If devouring the Four Elements Devil can give me his timeline and the concepts of the Four Elements and the World, then swallowing you will only grant me even greater benefits."

Liora keenly captured a fleeting look of greed and obsession in the Hollow Ancestor’s eyes as her feet landed onto the scale.

Then, the Hollow Ancestor didn’t wait, but stepped onto another weight.