Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Chapter 409: Passing the Third Trial; Obtaining the Complete Inheritance

Liora had always been different than other Devils.

Unlike them, who were a blank slate upon being born in the River of Oblivion, Liora had always possessed the memories of her past life.

Although she wasn’t dependent on them or had been significantly influenced by them, this still set her apart from other Devils.

This held advantages, such as the ability to remain rational and resist the call of her bloodline, but had less obvious disadvantages at the same time.

For example, a set of questions had always plagued her mind.

Had she unknowingly been affected by the Will of the Demon World and had thus become who she was today?

Was her yearning to continue to become stronger and reach the apex of the Origin Sea her real, unaffected thoughts, or an idea imposed upon her by the Demon World?

Although she had reached this point and was about to become an Archdevil, Liora had never had an answer to these questions.

Or at least, that was the case until now.

As Liora digested the memories of her alternate self, the one who hadn’t been born in the Demon World and had never been affected by its Will, she felt that she had grasped her "real" self.

"In the first half of ’my’ life, I was unwilling to be ordinary and searched for a meaning in life, even willing to give up my ordinary life in order to do so."

"In the second part, ’I’ discovered that I was influenced by someone and did everything in my power to fight against them."

"Even if that meant fighting against the whole world and doing unimaginable evil, ’I’ still did so."

Liora could see that her alternate self had made guesses about who the person influencing her was.

Among her guesses were some that were pretty close to the truth. She believed that she was another person’s clone, or the vessel created for their reincarnation.

Yet, despite guessing that the person trying to replace her was her real self, she still chose to fight to keep her freedom.

"That’s true."

"Even if I were to learn that I was merely a clone, or an imaginary creature living in an illusion, I would still choose to fight back and regain my freedom."

"Only I am the real self. All other ’Lioras’ are fake. A mere imitation of me...", Liora whispered subconsciously, truly approving of her alternate self’s actions.

Upon this realization, Liora did not have time to pay attention to where she had landed upon exiting the illusion.

Her soul residing within her dark soul space suddenly lit up, spreading its light throughout the void.

Its already part-substantial soul body began growing less illusory, gradually turning into a real body.

Unbeknownst to her, her mindless physical body in the outside world had reached a critical point in its cultivation.

Following a thunderous bang, the 10th level of the Crimson Annihilation Technique was finally mastered.

Liora within her soul space did not know.

Yet, she instantly felt its benefits.

An invisible power flowed into her soul space and swirled around her soul body.

She didn’t know what to do with it at first.

But soon, the indescribable technique conveyed through the puzzle she had solved in the first trial emerged in her mind.

As she subconsciously operated this technique, the increased power of her physical body began to feed back to her soul’s strength.

Her soul started to become more complete as a result.

Within a moment, it had shed its illusory appearance.

At the same time, illuminated in its light, the soul space began to expand, seemingly transforming into an entirely new world.

This process lasted for a while.

It was only several minutes later that Liora’s consciousness finally exited the soul space and returned to the real world.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she sensed that the world around her had become different.

Or rather, she herself had changed.

Turning to look at her clone and digesting the memories during the time their connection had been severed, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind.

The next moment, her soul space vibrated.

The soul body within made a move and its power fell onto her clone.

Although the other party possessed the power of a Greater Devil, it was unable to resist.

As the inexplicable power emerged, its body was instantly annihilated, down to its very last atoms.

Only the Indestructible Matter remained behind, merging with the real Liora and making up for her consumption.

"So this is the real goal of this inheritance."

"The rewards at the end of each trial are merely an afterthought. The real inheritance is the first and last trial. "

"As long as one comprehends the secrets within them, they’ll be able to grasp the imaginary power of their soul."

Liora could feel a new power, different from demonic energy and even Demonforce, coursing within her mind.

That power was far more illusory and could not be used to activate abilities like the rest of them.

Yet, through a brief contact with it, Liora understood that it was not any weaker than them.

If anything, it was the exact opposite.

As long as she mastered it, its power may well surpass that of her demonic energy.

Liora quickly became excited.

She turned around and was about to continue testing this new power out.

However, before she could do so, a faint cracking echoed in her ears.

When she lowered her head, she discovered that a large fracture had formed across the stone tablet’s surface.

As if affected by this, the entire void began to tremble, looking ready to shatter.

Liora did not panic, though.

She could guess why this happened and the voice in her head further confirmed her doubts.

"Third trial has been completed."

"Difficulty: Highest. Rating: EX."

"It has been detected that the challenger has received two EX Ratings."

"They’ve been approved to receive the complete inheritance."

"Please refine the core of the palace to gain access to it."