The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2614: Final refinements (II)

For something to grow and evolve on its own, feeding on the energy and stimuli around it, a soul was essential. Of course, Cain could not extract the entire soul of a warrior. Doing so would not only cripple them but also place tremendous pressure on the Scarlet Throne.

Fortunately, that was unnecessary. Scarlet Stars were already powerful heavenly bodies forged from will, ego, and spiritual energy. As long as a fragment of the user’s soul was properly merged into them, they should gain the ability to evolve and grow independently.

The greatest advantage of this method was its safety.

Even if the Scarlet Throne were somehow destroyed in the future, only a fraction of the warrior’s soul would be lost. While such damage would still be severe, it would not be sufficient to kill them or permanently remove them from the battlefield.

The next step, however, was extremely delicate.

The soul was one of the most mysterious and sensitive aspects of existence, second only to Primordial Essence. Fortunately for Cain, his journey through Paradise had taught him a great deal about souls and spiritual structures. That knowledge had been further refined when he manipulated the souls of billions of Bloodline warriors to forge the Realm-Sized Formation capable of blasting a Fourth Realm master into the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Cain closed his eyes before opening them once more. Scarlet flames and golden light ignited within his pupils as the Power of Chaos and the Flow circulated simultaneously through his body.

Slowly, his hand phased into the chest of the Inferno Daemon.

The man twitched violently as unimaginable pain spread through his body, yet he could do nothing except endure it. His mind remained completely dominated by the Primarch of Conquest.

A few moments later, Cain withdrew his hand.

Floating above his palm was a small sky-blue sphere radiating spiritual light.

“This is exactly ten percent of his soul,” Cain muttered while carefully analyzing it. “Enough for the process, but not enough to destabilize the remainder.”

He glanced toward the Inferno Daemon and saw blood flowing from the man’s eyes. The wound should have been devastating, yet the damage was far from crippling. Golden and scarlet threads connected the sphere in Cain’s hand to the soul still residing inside the daemon’s body, ensuring the connection remained stable.

After confirming everything was functioning correctly, Cain turned his attention toward the endless ocean of psychic energy flooding the Scarlet Throne. Vast streams of power surged into the sky-blue sphere, causing it to rapidly expand. Larger and larger it grew until it finally matched the size of the Scarlet Star itself.

The Wings of Chaos unfolded behind Cain.

The next phase required absolute harmony, and only the Power of Chaos could create such flawless convergence.

His eyes burned with concentration as he pushed the sky-blue sphere into the Scarlet Star.

The fusion began slowly.

Gradually, the two heavenly bodies merged together, and the Scarlet Star finally obtained something it had always lacked: a true soul.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the integration was complete.

“Thump!”

A heartbeat echoed from inside the Scarlet Star.

Its aura changed instantly. The heavenly body began interacting with the ocean of energy around it far more smoothly, drawing in spiritual force with astonishing efficiency. New layers of scarlet rock formed around its surface while streams of energy flowed across it like rivers of molten blood.

A wide smile appeared on Cain’s face.

“Even though the soul originated from a mere Divine Cultivator, the Scarlet Star still evolved to this degree,” he said with clear excitement. “If the soul belonged to a stronger warrior, the growth should be even greater.”

His thrill only intensified when he noticed something even more important.

The damage suffered by the Inferno Daemon was already beginning to heal, and the strength of the man’s soul force was actually increasing.

“Excellent!”

Cain rarely lost composure, yet even he could not suppress his excitement. Every new stage of the experiment revealed greater benefits than he had anticipated.

Still, he forced himself to remain focused.

Taking another deep breath, he turned toward the ghostly river once more and extracted a new Will Beast. This one resembled a gigantic shark covered in black spikes.

Carefully, Cain inserted the creature into the evolved Scarlet Star.

Just as before, the Will Beast immediately began raging inside the heavenly body, attempting to resist and seize control. Yet the evolved Scarlet Star was vastly superior to its earlier form. The moment the beast attempted rebellion, the heavenly body suppressed it completely and began harnessing its power.

Once the Will Beast was fully subdued, the Scarlet Star started channeling its energy.

The heavenly body slowly expanded.

Its growth was not instantaneous. Like every cultivation path, evolution required time and adaptation. However, Cain had no intention of waiting passively.

He immediately extracted another Will Beast from the river and sent it into the evolved Scarlet Star, forcing it to merge with the shark and form a Chimera Will.

The moment the fusion occurred, the Chimera Will attempted to break free.

Unfortunately for it, the evolved Scarlet Star had already become too powerful.

Not only did it suppress the Chimera Will successfully, but the increase in the creature’s strength also caused the heavenly body itself to become stronger. The burst of power transferred to the Inferno Daemon rose dramatically.

Cain continued smiling as he added more and more Will Beasts into the evolved Scarlet Star, continuously increasing the strength of the Chimera Will.

As the Chimera Will grew stronger, so did the Scarlet Star. Its size expanded steadily, and the amount of energy radiating from it became increasingly terrifying.

However, Cain quickly noticed a critical issue.

The Scarlet Star was not evolving fast enough.

If he continued increasing the Chimera Will’s power without giving the heavenly body time to adapt, the entity would eventually break free once more. Yet that was not Cain’s primary focus at the moment.

His eyes narrowed as he observed changes beginning to appear across the surface of the evolved Scarlet Star itself.

Oceans were forming.

The barren heavenly body was beginning to transform into something closer to a living world.

“Now that it possesses a true soul,” Cain murmured thoughtfully, “it can adapt far more efficiently and channel power much more thoroughly.”

Cain then turned his gaze toward the Inferno Daemon and observed how his physical power and soul force had risen considerably. He had only been a Divine Ascension Master, and not a particularly talented one, yet now he possessed enough strength to easily crush Peak Divine Transformation Masters.

“There is something else,” Cain muttered, his eyes narrowing as he continued to increase the power of the Chimera Beast. “Something even more powerful that can be channeled.”

The entity at the heart of the Evolved Scarlet Star continued to transform. The light in its eyes shimmered with a multitude of wills, each consciousness still present within the greater whole. That was what made it so powerful. Those wills had not devoured one another or been erased. Instead, they had fused into a single vessel, preserving their individual strengths while contributing to something far greater.

“Crack.”

Fine fractures began to spread across the surface of the Evolved Scarlet Star as the Chimera Beast’s power climbed even higher.

Only then did Cain stop.

“I need to give the Evolved Scarlet Star time to adapt and grow if I want to continue strengthening the Chimera Will.”

He nodded to himself, satisfaction flashing across his face. The bottleneck had been solved. The heavenly body could now evolve alongside the power it contained, making this a true and tested Path of Power.

Now, it was time to determine its full capabilities.

Cain turned toward the Inferno Daemon and observed the dramatic transformation taking place. The man’s strength had already risen into the Divine Transcendence Rank, but that was far from the most remarkable change.

“It is not just physical strength, soul force, and energy,” Cain whispered, his scarlet eyes glowing brighter. “This will grant them something else. I can feel it.”

His consciousness linked with the Primarch of Conquest, whose scarlet blood still controlled every aspect of the Inferno Daemon’s existence. The towering figure behind Cain raised a single finger.

At once, the Inferno Daemon’s eyes ignited with unnatural brilliance.

His aura surged upward.

The Evolved Scarlet Star trembled violently in response, resonating with its master. For a brief instant, a phantom of the Chimera Will manifested behind the Inferno Daemon. It was vast and terrifying, a shifting silhouette formed from countless fused beasts, each radiating overwhelming bloodlust and ancient power.

Then the Inferno Daemon extended his hand.

Scarlet energy gathered in his palm.

A weapon began to take shape.

It was not forged from metal, nor from ordinary psychic power. It was an extension of the Chimera Will itself—a manifestation of the fused instincts, memories, and combat experience of all the beings imprisoned within the Scarlet Star.

A massive spear emerged, its shaft formed of bone and its blade shimmering like crystal.