The Evil Emperor was undoubtedly tempted.
Similar to the Ice and Snow Emperors in the original novel, the Evil Emperor also faced his eighth tribulation, and he had no real guarantee of successfully surviving it.
While he was exceptional, his chances of surviving the eighth tribulation were no more than one percent. Even if he attempted to retake the body of his own offspring, his chances of survival were no more than ten percent.
While such an undertaking was theoretically possible, and similar practices existed on the Holy Demon Continent, whether it would be permitted on the Douluo Continent was a significant question mark.
The Evil Emperor had never encountered a world as beast-specific as the Douluo Plane, and to this day, he couldn't understand why only spirit beasts on this plane needed to survive tribulations, while human spirit masters didn't.
While lifespans on the Douluo Plane were magnified hundreds and thousands of times, their lifespans far exceeded those of their counterparts on the Holy Demon Continent. In comparison, the Evil Emperor could only claim that his strength was only possible at his age; his ability on the Holy Demon Continent would be laughable.
Believe it or not?
In other words, even if he believed he had the potential to become a god, did he really have to be so passive?
If, with his special abilities, he could, with some deliberate planning, seize this human's body, was there even a remote chance?
While the Evil Emperor felt the possibility was even slimmer than surviving his eighth heavenly tribulation, if successful, he could instantly attain godhood.
Just as the Evil Emperor was secretly pondering this, Chen Ming raised his hand and slashed with a stream of sword energy. The Evil Emperor quickly used his tentacles to block it, but a massive wound remained. Blood dripped onto the ground along the dozens-meter-long chasm. The stinging pain brought the Evil Emperor back to his senses.
"Your malevolence is overflowing! Don't think I can't tell what you're up to."
Hearing the other party's cold words, the Evil Emperor's thoughts slowly calmed.
The other party's spiritual realm was higher than his own, and he claimed to have attained godhood. Even if there was some truth to his claims, his aura at least possessed the legendary qualities of a divine test. He wasn't someone with a good reputation, so it was impossible for the other party to be completely defenseless. The Evil Emperor
's
original form narrowed its enormous eyes, staring at Chen Ming for a long moment before asking his final question.
"Why exactly did you want me to become your spirit ring? What would you do if I rejected you today?"
"Becoming a deity requires a great deal of faith. Although my current rank has reached godhood, there are still different levels of deity. If I want to reach a higher rank, I need even more faith. Whether it's from humans or spirit beasts."
"Given your prestige within the Demonic Forest, subduing you would be equivalent to subduing the faith of the Evil Eye Tyrant clan and the entire Demonic Forest. The faith provided by a large number of advanced spiritual spirit beasts is significant and deserves my extra attention."
"And as the person involved, you should know that if there were no restrictions between heaven and earth, your cultivation would have been sufficient to become a deity several times over. This nearly 800,000 years of cultivation would significantly increase my progress and even my future limit, so I naturally won't let you go easily."
"As for what I'll do if you reject me, I think you're well aware of that. After you learned my secret, you only have two choices, right? Either submit obediently or be defeated by me."
"By the way, this second martial spirit I hold is a genuine divine artifact."
Chen Ming glared menacingly at the Evil Emperor. His seven spirit rings dimly lit, and the two hundred-thousand-year-old spirit rings on the Ascending Dragon Sword also flickered. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was summoned, roaring beside Chen Ming.
Though its cultivation was far inferior to the Evil Emperor's, and its spirit form was restrained by the Evil Emperor, the Evil Emperor, empowered by divine power, dared not ignore the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's presence.
The Dark Demon Evil Thunder, formed by the power of ultimate evil and lightning, made even the Evil Emperor wary, unwilling to be struck by such a force that clearly looked like it was not meant to be used.
Chen Ming's attitude was clear: if the Evil Emperor dared to object today, he would have him gone, even if it meant razing half of the Evil Demon Forest to a barren wasteland.
(Evil Emperor: The Evil Demon Forest is my home, right?)
Several auras of extreme attributes were revealed, the power of the God of Sin was released, and the authority of the God of Life, Death, Plague, and Poison expanded, casting a fatal sense of threat on the Evil Emperor's heart.
After much deliberation, the Evil Emperor decided to compromise.
"If you can defeat me, I'll sacrifice you to make that wisdom spirit ring."
After all, the Evil Emperor was a top-ranked powerhouse on Douluo Star, the true ruler of the Sun-Moon Continent. Even though he had already accepted this decision, he refused to surrender so easily, wanting to leverage his own strength to gain greater control.
"Then you're asking for a fight."
Chen Ming's eyes glared, his seventh spirit ring illuminating as he transformed into an ethereal giant. In one hand, he grasped a dim golden-green scepter, the other the razor-sharp Ascending Dragon Sword. In an instant, an extremely ominous aura enveloped the entire Demonic Forest.
As the primary target, the Evil Emperor felt his life force spiral out of control. His blood and life force seemed to be drained from his body by the evil force. His very soul felt a stinging pain, as if being pierced by tens of thousands of needles.
(The Evil Emperor's eyes measured three hundred meters, and his longest tentacle five hundred meters, for a total of ninety-nine-eighty-one tentacles. So, tens of thousands of needles felt to him like a normal person being pricked by a few needles.)
The tentacles, previously severed from the ground, rapidly decayed, spawning a vast expanse of mold and pestilence, emitting a thick green mist tinged with the stench of decay. The wounds on his body, inflicted by the sword energy, rapidly swelled, developing twisted, festering sores.
The plague poison, both vibrant and filled with death, invaded the Evil Emperor's body, twisting every inch of his flesh, as if attempting to transform him into something unspeakably blasphemous.
The power of the evil god infested his mind, corroding his soul, whispering in his ears (despite the fact that creatures like the Evil Eye lack ears) unspeakable blasphemy. Though he considered his mental strength even greater than that of Emperor Tian, the Evil Emperor was unable to resist the insane whisperings.
Even before he could strike, he secretly groaned inwardly. He had personally experienced the power of the gods, the true meaning of godhood. But at this moment, the Evil Emperor couldn't surrender outright, so he gritted his teeth and engaged.
The battle raged for several hours, the immense power surges sending nearly every soul beast in the Demonic Forest, including the ferocious beasts, into a state of mortal terror.
Despite both sides' best efforts to contain the turmoil, countless soul beasts were caught in the aftermath, their souls shredded or twisted into indescribable masses of writhing flesh, emitting twisted, agonizing cries as they writhed. Some unfortunate souls were even completely fused with the vegetation, transforming into seemingly grotesque forms.
Most terrifyingly, many of these creatures' souls were transformed by the combined power of two different divine powers. Shattered soul fragments were forcibly fused together, and many flesh bodies bore twisted heads, wailing in agony.
Vast swathes of vegetation were utterly twisted into profane forms. Combined with the twisted, agonizing flesh, the once gloomy Demonic Forest looked less like a real world and more like something out of an extreme nightmare.
The soul beasts that had originally intended to support the Evil Emperor, upon witnessing this scene, too intense even for soul-feeding soul beasts like the Evil Eyes, fled faster than rabbits. A group of tentacle-bearing Evil Eyes, so terrified, forgot how to use their psychic powers to fly, and could only wriggle and crawl along the ground like tentacle monsters. Compared to
this scene, some Evil Eyes, who normally considered themselves quite evil, felt harmless, like soft-boned rabbits mating on the roadside.
If the Demon Forest weren't now larger than the Star Dou Great Forest, and if the internal fighting outside the forest wasn't completely devoid of human presence for hundreds of miles, the Demon Forest would have erupted in a wave of beasts, threatening human habitats.
In the end, the Evil Emperor surrendered, feeling the twisted power within him and his tainted spirit. His body covered in fetid abscesses and rotting, and even his tentacles sprouting eyes, mouths, and tentacles, the Evil Emperor wished he could go back a few minutes and slap himself in the face.
He couldn't defeat the enemy, and his body was forcibly transformed into someone else's shape, and in the end, he had to be sacrificed obediently. If he had known earlier, he would have knelt down faster and not have to endure such a beating.
Although these injuries did not really cause too much damage to his essence, the Evil Emperor felt that if he relied on his own strength, it would probably take at least four or five thousand years to eliminate these distorted marks on his body. As for the mental marks, it would probably take an unknown amount of time to completely eliminate them.
Although the injuries were much lighter than when he was hit by the Dragon God Claw in Di Tian's rage, the Evil Emperor felt that it would be better for him to just let Di Tian hit him again.
(End of this chapter)