When the high command of the demons learned the final results of the Soul Transformation battlefields, they could hardly believe their eyes. The Soul Transformation tier should have been a crushing victory for them; in terms of overall combat power, they should have overwhelmed the Star-Sea world. Furthermore, at this stage, the human talismans, spirit tools, and other methods should not have been enough to secure victory.
Yet the final result was a fifty-fifty split! And that wasn't even the most preposterous part. The most ridiculous thing was that the human casualties were extremely limited, while the demon losses exceeded forty percent! Was this a loss-ratio a normal person could produce?
They had fought worlds stronger than the Star-Sea Continent before, and their win rate was always much higher. Occasionally, powerful individuals or tragic heroes would cause some losses, but those would be quickly recovered after devouring the invaded world. But faced with the situation in the Star-Sea world, they began to doubt if the final victory would be worth the price.
However, after learning the full story, they had no choice but to accept the reality. The individual combat power of the Star-Sea Soul Transformation cultivators was too strong! This had never happened when they invaded other worlds; in other worlds, there would be many powerful and weak individuals, but only in this Star-Sea world was every single individual's foundation, techniques, spirit tools, and talismanic cards so preposterous!
Faced with this, the naturally selfish King-level demons were unwilling to be the first to charge to their deaths. They were used to using low-tier demons they had nurtured to harvest through "Sea of Demon" tactics. It was this very reason that allowed the Star-Sea cultivators to slay many non-King demons.
While time was being stalled, the Star-Sea world had destroyed enemy nodes and devoured some of the enemy world's power, allowing them to release the world's most fundamental Providential Creation. This power was the world's final gamble, and in that moment, it became the chance for a comeback.
And as if that weren't enough, the most critical factor was the existence of the Void-Aether Fish! In terms of pure combat power, they were decent but far from enough to influence the entire situation. However, the fish possessed a talent for building specialized spatial worlds, giving them an ultimate understanding of spatial barriers. To a degree, the barriers of the World-Domain Battlefield were not even as complex or sturdy as the ones the fish could build themselves.
For this reason, the Void-Aether Fish possessed ultimate flexibility and mobility within the battlefield. Combined with their terrifying travel speed, they could play the role of the ultimate troop transport. This was also why they weren't released at the very beginning; had they been, some demons knowing their pivotal role might have launched a devastating ambush on them.
Because the number of fish was so small, most demons likely wouldn't know their true role. Qi Ping had only discovered it in an ancient text—it was a benefit of his habit of absorbing all kinds of knowledge. Had he not known this, the entire Soul Transformation tier would have faced an unacceptable defeat.
Now, the final result was only a fifty-percent victory, but that was already an unimaginable win. Before the war began, not a single human cultivator would have dared to guarantee such a win rate in the face of such an absolute disadvantage. With such a disparity in power, not being wiped out entirely would have been a blessing.
More importantly, with the current win rate, they now had the capital to initiate the final showdown! This was a characteristic of world-level campaigns: it wasn't just a head-on life-and-death struggle between a weakling and a powerhouse; it involved many factors—strategy, individual quality, and specialized methods. Any factor could change the final outcome. And in the Soul Transformation battlefield, the Star-Sea world had used a campaign to successfully secure the right to start the grand final battle!
It was worth mentioning that the reason the Star-Sea world could turn the tide in the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation battlefields, despite the absolute disadvantage, was related to the emergence of ultimate super combatants. Both tiers saw the appearance of exceptionally terrifying experts!
The Nascent Soul tier had the "madwoman" who commanded the Blood Yu insects and the "freak" who mastered the Heavenly-Heart Asura Sword Intent. The Soul Transformation tier was even more notable, with the combination of the Beast of Fortune + the Head of the Four Sacred Beasts + the Void-Aether Fish + the Golden Marrow Bees. It was the most heartless slaughtering machine on the battlefield. These top-tier forces and the fish were the two key factors that turned the tide!
Furthermore, under the Providential Creation of the Star-Sea world, the memories of the reincarnated Eight-Winged Ant Immortal awakened. Under the influence of the creation power, it now possessed potential no less than its previous life. Dense time-power surrounded it, making it look like a messenger of time and space walking out of the river of eons!
"This King has awakened?"
"And I possess One Soul, Many Bodies?"
Sensing its restored memories and the nearly one hundred special viewpoints, along with the nearly one hundred different sets of memories in its mind, the former guardian insect of the Beast-God Sect was momentarily dazed before erupting into frantic laughter.
"Jie jie jie! Jie jie jie!"
"This King has succeeded!"
Its excitement was indescribable! Not only had it successfully lived another life, but it had also gained the trait of One Soul, Many Bodies! Thus, in this life, it not only had higher potential and the possibility of constant transformation, but it also no longer needed to worry about dying during a transformation—because it had bodies it could nurture and multiply at any time! Although the price for a failed transformation remained high and would cost many resources, that didn't matter!
It was a time-type demonic insect! With its memories of two lives combined, it was completely confident in charging toward higher realms of time-power! What it lacked least was time!
"In this life... the Immortal Realm is within reach!"
However, as the insect gradually explored its current memories, its expression went from relaxed to slack-jawed!
"Crap! What in the world is all this?"
"That girl thought I was too weak and developed the Blood Yu insects, ranked in the top three Taboos?"
"That kid Qi Ping has become the Star Emperor?"
"The Head of the Four Sacred Beasts, the Azure Dragon?"
"A True Demon Body Integration cultivator?"
"A Void-grade lifeform Stone Spirit?"
"And the Star-Sea world is in such a magnificent state?"
"The World-Domain Battlefield has opened? No wonder that creation power was so potent!"
Shocking news after another hit its ancient heart, nearly shattering its worldview.
"I've only been reincarnated for such a short time, and I've already fallen behind the times?"
"How can every single one in this Star-Sea world be such a freak?"
The Eight-Winged Ant Immortal felt that after becoming an Age-Demonic Insect with One Soul, Many Bodies—especially after evolving from the weakest "Mayfly" lifeform—it should have been one of the most dazzling existences of the current era, if not the most dazzling. But after learning about the current Star-Sea world, it felt it should keep its tail between its legs for now; there were simply too many existences that could threaten it!
It wasn't that it was weak; on the contrary, in any era, an Age-Demonic Insect like it would be a powerful existence that could not be ignored. It was just that these freaks were too strong—and most importantly, it was still too young in this life; its cultivation hadn't caught up yet.
'And that was just before. Under the world's creation power, just how horrifying have these people's potential and power soared to?'
At that moment, the insect remembered the Golden Marrow Bees Qi Ping had nurtured. It knew very clearly what kind of terrifying role they could play in this war. Thus, the Bee King might have already transformed into an unimaginable level.
'Surely I can't be weaker than that bee, can I?' The insect was actually somewhat unsure. It had a faint premonition that even though it was preposterously strong with immense potential, it might not be the number one demonic insect of the Star-Sea world—not with the unknown state of the Bee King and the top-three Taboo Blood Yu...
While the Eight-Winged Ant Immortal marveled at the changes in the world, it quickly grasped a critical point!
'How could so many strong experts be born in this era of the Star-Sea world?' A massive doubt rose in its heart. This era showed no signs of a world recovery or the arrival of a "Great Era." It was merely the deathbed struggle of a world on the brink of destruction. How could such stunning existences be born in such circumstances?
As it continued to read its memories, it soon found that all these era-surpassing existences eventually converged upon a single person... even it was the same.
"Qi Ping!"
"Or rather, the Star Emperor!"
It found that its ability to become an Age-Demonic Insect—from its reincarnation to the subsequent nurturing methods and resources—carried Qi Ping's shadow in every step. The same applied to the Blood Yu, the Golden Marrow Bees, the Sacred Beast Azure Dragon... including the eight Body Integration True Demons! Every existence that had become a legend carried Qi Ping's shadow!
Or more accurately, the birth of every powerhouse in the world was like this. Manuals, the basic education system, the stable environment, the spirit herbs, pills, spirit tools, and talismans developed by the entire world's power—nearly every measure aimed at liberating productivity and every basic rule designed to unleash individual potential had Qi Ping's push behind it!
It could be said that every peerless genius who had grown up in the Star-Sea world shared a powerful bond of karma with Qi Ping!
"Qi Ping... the Star Emperor!"
"A fine Star Emperor indeed!"
An unimaginable light bloomed in the insect's eyes. It had lived for a long time and seen many people, but Qi Ping was the only one who could evoke such an emotion in it! It even realized that throughout history, across the entire Star-Sea Continent, only Qi Ping had exerted such an influence on the world.
And Qi Ping had absolutely not failed the title of Emperor. His methods, heart, and strategy were beyond others. Furthermore, he wasn't a "Mother of Mercy" who could be restricted or betrayed. His vision and heart to leverage the strength of every individual in the world were things that had never appeared before. Given enough time, the Star-Sea world would surely develop into an unimaginable prosperity, even potentially restoring or surpassing any era of its past glory!
But the insect's gaze soon dimmed.
Could they win this World-Domain war? The world showed signs of recovery, but the time was too short! How much time had passed before the Sky-Dragon Continent once again lured the Demon Realm into invading? Although the demons this time were far more than the ones before, the Star-Sea Continent had been harvested for so many years and had declined to an unimaginable degree. Had it not been for the Sky-Dragon Continent claiming it as a "vegetable garden in their backyard," it would have been devoured clean by other worlds long ago—after all, the coordinates had been exposed, and many worlds knew of it.
The Star-Sea world was too weak!
Thinking of the pressure the human cultivators would face, the insect felt immense weight. It had finally seen a co-lord who could truly start a prosperous era, only to face this situation!
Yet upon careful reflection, it realized this was inevitable. How could the Sky-Dragon Continent, who had turned the Star-Sea world into a "vegetable garden," allow that garden to grow again? It was likely that if they weren't worried about the karma and Heavenly Dao punishment of personally destroying a world, they would have acted themselves instead of using the demons to bypass that karmic link.
'So... are we destined for the end?'
After the shock and joy, an indescribable sorrow welled up in the insect's heart. The extreme gap—from ultimate excitement to ultimate sadness—was too strong. it truly could not accept such a good hand and such a world heading toward destruction.
'Is there truly no way? No... I cannot give up!'
'The debt of the Beast-God Sect has not been repaid!'
Thinking of its companions who had fallen at the hands of the Sky-Dragon Continent over eons, intense hatred emerged in the insect's eyes! It had not yet personally torn the enemies to shreds! It had not yet ground them into non-existence!
At this thought, the insect's heart was filled with hatred.
'And there is Qi Ping, and those other stunning existences... even the Blood Yu, a taboo insect capable of destroying worlds...'
'There is Qi Ping's Earth-Immortal Domain... and I have become an Age-Demonic Insect with One Soul, Many Bodies. I've already lost everything once; what is there to fear?'
'Perhaps others are fighting to the death as well. I must not give up!'
With this in mind, the insect controlled its nearly one hundred bodies and charged out with endless killing intent! No matter what the final result was, this time, it would use the body of the Age-Demonic Insect to slay every enemy!