The Nether Realm   

Bruce landed on his butt after he stepped through the portal. He looked at the surrounding environment and found nothing but death energy around him. He also found no living beings in his vicinity. The nether realm was exactly as described by the shadowy figure.

A week ago…

"How do I become stronger?" Bruce asked the man on the throne.

"It's simple really. You need sufficient cultivation resources and endless battle experience" The man replied.

The man proceeded to destroy Bruce in every way imaginable.

"Currently, your battle experiences are crap"

"Your strength is crap"

"Your techniques are poorly polished"

"Also, you're dirt poor"

"Anything else you would like to add?" Bruce felt his heart punctured and his pride shattered. He kept a smiling face even though he died on the inside.

"Your fashion could use some work" The monarch decided to add a few more things. However, Bruce interrupted him.

"First of all, I'm the strongest young talent in the world. I'm 99% certain that you cannot find anyone stronger than me at my age"

"Second, I'm not dirt poor. I have 700,000 high energy crystals at my disposal. Most families don't even have that much!"

"Third, …"

"I'm going to interrupt you right there" The monarch held out his hand.

"You're nothing more than an ant to those who want to kill you"

"Your wealth is laughable. How many energy stones do you think it'll take you to reach Divine Emperor?" The monarch asked.

"One million high energy crystals?" Bruce guessed.

"Bahahaha, you are truly stupid" The monarch laughed heartily while Bruce had a dead look on his face. It's been a long time since someone called him stupid ever since Sean Walker.

"Kiddo, your foundation for Divine King is perfect. That means if you want to continue to have a perfect foundation for every step, the amount of resources that you need increases exponentially"

"You would barely be breaking through Divine Emperor with five million high energy crystals. That's a conservative estimate"

Bruce slowly contemplated the math and what the man told him made sense. It was extremely difficult for him to make breakthrough in the Divine King realm.

"Nothing is given free. Your strength is on par with Divine Emperor which means you will need Divine Emperor resources to rank up in Divine King realm."

"Now, what would happen when you reach Divine Emperor? How much resources do you think that you'll need?" The Monarch lightly tapped his fingers and a room full of energy crystals appeared. Each room was filled with at least tens of millions high energy crystals.

"Kiddo, you'll need tens of these rooms to cultivate in Divine Emperor stage"

"The Alliance will go bankrupt if it tries to support you fully" The Monarch laughed.

"Are you suggesting that I go rob other influences to gain cultivation resources?" This plan made the most sense in Bruce's head as he would also gain battle experience.

"With your puny cultivation, you'll die in one day if you try to rob people who have that much wealth" The Monarch looked at Bruce like he was an idiot.

"There is a place that exists in the universe that fits all the criteria that you need to grow"

"However, it will be equivalent to hell and the chances of you surviving there are close to zero"

"What do you want to do?" The Monarch smirked already knowing the answer.

"Can you get me there?" Bruce asked and the rest was history.

Back to the present, Bruce was standing on a small hill trying to get used to the Nether Realm. The energy in the surrounding was much more pure and higher in quantity compared to that in his world. The one thing that Bruce needed to do was to get familiar with cultivating death energy.

"I suggest you stay here for one month to get used to cultivating death energy" The monarch's voice rang out in his mind.

"How long do I have to train in this place?" Bruce asked.

"You have about two years before your original world rejects your existence completely"

"What do you mean?" Bruce stood up after hearing about the rejection from his world.

"Beings from each realm are not supposed to traverse to the Nether Realm"

"Across countless realms in the universe, the Nether Realm is a very unique existence."

"I've already placed a seal on you to hide your true existence in the Nether Realm"

"Once the seal perishes, you will become a being in the nether realm, and you will be rejected by your home"

"I see" Bruce nodded after understanding the situation.

"Should I really be wasting my precious time for one month if I only have 2 years in this realm?"

"Didn't I tell you that this realm has all the criteria for your success if you survive?" The monarch replied in a snarky tone.

"Do you know why this is called the Nether Realm?"

"Uh, no?" Bruce had never heard of this place or read about it anywhere.

"It is because your life energy perishes in this realm much faster than in the other realm. It is due to the manipulation of the time law that exists in this place"

"Meaning that 10 years in the Nether Realm will be equivalent to 2 years in your world"

"Is such a thing even possible?" Bruce gasped.

"Nothing is impossible in this world once you reach the top. The Nether Realm was created by a being that mastered the law of time"

"That being won't do anything to you even though it already detected you breaching its realm"

"WHAT?" Bruce was shocked. He thought that the man would hide his presence completely in the Nether Realm.

"I don't have my previous strengths so I can only do so much when hiding your presence"

"I expected this and since the being hasn't touched you, it means that it allowed you to stay in this realm for now"

"Why hasn't the being punished me for trespassing onto its realm?" Bruce asked.

"I can't give you the answer now. Reach the pinnacle and you'll find out the truth"

"Anyways, I will soon go back to slumber. Quickly find a beast and kill it" The monarch ordered.

Bruce didn't know why the man ordered him to kill a beast, but he went ahead and did it anyway. He subconsciously viewed the man as a teacher.

Bruce hopped around the area and looked for any living thing, but he couldn't find anything. He then traveled north and encountered a forest. Inside the forest, he found a large fox beaming with death energy.

Bruce stepped toward the fox and smashed his fist into his chest. The fox detected him and dodged his attack. It then shot a death energy blast at him with its tail. Bruce struggled against the fox until he finally landed a hit on the fox's head and killed it. After it died, its entire body turned him death energy and flew toward the sky.

"Quickly absorb the fox's death energy and cultivate it!" The monarch yelled.

Bruce did as he was told and grabbed the energy before it could fly away. He managed the absorb the large quantity of death energy and felt his body getting stronger.

"Now do you understand why this place is the best for you?"

"I do" Bruce nodded.

"If you kill a being in the Nether Realm, you get to take a good chunk of their powers and make yourself stronger."

"If you think your world was terrible, then just wait until you see the true horrors of the Nether Realm"

"It is a brutal world with no laws. All beings struggle against one another to gain powers."

"If you manage to kill every being in this realm, you will reach a strength beyond Worldly Supreme"

Bruce gasped when he finally understood the principle of the Nether Realm.

"Stop dreaming about killing every being in this realm. It is impossible for you to do so in 10 years"

"Your objective is to continuously battle to the death for the next 10 years and take your adversaries' powers"

"If you fail then you will die. I will not be helping you in any battle. I will only guide you occasionally"

"Thank you, mister" Bruce genuinely felt grateful from the bottom of his heart. The Nether Realm was perfect for him.

"Do you have a name that I can call you?"

"You may address me as The Monarch" The voice replied and went into slumber once again.