Backlash

Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also, give your opinions on something I should change or add.

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The only explanation Feng could think of for the danger he was sensing right now was that his real life and soul in the real world were in danger; in which case what he had just done would be a very stupid move.

But his consciousness was faltering, and he was unable to move his body or log out and check on his condition.

As he fell from the wall at which the force of the Hellish Broodmother's strike had launched him, and Feng felt that he was about to lose consciousness without the strength to stay awake, the only thing Feng could do was give out one last command.

'Switch'

---

White River City, Candlelight Trading Firm

Inside one of the Special Workshops of the 4-star Shop, a middle-aged man with a cold expression was busing himself with making Armor Kits. 

Suddenly, Black Flame frowned. 

"What the hell is that idiot doing?" The Perfect Clone asked no one in particular. 

Since he and Feng shared each other's consciousness while also being independent at the same time, any great disturbance, like the one Black Flame was currently feeling, would be instantly sensed by him. 

When Feng felt that his life was in grave danger, so did Black Flame through their connection, and the Perfect Clone couldn't help but wonder what his main body was doing to arouse such a reaction from their danger sense. 

However, as they were nowhere near each other while it was also none of Black Flame's business, he soon went back to forging. 

Setting up the materials necessary for making an Intermediate Mana Armor Kit, Black Flame's hands that held Forging Hammers turned into afterimages as he used an Advanced Master ranked Forging Technique in order to maximize his production speed. 

Advanced Master Forging Technique, Fuck These Armor Kits! 

A completely new and unique technique that Black Flame had personally created in the last few days to showcase his passion for the job that he had been granted by his main body. 

Thanks to it, Black Flame's production speed of the aforementioned Armor Kits had skyrocketed, becoming capable of forging an Intermediate Mana Armor Kit in only five seconds, getting closer to the intended goal of created kits at record pace. 

Just as he was about to finish forging the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit, a weak voice sounded in Black Flame's consciousness. 

'Switch'

Black Flame, who was in the midst of forging an Intermediate Mana Armor Kit, suddenly seized all movements, the hammer in his hand that he was swinging down freezing in mid-air.

The message he had received greatly confused him, not being able to imagine just what kind of situation the main body had gotten himself into to have no choice but to send such an order. 

Knowing that the situation was critical and that time was of the essence if things really were that dire, though, the Perfect Clone didn't delay, immediately having his consciousness leave his body and move through his connection with the Ethereal Replicant Core. 

As Black Flame's consciousness left his body, the Perfect Clone created by the cloning Fragmented Divine Artifact had nothing controlling it anymore and collapsed over the forging table. 

--- 

Back in the 100th Divine Shrine, just as Feng's body was about to fall face-first onto the ground, his eyes suddenly shot open, while his legs stretched below, agilely landing and surveying his surroundings. 

But the person controlling the Swordsman's body was no longer Feng, but the consciousness that had been brought into existence by the Ethereal Replicant Core, which Feng had named Black Flame. 

Although Feng had lost consciousness, since Black Flame had taken over just in time, the system didn't follow the usual protocol of forcibly logging Feng off. Moreover, all of the skills he had activated beforehand were still in effect. 

With Thought Acceleration still increasing his Reaction Speed and thought process, Black Flame, possessing Feng's body, instantly took in everything around him, assessing the situation and what was happening. 

Seeing the Platinum Legacy Tablet, along with the nearby Hellish Broodmother and its dazed state, Black Flame got the basic gist of what had happened after taking into account the main consciousness's state. 

He also immediately understood what he needed to do, all in only a fraction of a second, as he made the most optimal move. 

Phantom Kill! 

Divine Steps! 

Phantom Stride! 

Another thirty-seven Fengs suddenly appeared within the dark cave's space. 

Switching places with the doppelganger closest to the Platinum Secret Technique Tablet, Black Flame appeared in front of the treasure, whose existence and presence here was inconceivable, in the next moment, extending his hands and grabbing the tablet. 

However, the moment he touched the platinum tablet, Black Flame instantly felt thousands of eyes brimming with intense killing intent land on him. 

At the same time, the Hellish Broodmother, which had seemingly been out of sorts after exchanging attacks with Feng, recovered from its stupor. 

Previously, when its and Feng's attacks collided, the soul energy Feng had covered the Pandemonium Lashblade with burst forth and struck its soul, temporarily immobilizing the Legendary monster with the unexpected and undetectable attack. 

Even though the energy had been too weak to damage its soul, it had been enough to shake it and arouse a deep feeling of unrest inside the Hellish Broodmother. 

For a few moments, its mind was too preoccupied with the blow it had received to its soul and wondering how it had happened to finish off Feng, allowing him the opportunity to switch with Black Flame and for the Perfect Clone's consciousness to get its hands on the Platinum Legacy Tablet. 

This would have normally been impossible if the Hellish Broodmother was paying attention due to its speed being too fast for the current Feng and Black Flame to keep up with, as even if his fingers were merely millimeters from the Secret Technique Tablet, the Legendary ranked spider could have still reached and smacked Black Flame away before he could touch it upon noticing how close he was to the treasure and getting serious. 

The Hellish Broodmother getting distracted by the feeling of its soul getting struck and possibly being endangered was what Feng had been counting and gambling on when he commenced the suicidal plan of attempting to channel the energy of his soul for an attack on the Legendary monster's soul. 

Feng's hope had been that if he could disturb the spider's soul enough, it would cause it to pause for long enough to buy him a second or two in which he could grab the Platinum Legacy Tablet. 

Aside from this method, Feng didn't have any other way of getting the Secret Technique Tablet without getting completely wrecked by the Hellish Broodmother. 

Even using the Destroyer of Immortality's Origin Skill, Immortality Slayer, would not be of any help, as, regardless of the skill's incredible power and ability to harm even a Tier 5 Fallen Angel, it was useless if Feng couldn't land a hit on the Hellish Broodmother. 

In his fight against the Tier 5 Serena, Feng had gotten the drop on the Fallen Angel by lowering her guard with the Destroyer of Immortality's Tier 1 status before he revealed the Legacy Weapon's true power, and getting close to the point where she didn't have the time to dodge or block, attacking with Immortality Slayer in the last possible moment when she could no longer react in time. 

It was unlikely that Feng could repeat the feat, though. 

With the difference in their speeds, the Hellish Broodmother would probably be able to retreat the moment it senses the life-threatening danger coming from the Destroyer of Immortality upon Immortality Slayer's activation, and wouldn't allow Feng to come close enough to it for him to have a chance at striking the Legendary monster; which could just pummel him with its powerful ranged skills. 

But even if he somehow managed to land an attack, the Destroyer of Immortality, being a mere Tier 1 Weapon, would break under the Hellish Broodmother's strength regardless of its potential strength and durability, which was why Feng had used the sturdy Fragmented Legendary ranked Pandemonium Lashblade, while the attack of Immortality Slayer would, at most, injure the spider. 

The damage would also not be nearly sufficient to provide Feng with an opportunity to steal the Platinum Legacy Tablet and escape, and would just piss off the Guardian Boss enough to use its full strength to kill him. 

Such a tradeoff was not worth it for a miniscule chance at acquiring the Secret Technique Tablet, as although Feng would be willing to risk his life, sacrificing the Destroyer of Immortality for the chance was far from worth it considering Feng could one day upgrade it to an incredibly powerful Divine Artifact. 

Hence, Feng's only option was to bet on a soul attack with his Soul Manipulation ability to stop the Hellish Broodmother in its tracks for long enough that he could take the platinum tablet and bail. 

However, Feng had never imagined the consequences of using his real soul to power his ability as he attacked a Tier 5 monster's soul while receiving a countering attack would be this grievous, and that he would fall into such a state after his attempt backfired. 

Having his real soul damaged, Feng faced an incredibly dangerous situation, being left with no choice but to switch consciousness with the Perfect Clone created by the Ethereal Replicant Core and let it control his body before he fully falls into Sleep Mode and gets logged out by the Main God's System. 

Meanwhile, the goal of Feng's plan could be said to have been achieved, as him hitting the Hellish Broodmother's soul with soul energy and disrupting its normal state had indeed caused the Legendary ranked Guardian Boss to freeze up due to the discomforting feeling of its soul being interfered with. 

But he was no longer able to act on the plan anymore, leaving the rest to Black Flame, who remained calm and composed in the stressful predicament he was suddenly thrown in by his main consciousness, calculatedly assessing the situation and taking the most optimal action as he managed to get the Platinum Legacy Tablet before the Hellish Broodmother awoke or any of the other spiders could get in his way. 

The moment he grabbed the platinum tablet, though, all of the surrounding monsters instantly turned towards the only human present, looking at Black Flame with gazes that would send a chill down anyone's spine, while the Swordsman felt a grave sense of danger from all directions, particularly from where the Hellish Broodmother was standing upon the Legendary Guardian Boss's awakening. 

Deafening hisses that could make one's ears bleed echoed throughout the cave, making even Black Flame's hairs stand on end as he faced the intense stares of so many powerful creatures. 

However, Black Flame didn't get the chance to make any other moves, the enraged Hellish Broodmother appearing in front of him as if it had used Instantaneous Movement and biting down on his head. 

Originally confident this attack would surely land and eliminate the intruder, the Hellish Broodmother was shocked to find its fangs had just harmlessly passed through the human, doing no damage whatsoever. 

A flash of confusion and doubt appeared within the gigantic spider's many eyes, but suddenly, it seemed to have sensed something and turned towards another of the numerous Fengs spread out within the cave, immediately locking onto its target as it sensed that human in particular possessed a far more powerful aura than any of the others; who weren't worthy of its attention, realizing they were some kind of fakes. 

As for the Feng the Hellish Broodmother was looking at, it was none other than Black Flame possessing Feng's real body, who had swapped places with one of the 36 clones summoned by Divine Steps, and was currently starting to sweat under the purple spider's menacing gaze. 

When he saw the speed at which the Legendary spider moved and attacked, Black Flame immediately understood why Feng had been forced into such a corner to be left with no other option except to make a risky gamble on his Soul Manipulation ability stalling the Guardian Boss. 

It was simply too fast! 

If not for him currently carrying the Destroyed Yog-Sothoth on him, which not only stole some speed from the surrounding monsters but also slowed down the Hellish Broodmother's attack as it got closer, there'd be no way for either of them to survive against the Legendary monster unless they relied purely on intuition and their sixth sense to continuously switch with Divine Steps' doppelgangers. 

But that would only work for as long as the Legendary Cape's skill lasted, and they'd be unable to make any progress due to how quickly the Hellish Broodmother detected their presence and got within attacking range, striking them in an instant, only delaying the inevitable by nonstop switching places with doppelgangers. 

Moreover, that was all under the condition the Legendary monster didn't get annoyed enough by his evasive techniques to become serious and use more powerful skills that could encompass the entire cave, attacking all of his doppelgangers at once. 

Black Flame's thoughts were interrupted by a hairy and very pointy leg appearing in front of his face, nearly piercing his head, so he quickly switched places again. 

This exchange between Black Flame and the Hellish Broodmother continued for what felt like days to the Swordsman, even though it had only been three to four seconds since Black Flame switched consciousness with Feng, due to the extreme speed both of them were moving at. 

Even the Superior Mythic ranked monsters in the cave weren't able to keep up with the two creatures, only catching a whiff of Black Flame's presence and attempting to move towards him, but the Hellish Broodmother being much faster and having already appeared in front of the intruder. 

At this moment, however, the Legendary Guardian Boss had grown irritated by his actions, as Feng and Black Flame had feared it would, stopping its chase and breathing in deeply. 

'Oh shit.' At first, Black Flame thought the Hellish Broodmother had taken a break from attacking him to observe his movements while calming itself down, but he realized what it was doing in the next moment. 

Suddenly, after taking in as much air as it could, the Legendary monster breathed out a thick, brown gas that quickly expanded in all directions, filling up the entire cave and even exiting it, covering the entire range of where all of the doppelgangers were. 

Tier 5 Skill, Noxious Gale! 

Seeing the brown gas reach him, Black Flame remained composed as he prepared himself to die. 

Although he currently had Absolute Domain, at merely Tier 3, the most an Invincibility Skill like it could do was protect the user from physical damage and attacks. The same went for Fortress. 

Other offensive abilities such as Mental Attacks, Sonic Attacks, and, of course, poison, would be mostly unaffected depending on their nature. 

Meanwhile, Noxious Gale, the skill the Hellish Broodmother had just used, was purely an absorption-type poison skill. As a Tier 5 skill, it wouldn't even matter if Black Flame didn't breathe in the poisonous gas, since it would still enter his body through his other orifices and pores, meaning he had no way of preventing it from doing him harm. 

The skill had also enveloped all of his doppelgangers, even the one Black Flame had summoned outside of the cave as insurance in case things got really bad and he was unable to survive the predicament his main consciousness had placed him in. 

Hence, this move played by the Guardian Boss meant certain death for him, with Black Flame having no way of even resisting, making everything he had done pointless since the Platinum Secret Technique Tablet will drop from his bag upon death. 

However, after spending a full second within the brown gas, Black Flame suddenly realized that he wasn't taking any damage. 

It was at that moment that Black Flame remembered that Feng had been scuffing down on Chocolate Sticks, which gave him a certain amount of Poison Resistance, for around half a month now; consuming over a thousand of them and gaining a sufficient amount to not be affected by Noxious Gale. 

How much damage one took from poison in God's Domain depended on four things; the power of their Mana Body, their Divine Defense, Vitality attribute, and Poison Resistance. 

Feng and Black Flame currently didn't possess a Mana Body or have any Divine Defense, while although their Vitality was high for Tier 1 players, it wasn't enough to take on a Tier 5 poison skill like Noxious Gale. 

Their Poison Resistance gained from the sweet treats made by Olivia was the only thing keeping Black Flame from getting killed by the Hellish Broodmother's poison attack. 

Naturally, Feng had taken that into account before deciding to attempt stealing the Platinum Legacy Tablet from the 100th Divine Shrine's Guardian Boss, counting on the Hellish Broodmother relying on poison, its strongest characteristic, to try eliminating him once it realized wildly attacking without a strategy was a waste of its time and effort. 

But being placed in such a dangerous situation and having to act immediately, the Poison Resistance they possessed had slipped Black Flame's mind, forgetting about it entirely due to never being in a situation where his resistance to poison had saved him and never relying on it, making Black Flame think that he was about to die. 

His temporary confusion was shared by the Hellish Broodmother, not believing a mere Tier 1 ant was capable of surviving one of its most lethal attacks, much less remain completely unharmed. 

The Guardian Boss's anger was reaching its maximum, deciding to annihilate this entire cave and all the life in it after seeing Black Flame remain alive despite the usage of Noxious Gale. 

In the next moment, though, the Hellish Broodmother suddenly noticed all of the doppelgangers in the cave were disappearing. 

Black Flame had noticed that Divine Steps' duration had ended even sooner, instantly realizing that the critical moment had come. 

His eyes barely managed to keep track of the Legendary Guardian Boss's movements as it reached him in an instant and sent a leg stab at him, having chosen to not use any skills and attack with its fastest speed before the intruder could do anything else. 

Just as the Hellish Broodmother was about to finally land an attack on Black Flame, it suddenly sensed danger from above it. 

One of the Guardian Boss's dozens of eyes turned in the direction from which it had sensed danger, widening to its limit as the Hellish Broodmother witnessed thousands of blue stars falling at incredible speeds towards it. 

Within its moment of distraction, Black Flame smirked slightly, a red hue and faint golden lightning bolts surrounding his body, while a pillar of fire rose from the ground below the two of them as a giant blue Magic Array appeared above them, and the Demon Sword in Black Flame's hand became coated with a silver glow. 

Dragon Buster! 

Flame Born! 

God Speed! 

Flame Domain! 

Moonchaser! 

His speed greatly increasing, Black Flame managed to take a step back and mostly dodge the Hellish Broodmother's incoming strike, with its pointy leg merely brushing against his cheek, only for the power behind the Guardian Boss's attack to get neutralized by Absolute Domain. 

Simultaneously, thousands of blue stars fell on the Legendary monster, who had once again gotten distracted by Black Flame managing to evade its attack, getting struck by both Black Flame's Draconic Spell and the skill of the Seven Luminaries Ring's Aura of Fire. 

These stars weren't summoned by just Black Flame's Dragon Buster, though. 

In actuality, they were created by over a hundred Dragon Busters cast by the doppelgangers created through Phantom Stride. 

During the time that he had been dodging attacks from the Hellish Broodmother, Black Flame had been taking a slight step to the side per every switch. 

It was practically unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't paying very close attention to Black Flame's every movement, while he and the Hellish Broodmother would move away from that spot before the system could even fully create a clone, who then moved away and hid from the spot where the Divine Steps' doppelganger was in order to not get caught up in the Legendary monster's attack the next time Black Flame switched places with that doppelganger. 

And when the time came, Black Flame had all of them cast Dragon Buster at the same time, causing over a hundred giant blue Magic Arrays to appear on the cave's ceiling, from each of which over a hundred shooting stars fell towards the same spot that Black Flame had calculated he'd be at the decisive moment that would decide whether he would live or die. 

His plan was executed flawlessly, all of the Dragon Busters sending their shooting stars on the Hellish Broodmother. 

Black Flame also activated Flame Domain, enveloping both himself and the Guardian Boss in the pillar of fire that blocked its vision, as well as using Moonchaser pushed to the Tier 5 standard by the Swordsmanship Great Grandmaster Title. 

However, he didn't bother trying to use Moonchaser on the Legendary monster, knowing it wouldn't have much effect due to the massive difference in their strength, instead firing it at the ground below him 

Boom! 

A huge explosion sounded out when the silver light collided with the ground. With such power getting fired out, the space and Mana in the cave were greatly disturbed, while a cloud of dust rose up from the explosion's epicenter as a massive ravine opened up below them. 

In spite of its impeded vision and senses due to the skill, the Hellish Broodmother's face changed into something that almost resembled a sneering expression. 

Inwardly, the Guardian Boss felt disdainful towards the intruder. Even with the Mana and space around them in disorder, making what was happening in the surroundings difficult to perceive, as a Legendary ranked Realm Lord, finding a being's aura within the center of the 100th Divine Shrine was a simple matter. 

Ignoring the shooting stars landing on top of its massive body, the Dragon Buster activated by Feng being the only one capable of doing decent harm to the Hellish Broodmother, while the rest summoned by the doppelgangers merely left burn marks on its body due to them possessing only 1% of Feng's attributes, as well as the fire brought about by Flame Domain that enveloped it, only slightly stinging the Legendary monster, the Hellish Broodmother dashed forward. 

In an instant, the Guardian Boss appeared right in front of where it was sensing the intruder's aura from. 

Its attack too fast and unexpected, the Hellish Broodmother's leg reached Black Flame, piercing through his body, which immediately turned lifeless without the Swordsman being able to react or dodge. 

A feeling of victory washed over the Legendary monster, believing it had finally killed the intruder. 

However, as it scanned the place near where the human had died, the Hellish Broodmother failed to notice the platinum tablet it had been desperate to get back. 

The victorious feeling that had appeared in the Legendary ranked spider's mind was instantly replaced with one of mortification. 

Since the Platinum Legacy Tablet had not dropped after the intruder was slain, it could only mean that the human had either never grabbed it in the first place, or that the Guardian Boss had failed to kill the despicable Swordsman. 

Spreading out its senses and focusing, the Hellish Broodmother suddenly felt an aura slightly stronger than the ones that the human's doppelgangers gave off, as well as the one that possessed the most physical mass. 

The Legendary Guardian Boss's anxiety only grew when it noticed the aura was positioned right next to the Teleportation Array near the altar. 

Quickly moving, the Hellish Broodmother appeared right next to the Teleportation Array and saw the intruder standing behind the Teleportation Array that was in the process of activating and was about to teleport the human out of the 100th Divine Shrine. 

"So you've noticed?" Black Flame looked at the Guardian Boss with a calm gaze and said indifferently "But I'm afraid it's already too late." 

Previously, the moment he had taken over Feng's body and assessed the situation, Black Flame had immediately came up with a split-second plan. He decisively chose to go with the first idea to come to his mind, not having the time to question whether there were any better or more optimal strategies. 

Following which, Black Flame activated all of his doppelganger-type skills. 

With Divine Steps, he'd evade the Legendary ranked Guardian Boss's attacks, in order to not just get bounced around by its incredible strength, as well as set up the second phase of his plan. 

With Phantom Stride, he'd create doppelgangers with every switch and have them prepare to launch Dragon Busters at the Hellish Broodmother in order to distract it. 

And with Phantom Kill, he'd set up his escape route. 

Upon the Abyssal Blade's doppelganger skill getting activated, Black Flame had the doppelganger completely restrict its presence and do its best to hide while sneaking over to the Teleportation Array. 

As the doppelganger attempted to get past all the high-ranking spiders undetected, blending in with the other doppelgangers, Black Flame stole the Platinum Legacy Tablet, distracting all the creatures in the cave, including the Hellish Broodmother, which had the highest chance of noticing the Phantom Kill doppelganger. 

Having their priceless treasure that they must protect at all costs stolen, all of the monsters focused purely on Black Flame who was teleporting around by switching places with Divine Steps' doppelgangers, failing to notice the doppelganger who was activating the Teleportation Array. 

When his getaway was ready, Black Flame had used the hundreds of Dragon Busters and his other skills to temporarily disrupt the Legendary Guardian Boss's senses. 

Black Flame then switched places with the doppelganger who was activating the Teleportation Array, having the doppelganger stop hiding its aura and instead let it completely loose while he fully restricted the aura around him and hid his presence. 

Simultaneously, Black Flame deactivated his Berserk Skills to no longer be in a state of Threefold Berserk in order to make the danger he gave off drop to inconsequential levels and to prevent any damage or harm from being inflicted on his body; as although he could endure the power granted to him by three powerful Berserk Skills being activated at the same time, the time he could keep it going was limited, so, since he didn't need to have powerful attributes anymore to activate the Teleportation Array, he might as well deactivate them. 

His plan worked out quite well, the Hellish Broodmother not being able to instantly notice that the person it had struck was merely his doppelganger that was more realistic than the others. 

The only hitch-up to his plan had been the Guardian Boss losing its cool and using Noxious Gale earlier than he predicted it would. 

Though, it proved to be useless, with the Hellish Broodmother deciding to rely on a purely poisonous attack being its greatest mistake. 

Under normal circumstances, Noxious Gale would have killed anyone present, so it couldn't be said to have made an illogical move. 

However, unbeknownst to the Guardian Boss, Feng had a very high amount of Poison Resistance, which was much rarer and harder to obtain than Resistance for basic elements in God's Domain, making its attempt to kill him, along with the doppelganger which inherited his Resistances, a failed endeavor once again. 

But had the Hellish Broodmother used a Tier 5, or even a Tier 4, skill that encompassed a large area and did either just physical damage or both physical and poison damage, it would have been game over for Feng and Black Flame, since the doppelganger created by Phantom Kill would not be strong enough to survive nor did itF possess any Invincibility Skills to save itself from the Guardian Boss's attack. 

As a result, Black Flame would have no chance to escape the 100th Divine Shrine anymore. 

Somehow, though, it all worked out in the end, with Black Flame managing to achieve his goal. 

By the time the Legendary ranked Guardian Boss finally noticed and reached the Teleportation Array, it was already too late. 

Releasing a loud screech, the Hellish Broodmother swung its leg at Black Flame, but it only managed to strike light particles as the intruder teleported out of the Divine Shrine. 

Screeeeeeech! 

Releasing another screech of extreme rage, the Legendary monster destroyed the surrounding area, but Feng's body and the Platinum Secret Technique Tablet were already gone. 

--- 

Appearing on the Divine Staircase, Black Flame ignored all of the system notifications he was receiving, immediately calling up the system interface and clicking on the "Log out" button in order to log Feng out of God's Domain so that he could deal with the situation and solve the life-threatening crisis that he was facing. 

As for himself, Black Flame could only return his consciousness to the Perfect Clone body created by the Ethereal Replicant Core and hope that he had been fast enough in stealing the Platinum Legacy Tablet and escaping the 100th Divine Shrine. 

From the moment Feng had ran to face off against the Hellish Broodmother, to the moment Black Flame had logged off, only around ten seconds had passed. It was a relatively short period of time, but they had no idea how much it meant in this situation. 

--- 

Inside the Greenwater Villa's master bedroom, a Virtual Gaming Cabin slowly opened, in which a young man lay without rising up, remaining as still as a statue inside it.

Hearing the sound of a cabin being opened, Fire leisurely strolled into the room, a flirtatious smile appearing on her face as she approached Feng from behind, intending to immediately grab the chance and get frisky with her lover. 

However, as she got closer to him, a feeling of something being very, very wrong suddenly assaulted her instincts. 

Moving at a very fast speed, Fire quickly reached the Virtual Gaming Cabin and turned to directly face Feng. The moment she did, Fire's eyes widened as her expression became one of immense panic, and she barely suppressed a scream. 

Feng's face was currently deathly pale while his eyes were bulging to the limit with blood pouring out of all seven of his orifices. Moreover, Fire could sense that Feng's life force was rapidly decreasing like flowing water. 

Faced with such a frightening scene and Feng losing his life right in front of her, although Fire was horrified by the implications of Feng's current state, she did her best to calm down as much as possible and come up with a solution, only to feel helpless as she had no idea what to do.

Having no idea what had caused this, or what was happening to Feng since she couldn't sense any problems within Feng's body, or how to fix it, the only thing Fire could think of was to give him Nutrient Fluids in hopes of them somehow helping Feng recover from whatever damage he had received or whatever condition he had fallen into. 

Hastily dashing towards the mini freezer which they had placed inside their bedroom, Fire fiercely pulled it open and grabbed a couple of S-rank and A-rank Nutrient Fluids, before rushing back to Feng's Virtual Gaming Cabin. 

As Fire hunched over the Feng, she attempted to lift up his body, when Violet suddenly walked into the bedroom. 

A look of displeasure flashed in the pink haired girl's eyes upon seeing Fire getting it on with Feng before he could even leave the Virtual Gaming Cabin, but as the redhead sensed her presence and turned towards Violet, the teen became shocked by the unexpected expression on Fire's face. 

Tears streamed down Fire's cheeks as she looked at Violet, catching her off guard by the desperation and grief on her comrade's face, which she had almost never seen appear on Fire's expression that was usually either carefree or murderous. 

There was only one exception where Fire displayed such a helpless expression, and that was when Feng was about to die. Upon this realization, a sinking feeling welled up in Violet's heart as she grew concerned. 

"Quickly help me!" Fire's shout pulled Violet back to reality, and she immediately dashed over to the Virtual Gaming Cabin as well, joining Fire next to it. 

Seeing Feng's state for herself, Violet understood why Fire had shown such a reaction, while her own wasn't any better. 

Before she could panic any further, though, Fire quickly said in a commanding, yet desperate, tone "Hold Feng up and keep his mouth open." 

Doing as she was told, Violet pulled Feng's body up into a sitting position and forcibly opened his mouth while keeping him steady. Fire then removed the cap from one of the remaining S-rank Nutrient Fluids and poured out its contents into Feng's mouth.

However, even after the bottle was emptied out, there didn't seem to be any changes to Feng's condition, and he showed no signs of recovering.

The two girls' nervousness was evidently increasing by large margins with every passing moment that they saw Feng continue to leak out blood from his face, but they swallowed their anxiety and continued making him drink more, not sure if it will be of help or if consuming so many Nutrient Fluids one after another would actually do more harm than good. 

Time passed like that with Fire and Violet huddling next to Feng's Virtual Gaming Cabin and feeding him S-rank and A-rank Nutrient Fluids, unaware of the turmoil happening inside of Feng. 

--- 

From Feng's perspective, although he was somewhat aware of what was happening around him in the outside world, and was fully capable of talking to the two of them, he currently didn't have the time. 

Crack! Crack! 

An imaginary sound of glass cracking echoed out in Feng's mind, but it represented something very real; and very bad for him. 

As he gazed inside himself while using his Soul Perception ability, Feng witnessed the black cracks across his blue, fireball-like soul expand, covering more of his soul's surface and making it look like a broken mirror.

Intense soul pain that would make one wish for death assaulted Feng, but he toughed it out without much issue. After all, he had experienced pain far greater than this in all forms whether it be physical, mental, or soul pain.

But it still hurt like hell.

The cracks on his soul were spreading too quickly, so, knowing that his soul would shatter and that he'd end up dying, with no hope of reincarnating again without an intact soul, at this rate if things continued developing like this and he did nothing, Feng focused his mind while trying his best to ignore the pain, activating his ability at full throttle.

Under Feng's control, soul energy continuously gathered to slow down the cracks' advance while also calming down his shaken soul, which had been distributed by the shock of striking a Tier 5 soul with the current soul strength that he could manifest. 

When Feng had attempted to attack the Hellish Broodmother's soul in order to temporarily stun the Guardian Boss using his real soul, like punching a concrete wall with your bare hands, it led to a devastating counter-shock that spread throughout his soul. 

Feng's soul wasn't so weak that he'd be placed in a life-threatening situation just from something as simple as that, though. A mere residual force of clashing his soul's power against another one with power at the Tier 5 standard normally wouldn't even be enough to harm Feng's soul. 

But that's under the condition it was at full power. 

Unfortunately, Feng's soul had been greatly injured during his previous life on multiple different occasions due to various causes, and the damage grew even worse with his reincarnation; which Feng could only presume was the price to pay for it. 

With his soul already being so cracked beforehand, the shock it took from his actions worsened his already unstable condition, resulting in the current situation. 

Having no way to heal his soul without a powerful source of soul energy, Feng could only try to stop the damage from getting worse by suppressing the backlash. 

Blue strands of soul energy spread around and intercepted the rapidly expanding cracks, slowing their advance and preventing Feng's soul from shattering into a thousand pieces. 

However, the soul energy proved to be insufficient to completely stop the breaking of Feng's soul, as the cracks continued to slowly spread around, while the energy attempting to keep them and his soul stable was quickly getting exhausted. 

Thankfully, although Feng's soul was currently very fragile, and the amount of its power that he could use was fairly limited, he did still possess a large amount of soul energy that Feng kept in the same stage that he had reached in the previous timeline, it being the only thing that didn't reset along with his memories, so he could continuously whittle down at the damage. 

But if he continued just using such an inadequate amount of soul energy, Feng's soul would break before he could fix the situation. This left Feng in a predicament, as he had to put in more soul energy, which would consume too much of his current low-ranking Mental Strength and leave him completely drained, at which point he'd no longer be able to endure the backlash without the strength to utilize his Soul Perception ability, marking Feng's permanent death. 

After all, even using his ability normally to observe souls took a significant portion of Feng's mental strength per second, not to mention controlling his soul energy. 

If not for Feng already possessing a powerful Level of Mental Strength for someone at his stage upon reincarnating, even activating his ability would have been too much, while restoring anyone's memories would naturally be impossible. 

Regardless of his limits, though, Feng could only pour more of his mental strength into controlling a higher volume of soul energy in order to migrate the backlash. 

As he did, the cracks were momentarily brought to a halt, the blue strands of energy surrounding them and absorbing some of the backlash's force. However, that energy was soon exhausted as well, unable to completely cool off the force wreaking Feng's soul. 

Feng mobilized huge chunks of his soul energy once again to combat the opposing force threatening to kill him, stopping the cracks from advancing, until the soul energy got quickly used up again, following which Feng had no choice but to repeat the process. 

It continued like this until Feng eventually ran out of mental energy to support his consumption, his mind becoming blurry as he was no longer able to stop his soul from splitting apart. Just as the cracks began expanding once more, Feng could feel a cooling liquid enter his body. 

When the fluid that Feng recognized as being an S-rank Nutrient Fluid reached his intestinal tract, the originally cooling liquid suddenly transformed into a warm current that moved through his blood, re-energizing his entire body. 

At the same time, his mind stopped being fuzzy, returning to its normal state as some of Feng's mental strength recovered. 

Hurriedly, Feng sent more strands of soul energy at the cracks. In such a way, Feng barely managed to stop the fracturing of his soul from reaching critical levels for a while thanks to the girls outside constantly feeding him Nutrient Fluids. 

After some time, though, Feng noticed that the cycle slowed due to the amount of mental strength he was recovering being much lower than before, and he immediately knew that they had run out of S-rank Nutrient Fluids, resorting to using A-rank ones in an attempt to save him. 

This greatly limited how much soul energy Feng could make use of and with what proficiency, making stopping the cracks from spreading wider across his soul impossible. 

With the speed of his mental strength recovery, whether Feng would be capable of keeping his soul from shattering was still undetermined, but at the rate at which he lost and barely recovered any mental strength due to the A-rank Nutrient Fluids having nearly no benefits for one's mind, it seemed unlikely. 

Seconds stretched out to hours for Feng as he struggled to keep his mind from shutting off while continuing to deal with the backlash of clashing against the Hellish Broodmother's soul. 

Feng's efforts were not completely in vain, as the cracks across his soul, which had steadied by now, had slowed to a crawl. However, they now covered its entire surface, and Feng's soul seemed like it would shatter into a billion pieces at just a touch. 

Sensing that the help from his intake of Nutrient Fluids was also slowing down and becoming extremely low, as well as that his mind wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer, Feng gave it one last-ditch effort to save himself as he used up all his mental strength at once, moving a significant portion of his soul energy, that was also starting to become a bit thinned out after continuous usage, towards the cracks from which a thick, sludgy black liquid was flowing out now. 

--- 

"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE OUT OF FUCKING NUTRIENT FLUIDS!?!" A shout that brimmed with several emotions sounded out in the bedroom as Fire looked into the freezer to see they had used up all of the stock that had been placed there. 

In truth, apart from the S-rank Nutrient Fluids that are kept for emergencies or important matters, all of the other consumables they kept were A-rank Nutrient Fluids for daily usage. The amount wasn't that large and they'd normally restock whenever it was necessary. 

Now though, that was coming back to bite them in the ass. 

Seeing that there were no remaining Nutrient Fluids, Fire immediately dashed towards the nearest window, not bothering with anything troublesome like going through the door.

Since they were out of Nutrient Fluids, she'd simply have to go get more.

Thus, Fire had came up with a plan of action the moment she realized their lack of anything to assist Feng in his troubles could be fatal to him.

She'd jump out the window, grab onto the Villa's wall and slide down, lower herself to the first floor where most of the training equipment and stuff, including their Nutrient Fluids that are for the usage of members' training, was, either find the nearest window on the first floor, or, if it's too far, break through the wall, get inside, locate the highest ranking Nutrient Fluids in the area, quickly grab them, trace back her steps, climbing back up to their room, and feed Feng her findings.

If the quantity or quality of Nutrient Fluids she had obtained wasn't good enough, she'd have to repeat the process until Feng recovered.

Just as Fire had reached the closest window and was about to dive through it, a voice called out to her from behind.

"Fire wait. Feng seems to be fine now." Due to the commotion Fire and Violet had caused, Ruoxi and Aqua had taken notice of what was happening as well, rushing over to help in any way they could.

Only, it didn't seem like they were of much use, as aside from making Feng consume more Nutrient Fluids, there was nothing any of them could do in this situation.

This left a great impact on the four of their mental state after realizing that, when it truly mattered, all of them were basically useless and couldn't do much except helplessly hope for a positive outcome that wouldn't leave them grieving in despair for the rest of their lives.

However, considering the current situation, the four girls could only swallow their bitter feelings and do whatever they could.

Hearing Aqua's words, Fire's neck nearly snapped around to look at Feng's Virtual Gaming Cabin, tears of relief running down her face like waterfalls.

Although, Feng hadn't woken up from his state, he had closed his previously bloodshot eyes and seemed to be resting them, while blood had stopped pouring out of his face. Moreover, and most importantly, Feng's life force had stabilized, meaning that he was no longer dying and he wasn't in danger anymore.

An enormous feeling of relief washed over all four of them, but Aqua quickly came back to her senses and gave out commands.

"Violet, Ruoxi, you two make sure there are no more problems with Feng and place him in the Virtual Gaming Cabin to rest, which should speed up his recovery. Fire, go grab more A-rank Nutrient Fluids and refill the Nutrient Solution in Feng's cabin. I'll talk to Manager Xiao? and negotiate with him to purchase more S-rank Nutrient Fluids." Even though Feng had stabilized, they couldn't be sure that there weren't any other problems with him, so the four of them had to quickly provide Feng with any means available to help him recover.

At the moment, their only resource that could potentially be of any benefit to him were S-rank Nutrient Fluids, but since they've already run out of those, while the rest which had been obtained from Feng winning the Big Dipper Competition had long since gotten distributed to the other restored members, Aqua could only speak to Manager Xiao about purchasing more at a cost higher than the market price.

There were still some leftover hundreds of millions of Credits from Feng scamming Twilight Echo, and some meager sum of money was nowhere near as important as Feng's recovery.

Nodding to the commands they had been issued, all four girls separated to complete their own tasks with haste.

Unaware of the trouble and panicky reactions he had triggered within his women's hearts, Feng's consciousness drifted.

But even after using up all of his mental strength in one go to completely stop his soul from breaking without recovering any in return, he didn't pass out, managing to stay conscious.

It was just barely, though, and as Ruoxi and Violet looked over him before placing his body back into the Virtual Gaming Cabin, unbeknownst to the two girls, Feng chose to log into God's Domain instead of simply resting and entering a System Sleep Mode in order to recover his mind from the exhaustion it had fallen into. 

Ignoring the Main God's System's urgent warnings to not log in and enter Sleep Mode, Feng entered God's Domain. 

The moment Feng appeared on the Divine Staircase where Black Flame had left his body, he instantly collapsed to the ground and was completely unable to stand or control his body at all. With his mental capacity entirely exhausted, doing anything in God's Domain was impossible. 

Another emergency notification suggesting to enter the System Sleep Mode popped up in Feng's vision as he lay on the ground, but Feng ignored it and sent Black Flame a message through their consciousness link to switch again. 

Only then did Feng agree to enter Sleep Mode. 

After all, he didn't want to waste any time sleeping while he still had work to do, so Feng thought that this was a good opportunity to test out the limits of just how much he was capable of switching with the Perfect Clone created by the Ethereal Replicant Core, and whether he could have Black Flame possess his body to control it and finish his business in the World Summit while he enters Sleep Mode and rests up his tired out mind. 

Feng's eyes closed sleepily upon his conformation of entering Sleep Mode, but before the system could log him off, his eyes opened up once again, revealing a pair of eyes no longer stained by tiredness and unclear vision, but ones that shined with clarity and cold calculation deep within them. 

Standing up, Feng didn't seem to have any problems with moving around, unlike before when he was unable to even speak due to his exhaustion. He then clenched his fist as if checking for something. 

"I guess we're fine then?" Unsure since he had no idea what was going on or what condition Feng was in, Black Flame spoke to himself in a tone that wasn't too confident. 

But since the main consciousness had chosen to log back in and let him take over while the original rested, without Feng leaving him any specific instructions or orders and just having the clone switch his consciousness to possess the main body, Black Flame could only assume that the situation had been resolved. 

In which case, he has been left with the matter of finishing things on this side. 

Thinking of so, Black Flame inspected himself for any changes after escaping the 100th Divine Shrine. 

During his entire time in the Divine Shrine, even after all the dangerous situations he had fallen into, Feng had never received any damage or injuries thanks to Absolute Domain. Neither did Feng's Immortal Soul sustain any damage from the clash of souls due to his real one taking the full brunt of it. 

The only real price he had to pay for going through the tough battle and risking it all in order to leave the 100th Divine Shrine, aside from Feng almost having his soul shatter in the process and dying, was that he was now in a Heavily Weakened state after using Threefold Berserk; his attributes being reduced by 80% for two or so days. 

As for current Stamina and Concentration, the latter had been exhausted during the time Feng was trying to save his soul from breaking apart, and the current Concentration in charge of Feng's body was full due to Black Flame taking over and bringing along his undisturbed mental state, while the former was, surprisingly enough, nearly at its peak despite the high intensity fight Black Flame had gone through while possessing this body and combating the Hellish Broodmother. 

Having an idea of how it had almost completely recovered, Black Flame checked Feng's system log for all of the system notifications which he had recently received. 

System: Congratulations! You have exceeded your own limits and achieved a feat acknowledged by the Gods. Rewarding three Exploits. 

System: Congratulations! You have passed the Divine Shrine. Rewarding 300,000 Shrine Points. 

System: Congratulations! You have passed the Divine Shrine within the time limit. Rewarding 300,000 Shrine Points. 

System: Congratulations! You are the first player to have passed the 100th Divine Shrine. Rewarding an Exploit. 

Even though he hadn't killed the 100th Divine Shrine's Guardian Boss, Feng was still rewarded three Exploits, which was equivalent to killing a Superior Mythic ranked Guardian Boss, for simply passing the Shrine due to the level of difference between their strengths. The Exploits' gain also explained why the Stamina consumed by Black Flame during his time of possessing the main body had recovered so quickly. 

Moreover, just managing to leave the Divine Shrine awarded Feng as many Shrine Points as killing the 80th Divine Shrine's Guardian Boss did, gaining a total of 600,000 Shrine Points from the Shrine and pushing his total amount to 7,139,720 points; nearly five million points more than what Feng had possessed after passing the 80th Divine Shrine due to the amount of points players obtained drastically increased with each five Shrines[1]. 

With such a huge amount of Shrine Points, Black Flame wondered if he'd even be able to use them all up. 

Although there was no lack of costly items at the Divine Hall, the ones which could leave a dent in his wallet all also needed Exploits, and considering his current limited number of them, having collected only 16 as of now, Black Flame was unlikely to exhaust his Shrine Points before running out of Exploits; meaning he'd be exchanging for pretty basic items with the rest of his points. 

Overall, if they set aside the matter of Feng almost stupidly breaking his soul and bringing this story to an abrupt end, Feng's trip across the Divine Staircase has been very profitable, gaining a huge number of valuable items; including the complete Forging Designs for the Conqueror's Armor, Ruler's Armor, and Monarch's Armor, multiple Fragmented Legendary ranked items, the complete Legacy Tablet for the Gold Body Combat Technique Devil's Parade, and many more. 

But most of all, they had gotten their hands on a priceless treasure Feng had never imagined even seeing before. 

Pulling out a tablet with a metallic and transparent shine, Black Flame closely inspected the Platinum Legacy Tablet for a while, before using the Eyes of Truth on it. 

However, the only information he received in return was that it was a Secret Technique Tablet, and nothing more. 

Apparently, the legendary Eyes of Truth were not powerful enough to appraise this platinum tablet; at least not at the standard Feng and Black Flame were currently using it at. 

Hence, it would seem like he currently wasn't capable of putting this tablet, for which he had fought so hard, to use until they progressed to higher tiers and could show off the Eyes of Turth's true power. [2]

Though, it didn't matter much at the moment, since, even if they could see its details, utilizing a Platinum ranked Legacy Tablet would be impossible. 

Secret Technique Tablets required players to be capable of drawing Magic Arrays of a certain standard in order to enter their Legacy Space and learn from the Legacy Tablet. 

For a Bronze Legacy Tablet, players would need to be able to form Basic Magic Arrays if they wished to activate them, while Silver Secret Technique Tablets had a minimal requirement of the players having to draw an Intermediate Magic array. 

Of course, depending on how powerful and complex the Combat Technique inscribed into the Legacy Tablet was, the requirements for activating it would vary as well, with some Silver Legacy Tablets needing players to be capable of drawing Advanced Magic Arrays. 

Meanwhile, when it came to Gold Legacy Tablets, their requirements can greatly differentiate depending on the level of the Combat Technique recorded in it, being anywhere from needing to be capable of drawing Basic Master Magic Arrays, while some needed one's capabilities to be on the level of an Advanced Master Magician. 

A rare few of the Gold Legacy Tablets that contained the legacies of the most powerful beings and had top-tier Advanced Gold Combat Techniques recorded in them even required one to be a Grandmaster Magician in order to have a chance at gleening any information from them. 

As for this Platinum Legacy Tablet that Black Flame was holding, although he couldn't directly assess its information or the legacy stored within, going by the intrinsic patterns and Magic Arrays on it which Black Flame could perceive, he doubted one would understand anything from the precious Secret Technique Tablet unless they were a proficient Grandmaster Magician, and they'd most likely have to at least be Advanced Grandmaster Magicians in order to enter the Legacy Space. 

Actually having a chance at mastering the Combat Technique that every being in God's Domain wished to obtain from the platinum tablet, though, might even require one to be a Great Grandmaster Magician, a realm of the Magician Subclass that Feng had never managed to reach during his previous life. 

Such a stringent requirement for simply making an attempt at learning a Combat Technique would shock anyone, instantly bringing down the number of people who could study from the Legacy Tablet to only a small number across the entire Universal God's Domain. 

Nevertheless, the value of this platinum tablet is uncalculatable. 

Most sources for players to learn Platinum Combat Techniques, being already essentially nonexistent with even Apex Powers not being guaranteed to possess a method to even remotely study a technique of such a high rank, were usually one-time opportunities that only provided a rough guide towards learning a Platinum Combat Technique. 

These opportunities were impossible to come by, and one would have to rely on insane levels of luck to come across one before sacrificing much in order to get a chance at obtaining the opportunity. 

Other sources were simply believed to be myths by this point due to there being no news or information about them anywhere. 

However, Feng had been lucky enough to come across an opportunity after a lot of effort and troubles that allowed a select few to have multiple chances at studying a Platinum Combat Technique, and he had wisely chosen the best among Zero Wing to secretly study it without alerting any of their enemies about what he had acquired. 

That heaven-sent opportunity had allowed Zero Wing to push far further into the competition of God's Domain and fight for survival as its top combatants improved massively thanks to the opportunity to study a Platinum Combat Technique, with Snow and Aqua actually learning the technique to a small extent. 

Even what Feng had obtained in his previous life was nothing but trash compared to the Platinum Legacy Tablet currently within black Flame's hands though. 

With the Legacy Tablet, as long as one met the requirements, they could technically enter the Legacy Space and study the Platinum Combat Technique stored inside it indefinitely, having a chance to practice it as many times as they wanted once the tablet came off cooldown and could be used again. 

If one could actually manage to enter the Legacy Tablet, regardless of whether they manage to master the Platinum Combat Technique or not, their gains would be unimaginable, with even experts at any stage of the Beyond Domain Realm greatly benefitting from the endeavor. 

On the off chance any of the outside powers learned about this tablet, they were sure to come guns blazing and flip this entire God's Domain in order to obtain it regardless of the price. 

In God's Domain, Platinum Combat Techniques were the peak of strength. Anyone who managed to master one would instantly become unrivaled. 

They were even capable of combating against something as mighty as Half-step Rules, which were believed to be impossible to master for players. 

After becoming capable of faintly executing a Platinum Combat Technique, Snow and Aqua were considered nearly on the same level as the Apex Powers' Old Monsters, even stronger than some who had no proficiency with any Platinum Combat Techniques, with only those few who had reached the Third step of the Beyond Domain Realm being capable of suppressing the two otherworldly girls. 

As for how powerful Platinum Combat Techniques truly are, Feng had seen their unfathomable power for himself a few times, becoming dumbfounded each time. 

The two most memorable times, though, were definitely the ones which had shocked Feng the most; 

With the first being when Snow, in a temporary state of extreme concentration and control, managed to use the Platinum Combat Technique she had been studying at a standard near completion during an important fight, critically injuring a Primordial God with the attack and nearly killing him. 

And that was without even having any Laws imbued into her strike, which had been one of desperation. 

Otherwise, Feng was confident that, if she had been at full strength and added a Law like Destruction into her attack, Snow could have potentially even one-shotted that Primordial God. 

That was just how powerful Platinum Combat Techniques were. 

It was the second of the two instances that truly stumped Feng, though, even putting some fear into him to this day. 

The Platinum Combat Technique had been executed at complete mastery by one of the few individuals in the entire Universal God's Domain who had mastered a Platinum Combat Technique. It had actually been none other than Celestina, who was now serving Feng and soon to be seduced by him. 

To begin with, no player had actually managed to fully master a Platinum Combat Technique, only getting pretty close to it. The reason players knew about Platinum Combat Techniques and their incredible powers was due to the handful of NPCs who had mastered them during their lives that span across multiple eras. 

Among them, Celestina had been among the most famous ones during her prime for having mastered two complete Platinum Combat Techniques, with less than a handful of even those beings who had surpassed Primordial Gods having achieved the same feat in their lifetime, her mastery over two Platinum Combat Techniques being one of the reasons Celestina had been considered one of the strongest beings not only during the eras she was reining as the Demon Empress, but throughout the entire lengthy history of the Universal God's Domain. 

The only person who had surpassed Celestina, along with every other being, in the number of mastered Platinum Combat Techniques, was the legendary God Slayer. He had somehow managed to master a total of four Platinum Combat Techniques to completion during his life, getting ranked as the number one creature ever when it came to Combat Techniques. 

Considering that the God Slayer had mastered four such monstrous techniques, Feng couldn't even begin to comprehend exactly how powerful he had been, as with one fully powered strike from Celestina while executing her attack-type Platinum Combat Technique at full mastery, she had instantly destroyed seven Realms, killed four Primordial Gods, and eliminated one being who had grasped a Half-step Rule. 

Such universe-shaking power was something that Feng had never before, or since then, seen during his previous life. 

Of course, the Demon Empress hadn't relied purely on the Platinum Combat Technique to achieve such a feat like Snow did, and she had already nearly recovered to her full strength by that point, using an immense level of the Power of Darkness along with the Half-Step Rule of Darkness to instantly pulverize their enemies. 

She also ended up in a very weakened state for a bit afterwards. 

But nonetheless, such a level of power was mind-blowing, and it was one of the reasons Feng was fully intent on seducing Celestina. 

At the thought of him and his guild members training within the Platinum legacy Tablet to master the Platinum Combat Technique, Black Flame couldn't help but grow excited. 

As long as Feng didn't suffer any permanent damage from the clash of souls, risking his very life for the platinum tablet had definitely been worth it. 

While looking through Feng's Spatial Bag and taking note of everything he had obtained and lost, having used up some Consumables and Magic Scrolls in his ascent up the Divine Staircase, Black Flame came across a certain item in the bag, causing his eyes to instantly narrow. 

Retrieving the item, a miniature figurine of Black Flame appeared in his hand. 

This was none other than the Ethereal Replicant Core, and a dangerous glint appeared in Black Flame's eyes the moment he held his figurine in the main body's hand; choosing to call up its information and System Panel. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

1. Here's a link to the Google Spreadsheet that I used to map out how Shrine Points get increased. Fairly certain that everything up to the 40th Divine Shrine is correct after comparing the amount Shi Feng had at every time it was mentioned, while I just winged it afterwards and went with whatever felt right. 

2. Like in chapter 2715 of the OG novel where SF gathered mana to increase Omniscient Eyes's effects. 

Note: Next chapter might take longer to come out than usual since, for the next few days whenever I have free time, I'll be going back through all of the previous chapters and correcting errors that I've recently noticed are present far more than expected.