Chapter 104 – The Devouring of the Past, The Apotheosis of the Mind, and The Island's Despair
Agila floated as a silent sentinel above the coast, its golden hull reflecting the dying light of a sun that was no longer the sole source of radiance in this world. Within the ship, two cosmic events were occurring simultaneously: a predator was devouring her own ghost, and a Sovereign was collapsing the universe into the space between his eyes.
Trial 3: The Hunger of the Night: You will be forced to relieve the traumatic memories on your family in the Zhu Clan. You must use the Darm demonic Evil God Tiger's Evil Devouer to literally eat those memories, converting her past pain into raw Soul Power
In the deepest sanctum of the Agila, Zhu Zhuqing sat at the center of a conceptual arena. This was not a physical place, but a manifestation of her own psyche, amplified by the Demonic Nyx Core.
Suddenly, the environment shifted. The high-tech walls of the ship vanished, replaced by the cold, oppressive stone of the Star Luo Empire's Zhu Clan Manor. The air grew heavy with the smell of incense and stagnant tradition.
"Look at the little runaway," a voice hissed.
From the shadows emerged the phantoms of her past, Zhu Zhuyun, her elder sister, with claws extended and a face twisted in murderous ambition, and her father, the Clan Head, whose eyes were as cold as the decree of death he had signed for his own daughter. Behind them stood Dai Mubai, not the man she had once loved, but the coward she had fled—a drunken, broken shadow of the original timeline's failures.
"You think you can be a God?" the ghost of Zhuyun mocked, her voice a chorus of a thousand resentments. "You are just a stray cat, scavenging for the scraps of a human's favor."
They lunged. In her past, this would have been a moment of paralyzing fear. But Zhuqing didn't flinch. She stood, her vertical pupils glowing with a predatory, violet light.
"You aren't my family," Zhuqing whispered, the Evil Lightning of the Dark Demonic Evil God Tiger crackling along her spine. "You aren't even memories anymore. You are just...an Energy."
As the phantom of her father raised his hand to strike, Zhuqing opened her mouth. A vortex of obsidian-violet energy erupted from her core.
"Skill: The Devouring of the Past."
She didn't fight them. She Consumed them. The ghost of Zhuyun screamed as her spectral body was stretched and pulled into the Nyx Core. The "Concept" of her sister's cruelty, her father's coldness, and the Dai Clan's cowardice were stripped of their emotional weight and reduced to raw, chaotic data.
Zhuqing literally swallowed the ghosts of the Zhu Clan. As the manor dissolved into nothingness, she felt a surge of divine soul power so intense it threatened to burst her meridians. The "Concept" of her trauma was digested, its bitterness refined into a dark, celestial nectar.
"The shackles are gone," Zhuqing said, her voice echoing with the authority of the Night. "Trial 3... complete."
•••••••••••••••••••••
While Zhuqing was devouring her past, Lakan Diwa was undergoing a transformation that would change the nature of his existence. He was seated in a specialized isolation chamber, his Seven-Tone Genesis Chant vibrating at a frequency that petrified the air around him.
The first phase is The Purification of the Silver Sea. As Lakan entered the Song-Binding Meditation. He mentally replicated all seven melodies of the Adarna simultaneously. This was not a song for the ears, but a Vibrational Barrier for his brain. Within his mind, the Spiritual Sea—usually a turbulent ocean of gold and silver—began to settle.
He drew Chaos Qi from his Lower Dantian and bled it into his Spiritual Sea. Chaos acted as the ultimate solvent, dissolving every stray thought, every fleeting emotion, and every mundane memory. His mind became a vast, empty void of Liquid Silver.
The next Phase is the construction of the Diamond Lattice
"Now," Lakan thought, his focus sharpening.
He projected the energy of the 36 Heavenly Star Acupoints directly into his brain. These points of light manifested as a complex, three-dimensional geometric Lattice. It was a star-shaped structure of pure mental intent, pulsing in the center of the silver sea.
With the precision of a master calligrapher, he carved the Baybayin "ᜈ" (Na - Nirvana) into the center of the lattice. This character became the gravitational anchor, the point of No Return for his mental energy.
The third phase is to Overload the Simulation. As Lakan's Eyes of the Origin God flared behind his closed lids. He began the Absolute Simulation Stress.
Then he started to Calculate. He forced the data of the universe into the lattice—the movement of every molecule in the Extreme North, the temperature gradients of the Star Dou, the frequency of every Titled Douluo's soul power on the continent. The Lattice began to glow with a blinding white light as it reached the Density Peak. It was no longer just a thought, it was a Processor made of Law.
The final phase is the Ignition of the Nirvana Spark. When the pressure reached its breaking point. Lakan's brain felt like it was being compressed by the weight of the heavens.
"Nirvana... through friction," Lakan commanded.
From his Middle Dantian, he sent two diametrically opposed threads of energy: Absolute Zero Nirvana (Ice) and Holy Solar Radiance (Fire). He slammed these two laws into the center of the Baybayin "ᜈ".
Then Strike!
The Ice and Fire didn't cancel. They caused the Diamond Lattice to Collapse inward. For a microsecond, Lakan's consciousness DIED. There was no Lakan, no Phoenix or Adarna, only a void of absolute nothingness.
REBIRTH!
The collapsed lattice exploded outward, stabilizing into a Spinning Prismatic Galaxy in the center of his forehead.
The Nirvana Spiritual Core is born.
Lakan opened his eyes. A Radiant Silver Pupil manifested within his double-pupil eyes—the Third Eye of the Processor. His brain was now 10,000 times faster than a Title Douluo. He could feel the heartbeat of the world.
He closed his eyes again, and suddenly, he wasn't just in the Agila. He was in Bibi Dong's heart. He could feel her divine intent, her pride, and her love as a Live Stream. Across the sea, he felt Tang San's frantic heartbeat on the island. The world was no longer a mystery; it was an open book.
On Sea God Island, the sun rose to reveal a nightmare.
The "Return to Sender" tsunami that Lakan had reflected had torn through the outer defensive formations of the island. The sapphire-blue barriers were cracked, and the shore was littered with the debris of the Five Shield Alliance's ships.
Tang San stood on the beach, his fists clenched as he looked at the wreckage of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's flagship. Behind him, Ning Fengzhi was weeping, his Divine Invitation having led his people into a slaughter.
"How?" Tang San whispered, his eyes red with exhaustion. "My teacher said the Sea God was invincible. How could Lakan reflect his power?"
In the sky above the island, the golden-blue aura of Poseidon was flickering. The Sea God had exhausted himself just to prevent the island from being wiped off the map.
Tang San looked at the horizon, but he didn't see a fleet. He didn't see an army. He saw only a prismatic star hanging over the distant coast—the Agila.
"He's playing with us," Tang San realized, a cold dread settling in his stomach. "It's like the Sea God isn't a God to him. It's more like the Sea God is a... toy."
For the first time, Tang San felt the brittle nature of his own growth. His rings, forced to 100,000 years by Poseidon's cheating, felt like leaden weights rather than sources of power. He realized that while he was being Fed by a God, Lakan was Building a universe, a new reality.
Back on the Agila, Lakan stood up, his new Nirvana Spiritual Core spinning with a silent, prismatic hum. He felt the connection to Zhuqing, whose Trial 3 was complete. He felt Bing'er's growing authority in the North.
"The Reckoning is moving to the final stage," Lakan said, his voice now carrying the Processing Power of a God-King.
He looked toward the Sea God Island. "Tang San has realized his position. Poseidon is drained. It's time to move the ship. We're going to witness Zhuqing's next trials in the open sea, right under the Sea God's nose."
Lakan smiled, the Radiant Silver Pupil in his eye glowing. "Let's see how many more rules Poseidon is willing to break before I de-tune his very existence."