The Era of Gods-Chapter 700 Ancestral Runes

Given that the All-embracing Mark had no reaction upon entering the remains of this unknown progenitor, it most likely wasn’t left by the All-Embracing Progenitor. Nevertheless, Lin Xiao decided to take a look inside to see what changes might have occurred after the progenitor’s fall, to explore what lay within the core of its remains, and to check if anything essential, like some essence, had been left behind.

Throughout the tunnel, a constant stream of Death Qi and Ancestor Power existed in a higher concentration than outside. Walking through it, he felt as if numerous ants were crawling on his skin, inducing a tingling itching sensation, which became more pronounced the deeper he ventured.

The progenitor’s body was colossal, similar to a planet, and inside were interconnected bone cavities. These were not holes formed by decay post-death, but rather a part of the progenitor’s skeletal structure.

Progenitors are so powerful that even their bones are unimaginably strong. Along the way, Lin Xiao saw no sign of corrosion, and the material was extremely hard; not even his full-force blow left a mark.

After an indeterminate amount of time and having passed through countless passageways, Lin Xiao emerged from one of the bone cavities into a vast space. His eyes were immediately drawn to a gigantic floating sphere slowly drifting in the center of the void.

As Lin Xiao laid eyes on the sphere, it noticed him as well. A wave of cold, hateful, and greedy will enveloped him. The sphere swiftly stretched out numerous thick tentacles whose tips opened to reveal various-sized eyeballs from which hundreds of differently colored beams of light sprayed toward him.

Its appearance and mode of attack were much like that of the infamous Evil Eye, but its strength was incomparable; it belonged to an entirely different league. The beams of light that struck him were akin to needles causing severe pain, and the impacted areas of his Gold skin turned black and decayed into ash, leaving behind many small pits and hollows.

Lin Xiao did not dodge or avoid, instead gritting his teeth and charging forward.

In a short span, the second wave of light rain came, but it missed him and struck the void behind him. Once again, he employed his old trick and severed the flow of time.

After several ineffective waves of light rain, the tentacles of the monster, similar to the Evil Eye, underwent a transformation. They rapidly morphed into various weapons that thrust at him with such speed that Lin Xiao could only muster his strength to endure the attack.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Dozens of explosions rang out, and he was simultaneously struck and sent flying by fifty or sixty tentacles.

Though the disruption of time remained unbroken, these attacks comprised more than just physical force; they were imbued with an inexplicable power that could penetrate the temporal layers and send him flying.

Before he could even hit the ground, all the monster’s tentacles transformed into Evil Eyes again, and they shot light arrows that bombarded him from midair.

The strange energy contained within was sufficient to penetrate the temporal layers to a limited extent, relentlessly forcing him backward.

The creature’s energy seemed inexhaustible, and its impact was exceptionally powerful. Firing once every second, it forced Lin Xiao continuously back until he was soon at the edge of the stone wall, pinned against it and lashed at, until almost none of the Gold on his chest remained. A thick layer of his Golden real body and flesh on his chest was completely stripped away by decay.

"This is too outrageous!"

Fortunately, the Power of Time isolated some of the damage. Otherwise, with the countless direct hits, he feared that half of his body would have been corroded away. This creature’s strength was likely even more formidable than the giant withered tree he had encountered before.

And this was not even the core of the progenitor’s remains. What terrifying entity could possibly lie within was anyone’s guess.

Lin Xiao was already thinking of beating a retreat in his heart, but he knew he had to defeat this creature first; otherwise, he couldn’t leave.

No longer daring to hold back any tricks, Lin Xiao once again activated his ultimate move—the Black Hole.

A terrifying gravitational pull emanated from him, as the surrounding space collapsed into a black hole again. The myriad beams of light shooting at him vanished without a trace upon entering the void, like clay bulls disappearing into the sea.

He had no choice; this creature was too terrifying. Looking at all his abilities, only the Power of Time and the Black Hole could handle the opponent. Other methods were effective against those weaker than himself, but useless against this monster that had emerged from the progenitor’s remains.

In fact, even as a black hole, he could not immediately overcome this adversary. It firmly implanted its tentacles into the void, anchoring itself in place. This space, being part of a progenitor’s body, was incomparably stable. While the nearby space around his black hole appeared to be collapsing, it was in reality only an illusion created by the gravitational pull; the space remained intact.

Moreover, as he activated the Black Hole, the Death Qi and Ancestor Power that filled the vast space surged towards him like a tide, drawn into the black hole.

Lin Xiao had to gather his spirits and fully convert the Death Qi to ensure that it did not merge directly into his body and transform into his own strength.

The Black Hole continued to struggle to absorb the monster, and the situation was at a stalemate.

Lin Xiao had been swallowing for almost a day when suddenly, in a moment, the Black Hole contracted and he dashed towards the nearest exit.

However, the monster’s response was exceedingly fast. Its hundreds of tentacles straightened and flung themselves forward, and hundreds of straight beams shot out, accurately smashing Lin Xiao, who had managed to cover less than ten meters, against the wall. What followed was another unceasing barrage of blows.

"Fuck!"

Having no other choice, he had to reactivate the Black Hole to withstand the bombardment, and the situation became stale again.

After nearly a week, Lin Xiao attempted to escape once more, but the creature was incredibly respondent, intercepting him instantly. He simply couldn’t get away.

And he had secretly observed and surmised that this entity might have lingered here for tens of thousands of years, birthed from the essence of a deceased progenitor. It seemed confined to this vast cavity, unable to leave, and harbored an abnormal hatred for life. Seeing him alive, it would probably keep watch until the end of time.

Lin Xiao knew that at this stage, there was likely no way to escape. The only possibility to flee was to enhance his strength.

So, he didn’t think about running away anymore. Instead, he remained incarnated as a black hole, beginning to devour without limit the omnipresent Death Qi and Ancestor Power within the progenitor’s skeletal remains and then transmuting it into his own strength.

At the same time, he communicated with Tishar within his soul, requesting her to loosen the restrictions of the Dream Ancestor Mark permissions, allowing even stronger power to flow continuously from the Dream Ancestor Mark into his body, constantly boosting his strength.

Half a month… no response.

Three months… silence.

One year… quiet as a mouse.

Five years… Lin Xiao suddenly woke up, turning his head in disbelief, shock written all over his face as he saw a semicircular indentation in the bone wall behind him that definitely had not been there before.

In his eyes, beneath the terrifying attractive force of the black hole he had become, bits of the progenitor’s bones, which had never shown a hint of damage since his entrance, were devoured by him, minuscule bone particles being pulled from the bone wall and absorbed into his body.

"This..."

Lin Xiao was so shocked that he was at a loss for words.

It might look like only a few bone particles were devoured, taking six to seven years just for so little, but this meant that the progenitor’s bones were not immovable.

Almost instantly, Lin Xiao had a crazy thought... that was, should he undertake a massive endeavor and devour this progenitor’s skeletal remains the size of a planet?

Even if there was only the skeletal remains left, he could feel during the devouring process that the bones contained an extremely strong essence of the progenitor, which could enhance not only his strength but crucially, enrich the essence of his life.

It wasn’t just bone after all; upon being devoured into the black hole, the essence of these bone particles revealed themselves to be runes imbued with the progenitor’s essence.

Plainly speaking, the progenitor’s skeletal remains weren’t merely bones; they were constructed from countless Ancestral Runes, which allowed them to be incredibly durable and withstand the immensely powerful force of a progenitor, nearly indestructible by anything below Rank 8 peak.

Lin Xiao had never entertained such an idea before because no matter how much effort he exerted, he couldn’t leave even a scratch on the bones. But now that he discovered he could devour the progenitor’s bones, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Once the thought occurred, it was unstoppable, but within this irrepressible and irresistible notion, his dwindling rationality hesitated.

If he were to do this, once he reached a certain point, it would definitely provoke a reaction from the terrible existence deep within the progenitor’s skeletal remains, and he wasn’t sure if he could withstand it in his black hole state.

If the terrible existence birthed from the core of the skeletal remains managed to break free from his black hole state and snatch him out, then he would be doomed.

However, this rational thought was too weak and quickly drowned in delusions of the benefits he would gain if successful, losing all restraint.

"Let’s do this!"

With a single thought, the previously controlled destructive power of absorption suddenly changed, evolving into an indiscriminate, frenzied devouring of everything around him.

More tumultuous energy converged upon him and crashed into the black hole, breaking down into pure energy for absorption. Compared to before, a myriad of bone particles were forcibly attracted and detached into the black hole, where the horrifying force tore them down to their origins as Ancestral Runes, integrating into his body, enhancing his physical form.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

This was possible only because the progenitor had completely died, without a hint of consciousness remaining; otherwise, if he absorbed it this way, there would only be one outcome – his body would be overtaken by the will of the progenitor, which would take over and be reborn through him.

The Tentacle Monster, stranded in the void, couldn’t do anything to Lin Xiao, who was incarnated as a black hole, except to firmly anchor itself in the void, resisting the horrendous force of attraction right before its eyes.

But this resistance gradually faltered as Lin Xiao grew stronger, slowly slipping into the black hole – a steady slide until, at a certain moment, a tentacle fixed in the void snapped. It set off a chain reaction, like dominoes falling, and one after another, the tentacles broke, and the massive spherical monster’s body lost control and slipped into the black hole.

It didn’t immediately disappear but erupted with a powerful force of Death Qi, struggling tenaciously at the edge of the black hole for several days. In the end, it couldn’t hold on and was devoured.

The black hole’s gravitational pull paused for an instant, then resumed. And this terror, stronger than an ordinary Rank 8 late-stage entity, vanished from existence.

Without the monster, the black hole continued to greedily consume the vast Death Qi and Ancestor Power within the progenitor’s bones, incessantly devouring Ancestral Runes and integrating them, and over time, the aura emanating from Lin Xiao’s true body within the black hole grew stronger, gradually emitting the same presence as the progenitor’s skeletal remains.

Time passed indeterminably until a long serpent-like creature with bone wings and countless tentacles flew from afar and plunged into the black hole, exploding a massive hole in the accretion disk formed by the converging vast energy.