The speed at which the Destroyer had improved his strength during this period was beyond description. Moreover, this so-called "normal logic" was calculated by Amu Zinen based on the characteristics of Misfortune Spirit Energy. It accurately predicted the extent to which the Destroyer could enhance his power by absorbing all of his own strength and a large amount of negative energy from the bodies they collected.
But why did the Destroyer's combat power far exceed Amu Zinen's worst calculations? Did Amu Zinen underestimate the Destroyer's growth potential? Or did something else happen to the Destroyer after he escaped from Eternal Star?
Haoyun quickly pondered why the Destroyer's strength had skyrocketed in such a short time, while also cursing Amu Zinen for arrogantly believing he could accurately gauge the Destroyer's rate of strength increase.
Of course, while Haoyun criticized Amu Zinen, he also beat his chest and stomped his feet, indicating he wasn't foolish enough to blindly trust Amu Zinen's words, which had caused a deviation in the information he relayed to everyone, leaving them unprepared to face such a powerful Destroyer.
"Hmph! Who do we have here? It's you!" As Haoyun reflected on himself, Yan Chaoyue had already arrogantly ascended to the top platform of the Mu Xing Palace, and disdainfully glanced at the Destroyer.
"My apologies! I've kept you all waiting! Ah! Mainly because I didn't expect the Eternal Mu people stranded on Eternal Star to have multiplied so many descendants over these years. This resulted in insufficient preparation on my part, forcing me to spend more time ensuring they were all slaughtered by my subordinates. Additionally, devouring them also consumed quite a bit of my time. So, please forgive me, forgive me! Hehehe!" The Destroyer put on a helpless look and spoke nonchalantly about the extremely bloody slaughter that had just ended on Eternal Star.
Although everyone had anticipated that, given the nature of the Mastanians, they would certainly tear up the agreement to protect the Eternal Mu people stranded on Eternal Star after King Erl was engulfed by Misfortune Spirit Energy. Everyone had already mentally prepared for the Eternal Mu people on Eternal Star to meet a tragic fate.
However, preparing oneself mentally was one thing; experiencing the true aftermath was another. Therefore, when they heard from the Destroyer himself that all the Eternal Mu people on Eternal Star had been brutally slaughtered, everyone on Mu Xing felt as if they had been struck by lightning, trembling with rage. Haoyun and his companions finally understood that the reason for the Destroyer's strength skyrocketing to the level just shy of Wrathful in such a short time was because he had absorbed all the misfortune energy generated when those Eternal Mu people were slaughtered.
Feeling the revenge and fury surging from the Eternal Mu people below, the Destroyer just smiled indifferently. After all, for a bloodthirsty demon like him, slaughter was commonplace and nothing remarkable. So, in a provocative manner, he looked mockingly at the people below the celestial shield, who were roaring curses at him, and said to Yan Chaoyue with a teasing tone, "Hehehe! What's up? I just helped you get rid of your worries on Eternal Star, so you can face me without any worries. So, you should thank me, right! Am I right, my dear Annie? Hehehe! My little Annie, don't rush! Because before long, I'll kill all of you too!"
"Annie? My dear Annie?" No one expected that the Destroyer, exuding a deadly aura, would dare to openly mock Her Majesty like this. Therefore, the Eternal Mu people once again pointed their fingers and cursed loudly at the Destroyer standing outside the celestial shield.
But at this moment, Yan Chaoyue suddenly signaled everyone to be quiet, then asked sternly with a grim face, "What did you just say?!"
"Hehe, Annie, what's wrong? Is it because we've been apart for so long that you've forgotten even your husband's endearing nickname for you? Hehehe! When you were cuddling with King Erl, didn't you love it when he called you that? My dear little Annie?" The Destroyer said, with hands on his waist, bending over to playfully taunt Yan Chaoyue. However, the tentacles all over his body writhed like pythons, each opening a mouthful of thorns, making the Destroyer look terrifying and completely incompatible with cuteness.
"How do you know these things?" Yan Chaoyue suppressed her anger and asked in a low voice.
It was Yan Chaoyue's high cultivation and profound restraint as a queen that prevented her from losing her composure even after her privacy was exposed in public. However, her iron-gray face and the energy surging uncontrollably from within her still couldn't conceal her immense anger.
"Hehehe, once a person's soul is engulfed by Misfortune Spirit Energy, we gain all their memories from their lifetime. Although we're not interested in the memories of these prey, this time I devoured none other than King Erl. So, out of a little curiosity, I carefully reviewed his memories and learned about his nickname for Her Majesty in private. Oh, by the way, according to my research, it's confirmed that King Erl had only one woman in his heart, he was really devoted, and he truly loved Her Majesty!" The Destroyer grinned with his long mouth.
"What did you do to King Erl?" Upon hearing this from the Destroyer, Yan Chaoyue immediately stepped forward and asked in a cold voice.
"Me? What did I do to King Erl? I just retrieved that bastard who was swallowed by King Erl into my body. Shouldn't this be considered avenging King Erl? Hehehe! So, Her Majesty should thank me too." The Destroyer teased.
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Yan Chaoyue's body trembled at the words, involuntarily stepping back. It was only now that she understood why the Shaba flower, symbolizing the Earl King, had suddenly withered. It was because the Destroyer had consumed the magic-transformed Earl.
"What?! You actually devoured the magic-transformed Earl?!" Hao Yun couldn't help but exclaim. In his view, despite the Destroyer's subsequent increase in strength, there had always been a mutual wariness between the Destroyer and the magic-transformed Earl. Therefore, Hao Yun had always considered the Destroyer Black Gate and the magic-transformed Earl as a fusion of malignant spirit energies that needed to be faced together, never imagining that one day the Destroyer would also devour the magic-transformed Earl.
"Oh? Isn't this Lord Hao? It's been a long time!" Upon hearing Hao Yun's exclamation, the Destroyer raised his hand in a feigned friendly greeting.
Then, with a pretended remorseful tone, the Destroyer continued, "Ah! If it weren't for Lord Hao colluding with Amu Zinen and snatching quite a few pieces of malignant spirit energy fragments from Amu Zinen, I might not have thought of devouring the magic-transformed Earl. You see, I've always regarded him as my own brother! If it weren't for being forced, how could I have laid a hand on my own brother? So, if you insist that I was wrong to devour Earl, Lord Hao, you should also take some responsibility!"
"However, on the other hand, I actually have to thank Lord Hao for snatching those malignant spirit energy fragments. Because, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ruthlessly devoured the magic-transformed Earl to advance as quickly. I wouldn't have discovered that although Earl had secretly enhanced his strength against me, after I devoured Amu Zinen's power, he was no longer my match, and I no longer needed to fear him."
"Of course, if I hadn't forcibly devoured Earl, I wouldn't have accidentally gained control of a mysterious power hidden within the Earl King's body. It's because I realized that unique power that I was able to better convert the divine power inside the Earl King into usable energy for myself. And because of understanding this power, I gained the ability to convert all the divine power remaining in the Eternal Muxing people's bodies into usable energy."
With this explanation, everyone finally understood that the Destroyer's sudden and dramatic increase in strength was due to his ability to convert divine power from the Heavenly Spirit Realm into his own energy, in addition to devouring malignant spirit energy. This made the Destroyer an even more formidable entity. Now, both malignant spirit energy and divine power from the Heavenly Spirit Realm saints would become his prey.
Coupled with the Destroyer's half-step Fury level strength, which was enough to crush many Heavenly Spirit Realm saints and malignant spirit energies weaker than him, it gave him more opportunities and made it easier for him to plunder energy. Therefore, Hao Yun and the others immediately realized that they must find a way to defeat the Destroyer or permanently trap him within this black hole. Otherwise, once he left the black hole, the Destroyer would undoubtedly become an extremely troublesome adversary.
"Furthermore, if I hadn't made up my mind to devour Earl, I wouldn't have understood how to manipulate this dagger. Haha! Looking at it this way, Lord Hao's arrival has really helped me a lot! You are truly the guide who led me all the way to becoming a Fury level powerhouse!"
Continuing in a falsely grateful tone, the Destroyer then casually pulled out a dagger named Phoenix Feather No. 2, left behind by the Earl King, from a twisting tentacle mouth.
Hao Yun, seeing how easily the Destroyer had taken the dagger that had been handed over to the Earl King by Yan Chaoyue, immediately became unsettled. Because, while Hao Yun knew that the one responsible for the Earl King's consumption and the near-extermination of the Eternal Muxing people on the Eternal Star Body was the Destroyer Black Gate, he also felt that if he hadn't tried to unite with Amu Zinen to resist the Destroyer, perhaps none of this would have happened. Therefore, after listening to the Destroyer's explanation, Hao Yun still couldn't help but bear a heavy sense of guilt. Under the influence of this mindset, Hao Yun naturally couldn't accept any more bad news related to him.
Because Hao Yun's emotions were the most agitated after hearing the Destroyer's series of explanations, Dao Lao and others standing beside him also understood that Hao Yun's mind must have been severely disturbed by the Destroyer's distorted reasoning. Therefore, Yan Chaoyue quickly signaled for Hilfer and Tie Ta and others to appease Hao Yun's emotions, expressing that no one wanted Hao Yun to blame himself. From beginning to end, Hao Yun had done nothing wrong; it was just that the Destroyer had cleverly used Hao Yun's action plan to seek his own benefit.
Then, Yan Chaoyue raised her hand and pointed at the Destroyer, saying coldly, "Humph! You really know how to absolve yourself of the mistakes you've made! But I need to remind you that you are the source of all these crimes. So, there's no need for you to deflect blame anymore. If I were you, I'd quickly return the dagger to me. That way, maybe I'll leave you with a complete corpse!"
As Yan Chaoyue's words fell, a powerful cyclone formed around her, released from within her, indicating that Yan Chaoyue had condensed all her anger into a strong energy and was ready to launch an attack on the Destroyer at any moment.
The Destroyer, naturally, didn't back down upon seeing this, but instead stared back at Yan Chaoyue with his eyes full of sinister energy, grinning and responding, "Haha! Too bad it belongs to me now. If you want it back, come and take it yourself! Hmph! It's a pity for the Heavenly Spirit Realm. I never thought that a dignified princess from the Heavenly Spirit Realm's underworld would stoop so low as to marry a creature from the lower realms! It seems that after the war of the gods, the situation in your Heavenly Spirit Realm isn't optimistic either!"
At this point, the Destroyer adopted a more ferocious tone, saying, "Humph! That's fine! It'll make it even easier for me to gradually consume the power of your Heavenly Spirit Realm once my strength rises again, and let those poor creatures from the lower realms escape their suffering early! Hmph! Next up is you, Gogolnikyeva, you little hybrid! Don't think your lowly tricks can deal with me! Once I've dealt with you lot, I'll come and devour you! Even if you flee back to the Dark Void, I will still devour you!"
Due to devouring the Earl King and acquiring his memories, the Destroyer knew the true identity of Yan Chaoyue, which didn't surprise Hao Yun and the others at all. However, what surprised them was that the Destroyer actually believed that their resistance against him was somehow related to Countess Gogolnikyeva.