Chapter 192: Even Law Power Can't Hurt It??
Additionally, the amplification abilities of legendary powers are somewhat diminished when applied to platinum-level abilities and Law Power.
Platinum-level abilities and Law Power, in turn, have a severely reduced amplification effect on Divine Power, almost negligible. This is why the gap between a god and a demigod is like a chasm, even greater than the gap between an ordinary person and a demigod!
This is because Divine Power, as a higher-tier force, is exponentially more powerful than any power players had in their previous states!
Therefore, Sterl's trump card "ascend to godhood" could potentially help him overcome any obstacle.
Conversely, when he cannot "ascend to godhood," he is utterly powerless against god-level beings, like an ant.
Back to the main point.
At this moment, the Shadow Stealth's enhancement to [Flowing Water] could only boost its output by around 40%, and Sterl had already plunged his blade into the Devourer of All Things' body!
Accompanied by a bizarre sound, Sterl noticed that Law Power didn't seem to be getting devoured by the Devourer of All Things.
Or rather, he could sense that the Flowing Water law was being devoured, but the boss's legendary-level power couldn't manage it, merely absorbing it in vain...
However, the enhancement effect provided by Shadow Stealth was easily drained by the boss.
"Devourer of All Things, could it indeed devour everything?"
"If its level is strong enough, could it even refine Law Power and Divine Power?" Sterl couldn't help but feel a chill as he looked at this black-hole-constructed monster.
Weird and powerful!
This perfectly described the boss!
Theoretically, at the same level, this boss was invincible!
At this point, Sterl became more convinced of his hunch: this boss's power was modeled after his own!
Other Trial Seekers, even if they broke through to legendary status, would find their newly acquired legendary abilities effortlessly absorbed by the Devourer of All Things.
"The essence of this trial is for me to break through!" Although he had mentally prepared for this, confirming it stirred a sense of ambition in Sterl.
Simple! Isn't it just a breakthrough? With my skill-point system, the last thing I'm afraid of is a power breakthrough.
At this moment, stripped of the legendary power from Shadow Stealth, the sword formed by the Flowing Water law collided with the energy field inside the Devourer of All Things. As Sterl anticipated, the Flowing Water law successfully shattered the multi-colored protective energy.
Sterl immediately noticed that the black-hole sphere representing the boss's head became extremely fragile, and the devouring-refinement force vanished!
It turned into a simple, highly defensive construct. Sterl smiled slightly, twisted his wrist, injected more Law Power, and even bit down on an Essence of the Moon to replenish his mana.
He twisted with all his might, wildly swinging the Flowing Water blade already embedded in the boss.
Finally...
Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, Sterl forcibly shattered the small black-hole representing the boss's head, with a squelching sound.
Sterl saw that after the black hole head was shattered, much of the absorbed and refined energy dispersed into the air. A prompt appeared before his eyes—
[You are in a high-energy zone. All attributes increased by 20% for three hours.]
Breathing in the air rich with abundant energy, Sterl felt the void within him, caused by the frantic use of Law Power, begin to replenish significantly.
Of course, Sterl remained cautious. He had a nagging feeling that the Hall of Valor's trial wouldn't be so straightforward.
Sure enough, he noticed in the air—
The destruction of the head had no effect on the Devourer of All Things' actions. The black holes that comprised the boss's arms and torso flew towards Sterl at an alarming speed!
The entire boss had split apart and transformed into individual spheres chasing him down!
Sterl had just expended the Flowing Water law, leaving him in an awkward state of depleted power.
With no better option, he quickly infused more Stardust, enhancing Shadow Stealth to escape.
"Wait a minute!" Sterl paused.
This time, Shadow Stealth activated without any hindrance. Clearly, with the boss's head shattered, its sealing power had weakened significantly.
Sterl felt a bit regretful for wasting some Stardust. Nonetheless, he easily utilized the shadow world to reach a safe location, observing from a distance.
Meanwhile, he took a few deep breaths. As time passed, Sterl's energy slots gradually returned to a healthy state.
But then, his pupils contracted as he looked into the distance.
The Devourer of All Things' body had reassembled, quickly forming a new head.
It seemed that aside from the dispersed energy in the air, the boss hadn't suffered much damage. Even its life force hadn't diminished significantly.
"Even Law Power can't hurt this thing?" Sterl muttered helplessly.
This was his most powerful offensive technique!
The problem was, the life force he managed to reduce was minimal, a drop in the ocean for the Devourer of All Things. Meanwhile, Sterl's own expenditure was immense, making it impossible to continuously use the Flowing Water law.
Moreover...
Sterl could sense the Devourer of All Things' life force rapidly regenerating!
"How am I supposed to fight this?"
He was at a loss. Although he could continuously unleash the combination of Flowing Water law and Shadow Stealth, he could hit the Devourer of All Things without being harmed himself.
However, that previous combo had consumed an entire bottle of [Essence of the Moon], and he didn't have many of those left!
Sterl estimated that with the current rate of output, even if he used up all his Essence of the Moon, he would only reduce about a third of the Devourer of All Things' life force.
And the boss's life force would quickly regenerate if it stayed out of combat for a while.
If he couldn't kill it in one go, it was a futile endeavor!
It would merely deplete his energy reserves and supplies.
Nevertheless, Sterl hadn't lost his fighting spirit.
After all, this boss was designed based on the strength of the strongest Trial Seeker, which was likely him.
So, Sterl understood that unless he could achieve a significant breakthrough in his combat power, victory was impossible.
The previous attack had merely been a test.
Sterl quickly activated Shadow Stealth once more. This time, instead of approaching the boss, he chose to flee far away...
With his speed, traversing the shadow world for two seconds was more than enough to easily escape the pursuit of the Devourer of All Things.
After returning to the real world, Sterl checked his mini-map and found himself in Zone D5.
Here, the lush jungle and pristine white sands remained untouched by the boss's destruction, looking like a perfect vacation spot.
From a distance, he could see a massive void area in Zone A, where a dark monstrous figure roamed freely.
New information appeared before Sterl's eyes.
[The Devourer of All Things has exited combat. Current devoured energy: zero. Life force fully restored.]
This message lifted Sterl's spirits. If the rules of the extreme trial were consistent with regular trials—
Once Sterl escaped, the boss would prioritize chasing weaker Trial Seekers, giving the remaining survivors a chance to develop.
In reality, there weren't any "remaining survivors." This trial's standards were so high, it was practically tailored for "Sterl," meaning other Trial Seekers had no chance of passing and were merely cannon fodder to buy time.
This message implied that the time other players bought was meaningful. Otherwise, while Sterl tried to enhance his power, the boss would be devouring other players and exponentially increasing its strength.
If Sterl couldn't outpace the boss's growth, there was no point in continuing. He might as well use a token to forfeit the trial.
The next two messages made him ponder further.
[When the Devourer of All Things exits combat, its energy resets to zero. This is specific to the trial mode. Its true nature allows it to permanently increase power by devouring energy.]
[Hint: The Devourer of All Things is currently tracking the weakest player on the field, now heading to Zone B3.]
These messages were straightforward. The first explained that in trial mode, the Devourer of All Things' devouring ability was nerfed to give players a chance to pass.
Otherwise, it would permanently grow stronger by absorbing energy.
Sterl couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "This boss is overpowered, isn't it?"
At the same time, he realized that if such a boss were to descend upon the world of [Transcendence], it would become terrifyingly powerful if left unchecked for even a short period!
Unless it could be annihilated with overwhelming force, even the gods might not be able to deal with it in the end!
The Devourer of All Things' ability allows it to devour anything of the same level. Once it advances to the legendary level, only demigods could hope to defeat it. If it advances to the demigod level, only gods could handle it.
And if the Devourer of All Things were to advance to a god, wouldn't it become invincible? Even Divine Power would become its nourishment. Such high-energy substances and supplements would certainly cause its advancement speed to skyrocket once again!
Sterl had a vague understanding of the so-called minor Divine Power and great Divine Power classifications of godly realms, but didn't know if the Devourer of All Things, upon advancing to a god, could devour all levels of Divine Power or only those corresponding to its own "Divine Power level."
If it were the latter, that would be somewhat manageable. But if it were the former, then a god-level Devourer of All Things could easily destroy the entire Crystal Barrier Galaxy, right?!
By the way, the term "Crystal Barrier Galaxy" was something Sterl had come across in the textbooks of the human race from Earth. The Vastor continent where he lived, along with more than ten other continents, belonged to a large world.
Each large world and its affiliated smaller worlds are classified as part of the same Crystal Barrier Galaxy.
Considering all this, Sterl understood that he had to find a way to defeat the Devourer of All Things within the trial. Otherwise, the future threat would be too great.
He needed to find a method to rapidly enhance his power and completely eliminate this boss in a single decisive strike.
With a series of thoughts flashing through his mind, Sterl decided to use this time to thoroughly explore Zone D5, hoping to find resources or secrets that could help boost his combat strength.