......
With a voice colder than ice, Chi Wu said, "Have you not wondered why my husband, who's a Star Radiance Expert, put weak enough barriers around the Crimson Dimension that even you all could break in?"
"!!!" "!!!" "!!!"
The eyes of the Grand Elders widened in disbelief.
Now that they thought about it, it shouldn't have been possible for them to get into the Crimson Dimension!
Their disbelief only increased further, as Chi Wu disappointedly shook her pretty head before saying, "And did not a single one of you even think to consider why your divine senses 'went unnoticed' in the space that my husband rules over like a god?"
"..." "..." "..."
The Grand Elders were starting to piece things together as their disbelief transformed into an overwhelming sense of fear!
We have been playing on the palm of the Crimson Emperor, dancing around like dumb little monkeys...-
"Furthermore, did none of you bumbling buffoons ever wonder why my husband allowed you to live and serve as Grand Elders? Why did he do nothing to enslave you right from the beginning?" Chi Wu interrupted their thoughts with a ridiculing tone as she pointed toward the floating sigils and runes scattered around the exterior of the Crimson Dimension.
"Tell me, what is it that you all see?" She asked.
"...Runes-"
"Correct," Chi Wu interjected. "And do you know what most of those Runes are capable of doing?"
"..." "..." "..."
The Grand Elders thought the matter over for a moment before realizing something, as they opened their mouths agape and stuttered in unison, "Seal-breaking runes... Our memory seals... the Goddess's influence..."
They had truly fallen into the trap laid out by the Crimson Emperor!
He was after their memories, and to acquire said memories, he had to get rid of the seals that the Goddess of Light set inside their minds.
If he rashly decided to open up their memory bank without first getting rid of this seal, then it was entirely possible that all of their memories would be erased within an instant.
Meanwhile, inside the isolated private cultivation quarters of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.
WAAA!
Condensed Qi rapidly swirled around within the interior of the cave, relentlessly bombarding a bloodied crimson-eyed man.
It looks like this breakthrough is quite a bit more substantial in terms of how much more pain I have to go through in order to acquire greater power...
Azmodeus's thoughts sounded inside his head as he extended one of his hands in front of him.
After which, he activated Qi at the tip of his fingertips. Then, he...
SLASH!
*Spurt!*
He stabbed himself right in the gut, causing blood to splatter all over the place!
"This should help to nullify the pain. After all, past a certain pain threshold, you either black out, die, or can no longer feel any more pain. And though the time frame for this resistance is quite brief, it will be enough for my concentration to stay on the matter at hand."
Azmodeus's disgruntled voice echoed out inside his private quarters as he spat out a mouthful of blood, completely ignoring the soul-wrenching pain being transmitted to him from the System and the breakthrough.
Normally, a breakthrough would not be very painful for a high-level cultivator. That was unless you just so happened to be breaking through with so many Physique's, Traits, and Laws under your belt...
In the end, everything came with a price. And the price for such insane Battle Power was a steep one...
To understand why this was the case, one must understand just how vast the chasm between Major Realms truly was.
Even the most talented of Heavenly Geniuses in the Starry Expanse would find it nearly impossible to bridge the gap between a single major realm after the Meteor Shower Realm.
And yet Azmodeus had done just that and more, as he could confidently say that he could fight someone nearly three major realms above his own without even breaking a sweat!
In fact, that gap would likely be far larger than that if the Astral Plane hadn't restricted the increased progression of various aspects of his existence.
Nevertheless, none of that mattered for the current him, as the only thing on his mind was passing through the hurdle between the Middle and Late Moonlit Path Realms...
......