Ao Shen took a deep breath, ensuring he was in the best state possible. Then, he began to swallow these bloodlines and integrate them into the Chaos Seed.
At first, everything proceeded smoothly. With the Baishe Clan's Devouring Power, the process of swallowing these demons was easy. Furthermore, his Innate Dragon Bloodline also contained the blueprints for many demon bloods.
However, as he absorbed more Bloodline Source, Ao Shen had to face the Will contained in them. Many of his generals and soldiers possessed Emperor Bloodline.
And these bloodlines contained traces of the Emperor's Imprints and their Will. As he absorbed more of them, he could feel these Wills trying to twist his mind.
He knew if he did not do anything, his soul and Chaos Seed would collapse. However, Ao Shen was a ruthless man, tempered by his experience in the Martial Hegemony World.
He spent thousands of years being hunted down, killing and fighting people who wanted to drink his dragon blood, eat his dragon meat, pull his dragon muscle and dragon scale to make weapons, and even use his dragon soul.
Due to that experience, he had tempered his Willpower to an extremely high level. As such, he fought against these remnants of Wills and Imprints.
They manifested in the form of various shadows that attacked his Primordial Spirit inside his Sea of Consciousness. Each of these shadows contained Soul or Mind attacks on par with the one he used on Xiao Songxi.
However, Ao Shen did not give up and fought with all of them–until he destroyed everyone who tried to stop him.
Although the process was dangerous, he experienced an unprecedented tempering that purified his soul and increased his Willpower.
'Immortal Venerable 6-Leaf Strength,' thought Ao Shen as he exhaled. 'My plan is feasible.' Previously, he was only at the peak of 5-Leaf, but now, he made a breakthrough in such a short period.
He sensed the Dragon Chaos Bloodline Seed inside his body, releasing a power that nourished his body and slowly increased his overall prowess. Furthermore, Ao Shen knew he could use countless Bloodline Divine Abilities.
'But it's not enough–far from it,' he thought with a frown. He waved his hand to summon Xiao Songxi's body. The latter was still alive–although barely.
Ao Shen had removed most of his Baishe Clan's bloodline, but he did not kill him. He used his Divine Sense to search for Xiao Songxi's soul.
'His original plan is interesting.'
According to Xiao Songxi's original plan, he needed to gather seven people that broke the Mortal-Immortal Barrier and used a special formation. The array would allow them to bring out most of the power of an Innate Treasure, thus achieving the battle prowess of Dao Ancestors for a short period.
As for which Root of Power they reached, it would depend on the strength of the seven people.
'His plan is too flawed. It would be too difficult to get these seven people together and trust each other enough to cooperate–especially this late in the competition.'
Although this generation had more than seven people who broke the Mortal-Immortal Barrier, the core issue would be to gather them together and work for one purpose.
'It's difficult to complete this plan–especially with my demon race identity.'
Ao Shen shook his head. Although he had an even lower chance of success than Xiao Songxi, he was willing to try as a last resort. Ao Shen gazed in the distance at the location of the Sea Race Formation.
He took one step and appeared in their location. Using Xiao Songxi's knowledge, he controlled this formation, granting him entrance access. Then, with a flick of his hand, he killed all the Sea Race's generals and soldiers.
A swallowing vortex appeared in front of his body, absorbing the bloodline of these people, further nourishing his Chaos Seed. Ao Shen felt his power drastically increasing, approaching 7-Leaf.
He suddenly frowned as he felt a new power incubating inside his body. The ambitious dragon closed his eyes to sense this new power.
'Innate Chaos Law,' he thought with some excitement. With this law, it will be easier to drive the development of his Chaos Bloodline.
'The Innate Chaos Law is both good and bad news for me,' he thought. The good news is obvious. However, the bad news is his Heaven Path Tribulation will be hundred times more difficult because of this Chaos Law.
'However, I only need to worry about the tribulation if I fail this plan. And if I survive.'
Ao Shen squinted his eyes, focusing on the changes in his body. He guessed it would take some time before reaching 7-Leaf. Unfortunately, time was of the essence, given the current situation.
'It's not enough. I need more potent and pure bloodlines, preferably Innate Bloodlines,' he thought. A few people appeared in his mind, and a ruthless light flashed in his eyes.
'Should I also swallow Human Emperor Bloodline?'
After thinking about it for a moment, Ao Shen decided otherwise for a few reasons. The main one is that Human Emperor Bloodlines manifested differently than other races.
Human Great Emperors do not want their descendants to be restricted by their bloodlines, so it usually manifests in the form of cultivation talent, comprehension, special physiques, Energy Manipulation Talent, potent and pure soul, body refining talent, etc. This is why human cultivators whose ancestors were powerful Great Emperors do not have powerful Divine Abilities derived from their bloodlines. Many of them even have mediocre talent due to the thinning of bloodline through generations.
Another reason Ao Shen gave up was due to the potential danger this act would bring to the demon race. He did not want the world to see him as the next Heaven Devour Emperor and used this excuse to exterminate his demon clan.
'Although I can't absorb these people's bloodlines, I have alternatives,' thought Ao Shen. 'There are plenty of people with bloodlines on this battlefield, some dormant and not even awakened.'
In his current state, his seed could sense hidden and thin bloodlines from people. Although these powers are weak, they are better than nothing.
After making a preliminary plan, Ao Shen did not immediately leave but decided to take some time to prepare.
Central Quadrant:
Yin Gen–who was in the middle of a formation–suddenly opened his eyes. He used his Divine Sense to check something, frowning in the process.
"The Yin Qi gathered is way less than I calculated."
Yin Gen was an expert in two things: body refining and Yin Qi. If he cultivated law, his Dao would have been Yin Dao. So, after entering this battlefield, he created a formation to gather Yin Qi for his use.
'Could someone else be doing the same thing? But why can't I detect anything.'
While in deep thought, he suddenly felt something.
'The one in the north is dead?' His frown deepened as he waited. A few minutes later, three people appeared before him.
"How is the situation?" asked Yin Gen.
"I only gather a small amount in the East Quadrant. I feel danger, so I followed your order and did not force it."
"The Southern Quadrant had no problem. I gathered enough Yin Qi, but the quantity was less than calculated."
"I only gathered a small amount in the Western Quadrant."
Yin Gen looked at the last general with a questioning gaze.
"I felt a sense of danger, so I decided to be careful."
Yin Gen thought his general was acting cowardly, but he suddenly remembered something. Mo Xingyun once contacted him to join an alliance against Wang Wei and Di Tian. Additionally, another mysterious group contacted him for the same reason.
'There are rumors Di Tian is as much of a threat as Wang Wei. Could it be true?'
He frowned before gazing at the Western Quadrant.
"So be it," he said, and the third general sighed in relief.
"Let's mobilize–we are attacking the Eastern Quadrant," continued Yin Gen.
"Sir, isn't it too soon?" asked the first general. "Wouldn't it be better to wait? With more people dead, the more Yin Qi we can gather."
"The situation is changing with every passing second. There are too many variables, so let's attack first. We can test the opponent first and decide whether to take a prolonged approach."
"As you wish. But what about Liu Si?"
"He's dead," said Yin Gen.
"Someone in the Northern Quadrant is capable of killing him?"
Yin Gen nodded. He guessed these people might be the mysterious group who contacted him. He even deduced their identity and might be related to the 'traitors' Wang Wei mentioned during the beginning of the Clean-up.
"Should we avenge him?"
"Yes, but not now."
Yin Gen felt it was not the best time to attack these people. After defeating Wang Chong's descendant and perfecting his Dao Heart, he can learn the truth about these people and deal with them.
"Alright, let's move."
Under his order, his legion mobilized and teleported to the Eastern Quadrant; he did not waste time and directly attacked Wang Wei's group.