Leon thought he was careful, but even greed had eluded his eyes.
Celestials, Divine experts, and Demon Lords were all existences that have taken the first big step closer to the everlasting.
Even if their bodies died of natural age, their souls would still be alive, nigh imperishable under the right conditions.
And a Demon King was even stronger than a Demon Lord!
He should have known.
Realization quickly dawned on Leon at the precipice of life and death.
The secret realm had been around for a long time, yet there were no rumors of any kind about Demon Lord-level existences or above in the demon's territory.
There was only a Battle God, whose power was unclear, in the Infertile Plains.
'If I'm not wrong, all the tomb owners of the Demon Lord-level Tombs and above are still alive! Only Arch Demons and below are all dead,' Leon's pupil shrank.
If he had to guess, the Arch Demons all lost their qualification to ascend as Demon Lords. Thus, their inheritance was left behind for more capable successors.
"Foolish human, there's no point in struggling! Hand over your body obediently spare us both the needless effort! It's impossible for you to overcome my will!"
The Abyssal Wood Demon King laughed maniacally as he continued to exert his will on Leon's consciousness and wrestle it away from his body.
"You, whose cultivation is so low that this King would deign to even glance twice, actually have a rather special physique! I have waited far too long enough for a suitable vessel like yours! Hahaha, the heavens must be helping me by sending you to me!"
"Hah, more like the heavens is trying to destroy you! Do you think I would be afraid of you?!" Leon suddenly laughed after recovering from his initial fright.
The Demon King was someone to be feared, not so much for a wandering soul.
"This isn't right!" The Abyssal Wood Demon King started to frown as he sensed something amiss about the situation. "With your cultivation level, you shouldn't be able to hold out this long!"
"I really can't hold on much longer. Thus, I will be ending this," Leon stated cooly before adding, "If it were anyone else, you would have most likely succeeded in snatching their body. But, unfortunately, you met me!"
"Begone, demon!"
Leon exerted the power of Nihility to the extreme as it exploded outward, forcing the Abyssal Wood Demon King's soul out of his mind and retreat into its demon core like a frightened rabbit.
It was as if the Abyssal Wood Demon King had seen something terrifying.
"T-t-this is… impossible! How could you have that power! No one should be able to comprehend that power! Are you the second coming of Shiva?!"
The Abyssal Wood Demon King's soul appeared to have lost his mind, but he did not dare come out from the demon core again.
Even the powerful suction force abruptly ended.
"Shiva…"
Leon frowned.
He seemed to have heard that word somewhere before, but he thought it was just some gibberish uttered by the underground mutants.
Now that he heard it again, and from a Demon King no less, he didn't doubt that it had a significant meaning behind it.
"Who is Shiva?" Leon interrogated.
"Shiva is…"
The Demon King's words slowly grew weak.
And before long, the demon core fell silent. After a few more moments, not even the Demon King's soul could be felt.
After being hit by the strongest power of Nihility he could muster, the Abyssal Wood Demon King's soul broke and departed the world, leaving his question unanswered.
He could only figure it out another time when he found more clues.
"Haiz, it would have been nice if the Abyssal Wood Demon King survived a little longer to answer my questions," Leon sighed.
Nevertheless, he would have killed the Demon King either way.
The Abyssal Wood Demon King was too dangerous to be left alive. He was safe thanks to the Nihility Law, but not so much for the others around him.
"There shouldn't be any more danger with this demon core," Leon glanced at the demon core and concluded before stowing away in the Worldspace.
Shortly after, Leon glanced at the Mother Hellbiter's carcass.
"I've already wasted so much time dealing with the remnants of the wood creatures and wasted even further time dealing with the Abyssal Wood Demon King. I better make use of its blood before it goes to waste too."
Leon decided.
It shouldn't take him too long.
Since he already absorbed an Arch Demon's blood essence before, it shouldn't take him too long to absorb the Mother Hellbiter's blood, given the experience.
However, that was his mistake.
An Arch Demon-level monster's blood essence was nothing like an Arch Demon's blood essence.
It was much more potent, unrefined, uncontaminated—nothing like the Arch Demon's impure blood essence, which contained a mixture of multiple different types of blood essences.
The moment Leon finished refining the first drop of origin blood and absorbed it into his bloodstream, his body was immediately assaulted by excruciating pain.
"Arghhh!" Leon howled uncontrollably.
He tried to steel himself and grit his teeth through the painful process, but it only made him howl even more painfully.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
It was like trying to overcome the Divine Damnation all over again, except its annihilation lightning was much more powerful and inflicted pain to every fiber of his being.
His nerves were assaulted directly.
There was nothing he could use to defend himself against it. He could rely on his force of will and hope not to lose his consciousness.
Passing out during a dangerous cultivation process was the first step to everything else going wrong.
It could even lead to death.
The nerve-wracking pain tortured Leon's mind and body for an unknown period, and his painful cries were the only thing heard inside the tomb.
Leon had lost track of time.
By the time he regained his clarity of the situation, blood, sweat, and impurity soaked his clothes, and a layer of skin had been shed.
Leon clenched his fist and felt something different about his body.
He felt healthier and livelier.
It was strange for an already healthy person to have this kind of thing, but he felt like he could consume poison and still be okay.