Chapter 2703: Ten Trillion Years’ of Eternal Essence

’Not even five trillion years’ of Eternal Essence could kill it in one hit, huh? These guys are at least twice as durable as the ones in Level 2...’ Yuan thought to himself as he watched the Void Specter get back to its feet, acting like it was barely harmed.

Once it was back on all fours, the Void Specter suddenly took to the skies—something Yuan had never seen a Void Specter do before—and began viciously flapping its single wing.

A moment later, a dozen black spheres, each the size of a massive boulder, materialized around it.

At a glance, the attack appeared ordinary, but Yuan felt an ominous sensation in his gut. When he examined the black spheres more closely, he could clearly sense the Power of the Void contained within them.

"It’s using the Power of the Void in its attacks...?" Yuan muttered with a surprised expression, as he’d never seen it done before.

’No! Now that I think about it, I’ve seen this before! I just didn’t realize what it was back then because my understanding was too shallow!’ Yuan cried inwardly, recalling how the entity on the 46th floor had managed to attack him even while he was within the void.

At the time, he had assumed it was simply due to the difference in their understanding of the void. While that was true, the main reason was that the entity had learned to wield the Power of the Void itself, much like how a swordsman wielded Sword Aura.

’I didn’t realize the Power of the Void could be used like this...’ Yuan thought, inwardly shaking his head at himself for not considering it sooner.

In his defense, however, the Power of the Void was practically unexplored territory for cultivators in the Nine Heavens. Even those capable of using it could only tap into its power at a superficial level.

Of course, this included Yuan’s past lives as well. In fact, his current level of Void Understanding had already surpassed anything he had ever achieved in any of his previous lives.

’Although I know what it’s doing... can I even replicate it with my current level of Void Understanding?’ Yuan wondered, itching to try it.

Unfortunately, Yuan had no time to experiment, as the Void Specter had already launched its attack.

His first instinct was to use Void Manipulation to evade it, but if he had learned anything from his battle on the 46th floor of Endless Assault, it was that an attack infused with the Power of the Void could still reach him even while he was inside the void. In fact, being struck there could be even more dangerous than taking the attack normally.

The attacks were also too large to evade normally—or rather, doing so would require more effort than Yuan cared to expend. Therefore, he decided to simply take the attack head-on and see what would happen.

"What is that crazy bastard doing?! Why isn’t he moving?! Don’t tell me he plans on taking the attack with his body?!" Supreme General Tian exclaimed in disbelief as he watched Yuan from afar.

The next moment, the black spheres descended upon Yuan like a dozen meteors, causing the entire plain to tremble violently on impact.

Once the dust settled, several massive craters scarred the ground. At the center of the deepest one stood Yuan, seemingly unharmed aside from a thin trail of blood at the corner of his lips.

A smile tugged at Yuan’s lips as he thought to himself, ’Looks like my physique can absorb their attacks as well...’

Aside from his battle with the Void Hunter, Yuan had never sustained any real damage while fighting a Void Specter, so he had never gotten the chance to test whether his physique could absorb the energy from their attacks too.

Not only did being struck by the attack increase his Limitless, but it also improved his Void Understanding by a tiny amount.

"Unfortunately, I didn’t come here to improve my Void Understanding, but to increase my power, and I don’t have the time to play with you any longer..."

Yuan fought back shortly later, attacking the Void Specter with more and more power until it was defeated.

After several attacks, Yuan finally managed to defeat it with six and a half trillion years’ worth of Eternal Essence, which was more power than he’d expected.

’If Level 3 requires so much Eternal Essence, just how much will Level 4 require...?’ Yuan wondered inwardly as he absorbed the energy from the Void Specter, increasing his Eternal Essence by about three hundred billion years.

Once he was finished, Yuan immediately set off in search of his next prey. Fortunately, he didn’t have to look far, as the commotion from his earlier battle had already drawn in the nearby Void Specters.

Over the next several days, Yuan fought Void Specters almost nonstop, sometimes taking on several at once.

However, because defeating even a single one consumed a tremendous amount of energy, he often needed time to recover before moving on to the next fight, so he wasn’t able to delete Void Specters as he had in the weaker zones.

"This guy is definitely not human..." Supreme General Tian muttered in a dazed voice as he watched Yuan fight several Void Specters at once, something he’d never even heard of, much less witnessed with his own eyes.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and before Yuan realized it, an entire month had gone by since he entered the Level 3 Black Zone.

Although defeating each Void Specter took considerable time and effort, the rewards were equally substantial, allowing his Eternal Essence to grow at a much faster rate than it had in the Level 2 Black Zone.

Eight trillion... nine trillion... nine and a half trillion years...

Yuan’s Eternal Essence steadily approached ten trillion years—the threshold at which he would finally become capable of harming Eternals.

Finally, after a month and a half of training, Yuan reached his goal. Of course, he had no intention of stopping there and planned to increase his Eternal Essence as much as possible.

Unfortunately, he soon encountered an unexpected bottleneck.

<Due to your incomplete Eternal Constitution, your body cannot contain any more Eternal Essence>

The notification hovered before Yuan, leaving him momentarily speechless.