Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

With his current soul strength, if he were to face that strange Mother Body again, Soul Absorption would definitely not only absorb 0.1% of its essence, and the power of Phantom Purgatory would be much stronger as well! He might even be able to instantly destroy the very soul essence of the Mother Body.

"Only 29 more levels... It's almost there, almost..." Sterl took a deep breath. The immense boost to his soul made him feel refreshed, his mind clear, and his awareness sharp.

Moreover, his perception range had expanded significantly, and the speed of his nerve reflexes, along with his ability to process information, had far exceeded previous levels.

However, as his soul level continued to rise, the amount of soul experience required for each level also kept increasing.

Looking at the soul experience required to reach level 71, Sterl felt a wave of frustration. This didn't even account for the immense thresholds of level 80 and 90.

He had originally thought that with the Soul Devourer Sphere, he would be able to quickly achieve the 99th level of soul strength needed to satisfy the cheat life force requirement. But now, it seemed that the road ahead would be long and full of challenges.

Fortunately, this current venture to Hell was a rare opportunity. The invaders' goal was to devour the entire Hell, including the souls of its inhabitants. He only needed to deal with the Mother Body, and he could absorb most of Hell's souls in one go. If all went smoothly, this trip might allow him to complete a significant portion of his progress.

With good luck, he might even be able to raise his soul to level 99, because Hell's size was vast. It was an accumulation of countless layers of Hell, filled with an innumerable amount of souls.

"Still, the overall results are quite good," Sterl muttered, shaking his head. He didn't want to think too much about it. As the saying goes, "The boat will go straight when it reaches the bridge." He wasn't going to fret over it. All he knew was that as long as he kept growing stronger and moving forward, he would eventually reach that level.

Then, he felt his own body. After his physical body and soul had been enhanced together, his overall combat power had increased significantly compared to before. The 80,000 soul power he'd used was well worth it.

"The only issue is the lack of high-level soul energy accumulation," he thought. "I hope that won't be disappointing in the future."

A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. High-level soul energy could only be refined from gods' souls or above, so he needed more and stronger enemies to harvest and hunt!

Sterl opened his eyes and glanced at the group of followers surrounding him, all with stupefied expressions on their faces. Seeing them look at him as if he were some kind of god or an immortal with cheat abilities, he couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

Their thoughts and emotional shifts were, of course, easily sensed by him. Not even gods, let alone higher-level divine authorities, could understand the speed at which his power was growing.

Of course, Sterl wasn't worried about his secret being exposed. These followers had already been branded with his Blood of the Ancient One, and even if they died, they wouldn't do anything harmful to him. There was no chance of any betrayal.

Furthermore, Boris and the others had no idea what exactly had happened. They couldn't explain it even if they tried.

"Master... are you alright?"

Sensing Sterl's gaze, everyone shuddered and hurriedly asked, cautiously.

"Don't worry. There is no creature in this world that can threaten me."

Sterl spoke calmly, his words laced with an overwhelming aura of dominance. The followers froze for a moment, but Sterl was speaking the truth; he wasn't someone who liked to boast unnecessarily.

Boris and the others could also sense it — their master was indeed not in any kind of trouble. In fact, his aura seemed even stronger than before.

They recalled the series of events earlier and speculated that perhaps their master had been undergoing some form of training.

"Alright, let's go."

Sterl cut off their mental musings and immediately walked toward the space portal that had been formed by the Will of Hell, stepping through without any hesitation.

Seeing this, Boris and the others didn't dare delay. They quickly followed in his footsteps, having already made up their minds. They needed to accomplish something great — to earn another grand favor from their master!

As they stepped into the portal, a dizzying sensation swept over them. Moments later, the world around them abruptly changed, and they found themselves standing in a new layer of Hell.

Before them stretched a pitch-black wasteland, covered with a dense forest of thorns. These thorny vines were packed so tightly that they nearly covered the entire land. Even the air seemed thick with them, and thorns grew freely in midair, making it seem as though the entire world was made of thorns. The sight was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

At the same time, since Sterl still held dominion over the Fourth Layer of Hell, despite the fact that they had now left that layer, there were still faint residual effects.

It didn't take long for Sterl to understand the nature of this new layer.

This was the Sixth Layer of Hell, located beneath the Venomous Swamp, and it was known as The Thorn Cage Hell!

As the name suggests, this layer of Hell is covered in countless sharp and resilient thorns. Even the toughest armor cannot withstand the cutting power of these thorns.

The most terrifying aspect, however, is that the thorns of The Thorn Cage Hell have a horrifying ability to pierce the very soul itself.

From the moment they are born, every living being in this hell is subjected to the torment of these thorns.

As a result, creatures born in this layer of Hell often have extraordinarily strong defenses, and they tend to be smaller in size, making them less vulnerable to the thorns' attack.

Furthermore, due to their constant suffering from the thorns since birth, the creatures in this layer of Hell are even more bloodthirsty and ferocious than those in the Venomous Swamp. The entire layer is in a constant state of battle and bloodshed.

For these creatures, victory means devouring the flesh and blood of the defeated, and defeat is often seen as a form of release. The whole layer is filled with maniacs and monsters.

However, for Sterl, this was nothing new. In Hell's harsh environment, if creatures weren't ferocious, it would be strange.
Continue your saga on empire

"So, we were teleported directly to the Sixth Layer of Hell."

Sterl stood on the ground, and the thorns beneath his feet seemed to sense the aura of The Authority of Hell emanating from him. They rapidly parted, creating a small clearing around him.

This was one of the advantages of possessing The Authority of Hell. With it, no matter which layer of Hell he was in, he would not be attacked or targeted, even if his dominion did not belong to this specific layer.

It was similar to the king of one country traveling to another. While he couldn't rule as he pleased in a foreign land, he would still be treated with respect and privilege.

Sterl furrowed his brows slightly. Normally, one would expect a gradual progression, but being instantly transported from the Fourth Layer to the Sixth Layer only meant one thing: the Fifth Layer had already fallen.

In fact, even the Third and Fourth Layers of Hell had likely collapsed under the invasion of these invaders.

As the saying goes, "seeing a small piece reveals the whole picture." From the strength exhibited by the invaders in the Fourth Layer, it was clear that they were far too powerful for the defenses of the upper layers of Hell to withstand.

Had he not intervened in time, it was very likely that even the Fourth Layer would have already fallen.

At this moment, Boris and the others stepped out of the space portal and, upon seeing the desolate landscape that mirrored the Venomous Swamp Hell, they too felt the daunting challenge ahead.

But compared to before, their hearts were now filled with fighting spirit. They were itching to immediately find those invaders and drive them out, annihilating them all.

"This teleportation distance is quite short," Sterl remarked, slightly turning his head and looking in the direction ahead. With his current perception, amplified by The Authority of Hell, he could clearly sense the distant fluctuations from the battle. This was actually quite convenient, as it saved him the trouble of searching for it and wasting time.

Without hesitation, he soared into the sky, leading Boris and the others as they rapidly flew toward the source of the battle's fluctuations.

It didn't take long before Sterl saw the battlefield that had been opened up by the invaders in the Sixth Layer of Hell.

Beneath them, on the vast and flat ground, the creatures of The Thorn Cage Hell had gathered under the leadership of their strongest beings, forming a massive army.

Opposing them was an army of Silver Spiders—countless, and utterly familiar to Sterl.

However, compared to the Fourth Layer of Hell, the battle in the Sixth Layer was clearly far more intense.

Just the number of troops in the army was something the Fourth Layer could never compare to.

Looking around, the forces of The Thorn Cage Hell appeared to number at least several million. Not only that, but the thorns that were originally meant to torment these creatures were now all gathered together, fighting against the invasion of the Silver Spider horde.

The main races of this layer included the Demon Vines, Evil Wasps, Dark Gnomes, and Two-Tailed Thorn Scorpions. Aside from these four powerful races, there were many other formidable races.

After all, no race could survive in The Thorn Cage Hell without being a force to be reckoned with.

Among these, aside from the Demon Vines, the other races were all quite small, especially the Evil Wasps, which were even smaller than the Silver Spiders. This allowed them to avoid being easy targets, or surrounded and killed by a swarm of Silver Spiders.

Moreover, when it came to numbers, The Thorn Cage Hell wasn't at all inferior to the Silver Spider horde, and in fact, they might even have the advantage.

However, the immortality of the Silver Spiders and their mysterious gray energy were no joke. Sterl knew very well that these Silver Spiders were merely puppets controlled by the Mother.

Unless the Mother was killed directly or the souls inside the Silver Spiders were wiped out, it was impossible to truly kill them.

At this rate, the Hellish army might hold on for a while longer, but defeat was only a matter of time.

The Mother's speed in producing these soldiers was terrifying…