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The Demon Plane was rife with conflicts.
However, due to the presence of the nine Demon Lords, the overall governance of the Demon Plane remained quite stable. After all, the strongest forces in this plane were always under the control of the Demon Lords.
The Demon Lords themselves represented the highest level of power in the Demon Plane. Below them, only those granted pure Purple-Gold Demon bloodlines could reach the Great Demon level. Similarly, for those aiming to become overlords, a certain amount of Purple-Gold Demon bloodline was also required to break through.
The three highest tiers of power were strictly controlled by the Demon Lords, and naturally, the entire plane revered the nine Demon Lords as supreme rulers.
For countless years, the order established by the nine Demon Lords had never been challenged or disrupted.
But undoubtedly, no one truly wished to remain subordinate to others.
And there were always some who not only refused to bow but also actively pursued their ambitions.
In the Demon Plane, those demon lords who ruled independently outside the jurisdiction of the nine Demon Lords—building their own empires and commanding vast territories—were such individuals.
Their goal was not to gain the attention and favor of a Demon Lord, receive their bloodline blessings, and thereby ascend to the overlord level.
Their true aim was to become Demon Lords themselves.
The origins of the nine Demon Lords were shrouded in mystery. There was no record in the Demon Plane of how the nine Demon Lords came into existence, nor was there any information about demons evolving to possess the potential to become Demon Lords.
Yet, there were still demons walking this path.
Among them, the majority viewed the forbidden zones as their hope.
The Demon Plane had thirteen major forbidden zones, each filled with unimaginable dangers. Even the Demon Lords seemed unable to easily navigate these perilous areas.
Within these forbidden zones, however, there were always a few lucky individuals who gained heaven-defying opportunities, altering their fates and mastering secret techniques that allowed them to unleash power far beyond their original capabilities.
Lord Ba Le was one such individual.
He had once entered the Thunder Valley, one of the thirteen forbidden zones, and mastered a lightning-based secret technique. His mastery of thunder elemental energy reached an extraordinary level, clearly placing him at the overlord tier. Rumors even claimed that when pushed to his limits, he could rival a Great Demon.
"This Ba Le's mastery of the lightning technique likely stems from the power of laws."
After returning to the Demon Plane, Xu Yuan had spent two months traveling before finally reaching Ba Le City. He then stayed in the city for another month, driven by curiosity about the secret techniques that could be obtained from the forbidden zones.
After a month of investigation, he formed a rough understanding.
It was as expected.
"Did he comprehend the laws within the forbidden zone through its environment, or is there some unique reward mechanism within the forbidden zone?"
Xu Yuan's mention of a "reward mechanism" referred to something akin to divine trials.
If such a mechanism existed, the level of these forbidden zones would rise significantly in his estimation.
After all, only divine beings should have the ability to create such mechanisms.
Divine lifeforms were individually powerful, but gods possessed unique abilities and wielded rules far more skillfully than mere divine lifeforms. This was undeniable.
Thirteen forbidden zones—if they were truly connected to gods—would represent the inheritance of thirteen divine beings.
For the strength of the Demon Plane, this would indeed be impressive.
Although the Demon Plane might seem inferior to the Douluo Plane, this comparison was based on the current state of the Douluo Plane.
Compared to the Douluo Star during the time when the godly realm still existed, the Demon Plane now surpassed it by more than one level.
Ten thousand years ago, there were only a handful of Limit Douluos on the Douluo Star. Twenty thousand years ago, there were even fewer—only a sparse few.
Of course, if spirit beasts were included, the overall strength of the Douluo Star would indeed be stronger.
But even with spirit beasts added, there would only be four additional forces at the Limit level.
Combined with the Limit-level human soul masters, their numbers did surpass the Demon Lords.
However, this only exceeded the number of Demon Lords in the Demon Plane.
In reality, each Demon Lord had representatives—or avatars—who acted as proxies after successfully invading other planes. The Lord of Hell, for instance, was one of Alba's avatars, possessing Limit-level strength.
When calculated this way, the Demon Plane was indeed stronger than the Douluo Star ten thousand years ago.
Could the existence of thirteen divine inheritances make sense?
The only confusion lay in why these gods would leave their inheritances in the Demon Plane.
Xu Yuan shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it further.
"While the possibility of divine inheritance exists, there are other possibilities as well. The thirteen forbidden zones likely have multiple layers of causes."
"Xiao Jia, are you sure there are no dragons in your Dragon Plane capable of matching the Demon Lords?" Xu Yuan asked the dragon lying beside him.
At this moment, Xu Yuan was lounging in the small courtyard he had rented. Beside him lay a massive dragon.
The dragon was six meters long and two and a half meters tall when lying down.
Its massive form exuded a sense of heaviness, covered in thick keratinous armor-like scales. Its back and tail were lined with sharp barbs.
Xiao Jia exhaled a puff of murky air and spoke respectfully, "Benefactor, there are none. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been enslaved by Archie."
A hint of sorrow flickered in Xiao Jia's crimson eyes.
The pride ingrained in their bloodlines made dragons inherently unwilling to submit to others.
Yet, the Dragon Plane had fallen under Archie's gaze, been occupied, and the dragon race enslaved. Some dragons were even traded as commodities.
This situation was an immense humiliation for the dragons.
But such was the tragedy of the weak.
Xiao Jia felt incredibly fortunate to have been purchased by Xu Yuan at the auction in Ba Le City. Otherwise, he would never have enjoyed the freedom he had now.
Xu Yuan didn't treat him as a slave. Instead, he released Xiao Jia from his contract and merely asked about the situation in the Dragon Plane.
"Based on the quality of your bloodline, if you continue to grow, you'll have the potential to become a Great Demon-level dragon. With enough effort, you should be able to rival a Demon Lord."
Xiao Jia fell silent for a long while before revealing the plight of the Dragon Plane to Xu Yuan.
"My bloodline is flawed. Though it appears to be of high quality, once I reach the Lord level, my bloodline will begin to deteriorate."
"Oh?" Xu Yuan looked at Xiao Jia in surprise.
"It's a curse on the Dragon Plane—a curse that affects all dragons. Although there are always members of our race attempting to break through the bloodline's limitations, the furthest anyone has reached is the overlord level. Even then, they can't compete with the Great Demons under Archie."
"A curse?" Xu Yuan was astonished by Xiao Jia's explanation.
"Ten thousand years ago, the Dragon Plane underwent a catastrophic upheaval. During that upheaval, all Lord-level dragons perished. Afterward, the dragons discovered that their bloodlines had developed issues."
Xiao Jia's tone was heavy.
From his confused and resentful words, Xu Yuan could tell that neither Xiao Jia nor the dragon race had any idea what had truly happened.
A single upheaval had caused a fracture-like defect in the bloodlines of the entire dragon race.
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