The Six-Hundredth Floor of the Abyss.
Novak exhaled slowly.
His level remained at Level 18, with no noticeable improvements.
This time, however, he had not wasted his efforts hunting down demons on the first floor of the abyss.
Instead, he had descended directly to the first layer, using nothing but the authority of the abyss to refine the demon eggs—those creatures that had no means of resisting him.
These eggs were formed from the condensed power of the abyss itself—the very essence of its creation.
From this raw abyss energy, demons were born.
And now, Novak was taking that power for himself.
Through the engulfing and transformation abilities of the Blacklight Virus, he extracted the purest demon blood from these eggs.
The abyss demons may have recognized him as their leader, but instead of commanding their mindless savagery, he found it far more practical to refine them—turning their very existence into fuel for his own power.
Through this process, he had amassed an unimaginable quantity of demon bloodlines.
Even Gluttonous Face, which had already been consuming at an astonishing rate, grew even more efficient after absorbing this refined blood energy.
This marked a new breakthrough in Novak's understanding of the power of the abyss—an evolution in how he wielded his Abyss Master's Commandment.
For two or three consecutive refinements, he had absorbed nearly all the abyss power expelled from the first layer's Abyss Well—an amount equivalent to hundreds of thousands of demon essences.
Or perhaps, even more than that.
And now, at last, he had his answer.
Ten pitch-black hearts, still beating, pulsing with endless darkness.
Each heart was a condensed core of abyss power, brimming with the potential to devour and assimilate anything—just like the abyss itself.
These were no ordinary hearts.
Each one contained an SS-rank demon bloodline—a treasure forged from the very lifeblood of the abyss.
Novak had sacrificed an immense amount of abyss energy to extract these ten demon blood cores.
Now, if even this was not enough to create an SSS-rank bloodline, he had already made up his mind—this would be his final attempt.
Although SS-rank bloodlines were inferior to the legendary SSS-rank, they were still among the purest bloodlines across all realms.
Moreover, while further evolving a bloodline after assimilation became increasingly difficult, there were other ways to achieve power.
He had no intention of wasting any more of his precious time.
Previously, in order to secure the allegiance of the Six abyss Gods, Novak had made several agreements.
One of these was with Aga Reiss—an agreement tied to Hell itself.
At some point in the near future, he would have to pass through the Hell King's Ring and descend into Hell as a show of sincerity.
But Hell was a different beast entirely.
Unlike the abyss, where chaos ruled supreme, Hell had once been ruled by Satan, whose dominion fostered an entire race of independent demons.
Moreover, it was also home to the fallen angels—creatures bound to the Bright Creator, the Supreme God among the divine pantheon.
Its dangers were beyond question.
Even though death was no longer a fear for him, there was no reason to court it needlessly.
If these ten demon hearts failed to create an SSS-rank bloodline, then Novak knew—it was time to move on.
The ten abyss hearts pulsed violently.
With a final motion, he set aside all other demon blood—this would be the last experiment.
Since the very beginning of his Abyss Trial, the Gluttonous Face had never stopped devouring, refining, and assimilating abyss power.
Yet, for all this time, it had refused to consume the SS-rank bloodlines.
And if there was even the slightest chance of creating an SSS-rank bloodline, he was going to seize it.
In fact, when he had confronted Zogwort, Novak had considered revealing the existence of this mysterious object and asking about its nature.
But in the end, he chose not to.
His current relationship with Zogwort was solid—there was no need to risk creating unnecessary tension by exposing secrets and forcing answers.
Some puzzles were better left unsolved.
Novak exhaled deeply, then placed ten SS-rank demon blood cores before gluttonous face's gluttonous face.
For the first time, the gluttonous face—whose narrow, indifferent eyes had previously ignored these SS-rank bloodlines—shifted its gaze.
It's dark pupils locked onto the offering.
A subtle but undeniable excitement flickered across the Gluttonous Face expression.
Then, its delicate mouth slowly opened, revealing an unmistakable intent.
It can?!
Did this mean that by consuming these ten SS-rank bloodlines, the Gluttonous Face could refine and evolve them into SSS-rank bloodline power?!
Was that really possible?!
The conditions for such a feat were undoubtedly extreme.
Yet, for Gluttonous Face, these conditions were far from difficult.
On the contrary—they were simple.
As long as the corresponding life forms existed, the Gluttonous Face could forge their bloodline through the devouring power of the Blacklight Virus.
And the synergy between the Blacklight Virus and Gluttonous Face's gluttonous nature was nothing short of perfect.
This combination had presented Novak with an opportunity—a chance to surpass his current limits and evolve his Abyss Bloodline into an SSS-rank lineage!
Without hesitation, Novak fed all ten SS-rank demon blood cores into Gluttonous Face's mouth.
For the first time ever, the ever-calm gluttonous face displayed pure satisfaction—an expression of indulgence, as if everything it had consumed before had been mere scraps.
And this kind of thing is indeed the most extravagant feast!
However, it is obvious that this kind of Advanced Bloodline integration seems to take some time.
And Novak had no intention of sitting idly by.
The reforms and construction of the Abyss were progressing rapidly, and time was becoming increasingly scarce.
Unlike before, he no longer had the luxury of seeking out Meikanxie for entertainment.
Instead, without hesitation, he left the Abyss.
Though refining demon blood was a crucial part of his plans, it was only one among many objectives.
For instance, his subordinates were actively tracking the whereabouts of mutant zombies.
Rather than exterminating them outright, Novak intended to gather them together—preparing for a future large-scale evolution event related to Resident Evil.
Additionally, he had recently acquired a large number of Contribution Tokens from Chat Group No. 001.
Lately, members of the group had ventured to the Spirit Tower in Somi Town—a place he knew very little about.
Even so, Somi Mountain was a Level 89 map, where even half-divine beings and other high-tier entities roamed.
Clearly, Contribution Points played an important role in such a place.
Now that he had some free time, it was the perfect opportunity to visit the Treasure Pavilion in Somi—to uncover the true value of these points!