Strongest Hammer God Chapter 1022: Subtle Fear

Kyle watched as the Demon started the process of bining its body with the Essence.

"Technically, it should be possible. Beasts automatically learn the entire Minor Law of Body when they go through the Transcending Beast Realm."

Kyle collected more prehension Fruits while watching the Demon.

Almost 200 years passed before the Demon managed to make significant progress. The Essence seemed to bine with its body, but Kyle wanted to wait until the end. He wanted to see the Demon succeed before he tried it with the pillar.

More years passed, and eventually, the Essence bined with the Demon. Its entire body changed as the Law of Yang-Fire was integrated. It became far stronger, and its body received an orange hue.

'Success,' Kyle thought when he saw the orange Demon. 'It seems to work without any issues.'

'The only question is, why haven't I seen a Demon with an Infused Law before? Yes, Demons don't focus on Laws naturally, but this is not a normal world. The Overseer has some kind of goal. They have already changed how prehension Fruits and the Demons work. If it's possible for Demons to create Infused Laws, why haven't they changed their instincts so that they do just that?'

'Amongst trillions of Demons, there's bound to be one that has done something like that, even if it was just an accident.'

'Is it a power thing? Do they not want the Demons to bee too strong?'

Kyle decided to keep watching the Demon. He had already gotten enough prehension Fruits, and he didn't need all of his focus to bine the Essences of his Elements.

The Demon traveled back towards the east and stopped in a Law Well for Yin-Fire. Apparently, it wanted to learn that Law as well.

'Is that it?' Kyle thought. 'That would explain why I haven't seen any.'

'The well of plex Laws is essentially bottomless. You can always prehend stronger Laws. This guy needed over a hundred years to prehend a Level One Law, and he needed several centuries to create an Infused Law. With his level of prehension, he will most likely need over a thousand years to prehend the Law of Yin-Fire. While that's still possible, creating an Infused Law with the Law of Yin-Fire would be impossible. His longevity would run out first.'

'Beasts are hardwired to bee powerful. While normal beasts do that by shooting through the Realms, Divine Beasts are supposed to bee Immortal eventually. They need more experience and power. Their progress is much slower since they are focusing on their Battle-Strength a lot more.'

'But there's only so much beasts can do to increase their Battle-Strength. Under normal circumstances, a Divine Beast quickly runs out of things it can improve, and it advances. Yet, if they have access to the concept of plex Laws, they will never run out of things to improve.'

'They will learn until they die.'

'However, that's also not a certainty. There have to be some Demons that realize that they need to survive to improve their Battle-Strength. In that case, what happens to them?'

'I need to find out,' Kyle thought as the pillar moved around.

Over the next years, he kept watch over most of the Demons he had influenced.

Most of them finished their plex Laws, but there were also some that directly went for the Level Two Laws after finishing their Level One Laws.

Eventually, one of them interrupted the prehension of their chosen Level Two Law and traveled towards the east.

Kyle decided to follow that Demon.

When that Demon reached an area filled with Peak Primal Demons, it killed one and consumed its Beast Core. Its advancement was triggered, and some time later, it became an Initial Crusher Demon.

What was even more surprising was that the Demon didn't continue killing Demons to advance further.

No, it went back towards the west to resume the prehension of its Level Two Law.

'It actually knows about its longevity to some degree,' Kyle thought as he watched it. 'In a way, it's acting surprisingly human. However, it shouldn't be able to plan to such an extent. Demons are controlled by their instincts. That means some kind of instinct must have told it to do these things.'

Kyle decided to keep watching this particular specimen, but before he finished his observation, he noticed another specimen advancing.

'Was I wrong? Are all of them actually like this? But that makes no sense!'

Then, he saw a third one.

'Well, guess I was wrong. Maybe the Demons are smarter than I thought?'

As Kyle kept watching the Demons, something changed. Although nothing had really changed. It was just that he finally noticed something that had been there all along.

'A concept transmission?' he thought.

The concept transmission was extremely weak and very basic. It was barely a whisper in the wind. It was like a mote of dust landing on one's skin.

Thanks to his powerful mind and Spirit, Kyle could easily find the source and purpose of the concept transmission.

'The root network?' Kyle thought as he looked down. 'When did it start sending concept transmissions? Even more, this is not a simple message. This is more like a broadcast that's played on loop.'

'A constant concept transmission.'

As Kyle understood the simple concepts inside the concept transmission, he sighed in relief.

This basically explained everything.

'It's a very simple concept transmission. It basically just connects the concepts of fear and a low Realm. Right now, the concept transmission is incredibly subtle. Even a Primal Demon wouldn't be bothered by it.'

'But what was it triggered by? Why is it suddenly transmitting these concepts to me? I'm pretty sure this hasn't been a thing before.'

Finding out the purpose behind this transmission wasn't difficult.

'It's lighting a fire under the Demons' asses,' Kyle thought. 'I think I've received this concept transmission because I've been inside the root network's perception for a certain amount of time without advancing a Realm. In short, the root network is tracking my longevity.'

'Most likely, the transmission will get stronger with time, pushing me towards the east. At some point, the transmission will probably get so strong that the Demons will desperately charge towards the east in an effort to advance a Realm.'

Kyle got an idea.

'Yeah, and if they fail, a different concept transmission will arrive. This one will not be as subtle and simple.'

'Most likely, after a certain time has passed without advancing a Realm, the concept transmission will be just one big burst that rewrites the Demon's personality.'

'They will get the urge to storm towards the west and kill everything that isn't another Demon. They will turn into soldiers.'

'If my suspicions are true, the Demons are not chosen by some kind of recruiter or leader. It's the root network that recruits them.'

'Only Primal Demons and stronger have enough longevity and speed to travel across the Divide. The weaker ones are most likely also subject to the concept transmissions, but they will never arrive on the other side of the Divide.'

Kyle furrowed his brows.

'If all of that is true, infusing my body with Laws is not suspicious.'

'I just hope that I'm right.'

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