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However, Nether Energy is ultimately different from Dou Qi. On the positive side, Nether Energy has inherent magical properties, allowing it to be used to cast some necromantic spells, making most death knights adept in both magic and martial arts. The downside is that Nether Energy, as a negative force, inherently conflicts with the power of the "Starry Void," and thus cannot draw infinite support like Dou Qi. Although undead are naturally highly compatible with Nether Energy, allowing them to wield it far more effectively than humans can with Dou Qi, even the most powerful undead in terms of Nether Energy cultivation can only match the strength of a typical human Sword Emperor.

Yet, this very conflict between Nether Energy and the "Starry Void" became Griffith's ultimate weapon against Sword Masters. By gathering enough powerful undead and combining it with certain spells, the undead army could saturate an area with pure Nether Energy. Within this domain, the power of undead warriors and mages would be greatly enhanced, while the ability of Sword Emperors and Sword Masters to communicate with the "Starry Void" would plummet. As long as the range of this Nether Energy domain exceeded the area a Sword Master could control, it would create a battlefield of death that even Sword Masters dared not enter. Griffith used this method repeatedly to repel and defeat attacks from human Sword Masters.

Finally, the Holy Light Temple, suffering the most, decided to unleash a forbidden spell attack at all costs. However, it was not one of the widely known five elemental forbidden spells (water, earth, wind, fire, and thunder), but the Holy Light Temple’s hidden forbidden spell—"Dawn's Judgment."

Yet, Griffith had anticipated this as well, and he countered by deploying a hidden power of his own—the dark forbidden spell "Myriad Shades of Void" (one of the titles of the Dark God in the "Dragonlance Chronicles").

For the prodigious "Dark Eagle," even forbidden spells were tools to be wielded. With proper countermeasures and strategic guidance before and after the event, a collision of ultimate forces could achieve strategic effects that even mass slaughter by the undead army could not. To ensure the Holy Light Temple’s forbidden spell was cast at the right time and place, Griffith went to great lengths to lure his opponents into his carefully laid trap.

However, despite his meticulous planning, he failed to account for one thing—historically, there had never been a direct confrontation between two forbidden spells. Griffith's estimation, based on the Twelve Sages’ clash with the elves’ supreme magic, deviated significantly from reality.

When everything unfolded according to the "Dark Eagle's" final step, the ultimate forces of light and darkness, instead of causing a massive explosion upon collision, began to erode and merge with each other, forming an anomalous chaotic energy. This energy gradually consumed the surrounding space, creating a massive mutated domain.

This mutation caught Griffith completely off guard. The domain's coverage was several times larger than the expected explosion radius. Griffith, who should have been safely outside the confrontation zone, along with almost all the accompanying Lich mages and a large portion of the undead army, were all engulfed by the chaotic domain. In contrast, the main human forces, having been lured away by Griffith's schemes, were spared.

What happened afterward remains a mystery. The chaotic domain faded away after a few hours, and everything caught within it vanished without a trace.

The precious forbidden spell mark crystals of light and darkness also mysteriously disappeared. All that remained were some fragments suspected to be remnants of the mark crystals.

With the loss of their commander, the mage corps, and most of their forces, the undead army quickly crumbled under the human coalition's counterattack. The three-year-long Undead War, which had engulfed half of the Star Sea Continent, ended in this unexpected manner, leaving behind a devastated land, the Holy Light Temple, its power diminished by half, a Sacred Dragon Mountain missing several dragons, and countless casualties.

Griffith was the only one who "survived" the chaotic domain. When he reappeared on the Undead Island, battered and scarred, it was already ten years after the end of the Undead War. However, he had no memory of what had happened during those ten years, as if his memories had frozen at the moment he was engulfed by the chaotic domain. The only difference was—his power had mutated.

He was still undead, and the power within him remained pure Nether Energy, but his constitution had astonishingly gained the ability to simultaneously contain both light and dark energies. The numerous dark powers he had obtained through sacrifices, as well as the divine techniques he had learned from the Holy Light Temple, could now freely convert between light and darkness. Even the epic divine weapon "Blade of Light," which he had been unable to use since becoming undead, once again submitted to the "Dark Eagle."

"Oh? So you're the only undead who turned calamity into opportunity? Didn't the undead overlords on the Undead Island suspect that everything was your elaborate scheme?" After hearing the long story, Chen Xuanfeng was also somewhat stunned, and after a moment, he asked.

"Haha, there's no need to worry about that. Your Lordship is unaware of the situation on the Undead Island. Weak undead have no right to accuse me, and those ancient beings who have existed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years simply don't care about these changes. As for the warlike yet powerful undead, most of them have already perished in the 'Undead War.' So, those truly interested in my transformation are the fanatical Liches obsessed with research. They don't care about the outcome of the war or who's responsible; they just want to unravel the mysteries of the world," Griffith replied with a smile.

Chen Xuanfeng suddenly recalled what he had seen in the "Golden City" and couldn't help but ask, "What about your 'Eagle's Legion'? Did they also return because of that incident?"

Griffith shook his head and smiled, "Nothing so fortunate. It took me two hundred years, working with those Liches, to rescue them from the depths of hell."