"What are you doing? You disturbed my slumber, so you must accept your punishment. Besides, youâre not Qiusa, are you? Qiusa would never have dodged."
The two-headed giant dragonâs gaze was icy.
At these words, Hu Qi fell silent for a moment.
âI thought it had seen through my Twisted Light disguise.â
âI didnât expect it was just cranky from being woken up.â
âIf I hadnât dodged, I would have been swatted once at most, and that would have been the end of it.â
âThis is the drawback of not having completely absorbed the memories; I canât know every little detail.â
âWhatâs obtained through Hypnosis will always have some flaws.â
âAnd under certain circumstances, those can become huge and fatal vulnerabilities.â
âFortunately, this wonât have much of an impact on what I need to do next.â
âWhatever. It doesnât matter if youâve found me out or not!â
In the next instant,
he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again,
his pupils had transformed into vertical, crimson snake slits.
At the same time,
a thin, jet-black line suddenly appeared on his forehead.
Immediately after, the skin bulged, stretching the fissure open to reveal an eye within.
The pupil was black as ink, devoid of color, and radiated an aura of death, as if it were the personification of the abyss and destruction.
The moment he saw the third eye on Hu Qiâs forehead open,
Sha Kongâthis Food Master who stood at the pinnacle of the Black Blood Speciesâfelt a wave of terror and panic rise involuntarily from deep within him.
It was a feeling he hadnât experienced in many years.
The last time had been over a hundred years ago, a feeling he got from that person on the surface named Xuanqing.
âCould this person be that old codger Xuanqing? No, the feeling this person gives me is even stronger.â
Alarm and rage filled Sha Kongâs heart.
Driven by this panic,
it had no time to overthink.
Its two heads opened their mouths.
Two streams of scorching dragonâs breath spewed forth, merging in mid-air to form a massive Fireball that smashed toward Hu Qi.
At the same time, the broad wings on its back unfurled like a pair of curtains that could blot out the sun and sky.
With a flap of its wings, a fierce gale howled, sending sand and stones flying throughout the cave.
Its speed was extreme, almost disproportionate to its massive size.
It was like a yellow bolt of lightning streaking through the darkness.
With a loud crash, the roof of the cavern was shattered by its massive body.
Boulders rained down, and dust filled the air.
It seized the opportunity to soar into the sky.
Its two mouths gaped open, the red light within them like a writhing mass of magma.
It was preparing to notify the other Food Masters.
However, at that very moment,
from within the dust below,
a gleam of black light flashed and vanished.
It struck Sha Kong directly in mid-air.
Before this ray of black light, its hard, thick scalesâwhich seemed forged from Divine Ironâwere as fragile as soaked paper, pierced in an instant.
There was no loud noise, only a suffocating silence.
The black ray passed straight through Sha Kongâs enormous body,
and vanished into the dark horizon.
Sha Kong was instantly like a toy that had lost its batteries. The red light in its mouths dimmed and went out, and its massive body plummeted from the sky.
âBOOM!
Its massive body smashed into the ground with a dull thud, and the entire cavern collapsed completely.
A gust of wind swept through,
instantly clearing the dust,
revealing Hu Qiâs figure.
His appearance had returned to normal, and the jet-black eye on his forehead had closed.
âThis kind of power...â
Hu Qi looked at the motionless, two-headed giant dragon.
A strange look flashed in his eyes.
âThis is the first time Iâve used the power of the Primordial Eye.â
âBut its might truly exceeded my expectations.â
âJust a single strike,â
âand it instantly killed this Food Master, who was comparable to the Dharma Realm.â
âThe Food Masterâs terrifying Life Force hadnât played any role at all.â
âThen again, using the Primordial Eye also came at a great cost.â
âWith my current power, I can use it three times at most before reaching my limit.â
âFortunately, thatâs more than enough for now.â
His gaze shifted to the two-headed dragonâs heads. In Hu Qiâs mental perception, he could see faint wisps of earthen-yellow light escaping from the two skulls.
That was the creatureâs Light of the Soul, and it was dissipating.
Normally, this wouldnât happen so quickly.
But it had been struck by the destructive power within the Primordial Eye, and its body was dying rapidly.
With no time to overthink it,
Hu Qi pressed his palm against a scale. He activated his Spirit Devouring Talent, and his Gorging Domain spread out as an invisible wave, enveloping and devouring the dissipating Light of the Soul along with everything else.
The next moment, Hu Qi couldnât help but let out a burp.
The Black Blood Species were, by nature, Extraordinary Creatures who relied on strengthening their own Bloodline.
This was even more true for Food Masters. After reaching this Realm, their bodies would transform into different kinds of monsters.
Therefore, the power contained within their bodies was immense.
Swallowing it whole, even he couldnât help but feel a little full.
But this feeling of fullness didnât last long before it subsided.
At the same time, a large number of the creatureâs memories appeared and were absorbed by Hu Qi.
Modification Points +321 (12%)
Seeing this, Hu Qiâs expression shifted slightly.
âA Food Master is a Food Master, after all. The amount of Modification Points they provide is generous.â
â
âCrimson!â
Hu Qiâs thoughts stirred.
A panel unfolded.
His gaze fell on the entry for the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Celestial Heart Chapter: Fourth Layer) âł | Traits: Wolf Transformation...]
...
[Modification Points: 543 (41%)]
Looking at this,
Hu Qi didnât immediately use the points to upgrade. Instead, he pulled off the bracelet on his wrist. With a flash of light, the head of the Middle Black Blood Species named Qiusa was restored to its original form.
Without giving it a chance to react,
Hu Qi once again used his Spirit Devouring Talent and devoured it.
Modification Points +71 (6%)
Now, on the panel,
the Modification Points entry had become:
[Modification Points: 614 (47%)]
"Crimson, upgrade the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map to the Celestial Heart Chapterâs Sixth Layer!"
Hu Qi said.
The next moment,
the panel trembled, and the familiar feeling of advancement washed over him once again.
After a long moment,
Hu Qi opened his eyes.
[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Celestial Heart Chapter: Sixth Layer) | Traits...]
Seeing this,
a smile lifted the corners of Hu Qiâs mouth.
âThe Sixth Layer of the Celestial Heart Chapter is equivalent to the Peak of the Dharma Realm. Just one more layer and I can step into the Divine Image Realm.â
âCompared to this, gathering Modification Points on the surface is far too slow.â
âItâs much faster to harvest Modification Points here in the Inner Earth World.â
At this thought,
a ruthless gleam flashed in his eyes as a new idea came to him.
...
ăCold Ring Realm.ă
The world was a blanket of silver-white.
The vast land was covered in thick snow, like a giant white quilt.
The city gates were tightly shut, their massive studs barely visible under the blanket of snow.
On the gate tower, a gray banner snapped weakly in the cold wind.
The wind that cut through the city streets was bone-chilling.
Icicles hung from the eaves, and the breath of pedestrians plumed white in the air.
A few jackdaws perched on branches, occasionally letting out mournful caws.
Inside a tavern, near a window,
a man and a woman sat facing each other, drinking by themselves.
These two were none other than Shi Xiao and Li Xianyu.
Although the two of them had entered the Inner Earth World through different passages, they had arranged a meeting point long before. With the mobility of a Refining God Venerable, crossing the distance between regions in a short time was no difficult task.
Their current appearances were disguised, and their attire was indistinguishable from that of the people of this world.