High in the sky.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou stared fixedly at Lu Yuan.
He had already been ready to continue attacking.
But after hearing Lu Yuan's words, the power he had just gathered within him stalled for an instant.
Farther away.
The crowd of watching beasts had likewise fallen silent.
A black-scaled giant python at the Golden Immortal Realm coiled atop a mountain, his enormous head raised high, his slit pupils full of astonishment.
He had seen the power of that last strike perfectly clearly.
Had he been in Lu Yuan's place, he probably wouldn't even have had a chance to escape.
If that terrifying divine light struck him head-on, his flesh and true spirit would both be torn apart in an instant by the raging Sha Qi.
The giant beast before him had taken the blow head-on.
His scales had only reddened slightly.
And now he was staring at the Fierce Sha Qi around the Heaven-Splitting Hou and saying it "smelled pretty good."
The black-scaled giant python had lived for countless years.
Yet at this moment, even he felt his wits were failing him.
A four-winged Golden Immortal beast beside him was more direct.
He looked at the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
Then at Lu Yuan.
Then he silently retreated another several thousand li.
After his brief astonishment, an even greater wave of humiliation and anger quickly surged through the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
Naturally, he didn't believe Lu Yuan really wanted to eat his attack.
As he saw it, this was a provocation.
A naked provocation at that!
"Arrogant!"
The Heaven-Splitting Hou let out a heaven-shaking roar.
His already violent presence surged even higher.
Vast swathes of dark red fur danced wildly in the wind, and a layer of bloody light gradually lit up the curved black horn on his head.
"This king only used seventy percent of his strength just now. Since you're so eager to die, this king will grant your wish!"
As his words fell.
The Fierce Sha Qi in the surrounding world was drawn toward him once more.
This time, the spectacle was even more astonishing than before.
Ten thousand li, a hundred thousand li, several hundred thousand li...
Vast amounts of Sha Qi surged in from every direction.
The sky rapidly darkened.
The Sea of Clouds behind the Heaven-Splitting Hou, black and red, continued to expand until it covered nearly half the heavens.
The beasts who had remained at a distance to watch were even more horrified at the sight.
"Roar!"
The black-scaled giant python slithered down from the mountaintop, his tail sweeping over the rock and knocking loose a shower of gravel. Only after retreating past several mountain ridges did he coil up and raise his head to look at the sky.
The other beasts followed, fleeing outward. Those with lower cultivation didn't even dare spare the black clouds another glance, concentrating only on fleeing for their lives along the valleys; the few Golden Immortals who stayed each found a place where they could hide themselves.
The black-scaled giant python kept watching. The Heaven-Splitting Hou had brought out even this kind of power. Could that giant beast still withstand it?
Lu Yuan was waiting too.
He stared at the black clouds gathering ever more thickly behind the Heaven-Splitting Hou, unable to look away for a long while. The scattered Sha Qi all around had been drawn together and compressed layer upon layer by Taiyi Law Power. Its presence was already different from before.
The energy condensed within it was far denser than the Sha mist he had sucked in directly.
Lu Yuan could even feel a powerful craving coming from the flesh and blood within him.
He wanted to eat it.
"Come on."
Lu Yuan raised his head.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou grew even angrier at his words.
"Roar!"
A heaven-shaking roar rang out.
The next instant.
His pitch-black horn suddenly erupted with boundless bloody light!
Vast quantities of black-red Sha Qi converged on the horn, and a beam of divine light several times thicker than the last erupted with a thunderous blast.
Boom!
The sky seemed to be torn open.
The terrifying divine light pierced tens of thousands of li of empty space, staining the sea of clouds, mountain peaks, and wastelands along its path dark red.
Lu Yuan's gaze turned serious as well.
He could feel it.
This strike was much stronger than the last.
Taking it head-on probably wouldn't be much of a problem, but eating it was clearly the better deal.
So Lu Yuan opened his mouth.
The next moment.
A terrifying suction erupted!
Whoosh—!
A violent wind suddenly swept through heaven and earth.
The black-red divine light had been rushing straight at Lu Yuan's head, but when it was still several thousand li away, it suddenly began to twist.
The energy at the front began to change direction.
One stream, two streams, ten streams...
The entire beam of black-red divine light seemed to be caught by some force, rapidly veering toward Lu Yuan's gaping maw.
The savage grin on the Heaven-Splitting Hou's face slowly froze.
"What?"
His scarlet eyes flew wide open.
The next instant.
The Taiyi Divine Light, powerful enough to shatter countless divine mountains, had completely veered off its original course and plunged straight into Lu Yuan's mouth.
Boom!
A muffled explosion came from within Lu Yuan's body.
Black-red light flickered through the gaps between his scales.
Lu Yuan's entire body trembled slightly.
The beasts around them stared fixedly at the scene.
Not one dared make a sound.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou forgot to continue attacking as well.
He could clearly sense it.
The power he had just unleashed was rapidly disappearing.
Soon.
The last wisp of black-red divine light vanished completely into Lu Yuan's mouth.
Heaven and earth fell quiet again.
Lu Yuan kept his mouth shut and felt it for a while.
It was scorching hot.
After entering his body, the baleful Sha power compressed by the Heaven-Splitting Hou was clearly more violent than the Sha Crystals he had devoured before.
Vast amounts of energy washed through his flesh and blood.
Some of the power that couldn't be converted immediately even caused a slight swelling pain inside him.
That much was still within what he could endure.
Several breaths later.
The swelling pain began to subside.
Pure energy spread throughout his body.
Lu Yuan could clearly feel that the patch of scales reddened by the divine light's bombardment was rapidly recovering.
A new surge of power also slowly welled up from deep within his body.
The growth progress in his consciousness visibly jumped.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes.
That felt good.
This was much faster than digging for ore himself.
So he looked back at the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
"Got any more?"
His voice carried out.
The beasts in the distance all froze.
The black-scaled giant python was coiled tens of thousands of li away, and when he heard those words, his thick body abruptly went taut.
His slit pupils remained fixed on Lu Yuan, and he even forgot to flick his tongue.
That had been a killing move the Heaven-Splitting Hou had condensed by truly drawing on his Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation.
It had been eaten.
It really had been eaten!
A beast beside him with six thick arms opened his mouth, but for a long while, no sound came from his throat.
He looked at Lu Yuan.
Then at the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
The expression on his face had changed completely from shock and doubt to horror.
Farther away, a group of beasts whose strength was only at the Mysterious Immortal and True Immortal levels couldn't see the center of the battlefield clearly, but they could sense that the terrifying divine light had vanished.
Then they heard Lu Yuan ask, "Got any more?"
One beast was so frightened he dropped flat on the ground.
Several others also began instinctively lowering their bodies.
At this moment, their fear of Lu Yuan had even faintly begun to surpass their fear of the Heaven-Splitting Hou, who had ruled this place for countless years.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou's expression, meanwhile, was a sight to behold.
Shock, astonishment, humiliation, and anger intertwined.
In the end, all of it turned into deep-seated savagery.
"You're asking for death!"
The Heaven-Splitting Hou had completely lost his patience.
He didn't believe it.
He absolutely refused to believe Lu Yuan could really devour his power without limit.
That last strike might simply have been dealt with using some special Divine Ability.
Even the strongest Divine Ability had its limits.
As long as the power was great enough, he could surely stuff his opponent until he burst!
At that thought.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou summoned his power once more.
This time, he held nothing back.
The full extent of his Taiyi Golden Immortal Law Power surged wildly.
Within several hundred thousand li, the Fierce Sha Qi, which had only just begun to settle, went berserk once again.
Boom!
Another beam of black-red divine light shot out.
Lu Yuan immediately opened his mouth.
Before the divine light could touch his scales, the suction pulled it toward his maw, pouring the entire beam inside. A muffled boom followed in his belly. He braced his abdomen as several places in his flesh swelled and ached, as though tiny cuts had been torn open from the inside.
That mouthful really was a bit fierce.
He took a moment to recover, and only as Infinite Growth gradually broke down the violent energy did the pain slowly recede.
Lu Yuan smacked his lips.
"Again."
The corner of the Heaven-Splitting Hou's eye kept twitching. There was no other sound around them, so those words came through especially clearly.
"This king will see how much you can swallow!"
A third beam of divine light shot out right on its heels. Lu Yuan's mouth, which had only just closed, opened again, and not even the last wisp of Sha light remained. The Heaven-Splitting Hou refused to stop. A fourth beam followed immediately, only to pour into the same mouth.
A fifth beam of divine light came in quick succession!
He swallowed that too!
In a short span of time, the Heaven-Splitting Hou unleashed several powerful attacks in succession.
The raging Sha Qi churned the entire world to pieces.
Yet Lu Yuan lay there without even moving much from his spot.
Open his mouth.
Close his mouth.
Digest.
Then continue.
The fierce beasts watching from afar had gone completely numb.
Every time the Heaven-Splitting Hou gathered its divine light, they felt a deadly pressure.
Every time Lu Yuan opened his mouth, all that power vanished without a trace in moments.
After several repetitions, the black-scaled python no longer even dared to look at the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
It was terrified that a single wrong look would draw the fierce beast king's attention.
For anyone could see it.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou was nearly driven mad with rage.
"Enough!"
The Heaven-Splitting Hou suddenly let out a furious roar.
At last, it stopped unleashing the Fierce Sha Divine Light.
It gasped for breath.
Repeatedly driving its power to the limit had taken a heavy toll on it as well.
What it found even harder to accept was this.
Lu Yuan's presence...
Had grown stronger.
The increase was not particularly dramatic, but the Heaven-Splitting Hou was a fierce beast king at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level. How keen were its senses?
It was certain it had not sensed wrongly.
This giant beast really was growing by devouring its attacks!
For the first time, a trace of genuine wariness appeared in the Heaven-Splitting Hou's scarlet eyes.
Yet Lu Yuan still wanted more.
Those rounds just now had felt better than eating an entire earth vein.
He looked at the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
"Why did you stop?"
The Heaven-Splitting Hou nearly ground its teeth to pieces.
It finally realized there was no point in continuing to attack with Fierce Sha power.
It would only give its opponent more power.
The next moment.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou abruptly pushed off with all four limbs.
Boom!
It vanished from where it stood.
Lu Yuan's golden pupils contracted slightly.
"Switching to close combat?"
No sooner had he spoken.
A dark red afterimage appeared before him.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou raised its claws high.
This time, no vast Fierce Sha Divine Light gathered at their tips. All its power was compressed into its flesh.
Whoosh!
The claws tore through the air and struck hard near the corner of Lu Yuan's eye.
Screech!
A piercing scrape rang out.
A few tiny scales flew into the sky.
Three shallow, bloody scratches finally appeared at the corner of Lu Yuan's eye.
Pain followed.
Lu Yuan's expression turned much more serious in an instant.
The fierce beasts in the distance erupted with excitement once more.
"Roar!"
A Golden Immortal fierce beast sprang to its feet, excitement rising in its eyes again.
"Awoo—!"
Several other fierce beasts also let out low roars.
It had finally broken through his defenses!
The Heaven-Splitting Hou had finally truly wounded this giant beast!
The Heaven-Splitting Hou itself was greatly encouraged.
Just as it thought!
Power attacks would be devoured.
Pure physical attacks still worked!
A savage smile returned to its face as it moved swiftly around Lu Yuan's head.
Boom!
Another claw came down.
This time, Lu Yuan tilted his head in advance.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou's claws grazed his scales, throwing off dazzling sparks.
It did not pause.
Its speed erupted to the limit.
Dark red afterimages darted back and forth around Lu Yuan.
From a distance, it looked as though a streak of red light was coiling around Lu Yuan's massive head.
Bang!
Screech!
Boom!
The sounds of repeated impacts echoed through heaven and earth.
Lu Yuan's scales were simply too thick.
Though the Heaven-Splitting Hou could leave marks, it was extremely difficult to wound the flesh beneath.
But it really was fast.
And Lu Yuan's body was simply enormous.
For the moment, he could hardly keep up with it using his head.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou soon noticed this too.
The wariness in its heart gradually faded.
"What's the use of being huge?!"
As the Heaven-Splitting Hou flew, it laughed wildly. "You can't even keep track of where this king is. Today, this king will tear your scales apart bit by bit!"
The fierce beasts in the distance were encouraged again when they heard this.
The black-scaled python held its head high.
The fierce beasts that had followed the Heaven-Splitting Hou for years growled incessantly, excitement returning to their scarlet eyes.
The sight of Lu Yuan repeatedly devouring the divine light had been far too terrifying.
They had almost thought the Heaven-Splitting Hou really had no way to deal with him.
But now it seemed.
This giant beast had a weakness too!
His body was large.
Naturally, he was slow.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou could attack again and again.
If ten times was not enough, then a hundred; if a hundred was not enough, then a thousand.
No matter how thick his scales were, they could be torn apart sooner or later!
The Heaven-Splitting Hou was clearly thinking the same thing.
After circling Lu Yuan and attacking several more times, it grew more and more excited.
But it had not noticed.
The irritation in Lu Yuan's eyes had gradually faded.
His gaze no longer followed the Heaven-Splitting Hou's swift movements.
Instead, he slowly grew calm.
Lu Yuan really could not keep up with it.
At least, it was hard to do so with his head alone.
But he had noticed something.
Before each attack, the Heaven-Splitting Hou would dart past his head.
It had decided that this was the best place to attack.
After more than a dozen attacks, its path had kept changing, but it had remained roughly within the same area.
Lu Yuan stopped chasing it blindly.
He waited quietly.
Another attack landed on his scales.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou withdrew the moment it struck.
The next time.
It drew close again.
Lu Yuan still did not move.
Seeing this from afar, the black-scaled python's eyes showed unmistakable excitement.
As it saw it, Lu Yuan was completely helpless against the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou itself had clearly reached the same conclusion.
Its movements grew bolder.
The intervals between its attacks grew shorter.
Another dark red afterimage swept in from Lu Yuan's left.
This time, its target was still the spot where it had torn open several small, bloody scratches.
The fierce light in the Heaven-Splitting Hou's eyes flared.
Its claws were already raised.
It seemed to see itself tearing the wound all the way open.
At that very moment.
Lu Yuan's golden eyes abruptly turned.
His gaze landed precisely on the Heaven-Splitting Hou.
An intensely powerful sense of danger suddenly rose in the Heaven-Splitting Hou's heart.
"Got you."
Lu Yuan's voice was calm.
The Heaven-Splitting Hou's expression changed abruptly.
Before it could understand what was happening.
On the distant horizon.
A far larger shadow was already sweeping toward it with terrifying force, enough to crush the void.