A chilling sense of fear, like gangrene clinging to the bone, had spread through Chen Beixuan—or rather, through the consciousness core of this strand of Innate Immortal Qi named "Xuanwei"—for a long time.
He curled up in the deepest part of a crack in the rocks, not daring to move. Although the system's [Beginner Aura Concealment] was remarkably effective, it also consumed his already meager source energy at an extreme rate. In less than a quarter of an hour, his energy reserves had fallen from the critical 0.01% to an even more despairing 0.009%. The system had no choice but to forcibly shut down the function to prevent him from dissipating outright.
The Malevolent Spirit's lingering aura outside was like a sword hanging over his head. He could only rely on the instinctive spiritual sense of Immortal Qi to detect that cold, malicious consciousness sweeping back and forth nearby. Each pass made his consciousness core tremble.
"No, I can't just sit here and wait to die..."
His intense desire to survive forced him to calm down. He began operating the Basic Spiritual Qi Breathing Technique taught by the system with even greater focus, frantically drawing in the relatively dense spiritual qi around his hiding place. Threads of warmth flowed into him, slowly restoring what he had expended and slightly strengthening his weak source.
0.011%... 0.012%...
The progress was agonizingly slow, but at least it was moving in the right direction. This visible growth slightly dispelled the gloom in his heart.
Time passed in absolute concentration. He did not know how long it had been—perhaps several hours, perhaps an entire day—before the Malevolent Spirit finally seemed to confirm that the "delicacy" had completely vanished. With an unwilling hiss of consciousness, it slowly retreated.
Only after he could no longer sense the Malevolent Spirit at all did Xuanwei finally breathe a sigh of relief, though his taut nerves did not fully relax. He cautiously extended an almost imperceptible thread of spiritual sense, like an antenna, to probe the world beyond the crack.
Safe.
He still did not dare leave this relatively secure shelter. What had just happened had taught him a bloody lesson: in this world, weakness itself was the original sin. Even with the system and extraordinary origins, before he grew strong enough, he could become nourishment for other beings at any moment.
"System, bring up my status panel," he silently said.
A translucent screen visible only to him, glowing faintly, appeared within his field of consciousness.
[Host: Chen Beixuan (Unnamed)] [Origin: First Strand of Innate Immortal Qi (Early Form)] [Realm: None] [Energy Level: 0.015%] [Technique: Basic Spiritual Qi Breathing Technique (System-Adapted Version)] [Divine Abilities: None] [Items: None] [Current Mission: Energy Accumulation (0.015%/1%)]
Looking at that pitiful energy progress, Xuanwei felt a wave of helplessness. At this pace, how long would it take to meet the mission requirement of 1%? And if he kept hiding here, it might be safe, but resources were limited. Once the spiritual qi here was drained, he would still be doomed.
He had to find a way to speed things up!
He recalled how it had felt to devour that faint glimmer of spiritual light earlier. Though the process had been crude, the energy it gave him far surpassed this sluggish breathing technique.
"System, is it feasible to actively devour other spiritual energy sources? What is the efficiency? What are the risks?" he asked cautiously.
[Response: Active devouring is an effective method for rapidly increasing energy.] [Efficiency: Far higher than passive breathing. Depending on the target's energy purity and the host's digestive capacity, efficiency can increase by ten to one hundred times.] [Risks: 1. If the target energy contains impurities or negative thoughts, additional energy and time will be required for purification. Otherwise, the source will be contaminated. 2. The devouring process may produce energy fluctuations and attract the attention of stronger beings. 3. If the target energy greatly exceeds the host's strength, devouring may fail, and the host may instead be contaminated or assimilated.] [Recommendation: Under safe conditions, prioritize devouring unconscious, highly pure low-grade spiritual glimmers or ownerless spiritual essences.]
The system's analysis was cold and objective, clearly laying out the advantages and disadvantages before him.
Risks and opportunities coexisted.
After pondering for a moment, Xuanwei made his decision. He could not stop eating for fear of choking. If he wanted to survive in this Primordial World—and make something of himself—he could not simply hide away forever. Under the premise of caution, he had to take the initiative to fight and seize what he needed!
He restricted the range of his spiritual sense to the area around the crack's opening. Like a patient hunter, he began searching for a suitable target.
He quickly locked onto one. A small cluster of pale-blue light, only the size of a grain of rice, drifted slowly past not far away. It emitted faint but pure water-attributed spiritual qi fluctuations. It had no consciousness; it was merely a natural product of condensed heaven-and-earth spiritual qi.
That was the one!
Xuanwei carefully controlled his Immortal Qi body, splitting off an extremely fine stream of qi that silently extended like a tentacle. Closer, closer... then it suddenly coiled around and enveloped the light!
The pale-blue light seemed to sense danger and trembled faintly, but it had no power to resist. The Immortal Qi tentacle swiftly dragged it back into his core.
[Detected absorbable energy source: Ownerless Water Spiritual Glimmer. Beginning devouring and conversion...]
As the system prompt sounded, Xuanwei felt a cool, pure current of energy merge into his source. It was far faster than absorbing spiritual qi through breathing! Like a drop of ice water falling into boiling oil, the amount was small, yet it instantly stirred ripples.
His energy level jumped: 0.018%!
It worked! And he had barely sensed any impurities or negative emotions!
The joy of success diluted his initial fear. He pressed on and began searching for the next target.
A cluster of pale-yellow earth spiritual light... devoured! Energy level: 0.022%!
A wisp of metal spiritual light carrying a sharp intent... devoured! Energy level: 0.028%!
Time passed amid one cautious hunt after another. Xuanwei was like a diligent worker ant, tirelessly gathering every bit of energy he could. His Immortal Qi body became visibly more solid, while the spiritual glow it emitted grew increasingly gentle.
However, good fortune did not always stay with him.
When he tried to devour a dark-red cluster of spiritual light that was slightly deeper in color and carried a trace of bloodiness, an abrupt change occurred!
The instant it was devoured, the cluster erupted with a violent, chaotic blast of consciousness! It was like the final counterattack of a miniature ferocious beast before death!
"Roar—!"
It was not an actual sound, but a roar that directly struck the level of consciousness. Xuanwei felt a sharp pain stab through his mind, as though he had been pricked by needles. His Immortal Qi body fluctuated violently and nearly failed to maintain its form.
[Warning! Target detected to contain ferocious resentful thoughts! Activating emergency purification procedure! Consuming energy for purification...]
The system's cold voice carried a hint of urgency. A gentle yet resolute force surged from the depths of his consciousness, forcibly grinding away and dispersing the violent thoughts. But in doing so, the energy he had just accumulated instantly dropped by 0.005%.
Xuanwei was terrified in hindsight. Sure enough, the risks mentioned by the system were not baseless. This was only an insignificant glimmer of resentful light. If it had been any stronger, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
After that incident, he became even more cautious. He screened his targets far more strictly, preferring to be slower rather than recklessly greedy.
Day after day passed in this dull, dangerous, yet rewarding cycle.
He still did not dare venture far from the crack where he hid. His range of movement was limited to a few yards around it. Yet within this tiny patch of heaven and earth, he gradually learned how to use his Immortal Qi body more efficiently, how to sense energy fluctuations with greater precision, and how to determine which spiritual lights could be devoured and which had to be avoided.
His energy level steadily rose to 0.3%. His Immortal Qi body had changed from its initial nearly transparent and ethereal state into a solid milky-white streak of light brimming with spirituality.
On this day, he had just devoured a lush green glimmer of wood spiritual light and was feeling vibrant life energy circulate through him when suddenly—
Buzz!
An indescribably grand rhythm swept across the eastern foothills of Kunlun Mountain like a boulder crashing into a placid lake!
It was neither sound nor an energy shockwave, but a fluctuation of the Dao itself. Vast, ancient, and profound, it seemed to contain the ultimate truths of heaven and earth.
Xuanwei's Immortal Qi body trembled involuntarily in response. His consciousness felt as if it had been immersed in a warm ocean, and many obscure, incomprehensible points from his cultivation suddenly became crystal clear beneath the cleansing of that rhythm!
He "looked up" toward the source of the fluctuation—it came from the heights of Kunlun Mountain, shrouded in clouds and mist, impossible to see clearly. Yet he could sense three auras of indescribable greatness there, like three resplendent suns suspended high above the nine heavens. Merely the lingering waves of Dao Rhyme naturally escaping from them benefited him beyond measure.
"The Three Pure Ones... the Three Pure Ones are discussing the Dao!"
A realization arose in his heart. Was this the power of the supreme experts of the Primordial World? From such a great distance, just a trace of lingering Dao Rhyme could grant such benefits to a tiny strand of Immortal Qi like him!
He greedily absorbed and comprehended the Dao Rhyme permeating heaven and earth, comparing it against the Basic Spiritual Qi Breathing Technique taught by the system. He discovered that under the influence of the Dao Rhyme, the efficiency of his breathing technique had increased by several times over! The surrounding spiritual qi, once calm, also became extraordinarily active and rushed into his body.
His energy level began to surge at an unprecedented speed!
0.35%... 0.4%... 0.5%...
This was simply a pie falling from the sky! No, an immortal pill falling from the sky!
He completely immersed himself in the pleasure of this rapid improvement, forgetting the passage of time and even where he was. Instinctively, he guided his Immortal Qi body slightly out of the crack toward the area where the Dao Rhyme was denser and the spiritual qi more active, hoping to absorb more.
However, fortune concealed disaster.
Just as he devoted himself wholly to cultivation, his consciousness resonating with the Dao Rhyme and nearly forgetting the dangers outside—
[Warning! High-energy life-form rapidly approaching! Energy signature far exceeds host! Immediate evasion recommended! Repeating, immediate evasion recommended!]
The system's piercing alarm was like a bucket of ice water over his head, instantly jolting him awake from his intoxicated state of enlightenment!
He immediately withdrew all his aura and swept his spiritual sense outside. At once, his soul nearly fled in terror!
A crimson streak of light was diving down from the sky at astonishing speed, its target... seemingly this very area! The scorching, violent aura radiating from that streak was more than a hundred times stronger than the Malevolent Spirit he had encountered before! The pressure generated merely by its passage turned the spiritual qi around him scorching and turbulent, and even made his Immortal Qi body feel searing pain.
It was a true Primordial World exotic beast! It resembled an eagle, yet was unimaginably enormous. Its outspread wings blotted out the sky and sun, while roaring flames coiled around its body. Wherever it passed, even the air twisted!
It seemed to have been drawn here by the unusually active spiritual qi caused by the Three Pure Ones' discussion of the Dao, coming to hunt!
Xuanwei's heart went cold.
In his attempt to absorb more Dao Rhyme and spiritual qi, he had unknowingly moved to the edge of the crack. Though he was not fully exposed yet, his position was no longer absolutely safe!
The Crimson Flame Fierce Bird's sharp gaze swept across the mountain ravine like a tangible searchlight. Its eyes seemed to pause for an instant at the mouth of the crack, where spiritual qi had gathered unusually densely.
Could it find me?
Xuanwei held his "breath," compressing his Immortal Qi body to the limit and pressing himself tightly into the darkest corner of the rock. Only one thought remained in his mind:
It's over!
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