The Great Dao is Perilous

Scorching!

Burning!

It felt like being thrown into the molten core of the earth—every inch of his "body" let out an agonized groan of unbearable strain, only to be forcibly crushed and reshaped by even more violent energy in the next instant.

Li Su's consciousness drifted in an endless sea of pain. The true blood of the ferocious beast, cascading down like a torrent, contained unimaginably vast energy and a brutal will. Like billions of red-hot needles, it madly pierced his bamboo body, drilling through his spiritual awareness.

He was going to die... truly about to dissipate completely...

Just as his awareness was on the verge of being utterly overwhelmed and assimilated into pure energy, that cold, mechanical force surfaced once more.

[Devouring Evolution System activated... Detecting external high-energy substance and chaotic will... Beginning analysis... separation... absorption...]

[Warning: Host's spiritual body strength too low, energy too vast, risk of complete annihilation... Initiating emergency protocol... Energy import efficiency reduced to 0.001%... Redundant energy and chaotic will temporarily stored...]

[Beginning enhancement: Bamboo body foundation...]

As if a flood had been suddenly channeled, the energy, though still surging and fierce, was no longer a chaotic force of destruction.

A cool sensation spread outward from the system's core, guiding an infinitesimally small thread of energy from that terrifying blood along some mysterious path, slowly flowing through every joint of Li Su's bamboo body, every leaf.

"Hiss—hiss—"

Under the scorching energy's scouring, the emerald bamboo body emitted faint sounds.

The faint, shadowy black patterns on its surface suddenly flared, becoming starkly clear, like naturally formed Dao runes. They madly devoured the beast blood around them, while struggling to expel and filter out the violent will it contained.

The bamboo body visibly grew more crystalline, its texture tougher, its color shifting from emerald to a deep green verging on black. It seemed carved from the finest ink jade, yet brimming with boundless vitality and resilience.

[Enhancement complete. Bamboo body strength increased by 371%. Evil Qi corrosion resistance increased by 200%. Spiritual awareness carrying capacity increased by 150%.]

[Beginning enhancement: Spiritual awareness origin...]

An even greater pain struck—this time, a tempering aimed directly at his spiritual awareness itself.

The energy stream, filtered by the system and rendered countless times gentler, merged into his flickering, nearly extinguished light of spiritual awareness. Like the finest fuel, it ignited a mad blaze, expanding and strengthening it!

Shattered memory fragments were forcibly melded together; chaotic perceptions were swiftly sorted; the nascent ignorance was rapidly enlightened.

Countless vague pieces of information about this world—the evil qi, the bloodshed, the roars of giant beasts, the wails of lingering souls—flooded through his "heart," aided by the system in understanding and absorption.

He "saw" a finer world: the writhing of bloody mud deep in the soil, the collision of evil qi particles in the air, the strange resonance of wind blowing through bone gaps in the distance... His perception range expanded from ten zhang in radius to fifty, then a hundred zhang!

His thinking speed skyrocketed; the ability to deduce was born. He could even faintly sense a subtle, barely perceptible connection between himself and some deeper, more vast power within this world.

What was that? The "spiritual energy" the system mentioned? Or something more fundamental to this Primordial World?

[Enhancement complete. Spiritual awareness intensity increased by 580%. Comprehension increased by 100%. Spiritual awareness perception range expanded to a radius of one hundred fifty zhang.]

[Warning: Temporarily stored redundant energy and chaotic will exceed safety threshold by 90%. Host is advised to increase strength quickly and complete full absorption, or risk bodily explosion.]

All the pain receded like a tide, and an unprecedented sense of "power" filled Li Su's spirit and bamboo.

He "looked" at himself.

His three-zhang-tall bamboo body had now grown to five zhang! Its entire form was a deep green, with a subdued luster, distinct joints, and a texture like vajra, yet brimming with infinite flexibility and vitality.

The shadowy black patterns on the bamboo's surface had fully solidified, like Dao inscriptions, faintly drawing in the surrounding evil qi while repelling it three inches from the bamboo body, preventing direct corrosion.

The bamboo leaves had also become long and sharp, their edges gleaming with a cold, eerie light. With a gentle sway, they could spontaneously cut through the drifting evil wind.

He was no longer that ordinary bamboo trembling in the evil wind, on the verge of snapping at any moment.

He had survived... Not only survived, but turned misfortune into fortune, gaining immense benefits!

After the wild joy came deep awe and lingering fear. If not for this system awakening in time, he would have already turned to ash.

The energy and will contained in that beast's blood, even just an insignificant trace, were far beyond the shattered soul fragments he had absorbed before.

The system's light screen silently unfolded in his consciousness once more—concise, cold, yet bringing endless hope.

[Host: Li Su]

[Origin: Nine-Section Soul-Devouring Bamboo (Primary Postnatal Spiritual Root)]

[Realm: None (Spiritual awareness nascent)]

[Technique: None]

[Divine Ability: None]

[Abilities: Soul Devouring (Primary), Tenacity (Primary), Evil Qi Resistance (Intermediate)]

[Evolution Points: 17/100 (Converted from absorbed energy, remnant souls, evil qi, etc.)]

[Status: Redundant energy and chaotic will temporarily stored (Dangerous)]

Nine-Section Soul-Devouring Bamboo? Postnatal Spiritual Root? Evolution Points?

Information flooded in, and Li Su quickly understood. The upgrade in origin meant his future potential had greatly increased.

As for Evolution Points, they were the system's quantified "experience"—absorbing energy, remnant souls, even evil qi could be converted. Accumulating 100 points seemed to trigger an "evolution."

But the "Dangerous" status warning was like a bucket of cold water, instantly sobering him.

The crisis wasn't fully resolved, only postponed. He had to grow stronger quickly and digest that temporarily stored "bomb."

How to grow stronger?

The system provided the most direct path—devouring! Devour everything devourable, convert it into Evolution Points!

His "Soul Devour" ability, bolstered by the system and the beast blood enhancement, seemed to grow stronger.

Focusing his consciousness, the bamboo body swayed slightly. Within a radius of one hundred fifty zhang, the drifting, newly generated remnant soul fragments, as if pulled by an invisible force field, surged into the pitch-black patterns on the bamboo body ten times, a hundred times faster than before, where they were swiftly devoured, purified, and absorbed.

[Absorbed broken beast soul, Evolution Points +0.01]

[Absorbed broken beast soul, Evolution Points +0.005]

[Absorbed resentful Sha thought, Evolution Points +0.003]

The prompt sounds came in an unbroken stream. Though each increment was minuscule, it was real and undeniable!

Moreover, devouring these remnant souls seemed to faintly erode the "temporarily stored" chaotic will.

The path of hope lay right beneath his feet!

But Li Su was not swept away by excitement. He still remembered the dangers here.

The giant beast carcass that had crashed down before him exuded a heart-shaking pressure. In the short term, perhaps no other ferocious beasts would dare approach, but that pressure would eventually fade.

Furthermore, the efficiency of devouring remnant souls was far too slow! To accumulate 100 Evolution Points, how many would he need to devour? A hundred thousand? A million?

He had to seek more, more efficient "sustenance"!

His spiritual sense, carefully avoiding the main area of the giant beast's remains, extended further outward.

A radius of one hundred fifty zhang allowed him to probe regions he could never reach before.

He "saw" strange ores half-buried in bloody mud, glinting with faint light;

He "saw" several bizarre plants stubbornly surviving amidst the Sha wind, exuding scents either cloyingly sweet or rotting;

He even "saw" in the far distance a bottomless rift in the earth, from which surged purer yet more violent Yin Sha energy...

All of those could become "nourishment."

But the risks were equally great. By the ores coiled a blood-red centipede-like venomous insect that fed on Sha stones;

Around those plants lay scattered bones of small beasts; from the earth rift came a faint sense of danger that made his spiritual sense tremble.

Growing stronger was no easy task. One wrong step, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.

He steadied his mind, focusing again on the system panel.

Besides the Evolution Points, the "none" in the "Cultivation Method" and "Divine Ability" fields was equally glaring.

Without a method of cultivation, relying only on instinctive devouring meant low efficiency and a bleak future.

The system could enhance, but it seemed unable to conjure a cultivation method from nothing.

Where could he find a method? How could he obtain a divine ability?

In the Primordial World, cultivation methods were surely held by those innate great beings.

And he, a bamboo stalk, stranded on this ancient land teeming with ferocious beasts, unable even to move—how could he seek out those great beings?

Take a master... Yuanshi Tianzun...

This vague thought from the moment of his transmigration surfaced again, yet it seemed so distant and unattainable, like a flower in a mirror or the moon's reflection on water.

The road ahead stretched endlessly, the Great Path fraught with peril. The faint complacency that had risen from the system's awakening and enhancement vanished in an instant.

Only caution, only endurance, only seizing every shred of opportunity, struggling desperately to survive and grow stronger—only then could he earn the right to gaze toward the legendary Kunlun Mountain, to knock on that faint and distant heavenly gate.

Li Su gathered all his thoughts, his spiritual sense operating at full capacity. While continuously devouring the endless stream of remnant soul fragments within his range, accumulating meager Evolution Points, he also meticulously surveyed every inch of land within one hundred fifty zhang, analyzing all possible opportunities and dangers.

A five-zhang ink bamboo, beside a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, stood silently, quietly beginning his own lonely and arduous path of survival and evolution.

In the Primordial World, time was not recorded.