The giant beast's corpse lay sprawled like a mountain range, its grim pressure gradually thinning.
During the first few days, that pressure still intimidated everything around it, leaving all creatures within a hundred li silent as cicadas. Even the wind seemed to take a detour.
Li Su enjoyed a rare period of uninterrupted "feeding." His spiritual sense operated at full capacity, devouring every newly formed fragment of lingering souls within a radius of one hundred and fifty zhang.
His Evolution Points ticked upward slowly but steadily, climbing from 17 to 23.
The warning of "temporarily stored danger" remained glaring, but the slight erosion effect from devouring lingering souls gave him some peace of mind.
However, the good times did not last. On the seventh day, the first predator drawn by the scent of blood appeared.
It was a vicious creature shaped like a jackal but with a scorpion's tail. It was not particularly large, yet it was exceptionally cautious.
It prowled in the distance for an entire day. In the end, unable to resist the astonishing energy contained within the giant beast's flesh, it cautiously approached, tore off a relatively outer piece of meat, then fled with it in its jaws, vanishing into the mist of baleful qi.
This was a signal.
It was as if the first breach had opened in a dam, and more and more "scavengers" began to appear.
They came in all sizes and grotesque forms. They were wary of one another and occasionally broke into minor conflicts, but most of their energy went toward tearing apart and devouring the giant beast's corpse.
The terrifying sounds of flesh being gnawed and bones being crushed continued day and night.
Li Su's heart rose to his throat. Although these vicious creatures were not as terrifying as the dead giant beast, any one of them could easily destroy him before he had even taken form.
He did his utmost to conceal his own spiritual glow, hiding the peculiarities of his bamboo body as much as possible and disguising himself as an ordinary stalk of black bamboo that was merely somewhat harder in texture.
Fortunately, the giant beast's corpse was an unparalleled treasure to him, but it was the same for these vicious creatures.
Their attention was completely drawn to that massive source of energy. They had not the slightest interest in an "unremarkable" bamboo stalk beside it.
Occasionally, nearby battles sent sand and rocks flying into his bamboo body with clanging sounds, but they failed to inflict any real damage.
The immediate danger had passed, but Li Su's efficiency in devouring lingering souls was greatly reduced.
The lingering souls produced when those vicious creatures fought often had not even drifted away before they were scattered by the fierce baleful qi unintentionally emitted by the victors still feeding, or opportunistically consumed by weaker insects that dared not come forward for a share.
The growth of his Evolution Points nearly came to a standstill.
He could not wait any longer! He had to actively seek new "food"!
Li Su's spiritual sense swept over the area he had repeatedly surveyed once more.
To the southeast, one hundred and twenty zhang away, the bottomless fissure that spewed pure Yin Sha Qi caught his attention again.
The concentration of baleful qi there far exceeded that of the surrounding area. It was violent and mixed, but also far "fresher."
The system indicated that absorbing baleful qi could likewise be converted into a tiny amount of Evolution Points and could slowly erode the "stored will."
Although the efficiency was far lower than devouring lingering souls, the supply was inexhaustible!
The risk was that the fissure gave him an extremely dangerous feeling, as though something terrifying lurked within.
Moreover, could his bamboo body endure such pure baleful qi for long periods?
After weighing the matter for a moment, Li Su made his decision.
Fortune favors the bold! Rather than sitting around and waiting for the "stored energy," which could lose control at any moment, to erupt, or for some suddenly crazed Fierce Beast to crush him flat, he might as well take a gamble!
He could not move his main bamboo body, but he concentrated his consciousness and urged his bamboo root system with all his strength.
The bamboo roots deeply embedded in the bloody mud began to stretch, little by little and with immense difficulty, toward the southeast at an unprecedentedly slow pace.
This process consumed an enormous amount of spiritual sense, and the speed was painfully slow. Often, an entire day and night would yield only an inch or so of growth.
But he persevered.
His main body continued to feign stillness while all his focus was devoted to this bamboo root exploring the fissure.
Time passed once more.
The giant beast's corpse shrank at a visible rate, divided completely among the swarming vicious creatures. In the end, only a massive skeleton covered in bite marks remained, still emanating faint pressure.
Fresh slaughter continued around the skeleton as they fought over the last scraps of flesh and sinew.
And Li Su's bamboo root, after countless hardships, finally touched the edge of the fissure!
Boom!
Even colder, purer, and more violent baleful qi seemed to find an outlet, surging wildly through the bamboo root toward his main body!
His bamboo body shook violently. The mysterious black patterns on its surface suddenly lit up and began to operate frantically, filtering and devouring the rushing torrent of energy.
[Absorbed Earth Vein Yin Evil, Evolution Points +0.0001] [Absorbed Earth Vein Yin Evil, Evolution Points +0.0001] [Warning! Excessive baleful qi intake! Bamboo roots are at risk of assimilation and corrosion!] [Temporarily Stored Chaotic Will erosion efficiency increased by 0.1%]
The notifications almost blended into one. The increase in Evolution Points was negligible, but the message that "erosion efficiency increased" invigorated Li Su immensely! It worked!
Moreover, under the washing of this pure baleful qi, the bamboo root seemed to become tougher as well, its adaptability to baleful qi slowly improving!
However, just as he gradually adapted to the scouring of this baleful qi and prepared to extend the bamboo root deeper into the fissure—
Rustle... rustle...
An exceedingly faint scraping sound traveled along the bamboo root and entered his spiritual perception with startling clarity.
Something was inside the fissure! It was rapidly crawling along the rock wall! Its target... seemed to be the bamboo root he had extended inside!
Li Su's heart tightened. Without hesitation, he immediately cut off his spiritual sense and energy supply to that bamboo root, actively forcing it into a "withered" state.
Almost the instant he finished doing so, a dark-red shadow shot out of the fissure like lightning and bit down precisely on that bamboo root!
It was a strange insect entirely dark red, as though it had been formed from crystallized baleful qi!
It resembled a centipede, but had hundreds of pairs of tiny legs. Its head consisted only of a suction-cup-like mouthpart filled with spiraling teeth!
It clamped down tightly on the bamboo root. Its suction cup writhed as if trying to extract something, but it only sucked in fragments of withered root and pure baleful qi.
The strange insect seemed to pause in confusion. Its dense limbs scraped the rock wall irritably, producing a teeth-grating noise.
It circled the "withered" bamboo root several times. Eventually, it seemed to lose interest, curled up, and swiftly disappeared back into the darkness deep within the fissure.
Li Su's spiritual sense remained taut, and he did not dare make another move for a long time.
That had been close! The strange insect felt far more dangerous than the vicious creatures outside fighting over the beast's corpse!
Its aura was cold and pure. It was clearly a spirit creature born entirely from the underground Yin Sha Qi!
This was no place to linger! But the baleful qi here was also of vital importance to him.
He no longer dared let the bamboo root penetrate deeper. Instead, he controlled it to carefully extend along the edge of the fissure. Like a thief, it would absorb for a while, then immediately hide and disguise itself, avoiding the strange insect's possible patrol range.
Amid such nervous, intermittent absorption, one day, while the bamboo root extended beneath a collapsed rock wall along the edge of the fissure, it touched something.
It was hard and cold, yet contained a relatively gentle earth-element energy distinct from baleful qi.
[Detected a trace amount of Earth Essence Qi... Absorbable... Can be converted into Evolution Points...]
Earth Essence Qi?
Li Su extended his spiritual sense and discovered a patch of unremarkable Gray-Brown Ore half-buried beneath shattered rocks and baleful mud. Its surface was rough, and a faint gleam flowed across it.
He tried guiding the bamboo root around it and activated his Soul Devour ability. Though it was not a soul, the system seemed to classify it as an "energy substance" that could be devoured.
Strands of pure earth-element energy were drawn out and flowed through the bamboo root into his main body.
[Absorbed Earth Essence Stone energy, Evolution Points +0.1] [Absorbed Earth Essence Stone energy, Evolution Points +0.1]
The efficiency was far higher than absorbing baleful qi! It was even greater than devouring ordinary lingering souls!
Li Su was overjoyed! Sure enough, the risk had been worth it! There were actually resources like this near the fissure!
He investigated carefully and discovered that this type of Gray-Brown Ore was scattered sparingly through the rock layers at the fissure's edge, seemingly carried up by the underground activity of baleful qi.
There were not many, and they were dispersed and buried apart, but for him at present, they were undoubtedly a godsend!
He controlled the bamboo roots even more carefully, avoiding areas where the strange insect might roam. Like a patient miner, he searched bit by bit and absorbed these scattered Earth Essence Stones.
His Evolution Points began to grow slowly once more.
24... 25... 26...
At the same time, he discovered that absorbing this earth-element energy had very little effect on eroding the "Temporarily Stored Chaotic Will," far inferior to directly absorbing Earth Vein Yin Evil.
But increasing his Evolution Points could itself strengthen his foundation, preparing him to completely absorb the stored energy.
Walking on two legs, he proceeded steadily.
His days passed in such monotonous, dangerous, yet rewarding repetition.
Devouring lingering souls, absorbing baleful qi, searching for Earth Essence Stones... Li Su's spiritual sense became increasingly condensed through continued use, and his control over the bamboo roots grew ever more precise.
He also gained a vague grasp of the strange insect's habits within the fissure. It seemed to sleep deep inside the fissure most of the time, only occasionally emerging to patrol.
Until one day, his spiritual sense swept over a low-lying area eighty zhang to the northwest—the place where he had previously sensed an eerie plant emitting a decayed aura.
At that moment, the purple-black plant, which resembled an enormous Venus flytrap, had tightly ensnared a small lizard-like vicious creature that had entered the range of its leaves. It secreted mucus and rapidly dissolved and absorbed it.
At the plant's roots, several noticeably larger Earth Crystal Stones gleamed with a warm yellow light, half-exposed and half-buried!
Li Su's consciousness instantly focused on those Earth Crystal Stones.
Greater temptation often came with greater risk.
Before you continue