At the Earth Immortal realm, spiritual awareness transformed into divine sense, and his perception of heaven and earth became utterly different.
Li Su immersed himself in this brand-new realm. In his Eight-Zhang Ink Bamboo form, he seemed to have become a node through which the baleful aura of heaven and earth flowed, requiring no deliberate activation.
The fierce baleful energy permeating his surroundings naturally swirled around his bamboo body, drawn in and refined by those profound patterns. Though the efficiency remained low, it was constant, steadily strengthening his foundation at every moment.
And the newly acquired divine ability—Soul-Devouring Dark Light—made him eager to test it.
His divine sense swept out, quickly locking onto a target.
It was a centipede-like venomous insect lurking beneath a pile of beast bones a hundred zhang away. About as long as an arm and crimson all over, it fed on carrion and faint residual souls. Its strength was roughly at the Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation stage, and its intelligence was low. It was perfect for a trial.
With a thought, a long, sharp black bamboo leaf on his body trembled lightly. At its tip, an incomparably dark glimmer, as if capable of swallowing all light, silently condensed, then flickered and vanished as though teleporting.
The next instant, the Crimson Centipede a hundred zhang away suddenly stiffened. A speck of dark light erupted within its weak soul core, like a miniature black hole, instantly devouring its fragmented soul consciousness completely!
The Crimson Centipede's body twitched once before becoming completely rigid, without the slightest trace of life.
[Absorbed insect soul at the Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation realm. Evolution Points +0.5]
The system notification sounded.
Li Su's heart shook. What a domineering divine ability! Silent and invisible, striking directly at the soul!
Moreover, it crossed a hundred zhang almost instantly—wherever his thoughts reached, the dark light arrived! This was only its initial stage. If his cultivation rose and the divine ability advanced in the future, how terrifying would its power become?
More importantly, its absorption efficiency far surpassed before! A tiny venomous insect had actually provided 0.5 Evolution Points, comparable to the total residual souls he had painstakingly absorbed over a long time in the past!
Sure enough, after advancing in realm, the quality of the "ingredients" mattered far more than their quantity!
Even in his excitement, Li Su grew more cautious. Though this divine ability was powerful, the energy fluctuations from that speck of dark light were quite apparent to divine sense when it activated.
If his opponent possessed sharp spiritual perception or methods to protect the soul, it would likely be difficult to succeed. He might even alert the enemy instead.
He still needed to practice diligently, making it more concealed and able to be unleashed or withdrawn at will.
Suppressing his excitement, he carefully used his divine sense to scan the five-hundred-zhang area around him in greater detail. He was both becoming familiar with his new ability and searching for more suitable "prey" and resources.
An Earth Immortal's divine sense perceived details with exquisite clarity. Many subtleties he had been unable to discern in the past now revealed themselves one after another.
He "saw" minerals buried deep beneath the ground and "heard" vague beast roars carried by the wind from a great distance away.
He could even vaguely sense the traces of the ever-present yet elusive "Dao" within this land and sky.
It was an indescribable rhythm, present in the flow of baleful aura, in the pulse of the earth, and in the roars of Fierce Beasts—profound and obscure.
Just as he immersed himself in this novel perception, an inspiration seemed to strike him. His divine sense swept over the depths of the giant beast's remains—into that enormous skeleton, already gnawed full of holes but still emanating faint pressure.
In the past, his spiritual awareness had been utterly incapable of penetrating the barrier formed by the pressure carried within those bones.
But now, his Earth Immortal divine sense, coupled with the improvement of his innate foundation, allowed him to glimpse a clue.
Deep within an extremely concealed crack at the brow of that massive skull, there seemed to be a tiny, nearly imperceptible anomalous gleam! It was exceptionally dim, yet carried an ancient, resilient quality entirely unlike the violent aura of Fierce Beasts.
What was that?
Li Su's heart stirred. Could this giant beast have encountered some great opportunity while it was alive?
He cautiously separated a thread of divine sense as fine as silk. Like a probe, it laboriously passed through the obstruction of the skull's pressure and slowly reached toward that strange gleam.
Bzzzz...
The instant his divine sense touched it, a stream of information flowed back along that thread. It was not a will, but rather a fixed image and realization!
Within a void of primordial chaos, an enormous and ancient rune appeared out of nowhere. It seemed to embody the concepts of "solidity," "indestructibility," and "eternity." With only that fleeting glimpse, its vast Dao resonance nearly burst Li Su's divine sense apart!
The image shattered, but the rune's pattern and a portion of its Dao resonance were deeply branded into his consciousness.
At the same time, the system notification sounded:
[Detected a fragmentary Grand Dao Rune—"Bedrock Rune" (an extremely tiny fragment). Recorded. Comprehension can increase defensive power and physical strength.]
A Grand Dao Rune?! Though it was merely a fragment so incomplete it could almost be ignored, the concept it contained was terrifyingly lofty!
It was far beyond his current ability to comprehend. He could not even wield one billionth of its power.
Yet this was undoubtedly an immense treasure! A trace leading directly to the origin of the Grand Dao!
This dead giant beast had likely, by some fortunate coincidence, observed an innate rune representing the origin of "solidity."
Perhaps it had only encountered a broken wisp of its lingering essence and imprinted it within its skull, making it one of the sources of its formidable defense. Yet now, this stroke of fortune had benefited Li Su instead!
Though he could only barely memorize it for now and could not truly comprehend or use it, its value was immeasurable!
This might become the supreme cornerstone of his future body refinement and defensive divine abilities!
Forcibly suppressing the wild joy in his heart, Li Su deeply engraved the trace of this "Bedrock Rune" into the very source of his divine sense, intending to study it slowly once his cultivation had grown profound.
Sure enough, danger and opportunity coexisted.
Though this land of the Primordial World was exceedingly dangerous, it also concealed countless opportunities.
He calmed his mind and returned his attention to reality. His strength still had to be raised step by step.
He continued using his divine sense to search for suitable prey. Before long, he locked onto a Fierce Beast wandering three hundred zhang away, shaped like a wild boar but covered in bone armor.
Its strength was roughly at the early Spirit Refining Returning to Emptiness stage, and its intelligence was low. It was ideal for practicing his divine ability and could provide a considerable number of Evolution Points.
The bamboo leaf trembled lightly as Soul-Devouring Dark Light silently condensed once more...
Li Su began his first active hunt after reaching the Earth Immortal realm.
As he familiarized himself with his divine ability, he accumulated Evolution Points and steadily advanced toward his next evolution. The brutal laws of survival in the Primordial World had finally been grasped in his own hands.
The Eight-Zhang Ink Bamboo quietly transformed into a dangerous hunter amid this land of blood and baleful energy.
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