Awakening

"Lord of Devourment? What an imposing name."

Lin Dong murmured his praise. For a country bumpkin like him, these things were far beyond his knowledge. Besides, Lin Dong had never been fond of reading.

Little Marten couldn't help curling his lip. He was quite annoyed by Lin Dong's ignorance.

"You brat, what the hell do you know? What do you mean, 'an imposing name'? This is Lord of Devourment we're talking about. Do you even know who the Eight Ancient Lords were? In the ancient era, they were among the most powerful beings in all creation!"

Seeing how highly Little Marten regarded this oddly named Lord of Devourment, Lin Dong grew even more curious and hurriedly pressed him.

"Were these Eight Ancient Lords really that powerful? Were they even stronger than experts in the Nirvana Realm?"

"What? The Nirvana Realm?"

Little Marten's voice was so shrill that Lin Dong's eardrums throbbed with pain.

As soon as his ears stopped hurting, Lin Dong felt a pain in his head. Little Marten, unable to contain his irritation, had climbed onto Lin Dong's head and stomped on it several times.

"You brat, do you know that Cultivation Verse?"

Little Marten glared at Lin Dong indignantly, looking like a mistreated young wife.

Lin Dong scratched his head and nodded. As it happened, he'd heard it not long ago, so he quietly recited it.

"Of course I have. As the saying goes: The path of cultivation is to steal yin and yang, seize creation, undergo nirvana, grasp life and death, and command reincarnation."

"At least you've got a little bit of basic knowledge."

Little Marten snorted and rolled his eyes. Faced with that look, Lin Dong could only laugh awkwardly.

Although Lin Dong was a member of the Lin Family, which had a Family Academy where the younger generation could study, he had never attended a single day because of his father. In fact, he had barely touched a book his entire life. How could he know any of this?

"Back when I was alive, I was an expert in the Life and Death Profound Realm. You think I was just bragging when I said I could fart and blast ten or twenty thousand fellows like you to death?"

Little Marten gave an arrogant snort. Standing on Lin Dong's shoulder, he planted his little paws on his hips and raised his tiny head proudly.

Lin Dong's mouth fell open. He'd honestly thought Little Marten was just making things up, taking advantage of his lack of knowledge to boast.

He hadn't expected Little Marten to be telling the truth.

"You're really that powerful?"

Lin Dong stared at the little marten in disbelief and reached out to poke him, but Little Marten slapped his hand away with a paw.

Seeing Lin Dong's clueless expression, Little Marten rolled his eyes again. He felt that showing off to a poor country bumpkin like Lin Dong, who knew nothing, brought him no sense of accomplishment at all.

Well, maybe just a tiny bit. Heh!

"Then how powerful is this Lord of Devourment?"

Lin Dong awkwardly scratched his head and stopped looking at Little Marten. Instead, he gazed at the black vortex before him and asked softly.

"This lord was even more extraordinary. In life, his strength had reached the peak of the Reincarnation Stage."

Little Marten drew a deep breath, holding back his excitement as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"But that wasn't even what made him most powerful."

"Not the most powerful part?"

Lin Dong's mouth fell slightly open as he turned in astonishment to Little Marten. The peak of the Reincarnation Stage wasn't impressive enough?

Little Marten let out a strange chuckle and pointed at the black vortex before them.

"What do you think this is?"

"Didn't you say it was the Devouring Ancestral Talisman?"

Lin Dong replied without hesitation. At that, Little Marten collapsed against Lin Dong's shoulder and burst into laughter.

It took him a while to stop. Only then did Little Marten explain.

"If the Devouring Ancestral Talisman, such a divine treasure, were in the Stone Talisman Space, would it still be here now? Someone would've refined it long ago."

"Then what is this? With such domineering Devouring Power, surely it can't just be an imprinted spirit talisman?"

Lin Dong awkwardly scratched his head. He had to admit, he really was a bit dim to have missed that.

But Little Marten shook his head and spoke with utter amazement.

"No. In fact, there are no talisman seals here at all. Do you know how I can be certain that he's Lord of Devourment?"

This time, Lin Dong had learned his lesson. He said nothing and quietly waited for Little Marten to continue.

"Only peerless experts on the level of the Eight Ancient Lords, beings powerful enough to shake heaven and earth, could reach such a terrifying state. They didn't even need divine treasures like the Ancestor Symbols to wield the powers those symbols represented."

Little Marten's tiny chest heaved intensely. He was clearly both excited and stunned.

"That's exactly what's happening here. This domineering Devouring Power comes entirely from Lord of Devourment's soul, not from the divine power of an Ancestor Symbol."

"Damn, he's that powerful? Wouldn't that make him the equivalent of an Ancestor Symbol himself?"

As if he'd just realized something, Lin Dong exclaimed in surprise. But after he finished speaking, he saw Little Marten looking at him strangely. Lin Dong swallowed nervously and stammered,

"W-what's wrong? Was I mistaken?"

"Heh, you're not wrong. But people who thought like that were all reduced to dust long ago."

Little Marten let out a strange chuckle and pointed at the figure who had appeared from the black vortex at some point. He turned to Lin Dong and said,

"Do you know that in ancient times, our Demon Race produced a top expert known as the Six-Fingered Saint Dragon Emperor? He defeated all the Overlord Clans of the Demon Domain by himself and united the entire Continent of Demons. Even my Heavenly Demon Sable Clan obeyed his commands."

"And then?"

Oblivious to what was going on, Lin Dong hurriedly asked. Little Marten gave another strange chuckle and replied,

"Then the Six-Fingered Saint Dragon Emperor got beaten up by him. You brat, you're still thinking of challenging him? You don't even know how to spell the word 'death'!"

"No, no. I just thought of it for a moment. I'd never dare challenge anyone."

Lin Dong scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. He had only happened to think of the question and tossed it out casually.

Still, from Little Marten's words, Lin Dong had finally gotten a glimpse of just how terrifying this ancient powerhouse was.

Even an unmatched expert who could conquer an entire continent had been beaten by this ancient powerhouse known as Lord of Devourment. That showed just how powerful he was.

"Heh. I never thought that after sleeping for so long, someone would still remember me."

Just then, a soft laugh rang out through the space, making Lin Dong and Little Marten stiffen.

Lin Dong and Little Marten, who had been facing each other, held their breath. Their eyes met, and both swallowed nervously, frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.