Poison Devours Ten Thousand Miles

The appearance of humans was like an ice pick piercing the deep sea, its chill instantly spreading into every corner of Jingtian's consciousness. The curious glance from that green-eyed girl, the steady yet probing sweep of her Soul Emperor senior brother's gaze, and their mission concerning "abnormal energy fluctuations"... all signaled that these waters were no longer a hunting ground where he could safely lie low.

Never had his sense of crisis been so piercing.

He had to leave. He had to grow stronger, faster. He needed power sufficient to protect himself before human soul masters—and even make them fear him!

His nest was no longer safe. Though the Rift Soul Bone was a priceless treasure, it had also become a potential target. He lacked the ability to completely refine the Soul Bone's core in the short term. Staying here carried more risk than reward.

Five years. Jingtian set himself an initial goal. Within five years, he would leave these waters, which were gradually falling under humanity's gaze, and migrate toward deeper, farther, more unknown seas. Along the way, he would become the purest predator, using battle to sustain battle, letting poison devour ten thousand miles, and pushing his cultivation to the threshold of ten thousand years!

These five years would be years of bloodshed and devouring.

He completely abandoned the idea of finding a permanent nest. Like a lonely yet deadly ghost ship, he prowled the vast Deep Sea. His goal was clear: devour every Sea Soul Beast he encountered with more than five hundred years of cultivation.

He no longer limited himself to a particular species, nor did he care for flashy hunting techniques. He pursued only the most efficient killing and absorption.

Through countless real battles and devourings, his poison had been tempered to an unimaginable level. The evolved Poison Source had already been formidable, and as it continuously absorbed the toxic traits—though weak—and life essence of different soul beasts, it kept growing and evolving.

The range of his Poison Domain expanded from ten meters to thirty, then fifty, and could even erupt to a hundred meters for a short time, granting him stronger battlefield control.

The types of Poison Seals became more diverse. Some detonated after a delay, some triggered chain reactions, and some could even attach themselves to living creatures for tracking.

The Poison Erosion trait deepened. It could not only break down material structures, but also corrode Soul Power shields and weaken energy defenses.

However, the most crucial breakthrough came after he devoured a rare Shadow Phantom Jellyfish with eight thousand five hundred years of Soul Power, one skilled at hiding itself and releasing invisible spiritual toxins.

This jellyfish's toxin was extremely peculiar—colorless and odorless, capable of bypassing most energy-based and physical senses to act directly on the source of life and the soul. Those afflicted often withered away without realizing it, dying without even knowing how. Jingtian fought it for a long time, and only with his superior Poison Domain control and profound understanding of toxins did he manage to poison it to death and devour it.

While digesting the Shadow Phantom Jellyfish, its unique poison of "annihilation," which targeted the source of life, resonated and merged in a wondrous way with Jingtian's evolved Poison Source—especially his concept of Poison Erosion.

Countless meditations between hunts, countless explorations into the origin of poison, combined with this newly acquired trait, gradually shaped and clarified an extraordinarily dangerous and powerful concept within his consciousness.

He wanted to create a poison, one that surpassed ordinary neurotoxins, corrosive poisons, and spiritual toxins.

A poison that did not rely on physical contact or energy erosion, but directly locked onto the target's life aura and soul imprint.

A poison that, once "planted," would cling like maggots to bone—impossible to dispel, impossible to alleviate—leaving its victim able only to watch helplessly as life and soul were devoured bit by bit.

A poison... almost like a law, impossible to escape like fate itself!

He named this ultimate poison, still in its conceptual and experimental stage—Dan-Devour. It carried the meaning: "The inner core erodes to nothing, and even the soul is devoured."

This was not something achieved overnight. He spent two full years continuously testing, adjusting, failing, and trying again amid countless hunts and counter-hunts. He pushed the concept of Poison Erosion to its limit, attempting to condense toxicity into something formless and intangible that could nevertheless lock onto life force. He deeply studied the "annihilation" trait gained from the Shadow Phantom Jellyfish, incorporating it into the erosion of life's origin. He even tried merging in the "marking" ability of a trace of his own Spirit Energy—that unique source energy—so that the poison could track its target like a festering sore clinging to bone.

The process was incomparably perilous. Many times, the poison nearly backlashed onto him, or failed experiments exposed his trail and drew pursuit from powerful soul beasts or human soul masters. Yet with his exceptional concealment ability and ever-improving mastery of poison, he turned danger into safety time and again.

Near the end of the third year, during a life-and-death battle against a nine-thousand-year Molten Core Violent Carp, Jingtian, pushed to the brink, finally succeeded in "planting" that thread of conceptualized, invisible poison into the carp's body—a poison combining Poison Erosion, annihilation, soul-locking, and Spirit Energy marking traits.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no agonized struggle. The Molten Core Violent Carp, which had been incomparably berserk just a moment earlier, abruptly froze. The savage light in its eyes swiftly dimmed and scattered. Its massive body sank silently toward the seabed as though all life and soul had been drained from it. Its life aura vanished completely. It died cleanly and decisively; even the violent fire-element energy within it seemed to have been instantly "extinguished."

Dan-Devour had taken its initial form!

Though it was still immature, enormously draining, demanding in its casting conditions—it required extremely close range or a gap in the enemy's defenses—and did not have a perfect success rate, its power and strangeness made even Jingtian shudder.

With the prototype of Dan-Devour as a trump card, Jingtian's hunts became even more efficient and terrifying. He even began selectively challenging powerful soul beasts approaching ten thousand years. Though the process remained dangerous, his odds of victory greatly increased. Under such high-intensity devouring, his cultivation soared like a rocket.

From one thousand and seventy years, to three thousand, five thousand, seven thousand... When he finally poisoned and devoured a nine-thousand-eight-hundred-year Abyss Maw Shark at the edge of the Storm Sea Abyss, where deep-sea currents and gigantic trenches intertwined far from the continental shelf, his cultivation forcefully broke through to ten thousand years!

A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

His level of life underwent another leap! His body grew even larger, his tentacles as thick and powerful as mountains, while the dark purple-tinged rings on them seemed capable of swallowing light. His sensory range broke through five thousand meters, and his control over Soul Power and energy entered an entirely new realm. More importantly, the qualitative change brought by ten thousand years of cultivation greatly enhanced his control over Dan-Devour. It became more covert to cast, its success rate increased, and its toxicity grew purer and deadlier.

He felt unprecedentedly powerful, as if the entire Storm Sea Abyss was about to become his new hunting ground.

However, just as he finished digesting the Abyss Maw Shark's essence and prepared to venture deeper into the sea abyss to seek Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts as prey—

At the very edge of his senses, five strangely shaped metal ships abruptly appeared. Covered entirely in the glow of Soul Tools, they were cutting through the raging undercurrents and sailing toward the Storm Sea Abyss!

These ships were not large, but they were incredibly fast. Stable Soul Power barriers gleamed around their hulls. They were clearly no ordinary seafaring vessels, but Soul Tool ships! Several powerful Soul Power fluctuations emanated from every ship. Even the weakest were at the Soul King level, while the strongest... had reached the peak of Soul Emperor, perhaps even touching the threshold of Soul Saint!

Five ships, with at least twenty soul masters above the Soul King rank, including no fewer than ten Soul Emperors! This was a sizable and formidable human soul master expedition team or soul-hunting group!

Their target was clearly this Storm Sea Abyss, a place filled with both danger and opportunity!

Jingtian's heart instantly sank to the bottom.

Five years of concealment, ten thousand miles of travel, and after finally breaking through to ten thousand years, he had believed that he had temporarily escaped humanity's notice and could finally make his mark in these more dangerous yet opportunity-filled distant seas.

Yet he had not expected humanity's advance to be so swift as well! Their Soul Tool technology could already support a team of this scale venturing deep into such a dangerous offshore forbidden zone!

Those five ships were like five sharp blades suspended above the "new hunting ground" he had just planned out.

Fight? Or flee?

With ten thousand years of cultivation and Dan-Devour newly formed, he was confident he could deal with one ship, perhaps even two. But five ships, more than ten Soul Emperors, along with the other Soul Kings and unknown Soul Tool weapons... facing them head-on gave him little chance of victory. It might even expose Dan-Devour, his trump card, and draw even more terrifying attention.

Flee? But where could he flee to? Humanity's reach seemed boundless.

Within the dim deep-sea currents, Jingtian's enormous body floated in silence. The pressure of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was restrained, while those "eyes"—the focus of his perception—watched the Soul Tool fleet with a coldness like ancient black ice. Killing intent and resolve brewed within them like a storm.

Perhaps... he did not need to confront them head-on, nor did he need to flee at once.

Since they could not be avoided, then... let them witness the "welcoming ceremony" of a Ten-Thousand-Year Poison Beast.

His tentacles slowly swayed. Dark purple poison-light flowed over his body, and a terrifying, colorless, odorless aura quietly spread outward, making even the surrounding seawater seem to congeal.

Dan-Devour... perhaps it was time to find some suitable "test subjects."