This is a True Fence-Sitter, Eating from Three Sides

With the first success under his belt, Lin Tian let go of his inhibitions and began to fish in troubled waters.

He followed the swarm while stealthily weaving through the ranks, specifically targeting low-tier Blood Sea Monster specimens that were small in size and weak in aura.

Although he lacked cultivation, there were still disparities in size, and he made sure to pick the runts of the litter.

These creatures possessed very low intelligence and acted entirely on instinct, so they failed to notice anything amiss.

Even if Lin Tian devoured a "good brother" right in front of one, it would merely blink, then act as if nothing had happened—its brain simply couldn't process such complex events.

The blood cell monsters were his own body cells; within the bloodstream, each had an innate duty, and their instinct was to expel invaders.

These Sea Soul Beast specimens, along with those evil cells, were all bacteria-like existences that posed a threat to his health, so fighting them was the instinct of these Blood Sea Monster creatures; as for anything else, they had little capacity to react.

Lin Tian, however, was having the time of his life, accepting all comers, whether they were blood cell monsters or Small Blood Blade Monster specimens.

When luck was on his side, he could even swallow several at once.

Still, he remained quite restrained; to avoid detection, he only acted from the rear each day.

The swarm never even noticed that its members were dwindling, while Lin Tian's aura began to grow powerful, with various attributes doubling directly.

Devouring blood cells granted powerful blood energy and stacked vitality.

Devouring White Blood Cell Monster specimens granted defensive power, which was astonishing.

Devouring lymphocyte monsters granted powerful attack power.

Platelet Monster specimens granted spirit power and healing abilities.

The Platelet Monster specimens were the most useful to him; as long as he kept devouring them, his self-healing ability would continuously evolve, potentially allowing him to truly attain the power of immortality.

And as his spirit power stacked, the blue Spirit Gem on his chest grew even more brilliant and dazzling.

Lin Tian felt as if he were in heaven; every day was an all-you-can-eat buffet, comfortable and leveling him up—he didn't want to leave at all.

As they traveled, his sense of security exploded; as the swarm moved forward, more and more sporadic blood cell monsters joined the ranks.

Because countless Blood Sea Monster cells were born every day, the swarm swelled from ten thousand to several million, becoming a true Black Tide that blotted out the sky and sun.

Hidden within, Lin Tian was like a fish in water; his devouring efficiency increased significantly, and his cultivation rose at a speed visible to the naked eye, surging directly from one thousand years to fifteen hundred years. His spirit power also became increasingly refined, shifting from a range of only one hundred meters to one hundred and fifty meters.

During this period, the swarm encountered another powerful group of blood monsters, and the two sides engaged in a brutal melee.

Lin Tian stayed tucked away in the swarm the entire time, taking advantage of the chaos to frantically devour the temporary remains of both sides, gaining energy several times faster than usual.

He didn't participate in the fighting at all, playing both sides.

Whenever he was accidentally scattered by the evil blood monsters, he would reveal his evil aura.

Upon returning to the side of the normal blood monsters, he would retract his evil aura once more.

By reaping benefits from both sides like this, he was truly like a fish in water.

Later, Lin Tian grew accustomed to this combat frequency. Even more comically, when they fought against Sea Soul Beast specimens, some of the sea beasts saw him wrapped within the swarm of blood cells and mistook him for a captive being coerced, rushing in to save him, only to be wiped out entirely.

His morals and sense of humor were at war, and then he would beautifully devour the energy of these Sea Soul Beast specimens.

It had to be said that the energy of Sea Soul Beast specimens was countless times more powerful than these Blood Sea Monster creatures; devouring them granted massive soul power growth, increasing his cultivation speed.

However, each had its advantages; his stomach was only so big, and he could only eat so much each day.

Blood Sea Monster creatures could increase various attributes, providing comprehensive attribute growth.

Devouring Sea Soul Beast specimens granted massive soul power, and if one were lucky enough to have a soul bone drop, it would be even more incredible.

Each had its merits, but what Lin Tian wanted most now was to devour Blood Sea Monster creatures to gain attribute points—attributes were more important than raw strength, whether in a game or in reality. Levels could be trained at any time, but attribute points had to be placed first.

Later, they experienced a three-way battle involving Sea Soul Beast specimens, featuring a group of octopus soul beasts led by a ten-thousand-year-level boss, numbering about a few hundred.

Those few hundred slaughtered millions of blood monsters, leaving them in tatters, but in the end, they were simply worn down to death; the advantage of numbers was simply unsolvable.

While cleaning up the battlefield remains, Lin Tian discovered a dying Blue-Ringed Octopus Soul Beast.

This creature was entirely blue, with eight tentacles lined with suckers; it only had a century of cultivation, yet it was exceptionally agile.

At this moment, there was a massive wound on its chest. After being discovered by Lin Tian, it continued to wave its tentacles in resistance—rather interesting.

Lin Tian immediately wrapped its entire body within his stomach, though not to eat it, but to use his skills to help it heal.

He discovered that his stomach had many functions; beyond devouring, ever since he had obtained more and more platelets and his healing ability had grown stronger, he could even transfer his own vitality to others through the tentacles in his stomach to help treat their wounds.

For instance, with the dying Blue-Ringed Octopus Soul Beast before him, in just a moment, his vitality was injected into the octopus's body, helping it recover from its injuries.

Before long, the little octopus was lively and jumping about.

As soon as the little octopus was fully revived, it tried to kill Lin Tian, fighting him with its life, but Lin Tian merely snapped his fingers lightly, and the little octopus instantly began to convulse on the spot.

"Little guy, since this Seat chose to save you, how could I not leave a backup plan?

My blood contains neurotoxins, and now they have all fused into your body. With a single thought, I can take your life at any time.

Little one, be a good pet for me."

Lin Tian felt that being alone was too boring, and taking in a Sea Soul Beast as a pet sounded quite nice.

Seeing that it was powerless to resist, and coupled with its body trembling, the little octopus's eyes held only fear for Lin Tian.

It wasn't until Lin Tian released his control that it slowly recovered.

Although he still loathed Lin Tian, the Octopus possessed high intelligence, especially as a century-old Sea Soul Beast; it knew that opposing Lin Tian would bring no benefits, so it slowly calmed down, fixed its round eyes firmly upon him, and then took the initiative to wrap its tentacles around Lin Tian's body, following by his side.

The little fellow was very good at reading the room, as the area was filled with Blood Sea Monster, and even after experiencing a war, there were still millions of them.

At this moment, only the Sea Soul Beast before him, which could blend in among the blood monsters, could save its life, so it decisively chose to acknowledge him as its master.

Lin Tian tucked it between his own tentacles and continued to follow the group with it in tow.

Several days later, amidst the long drift, he finally followed the clan to a vast area of underwater caves.