Sword Douluo

"Devour," as the name implies, means to swallow and absorb. Its core lies in "inclusivity," taking a target into oneself to be transformed and utilized.

In most novels, skills named "Devour" are essentially ways to convert life force or other energy and matter into one's own power through forced absorption.

However, the "Devour" that Xu Bai obtained is different; the source of his devouring is his Beast Taming Space Martial Soul, and the targets are various substances from the outside world.

Furthermore, when he activates this "Devour" skill, it consumes mental power rather than soul power.

This is why, for Xu Bai, the "happy troubles" he faced after obtaining this skill have turned into pure happiness.

Relying on his current mental power, which is equivalent to that of a weak Soul King, he can easily devour a mountain dozens of meters high in a short time when pushing the skill to its limit.

Although there is still a long way to go to perfect the vast area of his Beast Taming Space, it is no longer an unreachable goal.

The only problem is that by the time the Beast Taming Space grows to its later stages, its area might be even larger than the Douluo Planet, making the required external matter a concern.

Perhaps he will have to set his sights on outer space when that time comes; otherwise, he can't exactly devour the entire Douluo Planet...

At this thought, Xu Bai shook his head slightly. Those matters were too far off for him now; it was better to take things one step at a time.

For instance, his current task was to go out and record Soul Beasts, then use his Soul Emperor-level mental power to devour a few barren hills in the Sunset Forest to temporarily complete the expansion of his Beast Taming Space.

"Let's go, Diyi."

Xu Bai turned and beckoned, about to retract Diyi into his Beast Taming Space. However, as his gaze swept across the cave entrance, his movements came to an abrupt halt. His raised hand froze in mid-air, and his expression became incredibly colorful.

Because within his line of sight, standing at the cave entrance not far away, was a person.

It was a handsome middle-aged man dressed in a simple cyan robe. His silver hair hung down to his waist, his posture was upright, his brows were cold and stern, and a sense of sword intent seemed to surround him.

Looking from afar, Xu Bai felt that what stood there was not a person, but a peerless treasure sword with its edge hidden in its sheath.

Xu Bai had a faint feeling that this man must be the legendary Sword Douluo.

However, he did not look like the snow-white-clad sword immortal from the comics; he looked more like the chivalrous hero from the anime.

I just dug up the ancestral grave of a Title Douluo, and now I've run into the man himself. What do I do? Waiting online, it's urgent...

Xu Bai felt like breaking down inside. Was the heavens playing a trick on him? The environment around these graves clearly showed no one had visited in years, so why did the Sword Douluo appear right after he finished his dirty work? Is this right...

He looked at Diyi, whose fur was standing on end. Its pupils had shrunk into vertical slits, and it stared vigilantly at the man who had suddenly appeared.

Yet, it remained very restrained, never daring to meet the handsome middle-aged man's eyes.

Seeing this, Xu Bai remained calm. With a thought, a formation appeared beneath Diyi's feet, followed by a flash of white light.

Before Diyi's shocked gaze, it was transformed into specks of flowing light and merged into the Soul Mark on his right hand.

The person opposite was most likely the legendary Sword Douluo. In front of a Super Douluo, Diyi would be of no use and might even lose its life for nothing.

Seeing Xu Bai retract Diyi, a look of surprise flashed in the handsome man's eyes before he spoke indifferently:

"Junior, how did you bypass the killing formation outside the valley and enter my Chen family's ancestral grounds?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over one of the empty graves, his eyes flickering slightly as he added, "And steal my great-grandfather's tombstone."

"Great-grandfather? It really is the Sword Douluo..."

Xu Bai first gasped, then realized the situation and froze. "Killing formation? What killing formation?"

Wasn't the entrance just a large cave with a dozen tunnels inside? Diyi pointed one out, and he just walked in. From start to finish, he hadn't seen any formation...

"Um, Senior, if I said I stumbled in here by accident, would you believe me?"

Xu Bai asked cautiously.

"You have good luck, kid."

The Sword Douluo nodded slightly and continued, "Now, explain why you stole my great-grandfather's tombstone."

Xu Bai fell silent. Could he avoid explaining?

"Not talking? Then die!"

The Sword Douluo's voice remained flat, but the killing intent permeating his body made it difficult for Xu Bai to even breathe in an instant.

He really wants to kill me...

This was the first thought that surfaced in Xu Bai's mind after feeling that tangible killing intent.

Before this, because he was a transmigrator, he had essentially maintained a mindset of playing through the world. It was less like living on the Douluo Continent and more like playing a single-player virtual game with high realism.

In his eyes, everyone else was just an NPC.

Otherwise, he would never have dared to take the risk to contract a Sword Spirit while knowing it was the Sword Douluo's ancestral grave.

Only at this moment did he suddenly realize that the Douluo Continent was a real world...

But this thought lasted only for an instant before being replaced by a second one—submission.

"Martial Soul! It's because of my Martial Soul!"

He spoke hurriedly, fearing that if he were a second late, the Sword Douluo's killing intent would crush him into dust.

"Tell me about it."

The Sword Douluo's lips curled into a faint arc. Of course, he knew it was because of the Martial Soul.

Because he had arrived while Xu Bai was wiping the "tombstones" for his ancestors.

At first, he found this boy and tiger duo quite amusing, especially since Xu Bai, a child of only about ten years old, was working so diligently and earnestly to wipe clean the "tombstones" of his elders.

After all, the last time he had come to this place was to bury his own father.

Because before his father passed away, he had told him that a swordsman must sever all worldly ties and remain focused, with no distractions.

Yet, in the end, he had failed to achieve that entirely; he hadn't severed his worldly ties, but he had certainly discarded some trivial formalities.

Had it not been for the formation's warning, he feared that, much like his elders, he would only return here when he was on the verge of death, leaving it to his own descendants to bury him in this very spot.

Initially, he found it amusing to watch Xu Bai wiping the "memorial tablets," then he was puzzled when Xu Bai revealed his Soul Mark to touch the "tombstones," and finally, he was deeply shocked.

To be honest, Sword Douluo was a dignified level-96 Super Douluo who had traversed the continent for decades; what grand spectacle had he not seen?

But apologies, he truly had never seen a spectacle like this before today.

First, the spontaneous condensation of a Soul Ring, then a Soul Venerable of only about ten years old, and finally, both the first and second Soul Rings being thousand-year Soul Rings.

If he hadn't perceived it with absolute clarity that there wasn't a shred of Soul Beast aura on Xu Bai, he would have almost thought his luck was heaven-defying today, having encountered a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast in human form.

Although it was a pity that it wasn't a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast in human form, wasn't it also a stroke of good fortune to encounter someone with such talent who, judging by the situation, didn't seem to be a disciple of the other two sects?

He had to find a way to get his hands on him...