[You devoured the flesh and blood of a Tier 6 Ferocious Beast—the Earth Scale Python...]
[Skill "Efficient Absorption" proficiency +100!]
[Skill "Qi Nurturing Foundation Art" proficiency +100!]
[Ding! The skill "Qi Nurturing Foundation Art" has reached maximum proficiency. Your foundation is perfected, and your energy has become one with itself. Automatically advancing to—Hundred Bones Body Forging Technique (Beginner)!]
[Ding! The skill "Efficient Absorption" has reached maximum proficiency. You have begun to glimpse the path of devouring. Automatically advancing to—Refining All Things (Beginner)!]
[Hundred Bones Body Forging Technique]: A superior body-tempering technique that begins with the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones, working from the outside in to reach the internal organs.
[Refining All Things]: Your means of obtaining energy will no longer be limited to food. You can refine all things in the world around you, and your energy conversion and absorption efficiency will increase by 100%!
The system notifications rang in his mind like a rapid drumbeat, marking a qualitative leap in his two core skills!
While Chen Yan devoured everything inside its belly, triggering his own breakthrough...
Outside, the Earth Scale Python was experiencing the most painful and desperate moment of its life.
Its massive body convulsed violently as its organs were torn apart and its core blood essence forcibly drained.
The vigorous life force it had once prided itself on had now become a slow, agonizing torment.
It could clearly sense that tiny yet terrifying presence...
Deep within its most vulnerable insides, nibbling away at its very essence, bit by bit!
It tried to summon its blood and qi to attack, to crush him.
But its blood and qi were already flowing backward, and its energy was in disarray.
It couldn't muster an effective counterattack.
Its frenzied hissing gradually faded into feeble, mournful whimpers. The ferocity and killing intent in its vertical pupils gave way to overwhelming pain and the bewilderment of a flickering spirit about to go out.
It had ruled these ruins, fought through a night of bloodshed, and devoured countless opponents. It had been only one step away from the even stronger Tier 6 realm...
Filled with endless resentment and deep regret at never having reached a higher level, the Earth Scale Python's life flame went out completely.
Its massive, uncontrollable body finally stopped convulsing and slumped rigidly onto the ruins.
As all signs of life disappeared, the enormous amount of ownerless blood and qi remaining inside it lost its cohesion...
It began to dissipate rapidly into the surrounding air, vanishing without a trace as though it had never existed.
Meanwhile, inside the remains of the snake's belly, Chen Yan finally stopped devouring.
He rubbed his aching jaw and couldn't help grumbling:
"This snake meat... is way too chewy."
Despite the complaint, he was filled with delight.
The Earth Scale Python's flesh was not only tough; the energy it contained was pure and abundant, far beyond anything he had absorbed before.
The [Refining All Things] skill was already showing its power!
It efficiently transformed the pure blood and qi, along with the essence of life, into nourishment for his growth.
"If I could eat ferocious beasts of this level every day..." Chen Yan glanced at the ample "food stores" around him, a fiery gleam in his eyes. "Then I could advance even faster—no, several times faster!"
[Host's cultivation has reached Amateur Rank Nine! Beginning breakthrough through the second blood-and-qi barrier!]
"What? Wait..."
Chen Yan hadn't even had time to properly experience his new skills and surging power when an even more violent change struck!
He felt the blood and qi throughout his body boil like water, surging wildly, compressing, and transforming beyond his control!
Every pore on his body sealed shut.
His immense blood and qi, combined with the Earth Scale Python's essence—which he had only just absorbed and hadn't yet fully refined—and the newly formed tempering power, burst out of him!
In an instant, they coalesced outside his body into an intensely crimson cocoon, so thick it seemed almost solid!
The cocoon looked soft, yet it was incredibly tough. It completely enveloped Chen Yan's clone, sealing it off from the outside world.
He couldn't even send out a single thought. In an instant, he lost all consciousness and sank into the deepest state of transformation.
Meanwhile, in Jiang City, at Mechanism Kindergarten.
"Oh no!"
Chen Xiaoyan was in art class, carefully scribbling with crayons, when the little hand holding his crayon suddenly froze.
His small body jerked violently without warning. Then his eyes closed.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, he slid straight off his little chair and fell limp to the floor with a thump, completely unconscious.
Yu Qingmeng, sitting beside him, was the first to notice.
At first, the little girl blinked her big eyes, thinking Xiao Yan was playing some new, amusing prank to tease her.
She reached out and poked Chen Yan's soft cheek with one finger, calling to him in a small voice:
"Brother Xiao Yan? Get up. The floor's cold."
There was no response.
She pushed him harder. "Brother Xiao Yan? Stop sleeping!"
Chen Xiaoyan still didn't move, and his breathing was so faint she could barely detect it.
Only then did Yu Qingmeng truly panic. The lively color vanished from her delicate face, leaving it frighteningly pale.
In this high-martial world, children had encountered concepts like "death" in books and on television long ago. But those were distant words and images; they had never come close to anything that could happen to them.
Now that she had seen it happen right in front of her, the little girl lost all composure. Her heart pounded wildly.
She shot up from her seat, her voice thick with tears as she screamed toward the classroom door:
"Teacher Li! Teacher Li! Something's wrong!"
"Xiao Yan... Xiao Yan fainted! He won't wake up no matter how much I call him!"
The other children had already been drawn by the commotion. At her words, they all jumped in fright and craned their necks to look.
A few timid children were affected by Yu Qingmeng's panicked, tearful expression. Their eyes reddened, and they began sobbing, too.
In the crowd, Zichen peeked out, his gaze fixed on Yu Qingmeng. For a moment, he was completely entranced.
How could Little Meng look so pretty even when she was crying?
Teacher Li had been leisurely filling a cup with water in the office, getting ready to make tea.
The moment she heard the frightened shout, her heart lurched.
Her hand shook, and the hot water she had just poured splashed out. It soaked her blouse, but she barely noticed.
She dropped the cup and rushed into the classroom. When she saw Chen Yan lying motionless on the floor, her mind went blank, and cold sweat instantly broke out!
Every child here came from an extraordinary background. They were either rich or powerful!
If anything happened to one of them while in her care, she wouldn't just lose this well-paid job—she might even face legal consequences!
She forced herself to stay calm and quickly recalled...
Du Qionghua had clearly said when enrolling Chen Yan that he was healthy and had no history of congenital illness!
"Get the school doctor! Hurry!"
She called to the childcare workers hurrying over at the commotion, then shakily pulled out her communicator and immediately called Du Qionghua.
"Hello, is this Teacher Li from the kindergarten? What's wrong?"
As soon as the call connected, Teacher Li's voice came out, barely concealing her panic:
"Hello... Are you... Chen Yan's mother?"
"Please, don't panic. Just listen... Xiao Yan... he suddenly fainted at the kindergarten..."
Before you continue