War Does Not Belong to Me

The Sangbo Priest was dead.

What comforted it was that, before dying, it had managed to understand part of why Zhuang Hong had kidnapped it.

So its final thought in life was, "Ah~ He looks really hungry."

After draining the Sangbo Priest as quickly as possible, Zhuang Hong felt immense satisfaction.

It was as though a gentle light had burst forth from every corner of his body, elevating him from flesh to soul.

It was as though some invisible flaw within him had been filled, making him more whole and complete.

It was also as though a wanderer had returned to the embrace of his homeland, fully merging with nature and finally able to roam freely between heaven and earth.

The feeling was incredible.

Zhuang Hong had almost thought he'd climaxed!

Unfortunately, the sensation came quickly and vanished just as fast, fading away completely in no time.

He immediately sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, waiting for the changes that would follow. Whether he could awaken a new ability depended on what came next.

Feeling good was not his goal. Power was.

"Bzzzt~"

After waiting for a moment, Zhuang Hong seemed to hear a hum. Then his entire body grew feverish as source power began continuously generating from every corner of his body and gathering in the Source Power Orb within his abdomen, causing it to slowly grow larger and stronger.

It was not just source power. The Space Essence hidden within every cell also began to stir before gradually strengthening.

This sensation of growing stronger was even more intense than devouring Void Spirits.

After the Sangbo Priest's flesh and blood merged into his body, some miraculous reaction seemed to occur. With a buzz, a special ripple imperceptible to ordinary people spread from Zhuang Hong's body.

Under that ripple, a special substance formed in every corner of his body. Zhuang Hong could not describe how it felt. It seemed to exist and not exist at once, invisible and intangible, yet he vaguely knew it was truly there.

After the special substance was born, it split into three parts. One became pure source power and merged into the azure Source Power Orb.

One transformed into Space Essence, enhancing his ability to travel through space.

The final part turned into a viscous liquid that spread through his flesh and blood before vanishing in the blink of an eye. Even Zhuang Hong could not find the slightest trace of it.

As for what that viscous liquid was, Zhuang Hong had no idea. He simply gave it a name: Spirit Essence.

He suspected that this invisible, intangible Spirit Essence might be the real culprit behind what attracted Void Spirits.

Spirit Essence was likely extremely important to Void Spirits, but they could not obtain it by devouring their Other Selves from different dimensions as the aberrant insects could. Therefore, if they wanted to strengthen their Spirit Essence, they could only devour aberrant insects capable of producing it themselves.

If he could locate the Spirit Essence inside his body, perhaps he could find a way to block that inexplicable attraction.

The changes in Zhuang Hong's body continued. After a while, it felt as though his body had broken through some kind of bottleneck, and he vaguely heard a crack.

"A new ability!"

Zhuang Hong was ecstatic. Over the past two or three years, he had devoured quite a few Other Selves in other dimensions, yet only a very few had allowed him to awaken new abilities. The odds were not even one in ten.

He had not expected devouring a troll this time to bring such a gain.

So what ability would it be?

At that moment, Zhuang Hong felt exactly like someone drawing prizes in a Penguin game—expectant, nervous, and a little lacking in confidence.

After a while, an inexplicable feeling arose in his heart. His new ability was...

"Cold Resistance!"

Zhuang Hong: "..."

Damn it, it was even an active ability!

Shouldn't this kind of trash ability be passive?

What a letdown!

After looking forward to it for so long, he had awakened such a garbage ability. It was utterly disappointing.

No matter how resistant to cold he was, it would not help him sleep well, would it?

Zhuang Hong felt somewhat disappointed.

Still, he wanted to test its effects.

A thread of source power rose from his abdomen and spread across every part of his body's surface in the blink of an eye, making Zhuang Hong feel a trace of warmth.

Then there was no further reaction.

"As expected, it only grants resistance to cold. It's an innate trait of the troll race."

"Looks like I'm really not some lucky chosen one. If I want to achieve ultimate victory, I'll have to work hard with my feet on the ground. Still, I should be content. Awakening an ability is already pretty good..."

"Good my ass!"

Zhuang Hong did his best to console himself. Only after the changes in his body had fully settled did he rise and mutter, "The road ahead is long, and Qi Xiu is far away~ My heart is freezing!"

He then turned his attention to his body.

The Source Power Orb in Zhuang Hong's abdomen had already expanded by a full circle. From being the size of a fingertip, it was now slightly larger than a quail egg, and its color had deepened a shade as well.

It once again gave Zhuang Hong the illusion that he could shatter heaven and earth with a single punch.

Of course, that was only an illusion brought about by his sudden increase in strength. Once he gradually adapted to his current changes, he would surely realize that he was still very weak.

The aura around the strengthened Zhuang Hong had changed greatly. The one most sensitive to that change was Xiao Bai, who had been following by his side.

It stared at Zhuang Hong, green light glowing in its eyes as drool once again trickled helplessly from the corners of its mouth.

It had drooled plenty during this time, but sadly had not gotten a single bite. Even when Zhuang Hong let it bite him, it could not bite through him.

When Zhuang Hong stood up, Xiao Bai finally could not endure any longer. It launched itself forward with a White Dragon Assault and bit down on Zhuang Hong's foot.

Zhuang Hong kicked it flying. "Still thinking about eating me? Believe it or not, I'll boil you later."

"Woo woo woo~"

Xiao Bai let out a miserable cry, climbed to its feet, and began scratching itself in circles as though nothing was wrong. Its eyes secretly watched Zhuang Hong's movements. Seeing that Zhuang Hong was no longer paying attention to it, it wagged its tail and slowly crept closer again.

After casually burying the Sangbo Priest's empty husk, Zhuang Hong gazed toward the distant battlefield.

The brutal sounds of battle could still be faintly heard from here, but they no longer came from the entrance to Cross Gorge. They had shifted elsewhere, clearly because the fighters had been battling as they retreated.

"I wonder how the war is going over there."

He had successfully devoured his Other Self in this world and gained greater strength. He was deeply grateful for this world's gift.

Therefore, if it was convenient, he did not mind helping this world's humans win the war. Though the one who had gifted him was a troll...

After considering it, Zhuang Hong headed straight for the battlefield.

Soon, he stood atop a small hill and looked down over the entire battlefield.

The sight before him was a complete mess. Armor and weapons lay scattered everywhere, while corpses nearly blanketed the ground—human corpses and troll corpses alike.

The blood flowing from their bodies mixed together, running freely before congealing, never to be separated again.

Many human soldiers were still shouting on the battlefield as they fought shoulder to shoulder to eliminate the few remaining trolls.

Their cries revealed how exhausted they were, but also how desperately they yearned for victory.

That very desire became a constant source of strength, allowing them to drag their weary bodies forward and charge at the trolls again and again.

The surviving trolls still resisted fiercely, but they could no longer change their fate of total annihilation.

The war was nearing its end, and victory ultimately belonged to humanity.

Seeing this, Zhuang Hong could not help smiling. "Just as I expected, whether I was here or not made little difference. This war belongs to the humans of this world, not to me."

Of course, he admitted that casually killing the troll Ge Mu had helped this war a little, but he did not believe its victory was his achievement.

He believed that whether or not he had acted, the final victory would have belonged to humanity. The only difference was that humanity had suffered fewer losses in this war against the trolls.

Zhuang Hong could not say whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

After all, for humans, wars would never be scarce whether there were external enemies or not. When it came to infighting, humans were experts. They might even be more brutal than when hunting trolls...

After watching for a while, Zhuang Hong turned and silently left, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

The war was essentially over, so there was no need for him to join the fighting.

His main purpose in coming to this world had basically been accomplished, but Zhuang Hong did not intend to leave just yet.

Aside from Other Selves, this world also possessed a special Martial Dao Cultivation technique. This cultivation technique could effectively unlock the power accumulated within his body, making it immensely useful.

If he could fully learn it, perhaps he could gain even greater combat strength.

And power was what he would rely on as he roamed different dimensions in the future.