Tang San nodded in satisfaction. He turned to Ma Hongjun, who was already rubbing his hands together impatiently.
Ma Hongjun's thoughts were far simpler than Dai Mubai's. He just wanted to grow stronger, to make a name for himself in the tournament, and to shut up all those who had once looked down on him. As for the price? He could not be bothered to think about it.
"Come with me."
Tang San turned and headed deeper into the back mountain. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun followed behind him, and the three figures soon vanished into the dense forest.
This dense forest outside Heaven Dou City was where Tang San had awakened his Devouring ability.
More than half a year ago, he had devoured the first wild blade of grass here, then drained every plant within several dozen zhang, leaving behind a scorched wasteland where not a single blade of grass grew.
Now, however, that scorched earth had been covered by new vegetation. Fresh shrubs had grown beside dead tree stumps, and tender green shoots blanketed the charred ground. Nature was repairing itself, but its rate of recovery was nowhere near as fast as Tang San's Devouring.
Tang San stood at the center of the forest and looked around.
He had come to this forest many times already. Every time, he devoured the life force of a vast swath of plants and low-level spirit beasts before moving elsewhere to continue. Over the past half year, he had devoured nearly one-fifth of the forests within a hundred li of Heaven Dou City.
The areas he had drained were still barren to this day, transformed into permanent deadlands. Nearby villagers believed a natural disaster had descended, and some had even begun burning incense and offering prayers, begging the mountain god to quell