The Demon Dragon Envoy's piercing wails shook Yi Chen's eardrums until they ached. His soul felt as though hundreds of millions of steel needles had pierced it, and the excruciating pain made him faint. Then countless ferocious suction forces surged from within him, drawing what little remained of the envoy's ruined body into his own.
The Demon Dragon Envoy's remains instantly merged into Yi Chen's Dantian. A dim crystal slowly floated within it, a thin layer of blood-red light flickering over its surface. A faint wisp of purple qi swam around the crystal. Gradually, it grew thicker and denser, taking the shape of a little snake coiled around the crystal. Slowly, the little snake actually came alive and began tumbling inside the crystal.
A barely audible gurgle came from within the crystal. Yi Chen's soul slowly broke free of his body and slipped soundlessly into the crystal like a phantom. His divine sense roamed through it, searching for the new consciousness that had just appeared-the remnant soul left by the Demon Dragon Envoy. It was now locked in a tangled, vicious struggle with the little snake inside the crystal, but the envoy clearly held the upper hand.
Yi Chen frowned. Although his body had returned to normal, he felt a trace of exhaustion. The piece of Demon Dragon Relic he had just swallowed was no nourishing tonic. To Yi Chen as he was now, the immense vital energy contained within it was nothing short of deadly poison. He had barely refined a tiny portion before he began to feel unable to bear the strain.
Yi Chen sighed. "Do I really have to rely on devouring others to improve my strength? Still, there doesn't seem to be any other way. In any case, I'm still young..."
The thought had barely formed