Chapter Thirty-Two: Devouring

The roaring flames surged like waves, advancing in all directions. Along their path, everything dimmed, until at last, when they reached Su Yi, their power faltered and could go no further. The searing heat gradually vanished, and snowflakes began to dance anew across the sky.

The lingering warmth and fire still struggled, contesting territory with the falling snowflakes, each vying for dominance. Yet ultimately, the fire without source was no match for the endless snowfall. Massive blocks of ice began to form, and even some flames, still flickering, were frozen into lifelike sculptures of ice.

Gazing coldly at this world of snow and ice, the corners of Su Yi’s lips curled into an eerie, sinister smile.

“…This is the first one…”

Gone from Su Yi’s eyes was any trace of innocence; in its place gleamed a ruthless, venomous glare. “Those old bastards surely never expected that I would survive. Heh heh… Once I recover my full strength… I will make them—”

A hoarse, low voice rasped from Su Yi’s throat. “All the men, I’ll chop into mincemeat… All the women, their powers will be stripped, they’ll be turned into slaves, kept like animals in pens…”

Su Yi let out a few deep laughs, inspecting his body, and the corner of his mouth twisted into an uncanny, sinister grin. “Luckily I found this body at the time, or else after wandering as a soul for nearly two years, I would have dissipated for sure. But I didn’t expect to awaken so soon—could there be something unusual about this body?”

He closed his eyes slightly, and a powerful force erupted, enveloping Su Yi in an instant.

Harnessing his terrifying soul power, Su Yi probed carefully into this body. After only a short while, his brows knitted. “No energy vortex? Has this kid not become a Combatant yet?! Hmm, no… I remember when I entered his body, my consciousness was weak and I quickly fell asleep, but my intuition wasn’t wrong…”

“He should have… the strength of a tenth-level Combatant. Though severely injured, it shouldn’t have reduced a peak Combatant to this state… Did something else happen after I slept? Wait, I recall there was a girl beside him at that time…”

Su Yi chuckled darkly, his voice gloomy—uncertain if in anger or amusement. “Could it be his energy vortex was destroyed? Heh… That’s truly unlucky…”

His soul power delved further, sweeping every inch of Su Yi’s body again and again.

Suddenly, Su Yi’s eyes flew open, a trace of astonishment piercing his sinister tone. “Hmm? This power… is quite strong! Pills… no, it doesn’t seem like that. If it were a pill, it wouldn’t have such rich natural aura, no trace of artificiality.”

“Could it be a celestial herb?” Strange light flickered in Su Yi’s eyes as he examined the power, muttering to himself, “The aura is natural, the color is red, the location is within the muscles and bones throughout the body… What could it be?”

Suddenly his soul shivered, and Su Yi discovered a portion of his power was being gently drawn into the body. His formerly cold and detached expression became animated. “Could it be…”

…

Inside a small cottage.

Two figures stood motionless. One was tightly wrapped in a black robe, revealing the face of an old man. The other was a youth with delicate features, though an unsettling aura lingered about him—especially as both kept their eyes closed.

All at once, the old man’s body trembled violently, then fell silent. After a moment, the youth’s eyelids twitched, and his eyes opened.

The youth stretched slightly, glanced at the old man’s ashen face nearby, and a sinister smile crossed his lips. The eerie expression was at odds with his youthful features—the body now possessed by Su Yi’s evil soul.

“So this kid really does have some treasures…”

Su Yi turned his gaze to the old man, a flash of violence erupting in his sinister eyes. Raising his hand, he conjured a spear of battle energy that pierced through the lifeless body of the mysterious elder. With a blast, a large bloody hole appeared in the elder’s chest.

His body collapsed with a crash, his head striking the ground with a thud—a once-mighty figure fallen to such a miserable, humiliating end.

Su Yi sneered and stepped forward, grasping the corpse and pressing his right hand against the old man’s abdomen. Staring at the deathly, twisted face, he spoke in a chilling voice, “Old fool, you think this is the end? Even in death, you must leave me something good!”

With the final syllable, Su Yi’s right hand suddenly emitted a cloud of black mist. No, not exactly—rather, the corpse’s abdomen gave off black mist blocked by Su Yi’s hand, which leaked out through his fingers.

The black mist thickened and intensified, soon enveloping his entire right hand. Several tendrils of black vapor emerged, winding up his arm like intertwining serpents.

These wisps of black mist twisted and struggled, at times pausing as if trying desperately to break free, writhing ever upward.

Like living creatures, they wriggled up the forearm, past the elbow, finally reaching the shoulder, enveloping Su Yi’s entire right arm. His face grew pale.

Steeling himself, Su Yi’s eyes narrowed, he gritted his teeth, and his battle energy surged to its peak. The snake-like black mist began to drift into the air, bending and shivering, ultimately gathering at a point before him.

That point slowly expanded, absorbing the thin black mist from all directions like a spider’s web, and gradually formed a black orb the size of an eyeball.

The orb was utterly dark, radiating a chilling luster as though it might drip ink at any moment. Su Yi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he gazed at it, his sinister, hoarse laughter echoing through the cottage. “Heh heh! No wonder the rare and difficult Dark Combat Technique is so infamous—it’s so laborious to extract battle energy from a dead man!”

This mysterious elder, after a battle in the illusion realm, had self-destructed his soul. It had long since vanished, yet his soulless body had not immediately lost all vitality, and the battle energy in his energy vortex hadn’t instantly disappeared.

In fact, regardless of how powerful a cultivator becomes, if nothing else intervenes, after death their battle energy gradually dissipates, returning to the world, to be absorbed anew by other cultivators. In a sense, this is the natural cycle and conservation of worldly energy.

“Though what I’ve extracted isn’t ideal, it’s close to a Battle King’s energy. Better than nothing.”

Su Yi stared at the orb, and the black mist on his right hand had already vanished without a trace. He spread both hands, enveloping it from a distance. Soon, the space rippled, and around the orb appeared an energy shield shaped like a pyramid.

The shield rotated irregularly, mysterious runes flickering in and out of view, finally settling into a subtle alignment. Su Yi’s lips moved in silent incantation, and his hands slowly closed together.

The pyramid-shaped shield, as if pressed by invisible force, distorted with a ripple, then shrank until it was tightly wrapped around the black orb.

Finishing this, Su Yi exhaled, his gloomy expression relaxing slightly. He glanced at the now diminutive shield, formed a strange seal with his left hand, and grasped the air with his right. Drawn by power, the shield slowly approached his chest, and ultimately merged into his body.

“Without formidable soul strength, this seal cannot be broken.”

Su Yi muttered, his tone uncertain between pride and satisfaction. He looked at the shriveled corpse, drained of energy, and his brows furrowed.

A body of such a strong cultivator had endured countless temperings. Though not as potent as those specializing in body refinement, it had transformed greatly from the initial stages of battle energy cultivation.

This kind of body still had its uses. Some ancient texts even hinted at the value of powerful remains.

“The old man’s bones… might actually be useful…” Su Yi mused, recalling records of secret techniques. After a while, he impatiently shook his head, letting out a night-owl-like laugh.

“Heh heh! Who cares? There’ll be plenty to kill in the future, one skeleton more or less is nothing… But first, let’s test the Combat Technique I created after years of effort—Devour Essence! Heh heh heh…”

With a few vicious laughs, Su Yi’s sinister gaze flashed, and an ink-black mist shot from his hand, instantly enveloping the elder’s corpse. Before long, the body began to corrode at a speed visible to the eye, accompanied by a series of hissing sounds.

After an indeterminate time, the chilling noise faded. The black mist, finding no prey, churned a few times, then dispersed, leaving behind only a pile of bones.

“Luckily the old man had little battle energy left, otherwise it wouldn’t have been so easy to dissolve him with my corrosive energy. Heh, the bodies of strong cultivators are quite robust—even after death, they’re carefully preserved and hidden, hard to come by… Is it a waste?…”

Gazing at the exposed bones, Su Yi growled, “If my Devour Essence hadn’t been incomplete at the time, how could you and those damned fools have killed me?… Fortunately, I had years of soul cultivation and secret techniques, barely escaping disaster… Heh heh heh, one day, those beast-hearted fools will know the name of this bloody demon lord is not mere rumor!”

Spurred by anger, Su Yi raised his hand and blasted the pile of bones with a ray of black light, shattering them. But after some thought, he stayed his hand. The energy he released was not only corrosive—it also contained Devour Essence!

That black orb had condensed from the power he'd absorbed with Devour Essence. Now, having cleared the obstacles with corrosion, Su Yi’s sinister expression revealed his intent to devour the energy within the bones.

Just then, wisps of white vapor drifted from the shattered bones. Su Yi’s eyes gleamed, and he laughed, then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The white vapor, drawn by unseen force, floated toward Su Yi and entered his body through his nostrils.

As the last of the vapor was absorbed, Su Yi relaxed, even letting out a satisfied sigh before opening his eyes and murmuring, “The taste is exquisite… far better than before…”

Clearly, this was not his first time.

For a while, the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie, silent except for an unsettling stillness. Amidst it, the pile of bones rustled, then crumbled to dust and vanished.

Once a mighty figure, now truly reduced to nothing but ashes.

Su Yi, now at ease, found the sinister aura around him much diminished. Scanning the room, he spotted the storage ring that had previously adorned the elder’s finger. “Hmm, still here… Looks like a good item. I’ve used up quite a bit of energy with all those techniques—feeling a bit weak… The treasures inside will make good interest…”

With a slight motion, the ring flew into Su Yi’s hand. A burst of soul power shattered its imprint in an instant.

“Hmph, let’s see what treasures the old fool has. But… that mask is odd… Ah, not good!… Kid, you actually—”

“Not dead!!”

(Requesting flowers! Requesting bookmarks!)

Martial Peak 32_Chapter Thirty-Two Devour Essence complete!