The Abyss air tasted of iron and fear.
Ten blood-shadow clones ringed the search party like wolves around a wounded deer.
Liu Ruyan's sword trembled in her grip, its jade glow flickering against the crimson mist curling from Chu Yao's skin.
"Ruyan," the real Chu Yao whispered, breath hot against her ear.
His claw hovered at her throat, a single drop of blood welling where the tip kissed jade-white skin.
She froze.
The other nine clones vanished—popping like soap bubbles.
Illusion.
"Senior… Brother Chu?" Her voice cracked.
"Don't." His laugh was low, animal. "That name died with the old me."
He pressed harder.
The claw sank a hair's breadth.
Not enough to kill.
Enough to brand.
Black runes spider-webbed from the wound, burrowing into her meridians like parasitic roots.
Liu Ruyan gasped, sword clattering to the stone.
[Devour Mark applied: 7 days until host's cultivation is fully consumed.]
[Failure condition: Death. Success condition: Deliver Sect Master Huo's head.]
The system's voice was cold, clinical.
Chu Yao savored it.
"Seven days," he said aloud. "Bring me Huo Tian's head, or your Core Formation realm becomes my breakfast."
Liu Ruyan's knees buckled.
The other disciples—three Foundation Stage lackeys—finally reacted.
"Demon! Release Senior Sister!"
Flying swords screamed toward Chu Yao.
He didn't move.
Whoosh.
A blood shadow intercepted each blade, shattering them into red mist.
The disciples screamed as their weapons turned on them, slicing open their own throats.
Three corpses.
Three pulses of Qi flooding into Chu Yao's dantian.
[Devoured x3 Foundation Stage cultivators.]
[Bloodline Evolution: Stage 4 → Stage 5]
[New Ability: Blood Puppet – control corpses for 1 hour.]
The bodies twitched.
Rose.
Eyes blank, mouths slack.
Liu Ruyan watched in horror as her dead juniors bowed to Chu Yao.
"Escort your Senior Sister back," he commanded the puppets. "Anyone stops her—kill them."
The corpses grabbed her arms.
She didn't resist.
At the Abyss gate, Chu Yao called out:
"Oh, and Ruyan?"
She turned, face pale as moonlit bone.
"Tell the sect I'm coming for everyone who clapped when they fed me to the beast."
The gate slammed shut behind her.
Three hours later – Outer Sect, Dawn
Chu Yao walked the mountain path in stolen robes—gray outer disciple garb, two sizes too big.
The Devour Mark pulsed in his mind like a second heartbeat.
Six days, 23 hours remaining.
He needed a base.
A lab.
Somewhere to digest.
The outer sect's Spirit Beast Pavilion sat abandoned after a demon outbreak last year.
Perfect.
Inside, cages rattled with low-level beasts—Iron-Back Lizards, Flame-Tail Foxes.
Chu Yao's stomach growled.
[Detecting 47 devourable targets. Proceed?]
He grinned.
"Proceed."
Mass Devouring Sequence
The pavilion became a slaughterhouse.
Iron-Back Lizard (Qi Condensation 7) → +12 Devour Points
Flame-Tail Fox (Qi Condensation 9) → +18 Devour Points
Mutant Two-Headed Wolf (Foundation 1) → +50 Devour Points, [Trait: Dual Mind – split consciousness]
[Total Devour Points: 1,237]
[Evolution Threshold Met: Stage 5 → Stage 6]
[Unlocking Bloodline Skill Tree…]
A crimson hologram bloomed in his vision:
Chu Yao dumped 500 points into Beast Fusion.
His spine cracked.
Bones elongated.
Skin sprouted crimson scales.
ROAR.
The pavilion's roof exploded as a fifteen-foot Crimson Calamity Wolf burst out, twin heads snarling at the dawn sky.
Outer disciples gathering for morning drills froze.
"What the hell—?!"
"Sound the alarm! Demon beast in the sect!"
Chu Yao's wolf heads grinned.
Time to send a message.
Outer Sect Arena – 7:00 AM
The morning sparring matches were in full swing.
Genius disciple Zhao Kuang—Foundation Stage 4, known as "Thunder Fist"—was crushing opponents left and right.
Then the arena gates shattered.
A monstrous wolf padded in, dripping blood.
Disciples screamed and fled.
Zhao Kuang leaped forward, fists crackling with lightning.
"Filthy beast! I'll—"
Crunch.
One wolf head swallowed him whole.
[Devoured: Zhao Kuang (Foundation Stage 4)]
[Bloodline Evolution: Stage 6 → Stage 7]
[New Ability: Thunder Devour – absorb elemental attacks]
The wolf's fur sparked with stolen lightning.
It howled—and the sound carried Chu Yao's human voice:
"Tell Elder Mo: the trash he fed to the Abyss is full now."
Then it vanished into red mist, leaving only Zhao Kuang's smoking boots.
Sect Master Peak – Emergency Meeting
Sect Master Huo Tian slammed his fist on the jade table.
Cracks spider-webbed across it.
"Chu Yao lives?!"
Liu Ruyan knelt before the elders, face hidden by hair.
The Devour Mark throbbed under her collarbone, hidden by robes.
"He… devoured the Crimson Fang Beast," she whispered. "And three inner disciples. He gave me this."
She rolled up her sleeve.
The black brand pulsed like a living thing.
Elder Mo paled.
"That's a Soul-Devouring Curse! Ancient demon arts!"
Huo Tian's eyes narrowed.
"Seven days. We activate the Heavenly Net Array. Flood the outer sect with Core Formation enforcers. Find him. Burn him. Scatter the ashes.