The storm did not stop.
It spiraled.
Black wind twisted around Spirit Cliff like a living dragon. Lightning struck again and again—but none of it touched Lin Kai.
Every bolt bent toward him.
No—
It was being pulled.
Lin Kai's body trembled violently as the black bead fused into his chest. His meridians shattered into fragments of light, only to rebuild themselves darker, thicker, stronger.
Pain beyond pain.
He felt as if molten iron flowed through his veins.
"Do not resist," the ancient voice echoed in his mind.
"Devour."
Lin Kai gritted his teeth.
"Devour… what?"
The answer came instantly.
"Everything."
The vortex around him expanded.
Spiritual Qi from the mountain surged toward him uncontrollably. Grass withered. Small spirit herbs aged decades in seconds. Even the mist in the air thinned.
Inside his dantian, something impossible was happening.
His cracked spirit root—
Shattered completely.
Lin Kai's breath stopped.
For a split second, he felt empty.
Powerless.
Then—
From the fragments, a black vortex formed.
Not a root.
Not a meridian.
But a spinning abyss.
It swallowed the surrounding Qi like a star collapsing into itself.
Lin Kai's cultivation began rising.
Qi Refining Stage 1…
The energy surged violently.
Stage 2.
His bones cracked as impurities were forced out through his skin.
Stage 3.
Blood seeped from his lips.
Stage 4.
The storm above Spirit Cliff collapsed inward with a thunderous roar.
Far below, disciples ran out of their rooms.
"What's happening?!"
"Is that tribulation lightning?!"
An Elder shot into the sky on a flying sword, staring at the dark vortex.
"That's not heavenly tribulation…"
His face paled.
"That's absorption."
On the cliff—
Lin Kai's eyes snapped open.
They were no longer ordinary.
A faint ring of black energy circled his pupils.
Qi Refining Stage 5.
In a single night.
Impossible.
Unheard of.
His body finally stabilized. The vortex in his dantian spun quietly, but he could feel it—
Hungry.
Endlessly hungry.
He clenched his fist.
The air in front of him twisted slightly.
He could feel the spiritual energy in everything now.
In the stones.
In the wind.
In the insects crawling beneath the soil.
And if he focused…
He could take it.
A small spirit herb near his knee shimmered faintly.
Lin Kai hesitated.
Then he placed his hand over it.
The black vortex inside him spun faster.
The herb shriveled instantly.
A warm current flowed into his dantian.
Refined.
Purified.
Strengthened.
No impurities.
No bottleneck.
No resistance.
His breathing grew heavy.
"This… is devouring."
The bead's voice responded calmly.
"You do not cultivate."
"You consume."
Footsteps suddenly echoed behind him.
"Lin Kai!"
He turned.
Zhao Feng.
Inner disciple. Qi Refining Stage 6. One of the loudest voices mocking him earlier that day.
Zhao Feng looked furious.
"I knew it! You stole the sect's spirit energy! The Elders felt the disturbance!"
Lin Kai stood slowly.
He could sense Zhao Feng's Qi clearly now.
Bright.
Strong.
And full of energy.
Full of something he could devour.
For a moment—
A dangerous thought crossed his mind.
The vortex in his dantian pulsed eagerly.
Zhao Feng sneered.
"What? Cat got your tongue, trash?"
Lin Kai lifted his head.
The humiliation of three years burned in his chest.
But this time—
He did not lower his gaze.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
"I was just thinking…"
The air around him grew colder.
"…how much stronger I would become if I devoured you."
Zhao Feng froze.
"What did you say?"
Lin Kai stepped forward.
Qi Refining Stage 5 energy burst outward—
But it felt heavier.
Denser.
More oppressive.
Zhao Feng's expression changed.
"That pressure—"
Lin Kai's black-ringed eyes locked onto him.
The vortex inside him began to spin.
Hungry.
Very hungry.
And for the first time—
Lin Kai did not feel weak.