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Chapter 359: Devouring the Blood Demon’s Essence
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 09:20:06 +0000 UTC"Oh? In the original timeline, the Shadow Demon didn’t even push you to that point?" Rhett was surprised. He thought to himself that Didara had been too incompetent; if he hadn’t intervened, they wouldn't have been able to defeat even a mere fragment of the Blood Demon.
"Timeline? What do you mean by 'original timeline'?" The blood-colored bat instantly became wary, curling into a tight ball.
At that moment, it finally realized just how extraordinary this human was. He was shrouded in a dense aura of mystery that it had never encountered while observing other Saints before.
"Oh, nothing important. If the Shadow Demon didn’t push you to use that essence artifact before, why didn’t you use it just now? Or... did something else happen?" Rhett asked curiously.
"The power sealed by the main body was exhausted over time…" the blood-colored bat fell silent for a moment before replying with deep resentment.
Just mentioning it made the blood-colored bat feel a profound sense of injustice. If the essence artifact it carried had lasted even a hundred more years, it wouldn't have fallen to such a miserable state, nearly obliterated by this human. It would have easily escaped by now!
"So, that essence artifact isn’t damaged? If it’s recharged, it can still be used?" Rhett’s eyes lit up with interest as he quickly asked.
The blood-colored bat responded darkly, "In theory, yes, but the feather you’re referring to is just a derivative of the essence artifact. It’s not the real thing. After a single use, it’s destroyed forever. And without the main body to infuse it with power, no one else can use it. Even if I gave it to you, it would be useless!"
"That’s fine. Let me take a look at it first." Rhett said with growing curiosity.
"Hmph, agree to work with me, and I’ll show it to you," the blood-colored bat insisted, sticking to its own agenda.
"Sigh…" Rhett looked at the bat, shaking his head with a sigh. "Since you refuse to see reason, don’t blame me for what happens next…"
"What are you planning?!" The blood-colored bat’s expression changed, and it stared warily at Rhett’s mental sea.
In the next moment, Rhett summoned an overwhelming force of mental energy, surging toward the blood-colored bat like a massive tidal wave towering thousands of meters high. It darkened the sky, crashing down with immense power!
If kindness didn’t work, Rhett would resort to force, compelling the bat to surrender the blood-colored feather.
Moreover, only by completely destroying it could Rhett absorb and harness the essence of the Blood Demon!
In an instant, the blood-colored bat was engulfed by Rhett’s mental sea, disappearing from sight.
Yet, Rhett didn’t relax. He could still sense the bat struggling fiercely instead of being erased.
Suddenly, streaks of red light shot out, carving a path through Rhett’s mental energy, obliterating a large portion of it.
The blood-colored bat, trembling, emerged from the destruction, its form even more weakened than before. It hovered unsteadily, on the verge of death.
"Hmph, you’ve forced my hand! If you insist on this, we’ll go down together!" The blood-colored bat’s face twisted with fear and anger, realizing that this human was unlike Gianka, who had been easily manipulated for years. Rhett’s mental sea was an alien and hostile domain. If the bat had been at full strength, it wouldn’t have feared this, but having already died once, it was now in an extremely vulnerable state, no match for Rhett!
Seemingly resolving itself, the bat’s body trembled as it began to emit a terrifying energy.
Boom!
The mental sea quaked like an earthquake. Rhett’s expression shifted, and he hastily gathered a massive amount of mental energy, once again surging toward the bat.
In an instant, the sky above his mental sea solidified into countless diamond-like, incredibly dense mental cages, which also moved fluidly like liquid. They swiftly covered the bat, pressing inward to crush it.
But just as the cages closed in, the bat’s core unleashed a violent wave of power, erupting like a long-dormant volcano. The force of the explosion spread in all directions, instantly shattering all of Rhett’s mental barriers.
The blood-colored bat’s form disintegrated into countless shards of blood-colored ice, which shot like arrows into every corner of Rhett’s mental sea.
"Ugh… Ah!"
It felt like countless needles were piercing his brain. The excruciating pain surged through Rhett’s head, causing cold sweat to break out on his forehead. It was as if every nerve in his body was being pricked, an unbearable agony.
Several minutes later, Rhett gradually adapted to the pain, breathing heavily as he re-entered his mental sea.
He knew that the blood-colored bat had likely self-destructed. Its presence had completely vanished from his mental sea. However, the damage it left behind was severe—pools of foul blood and blood shards scattered across his mental sea, causing intense pain and leaving him feeling dizzy and disoriented.
More troubling was that the corruption from the blood had drastically weakened his mental power, inflicting irreversible damage on his mental sea!
Rhett’s face was grim as he tried to focus, noticing that not only had his ability to gather mental energy slowed significantly, but his total mental power had also diminished.
"Phew, good thing this was just a simulation. If this had happened in reality, I would’ve been finished…"
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Rhett opened his eyes and sighed in relief.
He then closed his eyes again, using his remaining mental energy to begin cleaning up the tainted blood.
During the cleanup process, Rhett realized that after the bat’s death, the blood it left behind, while dangerous, contained a considerable amount of the Blood Demon’s essence.
Clearing away the blood was also a process of absorption. Although the damage already done couldn’t be undone, delaying the cleanup would only make things worse.
However, as Rhett absorbed more of the blood, he started to notice something unsettling.
Each time he absorbed a portion of the tainted blood, he felt an influx of negative emotions—a growing urge to devour everything around him.
And the more he absorbed, the stronger this urge became.
As he continued the process, his three sons—Tark, Tyles, and Relai—entered the fifth-floor hall, noticing Rhett’s unusual state.
Following his orders, they remained quietly in the corner, waiting.
An entire day passed.
Rhett finally managed to clean up all the tainted blood and shards, absorbing every last trace of the Blood Demon’s essence.
Sure enough, without the homeland’s purification, this was nothing short of a disaster.
Now, sitting in his chair, Rhett’s body trembled uncontrollably. He had to expend a tremendous amount of effort just to suppress the negative emotions constantly welling up in his mind.
While he had gained new power, this power was difficult to control, and his current state was far from ideal.
Most of his mental energy was being consumed to suppress these dark urges, which meant he couldn’t fully focus on anything else. If he were to engage in battle in this condition, his combat abilities would be severely impaired.
For any ordinary person, absorbing this power recklessly would undoubtedly lead to disastrous consequences.
"F-Father, are you alright?" Relai stepped out from the corner, his face full of concern as he turned to Tark and asked, "Tark, when did Father start showing these symptoms?"
Tark, startled, tried to recall. He tilted his head. "Let me think…"
"You two brats, I’m not sick…"
Rhett struggled to suppress his devouring impulses, using the last of his rationality to respond. Then he immediately ended the simulation.
Buzz…
The scene around him rippled and shifted.
The crisis was averted, and Rhett returned to reality.
[The real simulation has ended. Please select one attribute to retain.]
[1. Physique]
[2. Dou Qi]
[3. Mental Power]
Rhett glanced at the glowing screen before him and quietly selected the third option.
In an instant, a vast stream of energy poured into his mental sea, channeled through the homeland’s core.
Rhett could feel it clearly. The energy not only restored his mental power but also infused his mind with a blood-colored stream, which merged seamlessly into his mental sea.
This time, the blood-colored energy was pure and devoid of any negative influence.
As Rhett absorbed it, he felt completely refreshed, the difference from the pain he experienced in the simulation stark and profound.
Focusing on his mental sea, Rhett noticed the blood-colored stream blending in perfectly, with no sense of discord.
Throughout the process, Rhett could also feel a subtle transformation in the quality of his mental energy, granting him a new, unfamiliar power—a sensation both novel and exhilarating…
After taking some time to carefully sense this change, Rhett narrowed his eyes. The Blood Demon’s power seemed to make his mental energy more domineering, even containing a hint of devouring potential…
The strange feeling, almost instinctual, made Rhett eager to test it out.
After some thought, he came up with a way to verify it. He gathered earth elemental energy, forming a lance imbued with the Oscillation Profound Truth, and slowly directed it toward himself.
Without any defenses, even he would be injured by his own attack.
The lance flew at a deliberate, controlled pace.
Next, Rhett summoned a second lance to meet the first.
This time, Rhett infused it with the new power from his mental sea.
The new lance shimmered faintly with a blood-colored glow, adding a strange, sinister aura to the dense earth element. Rhett watched with growing curiosity.
Like two spears meeting tip to tip, the lances collided!
A powerful shockwave rippled outward, but Rhett contained it, ensuring it didn’t damage the castle.
Narrowing his eyes, Rhett observed the result carefully, his expression gradually showing surprise.
The blood-colored lance met the purely earth-element lance and, upon contact, immediately began to erode it. Whether the earth element or the Oscillation Profound Truth, a large portion was dissolved.
It was just like the battle against the Blood God’s leader, where the enemy’s blood mist had eroded Rhett’s lance—an overpowering, ruthless force.
The collision’s outcome was no surprise—the blood-colored lance won out!
"This power does seem to have some suppressive effect on elemental forces. Even when they’re imbued with a Profound Truth, they’re still at a disadvantage. This is similar to what happened when I fought the Blood God’s leader…"
Rhett sat back in his chair, closing his eyes in thought.
But if this was all the Blood Demon’s essence offered, it wasn’t quite what Rhett had hoped for. He remembered that the Blood Demon could use the Blood Source Orbs to rapidly grow stronger.
Even though Rhett no longer needed that ability, he still wanted to see if he had acquired it.
Taking out a Blood Source Orb from his spatial ring, Rhett held it between his thumb and forefinger. As he looked at it, he instinctively felt a faint hunger.
Frowning slightly, Rhett easily suppressed the sensation. It wasn’t much of a side effect—more like the normal desire for a delicious meal, only a bit stronger.
To be safe, Rhett initiated another real simulation and swallowed the Blood Source Orb.
Fortunately, the result was promising. After his body absorbed the orb, it was as though he had developed immunity. All impurities were instantly eliminated, leaving only pure blood energy to nourish his body.
Rhett fell into deep contemplation. This confirmed that his mental core had indeed undergone a transformation. He now had a powerful affinity for blood-based life forms, effectively elevating him to a higher level on the food chain.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rhett heard the rhythmic sound of footsteps approaching.
Soon, Sveta appeared, carrying a plate of succulent, mouthwatering steak. He placed it on the table and bowed. "Master, Maru prepared this meal for you. I thought you might want to enjoy some home-cooked food after your recent battle."
"You’re right, Sveta. This steak arrived at just the right time." Rhett said with a smile of appreciation. "By the way, when Tark and Relai return, send them to me immediately."
"Understood, Master."
Sveta acknowledged and promptly left.
As the delicious aroma of the steak filled the air, Rhett couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia—this was the familiar taste of home…
He picked up the silver knife and fork, cutting into the juicy steak. To further test the changes in his body, Rhett quickly took a large bite.
After chewing and swallowing, Rhett felt a surge of powerful energy coursing into his mental core. The tender steak was rapidly broken down, its blood converted into pure energy, nourishing every part of his body.
Closing his eyes, Rhett carefully sensed the changes. Both his body and mind felt slightly but noticeably stronger. Without his keen senses, he might not have even noticed the improvement.
But it was real. Comparing it to the last time he ate steak after his first feedback of the Blood Demon’s essence into the world, Rhett quickly concluded—this time, the effect was at least twice as strong.
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