[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h":3,"chapter-devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-chapter-120":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Devouring Evil, Exterminating Demons Across All Heavens",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2267065,4426,"Chapter 120: There Is a Cat, Treading Snow","devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-chapter-120",120,"\u003Cp>After the snow fell too much, just by looking at the sky, you couldn’t tell morning from afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even at dusk, there was no sunset or evening glow to be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sky outside was gloomy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as long as you didn’t look up, everywhere you turned was brightly lit, a cold white radiance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right behind Chu Tianshu’s back door, a patch about five meters in diameter glowed differently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snow had melted into water, revealing dark, damp earth, and some tenacious weeds still alive, beaded with droplets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fresh snowflakes melted instantly upon touching the ground, never accumulating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding snowdrifts were over ten centimeters deep, creating a clear height difference from this patch of ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu wore only a short-sleeved shirt and loose pajama pants, feet slightly apart at shoulder width, hands gently pressed forward, standing in posture here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sound like soft drumbeats continuously emanated from him, dense and unbroken, surging without pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His heart rate was deliberately held lower than a normal person’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each beat was thick and powerful enough to circulate blood throughout his body, activating every extremity without exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet his heartbeat acted like a leading rhythm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After his chest pulsed, thirteen other “hearts” across his body responded in sequence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus creating an unceasing drumming momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu’s entire body radiated a steady warmth within this drumbeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When snowflakes landed on his skin, they instantly turned into pale white vapor, rising gently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his gaze was profoundly calm, fixed on the bamboo grove, each inhale and exhale filled with freshness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, whether Palm Thunder or Shaolin Fist Form, both emphasized closing the pores, with internal organs and heartbeat echoing inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if someone stood nearby, the sounds they heard were faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When pores could no longer be sealed and sweat poured out like paste, it meant you’d trained too hard and needed to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Heartfire Fist Scripture was different—it required actively opening and closing pores during practice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every part of the body, inside and out, was alive—even the tiny hairs on the skin were not neglected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, heat dissipation became noticeably obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Flesh and blood steaming, heart and bones drunk, hair and nails fused as one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu felt this sensation described in the scripture—his whole body seemed to melt under heat, flesh, bone, organs, and hair all losing their boundaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unawakened martial artists naturally didn’t perceive such clear boundaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once awakened, the difference between bone and flesh became too stark to ignore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sensation of no separation now was not a return to primal ignorance, but the mastery of both hard bone and soft hair alike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gradually, controlling his bones felt as easy as controlling his muscles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu slightly raised his right hand, index finger upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His crimson blood made his skin swell slightly, glowing red like jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire red-jade finger grew longer nails at visible speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two centimeters, three centimeters, until five.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu stared at the nails; his finger didn’t move, yet the nails automatically curved, curled, and retracted toward the fingertip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Controlling his nails was as simple as controlling his muscles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu lifted his eyelids slightly—the curled nails suddenly snapped straight, emitting a sound like stretched metal snapping taut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Retract!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu whispered softly, watching the nails grow shorter again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was controlling the muscles on the back of his finger to draw in the nail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some normally fragile structures on his finger had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nail plate now hid beneath the skin, fused with bone, blended with flesh, bending or straightening at will, perfectly normal, utterly invisible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Chu Tianshu trained at the Tongbei Fist Gym, he’d seen others come to exchange skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master who practiced Tiger and Leopard Claw could also conceal his nails.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their method of hiding nails and revealing claws never moved the nails themselves—it trained the soft flesh of the fingertip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They conditioned the fingertip flesh to grow longer and softer, excessively protruding forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, their fingers merely looked unusually long in daily life, with no other abnormalities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During combat, they pulled the soft flesh inward, tightening and reinforcing it, making the nails appear prominently exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This skill fundamentally altered only the flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What Chu Tianshu was doing now—growing nail fragments on the spot, altering the nail’s subtle structure—was beyond the reach of those masters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now, the hair.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu’s left hand pinched a strand of hair hanging from his temple, keeping its tip steady in his vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without moving his fingers, the strands automatically twisted, curling slightly at the ends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the green tendrils of a loofah vine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—more agile than that, like a squid’s tentacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant his hair had become sensitive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, Chu Tianshu’s hair would only react under full explosive force, lashing upward briefly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the ancient phrase “hair standing on end”—a fleeting moment only.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, without explosive force, merely tensing part of his scalp caused his hair to respond naturally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this heightened sensitivity seemed useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The force of hair was too weak; unless he grew a long braid, it was useless in combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet growing a braid itself might become a vulnerability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless one trained from childhood in hair-whip arts, it was certainly not worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No—this scripture’s intent is no longer just combat, but increasingly contains bodily evolution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu watched the hair strands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though this hair change has no combat use, in cultivation it’s a vital sign—it means I can now preliminarily control the blood and qi in my skull.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human brain also undergoes blood and qi changes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Dayou speculated that the final step of Threefold Unity was, after already training the scalp, head muscles, and skull, to also train the brain itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this process was extremely dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even Yu Dayou, a pure martial artist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Chu Tianshu dared not lightly touch his own brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mindforce connected to the brain, but mindforce might deepen or transform certain unknown brain traits—it absolutely did not strengthen the brain’s structural resilience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A mindforce cultivator struck suddenly on the head would still suffer a concussion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Threefold Unity pursuit clearly aimed to enhance the brain’s strength as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like toughening skin and flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Strengthening the brain’s texture”—just hearing it sounded absurd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the transformation of all his hair could, to some extent, verify internal cranial force changes, helping martial artists correct their cultivation direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the effort martial artists made toward that implausible goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This Heartfire Fist Scripture is indeed far superior to mere fist forms.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu pondered, “If I could use Inner Sage, Outer King while practicing in this state, how exhilarating would the experience be?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But using Inner Sage, Outer King to assist practice would deeply stir the Barrier of Mortal Flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without Haidonglai and Cheng the Blind to help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu still had no confidence he could recite the Nine Character Mantra in that state to dispel distractions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was a pity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where could he find a group of masters with heavy killing aura and free time to chant “Kill” for him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Chu Tianshu pondered, he suddenly saw a cat dart through the bamboo grove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a black-backed, white-bellied cat, with a slender face, round eyes, and pointed ears—extremely adorable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially above its eyes, two white markings resembled thickly brushed white eyebrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As human and cat locked eyes, the cat cautiously approached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had clearly been running in the snow for a long time; some of its fur was frozen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once it entered the thawed zone and felt Chu Tianshu’s radiating heat, the whole cat shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Meow!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-browed cat let out a joyful cry, nuzzling up to Chu Tianshu’s feet, rubbing against his pajama legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whose cat are you? Roaming around in this icy snow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu examined it—no tags on neck or legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When their village divided land, every household received a small plot of bamboo grove behind their homes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, the entire bamboo grove was connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you walked through it, you could go from the village’s main road all the way to the village’s end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This cat might belong to anyone—even a neighbor’s village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget it—come in and warm up first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu had kept a cat as a child, a yellow-and-white domestic cat that later went missing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t like petting cats, but he enjoyed watching them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still remembered how, as a child, his family had a yellow plastic bowl, used only for the cat—whatever the family ate, they shared some with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After eating its fill, it would go out into the wild to dig a hole and relieve itself, playing in groups with other cats around the village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nobody understood the fuss over cat food or litter boxes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After bringing the cat inside, Chu Tianshu closed the back door and put on a trench coat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-browed cat obediently followed him, exited through the front door, and entered the side kitchen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu warmed yesterday’s leftover fish tail and bone broth in the microwave, poured it into a small bowl, and set it on the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The broth was just warm—not cold, not hot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cat extended its tongue, then jerked it back as if burned, but quickly extended it again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu leaned against the table, propping his cheek with one hand, smiling as he watched the cat eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cat ate quickly, lapping up the fish meat, gnawing the bones, and slurping the broth with a slurping sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warm broth and fish meat filled it with satisfaction; it stretched out its four legs, arched its back, and emitted a low, rumbling hum from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even its frozen fur suddenly unfroze, and all its cat hairs fluffed up at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu’s expression shifted slightly: “Hmm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had just detected, in this cat, a hint of the “Tai Chi” quality of relaxing and releasing tendons and bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ancient legends said that skills like closing pores and shaking tendons were inspired by cats and dogs—but that didn’t mean cats and dogs actually practiced martial arts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This cat before him…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu narrowed his eyes slightly and deliberately radiated a touch of hostility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Meow!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-browed cat let out a strange cry, suddenly performed a backflip, landed on its hind legs, contracted its spine, lifted its front paws into the air, and fixed its gaze in alert readiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Tianshu’s eyes widened sharply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that flip, what stood before him was no longer a cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was exactly the image of a cat-person from an animated film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its arms were outstretched, chest broad and waist narrow, feet planted firmly on the ground, human-like in form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even more, the white-browed cat had assumed a standard martial arts stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1776,"2026-06-19T20:45:51.976Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","355e70fd3bb1266756475bff21fb9140ea64d1491faf045693e512d2ac802fbd","devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-chapter-121","devouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-chapter-119",155,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdevouring-evil-exterminating-demons-across-all-h-cover.jpg"]