Chapter 172

The residual might of that palm had not yet dissipated, the rumble of the giant python collapsing to the ground still echoed in his ears, and Wang Shan could no longer hold himself up; a sweetness rose in his throat, his whole body felt as if his bones had been pulled out, he dropped to one knee and gasped violently.

"Master!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei almost simultaneously lunged over, one on each side supporting his swaying, about-to-collapse body.

Li Hu opened his mouth, wanting to say something like "Master, your divine might is unrivaled," but seeing Wang Shan's face as white as paper and the black blood continually seeping from the corner of his mouth, all his words got stuck in his throat, leaving only eyes full of shock and worry.

Is this still a human?

Withstanding that kind of counter-devouring that could drive a person mad, he backhandedly slapped a palm and killed a peak Foundation Establishment monster. This is no longer a question of strength; he's outright a lunatic—a lunatic who fights with his own life!

Zhang Mei was far calmer; she placed her fingers on Wang Shan's wrist, and her expression instantly turned grim. Wang Shan's internal spiritual power was in turmoil like a boiling pot, as if countless tiny beasts were rampaging through his meridians—any cultivator would likely have exploded by now.

Yet Wang Shan was still alive, and even able to breathe.

Looking at Wang Shan, her reverence could not be put into words. Before she only thought the master had many tricks and a strong ace up his sleeve; now she realized that what made this master truly tough was his heart that didn't fear death.

"I won't die." Wang Shan's voice was hoarse like a broken bellows; he pushed their hands away, barely sat cross-legged, and stuffed another pill into his mouth. The medicinal power dissolved, but it was like a drop in the bucket—just enough to barely sustain that breath.

He now felt awful, his five viscera and six bowels as if displaced, each breath bringing tearing pain. That palm strike was almost self-mutilation, using the counter-devouring force of the "Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal" as a weapon—its power was great, but the aftereffects were endless.

In that brief moment of silence, a stifled cry suddenly came from behind.

"Grandfather!" was Wang Zhize's voice, trembling with tears, "Brother… brother he…"

Wang Shan snapped his head around.

He saw Wang Zhitao, who had been lying in the corner, now with a purplish-black complexion; strands of black qi like tiny worms crawled swiftly under his tender skin, about to reach his heart. This poison, triggered by the impact of that violent energy, had actually been activated!

"Brother, wake up! Don't scare me!" Wang Zhize panicked, his small hand incessantly shaking Wang Zhitao. He remembered his grandfather giving him a blackish jade slip, said to be a life‑saving item. In his desperation, he fumbled and pulled out that black jade slip from his bosom, imitating his grandfather's gesture, intending to press it onto Wang Zhitao's forehead.

"Don't touch him!" Wang Shan shouted sternly, but it was already too late.

At the instant Wang Zhize's tear‑ and sweat‑stained small hand, gripping the black jade slip, touched Wang Zhitao's body——

"Hum!"

An abrupt anomaly!

That ordinary black jade slip, like an ice cube tossed into boiling oil, suddenly burst forth with an indescribable suction. The beast‑source energy and vein qi permeating the surrounding ruins, even the lingering murderous qi on the giant python's corpse, seemed to heed an absolute command, wildly converging toward the jade slip!

The jade slip was no longer black; it lit up with a shine that was black yet luminous, a beam shooting up to the heavens, yet it illuminated nothing—instead it made everything around appear deeper and more uncanny.

"What… what is happening?" Li Hu and Zhang Mei stared dumbfounded, instinctively stepping in front of Wang Shan.

Wang Shan gave no reply; he stared fixedly at that black light, his heart pounding wildly.

He saw it.

Within that twisting column of light, blurred images flashed by in rapid succession.

There were towering giant beasts roaring to the heavens, their sound waves shattering the clouds.

There were cultivators dressed in ancient sect robes, commanding myriad demonic beasts, engaged in a brutal melee with an unseen foe.

There was a palace so magnificent it defied imagination, crumbling inch by inch into dust.

The images flickered and vanished in an instant, too fast to grasp, but that bleak, tragic aura filled with destruction and unwillingness was imprinted like a brand deep into the souls of everyone present.

The illusion came quickly and left just as quickly.

In just a few breaths, the light column suddenly retracted, sinking back into the jade slip. The slip returned to its original dull black, landing with a soft "pat" on the ground, as if everything before had merely been an illusion.

But Wang Shan knew it was not an illusion.

At the peak of the light, a trace of extremely faint black darkness followed Wang Zhize's hand and seeped into Wang Zhitao's body. Afterwards, the terrifying purplish‑black hue on Wang Zhitao's face actually faded a trace, visible to the naked eye.

Though faint, the poison's momentum was indeed checked!

"Could it be…" a thought exploded in Wang Shan's mind, "Is it this child's bloodline?"

【Ding! Detected special bloodline resonating with the Beast Taming Sect Inheritance Core, now unlocking deep permissions of the jade slip……】

【Permission unlock progress: 0.1%……analyzing……】

The system's notification confirmed Wang Shan's conjecture.

This jade slip is not merely a simple inheritance item; it has a deeper connection with the Wang family's bloodline! And Wang Zhitao and Wang Zhize—these two little rascals—may have hidden in their bloodlines something even he doesn't know, concerning the most core secret of the Beast Taming Sect!

"Hah…" Wang Shan exhaled a long breath of foul air; though his body remained feeble, his spirit was unprecedentedly exhilarated.

He forced himself to stand, his voice low but unusually clear.

"Li Hu, go to the perimeter and stand guard; any living thing that approaches, kill on sight!"

"Zhang Mei, deal with that snake—collect its crystal core, gallbladder, skin, anything useful. Move quickly!"

"Yes, Master!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei exchanged a glance, each seeing shock in the other's eyes.

They were in this state, yet their minds worked this fast? Their first thought wasn't to treat wounds, but to stand guard and loot the spoils?

This master is outright a monster.

The two dared not delay, springing into action. Li Hu gripped his knife, warily scanning the ruins' surroundings. Zhang Mei walked toward the huge serpent carcass, beginning to process it skillfully.

Wang Shan paid them no heed; his gaze fell on his two grandsons.

Wang Zhitao's breathing had steadied considerably; though still unconscious, he was temporarily out of mortal danger. Meanwhile, Wang Zhize curiously picked up the jade slip that had grown warm on the ground, turning it over and over, seemingly unable to understand why that blackish stone had just glowed.

In Wang Shan's heart, worry and hope were intertwined.

The grandsons' strange poison, his own counter-devouring, Wan Tianxiong's pursuit… all dangers still loomed overhead.

But now, a glimmer of hope seemed to appear.

This jade slip, the bloodlines of these two little rascals, and the earlier pill‑formula clue "Beast Source Core"……

Same source can resolve it.

Perhaps the key to unraveling all mysteries has always been by his side. He lifted his gaze toward the deeper part of the herb garden, toward the direction where that ancient will awakened, his eyes becoming immeasurably deep.