Chapter 201

After settling Sunzi, Li Hu, and Zhang Mei into the hidden cave, Wang Shan stood alone by the glowing lake.

He didn't rush to set up some earth-shaking grand formation; instead, like an old farmer, he began to "inspect" this exceptionally fertile herb garden.

His thoughts spread like mercury poured on the ground, silently and soundlessly.

"This 'Dragon Blood Vine', if its roots go down another three inches, can draw a thread of fire-vein earth qi and grow faster."

"That patch of 'Star Pattern Grass', they're too close together, stealing nutrients from each other, you idiots. Spread out!"

"And you, yes, you, that glowing mushroom, don't just grow tall—open your cap and absorb more moisture from the lake!"

One command after another, simple and brutal, yet incredibly precise.

All the Spirit Plants along the lakeshore seemed to become his raw recruits, summoned and dismissed at his call; although their movements were still a bit slow and clumsy, they obediently carried out his orders.

"Hey, kind of interesting."

Wang Shan grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth. This feeling was too wonderful; the whole cave felt like an extension of his body. He could even sense each plant's "emotion": some "delighted", some "resistant", some "naïve".

This "environmental resonance" ability was even more useful than he had imagined.

Just as he was having fun, trying to make a vine writhe like a snake, his mind shuddered violently.

It was not an omen of danger.

But rather a kind of… probing.

This feeling did not come from the outside world, but rose from beneath his feet, from the… bottom of the glowing lake.

Wang Shan halted his motion, half-crouched, and his palm, covered in scale-like contours, lightly pressed against the damp shore.

He closed his eyes and sank his entire consciousness into that strange undulation.

The lake water seemed to have come alive.

No longer mere water and energy, it seemed to have turned into a slumbering giant beast, and his earlier actions were like a few ants crawling on its body, finally drawing its attention.

This will… feels familiar.

It is the "Ancestor of Ten Thousand Beasts"!

No.

Wang Shan's brows instantly knotted into a frown.

The aura shares the same source, but the feeling is completely different. The will he sensed in the ruins earlier was chaotic, violent, filled with indiscriminate destructive desire, like a mad dog.

But this will from the lake bottom, while equally vast and boundless, is extremely introverted and profound, like an ancient well with no visible bottom, where ages of time have settled. If the previous one was leaking exhaust, this one is the body of a high-pressure gas tank!

【Warning! Detected high concentration 'Beast Source' Core will awakening!】

【Analysis: The Zhuren's initial grasp of the mutagenic power seems to have activated its deep consciousness. This will has been attracted by the Zhuren, threat level…… immeasurable!】

The system's voice was icy, yet carried an unprecedented gravity.

"Attraction?"

Wang Shan muttered to himself, not only feeling no fear, but instead a strong interest rose.

Not running, not causing a fuss—just being attracted? That's interesting.

If it were before, he would surely have packed up and fled without a word. But now, he himself is half a monster, and this whole cave is his home turf—what's there to fear?

A crazy idea formed in his mind.

Resist?

No, why resist?

"System, open my perception to the max—I want to go down and have a look."

【Warning! This act is extremely dangerous, possibly causing the spirit to be instantly overwhelmed and the soul to be assimilated!】

"Enough with the nonsense, execute the order!"

Wang Shan couldn't be bothered to argue with the system. He knew there was risk, but the path of cultivation is always a dance on the blade's edge—seek fortune in danger, great opportunities often come with great peril.

He carefully twisted his will, which had preliminarily fused with the Counter-Devouring force from the "Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal", into a single strand, like an invisible probe, and, following the resonance with the lake water, slowly and tentatively sank it toward the lake's depths.

One inch, one foot, one zhang…

The lake water was icy to the bone; the deeper he went, the clearer that ancient will became.

It did not attack the strand of his consciousness that had probed in.

Instead, like a curious child discovering a new toy, that profound will split off a strand and lightly "touched" his probe.

Boom!

Countless chaotic, fragmented streams of information instantly flooded his mind.

They were bizarre, fantastical images: colossal beasts roaring in the starry sky, countless rune-formed chains spanning heaven and earth, ancient rituals where blood and soil merged…

"……first……covenant……"

"……flesh and blood……return to……earth……"

"……seal……betrayal……"

The information was fragmented and torn, like an ancient book ripped apart and haphazardly pieced back together, making its full content impossible to decipher. Yet the vastness and antiquity it contained made Wang Shan's very soul tremble.

Is this…… the origin of the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin? Or the truth behind the Beast Taming Sect's downfall?

Just as Wang Shan tried to extract more clues from this information flood, he suddenly sensed another, utterly different emotion within it.

An indescribable…… hunger.

Not the hunger to eat something, but a more primal yearning. It seemed to be seeking something—like looking for a key, or like looking for a suitable…… vessel?

Wang Shan's heart jolted, and he instantly understood.

This damned thing, it indeed has designs on me!

But this intent is not pure malicious devouring; it's more like an…… invitation? Or rather, temptation. It uses these secrets of the origin to lure himself deeper, to draw near and merge with it.

Wang Shan abruptly severed the mental link, staggered a step, and his face turned somewhat pale.

"Ancestor?" Li Hu's worried voice came from the Cave Entrance.

Don't worry, watch my grandson, don't come out!

Wang Shan shouted, straightened his body again, his eyes blazing as he fixed his gaze on the calm lake surface, yet his face showed extreme excitement.

Damn it, I've struck it rich!

He finally figured it out.

The thing at the bottom of this lake might not even be a living being in the traditional sense; it's more like a manifestation of a law, the "central processing unit" of this "Ten Thousand Beasts Origin"!

Its behavior pattern isn't divided by good and evil or friend and foe; it simply runs according to some ancient setting. It feels "hungry" because it needs an "interface", an "agent" that can understand and execute its commands.

And I, who have cultivated the "Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal" and am in the process of transforming into a "beast source" aberration, happen to be the perfect candidate!

The Beast Taming Sect folks either want to totally control it or wipe it out—their approach has been wrong from the start. And the Ten Thousand Beasts Gate bunch, even more clueless, haven't even gotten through the door, still thinking there's some ultimate treasure hidden in here.

Only I, by a strange twist of fate, actually have the qualification to "communicate" with this damned thing.

Wang Shan licked his lips, the scarlet light in his eyes flashing and then vanishing.

Wan Tiande……mid‑Golden Core……

If we let that Golden Core Elder come face the core will of the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin head‑on, I wonder if his scrawny frame is even enough to stuff between this guy's teeth?

A bolder, more vicious plan gradually took shape in his mind.