Chapter 202: Clash of Wills

Wang Shan did not hesitate, or rather, the mad plan in his mind simply would not allow him to hesitate.

He stared at the seemingly tranquil phosphorescent lake as if at a sleeping peerless ferocious beast, and then he smiled.

"Since we're already here, not going down for a cup of tea would be improper, right?"

He muttered to himself as if speaking aloud, then stopped limiting himself to probing with mental force. His entire will, wrapped with the domineering, tyrannical, all‑consuming aberrant power of Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal, surged like a red‑hot meteor, charging brazenly toward the lake bottom!

"System, make a note for me: if I fall, remember to send the backup ruins map to my grandson!"

【…Zhuren, take care.】

The system's reply, unusually, carried a hint of humanized pause.

Boom!

When Wang Shan's will fully sank to the lake bottom, the instant it collided head‑on with that vast Ancient Will, the whole world seemed to freeze.

There was no earth‑shaking explosion, no soul‑rending pain.

In its place came an indescribable torrent of grand information, gently yet irresistibly enveloping him.

【…Submission…】

An ancient, neutral, emotionless voice resonated directly in the depths of his soul.

Immediately, countless images surged into his sea of consciousness.

He saw himself transformed into a towering giant, standing between heaven and earth, countless bizarre demonic beasts crawling trembling at his feet. A single thought cracked the ground; a single glance turned the sky. This ruin, this Cave, even the whole world outside became his plaything.

【You… will become… the new master…】

The voice, laden with endless temptation, promised power, promised immortality, promised absolute dominion over this Ten Thousand Beasts Origin.

This is far more elite than the so‑called "treasure" the idiots of Ten Thousand Beasts Gate chase.

It's like handing you the key to a bank vault together with the entire bank itself.

Yet Wang Shan, having lived so many years, has swindled more people than most have ever seen. His mind is as clear as a mirror: there is no free lunch in the world. The bigger the gift at the door, the more poisonous the hidden knife behind it.

"The price?" he asked coldly, using his own will.

The Ancient Will seemed to pause, then new images flooded in.

They were the fates of individual Beast Taming Sect disciples.

They too gained great power, their bodies merging with demonic beasts, majestic and awe‑inspiring. Yet soon their eyes grew hollow, reason drowned by endless beastliness, and they finally devolved into monsters that knew only slaughter and devouring. They tore apart fellow sect members, gnawed kin, and in madness became nourishment for the land.

The final frames froze on twisted, painful faces that nonetheless bore a hint of release.

【Discard… useless emotions…】

【Return to… the pure source…】

The Ancient Will gave its "price": abandon everything you are as Wang Shan, abandon those joys, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, abandon your laughable kinship and humanity, become a perfect, pure vessel that follows only instinct.

"Become… its puppet."

"Bullshit!"

Wang Shan cursed loudly within his sea of consciousness.

Without the seven emotions and six desires, without a grandson, without thoughts of vengeance, even if he became the ruler of heaven and earth, what's the difference from a moving stone?

That Ancient Will seemed to sense his resistance; the tempting "coating" peeled away instantly, revealing a cold Core inside. A massive, indisputable willpower, like Mount Tai bearing down, slammed into his soul, attempting to forcibly reformat his thoughts.

"You bring the hard stuff? That's exactly what I'm least afraid of!"

Wang Shan not only didn't retreat; he was instead provoked into ferocity.

Hard‑against‑hard? He might not be worthy.

But his cultivation method is called Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal! The very character "Reversal" is the essence!

"Let me devour it!"

Wang Shan let out a silent roar. The aberrant power within him, the devouring instinct born of Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal, erupted completely at this moment. It was like a ferocious beast that had been starving for millions of years, seeing a gluttonous feast delivered to its jaws.

It cares not what Ancient Will you are, cares not what Ten Thousand Beasts Origin you are.

In its eyes, all external energy is food!

But Wang Shan kept a watchful mind.

"Don't gulp blindly! Spit out the bones and thorns inside!"

He turned his will into an invisible barrier, forcibly intervening in the devouring. He was like the most discerning gourmand, allowing his cultivation method to "eat" that Ancient Will, but only the "meat", never the "poison".

Those promises of power, those temptations to become a ruler, wrapped in the deadliest will‑imprint, are "poison", discard!

Those chaotic, ruin‑driven tangled energies are "bones", discard!

Only those fleeting "rule fragments" embedded in the torrent of information, about the operation of this world's laws, about how energy transforms—those are the true "meat"!

Leave them for me!

The Ancient Will clearly had never encountered such rolled‑knife meat.

It was like a programmer trying to force‑inject a program, only to find the other side not only didn't crash but instead cherry‑picked useful code segments and copied them away, while discarding its Core command as junk.

【…???】

A clear wave of anger‑filled, bewildered emotion surged through.

That world‑shattering spiritual shock suddenly became sluggish and chaotic, like a high‑performance machine hitting an incomprehensible logic error, its processor nearly burning out.

"Is that all you've got?"

Wang Shan seized the chance, intensifying his assault.

His will frantically filtered and absorbed those leaking "rule fragments". Previously his grasp of "environmental resonance" lingered at the crude "shout" stage. Now, chunk after chunk of fragments about "life linking", "energy circulation", "element control" were forcibly devoured and digested.

His perception of this Cave instantly leapt from a two‑dimensional plane to three‑dimensional space.

He could "see" how each Spirit Plant's roots draw energy, could "hear" the rhythmic flow of energy in the lake water, and even could "touch" the wandering elements in the air.

The fierce outlines of his scales on his body not only didn't increase but began to recede, flashing a deeper, purer luster. His power didn't grow more violent; instead, like hundred‑fold refined steel, it was stripped of excess, becoming more condensed and controllable.

This…

Wang Shan felt a surge of wild joy in his heart.

Damn it, this isn't a will clash at all; it's a one‑sided robbery!

The "Ancestor of Ten Thousand Beasts" at the lake bottom is indeed not an intelligent old monster; it's more like an ancient server with hard‑coded routines—powerful, ancient, but rigid! Find its "vulnerability," and you can turn the tables and shear its wool!

In this will clash, he was not eroded at all; instead he turned the tables, forcibly snatching a huge chunk of fat meat from the "old ancestor's" mouth!

Strength surged once again!

Wang Shan slowly withdrew his will from the lake bottom and opened his eyes again.

He stared at the calm lake surface, his expression extremely odd, as if gazing at an inexhaustible treasure trove.

"Wantiande, Wantiande, you'd better hurry up."

"Otherwise, the great gift I prepared for you would be such a waste."