Chapter 215: Three-Way Melee

"It" raised its head.

The two points of scarlet light pierced through the twisted flesh, like two red-hot nails, driven deep into Wang Shan's body.

The moment it locked onto them, Wang Zhitao in Wang Shan's arms shuddered, his teeth chattering. "Grandpa... Grandpa... what the hell is that..."

"An idiot." Wang Shan's voice showed no emotion, but his arms holding the two grandsons tightened a bit.

Idiot?

Wang Zhitao wanted to ask, but that "idiot" had already moved.

"Roar——!!!"

It was neither a human roar nor a beast's howl, but a pure noise twisted from pain and hatred, stabbing the eardrums with pain.

However, "it" was not targeting Wang Shan.

Boom!

A bolt of energy mixed with ashen deathly aura and residual golden light shot without warning toward the cave wall. Wan Tiande—or rather, what was once Wan Tiande—had completely lost his reason; he was merely venting, wildly attacking anything he could see.

The rock wall exploded, shards flying everywhere.

But this strike was like poking a hornet's nest.

"Whoo——""Hiss——"

Inside the Cave, the mutant beasts that had merely become violent under the Array's influence, upon contacting the energy leaking from underground that the System called "High-Dimensional Aberrant Energy," went completely mad.

Their eyes turned scarlet like Wan Tiande's, and black corpse-like spots began to appear on their bodies. Reason? Gone. The Array's restraints? Also shattered by this higher-level contamination.

Their hostility had no specific target anymore.

Anything in their way was an enemy!

A beast resembling a Giant Lizard whipped its spiked tail at the nearest wolf-shaped beast; the wolf-shaped beast didn't back down, opening its bloody maw and biting the lizard's neck.

Chaos began.

The entire Cave instantly turned from a carefully laid killing trap into a bloody, chaotic arena.

The three forces were clearly distinct yet entangled with each other.

The mad Wan Tiande.

The completely out-of-control mutant beast tide.

And... Wang Shan, holding his two grandsons, stood at the eye of the storm.

"Damn, what a talent." Wang Shan couldn't help muttering at the sight before him.

Wan Tiande, that bastard, used his Golden Core to self-destruct—not only failing to blow up the enemy, he personally flung open the gates of Hell and let the guard dogs out. Now everyone has to keep him company.

That ashen chaotic energy, amid the beasts' mutual slaughter, seemed to have found the perfect nourishment. Blood, severed limbs, the energy dissipated from dead beasts—everything was greedily devoured by it, then it grew denser, and its contamination spread.

"Grandpa... I... I feel awful..." Wang Zhitao's voice trembled, his face ashen. Just a breath of that energy made him feel his strength being drained, even his "Swallowing Origin Tyrant Body" sending a strange mix of dread and craving.

Wang Shan lowered his head to look at him.

This chaotic situation is a dead end.

But perhaps... it's not without a way out.

His gaze swept quickly over the chaotic battlefield. The Aberrant Power within him had a natural affinity for that chaotic energy; he could sense that he could guide it as easily as moving his own limbs.

A mad idea formed in his mind.

"Taotzu, listen." Wang Shan's voice was low but unquestionable. "Want to... treat this guy as a tonic and eat him?"

"Huh?" Wang Zhitao froze. Eat? Eat that thing? Isn't that suicide?

"Your physique is called the Swallowing Origin Tyrant Body—you're born to devour energy. This thing may be domineering, but at its core it's still energy." Wang Shan's words carried a hint of temptation. "You can swallow Wan Tiande's Spiritual Power, can't you? This is just a higher grade of Spiritual Power."

"But...... it......"

"No buts!" Wang Shan cut him off. "Either we three grandparents and grandsons get drained and polluted to death by these things, or you take a gamble, eat it, and we survive!"

Wang Zhitao looked at his grandfather's icy vertical pupils, then at the not‑far‑away Wan Tiande madly tearing apart a beast, and he clenched his teeth.

"I... I'll do it!"

"Good lad!" Wang Shan smiled, the grin on his savage half‑beast face looking especially sinister.

He no longer hesitated, using his subtle grasp of chaotic energy to draw a wisp of ashen power finer than a hair from the air, like a fuse, gently pressing it toward Wang Zhitao's brow.

"Hold your spirit! Treat it as the most delicious roasted meat! Swallow it for me!"

"Mmm!"

The moment the energy entered his body, Wang Zhitao shuddered violently, as if thrown into boiling oil; large black patches bloomed on his skin and then quickly faded.

His Swallowing Origin Tyrant Body was passively triggered to the extreme, a domineering devouring force erupting from within, beginning to frantically "digest" this strand of external poison.

This process was extremely painful.

Wang Zhitao felt his Meridians being sliced by countless tiny knives, every inch of flesh wailing.

But... it actually works!

That strand of overbearing chaotic energy, under the grinding of the Swallowing Origin Tyrant Body, was actually broken down and purified; though the efficiency was low enough to make one's hair stand on end, it ultimately transformed into a life‑origin far purer and mightier than any Spiritual Power before, merging into his limbs and bones.

"Grandpa... I... I feel..." Wang Zhitao's voice trembled, unable to tell if it was pain or excitement.

"You feel it?" Wang Shan, always observing his grandson's change, saw him pull through, and the last stone in his heart fell.

He saw that Wan Tiande was being rapidly eroded by that energy. That guy was like a leaky wooden barrel, his Spiritual Power and life force being frantically sucked out to strengthen this contaminated land.

At this rate, within an hour Wan Tiande would be completely drained, turning into a true powerless corpse.

And Wang Zhitao's physique happened to be the nemesis of this contaminating energy.

Although he's still weak now, given enough time and "nourishment," he could become the "key" to purifying this area.

Crisis, turned into a huge opportunity!

"Excellent! Continue!" Wang Shan let out a low roar and began his plan.

He no longer passively defended; he took the initiative to attack.

He moved like a ghost, holding two children as he wandered the edge of the chaotic battlefield, dodging those mutant demonic beasts that were like mad dogs. At the same time, the aberrant power within his body began to resonate with the chaotic energy of the entire cave.

He had become a…… shit-stirring stick.

"Roar!"

"Ten Thousand Heaven Virtue" swiped a claw at Wang Shan, but Wang Shan neither dodged nor evaded; instead, he used his own strength to skillfully deflect the trajectory of this blow by a bit.

Boom!

This claw landed solidly on a load-bearing stone pillar of the cave.

The pillar snapped with a sound, and the cave's tremors grew more violent. Deep underground, more gray-defeated energy, like a breached flood, surged forth.

"Yes, just like that, you idiot, use a bit more force!" Wang Shan sneered in his heart.

He began consciously guiding the attacks of "Ten Thousand Heaven Virtue".

That guy isn't brainless? Then let him become my most handy demolition tool!

"Ten Thousand Heaven Virtue" blasted toward the demonic beast, and Wang Shan secretly added a bit of force, letting its attack affect more of the cave walls.

The demonic beast lunged at "Ten Thousand Heaven Virtue", and Wang Shan used energy to disturb its perception, causing it to slam headfirst into another weak point of the seal nearby.

The entire cave, under his manipulation, became increasingly dilapidated and dangerous.

The leaking chaotic energy grew more and more, its concentration ever higher. Those low-level mutant demonic beasts, in this environment, could not last long; they were one by one polluted and assimilated, eventually turning into pools of writhing black water, becoming the new "nutrient" of this land.

And "Ten Thousand Heaven Virtue", as a Golden Core cultivator with a solid foundation, became this contaminated land's primary "energy supply station". Its aura was visibly deteriorating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

One wanes, the other waxes.

Wang Shan carefully passed strand after strand of the chaotic energy that he had preliminarily "filtered" to Wang Zhitao, letting him devour and grow bit by bit like at a buffet.

Gradually, a faint halo formed around Wang Zhitao's body, composed of pure life force, firmly protecting him and the comatose Wang Zhize.

The entire cave was filled with the aura of death and mutation.

The frenzied "Golden Core cultivator", the chaotic "mutant beast tide", and the strange "polluted energy" together formed a vortex of death.

And Wang Shan, this half-human, half-beast monster, became the most lucid and also the most deadly presence in that vortex.

He was no longer prey, nor merely a hunter.

He, was the…… ruler of this chaos.

Gazing into the distance, that once-invincible Golden Core Elder now remained only a shattered shell driven by polluted energy, still futilely waving his claws.

Wang Shan knew the time to cast the net had come.