Chapter 224: Cruel Choice

Inside the cave, the once violent energy gradually grew tame, like a domesticated beast, slowly flowing around the two small figures.

Wang Shan's massive black silhouette stood still, and in the depths of his scarlet beast eyes were reflected the two grandsons' utterly different cultivation postures.

One was like an insatiable glutton, crushing, devouring, and converting all nearby energy into his own, utterly domineering.

The other was like a born strategist, using bloodline as a guide and jade slips as a medium, carefully analyzing, guiding, and commanding those twisted energies, establishing his own order in silence.

Truly good.

This is truly the offspring of his Wang family.

A thought had just risen when an indescribable burning pain exploded from the depths of his soul, as if someone had shoved a red-hot iron awl deep into his brain.

"Roar——!"

An uncontainable, pain-filled low growl rolled from his throat—not what he wanted, but an instinctive reaction of this body.

In his scarlet beast eyes, the thread of humanity belonging to Wang Shan flickered violently, like a candle in the wind. He could clearly feel that another "it" was awakening—a pure conglomerate of hunger, brutality, and the desire to kill.

He tried to recall his wife's face, but only a blurry outline remained in his mind. He wanted to remember the details of his human life, yet those memories were like water-soaked pages, the ink blurred and illegible.

Humanity was being worn away.

He was, in fact, "dying".

"Old Master?" Li Hu's voice trembled as he spoke carefully.

Wang Shan gave no reply; all his focus was locked in a life‑or‑death struggle with the wild beast awakening inside him.

He gazed at the two children, utterly focused not far away, and an absurd yet sorrowful thought rose in his heart.

What am I now? A guardian deity?

No.

He was merely a sword. A sword forged to protect his family, honed to razor sharpness, yet its hilt had been worn away, so no one could grasp it anymore.

And a sword will eventually have a day when it loses control.

When Wang Shan's consciousness vanished completely, what would this sword do? It would follow instinct, regarding everything in its sight as either a threat or food.

Including……the two grandsons he most wanted to protect.

This realization terrified him more than the pain of his soul being torn apart.

He could not become a burden to his descendants, nor let them, after escaping the sect's pursuit, ultimately die in his own grandfather's claws.

What a tragically ironic fate that would be.

"My Lord……Shadow Guard……"

Less than two hours remain.

Time, not much left.

A mad idea sprouted like weeds in his mind, which was on the verge of collapse.

Since he was destined to become a beast, he would finish one last thing before losing his humanity completely.

Better to give them the strength and heritage to protect themselves than to leave them a grandfather who might at any moment turn into a rampaging monster.

He would imprint his tainted power, his understanding of the Whirlwind Trap Zone, the truth and curse behind the Beast Taming Sect's downfall—everything—into their very bloodlines!

This was a cruel choice.

This amounted to personally cutting off all their retreats, forcing them to walk forward on a road bristling with thorns.

But……did they still have any retreat?

No.

From the moment Wan Tiande came knocking, there was none.

"Come……over here."

A hoarse, distorted sound, like metal scraping, rang directly in everyone's minds through mental power.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei stiffened all over, the color draining from their faces.

Has he come? Old Master……he ultimately lost control after all?

Wang Zhize and Wang Zhitao, who were in the midst of cultivation, opened their eyes at the same time.

Wang Zhitao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his small face full of stubbornness: "Brother, Grandfather is calling us."

"Hmm." Wang Zhize nodded, gripping the jade slip in his hand; from that mental command he felt no malice, only a sense of……resolve about to burn out.

The two children exchanged a glance, without the slightest hesitation, and stepped toward the massive black shadow exuding a terrifying aura.

"Young Master! Don't go over!" Li Hu shouted hoarsely, wanting to step forward to stop them, but an invisible force pinned him to the spot, rendering him immobile.

He could only watch helplessly as the two children walked up to that "monster."

Wang Shan lowered his fierce, massive head, his two lantern‑like scarlet beast eyes gazing down at his grandsons, tiny as ants.

Humanity and bestiality clashed fiercely in his pupils, their light flickering uncertainly.

"Grandfather?" Wang Zhitao raised his head and called out tentatively.

Wang Shan gave no answer.

He forcibly squeezed out his last vestiges of consciousness, mobilizing the "distorted law energy" that had already merged with him inside his body.

Hum——

Countless black patterns flared across his massive frame, and two utterly distinct energies were forcibly torn from their source.

One was pure black, seeming to devour all light, filled with the flavor of domination and plunder.

The other was deep gray, within which countless runes seemed to arise and fade, brimming with the aura of order, analysis, and control.

The process of tearing them from the source made Wang Shan emit a silent roar; his body, already transformed into a mountain‑like form, cracked open with deep fissures down to the bone, from which black blood seeped out.

At this moment, the light of his humanity had dimmed to the utmost.

"Open your souls……do not resist……"

The final command, carrying undeniable authority, echoed in the minds of the two children.

Wang Zhitao gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

Wang Zhize seemed to understand something, grief instantly flooded his eye sockets, but he still did it.

The next moment, that cluster of pure black energy, like a black lightning bolt, instantly sank into Wang Zhitao's brow.

Meanwhile, that cluster of dark gray energy merged into the Black Jade Slip in Wang Zhize's hand, and along his arm, surged into his limbs and bones.

"Ah——!"

The two children simultaneously let out agonized screams.

This is not physical torment, but a forced infusion and remodeling from the soul level!

Wang Zhitao felt his "Devouring Origin Tyrant Body" as if thrown into a huge furnace, being forcibly hammered and reshaped. Countless insights about "devouring," about how to turn all things into his own nourishment, were brutally imprinted into his instinct.

Wang Zhize felt his brain about to explode. The Beast Taming Sect's secrets accumulated over thousands of years, the truth about "hyper-dimensional pollution," and the countless ways to "control" this power…… an immeasurable flood of information surged madly into his sea of consciousness through the jade slip.

This is inheritance.

Also a curse.

Wang Shan shoved everything he had—good, bad, bright, dark—into them.

He was paving a road to ultimate strength for his descendants with his own blood and bone.

"Live on……"

"Grandfather……will guard you……"

This is Wang Shan, in his "human" form, left behind as his final thought.

When this thought faded, the last trace of humanity's light in his crimson beast eyes was completely extinguished.

In its place came endless, icy, pure bestiality.

"Roar!!!"

A roar that shook the entire Cave surged skyward. But in that roar, there was no longer struggle or pain, only the violence and majesty of ruling over all.

He, is no longer Wang Shan.

He, is the king of this twisted land.

His massive body slowly turned, his icy beast eyes gazing at the shattered dark cave entrance behind him that led deeper underground.

There, he sensed the aura of his "own kind," which excited him.

The hunt, began.