Chapter 230: Zhitao's Limit

The giant beast's scrutiny had no warmth.

Those two deep red glints fell on Wang Zhitao and Wang Zhe, and Li Hu felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

That wasn't the look a grandfather gives his grandson, absolutely not.

That gaze held no kindness, no relief, only… a kind of cold ruthlessness of an old wolf examining whether its wolf cub is worthy enough to survive.

"Old… old master…" Zhang Mei's voice trembled uncontrollably, she was practically hanging on Li Hu's arm.

Li Hu had no time to comfort her; he stared fixedly at Wang Shan, then glanced at the two children beside him.

Wang Zhe wore a calm expression, gripping the black jade slip tightly in his hand, as if it were his anchor.

And Wang Zhitao, this kid, was acting a bit off.

His cheeks flushed with an abnormal blush, his breathing rapid, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the giant beast Wang Shan, his Adam's apple rolling up and down as if he were enduring extreme thirst and hunger.

"Bro… I'm hungry…"

Wang Zhitao's voice was low, like delirious muttering, but to Li Hu's ears it sounded like a thunderclap.

Hungry?

What in this damned place is there to eat? Eat those crystals? Or…

Li Hu didn't dare to think further.

Just then, deep in the cavern, the area that Wang Shan had cleared rippled again. A darkness richer than before spread like ink dropped in clear water, quickly diffusing.

"Roar—!"

Wang Shan let out a low, deep roar, like a warning and also a declaration of sovereignty. Its massive body lowered slightly, assuming a hunting stance.

This time, what surged from the darkness was no longer the vague humanoid or beast-like shadows of before.

They… were more concrete.

Li Hu saw a woman's outline with eight spider legs, each tip dragging a wailing human face. He also saw a giant serpent formed from countless twisted arms writhing together, crawling on the ground with those arms, emitting a screech like fingernails scraping glass.

As soon as these things appeared, Zhang Mei screamed, clutched her head and crouched down, muttering incoherently: "Don't come over… Mom, I was wrong, I was wrong…"

Li Hu's head also buzzed, an indescribable irritability surging through him; he suddenly wanted to smash everything around him to pieces, and to rush forward and tear those monsters apart.

"Snap out of it!" Wang Zhe barked low, the jade slip in his hand emitting a faint gray halo that enveloped the three of them.

That irritability and hallucination instantly receded like a tide.

Li Hu shuddered, breaking out in a cold sweat. Only then did he notice that Wang Zhe's face was as pale as paper, obviously the activation of the jade slip was taking a huge toll on him.

"Damn it, these ghostly things can also launch mental attacks!" Li Hu cursed, shielding Zhang Mei and the two children tightly behind him.

Over on the battlefield, things had already gone berserk.

Wang Shan charged like an out-of-control heavy truck, crashing about in the most unreasonable way. Its domain suppressed the newly appeared monsters, but the effect was clearly weaker than before. One hand of the arm‑serpent broke through the domain's seal and slammed hard into Wang Shan's flank, instantly opening a wound deep enough to see bone; the flesh at the edges didn't bleed but crumbled away like sand.

This is conceptual-level damage!

Wang Shan winced in pain, went berserk, bit down on that arm and tore it off with a violent jerk.

"Rrip—"

That arm was torn clean off, turning into pure energy that Wang Shan devoured; the wound on his flank then writhed and healed.

But there are too many monsters!

One, two, ten… they came from all directions, fearless of death. Wang Shan kept getting new wounds; although he could quickly heal by devouring his foes, the constant cycle of being erased and reborn was obviously a huge drain on him.

Its movements began to show a barely perceptible lag.

"Grandfather…" Wang Zhitao's eyes turned red.

He watched the massive figure shielding them from everything, watched its wounds constantly split and heal again; a surge of blood‑linked fury and anguish overwhelmed all reason.

"Brother, don't act rashly!" Wang Zhe sensed his intent and grabbed his arm.

"Brother, I can't hold back!" Wang Zhitao growled, his voice hoarse, "It's calling to me! That power… it's telling me to devour it!"

Saying that, he violently wrenched free of Wang Zhe's hand, stepped forward deliberately, and walked out of the jade slip's protective range.

"Zhitao!" Li Hu and Zhang Mei exclaimed in unison.

Almost the instant he left the protection, a massive, chaotic energy brimming with madness and destructive will surged toward Wang Zhitao like a shark drawn to the scent of blood.

"Aaaah—!"

Wang Zhitao threw his head back and let out a non‑human roar.

He wasn't torn apart by the energy; instead he became like a black hole. Beneath his skin, veins bulged like twisting earthworms, and then countless intricate, domineering black‑gold runes seeped out from under his skin, instantly covering his entire body.

"Devouring Origin Tyrant Body!"

He actively activated the technique!

Li Hu watched helplessly as the dissipating energy—even Wang Shan found it troublesome—was gulped down by Wang Zhitao like a whale swallowing water.

His body swelled at a visible pace, muscles knotting, bones emitting strained "crack" sounds. Black‑gold blood began to seep from his seven orifices, making him look like an over‑inflated balloon ready to burst.

"Brother!" Wang Zhe's eyes nearly burst, he wanted to rush forward, but Li Hu held him back tightly.

"Don't go! It wouldn't help even if you did!" Li Hu shouted, "This is his own trial!"

"But…"

"Trust the old master! Trust him!"

Wang Zhitao's consciousness had already sunk into chaos.

Pain!

Indescribable pain!

His body felt like it would burst, his soul like it was tossed into a meat grinder. Countless chaotic thoughts and mad howls echoed in his mind, seeking to utterly assimilate him into a mindless beast.

Is he going to die?

No!

He cannot die!

Grandfather is still fighting, brother is still watching him!

Just as his consciousness was about to be swallowed by darkness, a piece of information deeply buried in his bloodline, like lightning, tore through the darkness. That was a thought forcibly implanted into his mind by Wang Shan during the inheritance earlier.

A fragment of a principle concerning 'devouring' and 'reciprocal nourishment'.

Blocking is not as good as guiding!

If you can't digest it, blast it out!

Open — it — for — me!

Wang Zhitao stared wide-eyed, two beams of black-gold light like substance shooting from his eyes. He thrust his arms forward violently, striking an extremely bizarre pose.

All the runes within his body blazed to their utmost at this moment; the chaotic energy that had been crashing through his Meridians, almost tearing him apart, finally found an outlet.

— Humm —!

A thick, substantial black-gold column of light, condensed like substance, erupted violently from between his palms.

Wherever the column passed, space groaned under the strain. It lacked a world-shaking momentum, yet carried an overbearing aura that could annihilate everything.

The woman-shaped monster that had just pierced Wang Shan's shoulder blades with its spider legs hadn't even had time to react before being swept from head to toe by that beam of light.

No explosion, no screams.

It simply vanished into thin air, as if completely erased from this world, not a trace of energy left behind.

After the strike, the black-gold runes on Wang Zhitao's body quickly faded, his swollen body returning to normal. He fell to his knees with a 'thud', gasping heavily, his face as white as a corpse's, yet his eyes shone astonishingly bright.

Success……

He not only survived, but he also… turned those poisons into his own weapon!

The entire battlefield fell into a sudden silence because of that unexpected strike.

All the monsters, including Wang Shan who was locked in combat, paused for a moment.

Li Hu gaped, his mouth hanging open for a long while.

"I… I fuck…" he strained for a long time, and only managed to blurt out these two words: "What the hell kind of family education is this? Raising gu?"

Wang Zhize watched his brother kneeling on the ground, swaying on the verge of collapse, his eyes complex. There was worry, there was lingering fear, but more than that, there was a pride shared in honor.

One who devours all things, one who commands the principles.

Grandfather…… what exactly do you intend to raise us into, monsters?

Meanwhile, at the center of the battlefield, the giant beast Wang Shan slowly turned his head.

Its shoulder blades, pierced by the spider legs, were quickly healing; the two points of deep red light once again fell upon Wang Zhitao.

This time, the sense of scrutiny had greatly diminished.

In its place was a kind of…… acknowledgment.

A kind of beast king, baring its fangs in…… approval toward its finest offspring.