Chapter 248: The End of the Shadow Guard

Wang Zhize's voice was very calm, so calm it sounded like he was announcing an inconsequential trivial matter.

"Alright, warm‑up's over. Now it's time to talk about the 'Shadow' behind you and the secret of the Yuan‑devouring Overlord Body."

In the cage, the Shadow Guard captain's already bloodless face twitched sharply.

He stared at the two reborn youths before him—one like an embodiment of a law, whose words obeyed the rule; the other like an ancient feral beast cloaked in human skin, capable of chewing energy as a snack.

Fear? No, this has already surpassed fear.

It's a sense of helplessness that wells up from the depths of the soul when confronting the unknown, an incomprehensible rule.

"Brother, why waste words on him? Just beat him up and get everything!" Wang Zhitao squeezed his fist, his knuckles crackling with a series of crisp snaps.

He now felt he could punch through a mountain with one blow, and had no patience for this leisurely interrogation.

"Beat him up?" Wang Zhize glanced at him. "That's too cheap. Moreover, if you accidentally damage his brain, you won't be able to extract what's inside."

"Oh? Like copying files on a computer back then?" Wang Zhitao scratched his head; the black‑gold tattoo on his body flowed with a faint glow, as if it were alive.

"More or less." Wang Zhize's gaze returned to the Shadow Guard captain. "Except my 'copy‑paste' process might not be very friendly."

The Shadow Guard captain's heart sank heavily. He understood. The other party despised traditional interrogation methods and intended to use that incomprehensible power to directly "read" information from his soul.

"You… you dare not!" he let out a hoarse roar, forcibly summoning the last shred of dignity and will. "Members of the Shadow have Seals embedded in our spirits! If anyone tries to forcibly harvest our souls, we will scatter to pieces, and you will get nothing!"

That was his final trump card, also the life‑preserving token shared by all top‑tier organization members.

"Seal?" Wang Zhize's face showed, for the first time, an expression that could be called a "smile," though it held no warmth. "Here, I am the Seal. The thing you mentioned is now under my control."

As soon as the words finished, he raised his hand and made a vague grab toward the Shadow Guard captain.

"Ah—!"

The Shadow Guard captain let out a scream that was not human, curling into a ball and trembling violently. He felt his mind as if it were forced into a high‑speed blender; countless images, thoughts, and memories were shredded into fragments by an irresistible force.

The spirit‑Seal he had boasted about, before that power, was like a thin sheet of paper—unable even a moment's resistance—easily torn, analyzed, and reassembled.

"So that's it, the 'Shadow'… a clandestine faction attached to an ancient dynasty, specializing in matters that must stay hidden." Wang Zhize closed his eyes, as if reading a cryptic book, murmuring, "They're hunting us because the bloodline of the Yuan‑devouring Overlord Body is the main ingredient for a certain powerful figure's Longevity Dao Pill? Ha, what a grand scheme."

Wang Zhitao, standing nearby, stared in amazement: "Brother, you… you already know all this?"

"No, it's still not detailed enough." Wang Zhize opened his eyes; deep within his pupils, countless twisted runes whirled rapidly. "His clearance is too low; many Core secrets would be automatically destroyed by his spirit Seal. But that's fine—just a few pieces missing from the puzzle, I'll fill them in myself."

He looked toward the other two unconscious Shadow Guards in the cage.

"Your turn."

Without any extra movement, Wang Zhize acted with a single thought.

The Shadow Guard whose body had been half‑swallowed by rock suddenly began to glow—not with life's light, but with a mournful wail emitted by matter as its energy was rapidly siphoned away.

The other Shadow Guard, whose body twisted like a rope, started to disintegrate from the inside out. His bones and flesh silently broke down into primal energy particles, like a handful of sand blown apart by wind.

"No! Stop!" the Shadow Guard captain shouted, his eyes bulging. He watched his comrades helplessly, unable to struggle, as they were "recycled" like fuel.

"Don't rush; you'll be next soon." Wang Zhize's voice remained utterly flat.

Two massive torrents of energy were forcibly drawn from the bodies of those two Shadow Guards and converged in the air. One stream was chaotic and tangled, saturated with the aura of death and resentment; the other was comparatively pure, the very source of their lifelong cultivated magical power.

Wang Zhitao stared at the energy cluster, instinctively licking his lips as his stomach let out an untimely "gurgle."

"Brother, can this… be eaten?"

"The chaotic portion is yours as a snack. Keep the pure part; I have use for it." Wang Zhize succinctly allocated the spoils.

"Got it!"

Wang Zhitao grinned, opened his mouth, and inhaled the chaotic energy in one swift gulp.

Huff—

That mass of negative energy, capable of causing any Golden Core stage cultivator to explode and die, swirled like a gray tornado, and he swallowed it whole in a single bite.

"Burp!" Wang Zhitao let out a satisfied belch, smacking his lips. "Pfft pfft pfft, why does the energy from those two taste so sour? It's even a bit eye‑burning."

The Shadow Guard captain watched the scene and completely collapsed.

Devil! These two are complete devils!

They not only kill people, they also eat them clean, leaving not even bone fragments, and even complain if the "taste" isn't right!

"Your turn." Wang Zhize's gaze finally locked entirely onto the Shadow Guard captain.

"I'll fight you!" the Shadow Guard captain, in utter desperation, triggered his final madness. The Golden Core within his body began to expand uncontrollably, radiating a destructive aura.

He intended to self‑detonate! Even if it meant his own death, he'd drag those two monsters with him!

Yet the cataclysmic explosion he expected never occurred.

At the moment his Golden Core reached its limit, countless fine, twisted black runes suddenly surfaced on its exterior. Those runes resembled chains, tightly binding the energy about to erupt.

"I told you, here I am the rule," Wang Zhize said calmly. "I said, no explosion, and it cannot explode."

The last hint of color vanished from the Shadow Guard captain's face. He could feel his Golden Core being forcibly "digested" by an invisible force, its energy being drawn away strand by strand.

That feeling was more terrifying than death.

He was like a deflating rubber ball, his proud cultivation draining rapidly. His body began to turn transparent, starting from his feet and spreading upward, turning into the purest energy light spots.

He knew his end had arrived.

In the instant before his consciousness fully dissipated, he saw Wang Zhize channel the pure magical power he had extracted from his comrades into that energy cage. The cage, originally meant only for confinement, became more solid and its rule more stable after the energy infusion.

He suddenly understood.

This cage, no, this entire space, was the true Yuan‑devouring Overlord Body. It required energy to sustain and grow, and these invaders were the first offered "delicious feast."

From start to finish, they were never hunters.

They were merely a bunch of clueless beings who trespassed into the realm of gods, ultimately becoming fodder… food.

As the Shadow Guard captain's final fragment of consciousness faded, his body completely turned into countless light spots that Wang Zhitao inhaled in one gulp.

"Huh… the taste this time is decent, the energy is plenty," Wang Zhitao patted his belly, a satisfied grin on his face.

The entire space returned to silence.

Except for the reinforced, empty cage, it was as if nothing had happened.

Wang Zhize looked at the prison cage, silent for a moment. He brushed the air beside him, as if he could feel his grandfather's gentle yet firm will.

"Brother, what shall we… do next?" Wang Zhitao put away his playful grin, his expression turning solemn.

They avenged their foe and gained power. But they also learned that outside, a massive organization called "Shadow" and an unnamed "big figure" were eyeing them like a piece of fat meat.

Wang Zhize turned, looking at his younger brother, at the overtly dominant black‑gold totem on his body, and then at his own eyes that could discern the laws.

"Next?"

A cold curve lifted at the corner of his mouth.

"Of course… let this world also taste the flavor of the Wang Family."