Chapter 252: Core Mutation

Since fully "digesting" those three Shadow Guards, this extra‑dimensional space formed from Grandpa Wang Shan's body has fallen into a strange silence.

Yes, it's silence, a feeling of satisfaction after having eaten and drunk enough.

Wang Zhitao, bored out of his mind, sat cross‑legged on a floating slab of obsidian, swinging his legs.

"Brother, when are we getting out? This place is safe, but staying too long gets stifling. Besides, Li Hu and Zhang Mei can't stay unconscious forever, can they?"

As he spoke, he subconsciously rubbed his belly.

After a massive battle and swallowing so much chaotic energy, he now feels hollow inside, as if he had starved for three days and three nights.

Wang Zhizhe did not answer immediately; he was staring intently at the warm Black Jade Slip in his palm.

The Jade Slip is the "remote control" of this space, and also the only link between him and his grandfather.

Just now, the Slip's temperature began rising abnormally, even becoming hot to the touch.

"Quiet," Wang Zhizhe's voice tightened, "something's off."

"Off? What's off?" Wang Zhitao sprang up from the obsidian, scanning the surroundings warily, "Could there be more enemies?"

"Not enemies," Wang Zhizhe shook his head, his expression growing more grave, "It's Grandpa… Grandpa seems… over‑stuffed."

The metaphor is odd, but it is the most fitting description.

In Wang Zhizhe's perception, the humanoid core of light and shadow that is the law incarnation of Wang Shan is now expanding wildly in an extremely unstable manner.

It feels like a balloon blown too fast and too hard, ready to burst with a "Bang" at any moment.

The law lines that compose the space have become a tangled mess, flickering chaotically, flashing on and off.

"Over‑stuffed?!" Wang Zhitao's eyes widened in disbelief. He hurried to Wang Zhizhe's side and looked toward the center of the space.

He saw the originally stable, gentle black‑gold light and shadow now raging and twisting violently. Its volume had multiplied several times, and something inside seemed to collide and roar, causing the outer wall of the light mass to bulge into uneven pouches.

Even more alarming, deep within the roiling light and shadow, a huge vague outline was slowly taking shape.

That outline… resembled an ancient colossal beast curled up.

"Damn, what the heck is that?" Wang Zhitao blurted out, "Grandpa's about to… transform?"

"He's remodeling this place," Wang Zhizhe's voice was hoarse from tension; he clenched the Jade Slip, trying to extract more detailed information, "He devoured the Shadow Guard's power and now wants to forcibly twist the enemy's destructive, killing laws into ones suitable for our cultivation and survival."

Wang Zhitao listened, stunned: "You mean… Grandpa wants to turn this trap into a… home?"

"Exactly." Wang Zhizhe nodded laboriously, "A nursery. An absolutely safe fortress. But the project is massive. He wants to build his house with the enemies' bricks, yet those bricks are laced with too many poisons and bombs. Now those things are fighting inside his body."

As soon as the words fell, the light and shadow at the center shuddered violently, emitting a deep, thunder‑like boom!

The entire extra‑dimensional space shook violently; the obsidian floor cracked open with bottomless fissures, and countless law fragments fell like glass shards from the air.

If the Core collapses, this space will cease to exist, and the two brothers, along with the unconscious Li Hu and Zhang Mei, will be swept into the spatial turbulence, their bones scattered!

"Brother! What do we do?!" Wang Zhitao panicked; this was a place Grandpa traded his life for, it must not be destroyed like this!

"Grandpa needs help!" Sweat beads dotted Wang Zhizhe's forehead as his mind raced, "He's now like a clumsy chef who's got a pile of poisonous ingredients and wants to prepare a full banquet. He needs someone to pick the poison out of the ingredients!"

"Pick the poison?" Wang Zhitao was startled, then his eyes lit up, "Poison? I'm familiar with that!"

To his Devouring Primordial Overlord Body, any curse or filthy energy is just a crisp "poison," isn't it?

"Brother, tell me where the poison is strongest!" Wang Zhitao slapped his chest; his bones rattled with a crackling burst, and the mysterious black totems on his skin seemed to come alive, flowing slowly.

"Are you mad?" Wang Zhizhe retorted instinctively, "That's not ordinary energy; it's a conflict at the level of law! Conceptual poison! If you swallow it, your spirit and soul will be polluted and torn!"

"That's still better than watching Grandpa get finished off!" Wang Zhitao grinned, showing a set of white teeth, his smile full of reckless, death‑defying madness, "Besides, my stomach has never had anything good. The more poisonous, the more nourishing!"

Seeing his brother's resolute stance, Wang Zhizhe fell silent.

He knew this was the only way.

It was a gamble, but also the only hope.

"Alright!" Wang Zhizhe no longer hesitated; he poured all his divine thought into the Jade Slip, enduring the tearing pain in his mind, forcibly stabilizing a portion of the chaotic law.

"Thirty zhang to the southwest, that bulging mass is the Termination law fighting the Withering law!"

"Directly above, that darkest fog is the Shadow Guard Captain's lingering resentment mixed with the residue of Void power!"

"And also…"

Each time Wang Zhizhe reported a coordinate, Wang Zhitao's figure turned into a black lightning bolt and surged instantly!

"I'm coming too!"

He opened his mouth wide and, aimed at the raging, drum‑like law conflict point, inhaled sharply!

"Gurgle!"

An indescribable torrent of terrifying power was forced into his body. In that instant, Wang Zhitao felt he was swallowing not energy but countless knives slashing each other. His Meridians, organs, even his soul were instantly riddled with countless wounds.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of black blood spurted out, but the excitement on his face grew even brighter.

"Nice!"

The Devouring Primordial Overlord Body ran at full power, the totems on his skin burst into dazzling light. Those raging, conflicting law forces were dragged into his "furnace," crushed, broken down, and refined!

Then, the purest, most primal life‑source energy flowed slowly from his mouth like a warm stream, merging into the massive central light and shadow.

With this pure energy supplement, the law light and shadow formed by Wang Shan steadied noticeably, and the violent expansion slowed.

"Effective!" Wang Zhizhe's spirit surged, and he immediately gave the next coordinate, "Left‑front! That's the remnants of Isolation and Forgetting laws!"

"Coming!"

Wang Zhitao rushed forward again, like an tireless scavenger, the craziest waste‑processing plant.

He dove repeatedly into the cores of the most dangerous energy storms.

He swallowed the lethal "law toxins" into his belly time after time.

Time after time, on the brink of collapse, he refined them and fed the purified essence back to his grandfather.

In this peculiar "rescue," the two brothers and Grandpa's soul formed a brand‑new, more perfect cycle.

Wang Zhitao is the "filter," responsible for handling all harmful substances.

Wang Zhize is the "dispatcher", responsible for directing and stabilizing the overall situation.

And Grandfather Wang Shan is the ultimate "builder".

With the help of his two grandsons, Wang Shan finally can let loose, using the purified "building materials" to freely wield his will in this space.

Gradually, the tremors of the space completely subsided.

The fissures that had opened were filled with a newborn, life‑filled energy.

In the air, a refreshing fragrance began to spread. On the ground, strange plants that sparkle with starlight broke through the soil, gently swaying.

The central mass of light and shadow was no longer violent; it became exceedingly dense and profound. The outline of the giant beast within also fully stabilized, as if it were asleep, yet each breath made the space's laws more harmonious and powerful.

"Whew..." Wang Zhitao plopped onto the ground, panting heavily; he felt as if he were being emptied, yet every cell in his body cheered.

After this extreme devouring, his Devouring Primordial Overlord Body seemed to undergo a new transformation.

Wang Zhize slowly set down the jade tablet in his hand, feeling the newly refreshed space, a hint of moisture flashing in his eyes.

He gently stroked the sprout of grass that had just grown at his feet; on its leaves, delicate law patterns had naturally formed.

"Brother, how is it?" Wang Zhitao asked weakly.

"It succeeded." Wang Zhize said softly, his voice trembling with endless pride.

"Grandfather... turned this place into a true prototype of a divine kingdom."

"From today on, this is our home."