Chapter 290: Prey Backlash

Above the imperial palace walls, Wang Zhize's vision did not linger on the brilliantly lit city below, but had already pierced through billions of miles of space, descending onto the ancient mountain range called the Guiyuan Sect.

Through the data stream relayed by Zhang Mei, that void‑polluted artifact spirit, that altar that had gathered ten thousand years of despair, and even its tangled connections with the mountain's Dragon Vein were parsed and modeled in his "Newborn Realm", becoming a three‑dimensional diagram precise down to the level of laws.

"Connected to the Earth Vein, forming symbiosis… forcibly destroying it would indeed trigger an earthquake spanning thousands of miles, even causing this Dragon Vein to wither completely."

Wang Zhize's will whispered within his own world, its voice unmoving.

To others it would be a case of "shooting the mouse and fearing the trap", but to him it simply made the "surgery" a bit more interesting.

A tumor anchored to the world's body requires precise severing of all the vessels that nourish it before it can be perfectly excised.

"It is not indestructible."

A cold thought crossed space and rang directly in Li Hu's and Zhang Mei's minds.

"It merely needs a different mode of 'death'."

"Li Hu, Zhang Mei."

"Present!" The two perked up mentally and replied respectfully.

"Your mission is to sever all law‑links between it and this Dragon Vein. I want it turned into an isolated island."

Wang Zhize's command was clear and concise.

"Then, I will have Zhitao go and 'reclaim' it."

Reclaim.

A cold and precise word.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei instantly grasped Wang Zhize's intention. The gentleman was not aiming to eliminate the threat, but to turn it into another… source of nourishment.

"Acknowledged!"

The two ceased concealment, their forms like twin phantoms, once again slipping through the camouflage of the Suotian Jiedi Formation and slipping into the lifeless valley.

Within their "Source Code" vision, Guiyuan Sect's Dragon Vein resembled a sleeping colossal dragon of light, spanning the deep underground.

And that black Altar was a black poisonous barb lodged in the dragon's heart, countless invisible venomous threads extending from the barb, piercing deep into the light dragon's flesh, greedily siphoning its power.

"Found them: 3,721 connection nodes, of which 300 are Core nodes," Zhang Mei's voice rang through the mental link, as calmly as if reading a technical report.

"Sir, remote permissions have been granted."

"Approved."

Wang…Zhize's will descended, a massive data flow flooding the two minds, the decryption methods, severing order, and energy countermeasure plans for the over three thousand nodes laid out crystal‑clear.

"Begin."

Li Hu and Zhang Mei exchanged a glance and extended their hands simultaneously.

At their fingertips there was no dazzling light, only a deep gray that seemed capable of devouring all illumination.

It was the Void Law redefined by Wang Zhize.

【Definition: Law Link A-001 is an invalid connection.】

A thought from Zhang Mei, like an intangible pair of scissors, precisely cut the thickest black thread among them.

Buzz—!

Deep underground, the head‑sized black crystal stone shuddered violently.

The corrosive artifact spirit that had slumbered for countless ten‑thousands of years awoke instantly!

It felt excruciating pain!

A pain from the source, as if its soul were being torn apart piece by piece!

"Who—!"

A wave of vengeful, maddening, ultimate chaos burst explosively through the valley.

Rumble—!

The entire Forbidden Land Array was fully activated, the ground fissured, and viscous, swamp‑like black vapors spewed forth.

Within the black vapors, monsters cobbled together from bones, grudges and corrupted spirit energy roared as they crawled out.

Their forms were bizarre: some resembled skinned behemoths, others were grotesque flesh balls formed from countless pained human faces.

In Li Hu and Zhang Mei's view, these monsters were clusters of virus code bearing attributes like 'Pollution', 'Chaos', and 'Destruction', raging toward them.

"Trivial tricks."

Li Hu snorted coldly, advancing rather than retreating.

He used no technique, merely raising his eyes to sweep over the surging tide of monsters.

【Definition: Your existence, based on the combination of 'Resentful Thought' and 'Void Pollution', forms an unstable structure that should… collapse.】

A thought.

Just a thought.

Dozens of evil beings at the forefront suddenly stiffened without warning.

In the next instant, they became like deleted garbled code; from body structure to energy Core, logic scrambled, self‑destructing, and finally with a "pop" they exploded into the purest wraith of resentment and void energy, dissipating into the air.

In a single thought, the entire field was cleared.

This is the domineering power of 'Law‑Breaking'!

"Aaa—!"

The artifact spirit emitted an even crazier roar, feeling fear.

These two were neither cultivators nor any kind of enemy it recognized!

They… are rewriting the rules!

It frantically drove the Altar, attempting to send a distress signal to the great entity in the distant void.

However, it desparately discovered that an invisible, higher‑dimensional barrier had long shrouded the area.

Wang Zhize had already defined this place before issuing the order — 【Communication Island that bans all external information】.

Here is his hunting ground.

Prey have no right to call for hunting aid.

Just as Li Hu and Zhang Mei methodically "cut" each strand of the law threads, completely isolating that crystal.

A figure, without any warning, appeared atop the Altar.

It was a boy who seemed harmless to both people and beasts.

It was Wang Zhitao.

He didn't even "walk" in; he was like a shadow that had long existed there, simply standing upright from the darkness.

He curiously examined the violently trembling black crystal, smacked his lips, and his face showed an unabashed yearning as if seeing a delicacy.

"You… what are you?!"

The Corrosive artifact spirit's frantic intent, upon touching Wang Zhitao, turned into extreme terror.

From this boy, it sensed a kind of trembling soul—same origin yet of a higher rank—its very "devouring" nature!

It was like a mouse encountering a cat.

No, it was encountering a dragon!

"Good stuff."

Wang Zhitao grinned broadly, his smile radiant, yet it made the artifact spirit feel the arrival of the apocalypse.

He opened his mouth.

His mouth didn't become huge, but in the artifact spirit's perception, behind that mouth lay a black hole linking endless hunger with the ultimate ruin!

"No—!"

Amid the harrowing, desperate scream, Wang Zhitao took a bite.

Crunch!

Crisp as if crushing a candy bean.

That indestructible black crystal, bearing ten thousand years of contamination, along with the frantically struggling artifact spirit inside, was wholly swallowed into his belly.

Wang Zhitao hiccuped.

A strand of ultra‑pure, higher‑dimensional void energy drifted out from his mouth corner.

He closed his eyes, as if savoring.

Moments later, he opened his eyes, and within his pure devouring aura, there was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of the ancient void and deathly silence belonging to a "Void Walker".

He, through this devouring, successfully parsed and simulated the "enemy's" aura.

Meanwhile, Li Hu and Zhang Mei also completed the final purification.

They used the newly born "Definition" law to guide pure heaven‑and‑earth spiritual Qi, re‑threading and repairing the polluted dragon vein, causing it to radiate a brilliance brighter than before.

The spiritual Qi concentration of the Return Origin Sect, at this moment, rose instead of falling.

The restricted area returned to calm, as if nothing had occurred.

…

Imperial City.

Wang Zhize's consciousness returned to his body.

Yet there was no joy on his face.

Through the link with Wang Zhitao, he "saw" the massive memory fragments the artifact spirit leaked before being fully digested.

It was a scene that even made his heart race.

Against the black cosmic backdrop, one world after another flickered with a faint glow, arrayed like stars.

And above many worlds, there existed one or several "black spots" similar to the Return Origin Sect's restricted area.

These black spots, these "lurking shadows", linked to each other via invisible, cross‑dimensional void threads, eventually merging into an endless dark meganet.

At the center of the meganet was an indescribable massive shadow, whose mere outline could shatter a deity's soul.

It was sleeping.

Yet the whole net pulsed with its breathing.

"So… this is your true face."

Wang Zhize lifted his head, gazing at the deep night sky, a previously unseen grim curve tugging at his mouth corner.

"A Void Net that spans all heavens and myriad realms…"

A single‑world cleansing is no longer enough.

What he intends to do is overturn the entire table.