Chapter 980

In the private room.

Su Xiao and Bubu Wang sat on the bed; the bed’s four legs had vanished, yet the man and the dog sat calmly, gazing straight ahead.

Amm sat opposite Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, his two large hands constantly shoveling various foods into his mouth, like a starving ghost reborn.

Amm’s offensive power wasn’t particularly strong, but unquestionably, his survivability and control were excellent—any attack carried a frost effect that would torment enemies into unbearable agony; once entangled by Amm, the slowing effect never ceased, even if forcibly removed, for his frost ability had no cooldown—Amm’s casual punch would immediately reapply the frost effect.

No matter how you looked at it, Amm was a huge asset in battle, but this guy was an insatiable eater—one meal consumed nearly 180 Park Coins. What did 180 Park Coins’ worth of ordinary food mean? If loaded onto trucks, it would fill at least two, with room to spare.

That was Amm’s single meal portion—and the primary reason he could survive so long. Combat-oriented alchemical beings, even high-grade ones, were lucky to last 50 to 100 days, yet Amm could endure 256 days. As for alchemical beings like Wolf Steward that could survive for centuries, Su Xiao couldn’t yet create such a being—perhaps someday he might.

“Amm, have you eaten enough?”

Su Xiao sat on the bed; he had given up on buying a new one, even considered just sleeping on a mattress.

“Burp～”

Amm let out a satisfied burp and grinned foolishly.

“I’m only half full.”

Amm still seemed unsatisfied. Su Xiao turned to Bubu Wang, who instantly shrank back, sensing trouble.

“Bubu Wang, from now on, you control him in battle—and you’re responsible for his food.”

Bubu Wang’s expression said, “I knew it.” He sighed, silently mourning his small savings.

Bubu Wang barked and walked out of the private room; Amm quickly rose and followed, becoming a true lapdog. Bubu was taking Amm out to have fun—and to solve his hunger problem. You couldn’t let Amm fight on an empty stomach. Once they entered the derivative world, Amm’s food supply would be easier—after all, as Su Xiao’s alchemical being, how could he not inherit his creator’s finest tradition? Theft.

Don’t be fooled by Amm’s current simple, honest appearance—he was Su Xiao’s alchemical being, and Su Xiao was his creator; his nature inevitably bore Su Xiao’s influence. In future battles, Amm might reveal another side: using his sharp ox horns to pierce enemies, then mercilessly trampling them until they were crushed.

After Bubu Wang and Amm left, Su Xiao pulled out the Rebirth Dragon’s Essence. His current state was excellent—he should have no problem consuming it.

The core of Devour within Su Xiao gradually awakened; blue smoke curled around his left arm, coiling into the shape of a skull that grinned at him with malice—Su Xiao had deliberately shaped it this way.

He had developed this skull-forming technique through prolonged experimentation—it had no offensive or defensive power, serving only as a warning.

When Su Xiao used the Devour core, the skull would change: the larger it grew, the greater his risk of becoming a Blade Demon.

Currently, the skull was only fist-sized, indicating normalcy; when it reached basketball size, Su Xiao faced a high probability of becoming a Blade Demon; when it reached basin size, he must not use the Devour core to enhance Qinggangying—otherwise, he had over an 80% chance of losing his sanity and becoming a Blade Demon.

The importance of this warning skull needed no explanation—this ability drastically reduced Su Xiao’s chance of becoming a Blade Demon.

The blue smoke on Su Xiao’s arm enveloped the Rebirth Dragon’s Essence; in an instant, a vast stream of pure life energy was drained from the essence and surged into Su Xiao, rushing straight toward the Devour core.

The Devour core, located near Su Xiao’s heart, activated upon absorbing this massive influx of life energy, purifying and transforming it—the originally emerald-green life energy became colorless.

The colorless energy surged from the Devour core; Su Xiao’s Qinggangying energy surged forward like ravenous wolves, devouring it whole.

Su Xiao’s Qinggangying was already at Lv.30. After absorbing the colorless energy, its total quantity didn’t change—Qinggangying’s total capacity depended on his mana pool; the more mana he had, the more Qinggangying energy he could convert.

What changed was the quality: it became purer, more aggressive.

Pure life energy continuously poured from the Rebirth Dragon’s Essence; the Devour core accepted it all, devouring every bit, and Qinggangying’s level began rising rapidly.

[Due to absorption of energy transformed by the Devour core, Qinggangying level increased.]

[Qinggangying has risen to Lv.31.]

[Qinggangying has risen to Lv.32.]

[Qinggangying has risen to Lv.33.]

…

Qinggangying, once extremely difficult to level up, now surged three levels in succession—and the momentum showed no sign of slowing.

As the Devour core devoured energy rapidly, blue smoke rose from Su Xiao’s arm, forming a spectral figure above his head—a figure clad in armor, eyes blazing red, a long blade strapped at his waist.

“Choose me…”

The specter drifted closer to Su Xiao below—then BOOM—it was repelled, blue smoke surging violently.

The specter had no consciousness, no life—it was merely pure energy.

Su Xiao, seated cross-legged, turned his head toward the blue specter. He remained calm—if his will held firm, the specter could not touch him.

“Choose me…”

The specter approached again. Su Xiao ignored it. If the specter merged into him, he would become a Blade Demon immediately.

A thought arose in Su Xiao’s mind: what if the specter merged into Zhanlongshan instead? Blade Demons and the Annihilation Shadow shared the same origin—it should cause no issue.

But Zhanlongshan was still too weak to contain the specter. Su Xiao could only temporarily abandon the idea.

Su Xiao didn’t know that every Annihilation Shadow possessing the Devour core had attempted this—success brought astonishing rewards.

The Annihilation Shadows were nearly extinct; no one could guide Su Xiao. The only one who could guide him was a remnant soul—and they’d met only a few times, each encounter brief.

Qinggangying energy surged rapidly; the sudden increase caused Su Xiao’s body to ache with swelling pain—his body adapting to the strengthened Qinggangying.

As the Devour process continued, Su Xiao closely monitored the smoke skull beside him—it had already grown a full circle larger than a basketball, on the verge of reaching basin size.

Once the smoke skull reached basin size, Su Xiao would gradually descend into madness, ultimately becoming a Blade Demon.