The sky had been his domain for so long that the feeling of solid ground beneath him was almost a foreign concept. Luo Zhen streaked across the heavens, finally descending to the shores of a vast lake and setting down on the soil of the Eastern Yue Kingdom. As his wings folded back into his form, a wave of nostalgia hit him.
It had been too long. There was an undeniable sense of security, of reality, that came from feeling the unyielding earth beneath him.
A flicker of movement at the edge of his senses made him turn. Far in the distance, a pack of sleek demon wolves had been watching him, their eyes fixed on his form. The moment his gaze met theirs, they flinched as if struck and scrambled away in a panic.
Normally, wolves were just part of the landscape. But these were different.
Wait a second, he thought, his senses sharpening. That scent… that's the stench of Gui Sha Mountain.
The realization clicked into place. They were the Ghost-Headed Tiger's scouts. Their panicked retreat wasn't just fear; they were running to their master. He briefly wondered how they'd recognized him. His scales, once the color of midnight, now shimmered with the deep luster of dark gold. It was a complete transformation.
He shrugged the thought off. It didn't matter. The Ghost-Headed Tiger was yesterday's news, a threat that no longer registered.
Finding a patch of clear sunlight, Luo Zhen coiled his immense body and settled in to bask. The warmth felt incredible, spilling over his dark gold scales and refracting into a thousand points of brilliant light. Each palm-sized scale glittered, making him look less like a creature of flesh and blood and more like a colossal serpent forged from pure, living gold. He drifted in that blissful, sun-drenched state between wakefulness and sleep.
Time slipped by, measured only by the slow crawl of the sun. Then, a sudden spike of demonic energy shattered the peace.
Luo Zhen's head snapped up. Thundering towards him was the massive, hulking form of the Ghost-Headed Tiger, flanked by the very same wolves from before. Just as he'd figured, they'd run straight to their boss.
Luo Zhen flicked his forked tongue, his body tensing into a coiled spring of readiness.
"Where is this great serpent you were talking about?" the tiger growled at his minions, his gaze sweeping the area with confusion.
"Right there, my lord!" one of the wolves yelped, pointing a claw at Luo Zhen.
The tiger followed his gaze and froze. "You idiots, that's not him. The snake I'm after is black. This one is… wait a minute…" His voice died in his throat. The serpent's appearance was all wrong, but that aura… that chilling, unforgettable aura was identical.
While the tiger stood there, caught between confusion and dawning horror, Luo Zhen spoke, his voice a low, rumbling hum.
"What's the matter, Ghost-Headed Tiger? You don't recognize me?"
"Who are you?" the tiger demanded, startled. "Should I?"
"Don't play dumb," Luo Zhen said, a smirk in his tone. "I killed your oversized chicken of a messenger. You and those human fighters hunted me, chased me right into Blackwater Lake. Ringing any bells?"
"You… you're the black serpent!" the tiger finally roared, the realization hitting him like a physical blow. "What happened to you?!"
"Let's just say I had a fortunate encounter in the lake," Luo Zhen said coolly.
"I don't give a damn about your good fortune!" the tiger snarled, his face twisting into a mask of pure rage. "If you'd stayed cowering in that lake, I couldn't have touched you. But you were arrogant enough to come back out. You just signed your own death warrant!"
With a roar, the tiger opened its massive jaws, preparing to unleash its signature beast fire, the Gray Ghost Fire.
But it was too late.
In that instant, an overwhelming wave of demonic power erupted from Luo Zhen. It was a crushing, physical force that rolled across the landscape, suffocating everything in its path.
The tiger's snarl froze on its face, replaced by sheer, abject terror.
"You… you're in the Heaven Profound Realm!?" he stammered, his voice trembling.
"That's right," Luo Zhen said, a wide, predatory grin spreading across his face. "I leveled up."
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, the Ghost-Headed Tiger did the only thing he could. He turned and ran, scrambling desperately back toward the safety of his mountain. There was no other choice. Last time they fought, Luo Zhen had been a mere Earth Profound cultivator, and the tiger had only barely managed to gain the upper hand through sheer realm suppression. Now, they were equals. And on a level playing field, the tiger knew he stood no chance. In fact, he wouldn't just lose—he would die. He hadn't forgotten the terrifying way Luo Zhen's beast fire had smothered his own.
The tiger's retreat was so sudden that his wolf underlings were left standing dumbfounded.
"Haha!" Luo Zhen's laugh boomed. He spat a few casual fireballs, turning the stunned wolves to ash, then unfurled his wings and shot after the fleeing tiger.
The Ghost-Headed Tiger was just a powerful beast. Luo Zhen was a pinnacle of evolution, a mutated spirit species. His superior bloodline sang in his veins, and within moments, he had closed the distance.
He opened his mouth and unleashed the Thunder Lotus Fire. It didn't emerge as a simple flame but as a vast, crackling web of pure lightning that descended upon the tiger.
Screaming in fear, the tiger spat out his Gray Ghost Fire in a desperate counterattack. But the moment the sickly gray flame touched the electric net, it was like a mouse facing a lion. It sputtered, collapsed, and was utterly extinguished.
The net of lightning enveloped the Ghost-Headed Tiger.
A final, blood-curdling shriek echoed across the plains, and then there was silence. In seconds, the mighty beast was reduced to a pile of smoldering ash. All that remained on the ground was a single, flickering ember of the Gray Ghost Fire.
A familiar, dispassionate voice echoed in his mind.
You have slain the Master of Gui Sha Mountain, the Ghost-Headed Tiger. +3000 EXP.
Luo Zhen regarded the lone flame. "System," he projected, "the Gray Ghost Fire is a beast fire. Can my Thunder Lotus Fire devour it?"
Affirmative. However, the residual amount is insufficient in quantity and quality to trigger an evolution of your beast fire. It is recommended that you proceed to Gui Sha Mountain. A greater source of Gray Ghost Fire can be found beneath its earth veins.
"Alright then. New plan it is."
He commanded his Thunder Lotus Fire to absorb the last remnant of the tiger's power before heading for the mountain. He'd known about the energy source beneath Gui Sha Mountain for a while; his internal map had always pointed it out. The fire was a natural phenomenon, a ghostly flame born from concentrated Yin energy. The tiger, coveting its power, had spent a lifetime painstakingly refining a small piece of it for itself.
With its master dead, Gui Sha Mountain was a hollow threat. When Luo Zhen arrived and unleashed the full, terrifying might of his Heaven Profound aura, the mountain's remaining demons bowed in immediate submission. For them, a new boss was just another Tuesday.
With the mountain now his, Luo Zhen made his way to a massive canyon on its far side. It was a thousand-meter-long gaping wound in the earth, constantly bleeding a thick, chilling Yin energy into the air—the very source of the mountain's name.
He peered over the edge. The canyon was not just wide, but impossibly deep. And far below, as far as he could see, the entire chasm was filled with a raging river of ethereal gray flame.
The Gray Ghost Fire. All of it.
Spreading his wings, Luo Zhen dove into the abyss. The space was more than large enough to accommodate his colossal frame as he descended, finally halting his dive just above the sea of fire.
Host, the Devour function is now available.
Luo Zhen opened his maw and activated the ability.
Instantly, an immense vortex of raw power erupted from his throat. His mouth became a singularity, a black hole pulling at the very fabric of the canyon. The sea of Gray Ghost Fire below responded, surging upwards in a massive, roaring torrent and funneling directly into his body.
It was an act that would have meant instant immolation for any other creature. To swallow a beast fire of this magnitude was suicide. But Luo Zhen felt no fear. Protected by the system, the torrent of ghostly flame was instantly and safely merged with his own Thunder Lotus Fire as soon as it entered him.
The process was immense. Even with his terrifyingly efficient devouring speed, it took a full ten minutes to drain the entire canyon. When the last flicker of gray flame vanished into his mouth, he let out a resounding, satisfied burp.
If the Ghost-Headed Tiger could have witnessed this, his spirit would have shattered. He had risked death and spent decades of his life to tame a mere spark of this power. Luo Zhen had consumed it all in ten minutes.
You have devoured a massive quantity of Gray Ghost Fire.
Synthesize with Thunder Lotus Fire?
"Yes," Luo Zhen sent back, his mind buzzing with anticipation.
Synthesis in progress…
Synthesis complete!
Congratulations! You have obtained: Skull Ghost Fire (Fifth-Order Beast Fire)!
Skull Ghost Fire? He opened his mouth, and a torrent of brilliant, incandescent white flame poured out, coalescing before him into the shape of a house-sized, roaring skull made of pure energy.
"Well, it certainly looks the part," he mused. "And there's so much more of it."
He knew that the true strength of a beast fire lay in its quality—its rank. But quantity was a brutal weapon of its own. He remembered his first fight with the tiger. His Red Lotus Fire was second-order, superior to the tiger's first-order flame. But he had so little of it. The tiger could have simply overwhelmed him through attrition, sacrificing his weaker flames to exhaust Luo Zhen's limited supply. It was the classic battle of quality versus quantity.
Now, he had both.
Satisfied, he inhaled, drawing the massive Skull Ghost Fire back into his core. It was a fifth-order flame, leagues beyond his old Thunder Lotus Fire.
Just then, the system's voice returned, but this time it was different. There was an unfamiliar urgency, an… emotion.
Host! Travel three hundred li to the east! See if you can find a large, natural cavern!
A cavern? The request was strange, but he complied, taking to the sky. He covered the distance in no time and, sure enough, found a gaping pit plunging deep into the earth, pulsing with a strange, powerful energy.
The voice in his head, usually so cold and mechanical, suddenly sounded… excited.
It's the power of the Earth's veins! Host, you must enter the cavern! I need to absorb it!
Luo Zhen was stunned. He'd never heard the system sound like this. It was almost… alive. It had an awareness.
Host, please, you must go down there! I need the energy to evolve! The system pleaded, its tone frantic. My evolution will unlock new functions, which will be incredibly beneficial for you!
"Alright," Luo Zhen replied after a moment's thought. "I'll go down and help you absorb the energy." He paused, adding a caveat. "We're tied together, you and I. I'm trusting you're not going to pull anything funny."
I would never harm you! I promise!
Hearing the system use the word "I" again sent a chill through him. It was no longer a tool. It was an entity with secrets of its own.
He plunged into the cavern. It was like a well to the center of the world, deep and dark. He descended for what felt like an eternity—one thousand meters, two, three… finally stopping after five thousand meters at the very bottom. The heat was intense, but the energy of the earth's veins was thick enough to taste.
Host, help me devour the energy here, the system said, buzzing with excitement.
"How?"
I need to borrow your Devour ability. Just activate it, and I'll handle the rest.
"Okay. Let's try it."
Luo Zhen opened his mouth and engaged the skill. The familiar, crushing suction force materialized, pulling the rich energy from the surrounding rock and air into his throat. But this time, he didn't absorb it. He could feel the power entering his mouth and then simply… vanishing. The system was siphoning it away directly.
For two solid days, he remained at the bottom of the world, a living conduit for the planet's raw power.
Finally, when the last dregs of energy were gone, the system's voice returned, bright and joyful.
Host, I can't thank you enough! I've absorbed a tremendous amount of power. I need to go dormant for three to five days to process it. When I wake up… my evolution will be complete!