In a secluded place where the miasma was least. Two silhouettes sat next to each other and meditated.
They were Xie Qing and Aria.
Xie Qing opened his eyes and stood up, stretching. He looked at Aria, beside whom magical particles of light were wavering.
She was one step away from the tide. Xie Qing smiled and activated the Devouring, absorbing the surrounding miasma.
He recycled it and, after a few machinations, redirected the flow of energy into Aria's body.
Seeing the particles of light intensified, Xie Qing hummed proudly. After learning about the ability to transfer energy, he wanted to help Aria break through.
After all, if Aria was stronger, so was Xie Qing.
While Aria was breaking through, Xie Qing walked around in a circle and came back. By then, Aria had long since finished her breakthrough and was looking at him with her arms crossed.
Xie Qing smiled and walked over to her, then reached into his arms and kissed her deeply.
"Don't even think I'll forgive you." Aria hummed and looked away, but there was a blush on her cheeks.
"Yes, yes." Xie Qing smiled and stroked her back.
After a few seconds, they separated and began their journey in search of demons. Unfortunately, no strong creatures came across.
Xie Qing blew up the demon's head and devoured it with Devouring, but frowned afterwards. He checked his body once more and wrinkled his nose.
"Is something wrong?" Aria, noticing the look on his face, asked worriedly.
"It's nothing, I just don't get the benefit of absorbing them anymore. Not even a hint."
Xie Qing took a deep breath. It just meant that his body needed something better than inferior demons and demons.
Thinking of Pandora's Box, Xie Qing was slightly tempted, but he quickly came to his senses. It was too dangerous to even open it now.
Xie Qing stopped and looked ahead. His gaze pierced the miasma and he saw someone very familiar.
Ralph.
Something was wrong with him, however. When Ralph noticed Xie Qing's gaze, he turned and smirked.
Then Xie Qing saw that Ralph had changed. His face turned pale, his eyes turned black, and his hair turned gray.
But most importantly, his wings had become like crows' wings. Xie Qing squinted, but Ralph had already disappeared from that place.
[Warning.]
Vshuuuu!
Xie Qing opened his eyes and summoned the Phantom Hellblade from the air. He blocked the fist flying at him, but a second later his defense was broken!
BOOM!
"Xie Qing!" Aria shouted in horror.
The big sword was flung away, and so was Xie Qing. He flew through the air with a hole in his chest. Surprisingly, however, he was alive.
[A creature has been detected wanting to harm the user. System restrictions removed.]
Suddenly his eyes changed their color from red to black, and black smoke began billowing out of his body with terrifying speed and density.
[Opening function: "Gate".]
Xie Qing summoned the sword and the Phantom Hellblade flew into his hand. Xie Qing thrust the sword into the ground and did a somersault, landing on the ground.
Aria flapped her wings and flew, or rather, tried to fly. She glared angrily at Ralph.
"Why are you doing this?!" Aria shouted furiously and gritted her teeth.
"HAHAHAHA!" Ralph laughed merrily when he saw the look on her face. He walked over to her and...
SLAP!
Ralph slapped her and smiled lustfully. His gaze became obsessive and full of anger.
"Stay out of this, I'll deal with you later."
Ralph smiled, but suddenly his face turned ugly. He turned his head toward Xie Qing and was stunned.
"You..."
Xie Qing was shrouded in black smoke. His body consisted of black smoke, his hair rose to his waist, and his eyes became completely black.
[Opening function: "Transmigration".]
"Ralph..." Suddenly there was a deep voice full of anger.
"YOU. F***ED."
[Emergency assignment: "Kill Ralph.
Description: Ralph shows murderous intentions towards the user. Kill him and consume his soul.
Reward: Unknown].
Xie Qing stepped forward and disappeared. Suddenly Ralph felt his body grow heavy. He turned and dodged Xie Qing's lunge, striking back.
Xie Qing tilted his head to the side and dodged it, then looked up to the sky. Suddenly he opened his mouth and inhaled deeply.
"AAAAH!!!!"
"HOW DARE YOU DEVOUR MY SPACE!"
A terrifying scream sounded in the air and an angry voice rang out from the heavens.
"F**K YOU!" Xie Qing shouted angrily and released black smoke that began to consume everything he touched.
The demons, the Inferior demons, even the Middle demons... they were all consumed. Miasmas, too, were sucked into the black smoke and became Xie Qing's energy.
[Activation function: "Transmigration".]
[Characteristics were evenly increased.]
Xie Qing shouted furiously and swung his hand, piercing the chest of Ralph, who was paralyzed with fear.
Ralph vomited blood, but he opened his eyes when he saw Xie Qing holding his heart in his hand and spoke quickly.
"W-wait!"
Xie Qing did not listen to him, however.
BOOM!
"N-NO!!"
Ralph looked fiercely at Xie Qing and felt his strength leave.
"Damn! Then I'll take you with me!"
He flapped his wings and in a flash he was in front of Xie Qing and pierced his chest, but Ralph suddenly screamed in pain.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
He turned his gaze and saw that his arm was melted and his blood was boiling like it had been heated on a stove.
Xie Qing suddenly grinned predatorily and said.
"I told you, didn't I? You're f***ed." Xie Qing opened his mouth, but instead of his throat there were swirls of what looked like space!
"Heeee!!!"
Ralph tried to jump away, but Xie Qing grabbed his head tightly with his right hand, and with his left hand reached out and ripped out his guts.
"AAH!!!"
Xie Qing then exploded his lungs. Ralph was beating in convulsions. Xie Qing didn't stop, however.
He swung his hand and space shook. All the miasma headed toward him and he absorbed it, turning it into a black rune.
The rune was like a skull pierced by a sword. Xie Qing ripped out Ralph's soul and pierced it with this rune.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!! GHAAA!"
The rune began to eat away at Ralph's soul, and Xie Qing just smirked. He held Ralph's head up to his eyes and spoke softly.
"Anyone who touches my woman... DIES!"
Xie Qing opened his mouth and laughed.
"HAHAHAHA."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
The whole space shook and was in a state of chaos. Xie Qing squinted his eyes and absorbed Ralph's soul.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Ralph's soul resisted and Xie Qing began to fight him. Suddenly he opened his eyes and recoiled from his seat.
BOOM!
A crater formed on the ground. Because of the smoke, the attacker's figure could not be seen, but Xie Qing felt cold.
He suddenly shifted his gaze to Aria, who had passed out from exhaustion. Although Xie Qing held back, he still affect her.
He gritted his teeth and furiously pressed on Ralph's soul and pulled him into his spirit world.
"This... Spiritual world? HA HA, YOU FOOL! YOU JUST SERVED YOURSELF UP ON A PLATTER!"
Ralph laughed and his eyes lit up with hope, but that hope was dashed by the figure that appeared before him.
The former angel looked up and saw a huge giant whose body was covered in space swirls and galaxies.
In that instant, Ralph's soul was distorted, as if by the terrifying gravity of a black hole. A few minutes later, the soul was swallowed whole.
In the real world, no more than a second passed. Xie Qing opened his eyes and stared warily at his new enemy.
He had a handsome appearance, a carefree face, and two demon wings behind his back.
Long black hair covered his powerful back, and his piercing gaze made even his soul tremble.
Finally, the monster spoke.
"So the Abyss is really back, Guardian of the Abyss?"