A fire was burning in the small but cozy cave. Xie Qing took a bite of roasted polar bear meat, or as it is also called - Demon Bear.
The meat was incredibly delicious, so Xie Qing hunted for five more. Eventually, he found this cave.
The cave was deep, which kept the snow out. Xie Qing looked through the system notifications.
[Changes in the Quest of the Abyss.]
[Time limit added. 7 days to go.]
"Seven days to go... Sounds like a typical horror movie line." Xie Qing shook his head and sighed.
He stood up and walked out of the cave. Instantly, the cold air hit his face, forcing Xie Qing to surround himself with a barrier.
Even despite his resistance to the cold, it was very cold on the dragon continent. Perhaps only B+ level practitioners and above could survive.
Xie Qing was walking through the snow, but thanks to the barrier, there was no trace left on the snow.
The surrounding flora and fauna was monotonous. Mostly Demonic Bears and mutated monsters that had gained resistance to the cold.
However, here grows the Ice Flower, which is valued as an elegant and expensive gift.
It can be processed and made into a necklace or ring. Xie Qing crouched down and carefully plucked five flowers that were growing on a small peak.
They had no value to him, but giving them to his wives wasn't a bad option either.
"Creation." The five flowers joined together in two rings.
The rings had an icy texture, but it was pleasant to the touch. The petals of the flower sparkled brightly.
Xie Qing tossed them into the air and they disappeared, disintegrating into particles. Immediately two new items appeared in his inventory.
Without much thought, he continued on his way.
...
After three days Xie Qing had already reached almost the center of the Dragon Continent. On his way there were many monsters, but they were only at C+ level. The strongest were only at B+.
There were two pieces of news. One good, the other bad.
The bad news is that Xie Qing gets even less energy from B-level enemies.
The good news is that he has already fully learned how to control the power of the third level Devouring.
Compared to all the others, the third level was aggressive. This caused quite a few problems.
During the battle that took place the day before...
Xie Qing swung the Phantom Hellblade, making the Demon Bear roar in pain.
He used the Devouring ability and tried to devour them, but the ability did not hear him and spread a hundred meters around.
In the end, it absorbed not only monsters, but also travelers from the human race.
However, after much failure and many sacrifices in the form of monsters and inhabitants of the Northern Continent, he was able to control it effectively and limit the distance properly.
And Xie Qing saw the difference! Now the Devourer could absorb even an S-level enemy, though it would have to wait a little longer.
In addition, the recoil damage would be reduced.
One useful effect is that the smoke can now take any shape. So you can just envelop yourself with it.
However it consumes a lot of magical energy and Abyss Energy, so you should be careful with it.
"Оh?" Xie Qing suddenly stopped, looking at the object in front of him.
It was a white object with scales and long wings.
A dragon.
"Really? A dragon lying right on the road?" Xie Qing shook his head and examined the dragon.
It was bleeding from its belly and its body was twitching. Xie Qing looked at the dragon with the Abyss Gaze (A/N: In case anyone doesn't remember, this skill can see through illusions and physical objects. Like x-ray]
"О? How interesting..."
Inside the dragon was complete chaos. The soul was beating furiously, as if shaking off something, and the alien energy was slowly but surely killing the dragon.
The energy was dark gray and its nature was demonic. Half of the dragon's magical energy had already been replaced by alien energy.
Xie Qing squatted down and injected the Abyss Energy into the dragon's body, making it tremble.
Pretty soon, the Abyss Energy caught up with the dark gray energy and absorbed it. Xie Qing drained his energy, allowing the dragon to recover.
The dragon opened its eye and looked at Xie Qing, but soon it was unconscious.
Xie Qing snapped his fingers and a formation appeared around the dragon that consisted of a square, a triangle, a circle and the word "DEF".
Afterwards, he got up and walked away.
...
In the narrow cave, the demon with the gray skin opened his yellow eyes. He was two meters tall, but he looked thin.
The demon looked ahead in confusion and muttered.
"Strange, has someone absorbed my energy? Maybe Anastasia found it and saved it...? No, she can't react that fast..."
The demon puzzled over who could have erased his energy. Meanwhile, the sound of footsteps was heard in the cave.
The demon turned his head lazily and saw a handsome and tall young man.
He had long black hair down to his ribs and violet eyes. On his hands rested white gloves, and with them a ring.
A cross-shaped earring hung from his ear, and the white tuxedo seemed to fit the atmosphere of the Northern Continent.
It was Xie Qing who was quick enough to find traces of the one who had infected the dragon.
After examining the gray demon in front of him, Xie Qing discovered that the opponent was S-level.
A while ago he would not have been able to kill it, but now...
Black smoke condensed in front of Xie Qing, taking the form of UZI.
Xie Qing snapped his fingers and black bullets began to fly out of the UZI.
The demon, naturally, was not standing still. He dodged quickly, but he was scratched by a bullet in time.
Pshh...
There was the smell of burning, and a small piece of flesh on the demon's cheek disappeared, leaving not even blood.
"Shit..." The demon shook its head and took a step forward and disappeared.
Xie Qing stood still and did nothing. He just closed his eyes and waited.
The gray demon couldn't figure out what he was doing, but he didn't stop. The demon appeared behind Xie Qing and grew long claws, swinging them toward Xie Qing.
However...
"Boom." Xie Qing grinned and a grenade launcher of Abyss Energy appeared in front of the demon.
BOOM!
The violent impact made the entire cave shake. The gray demon flew backwards and crashed into the wall.
His appearance, however, left a lot to be desired. There was a round hole in his stomach, two of his arms were torn off, and his head had a life of its own.
"Not bad, man... Not bad at all..." However, the gray demon... or its head, grinned.
Xie Qing did not react, apparently expecting it.
"However, this is not my full power!"
The gray demon screamed and his body glowed. Instantly his head was back in place, and all the damage was gone.
The demon was now six meters tall and four meters long. Xie Qing raised an eyebrow.
"Does everyone in the Supernatural world have such a fetish? For some reason, everyone is just so crazy about big sizes..." He shook his head cynically and clenched his fist.
Boom!
Seconds later, Xie Qing appeared right in front of the demon and punched him in the stomach, but there was not much of a reaction.
"I see... You've increased your physical strength and physical protection instead of magical properties... Not a bad choice." Xie Qing nodded, then looked at the demon's smug face.
"But in battle with me, physical protection is nothing."
Boom!
The demon's large body fell to the floor, causing the cave to shake once more. Xie Qing sighed.
"You know, my ability is really annoying. For my enemies, I mean." Xie Qing smiled brightly. "One touch and you're already in my net."
True, if magical protection exceeds his strength, then even if the Abyss Energy gets into his enemy's body, nothing will happen.
However, he won't say that, of course.
"So try to be a good boy in your next life, okay?"
"Sto-!" The demon wanted to say something, but at that moment his body began to swell.
Blood began to gush out of his mouth like a waterfall. The demon's body trembled, and his eyes expressed despair.
The demon twisted in place, trying to escape, but soon enough its body exploded.
Innards of black filled the cave, and the poisonous blood melted the walls of the cave.
Xie Qina watched this with an indifferent face, but felt the magical energy flowing into his body.
Xie Qina watched this with an indifferent face, but felt the magical energy flowing into his body.
He should have broken through by now, but suddenly the breakthrough stopped.
"А? What happened?"
[Energy detected blocking the user's breakthrough. Begin identification...]
[Ding! Origin of energy: The energy of the Abyss.]
"What...? Why is the Abyss Energy blocking my breakthrough?"
[Unidentifiable. Tip: Complete the Abyss Calling task as quickly as possible].
Xie Qing frowned and jumped out of the cave. It seems that the Abyss wants to see him as quickly as possible.
His mood was ruined, so as he flew, the environment was affected by Abyss Energy bursts, destroying trees and destroying monsters.
The locals called the incident a "Giant's Bite," because in a straight line of five kilometers, the entire area was cleared into a straight road with nothing.