The explosion destroyed the academy's foundation, causing it to collapse and trapping anyone inside beneath the rubble. Being at the center of the explosion, Clifford suffered the most. His entire body was left exposed, some bones charred black as if they were charcoaled, and his remaining flesh dried into a thin layer covering some of his bones.
The moment Clifford's body stopped receiving damage, his dark force began healing him, restoring his body to its previous state. As Clifford lay unconscious beneath the rubble, all the souls that perished in the explosion followed a path leading to him. As they approached, they were drawn into a whirlwind created by the devil's core.
Hundreds of souls were devoured one after another, ending up as nourishment for the core. Days passed slowly as Clifford's body continued to heal, while people from surrounding cities began investigating the incident that wiped out half of the city and killed thousands.
Another month passed, and the situation reached its climax with a large number of cultivators trying their luck, hoping to find anything left behind after the academy's destruction. Most were cultivators at or below the fifth stage. Suddenly, a massive rumble occurred as a young naked man emerged from the rubble, attracting the attention of those around him.
Awakening from his slumber, Clifford's body was completely healed and stronger than before, thanks to the overload of dark force. However, hearing his stomach gurgle, Clifford acknowledged his hunger and lack of dark force. Looking at himself, he noticed his naked body and new hair color, which had a faint hue of red at the front. Seeing the destroyed spatial ring, Clifford sighed deeply, accepting his minor loss while admitting that he preferred his body strength over anything else.
Thinking about a way to free himself, Clifford took a meditation position to collect some Qi. Half an hour later, his supply was back up to about thirty percent. Despite being low, Clifford didn't care much, as he aimed to test his raw physical strength after getting out. Thus, he gathered just enough Qi to boost himself.
Bending to his knees, Clifford started infusing Qi into his legs. Once all the Qi was infused, Clifford shot up, flying and crushing everything in his path, creating an exit for himself. Standing on top of the academy's remains, Clifford found himself surrounded by cultivators eyeing him with greedy gazes.
"Come here!" Clifford called out to the closest cultivator, beckoning him to approach. Seeing the man's confused expression, Clifford decided to go for him instead, seemingly uncaring about anyone discovering his shift ability. Witnessing a naked young man charging at him, the cultivator used his fire element to form a firewall around himself.
Passing through the firewall unharmed, Clifford's jaws split wide open before biting the man's shoulders and devouring them whole. Savoring the taste, Clifford held his target, preventing him from escaping his fate. Witnessing a fourth-stage cultivator being devoured, the others present decided to team up against the monster. Not giving him a chance to finish his meal, two of the cultivators nodded to each other before disappearing from their place.
"Is this meant as a joke? Couldn't you at least fuse it with Qi?" Busy with his meal, Clifford felt a sword hit his neck and another attempt to pierce his heart. Unfortunately for his attackers, both failed to cause any harm to his hardened flesh, leaving him annoyed by their interference. Kicking his prey aside, Clifford focused his attention on the two who had attacked him. Charging forward, he aimed for the one who had tried to sever his neck.
Twisting his neck, Clifford vanished from his spot and reappeared before the cultivator, shocking him to his core. Gripping the cultivator's head with both hands, Clifford started applying pressure, bringing his hands closer together. Feeling the pain, the cultivator tried to free himself by attacking Clifford with all he had, only to feel as if he were hitting a diamond surface.
Shortly, the cultivator's movements and sounds died down as he met his demise. Witnessing his death, the other cultivator who had attacked Clifford screamed, encouraging everyone to attack at the same time. Smiling wildly, Clifford opened his arms wide, welcoming them as he couldn't wait to see how much his body could handle.
Hundreds of attacks rained down on him while he grinned like a fool, satisfied with his body's performance. Standing at the center of the smoke caused by the attacks, Clifford noted that most of the strikes were just raw elements that couldn't do much on their own, as the cultivators feared getting close to him. Making up his mind, Clifford decided to get this over with and move to the capital city to register for the academy's main branch.
Standing silently, the cultivators waited for the smoke to dissipate to see the result of their attacks. Screams of pain came from all around as they witnessed the monster hunting them one by one, realizing that their target was no longer in the smoke. Despair drowned them as they couldn't keep up with the monster's speed, falling one by one to their demise.
Silence reigned while nearly fifty cultivators met their end. Once done with the hunt, Clifford started gathering the spatial rings and clothes he could wear, then devoured some bodies until he felt satisfied. Calming down, Clifford sat to recharge his Qi. Although he was satisfied with his performance, he understood that a higher cultivation stage didn't mean higher strength because not everyone had equal talent. He fully acknowledging he was not invincible.
Concerned about his future, he knew that the outer world was bigger and filled with stronger cultivators. He guessed that only weak cultivators or those lacking resources would come to this place. In the end, he saw the ones he killed as nothing more than scavengers unworthy of being anything more than food.
Once done replenishing his Qi, Clifford thought about resuming his cultivation, but the devil's core advised him against it until the core's outer shell broke. Knowing it was soon due to the cracks surrounding it, Clifford agreed without giving it much thought.