Chapter 61: Ancestral Hall
Slap! Su Heng tossed the mangled remains to the ground, crushing them with his foot. He heard a furious shout, looked around, and saw a chubby man yelling at him.
In the dim moonlight, Su Heng recognized him. "You're… Luo Tong." He recalled the brothel incident and saw the man's tear-streaked, distraught face.
"I didn't kill your family, and my reasons for being here have nothing to do with you," Su Heng explained calmly.
The man's sobs subsided. He wiped his eyes. "Really?"
"Of course," Su Heng replied. "Why would I lie?"
Luo Tong pondered; his life was in the other man's hands, so it seemed true. He mumbled two words, leaving Su Heng speechless.
"Thank you," Luo Tong said sincerely.
"Y-you're welcome," Su Heng's mouth twitched. This man was incredibly foolish; Su Heng didn't even want to kill him himself.
He stepped aside. "Leave now; whatever's behind me will be here soon."
Remembering the carnage in the ancestral hall and his father's instructions, Luo Tong nodded gratefully, running into the fog behind Su Heng. He fell after a few steps, quickly ceasing to move.
Luo Tong, though a direct descendant, hadn't broken through human limits. The deadly fungal spores were instantly fatal. Su Heng had shown no mercy.
However, Su Heng hadn't encountered much resistance. While his increased strength played a part, something else had happened within the stronghold.
Su Heng continued forward. The stench of blood grew stronger; the shadows of trees seemed like clawing demons. Wailing sounds echoed from the distant mountains.
Su Heng entered the ancestral hall. His pupils constricted; the ancestral tablets were smashed. Blood covered the floor; corpses lay scattered everywhere, each horribly mutilated, their faces frozen in terror and agony, their insides ripped out.
Drip! A drop of thick, crimson blood fell into the pool, creating ripples.
Su Heng looked up; the darkness above seemed solid. The air reeked of blood and demons, but he saw no demons.
This demon, like the Yin Body Taisui, possessed the ability to conceal itself.
Hiss— A sharp sound pierced the air. Su Heng dodged; a black light grazed his cheek, severing two strands of hair. He saw a corpse, its eyes open, its mouth gaping, lunging at him.
He remembered the corpses in Changqing County, his anger flaring.
"Since you're dead, stay dead!"
Bang! Su Heng unleashed a powerful punch, shattering the elder's skull. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. He crushed the other reanimated corpses.
Silence returned to the hall.
Hiss… A heavy breathing sound came from the rafters above. Su Heng looked up. The darkness thinned, revealing a monstrous beast: a three-meter-long goat-like creature with crimson muscles and spiky fur. A grotesque human face was on its chest, its mouth filled with fangs, blood dripping down.
"Hee hee hee…" The face chuckled. "Not only have I avenged myself and regained my freedom, but I have a delicious dessert! What a lucky day!"
Roar! The face roared, its eyes bloodshot. Transparent ripples spread through the hall, cracking the walls and pillars. Su Heng's clothes tore to shreds.
"Shut your mouth!" Su Heng lowered his arm, his eyes blazing.
Boom! He punched the wall, causing a section of the hall to collapse. Dust and debris obscured the view.
The demon hadn't expected Su Heng to counterattack after its assault. As the hall collapsed, the demon lost its balance and fell.
A huge, bloodshot hand emerged from the dust, striking the demon's face.
Boom! The ground trembled violently. Cracks spread across the stone floor. A two-meter-wide crater appeared beneath Su Heng, the demon's head obliterated, blood gushing from its chest.
Su Heng had easily defeated the demon that had slaughtered the Luo family. This was unbelievable.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 62: Gluttony
Ignoring the mutilated demonic corpse on the ground,
Su Heng stood, gripping Demon Slayer, his eyes narrowed, assessing his surroundings. Half the ancestral hall had collapsed, yet no moonlight penetrated the darkness, nor were any buildings visible. Only a swirling, misty darkness remained, emitting gurgling sounds and a nauseatingly pungent, acidic stench—like the churning of flesh and stomach acid digesting something.
Su Heng's eyes snapped open.
He crouched, touching the demonic remains in the pool of blood.
Swish!
The moment he touched it,
the headless demon sprang up, its corpse tearing open to reveal a maw filled with fangs, barely held together by intestines, leaping forward. Even Su Heng's enhanced physique wouldn't have withstood a full bite. A surge of danger flooded his mind.
Fortunately, he was prepared.
Demon Slayer swept across, a crimson aura swirling with burning black-red flames. With a pfft, the maw was bisected, spewing corrosive acid that hissed and smoked, etching irregular holes in the floor. Su Heng dodged.
He looked up to see the goat-headed, human-faced demon perched on a rafter. A cruel smile played on its grotesque face. Not only had the demon regenerated, but the ancestral hall, previously destroyed, was whole again, though the elders' corpses were gone.
"Boy!" the demon licked its claws, sneering. "This is my inescapable hell. Once you're in, you can't leave."
With those words,
a booming sound echoed, the vision turning crimson. Everything twisted, the floor cracking, spewing hot lava and crimson smoke. Su Heng felt like he'd been thrown into a giant furnace, his body contorting under the heat and smoke. His clothes vaporized, even his incredibly strong muscles glowing red-hot like molten brass.
Yet, Su Heng laughed.
The demon, seeing Su Heng's resilience, was startled. Its voice was unsteady.
"Brat, what are you laughing at?"
It had a bad feeling. Ordinary people would be reduced to pus in moments in this hellish environment, even the Luo family's Demon Fetus Realm elders. But this man was different, his physique unbelievably strong, surpassing even the most hardened steel. The demon unleashed its power, but Su Heng remained unfazed, his ferocious smile unnerving the demon.
"Inescapable hell? You're quite the actor, you beast," Su Heng said, his body crackling and expanding.
"What do you mean? I don't understand!" The demon continued its assault.
But no matter how hard it tried, Su Heng's dark form remained unwavering in the smoke, giving an impression of invincibility.
"This must be your stomach," Su Heng said, expanding to two and a half meters. Even Demon Slayer felt light in his hand. He plunged it into the floor, shook his head, and clenched his fists, coating them in black-red True Force.
"If you don't admit it, that's fine."
His lips curled into a grin, revealing his teeth. "You must be quite the eater. Let's see how many of my fists you can take!"
"You—" A surge of danger struck the gluttonous demon.
Boom!
Before the demon could respond,
Su Heng unleashed a devastating punch. The ancestral hall wall was pierced, the darkness outside churning violently. The mist dispersed, the force creating a white vortex that spread outwards with a piercing shriek. Bloody flesh was revealed, collapsing inward, spewing blood and creating waves.
Pfft!
The demon's smile vanished, replaced by agony. Its eyes bulged, bloodshot. Blood gushed from its mouth.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the demon cried. "Stop, I beg you, stop!"
"One punch and you're full? No, no, that's not enough! You dare act tough in front of me? Eat! I'll give you a thousand punches before you die!"
"Hahaha!" Su Heng laughed maniacally, his black hair standing on end. His black-red fists rained down, a blur of motion, each blow more ferocious than the last. Fueled by the Green Wood Longevity Art's recovery effect, his True Force seemed inexhaustible, his power a relentless torrent.
The demon, initially screaming, soon emitted only pained howls. Punches left visible marks, shattering ribs, crushing kidneys, and pulverizing lungs into bloody pulp. Half its body exploded, flesh and organs spraying ten meters high. Its stomach churned violently, trying to expel Su Heng. But he was firmly rooted, unyielding.
"Final blow!"
Su Heng's eyes widened, his black tendons grotesque. He brought his fists together, raising them high, then slammed them down.
Boom!
A world-shaking roar. The ravaged ancestral hall collapsed completely. The glutton's stomach, torn and bulging, exploded.
Moonlight bathed the scene, the cold mountain wind cooling Su Heng's burning skin.
"Huu…" Su Heng exhaled, feeling a sense of cathartic violence. But he saw only ruins, no demonic remains.
"It probably discarded its stomach to escape," Su Heng mused. Such a demon, with its resilience, abilities, and accumulated experience, wouldn't be easy to kill. His talents were focused on strength and physique, leaving him lacking in tracking and trapping skills.
But it didn't matter. His goal was to annihilate the Luo family. The demon was an unexpected bonus.
Su Heng tapped the floor. The echo suggested a large space beneath the ancestral hall.
"The Luo family's ill-gotten gains? I can't ignore that!" Su Heng punched a hole in the floor and jumped down.
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(End of Chapter)
Chapter 63: A Surprise
Rumble! Dust and rubble rained down from the ceiling of the underground chamber beneath the fortress. Moonlight filtered through the opening, illuminating a dark figure that landed silently.
Su Heng felt a chill, realizing his clothes had been shredded during the fight. Fortunately, a nearby corpse provided a replacement.
The Luo family's cultivation methods, or perhaps their genes, seemed to favor corpulence. This corpse, over six feet tall and weighing nearly 300 jin, resembled a meat mountain. The fatal blow had come from above; its skull was gone, only two eyeballs remaining in the empty cavity.
Su Heng stripped the elder's white robe with gold trim and put it on. It wasn't a perfect fit, his powerful legs exposed, but it concealed his form. He adjusted his hair, gripped Ghost Slayer, and entered the chamber.
It was dark, but vast. The air reeked of blood – both fresh and decaying, indicating multiple killings at different times.
He continued forward, encountering a pillar engraved with dragon motifs. He touched a protruding candle holder.
Pfft! Su Heng flicked his finger, igniting the holder with crimson energy. The flames illuminated the chamber.
In the center was a massive blood pool, shattered, leaving only half its remains, surrounded by chunks of flesh and viscera. Most striking was a bloody head, the size of a millstone, swollen and contorted, frozen in a grimace of agony.
Bang! Su Heng kicked the head aside. He surveyed the scene, piecing together the recent events.
"Glutton… seal…"
"The Luo elder wasn't entirely lying."
"So, the demon I encountered was the Glutton, one of the Four Demonic Beasts?"
"Hmm… it was rather weak."
"No, the Glutton had just escaped, its power not fully restored. Its abilities are strange. Even though I was cautious entering the shrine, it swallowed me whole. If not for my strong constitution and quick reaction, the consequences would have been dire."
Su Heng frowned, pondering. A fully powered Glutton would be far more difficult.
However, Su Heng wasn't afraid of another encounter. He even looked forward to it. The Glutton's power couldn't increase as fast as his. Next time, escape would be impossible. That was the confidence born of talent and hard work.
Swish! Su Heng raised his hand, activating the Taisei fungus. A white mist formed, spreading across the bloodstains and corpses. The flesh rapidly dried, forming Taisei meat, accumulating into a sizable pile.
This alone was a significant harvest, though it felt like scavenging leftovers.
Su Heng mentally added another mark against the Glutton's name. He found clean clothes, wrapped the Taisei meat, and continued to the chamber's end.
He turned the torch. The ground trembled, and the wall recessed, revealing a passage.
"It actually worked," Su Heng had sensed the space behind the wall using the fungus. Turning the torch was a hunch, and it triggered a mechanism.
Click! Su Heng stepped into the dark passage, triggering another mechanism. Two meter-long arrows, tipped with green poison, shot out. Su Heng easily caught and broke them.
A few steps further, the ceiling opened, revealing two nozzles that sprayed green smoke.
However, even the Glutton's stomach acid had little effect on Su Heng, let alone this poison. The Evergreen Longevity Art circulated within him, and his powerful physique blocked the fumes.
Su Heng realized the wrong torch angle had activated the traps. The more elaborate the defenses, the more valuable the contents.
Bang! Su Heng smashed the stone door at the passage's end. He entered the final chamber.
Unlike his expectations, the chamber wasn't filled with treasure, but was relatively empty. A musty smell hung in the air. Several wooden chests sat in a corner. The most striking feature was a mural on the wall – a majestic giant, like a door god, wielding a chain spear, subduing a demon. The demon was the Glutton.
"Hiss…" Su Heng took a deep breath, rubbing his temples. The seemingly simple mural conveyed a wealth of information, overwhelming his senses.
"This is the foundation of a high-level cultivation technique," Su Heng had developed a basic understanding of martial arts.
He found more text and images on other walls – stances, meditative practices, breathing techniques. He memorized everything.
When he was finished, his heart pounded with excitement. The technique on the walls was what he craved – a method to enhance digestion and increase attribute point gain.
[Glutton Technique: Unlearned (Reaching the next level unlocks the "Secondary Stomach" ability, creating a subspace within the body for storing food.)]
(End of Chapter)