Chapter 177: Devouring Darkness, Core Seeds Awakened
After slaying the Dark Nether Beast, Su Tianhao proceeded to remove the beast core—or more precisely, the Demon Beast Core.
Unlike spirit beasts, Demon Beasts didn't possess ordinary beast cores. Instead, they formed Demon Beast Cores—dark crystallised vessels containing not just spiritual energy, but concentrated dark qi and chaotic power. These made them highly valuable in the market, especially to weapon craftsmen who used such cores to forge enchanted weapons with extraordinary properties.
Glancing down at the Shadowfang Sword—now covered in scars and visible signs of wear—Su Tianhao couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"The stronger I get, the more pressure you endure."
He chuckled, running a finger along the blade's chipped edge.
"Don't worry, partner. As soon as I leave this forest, I'm going to give you a proper upgrade as compensation."
Shadowfang trembled with excitement, almost as if it could understand his words.
Su Tianhao smiled knowingly.
After constant use, his connection to Shadowfang had deepened to the point where the sword felt like an extension of himself. While he had not yet reached the level of direct communication with the weapon, his mastery of the sword dao had never once halted. Each time he drew the blade, he never wasted the opportunity—aligning his understanding with his mother's sword dao insights.
He had long since reached Perfection in the first stage of the sword dao—Sword Sense: the intuitive awareness of the sword, allowing for instinctive reactions and basic harmony between user and weapon.
His mastery of Sword Sense had already reached an unprecedented height. Combined with his unique Killing Sword Sense, it was the main reason Ninefold Deathflash granted him the ability to slay opponents six minor realms higher.
With his mastery already at such a level—combined with his relentless determination and having touched upon the Realm of Perfect Edge—it was only natural that he was already pushing toward the next stage of the sword dao.
Sword Will.
A realm where the sword becomes a true extension of the user's will. Each strike carries intention, allowing the cultivator to influence the battlefield through conviction and mental pressure—suppressing weaker opponents and disrupting their focus before a single blow is even struck.
Just thinking about it filled Su Tianhao with awe and anticipation. But he remained grounded.
"It's useless to think about it for now. Better to focus on immediate problems."
With that, he turned back to the fallen Dark Nether Beast. Glancing once more at the worn Shadowfang, he slashed decisively, ripping the creature's underbelly open.
Dark blood poured into the air, releasing a pungent odour that assaulted his senses.
Su Tianhao quickly pinched his nose. The smell was surprisingly similar to the stench of impurities expelled from his own body during the early stages of cultivating the Untainted Body.
"Looks like the rumours were right. Demon Beasts truly are impure creatures... so much corruption."
His eyes narrowed as he spotted a glowing core within the body. He leaned forward and carefully retrieved it—pitch-black, darker than the night sky, covered in deep violet runic patterns that seemed to writhe when viewed directly.
"So this is a Demon Beast Core..."
He turned it over in his palm, studying its surface with interest—but without desire. To him, this core was simply gold waiting to be extracted. A single specimen like this would fetch at least a few thousand gold coins on the market.
He tossed it into his spatial ring.
His gaze returned to the corpse. His expression turned solemn.
'Devouring it might affect my Untainted Body. This beast is saturated with impurities and chaotic power.'
Su Tianhao wasn't worried about ordinary contamination. His body was a furnace that refined everything entering it to the utmost purity before dispersing it through his meridians. But this felt different.
The sheer volume of impurities within a Demon Beast was another matter entirely. It wasn't that he doubted his bloodline or physique—it was his mastery over that bloodline that gave him pause.
His brows tightened.
'Ever since I acquired the Devouring Dragon Tactic, I'm still at Initial Success. The true profundity of devouring still lies far beyond my grasp.'
He shook his head and took a deep breath, steadying his resolve.
"Whatever. I, Su Tianhao, never waver in front of opportunity."
His words echoed under the darkening sky like a sacred vow.
"Time to test my limits—and surpass them."
His golden eyes blazed. He extended his right hand toward the corpse.
"Devour!"
---
Whoosh!
A terrifying suction force erupted outward across a forty-five-metre radius, ripping leaves from branches and pressing nearby grass flat against the earth. From deep within the Dark Nether Beast's body came a ghastly, mournful sound—like the death-cry of a thousand tormented souls.
Then the energy erupted.
A torrent of pitch-black, violet-veined essence tore free from the corpse like a writhing serpent, alive with malice and hunger. Unlike other essences, this one seemed to carry a sentient will of its own.
It coiled violently in the air for a heartbeat—then shot straight toward Su Tianhao like a venomous arrow loosed from the abyss itself, aimed to pierce through flesh, soul, and will in a single strike.
The moment it touched his palm—
Boom!
Su Tianhao's entire body shuddered violently.
The dark essence slammed into him like a tidal wave of liquid darkness, flooding his meridians with searing cold. Thousands of icy needles stabbed into his dantian, trying to corrode his blood, twist his bones, and devour his very soul.
Pain—sharp, blinding, soul-deep—exploded through every nerve.
Having endured similar agony while cultivating the Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art, and with an internal structure tempered to supernatural levels, Su Tianhao managed to hold on.
But the pain was excruciating.
His knees buckled. He dropped to one knee, teeth clenched so hard blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Sweat poured down his face in rivers. His azure robes billowed wildly as dark-purple veins began crawling up his arms like parasitic vines.
His golden eyes never wavered.
"Refine it—all of it!"
With a guttural roar, he slammed both palms into the ground. The swirling vortex within his dantian ignited like a supernova.
His dragon veins blazed to life. Golden energy erupted within his body, burning hotter and brighter with every heartbeat. Yang dragon energy collided violently with the invading dark essence—a cataclysmic storm raging inside his meridians.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Tiny explosions of spiritual energy detonated along his arms and chest. Skin split in thin lines. Blood misted into the air like crimson vapour.
But with every explosion, more of the nether qi was stripped of its malice. Its chaotic essence was burned away—transformed into pure, refined spiritual power that flooded back into his dantian.
Minutes passed.
The corpse of the Dark Nether Beast shrivelled before his eyes—flesh drying to brittle husks, fur turning ashen, bones cracking like dry wood. Even the blood pooled on the ground evaporated into wisps of dark smoke, all of it drawn inexorably into Su Tianhao's body.
Finally—
The last thread of dark essence shattered.
Silence.
Su Tianhao exhaled a long, trembling breath. The dark veins on his skin faded. The wounds on his arms closed at visible speed, leaving only faint pink lines.
He rose slowly to his feet.
His aura had changed.
Deeper. Sharper. More oppressive. A faint golden sheen shimmered beneath his skin—like dragon scales forged from starlight and shadow. His golden eyes glowed with an even more profound light, as though he had swallowed a piece of the abyss and made it his own.
He clenched his fist.
A low, satisfied laugh escaped his lips.
"Hahahaha! Amazing!"
He looked down at his palm, feeling the new power coursing through his veins—darker, colder, yet perfectly harmonised with his supreme dragon bloodline. He could sense a dormant power within him, waiting to be unleashed.
The power of the Dark Nether Beast.
"As long as I completely refine the residual energy within me, breaking through to the 7th level Martial Adept Realm won't be any trouble."
He said with confidence and barely contained excitement.
"As expected of a Demon Beast. The benefits it grants are on a different level compared to a Spirit Beast of the same rank."
His thoughts drifted briefly to the day he had devoured Blood Grin's corpse. While the benefit from the Dark Nether Beast wasn't quite as transformative as that incident, it wasn't far off—and beyond the cultivation boost, it had left something behind. A dormant power pulsing in his core that he could feel clearly but not yet fully grasp.
Satisfied, Su Tianhao turned his gaze toward the distant depths of the forest.
"7th level Martial Adept Realm... here I come."
---
By nightfall, Su Tianhao had returned to the moss-covered cave.
The moon hung high in the sky, casting silvery light across the Verdant Mist Forest. The emerald mists seemed to glow under the moonlight. The scent of blooming night flowers filled the cold air, mingling with the distant sounds of nocturnal creatures and buzzing insects.
The forest looked peaceful, almost enchanting—but beneath that beauty lurked terrifying creatures waiting in the dark.
Su Tianhao settled deep within the cave in perfect lotus position. His breathing was slow and steady. His expression was serene.
The Ethereal Mind Crystal rested in his lap, casting vivid purple light across the stone walls.
His mind sharpened with focus, guiding the residual dark essence along the pathways and principles of the Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art—while simultaneously deepening his mastery of the technique itself.
Time drifted by.
One hour. Two. Three. Five.
Then—
A cold gust swept through the cave, rustling his hair and swaying his robes. His presence radiated an air of complete detachment from the world.
Boom.
A soft explosion resounded within him. A brilliant golden glow erupted from his body before retracting inward just as quickly.
No roar. No disturbance. No chaos.
Pure, cultivated strength—smooth and undisturbed, so effortless it surprised even Su Tianhao, who was more accustomed to his breakthroughs arriving with violence.
His eyes opened. A sharp glint flickered in their golden depths.
"7th level Martial Adept Realm."
He examined his body with quiet excitement. He hadn't expected this. He'd anticipated several more days of sustained effort.
Bones like tempered steel. Veins like molten gold. Blood raging with intense vitality. Meridians like a thousand pristine rivers flowing in perfect harmony.
Then he noticed something unusual within his dantian.
Surrounding the swirling vortex were two orbs of light.
One was brilliant golden—radiating warmth and dominance.
The other was pitch-black with faint violet markings—cold and oppressive.
"This—"
Su Tianhao was speechless, his mind spinning.
Both orbs felt familiar. The golden one carried the same aura as the dormant dragon energy within him. The pitch-black one emanated the same essence as the nether qi of the Dark Nether Beast.
His eyes widened.
'Could it be...'
Although it seemed almost unbelievable, he knew with complete certainty what they were.
"Core seeds!"
According to the Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art, only when he successfully refined multiple core seeds—setting up the potential for multiple Martial Cores—could he be considered to have reached Great Success in the technique.
Before now, he had had no idea how to form them. But now it was as if lightning had struck his mind and illuminated everything at once.
"The key was with me all along... the power of devouring!"
He couldn't help but marvel at how perfectly the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique resonated with his bloodline.
He wasn't a fool. He could already see it clearly—the pitch-black orb was a direct result of the dormant power extracted from the dark essence. The golden orb had been within him all along, built from the foundation of his own dragon energy.
"This has never happened before. How do I replicate it with other beasts?"
While the devouring ability allowed him to extract the essence of other creatures—their life force, spiritual power, bloodline potential, and accumulated qi—he had always refined that power directly into his own cultivation. He had never retained their original nature in an isolated form like this before.
He shook his head.
'Now is not the time to ponder. It's the time to grow.'
He closed his eyes and settled back into meditation.
The night was young.
And the dragon was hungry for ascension.