One more catty, one more attribute point

The colossal shadow of the Domineering Dragon dissipated in the sky with a thunderous roar, replaced by the towering figure of Su Heng as he bellowed upwards like a demonic titan. Everyone was startled by this sudden change, but their shock didn't last long.

The clash of two powers sent forth an unprecedented shockwave.

From afar, it looked as though a gigantic golden sun had appeared atop the mountain, followed by an unprecedented tremor that shook and collapsed the surrounding mountains.

As the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm crumbled, numerous rocks suspended in the sky hurtled down towards the mountain range like carpet bombs, driven by gravity and fierce winds.

Since the opening of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

Those who could still remain in the Zhuqiong Mountain were either heavenly deceivers or extremely formidable peak demonic beings.

Their instincts were incredibly sharp, sensing trouble the moment the tremors began. That terrifying sense of crisis enveloped their bodies like a cold, black tide, sealing off their hearts.

Without allowing themselves any time to hesitate, these individuals immediately chose to retreat, fleeing far from Zhuqiong Mountain.

It was precisely because of this.

Despite the significant disturbances on Zhuqiong Mountain, the casualties were not severe.

As the terrifying aftermath of the explosion gradually subsided and the black dust storm disappeared, the terrain of Zhuqiong Mountain had been permanently altered.

Before this opening of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

The thousands of towering peaks in Zhuqiong Mountain generally appeared smaller on the outside, but the closer one got to the central area, the larger the peaks became.

However, due to the explosion, hundreds of peaks in the central area were destroyed and fractured, looking from the sky like a vast stone bowl.

Amidst the ravaging of Heavenly Thunder and calamitous fire.

The central area of Zhuqiong Mountain had turned into a barren wasteland devoid of life.

The pine trees and old vines that once grew on the peaks had long been ignited and blown away, and even the black soil clinging to them had vanished.

The hard, cracked rocks lay bare in the air, becoming extremely unstable in structure due to the scorching fires, causing huge rocks to occasionally plummet from the cliffs into the abyss.

Below Zhuqiong Mountain, in the forest.

In a waterfall-fed pool where water gushes loudly, a Void Demon crocodile over ten meters long roars in irritation after being hit on the head by falling debris.

This crocodile, only average among the often ferocious and massive Void Demons, boasted pitch-black Scale Armor as thick as mountain rocks.

Along with its robust limbs and a long tail bristling with black spines.

As it climbed out of the deep pool, clear water cascaded down the grooves of its Scale Armor, making quite an impressive sight.

Void Demons lack intelligence and the mysterious Sorcery, but their physical constitution is often stronger than demonic beings of the same level.

Combined with a fierce desire to attack, stimulated and modified, they are indeed quite dangerous beings.

This demonic crocodile was one of the elites.

It flicked its tail and with a "bang," shattered the rocks beside the pool.

At this moment, opening its jaws wide, the friction of its teeth produced a chilling, crunching sound.

Without waiting long, prey quickly appeared before the demonic crocodile. However, this normally irrational Void Demon unexpectedly hesitated.

Rocks crumbled, dust filled the air.

From within emerged a colossal creature seven meters tall with wings on its back.

With antlers, a bone tail, armor-like muscles, and pupils that emitted a greedy green light.

Where it stood, the vitality of the surrounding flora was stripped away, turning quickly to yellow, and the ground dried and cracked. A potent aura rolled in, distorting the air around it and forming a substantial black smoke over its body.

The demonic crocodile began to tremble.

The little animal instinct remaining in it sensed unease.

This recently born, powerful Void Demon suddenly raised its head and roared, but its voice contained no threat, only timidity.

Under the gaze of those green, oily eyes, the demonic crocodile's muscles tensed, quickly turning around, trying to retreat back into its home in the pool to hide.

Unfortunately, it was a step too late.

Bang!

A blazing red light flashed.

The pool exploded violently, vaporizing into mist.

The head of the demonic crocodile vanished into thin air, dead beyond doubt. The rest of its body, still twitching from spinal reflexes, flung large clumps of black mud all around as dark red blood flowed everywhere.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Su Heng's mouth opened like a dislocating snake's, and a thunderous noise came from his stomach.

He flashed in appearance just above the body of the Void Demon crocodile.

The rocky, tough scales, in the hands of Su Heng, were as fragile as tofu.

He easily tore them apart and then opened his mouth, filled with sharp teeth, to gulp down the fresh, still-beating red flesh of the crocodile.

The forest gradually quieted down, with only the eerie sounds of chewing and swallowing continuously resonating.

Moments later—

A deeply satisfying sigh echoed by the edge of the pool.

The crocodile, more than ten meters long, had vanished from sight, leaving only a few scales and organs; even its bones, tougher than steel, had been used by Su Heng as a side dish, swallowing almost eighty percent of them.

Bones and flesh combined, at least seven to eight tons of food had been directly swallowed by Su Heng.

Such a massive amount of food, once inside Su Heng's body, finally delayed and then gradually eliminated the intense feeling of hunger.

Hiss!

The clothes draped over Su Heng's body transformed into countless pitch-black, twisted strands of hair and gradually dispersed.

His wings, Scale Armor, and horns also retracted back into his body amid an unsettling trembling of bones, returning him to his normal height of over five meters.

He then stepped forward, directly entering the pond in the forest ahead.

His eyes slightly narrowed; his muscular body leaned against the edge of a large black rock. The originally cold pond had been heated to a boil by a recently applied Secret Technique, enough to stew a person into a pot of broth.

The turbid, whitish surface of the water bubbled and boiled, but for Su Heng, it was just right.

His physical condition was now so robust that even immersing himself in magma wouldn't cause him any harm. The boiling water felt only warm and comfortable for Su Heng. A long-missed relaxation spread over him, and his tense nerves gradually relaxed.

He began to summarize the gains from this venture.

Aside from the basic achievement of perfectly mastering the Domineering Dragon Thirteen Forms Secret Technique.

Su Heng had two unexpected surprises.

The first surprise was Xu Hanlin, cruelly dealing with this buffoon; the Taotie inseparably linked with Xu Hanlin also couldn't escape from Su Heng's clutches.

After Xu Hanlin had perished, the Taotie instead of thinking of fleeing, foolishly hid and sought to attack Su Heng while he was in a weakened state after shattering the Domineering Dragon apparition.

The result was, of course, predetermined.

After disposing of the Domineering Dragon apparition, Su Heng was indeed weakened.

But even a weakened person can easily crush an insect, and the Taotie, having already stepped into the death level and become a great demon, was promptly crushed and torn apart by Su Heng in a few moves.

The Taotie Demon Corpse, which Su Heng had long coveted, finally, after many twists and turns, returned to his hands, and he had successfully fused with it.

The Taotie Demon Corpse had two special abilities.

The first ability was the Bottomless Stomach, which could enhance digestive capability, allowing Su Heng to swallow a large amount of food at once.

As for the specific limit, Su Heng hadn't yet carried out a detailed test. But judging from his performance just now, after swallowing seven to eight tons of food, he felt only half-full, far from reaching his limit.

As for the second ability.

It was the "Gluttonous Domain" that Xu Hanlin had once used in Cloud Heaven.

Under the active activation of the Gluttonous Domain, Su Heng could absorb energy from the external environment and then release it.

This was akin to adding a layer of counter-armor on top of enhanced defense. In a battle of the same level, this talent was considered godlike, but it was of little use to Su Heng.

After all, the "Gluttonous Domain"'s absorption of external energy has limits, and with Dragon Blood and the powerful offensive and defensive abilities Su Heng possessed, this talent offered him only a minor enhancement.

The Taotie Demon Corpse, brought by Xu Hanlin, accounted for the first unexpected joy.

As for the second unexpected joy.

It was the segment of memory from the Domineering Dragon that Su Heng obtained after defeating the Domineering Dragon's imprint.

Though it was memory, in essence, it could be considered as a kind of will. The Domineering Dragon, having rested in Cloud Heaven and seriously injured, had set out for the distant seas to seal a monster known as "Ignite." This creature's strength was so formidable that even the Domineering Dragon found it quite challenging.

Unsure of his own fate in this endeavor, he hesitated and left a part of his memory along with the imprint in Cloud Heaven.

The imprint shattered.

These fragmented yet authentic experiences were also absorbed by Su Heng.

This event had been a thousand years ago.

In the thousand years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there had been no major upheavals reported. From this, it seemed likely that the Domineering Dragon had eventually succeeded in sealing "Ignite." But since then, the Domineering Dragon too had gradually become a legend, never to be seen again.

The reasons behind these events remained unclear.

"If one day I travel to the distant seas, perhaps I could find some clues?" thought Su Heng.

However, his location in Jiangzhou was at the northernmost edge of the Great Zhou Dynasty, while the distant seas lay at the southernmost edge.

The two places were far apart.

And that was only one aspect.

More crucially, the environment in the distant seas was extraordinarily treacherous and complex.

More dangerous than Skull Plain, over the years, the Great Zhou Dynasty sent numerous fleets on expeditions, which all ended in heavy losses and failure.

After several costly and futile attempts, the Great Zhou Dynasty adopted a conservative strategy of isolation. To this day, the distant seas had gradually become a taboo, seldom mentioned by anyone.

Although Su Heng's strength was not weak, exploring the mysterious and complex distant seas all by himself was still rather presumptuous…

So for now, he decided to put this matter aside temporarily and wait for a future opportunity.