Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
The strongest part of Zhou Weiqing’s considerably powerful body was definitely his right leg, especially after his entire body had gone through its second evolution. Added on to the fact he was in the Demonic Change State, even if Lin TianAo was using his five-Jeweled Assembly Set Shield to block Zhou Weiqing’s right leg, he would be hard pressed to do so and remain standing stably.
Furthermore, that was just considering the pure brute strength of the blow. Within Zhou Weiqing’s Demonic Right Leg also contained a powerful mixture of Demonic and Darkness Energy, and once it struck an enemy, would be infused into his body. Although Zhou Weiqing’s current Heavenly Energy was not strong, but it was extremely high quality Darkness and Demonic Energy. In terms of energy grade, even the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was unable to match it.
Facing such a blow, the Sealed Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was unable to dodge or block it, and could only take it head on with its tough armored scales. Alas, without sufficient Heavenly Energy to support itself, all its abilities were greatly reduced, even its defensive capabilities.
In that massive explosion, its eight legs were unable to support its body, and it fell down hard onto the ground.
Another earsplitting shriek emitted from the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider, and a deep footprint was actually left on its armored back. That was still after Zhou Weiqing had held back a little, fearing that he would kill it, and he had only used the back of his foot, and not the ‘scorpion hook’ that his Demonic Right Leg had warped into in the Demonic Change State.
Zhou Weiqing glared at the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider with a murderous intent in his eyes, saying disdainfully: “You know you’ve been Sealed, and you still want to test this Big Bro? Hmph, you are truly asking for death. Be good at let me Devour from you, and I’ll let you off… Otherwise… You see this?!”
As he said that threateningly, he had already lifted up his Demonic Right Leg once more, this time placing the glowing black hook in front of the spider’s eight eyes. With his Heavenly Energy infused within, the hook was glowing, giving forth a cold, evil icy aura, enveloping the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider and causing it to shudder involuntarily.
The spider cried out in a low tone, though its eyes were still angry and recalcitrant, but its eight short legs spread out slowly, its body fully resting on the floor.
With its legs spread out by its body, it naturally wasn’t able to move its body to attack. Although they had no common language, such a powerful Heavenly Beast was extremely intelligent, and it showed Zhou Weiqing that it wouldn’t fight back with its body language.
The character of the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was violent and murderous, but it was extremely intelligent. Facing a human who could threaten its own life, it did not dare take any rash actions. Furthermore, it could sense a terrifying aura from Zhou Weiqing’s body. Earlier, when Zhou Weiqing had first entered, it had not sensed it, but as he unleashed the Demonic Change State, the aura grew much stronger… the aura of a pure bloodline ranked Heavenly Beast!
Zhou Weiqing gave a humph and said: “That’s better.”
As he said that, he placed both palms onto the back of the large spider, quickly activating the Devour Skill.
The Eight-Eyed Demon Spider’s eyes had previously shown its unwillingness to submit, even if its actions did the reverse. Yet, the moment Zhou Weiqing placed his palms on its back, it started struggling violently, and only a pure unadulterated terror was left remaining in its many eyes.
Zhou Weiqing was caught by surprise and almost thrown off its back, and only through the might of his considerable strength was he able to hang on and suppress the spider’s movements.
It was inscribed within the Demonic Manual that when Heavenly Demon Masters with the Devour Skill unleashed it while in the Demonic Change state, they would be able to directly make use of the stolen energy to power their own attacks without first purifying and absorbing it, thus greatly increasing their sustainability in battle, just like what Zhou Weiqing had done in his fight with Shen Little Demon. However, this would disrupt them from continuing to Devour. Even so, during this process, it could allow the ‘maximum’ Heavenly Energy of the Heavenly Demon Master to increase greatly during the fight. This was also one of the most important reasons why Zhou Weiqing had managed to beat Shen Little Demon.
Currently, with the Devour Skill in effect and at maximum effort from Zhou Weiqing, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider could sense its energy and life force being drained rapidly, causing it to feel shock and fear.
That was one of the most terrifying things about the Devour Skill; not only did it drain Heavenly Energy, but also life force! This Devoured life force could not only be used to heal wounds, but also to temporarily strengthen the user’s body and physique. Worse still, if the Devoured target continued being Devoured, it would eventually end up a dried up corpse. It would be just like the previous time when Zhou Weiqing had used it on the forest direwolves for the first time.
For the Demonic Manual to state the Devour Skill was the most powerful tool of the Demonic Attribute, naturally it wasn’t just for fun. Just imagine, for a person to be drained of life and Heavenly Energy, it might even reduce his cultivation level!
With the Devour Skill active, Zhou Weiqing felt as if he was filled with infinite strength as power surged through him. He kept his hands pressed against the spider, the hook of his right leg stepping at the centre of its eyes as a precaution. At first, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider wanted to attempt to get up and resist, but in its unfavorable position, it struggled to do so, and very quickly, it grew too weak to do anything else.
The massive influx of energy surged through Zhou Weiqing’s thick arms into his body, and in a few moments, he felt as if his entire body was bloated, brimming with excess energy until almost bursting point. As for the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider below him, the once lustrous glow of its armored shell was now dim.
It was barely ten second since he started before Zhou Weiqing quickly vaulted away from the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider’s back, jumping over to a corner which the spider could not reach before sitting cross legged in a meditative position to cultivate.
At the same time, he removed his Demonic Change State.
After all, Zhou Weiqing was still merely a three-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, while the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was a top level Zong Stage Heavenly Beast. Although it was no match for him due to its Seal, it was just unable to use its energy and abilities, and the power within still remained, far beyond what Zhou Weiqing could handle.
As such, Zhou Weiqing could only Devour a very tiny fraction of its Heavenly Energy and Life Force, before his own body was already at its limit. If he continued Devouring, he might even self-implode and die! After all, the true cultivation gap between the two was just too huge.
After sitting down, Zhou Weiqing started cultivating with his Immortal Deity Technique, the fourteen Death Acupuncture Point energy whirlpools whirling like crazy. Due to the improvement to his physique, and the additional life energy he had just Devoured, the energy whirlpools were now whirling at a much faster rate.
Within his body, the black and grey currents of energy were swiftly torn apart by the energy whirlpools of the fourteen Death Acupuncture Points, slowly assimilating the Heavenly Energy as his own.
The corner of Zhou Weiqing’s lips moved upward in a slight, pleased smile. The Demonic Manual was accurate after all, and his efforts were well rewarded. The Darkness and Demonic Attribute imbued Heavenly Energy he had Devoured was indeed much more compatible with his own, and it was much faster to purify and absorb it to become his own, faster by several times as compared to when he was assimilating Shen Little Demon’s! As he had Devoured so much energy this time, nearly his maximum limit, Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense his Heavenly Energy growing at a respectable rate, bit by bit.
To actually sense their own Heavenly Energy growing while cultivating, that was definitely something unheard of to any Heavenly Jewel Master! Even the great cultivation techniques of the other Great Saint Lands did not have such an effect, yet Zhou Weiqing had clearly done so. The sheer advantage of having this Devour Skill was slowly showing itself now. Zhou Weiqing did not realise that the original owner of his very own black pearl, Dark Demon God Tiger, was notorious for cultivating with this Devour Skill.
After more than four hours, Zhou Weiqing finally opened his eyes slowly. When he did so, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was also startled awake, its body shuddering as it tried to back away in fear.
That feeling of its life force and Heavenly Energy both leaking away, out of its control, was just too terrifying. Not to mention it already had a certain intelligence, even a low level Heavenly Beast’s base instincts would be terrified of such a feeling… such a person!
Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh heh, don’t be afraid. I will make sure I do not kill you. After all, my hopes of cultivating fast are all on you.”
The poor trapped Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was ultimately unable to escape the clutches of Zhou Weiqing and his Devour. Of course, Zhou Weiqing did not dare underestimate the spider as well, making sure to enter the Demonic Change State first as a precaution despite its energy waste.
In truth, the previous Devouring of the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider was less than a tenth of its overall Heavenly Energy, and after four hours, it had already fully recovered the energy. Alas, more importantly, the recovery of life force was not so quick, and it had only recovered a little of that when Zhou Weiqing had pounced upon it again.
And so, one dejected terrified spider faced its impending disaster, as Zhou Weiqing continued the cycle of Devour, Absorb… Rinse and repeat, and Zhou Weiqing’s own Heavenly Energy grew at an astonishing rate!
Thirty two hours passed swiftly, immersed in his cultivation. It was already the third day of them entering the Heavenly Jewel Island, and finally Zhou Weiqing wasn’t able to continue from sheer hunger. Exiting the Skill Storing Palace, he returned to the inn.
Besides the massive hunger, Zhou Weiqing could sense something else – that he had Devoured way too much Heavenly Energy, his own control and finery unable to reach the same level as his Heavenly Energy. He would need to stabilize for some time before he could go about doing this again.
As soon as he entered the inn, Zhou Weiqing bumped into Drunken Bao.
When Drunken Bao saw him, he was taken aback momentarily, before quickly giving him a light punch on the shoulder, saying: “Weiqing, you little rascal, why didn’t you tell us you were heading to the Skill Storing Palace, and for such a long time!? If not for the fact that we asked the employees of the island where you were, we would be all at a loss about where you were! Tomorrow is the finals match, everyone is waiting for you and Leader to discuss our strategy tomorrow.”
Zhou Weiqing scratched his head sheepishly, saying: “Sorry, I did take too long in the Skill Storing Palace. Bro Bao, let me just go grab a quick meal, you get the rest of the team to gather in Leader’s room. I’ll be there as soon as I finish eating.”
The past few days he had spent fully engrossed in cultivation, and his spirit usage wasn’t high, and the steady improvement of his cultivation and Heavenly Energy, as well as the usage of Devour, had kept his body in tip top condition. As such, he did not need much rest currently.
After less than an hour, and a massive meal later, Zhou Weiqing reunited with his teammates in Lin TianAo’s room.
Little Witch was there as well, and from her smiling face, they could easily tell that she had accomplished her goals in the Heavenly Jewel Island, and definitely had no small gain.