Lu Yuan watched quietly from behind.

He was all too familiar with Han Xun's strength.

Han Xun's Light of Spirit was at the second level, and he had also transplanted and modified the SSS-grade New Martial, "Cold Prison Body."

Any New Martial, after successful transplantation and modification, would need to go through the four stages of 'Break-In,' 'Maturation,' 'Control,' and 'Great Achievement.'

And Han Xun's use of the core energy field of the "Cold Prison Body" within him had already reached the third stage, 'Control.'

This made his combat power outstanding, even among SSS-level individuals.

Eliminating a few mere SS-level Ancient Evil God creatures was just a matter of time for him.

Han Xun had specifically instructed him not to intervene, and he didn't want to 'kill-steal,' so he could only focus more of his attention on the Elephant God's curse on his right chest.

Ever since entering the Secret Realm, Lu Yuan's Elephant God's curse had been constantly burning, identical to the signs each time the curse was fulfilled.

Moreover, if Lu Yuan merely closed his eyes for a moment, scenes from the 'Demon Mountain' dreamscape would flash before his eyes.

He saw, at the peak of the dark mountain, the imposing three-headed, six-armed Elephantman coldly watching him.

Am I walking right into a trap? Lu Yuan thought with self-mockery.

Suddenly, a searing heat touched Lu Yuan's brow, and the signs of the Elephant God's curse on his right chest intensified dramatically.

Before he could understand why, he saw the light in front of him suddenly dim.

A vast shadow silently spread beneath his feet.

Lu Yuan whipped his head around and was startled to see a colossal figure, like a small mountain, standing quietly behind him.

A massive creature with four forelimbs, resembling neither a true elephant nor a true wolf, was coldly looking down at him, its single eye on its forehead emanating a cold and evil light.

SIZZLE...

The data on Evil Energy Fluctuation collected by his optical sensors jumped erratically before finally displaying an 'SSS' rating.

Lu Yuan and this enormous Ancient Elephant God's creature stared at each other—three eyes in total meeting—a decaying, icy aura flowing silently between them.

Meanwhile, Han Xun, who was behind Lu Yuan, swung his long knife in a chillingly elegant arc, preparing to slash coldly at whatever was in front of him. After a mere millisecond of hesitation, Lu Yuan ultimately chose to act decisively.

BUZZ!

The blood spheres within Lu Yuan's body spun rapidly, his Qi and blood surging like a tide. Platinum Universe Qi erupted from his pores, coiling around his body like lightning.

"Grandmaster God Elephant Sect: Scatter the Petals!"

Lu Yuan's figure shot out like a phantom. Just as the enormous Ancient Elephant God's creature before him opened its bloody maw, about to let out a roar, he slammed his palm hard onto its face.

CRACK!

His palm, wreathed in platinum lightning, effortlessly caved in the Ancient Elephant God's creature's face.

Under the Grandmaster Force, the terrifying might generated by his high-speed vibrating muscles was transmitted through his palm.

The latter's body immediately began to tremble violently, like a sieve shaking chaff.

Before it could react, Lu Yuan threw another punch.

"Grandmaster God Elephant Sect: Devouring Dragon!"

BOOM!

A dazzling burst of platinum light suddenly erupted in the dim surroundings.

The terrifying aura flared for an instant and then vanished...

WHOOSH!

Han Xun sliced through the two Ancient Elephant God creatures in front of him with one stroke of his long knife. He spun around quickly, but just as he was about to raise his blade, he froze, slightly stunned.

He saw Lu Yuan crouching about ten meters away, quietly examining a mangled, bloody corpse on the ground.

"Han," Lu Yuan, who was crouching beside the corpse, looked up when he sensed Han Xun's gaze. His eyes lit up slightly as he waved.

"Something tried to sneak attack me just now, but I took care of it in time," Lu Yuan explained, a little sheepishly.

Han Xun slowly sheathed his long knife and walked over step by step. When he got a clear look at the corpse of the Ancient Evil God creature at his feet, his pupils contracted slightly.

The corpse before him was several times larger than the three Ancient Evil God creatures he had just slain combined.

Its specific form was no longer recognizable because it had been completely pulverized from the inside out.

Its internal flesh, blood, and bones had been reduced to pulp; only a layer of skin remained relatively intact, constantly oozing fluids that were then absorbed by a collector device hovering in mid-air.

Han Xun's expression flickered with shock, and he was about to speak when Lu Yuan, at his side, quickly explained, "Don't be fooled by this Ancient Evil God creature's size. Its actual combat power is very weak, probably not even S-rank. I killed it with just a couple of casual hits..."

Han Xun frowned, a hint of suspicion clouding his eyes.

Although he had been engaged in combat, he had still sensed the aura emanating from this Ancient Evil God creature when it appeared.

It hadn't seemed weak at all; in fact, it had even made him feel a slight sense of threat.

But in the mere instant it took him to turn around, Lu Yuan had dealt with an Ancient Evil God creature that could have threatened even him?

Highly unlikely, Han Xun swiftly dismissed this speculation in his mind.

This was because it severely contradicted his assessment of Lu Yuan's combat strength.

In his understanding, Lu Yuan's strength was around SS-rank, with hidden trump cards that could allow him to reach SSS-rank if he went all out.

How long had it been since he last saw Lu Yuan in the Lament Ruins? Under normal circumstances, even if the other party's strength had improved, such a massive leap was impossible.

Looking at Lu Yuan's perfectly natural expression, Han Xun eventually suppressed his suspicions. After a moment of silence, he said, "Collect everything properly. This is all Merit. Mark any parts you can't take; when specialized personnel come to clean up later, it will also be converted into Merit..."

"Mm," Lu Yuan nodded. Watching Han Xun's retreating back, he sighed inwardly. Old Han, I'm just trying to save you some face here. You wouldn't want your own words to come back and slap you, right? So... you'd better believe it.

He shook his head, stared at the corpse of the Ancient Elephant God's creature before him, and after a moment's thought, gently placed his hand on it.

The blood spheres within his body began to rotate, exerting a pulsing suction force through the pores of his skin.

Instantly, wisps of thick, bloody mist rose from the putrid flesh within the corpse, flowing like a stream through Lu Yuan's palm and into his body.

CRACKLE... CRACKLE...

As this blood mist was absorbed, Lu Yuan felt the blood spheres within him visibly swelling and strengthening.

The blood spheres spun, stirring his Qi and blood to surge through him, causing his martial physique to experience rapid growth in a short period.

Not only that, but faint wisps of ethereal light also seeped out from the corpse and were similarly absorbed by Lu Yuan.

Before long, the entire corpse was completely absorbed by Lu Yuan. The putrid flesh turned to ash, leaving only a shriveled husk of skin.

Lu Yuan picked up the skin and gave it a light tug; it immediately tore apart like paper.

All the essence has been absorbed by me. It seems my previous assumption was spot on...

Lu Yuan felt the blood spheres within him having grown slightly larger. While pleased to have found this shortcut to rapidly strengthening himself, he couldn't help but muse, It's just that this absorption process... it always makes me feel like I'm practicing some kind of demonic art... It gives me a strong sense of déjà vu, like the Sucking Star Method or the North Nether Divine Skill...

Lu Yuan then couldn't help but recall the murals he had seen earlier in the Pot Heaven Secret Realm.

Several of those murals depicted a small figure, the founder of Pure Martial, absorbing a large amount of mystical power from the corpses of Evil God creatures and then rapidly growing stronger.

His current actions were virtually identical.

It seems the true cultivation path for Pure Martial Grandmasters after reaching that stage is indeed like this...

This would also explain why the small figure was later jointly exterminated by the Ancient Evil Gods.

His power was built upon devouring Evil God creatures as sustenance.

The murals depicted the small figure also absorbing power emanating from many worshippers and followers... Could it be that he even 'devoured' his own kin?

Lu Yuan didn't think it was that extreme. What the small figure in the murals absorbed from his kinsmen worshippers was perhaps not their Flesh and Blood Essence, but something else.

He just didn't know what it was yet.

After devouring the Ancient Evil God creature's corpse, Lu Yuan checked his class panel again.

[You have experienced a battle. Class Experience +75]

It seemed that Class Experience for [Martial Arts Grandmaster (Extraordinary)] could indeed still be obtained through battle.

Although the Experience Points weren't much, with a few more SSS-rank Ancient Evil God creatures, he wouldn't be far from advancing his Martial Arts Grandmaster from Lv. 2 to Lv. 3.

Lu Yuan then glanced at the experience bar for his [Elephant God. Ming King (Extraordinary)].

He had just noticed an ethereal light, similar to that of an Elephant God Walk's heart, seeping from the corpse. A quick look now confirmed that the experience bar on the Elephant God panel had indeed increased.

It had risen from 5% to 7%.

Though not a large increase, it was progress nonetheless.

Class leveling, blood sphere growth, progress bar increase—killing one Ancient Elephant God's creature yielded three benefits.

At this moment, Lu Yuan felt as if he had arrived in paradise.

It's always somewhat inconvenient to move with others... Lu Yuan thought, watching Han Xun's back in the distance. I need to find an opportunity to break away from the main group.

After clearing the battlefield, Lu Yuan and Han Xun continued forward.

There seemed to be quite a few Ancient Evil God creatures in this treacherous forest.

On their subsequent journey, the two repeatedly encountered attacks from Ancient Evil God creatures.

All the ancient creatures within this forest seemed to have been corrupted by the Power of Elephant God, exhibiting, to varying degrees, certain elephantine characteristics.

As they neared the edge of the forest, Han Xun stood silently beside the corpse of an enormous Ancient Elephant God's creature, his long knife in hand. His gaze flickered, shifting back and forth between the corpse at his feet and Lu Yuan beside him.

Lu Yuan's expression was calm as he said matter-of-factly, "It's quite obvious that in this Secret Realm, the strength of the Ancient Evil God creatures is inversely proportional to their size. The larger they are, the weaker they are..."

Han Xun remained silent for a moment, then said, "Let's go."

"Okay." Lu Yuan quickly dealt with the corpse and followed closely behind Han Xun.

From the entrance to their current location, their two-man team had been attacked by three SSS-rank Ancient Evil God creatures.

All of them had been decisively eliminated by Lu Yuan with lightning speed.

Although he kept trying to instill in Han Xun the idea of 'the bigger, the weaker; the smaller, the stronger,' it seemed Han Xun was beginning to seriously doubt his true strength.

He reckoned that if they continued exploring as a team, Lu Yuan would soon be unable to hide his full capabilities.

Fortunately, they were about to leave this forest completely, and Lu Yuan had already formulated a plan to separate from the main team.

After devouring and absorbing three SSS-rank Ancient Elephant God creatures, the blood spheres inside Lu Yuan's body had surged in size, growing by nearly one-third.

The surging Qi and blood washed over his body repeatedly. Lu Yuan could almost feel several of his Basic Attributes showing signs of an impending breakthrough.

Moreover, his [Martial Arts Grandmaster (Extraordinary)] had smoothly advanced from Lv. 2 to Lv. 3, earning him 1 attribute point and 1 skill point.

The progress bar for his [Elephant God. Ming King (Extraordinary)] had also reached 11%.

The gains were undeniably substantial.

The curse's reaction is getting stronger too... Lu Yuan mused, touching the burning Elephant God's curse on his chest.

The two of them walked out of the eerie forest, and a vast, black plain stretched out before them.

No vegetation grew on this plain; instead, numerous giant black stones stood upon it. It was hard to tell what lay at the plain's end.

Based on what he had seen so far, Lu Yuan estimated this Elephant God Secret Realm to be at least three to five times larger than the Lament Ruins.

After exiting the forest, they quickly spotted Yin Muqing on the plain, hovering in mid-air like a giant lightbulb.

They rapidly approached Yin Muqing's position. They saw her standing impassively, her silver alloy long knife in hand. At her feet was a small mountain piled high with the corpses of numerous Ancient Elephant God creatures.

Too bad all the Flesh and Blood Essence has been collected, Lu Yuan thought with regret, otherwise, I could have scored another big haul for free.

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