Chapter 76: The Glutton of the Trial

*FZZZ—!*

Deep within the secluded, hidden fold of space beneath the ancient stone bridge, a subtle yet sharp tug rippled through the air.

**Ethan**, who had been sitting cross-legged in absolute stillness with his eyes closed, suddenly frowned. A micro-strand of his circulating dark-blue mana had just been forcefully latched onto, violently severed, and traced backward.

His eyes snapped open, glowing with a sharp, cold crimson light.

With a flick of his wrist, he willed the surrounding spatial barriers to collapse, dissolving the invisible shield that had concealed him from the outside world. He hadn’t been forcibly broken out; in fact, he had planned to drop the concealment array himself within the next few minutes. But the sudden intrusion had served its purpose.

A faint, contemplative smirk touched his lips.

*’So... they did find me,’* Ethan thought, standing up smoothly from the cold stone. *’I wanted to test the caliber of the Supreme Evolution Academy’s leadership. This barrier wasn’t crafted with ordinary dark magic—it was woven by fusing ancient dragon and phoenix essence.’*

In his past life, Ethan had died in obscurity before he ever had the chance to truly rise within the academy. He had been a miserable failure in the entrance trials, crushed by the system and discarded as cannon fodder long before he could comprehend the true depth of the academy’s hidden powerhouses.

Because of that blank spot in his past memories, he had deliberately left a microscopic trace of mana exposed—just to see if anyone within this institution possessed the capability to pierce a barrier forged from supreme mythological bloodlines.

And Professor Lyra had answered that test brilliantly.

Ethan reached into the inner pocket of his dark grey robe and withdrew a smooth, luminescent sphere roughly the size of a pigeon’s egg. It radiated a dual-toned, mesmerizing glow—half-fiery crimson like a blazing sun, half-icy azure like a frozen ocean.

It was the **Dragon-Phoenix Bead**.

He stared down at the artifact, letting out a soft, low sigh. As a pure dark mage, his entire expertise lay in blood manipulation, shadow weaving, and soul curses. He possessed no aptitude for the rigorous, physical arts of a weapon master, meaning he could never forge this legendary bead into a divine sword or a primordial spear.

*DING!*

A crisp, translucent blue system window suddenly popped up directly in his field of vision:

---

> **[SYSTEM PROMPT]**

> **[Detected Item: Primordial Dragon-Phoenix Bead (Mythic Grade)]**

> **[Notice: Host, if you choose to recycle and sell this item to the System, you will instantly be rewarded with 100,000,000 Fate Points!]**

---

Ethan stared at the staggering figure of one hundred million Fate Points. For any ordinary cultivator or dark mage, such an offer would be an irresistible temptation capable of buying god-tier resources.

Instead, Ethan simply shook his head, a wry smile crossing his face as he tucked the bead safely back into his robes.

"One hundred million is generous, system," Ethan murmured quietly to the empty air. "But this bead’s true value isn’t in its raw Fate currency. Its purpose lies elsewhere... in a game far larger than you realize."

With a sharp, decisive motion, Ethan stepped out from beneath the bridge, his grey cloak billowing slightly in the cool academic wind.

It was time to move.

Following the intrusion of Professor Lyra’s ancient spell, maintaining his stationary meditation was no longer necessary. But his network of clones—distributed across all twenty hidden trial realms—was still fully active. To craft those clones, Ethan hadn’t merely relied on ordinary blood magic; he had ingeniously fused his mana with the fossilized bones, dried marrow, and ancient skeletal remnants of primordial beasts he had scavenged from the deepest catacombs of the trial grounds.

Through this skeletal-blood network, his avatars prowled the twenty pocket dimensions, operating as his invisible eyes and ears.

His primary objective wasn’t just to watch Keklar, Arthur, or Kael—whose battle in the Void-Timber Realm had just been rudely interrupted by a massive, hundred-foot Rank 4 Void Serpent. Ethan’s gaze was cast much wider across the entire student roster.

He wanted to observe every single **Heavenly Chosen One** currently assembled in the academy.

Even if a candidate wasn’t a main protagonist backed by a system like Keklar, anyone favored by the world’s *Heavenly Will*—anyone blessed with abnormal luck, divine physiques, or anomalous inheritances—was worth noting.

His crimson eyes flickered mentally toward one specific target in the northern trial realm: **Sera**.

Rumors across the northern empires claimed that Sera possessed not only the *Absolute Zero Meridian* physique but also the legendary **Secret-Seeking Eyes**—a rare, mystic ocular power capable of piercing through illusions, tracking karmic threads, and laying bare the hidden truths of any spell.

While her direct combat utility was reportedly secondary compared to her devastating ice magic, her investigative and analytical capabilities were terrifyingly sharp. Ethan wanted to see firsthand how she utilized those eyes under pressure.

Of course, his awareness remained tethered to the other focal points as well:

* Arthur and Kael, currently dealing with the sudden intervention of the apex-tier Void Serpent.

* Keklar, whose monstrous evolution was pushing the limits of the trial’s ecosystem.

* And the dozens of other imperial princes, sect heirs, and divine-blessed prodigies scattered across the remaining hidden realms.

Ethan melted into the shadows of the academy pathways, his footsteps entirely silent.

The early morning light filtered through the thick, misty canopy of the third Hidden Realm, casting long, eerie shadows across the shattered forest floor.

Deep inside a mountainous ravine, the sound of violent clashing, desperate screams, and bursting elemental spells echoed continuously. A group of seven exhausted candidates was engaged in a life-or-death battle against a colossal, terrifying monstrosity.

The beast stood over twenty feet tall, resembling a massive elephant, but its entire body was covered in luminous, ivory-white dragon scales that reflected the morning sun like polished steel. Its ears were unnaturally huge, fanning out like giant wings, allowing the mammoth creature to glide gracefully through the air.

*ROAR—!*

The flying dragon-elephant plummeted from the sky, slamming its colossal weight onto the earth. As it landed, it opened its gaping maw and unleashed a scorching torrent of bright blue dragon flames across the clearing, turning trees and boulders into molten ash in a fraction of a second.

"Dammit! How did we end up stumbling into a Rank 4 beast’s core territory?!" one of the male candidates yelled, coughing blood as he barely dodged the blue fire. "I knew this trial would have Rank 4 creatures, but this is pure suicide!"

"I can’t believe how unlucky we are!" shouted Red, a fiery-haired swordsman standing near the front, his hands trembling as he held his cracked broadsword.

Behind him, a female archer pulled back her bowstring to its absolute limit. A glowing, golden spatial arrow materialized on her bow, radiating her concentrated mana.

*SCREEECH!*

She released the string, and the arrow shot through the air, striking the dragon-elephant directly between its eyes.

*CLANG!*

Sparks flew, but the golden arrow shattered into useless motes of light against the thick, ivory dragon scales, failing to leave even a single scratch.

The female archer’s face turned deathly pale. "It’s useless... We can’t pierce its defense! We can’t beat this thing!"

The flying dragon-elephant turned its glowing crimson eyes toward the group. Flapping its giant ears, it hovered into the air, its body radiating an oppressive, suffocating pressure as it prepared to unleash another wave of blue dragon breath.

The pressure was so overwhelming that the candidates fell to their knees. Terrified and hopeless, several of them reached into their robes, gripping their Void Tokens to shatter them and forfeit the trial.

Suddenly—

*BOOM!*

A streak of dark-red energy cut through the sky like a falling star, slamming straight into the flying dragon-elephant’s broad side!

The impact was so tremendous that the colossal Rank 4 beast let out a pained screech as its twenty-ton body was blasted across the clearing, crashing violently through three massive oak trees before rolling onto the dirt.

The group of candidates froze, their eyes wide in absolute shock and relief.

"W-What happened...?" Red muttered, dropping his shattered sword in disbelief.

From the swirling dust cloud where the beast had fallen, a solitary figure stepped forward.

The young man had long, jet-black hair that fluttered wildly in the wind, sharp, blood-red eyes that gleamed with feral hunger, and wore striking black-and-red ceremonial robes. His aura was dark, wild, and utterly suffocating.

Without paying the stunned candidates any attention, the black-robed youth walked casually toward the groaning dragon-elephant.

He reached out his bare hands, gripping the dense, impenetrable dragon scales covering the monster’s belly. With a savage grin, he flexed his muscles.

*RIP—!*

With sheer physical strength alone, he tore the ivory dragon scales directly off the beast’s body as if peeling fruit! The dragon-elephant shrieked in agony, but the youth plunged his bare hand straight into its abdomen, tearing the creature open in a brutal display of primal violence.

Before the horrified eyes of the surviving candidates, the young man lowered his head and began tearing away raw flesh, consuming the Rank 4 beast alive!

A glowing, translucent system interface flashed directly in front of the youth’s eyes:

---

> **[BEAST DEVOUR-WING SYSTEM ACTIVATED]**

> **[Host has successfully hunted and consumed a Rank 4 Flying Dragon-Elephant!]**

> **[Extracting Bloodline Traits...]**

> **[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED:]**

> **1. Dragon Scale Armor (Physical Defense +40%)**

> **2. Blue Dragon Breath (Rank 4 Elemental Flame)**

> **3. Skin Hardness Reinforcement**

> **4. Flight: Way of the Wind (Ear-Wing Gliding)**

---

The black-robed youth wiped a trace of blood from his lips, his red eyes flashing with immense satisfaction as his physical attributes surged.

Back in the clearing, one of the elite candidates stared at the youth’s face in sudden, terrifying realization.

"A-Ah... Isn’t he...?!" the candidate stammered, his voice trembling. "He’s from the **Myriad Beast Empire**! He’s the core descendant of the ancient **Blood-Feast Tribe**—the wild prodigy who cultivates by devouring high-tier monsters raw!"

The group of candidates backed away in sheer horror as the youth turned his blood-red eyes toward them, his cold, predatory gaze making their blood run cold.