Chapter 529: Devouring the World, The 72-Hour Blank Period

The Spirit Master World, devoured by a vast, indescribable being, vanished at an extremely rapid pace.

At the same time, the four other worlds noticed this change, but they didn’t take much action, continuing to operate in their usual, orderly fashion.

After all, compared to these four worlds, the Spirit Master World was not particularly large. In fact, it seemed rather miniature.

But for Qi Suian, it was a Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill. As he devoured it, his own growth became increasingly rapid.

In the prototype stage of a world, many rules were compressed within it, making them a hassle to use.

But things were different now. As he continued to grow and expand, Qi Suian’s power had increased further.

Of course, the increase in power was just a side effect. The true core of the matter was that the world named Qi Suian was gradually maturing into a fully developed stage.

His world, the sixth in this cosmic space, quickly drew the attention of the other four. But since he was devouring the Spirit Master World, the total number of worlds was about to drop from six to five.

However, since a small part of the Spirit Master World still remained, the four worlds didn’t probe further. Instead, they diverted a portion of their power to deal with Qi Suian.

Qi Suian had already prepared for this. He turned the tables, viciously bit down on the portion they extended toward him, and swallowed it in a single gulp.

He was no normal world; he was a living world, and his flexibility was far greater than theirs.

After being attacked by Qi Suian, the four worlds naturally increased their commitment, hoping to achieve greater returns and create a situation of overwhelming force.

It was a good idea. Overwhelming an opponent with sheer, brute force is a strategy that almost always works.

However, that has one prerequisite: you must actually be able to crush your opponent.

But there was an unexpected development: Qi Suian had already devoured most of the Spirit Master World, developing from a world prototype into a complete world.

Though his size was still no match for theirs, he had at least reached adulthood.

If they were hulking strongmen, he was at least of average build.

He then took out an enormous flower bud.

This flower bud was something Qi Suian had created using the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao. It was by no means small, comparable in size to the sun of the Spirit Master World.

Yet in Qi Suian’s hands, it looked pitifully tiny.

And compared to the four worlds, it was even more insignificant.

But that didn’t matter. Its small size wasn’t an issue; what mattered was who was using it and what they intended to achieve.

Expecting this thing to destroy the four great worlds before him would be pure fantasy.

But if he lowered his expectations—for instance, using it to briefly blind the four worlds—that was certainly achievable.

And "briefly" was relative to a world. For an ordinary life-form, it would be a very long time indeed.

Although Qi Suian was also a world, his perception of time was still that of a short-lived being. He hadn’t even reached the level of a long-lived one, let alone attained a world’s sense of time.

This was tantamount to Qi Suian placing the four worlds under a hard crowd-control effect.

The flower bud floated from his hand, directly impacting the operation of the four worlds’ rules and logic.

It brought all of their functions to a grinding halt.

After the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao completed its ascension, the "Celestial Dao" suffix became truly fitting. Thus, when forged into a weapon, it was not difficult for it to affect a world for a short period.

’Seventy-two hours. I think that should be enough.’ Qi Suian found it impractical to measure in days; how was he to know how many hours made up a day in those four worlds?

As for his own world, a day was currently twenty-four hours long. He didn’t plan on getting fancy with it, preferring to base it on his own subjective consciousness.

’Next, I’ll start eating from the closest one.’

Qi Suian’s gaze fell upon the nearest world, and he pounced. Then, innumerable fibers surged forth.

He was not the only one feasting; countless fibers coordinated with him, beginning to devour the world as well.

Because its rules and logic were temporarily paralyzed, the world had no reaction. However, due to his actions, the world he was devouring began to gradually recover.

According to Qi Suian’s observations, it would likely recover within forty-eight hours.

And he needed to completely devour this world within those forty-eight hours.

This was no simple task.

Although he had already devoured the Spirit Master World, which might suggest he had experience, the problem was that the Spirit Master World was not only smaller but also damaged. The two couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath.

Therefore, this counted as his first true world-devouring; the previous one was merely a drill.

He estimated that it would take him at least forty-five hours to completely devour this world.

This meant he would use up two-thirds of his total time on the very first world.

In the remaining twenty-seven hours, he would need to devour at least two more worlds to have a chance of completing his plan of a snake swallowing an elephant.

Otherwise, if two worlds were left standing, he would have to choose to flee rather than face them head-on.

However, in Qi Suian’s plan, the probability of success was not low.

It was his first time devouring a proper world, so without experience, it would naturally take the longest.

For the second and third, not only would he become more proficient, but his power would also grow from devouring and digesting the worlds. Therefore, accomplishing the feat in twenty-seven hours wouldn’t be difficult.

As for the final world, its recovery would likely exceed the duration of the lockdown. There was no helping that; Qi Suian could only do his best.

For the last remaining world, Qi Suian would have no choice but to face it head-on.

Unless he could find another item like the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao, there was no way to extend the effect.

Moreover, the effect of the control would be greatly diminished on a second use; it might not even last for seventy-two minutes.

Worlds might be rigid, but that didn’t mean their internal mechanics were flawed. The same trick wouldn’t work on them multiple times.

Still, his chances of winning were decent. By then, Qi Suian would have already taken down three worlds, and his overall power would have risen once more.

If he couldn’t win by then, it didn’t matter. He could just flee.

After all, he would have already devoured three worlds. To Qi Suian, it would just mean his profit wasn’t as great as he’d hoped, but he would have already feasted to his heart’s content.

’The life within this world has actually begun to resist and try to save itself. As expected, life always finds a way.’

’But whether that way leads to life or death... well, that depends on luck.’

’Perfect. I’ll just let the fibers handle them. Kill them one and all, devour every last one. It’ll save me a lot of time.’

Qi Suian wasn’t worried about them uniting to resist him. After all, an arm is no match for a leg.

His only concern was that they might scatter and flee, which would make hunting them down a hassle. He would then have to filter them out himself, which would be an incredible waste of time.

’These fibers... they don’t seem to be just fibers anymore. They should be considered a separate race, a civilization.’

’For example... the Fiber Race?’

’Okay, the name is a bit odd.’

’Mostly because ’Fiber Race’ gives me this strange feeling... like they’re just clothes or ropes that have come to life...’

-----------------

Shi Qiang watched as a dense black fog poured in from a crack in the sky, beginning to madly slaughter and gnaw at everything in sight, not even sparing space itself.

At the same time, through the crack, he saw the indescribable presence behind it, dragging their world into the abyss, little by little.

He was filled with despair at the sight.

In his world, people grew stronger by raising and training beasts.

Powerful tamed beasts were not afraid of the black fog, but there was one problem: not long ago, the continent where all the Beast Emperors resided had been torn away by an unknown, immense power.

Now, the strongest Beast Tamer left was him, a Beast Taming Celestial King.

Compared to the power of the Beast Emperors, his own was nothing. The difference was like heaven and earth; there was simply no comparison.

Then, he watched as the continent of the Beast Emperors was smashed to smithereens by an even more terrifying power.

He was left utterly stunned, his conviction shattering on the spot.

Luckily, they were Beast Tamers and didn’t dwell on such things. Otherwise, an event so world-shattering would have surely left a deep psychological scar, leading to a cultivation deviation from which he could never recover.

But he quickly pushed all such chaotic thoughts aside. The most urgent matter was to organize their remaining forces and resist the black fog invaders.

"Everyone, on my command—" Shi Qiang roared. As the strongest one remaining, he had to stabilize the situation first.

However, before he could finish speaking, the endless black fog was already ravaging the land.

Be it Beast Tamers or their tamed beasts, the moment they touched the black fog, they were instantly enveloped and vanished without a trace.

At that moment, Shi Qiang finally saw what the black fog truly was.

It wasn’t fog at all, but a swarm of innumerable insects.

The insects radiated an aura of greed. If one were to sense them carefully, one could clearly perceive the hunger constantly radiating from their bodies.

That endless hunger, coupled with insatiable greed and their sheer numbers, was an absolutely terrifying combination.

In that instant, he was terrified. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned to flee.

His previous heroic declarations, his plans to organize a resistance—all were forgotten completely.

It wasn’t a conscious decision; the deepest fear in his body had taken control of his instincts.

’I’m going to die, I’m going to die...’

’Run, run...’

Spurred by fear, his instincts formed an incessant whisper in his mind.

But he hadn’t taken more than two steps when his mind reeled. Blood began to flow from all seven of his facial orifices, and his Spirit suffered a massive blow.

This was because his tamed beast had been devoured by the black fog, and its death triggered a backlash against him, its Beast Tamer.

After all, a beast and its Beast Tamer flourish and perish together. If one dies, the other will suffer a corresponding backlash.

And with all of his tamed beasts dying in the black fog, the backlash was naturally far more powerful.

This left him with no strength to flee. He staggered and collapsed to the ground.

Looking back, he watched in horror as the black fog closed in on him.

Before he could make another move, the fog that blotted out the sky swept over him. In his final moments, there was not an ounce of pain.