John and Laia carefully approached the Sanguine Devil Beast, making sure to withdraw their aura’s as much as possible, and mask their presence as well. The two slipped forward like ghosts through the foggy terrain, slowly approaching the beast who slumbered deeply. Its twitching ears gave away the fact that even in its slumber, it was listening for the slightest disturbance, at which point it would flee.
The two arrived fifty yards from the beast, at which point Laia stopped.
“This is as close as we can get without waking it,” Laia’s voice appeared in John’s mind. Once one reached the Heaven Tribulation realm, it was possible to send mental sound transmissions to someone else who was nearby.
“So what’s the plan?” John asked through sound transmission as well, as the beast would definitely hear them whisper from this close.
“As soon as I take action, do not hesitate to attack its tail,” Laia instructed, “but remember, only its tail. You won’t have enough time to land a killing blow before it flees, so focus on the tail only.”
John silently nodded his head, agreeing to the plan. While he would like to kill the beast and harvest its blood, he trusted Laia’s judgment on this one.
Laia’s eyes closed for a brief moment, but suddenly snapped open again as a light began to emanate from her chest. The light also carried a profound aura, which instantly roused the beast from its slumber as it felt the nearby aura.
John flashed forward as soon as this happened, appearing before the beast in an instant, battle axe in hand.
Roar!.
The beast noticed his arrival, and its body shifted as it prepared to speed away. Its body sped forward like a blur, shifting dozens of yards like teleportation. Its speed was far faster than John’s, which made him realize Laia was correct.
“Stop!” A commanding voice sounded out from Laia, while her hand was raised towards the distant beast. The beast suddenly came to an instant halt, like its body was frozen in time.
Roar!
The Sanguine Devil Beast roared out in anger once more as its aura flared with incredible power, pushing against the profound restriction that hindrederd its movements.
Laia’s face turned red with strain and she gritted her teeth as she struggled against the beast’s power, but managed to hold it in place long enough for John to arrive by its tail.
Che!
His battle axe cleaved down with full power on the thinnest part of the tail, just before the crystal. The axe met resistance against the tough scales for a moment, but was able to carve through in one clean stroke after a brief pause.
Roar!
The Sanguine Devil Beast roared out in pain and rage once more, and its aura exploded out with even more power.
“Ahh!” a muffled moan of strain escaped Laia’s lips as she lowered her hands. Free from the restriction, the beast shot off into the distance, its speed so fast that John could hardly believe it. Even if he were to use his fastest combat state, he would still not be able to catch it.
The beast slipped into the thick fog and disappeared from sight in almost an instant, returning the land of brief chaos to calm once more. John’s gaze lingered for a moment in the direction the beast fled, before it shifted towards the blood tail at his feet, and the crystal that grew on the end of it.
The dark red crystal was made of a central core, and had several crystalline spikes jutting out of it. It was about the size of his head, and it emanated a wild yet powerful aura. John felt his mind become slightly erratic just by staring at the crystal, but thanks to his cultivation before the sinister gate, he was able to resist its influences. However, a weaker willed cultivator would definitely go insane just by looking at the crystal, let alone consume it as he planned to do.
John reached down and picked up the crystal, which weighed more than he expected it to. The devil-like temptations increased as he touched it, but he still resisted it, although with a bit more effort.
Crunch!
The sound of a crunching twig next to him stirred John from his thoughts, and his gaze shifted to Laia who had arrived next to him. Her face was slightly pale, indicating she had strained herself a bit, but other than that she appeared fine. Her cheeks were rosy red from the strain as well, and John wouldn’t help but stare at her for a short moment, appreciating her incredible beauty.
“That was your Dao of Time, right?” John asked eventually.
“Mhm,” Laia hummed in confirmation.
“What are the limits to that ability?” John asked curiously. “Can’t you just use it on a cultivator and kill them while they are frozen in time? Isn’t that a little too strong?”
“There are limits, naturally,” Laia replied, hiding nothing from him. “The stronger the target, the less time I can freeze them for. I could only stop that Sanguine Devil Beast for a second due to its higher cultivation, which is why I said to go directly for the tail.”
“Still, a second is a lifetime in a battle between cultivators,” John replied. A second opening was all a cultivator needed to land a fatal blow in many battles.
“It’s harder to stop cultivators,” Laia replied with a slight shake of her head. “My Dao of Time freezes time around the target, but can be fought back against. A powerful aura that interferes with my Dao of Time can hinder its influence, and cultivators can also use their own Dao’s to muddy my Dao, making it less effective, which is something that most beasts cannot do,” Laia explained.
“So that’s how it is,” John replied as he finally understood. “Still, your Dao of Time is beyond incredible,” John praised her.
Laia smiled at his compliment, while her gaze shifted to the crystal in his hand. She raised an eyebrow at the ease at which he was holding it, as it was enough to drive most Heaven Tribulation, and even some Dao Transformation cultivators insane.
“Do you not feel its effects at all?” Laia asked curiously.
“No, I do. It’s just that I’ve felt much worse before, so this isn’t much,” John replied nonchalantly.
Laia gazed curiously at John for a short while, before her gaze shifted back to the crystal.
“So how do I do this?” John asked. “Do I just eat the crystal, or do we need to prepare it to make it effective?”
“Well, the crystal itself is what will increase your body strength, so you don’t need to augment it in that way,” Laia replied, “but it’s incredibly hard, and also the devilish nature is very potent, so we will need to grind…it…down…into…a…..powder…..and…dilute…it….”
Laia’s voice had trailed off and become softer as she mumbled out the last of her sentence, as she was yet again almost unable to believe her eyes. As she was speaking, John had directly bitten into a part of the crystal, shattering it with his teeth and directly consuming it. His actions paused for a singular moment as if he was struggling internally with the devilish influence of the crystal, but took another bite almost immediately after.
Chomp!
Chomp!
Chomp!
Laia watched in stunned silence as John devoured the crystal bite by bite, as if it were a succulent meal, and not an incredibly durable and devilish crystal.
Chomp!
He bit down on the last of the crystal and swallowed, fully consuming it in less than a minute. A devilish aura radiated from his body for a short time, but the aura was eventually repressed as John closed his eyes and focused internally on his body.
The crystal began to dissolve in his stomach, and John guided the potent energy from it all throughout his body, while at the same time he resisted the devilish influence that sought to drive him mad. A smile appeared on his face as he felt his body grow in strength and power wherever the devilish energy washed over, quite similar to the blood fruit he had eaten in the ancient Yuan Continent realm.
While the increase in power and durability was not monumental, it was still enough to fill him with glee. The absorption process lasted for several minutes before the energy was fully absorbed, and Johns’ eyes opened with uncontained glee as he started to inspect the state of his body.
“Incredible!” he exclaimed. “You were right, this crystal sure was worth the effor…wait, why are you staring at me like that?” John asked as he noticed Laia staring at him with an odd expression, as if she didn’t even know what to think about John anymore.
“Are you a human, or are you a beast?” she eventually asked in disbelief, still unable to believe he had directly consumed the crystal like that.
“Uhhhhh….both?”