After handing the half-dead thousand-year Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon over to Shui Bing'er, Shen Hanyu quickly returned along the original path to that enormous cave.
The Violent Snow Spider Emperor, already devoid of any consciousness, hung like a corpse on the web it had woven itself, surrounded by the scattered corpses of many small spiders that Shen Hanyu had already cleared.
Most of these small spiders only been cultivated for a hundred years, with very few reaching a thousand years, so clearing them naturally posed no trouble for Shen Hanyu.
With a casual thrust of his spear, he pierced the Violent Snow Spider Emperor to death, allowing the black soul ring on its body to slowly condense.
Shen Hanyu's eyes grew profound. A flash of blue-purple light appeared on his right leg, releasing a terrifying suction force from it. A not-too-large, not-too-small black vortex also appeared in front of him, continuously drawing the energy and blood essence from the Violent Snow Spider Emperor's corpse into his body.
One of the two hundred-thousand-year soul bone skills from the Fallen Sea Demon's right leg bone, named Sea Demon Abyss by Shen Hanyu, allowed him to absorb life energy from other creatures within a certain period to replenish himself.
Of course, these other creatures included living ones.
The scales of the Fallen Sea Demon originally had the effect of absorbing part of energy attacks, and unexpectedly, the soul bone it produced perfectly inherited this ability, which greatly delighted Shen Hanyu.
As a continuous stream of energy surged in, Shen Hanyu felt his slowly rising cultivation and couldn't help letting out a comfortable moan, murmuring in a low voice:
"No wonder so many soul masters are willing to fall into darkness and evil themselves. This feeling really is intoxicating..."
Tianmeng let out a low sigh and said:
"Although this soul skill does lean somewhat toward what you humans call evil soul masters, in the end, it can make you stronger quickly. Sometimes there's no clear right or wrong, Hanyu..."
"Enough, don't worry about me. Even if I become an evil soul master, so what? Good and evil lie in a single thought of mine. If I say I am justice, then I am justice. If I fall into darkness, then it will be the purest darkness."
Shen Hanyu fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
Tianmeng huffed once and silently retreated into the mental sea.
Seeing the dust falling from above growing heavier, Shen Hanyu couldn't help but speed up. In about half an hour, the enormous corpse of the Violent Snow Spider Emperor had completely turned into a desiccated husk. Not a single bit of the energy within it was wasted; all of it had been absorbed into Shen Hanyu's body.
Shen Hanyu's cultivation instantly rose from level sixty-six to the peak of level sixty-seven. He licked his dry lips with lingering satisfaction, and for some reason, a thirst for blood arose in his heart. If he could have a little more, he might even break through to Soul Sage today...
...
Shen Hanyu shook his head fiercely, dispelling the strange thought in his mind. Holding the Cold Heaven Spear, he stared at the cave ceiling above, silently waiting.
With several sharp cries, an enormous silver claw brutally tore through the rock above. Countless rays of bright light suddenly shot down from above. The massive body landed heavily atop the breach, its scarlet eyes sweeping like venomous arrows over every corner below.
The enormous claws of the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon were covered in wounds, blood pouring like a waterfall, yet it did nothing to slow its speed. On the contrary, the pain made it even more frenzied and bloodthirsty. Now its goal was no longer simply to rescue its child—it wanted to slaughter every living thing below to vent its rage.
Shen Hanyu sneered coldly. He greatly admired its deep maternal love, but that could not become a reason for him to let it leave unscathed. Everything was fated. Its death here today was a destiny long decided; no one could escape it!
Being a saint or showing mercy in a xuan huan world was often a tragedy. A person could have emotions, but they could not let emotions affect their correct judgment. One could give up appropriate benefits for emotion, but others could give up appropriate emotion for benefits. It was a matter of choice; neither was right nor wrong.
As Shen Hanyu scattered a handful of feathers from the young Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon, the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon let out a mournful and utterly furious cry. Its sharp claws waved frantically, soon completely breaking through all the obstructions above, fully exposing the cave below to its talons.
Carrying terrifying killing intent, the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon leaped straight down. The space here was too narrow; it couldn't even take flight, and its enormous wings could not spread. Still, it crashed through countless rocks as it charged directly at Shen Hanyu.
Shen Hanyu leaped off the rocks, constantly shuttling between various positions, nimbly dodging the suicidal attacks from the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon.
While dodging, the Cold Heaven Spear seized opportunities and had already left three or four bloody holes in its body. The largest one even clearly revealed the bones and organs inside.
The webs left by the Violent Snow Spider Emperor also played a major role. The Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon's body was enormous to begin with, making even turning around extremely difficult in this environment. In the process of turning, it became stuck to quite a few tough webs.
These webs were covered in tiny protrusions. After piercing the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon's skin, they injected the terrifying cold poison from the Violent Snow Spider Emperor into its body.
In its current state, how could the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon possibly notice this? The intense attacks made its blood flow dozens of times faster than usual. Soon, this cold poison would spread throughout its body, slowly causing it to lose its life...
Sure enough, as time passed, Shen Hanyu remained unscathed, but the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon's speed grew slower and slower. Its movements gradually stiffened, looking exactly like someone exhausted after a frenzy.
Shen Hanyu grew tired of waiting any longer. Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, and red, six soul rings rose beneath his feet. The sixth red soul ring lit up.
One of the two soul skills from the hundred-thousand-year Fallen Sea Demon, this skill was named by Shen Hanyu as No Light: the no light that plunges everything into darkness, the no light that strips the world of color.
An icy and murderous aura erupted. A massive phantom of the Fallen Sea Demon appeared behind Shen Hanyu. Roars as if from the abyss echoed in the ears. A terrifying power condensed at the tip of the Cold Heaven Spear. With a low shout from Shen Hanyu, it pierced through the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon's body with thunderous momentum, finally nailing it firmly into the hard rock. Extreme cold caused layers of frost to slowly climb over it, turning it into a beautiful yet tragic tableau...
Seeing that it had finally lost all signs of life, Shen Hanyu finally breathed a sigh of relief. After a brief moment of meditation and recovery, he began devouring the enormous Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon in the same manner.
In terms of both years and quality, the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon slightly surpassed the Violent Snow Spider Emperor, so the energy it contained was naturally immense. Shen Hanyu simply sat cross-legged in front of the corpse, patiently waiting for the absorption to finish...