Silence returned to the bottom of the abyss, but it was a heavy, suffocating silence. Lin Chen sat cross-legged, his breath steadying as the stolen energy of the Supreme Will integrated into his marrow.
Suddenly, his head throbbed with a violent, agonizing pressure. It felt as if a thousand years of stolen secrets were being forcibly branded into his brain.
Images and ancient secrets flooded his mind. He wasn't just feeling energy; he was seeing the stolen memories of the being he had just consumed.
He saw a terrifying battle from eons ago—the Supreme Will, in the height of his power, leading a pursuit against a lone, blood-soaked figure from the Forbidden Clan. He watched through the Supreme's eyes as they finally struck the warrior down. From the cooling corpse of that Forbidden Clan member, the Supreme had snatched a glowing, jagged scroll: a fragment of the Heaven-Devouring Scripture.
But the scripture was never meant for outsiders. The moment the Supreme had tried to cultivate its secrets, the technique had backfired, shattering his physical body and tethering his soul to this abyss for eternity.
"So... you died trying to steal what was never yours," Lin Chen muttered, clutching his head as the memories settled.
The scripture in his mind was incomplete—a collection of broken, powerful fragments—but for Lin Chen, whose blood now hummed in recognition, the broken lines of text began to knit together. Because he possessed the true Devouring Physique, the very technique that had destroyed the Supreme Will now flowed through Lin Chen's meridians like a homecoming.
He closed his eyes and began to circulate the first fragmented mantra.
"The universe is a vessel, and I am the void. All things return to the source."
As he spoke the silent words, the stagnant, toxic Qi at the bottom of the abyss began to swirl toward him. His Devouring Spiritual Roots acted like a filter, stripping away the poison and leaving only raw, terrifying power.
He could feel his shattered internal organs knitting back together with supernatural speed. The jagged bones in his legs snapped back into place with audible cracks, but he didn't flinch.
The pain was nothing compared to the cold fire of his resolve. Using the Supreme's refined experience, he guided the energy to his dantian, which was no longer a "trash" vessel. It was now a swirling vortex of black ink, greedily pulling in everything within reach.
By the time the first rays of dawn hit the distant top of the cliff, Lin Chen's injuries were gone. His skin was pale, and his aura was no longer that of a victim.
"You killed a man of my clan to steal this power, and now, that same power has fed me your soul," Lin Chen said to the empty air. He stood up, his movements fluid and predatory. "It seems karma exists after all."
He looked at his hands, feeling the strength of his new cultivation. It was a dark, heavy energy that felt capable of crushing anything in its path.
"Xue Linger... you didn't realize you were throwing me into my own armory," he whispered, looking up the steep, jagged walls of the abyss. "Wait for me. I'm coming back to settle the debt."