The Devourer stood atop a building, gazing down at the sea of flames below, listening to the screams of the crowd, and feeling that the world had never been more beautiful.
"Kurosaki Rei… just how much growth can you give me?"
He extended his long tongue and licked his cheek, a greedy expression spreading across his face.
Watching the figure advancing through the inferno below, he felt this was the perfect creation of his ability.
This Shen Wulong—Luohan Version was practically his ideal specimen.
Unlike the original Shen Wulong, who was emotionless and desireless, this one had amplified evil and craving, becoming closer to humanity—yet also far more powerful.
He had fulfilled Shen Luohan's wish, completing the fusion of three personalities.
Shen Wulong had been reborn.
The current Shen Wulong possessed the dragon's cold indifference, the tiger's destructive impulse, and Shen Luohan's intellect—a being that could be called the perfect apex organism.
However, because Shen Wulong carried over five thousand years of memories, Shen Luohan's memories had been reduced to grains of sand during fusion. He was the one who had been absorbed, leaving behind only fragments of his thinking patterns and personality.
Now Shen Wulong could feel rage over the death of his friend Xia Yan, kill under the influence of the tiger's destructive urge, and act with greater cunning and flexibility thanks to Shen Luohan's mindset—no longer so dull.
The original Shen Wulong had been powerful, but too dull. There had still been opportunities to scheme against him.
The current Shen Wulong, however, was nearly flawless—because he now had Shen Luohan's brain.
Cautious by nature, Shen Luohan had made extensive preparations. Though vengeance compelled him to seek out Kurosaki Rei, he had secured multiple safeguards.
As the world's largest underground arms dealer, his military power was sufficient to conquer a small nation. While unlikely, if the battle went poorly, he would order the submarines off Japan's coast to launch missiles, directly washing Wu Village, the coastal city, in fire.
He had also arranged several armed helicopters within the country, ready to extract him at any moment.
"So cautious… just to kill Kurosaki Rei,"
the Devourer muttered as he watched Shen Wulong below.
"I was hoping you'd be a bit more decisive."
Yet he admired this caution. No matter how powerful one was, failing to use one's brain could always lead to disaster. Shen Wulong's steadiness made him feel victory was assured.
By his usual standards, the Devourer didn't even need to be here today.
But he wanted Kurosaki Rei's fresh corpse—that would give him the greatest boost.
If he could absorb a freshly slain Adjudicator as strong as Kurosaki Rei, he might gain five… no, perhaps even ten points of attributes!
He had only discovered this aspect of his ability by accident. The resources used by the Space to enhance explorers were not fully integrated immediately; they required time to fuse.
Simply put, for a period after enhancement, the free attribute points used by explorers still clung to their bodies. He could extract and absorb them with his power.
Perhaps the Space reclaimed some resources from dead explorers' bodies—that might explain why absorbing them triggered a violation warning.
So what?
Violation or not—was there any faster way to grow stronger?
He would keep absorbing like this, becoming the strongest existence, trampling all those Adjudicators who dared hunt him underfoot.
Boom—
Amid an explosion, Shen Wulong walked out of the inferno.
No one could see what he had done at the instant the grenade detonated. Yet when he emerged from the flames, he looked utterly unscathed.
The Wu Clan members evacuated civilians while trying to stall Shen Wulong. Cold and hot weapons alike were unleashed, but none could inflict meaningful damage.
"Damn it! You're here for Mr. Rei, aren't you?! Then why harm innocent people?!"
A Wu Clan patrol member shouted in fury. Shen Wulong's sudden appearance had already claimed many civilian victims.
"The Wu Clan played a part in that battle,"
Shen Wulong replied with a chilling smile.
"You are accomplices in Xia Yan's death. And they are people sheltered by accomplices. In my eyes, there are no innocents here."
He stood atop a car, arms spread wide.
"And today, I'm here to finish what I didn't complete thirteen hundred years ago. The Wu Clan only needs to keep the Westward Faction that follows me."
He struck to the side, sending Raian, who had activated Removal and launched a surprise attack, flying away.
"What marvelous power… Why did 'I' ever feel boredom and loneliness before?"
"Because invincibility itself is boring,"
a voice answered.
Shen Wulong followed the sound.
A handsome man in a black coat, a long blade at his waist, walked through the fleeing crowd, across rubble and flames, into the center of the street.
He patted the patrol member's shoulder.
"Clear this street of civilians. Leave this to me."
Then he looked at Shen Wulong, his expression dark.
"This really exceeds my expectations. I didn't think you'd start a massacre in the streets."
Shen Wulong, his hair tied in a single ponytail, met Kurosaki Rei's gaze. The twisted, evil smile on his face distorted for a moment, then turned into pure rage.
"It was you who killed my friend, wasn't it?"
"It seems you value your friends greatly,"
Kurosaki Rei nodded.
"But have you ever considered that your friend harmed countless people? He deserved to die."
The Worm was a global terrorist organization. Even if Xia Yan often appeared like a helpless caretaker, there was no denying that he was one of the most brutal terrorist leaders in the world.
Countless children had been abducted for experiments. Countless families had been torn apart.
Kurosaki Rei had killed Xia Yan without the slightest hesitation.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Shen Wulong replied calmly.
"I only care about my friends. Everything else is irrelevant."
Kurosaki Rei sighed.
He could tell this was the truth of Shen Wulong's heart. Having lived too long, Shen Wulong had lost any sense of what it meant to be human—empathy no longer existed for him.
Shen Wulong cared about almost nothing—only the friends he acknowledged. His world was empty.
"How pitiful…"
Kurosaki Rei said softly.
"A pitiful weakling."
Shen Wulong, about to strike, froze.
Since the dawn of humanity, he had existed in this world. In tens of thousands of years of memory, he had never once heard someone call him weak.
"Weak…? You say I'm weak?"
For the first time, curiosity outweighed anger and the desire for revenge.
Kurosaki Rei rested one hand on his sword hilt, meeting Shen Wulong's gaze.
"You claim you don't possess a superhuman body, yet you have the physique of an immortal—your flesh far surpasses that of ordinary humans. You possess unparalleled combat techniques and call them 'logic.' You've walked this path without ever being defeated…"
He paused.
Shen Wulong asked in confusion,
"Then why do you call me weak?"
"Because you have no faith,"
Kurosaki Rei answered.
"The 'logic' you speak of is nothing but brute force—it is not the ultimate realm of martial arts."
"Because your heart is empty. No matter how powerful your shell, it cannot conceal your inner weakness."
"Trying to confuse me with words?"
Shen Wulong sneered—the influence of Shen Luohan's personality showing.
"No matter how eloquent you are, your words won't weaken me. Nor will they make you stronger."
Kurosaki Rei shook his head.
"Words won't make me stronger—but my heart will. And you have no heart."
As he spoke, he slowly drew Qiu Mo.
As the blade emerged, hollowed blood grooves appeared along it, violet-black chains coiling up his arm like living vines.
Amid swirling purple-black mist, Kurosaki Rei's aura spread outward in ripples, causing even the street's flames to sway.
He met Shen Wulong's eyes, pity and disappointment in his gaze.
"What immortal? You're nothing more than a heartless, pitiful man. Let me be the one to sever—"
The words blended with the sound of tearing air.
Flames bent low. Violet-black blade light seemed to cleave through the setting sun.
Golden hair filled the sky like falling snow.
Kurosaki Rei spun midair like drifting frost, landing firmly as his voice echoed through the street:
"—that long, empty life of yours."
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