I Can Devour Spirits

Duan Rong pinched the hard shell of the insect with his left hand, while the creature squirmed incessantly...

The girl named Tang Zhu turned pale, nearly throwing up.

She was the only one among them who had never peeled a bug before. Seeing it wriggling in Duan Rong’s hand made her skin crawl.

Chen Hu glanced at Tang Zhu and said, ”If you can’t watch, then don’t.”

Tang Zhu rolled her eyes at Chen Hu, snapping, ”Who asked you to care?”

Duan Rong used the black needle at one end of the iron tool to pierce the protruding part of the insect’s shell and fix it in place. Then he used both ends of the tool to clamp the insect steadily.

At this moment, Pan Yong coughed, moved his stool, and sat a little further away.

Duan Rong paid it no mind, recalling the image of Pan Yong peeling off the insect’s shell, and suddenly moved his fingers.

With a muffled pop, the shell wasn’t peeled off, but instead, the insect got squashed, splattering foul-smelling white goo all over Duan Rong’s face...

Yin Cong let out a few hearty laughs.

Tang Zhu also laughed, her face flushed crimson...

As Tang Zhu laughed, Chen Hu averted his eyes from Duan Rong and looked brightly at the smiling Tang Zhu.

Tang Zhu noticed Chen Hu looking at her, her face turned even redder, and she glared at him angrily before burying herself in her work.

Pan Yong shifted his seat with a chuckle, saying, ”It’s no big deal; it happens to everyone the first time.”

Duan Rong wiped the stinky bug juice off his face and finally understood why Pan Yong had sat further away.

Pan Yong said, ”Duan Junior Brother, try a few more times. With these things, practice makes perfect. Killing a few bugs doesn’t matter.”

Saying so, Pan Yong went off to do other things, only occasionally glancing at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong sat there, staring at the black iron tool in his hand, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he thought to himself, ”Read Artifact Spirit.”

The next moment, a set of data appeared before Duan Rong.

Artifact: Black Iron Clamp.

Artifact Spirit Tier: Tierless.

Devouring Requirements: None.

Devouring Effect: Flexible and Versatile, Beginner Level.

Duan Rong glanced at the devouring effect and thought to himself, ”Devour.”

As the word ”devour” flashed through Duan Rong’s mind, the data panel in front of him wavered and dissipated, leaving the void empty.

Duan Rong began to sit there with his eyes closed, cultivating his mind.

He did so to digest the Artifact Spirit he just devoured with maximum efficiency.

Duan Rong sat motionless as if asleep, for a long time without moving.

Pan Yong’s expression had already changed.

Yin Cong snapped his fingers again, causing Pan Yong to turn and look at him with a troubled expression.

Yin Cong said, ”Looks like we have a big shot here!”

Tang Zhu, who had been busy with her work, also glanced at Duan Rong at this time, looking diagonally across at Chen Hu, muttering, ”This guy is so annoying...”

Chen Hu said, ”If you’re talking about him, why are you looking at me?”

Tang Zhu said, ”What’s wrong with looking at you?”

After a while, Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes.

With each advancement in the Fetal Concealment Scripture, Duan Rong’s speed in digesting the Artifact Spirit became faster.

At this moment, Duan Rong had already achieved the third layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture.

The Divine Soul was like Duan Rong’s stomach pouch for devouring Artifact Spirits. As the Divine Soul grew stronger, Duan Rong could devour higher-tier Artifact Spirits and his digestion speed increased.

It was as if this ”stomach pouch” not only grew larger but also more powerful in digestion.

As Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes, everyone else’s gazes followed suit.

Only to see Duan Rong reach out again, pick a bug from the jar by his feet, and with a quick motion, fix it onto the black needle.

Almost simultaneously as the bug was fixed, Duan Rong’s right hand made a slight move, and the black iron clamp held the bug firmly. In the next moment, with a pinch of Duan Rong’s fingers, the ends of the black iron clamp trembled.

A large plump white grub fell right into Duan Rong’s hand.

Duan Rong’s series of movements were even more fluid than Pan Yong’s previous demonstration.

Pan Yong had to be methodical to demonstrate to Duan Rong.

The others were still stunned, not having caught up, when another fat grub was tossed by Duan Rong into the wooden basin.

Pan Yong said, ”You... Duan Junior Brother, that’s impressive...”

Duan Rong replied, ”It’s all thanks to Senior Brother’s teaching.”

Pan Yong awkwardly chuckled. He had only shown Duan Rong three times.

Yin Cong looked at Chen Hu’s profile and said with a smile, ”Oh... You’ve been outdone, expressionless man!”

Chen Hu was already considered the most formidable among them. He set a record of only breaking seven bugs.

But Duan Rong only crushed one bug.

Chen Hu glanced at Duan Rong and saw his skillful movements. Even as someone who usually maintained a calm demeanor, he was slightly taken aback.

Yin Cong said, ”This guy must be a seasoned practitioner!”

Chen Hu nodded, showing a thoughtful expression.

Yin Cong said, ”I’ve heard that some martial arts prodigies with high perceptiveness can master any martial arts move just by seeing it once. I didn’t believe it before.”

Yin Cong said this while glancing at Duan Rong again.

The way the clamp peeled the bug was indeed somewhat skillful.

All of them were outer disciples and were among the best in martial arts among their peers.

The bugs were plump and tender, and to remove the shell without damaging the body required the fingers to execute over ten different movements in an instant.

It always took multiple attempts to grasp these changes.

Often, they’d end up splattering themselves with foul-smelling juice.

For the clumsy ones, making themselves throw up a couple of times was normal.

But Duan Rong only burst the bug once, and succeeded the second time.

And during this, he just sat there with his eyes closed for a while.

Could it be that just by closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, he could see through those over ten changes?

What kind of monstrous comprehension ability is this?

Chen Hu suddenly sighed, saying, ”There’s always someone better, beyond the heavens.” He then stopped looking at Duan Rong and continued his work.

At this moment, from the other side of the large platform, there was a sudden clinking of chains.

A silhouette unexpectedly emerged from the corner at the other end of the large platform.

It was a limp person, shorter than average, who came out rubbing sleepy eyes, with drool at the corner of his mouth...

Yin Cong said, ”Oh no, the little Demon King has awakened.”

Duan Rong also looked that way.

That person’s appearance seemed mature, but his face still retained a child’s innocence, mixed with a simple-minded look.

The limping person yawned, looked over, and immediately noticed there was an extra person.

His simple face instantly showed excitement as he hobbled over, only to hear a clank as he was pulled back by the chain.

The limping person almost fell but didn’t seem to mind, just giggled while looking at Duan Rong.

He clearly knew Duan Rong was new.

The limping person stood there, feeling around his body.

After a while, he pulled something out of his pocket, suddenly raised his hand, and threw it forcefully at Duan Rong.

From the moment the limping person appeared, Duan Rong felt something strange, especially noticing he had an iron hoop around his waist attached to a chain.

At that moment, seeing the limping person raise his hand, a dark shadow flew at him.

In mid-air, Duan Rong saw it was just a rock.

As the rock neared, he caught it with a quick motion.

Seeing Duan Rong capture his rock, the limping person was initially stunned, then, frustrated, he screamed and threw another rock at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong caught it again, tossing it to the ground beside him.

The limping person, having been thwarted twice, became even more angry and started rolling on the ground.

After rolling for a bit, he got up and threw a rock at Duan Rong again.

Duan Rong remained unfazed, catching each one.

At this moment, Tang Zhu looked at Duan Rong and said, ”Stop catching them. Let him hit you once, and he’ll stop.”

With four or five rocks already at his feet, Duan Rong was getting increasingly impatient. But being new, he was totally in the dark about the situation or who this limping person was, or why he was chained to the rock wall.

Seeing Tang Zhu’s suggestion and another rock coming towards him, Duan Rong decided not to catch it, tilted his head and let it hit his forehead.

The limping person clapped his hands excitedly upon a successful hit.

Duan Rong, with a cold expression, simply continued focusing on his bug-peeling.

At that moment, a rock suddenly hit Tang Zhu’s head, and her face showed a hint of anger, but she didn’t look up, just paused and continued her work.

Seeing that the two people he hit had no reaction, the limping person quickly lost interest, threw away the rock in his hand, sat by the stone railing, and howled...

After tiring out from yelling, the limping person stared dazedly at the rolling white mist in the empty valley...