In that moment, the ravenous Hong Haocheng was stunned, as if beholding a peerless artistic treasure. The world woven from those lines was so beautiful, so intricate, as though it had genuinely existed.
Then came an uncontrollable rage.
He had actually harbored such a horrifying thought toward the fairy who smiled at him!
But the snow-white arms gripping him tightened even more, her hands seeming to burrow into his body, transforming into countless filaments searching for something.
Suddenly, the outline of a cyan cheetah-like body bulged from beneath Hong Haocheng’s skin, as if summoned forth by the woman before him.
[Roar, delicious prey!]
The lucid Hong Haocheng could only watch helplessly as his own mouth opened, as if about to sink into the figure of the woman ahead.
Yet she simply smiled, showing no intention of evading.
–No!–
His mouth stretched wide enough to swallow a head, and he saw his cheetah-like maw aimed directly at that exquisite cranium.
One bite—and it was engulfed.
[No!]
Unable to control his own body, Hong Haocheng burned with boundless fury, but he felt his will clamped firm, utterly immobile.
Tear it apart!
Hatred and murderous intent flooded every single cell within him.
[Why didn’t you dodge!]
{This is… the entire trajectory… of my life…}
[No! Get away, you beast!]
{Please take… my… past…}
On the earth, countless people looked up into the sky.
{… heading to a new…}
On the ground, inside a great hall.
The king held a fruit in his hand. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked up at the hall’s ceiling.
–What is that? A deity?-
The civil and military officials below him all stared toward the sky.
A handsome figure carrying a golden longsword stepped out from behind the lower dining table. His gaze, both astonished and profound, seemed capable of piercing through the hall.
–As the world’s strongest mercenary, I have never seen such a formidable existence. But… what is she doing?-
The sword-bearing man turned his head. Beside the dining table behind him, the gentle woman who always wore a faint smile now showed a look of bewilderment.
Moreover, her figure was fading.
The king followed the solemn gaze of the sword-bearing man and said,
–Xu Ji, as the secretary of the world’s premier mercenary group, you are versed in all archives and ancient texts. Have you ever read any stories about beings like this?-
The fading woman glanced apologetically at the king, then turned to look at the man with the golden sword. –Captain.-
–Hmm?-
–Actually, you all died long ago.-
With a clamor, all the civil and military officials in the hall rose in shock. The king snorted and flung the golden goblet in his hand to the ground.
–How dare you!-
The woman swayed, and the surrounding world swayed in unison.
Everyone staggered. The warrior suddenly seemed to think of something and stared at the woman in shock.
–Could this be… the mental sanctuary described in the ancient scrolls of prophecy, built by the Prayers of Divine Light?!-
Xu Ji smiled, revealing a graceful expression.
–Yes, actually, this is within my sea of consciousness. I have traveled countless ages with everyone. But if all we do is journey, we remain eternal wanderers. I am tired. I want a home.-
The crowd around them erupted into a cacophony, but at that moment all sound was silenced.
The sword-bearing man glanced at his own body, then looked toward the figure streaking across the sky like a shooting star.
–He is…?-
She looked at the captain before her: –He is quite remarkable. He has awakened an ancient bloodline that can absorb souls and thereby accommodate the blood of others. Even I have only found fragments of that bloodline in ancient texts. Combined with the bloodlines he has obtained, perhaps he can build a place called ‘home’—a haven that can shelter countless other wanderers. This is the husband I have chosen. Captain, do you approve of him?-
The captain’s face grew increasingly calm.
–Xu Ji, everything you said—bloodlines and such—I find I can no longer understand. Where does this husband of yours come from?-
–A world called Earth.-
The captain nodded, and then the man noticed that his hand was becoming worn and decaying, as though parts of it were missing.
He looked up again at the great hall; the hall was crumbling, the surroundings instantly turning old and rapidly falling into ruin.
–So I died long ago. Xuji, you’ve grown far stronger than I, your captain, even to the point of becoming divine light. You must have endured endless years. Thank you for letting our consciousness persist.–
Hong Haocheng, plummeting from the sky, watched his own mouth transform into a cheetah’s maw, tearing and swallowing the delicate figure holding him, bite by bite, as she dissolved into countless intricate lines that he devoured.
–Delicious… so beautiful!–
His throat emitted a maddening sound, his boundless hatred reaching its peak.
Hong Haocheng watched it all, stunned and heartbroken.
This time, as he witnessed it in clarity, he faintly sensed some unbelievable information surging into his mind at breakneck speed—yet it was instantly forgotten.
[Xuji—that’s your name!]
[Xuji! The name of my wife! Aaaah!]
He finally knew her name.
The earth trembled.
One of Hong Haocheng’s arms trembled as he raised it. His cheetah-like head paused, staring at the arm.
–That faint bloodline should have neutralized its energy within me already—how can you still control this body?–
[Get out! Don’t eat her! Get out!]
–Heh.–
His mouth curled into a contemptuous sneer, and he bit down on her delicate shoulder.
Her body naturally turned into energy and lines of trajectories, merging into his own.
–You’ve obtained another 133473.2 km of track lines. This woman really has been everywhere. She gave them willingly—don’t you want them?–
[Waaahhh!]
The other hand also lifted, trembling, trying to push away the body that was clinging to it, but it couldn’t.
Her strength was too weak, and Xuji was holding too tightly.
I could do nothing but scream inside.
Why can’t I do anything?
Didn’t I awaken something stronger than this monster?
Mountains collapsed, light went chaotic. The sky stirred up sand and dust, gales and dense fog raged everywhere.
Seeing these hands continuously pushing away the body—soft and curvaceous, but now headless—the head that had become the monster once again showed a strange expression.
–Though I was only born just before entering your world and was granted this Trace-Drawing bloodline, I am certainly not someone an ordinary mortal can resist. No matter how weak a wolf is, it’s still a wolf; no matter how strong a chicken is, it’s just a chicken. You might be somewhat special, but you can only gross others out a little more.–
[I told you to get lost! I told you to die!]
[I will kill you! I will kill myself! I will go to a volcano and jump off! I will sink you to the bottom of the sea! I will throw you into a steel wheel and grind you into mincemeat!]
{Don’t…}
A weak voice came.
[Xumei?! You’re not dead yet? Fight back! Kill it! You’re so strong! Hurry up!]
{The Huiji Bloodline, also a bloodline born from the ancient Soul Hall, but that Soul Hall does not belong to the old world. That you can obtain even a single ring of the lost Soul Hall’s bloodline is truly the will of heaven.}
–See, I told you she was willing. Kill me? Hmph, from now on I am you—how could you kill me?-
[Kill it!]
Hong Haocheng burned with boundless rage, a halo faintly flickering on his chest.
{Its soul has been captured by the ancient bloodline within your body, but the bloodline’s power is too weak, leaving it with self-awareness.}
{But as the places you tread expand and your journey surpasses the number of its travels, you will gradually absorb its soul energy. Then, husband, even if you come and go from their lair, no one will stop you.}
From the mouth of the cyan-faced leopard face that Hong Haocheng had grown, two long sharp fangs swiftly extended.
A cold light flashed in his eyes as he gazed at the woman’s headless psychic body.
–So this is your plan, ha… no wonder. It’s indeed a good plan—using this body to enter our lair, a feat many have dreamed of. Unfortunately, you won’t succeed.-
{We will.}
In the sky, the woman falling upside down clutched Hong Haocheng, plummeting straight toward the earth like a meteor.
The inverted leopard opened its massive maw and lunged to bite her body.
–Die, you vicious woman!-
[Die, you beast! I’ll exterminate your entire clan!]
Boom! Two hands, one above the other, grabbed the upper and lower jaws of the massive maw.
The leopard-headed human face that had leaned in toward the woman’s shoulder was frozen in shock.
–Wh—what?!-
The woman’s mangled body began to emanate spreading psychic energy, instinctively repairing the missing parts—though her body also grew somewhat more translucent.
Her gradually reappearing beautiful head stared in astonishment at the huge, panting mouth so close to her.
It was being held tight by his hands, one on each jaw!
{This is a fully awakened, second-circle, seventh-rank Marked Bloodline monster!}
[Ughh aaaargh!]
The boy’s arms bulged with muscle; fine, golden scales sprouted from his fingertips. A roar erupted from Hong Haocheng’s throat!
[Ughh awwooo!]
Suddenly, a roar of the soul burst from his vocal cords!
–Ughh aaaaaaah!-
[Wait, how can you possibly…]
The leopard watched helplessly as the two hands kept prying its jaws wider and wider!
The corners of its mouth were stretched taut, tearing open into gaps, and blood conjured from the soul seeped out.
–I am the bloodline, the bloodline is me. Whatever it is, I am the master of this body!-
Ptooh! Riiip!
–Get lost!-
His arms coiled like hornless dragons, muscles bulging, veins popping and writhing as they channeled the illusory blood of the soul.
BOOM!
Tremendous force tore the mouth apart with a bang!
Countless lines and energies that had been devoured sprayed out like water from a broken pipe.
The woman’s beautiful eyes, floating like mist, stared in shock at the headless man she held tightly.
Under his skin, a cheetah-like form rammed left and right, but was firmly pinned down by a will that surpassed mortal limits.
{How… can this be…}
The –flesh and blood- at the neck wound twisted and grew a new, handsome and wild head.
–Heh, ha… little girl, how many places have you truly been?-
Hong Haocheng’s manic eyes stared fixedly at the woman before him.
–How many worlds have you seen, to decide someone else’s future like this!-
Countless flesh and trajectory lines scattered around, falling to the sky and ground, steadying the quaking mountains.
–You have to listen to me obediently.-
The extremely weak woman revealed a hint of a smile.
{Mm-hmm.}
He grabbed the jaw of this snow-white translucent woman with one hand, then pressed his mouth tightly against hers.
–From now on, don’t act clever and make decisions on your own.-
–I will walk farther, longer, more winding, and more steadfastly than you.-
{Mm.}
Xu Fei’s breath made soft humming sounds.
Boom! The two fell to the ground, blasting a huge crater.
Lying at the bottom of the pit, their eyes met. Xu Ji, whose body had grown much more transparent, shyly buried her head in the man’s solid chest.
In the early morning, Hong Haocheng woke up.
The plane was still in flight. Over these days, he had grown accustomed to this seemingly endless journey. This so-called honeymoon was nothing but a constant switch of vehicles, racing to cover every corner of the earth within a month.
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