One more catty, one more attribute point

About a month and a half later, Su Heng finally woke up.

He slowly opened his eyes in the secret chamber of the Demon Suppression Tower, his breathing heavy and prolonged. The gust of wind expelled from his mouth, like a pale white streamer, kicked up a bit of accumulated dust on the ground before it fluttered back down.

The secret chamber felt somewhat hazy and emitted a strange sulfuric scent.

Su Heng's brow furrowed slightly.

He waved his hand, and the gust of wind driven by gravity,

swept up all the dust in the chamber, arbitrarily piling it up in a corner.

With a "bang!"

the window above the chamber opened, and beams of golden sunlight shone in.

The sunlight felt warmly on his skin. Su Heng squinted his eyes and saw tiny dust particles floating in the beams of light. His deep, dark gaze journeyed beyond the window, staring up at the golden sun suspended in the sky. A mysterious connection formed between Su Heng and that distant celestial body.

He closed his eyes and sensed carefully.

Golden specks of light danced irregularly in the void.

Su Heng's thoughts shifted slightly, he opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing all the golden specks into his body. A faint warmth flowed through his skin into his consciousness. He heard faint exclamations from afar, opened his eyes, and noticed that the previously bright sky was now dim.

It was like suddenly moving from noon to midnight.

Even the sun's light no longer felt intense, more like a golden yellow full moon.

"So that's how it is," he first felt surprised, then realization dawned on him. By harboring the heart of the Golden Crow, Su Heng had essentially usurped part of the Golden Crow's essence. As a divine beast nurtured by the heavens, the Golden Crow could draw power from the sun, and Su Heng had inherited the same gift.

This meant—

from now on, even if he went for a long time without food, Su Heng would almost never starve to death.

Sunlight, moonlight, starlight... in essence, all are forms of energy. Though each provided little power, the advantage was that they were endlessly available, twenty-four hours a day. Accumulating little by little, seen over time, this gift's amplification could not be underestimated.

Moreover, as Su Heng had officially stepped into Heavenly Deceit,

and further developed his brain domain, driving an increase in spiritual power, this gift was also strengthened.

Su Heng shifted his focus away from the sun and switched this gift from active to passive mode. The minute specks of light continued to be absorbed continuously into his body, but the external brightness returned, no longer dim.

Many people were still buzzing with discussions, holding great curiosity and speculation about what had just happened.

But Su Heng had already shifted his attention to another matter.

This chamber, constructed of glowstone, was filled with uneven marks.

Glowstone was a very precious and hard mineral, sometimes even used as currency for trading.

But now, the entire room was filled with traces of melted glowstone. These marks were caused by the waste heat melted during Su Heng's sleep, as his organs underwent transformations.

The somewhat pungent sulfuric smell was also emitted from it.

Su Heng waved his hand.

Harnessing both the gravity talent and the White Snake's Demon Pattern simultaneously,

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the glowstone in the room melted at a speed visible to the naked eye and then solidified again, restored to smoothness. Its surface sleek and flawless, like a mirror reflecting Su Heng's figure. He took a step forward and came to the wall, carefully examining his own reflection.

First came a change in physique.

Before the retreat, Su Heng's normal height was six meters.

After fusing with the heart of the Golden Crow and digesting a large amount of resources from the Golden Crow Secret Store,

Su Heng's normal stature grew to eight meters, and his weight also reached a massive twenty-five tons.

The tens of thousands of attribute points gained not only allowed Bright Sun Divine Skill to break through to completion but also left Su Heng with thousands of points as a reserve.

Beyond the growth in size,

with the deep integration of the heart of the Golden Crow, Su Heng's appearance also changed.

In the past, he needed to activate Dragon Blood or perform the Domineering Dragon Secret Method to enter the Dragon Transformation State, causing a mutation.

But now it was different, even in his normal state.

Su Heng's black-red muscles looked like armor, his skin transformed into iron-like spikes resembling raven feathers, covering his chest and spreading along his neck to his chin. Among these black metallic spikes, a flickering crimson glow emitted intermittently.

From a distance, he looked like a steel mountain heated to a glowing red, every move emanating immense destructive power.

Beyond that...

The high, bulging shoulder blades, the ridged crystals protruding from the spine, the bony spikes at the joints, and fingers that mutated into pitch-black sickle claws, among other details—all surged across his body, lending an offensive edge and undoubtedly transforming Su Heng into a monster born for slaughter.

Su Heng was never concerned about his appearance.

He was only carefully examining the impacts these changes brought, first adapting, then manipulating his muscles and bones to fine-tune certain details. Like calibrating a delicate machine, he adjusted his state to its best before a satisfied smile appeared on Su Heng's face.

Click!

His body trembled slightly, all the anomalies retracting into his body.

He compressed his figure to a height of three meters and six.

Su Heng closed his eyes, a long sigh escaping him, his black pupils reopening as crow-grey hair gently fell around his face.

The reflection in the mirror had been a constant companion for twenty years, but this time, looking at the same figure, Su Heng felt a strange sensation...

It was as if an indescribable monster was hidden beneath that familiar skin.

"All conditioned existence signifies delusion; only the true heart is reality," Su Heng chuckled, withdrawing his fingertips from the mirror, and turned to leave.

The time spent in seclusion was indeed lengthy, it was time to see what the situation outside was like.

...

Leaving the secret chamber, outside was Su Heng's study.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The windows were open, golden sunlight streamed in. A breeze blew from afar, flipping the book pages in the bright sunlight, making a rustling noise. Li Hongxiu, who often replaced Su Heng in handling official work, was usually seen here, but today was an exception.

The room was empty, the floor so polished it could be used as a mirror, and the desk was also very clean, just empty of people.

He left the study.

On the other side was the secret chamber used for incubating the Golden Crow Divine Egg.

Click!

Pushing the door open, the empty room housed a Golden Crow Divine Egg.

Li Hongxiu, with her arms wrapped around herself, was asleep on the Golden Crow Divine Egg. Her fair cheeks squeezed against the eggshell, slightly deformed.

A red dress flowed down like water, exposing her smooth ankles and jade-white feet amidst the dim air.

She was sleeping soundly, not even noticing Su Heng entering by pushing the door.

Su Heng raised an eyebrow, quietly stepped forward, and reached Li Hongxiu's side.

He reached out with both hands, sliding them under her armpits. Like lifting a small cat, he suddenly raised her into mid-air with a swoosh.

The latter woke up alarmed, her eyes widened, her rosy lips parted slightly. Only upon seeing Su Heng's broad face beside her did she let out a long breath and slowly calmed down. The muscles that were once taut now relaxed as soft as cotton.

She covered her chest with one hand, the other pulling down her skirt.

Her lips pressed tight, silent.

Her expression returned to its usual placidity.

Su Heng gently put her down, his massive body leaning against the window, "Where is Qin Shunying? Why isn't she here?"

"I heard there's been some movement at Skull Plain," Li Hongxiu looked up and replied, "Sister Qin went there to provide support, but technically, she should be back sometime soon."

"Is that so?" Su Heng nodded, "How is the situation at Skull Plain?"

"The Immortal Sects and four major families each sent reinforcements to expel all the Monk Soldiers remaining in Jiangzhou. The battlefield has been pushed back to the native grounds of Skull Plain, but it seems there has been some unexpected difficulty recently," Li Hongxiu cocked her head, frowning as she answered.

"These family sects all have their agendas, and the Buddhists at Skull Plain are no different," Su Heng commented dryly after listening, "These two groups of formidable figures meeting each other, truly, it's a meeting of equals, a brilliant contention of talents."

"Damn! There's a reason why the Jiang-E region is looked down upon," Su Heng suddenly sighed.

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on the Golden Crow Divine Egg in the center of the room.

Bang!

Su Heng's finger gently flicked forward.

The Golden Crow Divine Egg trembled, an echo coming from within.

A phoenix-shaped shadow passed faintly within the golden glass-like shell. It was like a fish swimming in the sea, expressing a cheerful essence.

Seeing this.

Su Heng slightly nodded, a satisfied smile appearing on his face, "Its development is not bad, much better than I originally expected."

The little Golden Crow was already formed within the divine egg, just waiting to accumulate strength to break its shell and soar into the sky. Then, another true mythical beast would appear in this world. Although the little Golden Crow was premature, infused with the essence of a demonic god, its future achievements were bound to be extraordinary.

If given time, once it truly reached its peak, it might even surpass its mother in strength.

"There's another matter," Li Hongxiu's delicate fingers gently traced the surface of the divine egg, the little Golden Crow inside playfully quieted down. Raising her head, her clear, tranquil eyes looked towards Su Heng, "A few days ago, Elder Wang Xindong captured two spies in the city."

"With such significant changes in Baihua County, plus the disturbances I have caused these days,"

At first, Su Heng did not take this matter seriously, merely saying casually, "Attracting some with malicious intent isn't surprising, just deal with them directly. There's no need to bother me with such trivial matters..."

"These two spies might be significant," Li Hongxiu calmly stated, "Elder Wang Xindong said, he hopes you can meet them personally."

"Is that so?" Hearing this, a more interested look appeared on Su Heng's face.

"Since Wang Xindong specially instructed it, there must be his reasoning," Su Heng nodded, about to move. But just then, he seemed to notice something, his eyes narrowing slightly, looking outside. A familiar fiery red streak of light quickly passed over the clear sky.

It was Qin Shunying returning from Skull Plain.