Void Cultivation

Chapter 375: Chapter 374- Instinct to Devour

Before reaching the Detective Agency Department, Violet suddenly slowed her pace. She remained silent for a brief moment before turning slightly toward Grey.

"Ever since the Heaven’s Chosen from the Sect Alliance arrived..." she asked in a low voice that was barely louder than a whisper, "...how do you feel about them?"

Grey did not answer immediately.

His footsteps continued at the same steady pace as his gaze remained fixed ahead. Several long moments passed before he finally spoke.

"Strong..." he said quietly. "Really strong."

A faint smile curved onto Violet’s lips after hearing his reply. It was the answer she had expected.

However, Grey had not finished speaking.

"They’re strong," he continued, his expression gradually becoming more solemn, "but there’s an even stronger aura among them... one that hasn’t revealed itself yet."

As he spoke, Grey slowly turned his gaze toward the direction of the Sect Alliance’s fleet.

To anyone else, it would appear as though he were merely looking at the countless magic ships occupying the harbors.

In reality, his attention was fixed on a single vessel.

Ever since the Sect Alliance had arrived, the cultivators aboard the other magic ships had disembarked one after another, each proudly announcing the name of their respective sects.

Only one vessel remained different.

It had not moved.

Not a single person had stepped off its deck. No representative had appeared to announce their arrival, nor had anyone attempted to establish contact with Sky Mist City.

Yet the strangest part was that none of the other sects seemed bothered by its silence.

On the contrary...

Whether intentionally or subconsciously, they all avoided approaching the harbor where that lone magic vessel was anchored, as though an invisible boundary surrounded it.

Of course, with so many people coming and going throughout the city, it was inevitable that someone would eventually wander close to it.

Violet seemed to understand exactly which vessel Grey was referring to.

She gave a slight nod in acknowledgment but asked no further questions.

The two continued walking in silence.

Meanwhile, Grey’s eyes appeared to pierce through the countless buildings standing between him and the harbor, crossing the vast distance until they finally settled upon the solitary vessel that had remained motionless since the very moment it had arrived.

Although no overwhelming pressure or terrifying aura currently emanated from it, Grey couldn’t shake the strange feeling rising within him.

It was as though he wasn’t looking at a magic ship at all.

Instead, he felt as if he were staring into an endless abyss, one so unfathomably deep that its true power remained perfectly concealed beneath an unnaturally calm surface.

It contained an immeasurable potential, as though the mere act of revealing even a fraction of its strength would be enough to shake the entire city.

Along with that unsettling sensation, Grey also detected a faintly familiar aura surrounding the mysterious individual.

In fact, this had been the very first thing he noticed when that particular magic vessel had arrived at the harbor.

It was precisely because of that familiar aura that his attention had been irresistibly drawn toward the person whose potential seemed as boundless and unfathomable as the abyss itself.

Slowly, Grey focused his senses.

His gaze appeared to pierce through countless buildings before crossing the vast distance separating him from the harbor. Eventually, it settled upon the silent magic ship that had remained motionless since its arrival.

At almost the exact same moment...

A young man sat cross-legged within one of the ship’s secluded chambers. His long black hair draped over his face, concealing most of his expression as he cultivated in complete silence.

Without warning, his eyes snapped open.

A sharp glint flashed across them.

He slowly lifted his head and looked into the distance.

His gaze narrowed.

Someone... Someone was observing him.

Although he could distinctly sense another person’s gaze resting upon him, he couldn’t determine where it originated. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, vanishing whenever he attempted to trace it.

Several moments passed before surprise flickered across his otherwise indifferent face.

He, too, had sensed something familiar.

A faint aura drifted toward him from the unknown observer.

"An Emperor-Level cultivation art?" the black-haired youth murmured beneath his breath.

His eyes narrowed even further.

"But... it isn’t complete like mine."

After a brief pause, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Incomplete..."

As he spoke, his divine sense quietly spread outward, searching every corner of Sky Mist City in an attempt to locate the hidden observer.

...

At almost the same time, Grey’s pupils contracted.

Within the blurry image formed by his Dragon Eyes and divine sense, he finally understood why the aura surrounding the mysterious youth had felt so familiar from the very beginning.

’Another Emperor-Level cultivation art...’

Grey’s heart trembled.

’The feeling it gives off is astonishingly similar to my Soul Devouring Everlasting Bird...’

His expression gradually became solemn.

’However... its aura is denser... thicker... and incomparably more complete than mine.’

The realization caused a slight chill to run through his heart.

As their two divine senses brushed against one another across the enormous distance, Grey suddenly felt something strange.

A tiny portion of his divine sense...

...was being quietly siphoned away.

It vanished without resistance, as though it had been swallowed by an invisible mouth.

Grey’s eyes immediately narrowed.

’It’s devouring my divine sense...’

The more carefully he perceived it, the clearer the answer became.

The Emperor-Level cultivation art possessed by the other party was significantly more complete than his own.

It was very likely...

...a complete Emperor-Level cultivation art.

The mysterious attraction he had felt earlier wasn’t merely because they both cultivated Emperor-Level arts.

It was because the two cultivation arts were astonishingly similar in nature.

Both belonged to bird-type Emperor-Level inheritances.

Both possessed the terrifying ability to devour.

Feeling that the other party would soon pinpoint his location if he continued observing him, Grey decisively dispersed the divine sense merged with his Dragon Eyes.

The connection vanished instantly.

A second later, the blurry figure occupying his vision crumbled apart like shattered glass before disappearing completely from his perception.

---

Meanwhile, aboard the silent magic ship...

The black-haired youth remained seated with his legs crossed.

Several seconds passed before he slowly lowered his searching gaze.

The mysterious observer had disappeared without leaving behind the slightest trace.

His eyes gradually became colder.

"An Emperor-Level cultivation art..."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"To think another Emperor-Level cultivation art would appear in such a backwater place like this..."

A sinister smile slowly spread across his face.

"And it’s also a bird-type Emperor-Level cultivation art."

His shark-like eyes swept across the horizon one final time before closing once more.

Although he had failed to discover the other’s identity, the excitement in his heart had already begun to grow.

"What would happen..."

He slowly licked his lips.

"...if my Demonic Raven Refines the Abyss encountered his Emperor-Level cultivation art?"

A frightening glint flashed across his eyes.

"Who... would refine whom?"

His voice was calm.

Yet every single word contained an overwhelming amount of malice and murderous intent.

It was as though he had already decided that the unknown owner of that cultivation art would one day become nourishment for his own.

---

Elsewhere...

Grey continued walking side by side with Violet as though nothing had happened.

His expression remained perfectly calm.

However, beneath that calm exterior, a single thought echoed repeatedly within his mind.

’What would happen...’

His eyes gradually turned colder.

’...if my Soul Devouring Everlasting Bird encountered his Emperor-Level cultivation art?’

A dangerous glint flashed deep within his pupils.

’Who... would devour whom?’

For reasons neither of them understood...

The two had been brought together by the same kind of inheritance.

Yet instead of feeling the slightest trace of kinship or camaraderie, they experienced only an overwhelming instinct.

An instinct so deeply rooted that it surpassed logic itself.

Both desired exactly the same thing.

To devour.

To seize the other’s Emperor-Level cultivation art.

To make it their own.

Long before they ever met face to face... The battle between the two had already begun.