One more catty, one more attribute point

Chapter 252 Seed of Destruction, Mythical Battlefield

"Because of this." Marpa's mouth spewed fresh blood wildly, showing extreme pain, but he still managed to squeeze out a bloody, hideous smile.

Struggling, he lifted a finger and pointed at his own chest.

Following Marpa's gaze, Su Heng slowly moved his foot off Marpa's chest.

Successfully freed.

Marpa breathed heavily but did not struggle.

His two blood-drenched palms pressed against a long, charred scratch between his ribs.

Crack!

Accompanied by a spray of fresh blood.

Marpa suddenly ripped open his own chest in front of Su Heng.

"What are you doing? Let me see how many bowls of noodles you've really eaten..." Seeing him act so crazily, Su Heng was first stunned and then narrowed his eyes slightly, even his heavy breathing unconsciously slowed down.

In the middle of Marpa's bloody chest.

A black-green heart was beating slowly yet heavily.

A corrupt and evil power continuously radiated from this heart, strands of black mist condensed in the air. Wherever the black mist traveled, the trees remaining on the battlefield quickly grew, covering themselves with highly aggressive black spikes.

Then, these plants, as if possessing their own consciousness, began hunting amidst the rustling sound.

"This is... a Deceit Beast."

Su Heng's brows furrowed deeply.

He had always been curious about how those Deceit Beasts were born.

And now, the answer was in front of him. What he had always thought was a demonic infection was actually not accurate. The source of the Deceit Beasts' power came from this bizarre heart inside Marpa. This ancient, decayed heart was the source of all corruption and the chief culprit that tormented the Golden Crow to death.

"What is this thing that can kill a divine beast?" Su Heng's voice was low, a dangerous dark red light condensed at his fingertips.

"This is the 'Seed of Destruction'." Marpa panted heavily, a hint of reminiscence appeared on his ugly, bloated face, "It is a Divine Artifact from deep within the Eternal Heaven. I was exiled for stealing its power and banished to this world."

"Only I can suppress the power of the Seed of Destruction."

Marpa's expression turned serious and his gaze burned into Su Heng, saying, "If I die, its power will be out of control."

"And then what?"

"Do you know about the Mythical Battlefield?" Marpa did not answer directly but instead asked back.

"Do you think I'm a very patient person?" A sinister smile appeared on Su Heng's face, and the red light concentrated at his fingertips burst forth. The force, mixed with the intense heat from the heart of the Golden Crow, vaporized one of Marpa's arms on the spot.

"Ahhh!!!"

The latter emitted a miserable scream, and bloody sweat emerged from Marpa's body.

"Once the Seed of Destruction goes out of control, its destructive power will be enough to destroy the barriers between Eternal Heaven and the real world."

Severe pain made Marpa's body tremble, he dared not play coy any longer and blurted out, "This means a Mythical Battlefield will be born here. By then, countless demons from Eternal Heaven will be able to pass through here into the mortal world, including some even more powerful and ancient demons than me."

Marpa's words plunged Su Heng into deep silence.

Like a thunderbolt, the realization exploded within him.

Staring into the horrific visage that filled his field of vision, Marpa felt his mind in disarray.

From his birth until now, he had never felt the threat of death so intimately. He had thought of many possibilities and countermeasures, yet he had never anticipated someone willingly initiating war with the eternal realm. This madman, this monster...

Marpa opened his mouth to say something, but all that surged from his throat was crimson blood and filthy chunks of innards.

Intense pain pierced his brain, stirring his consciousness.

In a dazed moment—

Marpa remembered something Su Heng had said—the world was but a cage for him, and he was the key, releasing a beast eternally ravenous. At this thought, Marpa felt a chilling dread, cold creeping up his spine.

Snap!

Su Heng snapped Marpa's spine, and fear was quenched in an instant.

He opened his mouth, then exhaled, the blazing True Sun Fire drying up Marpa's innards. Following this, Su Heng delivered several blows in quick succession, tearing off Marpa's limbs, chopping off his head, leaving nothing on the ground but a large puddle of blackened, filthy blood and flesh.

The heart-shaped "Seed of Destruction" still pulsed, emanating wisps of gray-black Corruption Light.

Su Heng grasped this heart in his hand, feeling the astonishing power bursting within.

His expression altered slightly.

But now was not the time to study this object.

"I'll keep it for now... After I'm done here, I'll take a proper look at it," he said.

Moreover, there was one more thing.

Marpa was dead, but there was no significant change within the temple.

"As I thought, he was deceiving me," Su Heng remarked, looking down at the bloody chunks at his feet, a cold smile curling his lips.

But what Marpa said wasn't entirely false; the Corruption Demon God had died, yet the corruption he left behind couldn't be eradicated, clinging to the bones like poison deeply seeping into the void.

This was the source of many abnormalities within the temple.

Soon, this place was destined to evolve into a new Mythical Battlefield.

But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, depending entirely on the balance of power between the two sides. If powerful enough, the Mythical Battlefield would be a goldmine of continually refreshing resources. Otherwise, it would become a calamity, with the entire Skull Plain and the seven states at risk of becoming apocalyptic wastelands.

"If war is inevitable, then let the Skull Plain burn," Su Heng took a moment to digest this news; once his eyes reopened, he was prepared.

But first, it was time to clean up the Deceit Beast infesting the temple.

Though unstoppable, he could maybe garner some extra preparation time.

Swish!

With that thought, Su Heng immediately set into action.

"Roar!" A massive aura of billowing black smoke erupted from him, his wounds rapidly healing. Then, employing the Bright Sun Divine Skill, he devoured all of Marpa's remnants, leaving nothing behind.

"The taste is rather good, despite the ugliness," Su Heng sneered, his wings unfurling as his immense body soared into the sky.

The blast it created was like an ocean tide sweeping across the battlefield, pushing aside the ruins and raising a swirling dust curtain. When the dust settled, Su Heng's towering figure had vanished, leaving behind only streaks of dawn's golden sunlight shining down on the heavily scarred battlefield.