163: Chapter 162 I'll give you a piece of candy! I'll send you to the Western Paradise.

The Taotie swallowed that piece of candy.

It didn't even taste it, only feeling a small object slide down its throat—round and smooth, like a pebble.

It didn't care; it had been starving for ten thousand years and would eat anything, having even consumed stones before.

What was a tiny piece of candy?

It continued to pounce toward Lin Feng, its blood-red eyes full of hunger. Its massive maw gaped, revealing rows of dense teeth as saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, corroding pits into the ground.

Lin Feng did not dodge.

He stood his ground, watching the Taotie lunge at him.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters.

The Taotie's mouth was less than a meter from his head; he could even smell the foul stench from its gullet and see the patterns on its teeth.

Then, the Taotie stopped.

It wasn't that it wanted to stop, but that its body no longer obeyed its commands.

Its eyes bulged wide, its blood-red pupils filled with confusion. Its mouth remained open, teeth exposed, but its body was frozen as if someone had pressed a pause button.

Lin Feng looked at it, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. "Does it taste good?"

The Taotie opened its mouth, trying to speak, but its throat only produced a gurgling sound like boiling water or rolling lava.

Its belly began to bulge, growing larger and rounder like an inflating balloon.

It looked down at its own stomach, its blood-red eyes filled with terror.

It knew what it was—it was that candy.

The candy was glowing inside its stomach.

It wasn't a multicolored light, but a white light—intensely bright, like the sun, like lightning, like the first ray of light at the Big Bang.

That light shone through its belly, illuminating its skeleton, its blood vessels, and its internal organs.

Its body was expanding, starting from the stomach and spreading throughout its entire form.

Its head bulged, its neck bulged, its limbs bulged, and even its tail bulged.

It was like a balloon blown to its limit, ready to burst at any moment.

It wanted to vomit, to spit the candy out, but it couldn't.

It wanted to swallow, to push the candy further down, but it couldn't.

The candy just sat in its stomach, glowing and burning like a miniature sun.

It let out a long roar toward the sky, a sound filled with fear and resentment.

"Roar—!!!"

The sound shook the entire Secret Realm. Fissures opened in the sky and the earth, and the very air began to distort.

And then—Boom.

The Taotie exploded.

It wasn't a slow burst; it disintegrated instantly like a bomb, like a firework, like a cosmic explosion.

Blinding white light swallowed everything. Lin Feng closed his eyes, but his vision was still flooded with white.

The shockwave rippled outward, overturning the surrounding rubble and sand, flipping the black mass, and throwing Lin Feng back.

He was pushed back hundreds of meters by the shockwave, rolling countless times on the ground before finally stopping when he slammed into a massive boulder.

He lay in the pile of rubble, his body covered in wounds, ears ringing, and stars dancing before his eyes.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and struggled to climb up, looking toward the site of the Taotie's explosion.

There was a massive crater there.

It was enormous and deep—at least several hundred meters wide and dozens of meters deep.

The sand at the bottom of the pit had been scorched into glass, shimmering and glinting under the gray sky.

In the center of the crater lay a pile of objects.

It was the remains of the Taotie.

Scales, bones, horns, and teeth were scattered everywhere, charred black and smoldering with smoke.

The black mass drifted over from a distance and stopped beside Lin Feng.

It looked at the massive crater and the pile of remains, falling silent.

After a long time, it spoke, its voice very light and soft like a breeze. "It... is dead?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Dead."

The black mass fell silent again.

It stared at the remains for a long time.

Then, it cried.

There were no tears and no sound, but Lin Feng could feel that it was weeping.

It had been weeping for ten thousand years.

Guarding an empty coffin, guarding a stone, guarding a Seal that was about to break.

Ten thousand years—it was finally over.

Lin Feng did not disturb it, letting it cry.

He lay on the ground, looking at the sky.

The sky was still multicolored—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—seven colors interwoven like a giant palette.

A wind blew from the west, carrying the scent of flowers and grass, as well as the old man's final lingering breath.

He closed his eyes and rested for a while.

Then he climbed up and walked toward the massive crater.

His pace was slow and steady, his boots making a crunching sound as they stepped on the vitrified sand.

He reached the bottom of the pit, knelt down, and looked at the pile of remains.

The Taotie's scales were each the size of a washbasin, black as ink, bright as a mirror, and their edges were as sharp as knives.

He picked one up; it was heavy and cold, like holding a piece of iron.

[Taotie Scale (Red Material) × 347]

[Quality: Red]

[Use: Armor Forging]

[Effect: Forged armor Defense +500%, resistance to all elemental attacks +50%]

[Description: Scales of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying defensive power. Impervious to blades and spears, resistant to water and fire.]

Lin Feng's eyes lit up as he read the description.

Defense increased fivefold, and all-element resistance increased by fifty percent.

He picked up the scales one by one and stored them in the wanxiang ring.

The Taotie's bones were each as thick as an arm, white as snow, hard as steel, and gave off a metallic ring when tapped.

[Taotie Bone Spur (Red Material) × 128]

[Quality: Red]

[Use: Weapon Forging]

[Effect: Forged weapon attack power +300%, deals an extra 200% damage to creatures below legendary grade]

[Description: Bones of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying destructive power. Indestructible and capable of breaking anything.]

He picked up the bone spurs one by one and put them away.

The Taotie's horns were twisted like a ram's, but a hundred times thicker.

Natural patterns were etched onto the horns in concentric circles, like the rings of a tree.

[Taotie Horn (Red Material) × 2]

[Quality: Red]

[Use: Special Item Crafting]

[Effect: Can be crafted into a horn; when blown, deals sonic damage equal to spirit × 100 to all enemies within a kilometer radius and applies a 'Fear' effect]

[Description: Horns of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying sonic power. With one blast, all beasts shall submit.]

He put the horns away.

The Taotie's teeth were numerous and arranged in rows like a saw.

Each was as long as a finger, white as jade, and sharp as a needle.

[Taotie Sharp Tooth (Red Material) × 365]

[Quality: Red]

[Use: Weapon Forging, Ammunition Crafting]

[Effect: Forged weapons gain a 'Lacerate' effect, dealing continuous bleed damage. Crafted ammunition gains a 'Penetrate' effect, ignoring 50% of the target's Defense]

[Description: Teeth of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying piercing power. One bite can crack gold and stone.]

He picked up the teeth one by one and put them away.

The Taotie's heart was the size of a millstone, black as charcoal, with vessel-like patterns on its surface.

Though it had been blown apart, more than half remained, and it was still faintly pulsing.

[taotie heart (Prismatic Material) × 1]

[Quality: Prismatic]

[Use: Physique Tempering, Equipment Forging, Pill Refining]

[Effect: Consumption permanently increases all attributes +500, max health points +2 million, max mana +2 million, and grants the skill 'Greed']

[Greed: Passive skill; after killing an enemy, restores health points and mana equal to 10% of damage dealt]

[Description: The heart of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying power of greed. Devours all things without end.]

Lin Feng's hands shook as he read the description.

Five hundred to all attributes, two million to both health and mana, plus the passive skill 'Greed'.

Restoring HP and MP after kills—the more he killed, the more he would recover.

He carefully placed the heart into the wanxiang ring, storing it in the safest spot.

The Taotie's Essence Blood was a dark gold color, like molten gold, radiating intense energy fluctuations.

[Taotie Essence Blood (Gold Material) × 100 Units]

[Quality: Gold]

[Use: Physique Tempering, Pill Refining]

[Effect: After tempering, permanently increases Physique +200, spirit +200, and grants the skill 'Taotie Body']

[Taotie Body: Passive skill; digestion speed +500%, energy obtained from food +500%]

[Description: Essence blood of the ancient Vicious Beast Taotie, containing terrifying digestive power. Eat anything and everything, keep your body in peak condition.]

He put the essence blood away.

There were also the Taotie's eyeballs, tongue, bone marrow, brain matter, spinal cord... piece by piece, they were all top-tier treasures.

It took him over two hours to finish collecting all the remains from the pit.

The black mass drifted nearby, watching him collect them.

It didn't speak, just watched silently.

Only when Lin Feng finished did it ask, "What... what do you want these for?"

Lin Feng stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. "Fusion."

The black mass was stunned for a moment. "Fusion? You're going to fuse the Taotie's corpse?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. With so many good materials, it would be a waste not to fuse them."

The black mass fell silent.

It looked at Lin Feng as if looking at a madman. "You... you even want to fuse the Taotie's corpse?"

Lin Feng smiled. "I told you, my Talent can fuse all things."

The black mass was speechless.

It just stared at him with a complex gaze.

It thought of that old man, the master of the Taixu Dojo.

If he knew someone wanted to fuse the Taotie's corpse, what would his expression be?

It didn't know.

But it knew that this young man was far more insane than that old man.

Lin Feng poured the remains out from the wanxiang ring, piling them on the ground.

Scales, bone spurs, horns, teeth, heart, essence blood, eyeballs, tongue, bone marrow, brain matter, and spinal cord piled up into a small mountain.

Black, white, red, gold—a riot of colors.

He took a deep breath and sat cross-legged, holding his hands over the pile, palms down.

"Talent—Activate."

A faint golden light surged from his palms, enveloping the pile of items.

The remains drifted up within the golden light—scales, bone spurs, horns, teeth, heart, essence blood, eyeballs, tongue, bone marrow, brain matter, and spinal cord all floated like a swarm of black butterflies.

They swirled, collided, and fused, as if dancing, fighting, or devouring one another.

[Detectable Fusion Target: Taotie Remains × 1 (Prismatic Quality)]

[Super Fusion]

[Warning: Fusion item quality is extremely high, risk is immense; success rate is less than 10%]

[Suggested Consumption: 5 million - 10 million mana]

[Fusion Direction: Divine Weapon or Special Item]

Lin Feng looked at the warning and fell silent.

The success rate was less than ten percent, and his mana was insufficient.

He currently only had a bit over two million mana, not even enough for the minimum requirement.

He sighed and withdrew his hands.

The golden light dissipated, and the remains fell from mid-air, piling back onto the ground.

He stood up and looked at the pile. "Forget it, I'll wait until I'm out."

The black mass drifted over. "You're... not fusing them?"

Lin Feng shook his head. "Not enough mana. Once I'm out and recovered, I'll fuse them."

The black mass nodded and didn't speak further.

Lin Feng stored the remains back into the wanxiang ring, stood up, and looked at the massive crater.

The glass-like sand at the bottom was still glowing, shimmering like shattered stars.

He watched for a moment, then turned and walked into the distance.

The black mass followed behind him like a shadow.

The wind blew from the west, lifting his hair.

He did not look back.