264: Chapter 264 Devouring and Refining!

Alarm bells rang in Qin Yan's heart.

He carefully identified his direction, then crouched down to examine the black ash on the ground.

The texture and scent of this black ash were extremely similar to the remains left after the vines in the Vine Forest were annihilated.

He stood up and began to cautiously explore this "black ash clearing."

Soon, he saw some "foreign objects" scattered among the black ash.

There were fragments of broken weapons, pieces of armor stained with black ash, and... the corpses of heavenly prides from various clans that had long since lost the breath of life and were partially buried by the ash!

Qin Yan quickened his pace, identifying the characteristics of those corpses.

Some clothing and racial traits were vaguely identifiable; they were faces he had seen in the central region of the Vine Forest!

A bad feeling rose in Qin Yan's heart.

This couldn't be the Vine Forest, could it?

He continued forward, and more similar traces appeared in his vision.

Scattered arrows, broken shields, scorched fur, and congealed dark red bloodstains...

The further he walked, the more numerous and dense the traces became.

Until he reached the center of this open area.

When he saw two silhouettes that, even though dried and shriveled, were still much larger than ordinary corpses, Qin Yan's footsteps abruptly stopped, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

"Xiong Da... Xuan Gui!"

Although their bodies were shriveled and their fur and shells had lost their luster, Qin Yan would never mistake the unique skeletal outline of the Icefield Bear Clan and the iconic shell of the Black Tortoise!

These two powerful leading figures, who were ranked high on the heavenly pride ranking, had actually fallen here!

This place was indeed the previous central region of the Vine Forest!

That thick layer of black ash was likely the embers left behind after the entire forest collapsed and dissipated!

But what exactly happened?

Why did the forest suddenly collapse?

Who killed powerhouses like Xiong Da and Xuan Gui? And what about the other heavenly prides?

A series of questions swirled frantically in Qin Yan's mind.

He forced himself to calm down and began to carefully examine the scene.

He first went to the two massive corpses.

Crouching down, he first checked the purification rings on their wrists—the points displayed zero.

He then quickly searched the places on their bodies where resources might be stored; they were also empty, clearly having been looted.

Qin Yan frowned deeply, stood up, and walked toward the corpses of the other heavenly prides.

The situation was mostly the same—the corpses were dried up, the purification ring points were cleared, and their personal resources had vanished.

This situation was definitely not the work of Evil Spirits.

"Was it done by other survivors? To fight for points and resources?"

Qin Yan speculated in his heart, "But who would have the ability to kill Xiong Da and Xuan Gui, and take away the points and resources of all the survivors?"

"Wait..." A figure flashed through Qin Yan's mind, "Why is Su Liuli's corpse not here?"

He quickly searched the clearing and confirmed the identities of all the corpses.

Su Liuli, that mysterious and powerful woman, was not among them.

"Could it be... that everything before my eyes is related to her?"

This guess sent a chill through him.

If Su Liuli really killed them and took their points and resources...

Then this woman's ruthlessness of heart, decisiveness of means, and terror of strength made even Qin Yan feel a bit alarmed!

Qin Yan remained silent for a moment, then walked over to the relatively intact corpse of a male from the Elf Clan.

This elf wore exquisite light armor, and although he had been dead for some time, his clothes were still in good condition.

Qin Yan did not hesitate much and cleanly stripped the other's outer robe, light armor, and other clothing.

His previous clothes had long since been shredded during the battle with the Vine Evil Spirit underground, leaving him almost naked.

Taking the clothes, he found a relatively secluded spot and quickly changed into this elf-style attire.

Although the size was slightly off, after some simple adjustments, it was passable to wear, at least much more decent than his tattered human-style martial arts outfit.

Just as Qin Yan finished changing and was preparing to leave this eerie clearing to continue exploring the outside and confirm his position.

The black seed in his pocket suddenly moved.

Qin Yan paused, took out the seed, and held it in his palm.

He saw the dark gold patterns on the seed's surface light up again, emitting a dim light more obvious than before.

It gave a light hop, jumped from Qin Yan's palm, and rolled over to the corpse of a nearby heavenly pride.

The dim light spread from the seed like a translucent black light shield, enveloping the dried-up corpse.

Next, under the shroud of that dim light, the already dried corpse actually shriveled and collapsed further at a speed visible to the naked eye!

It was as if the last remaining essence within it was being forcibly extracted.

In just a few breaths, the entire corpse completely turned into a pile of dull-colored ash, merging with the black ash on the ground until there was no difference.

Then, the seed followed the same pattern, rolling to the next corpse and repeating the process.

Qin Yan stood not far away, quietly watching this scene, and a cold shadow was added to his understanding of this mysterious seed.

"As expected... it's not some benevolent thing."

He whispered to himself.

This ability to devour the essence of corpses and turn them to ash carried an aura of evil and misfortune no matter how one looked at it.

However, another question surfaced along with it.

"But... why didn't it 'refine' me while I was unconscious?"

"Does it look down on me as a 'living person'? Or... can it only devour 'corpses' that have already lost their life vitality and whose essence has begun to drain?"

Qin Yan speculated in his heart.

After about fifteen minutes, the seed had finished "processing" all the heavenly pride corpses in the clearing.

The remains that were originally scattered everywhere had now all turned into ash, indistinguishable from the black ash on the ground, as if they had never existed.

The seed seemed to have "eaten and drunk its fill," and the dim light on its surface retracted significantly.

The dark gold patterns, however, seemed slightly brighter and clearer than before.

It gave a nimble hop, returned to Qin Yan's palm once more, and lay there quietly, transmitting a subtle emotion of satisfaction and dependence.

Qin Yan examined it carefully, but aside from the slightly brighter patterns, he found no other obvious changes.

He sighed softly and put the seed back into his inner pocket.

"Let's go, little guy."

Qin Yan patted his pocket, identified a direction, and set off.

Whether this seed was good or evil, a blessing or a curse, it had now formed a strange connection with him.

The road ahead was long and fraught with danger; carrying this enigmatic little thing, Qin Yan embarked on an unknown journey to find his way back and continue his training in the Canglin Ancient Peak.

The black ash clearing behind him lay silent under the sun, like a voiceless tombstone recording the tragedy and secrets that had occurred here not long ago.