16: A gluttonous feast! The Primordial Undying Golden Body!

Qingyang City, the Demon Suppression Division's back kitchen.

Usually, this place only handled meals for a few dozen people, but today, it had turned into a massive open-air slaughterhouse and canteen.

A specially made fine iron cauldron, three meters in diameter, was set up in the center of the courtyard. Beneath it, thousands of catties of smokeless charcoal burned, flames licking the bottom of the pot with a whooshing sound.

A thick meat broth bubbled inside the cauldron, emitting a mouth-watering aroma that carried a hint of domineering blood qi.

Gu Yang sat cross-legged by the cauldron, shirtless, holding a gourd ladle used for scooping water.

Beside him, piled high like a mountain, was the flesh of the Iron-Armored Dragon Rhino he had killed with a single strike. After several dozen chefs worked through the night, the giant beast had been dismembered into countless prime steaks.

"Lord Gu, this rhino hide is too thick; it really won't stew until tender..." The sweating Head Chef walked over cautiously, looking at the large chunks of meat bobbing in the pot.

This was the meat of a high-level Yao Beast; a normal person would get a nosebleed from just one bite. Only this master dared to eat it like a regular meal.

"Won't stew until tender?" Gu Yang casually fished out a ten-catty chunk of meat with the skin still on. The skin was as tough as iron, resisting even a blade.

He opened his mouth, revealing a set of pearly white teeth, and took a bite.

Crunch— A sound like a hydraulic press crushing steel rang out.

The rhino hide, which even armor-piercing bolts couldn't penetrate, was as fragile as gristle before Gu Yang's teeth and jaw strength, which had been strengthened countless times. "That's because your heat isn't enough. My stomach is the best pressure cooker."

Gu Yang chewed vigorously, his Adam's apple bobbing. As the meat entered his stomach, it was instantly broken down by the terrifying "Demonic Furnace" stomach acid of the Viscera Refining Realm, turning into a surging heat.

[Ingesting high-level Yao Beast (Iron-Armored Dragon Rhino) flesh... Converting...] [Obtained energy points: 5!] [Obtained energy points: 5!] ... The System's notification sounds chimed like a slot machine spitting out coins in a casino, making Gu Yang feel elated.

Was this even eating? This was clearly leveling up! Gu Yang ate even more enthusiastically, using both hands to devour everything like a whirlwind. Ten catties, fifty catties, a hundred catties... The surrounding Demon Suppression Guards watched in stunned silence.

"Is... is he a hungry ghost reincarnated?"

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense! Lord Gu is Cultivating! Can't you see the red light on his body getting brighter and brighter?"

For an entire day and night, Gu Yang hardly stopped, finishing off more than half of the Iron-Armored Dragon Rhino by himself. He really couldn't eat the rest (mostly because the energy was overflowing), so he had Zhao Wuji take it to reward the entire army.

At this moment, on Gu Yang's attribute panel, his energy points had once again surged to a new height. Energy: 248 points!

"Over two hundred points..." Gu Yang let out a burp, exhaling a breath of hot air tinged with sparks.

He felt like a balloon filled with air; if he didn't consume this energy quickly, his body might explode.

"System!" Gu Yang returned to his private cultivation room and sat cross-legged, his eyes flashing with sharp light.

"Although the Dragon-Elephant Golden Bell Shield is tough, it is ultimately an external technique of extreme firmness and Yang. Against those who overcome hardness with softness or use insidious force, it still falls a bit short."

He thought of the several low-grade cold-attribute Cultivation Techniques he had scavenged from the White Lotus Sect's Yinfeng Cave. Though they were mediocre, the theories on "force redirection" and "yin-softness" within them were very interesting.

"Yin alone cannot give birth, and Yang alone cannot grow." "If I can fuse extreme Yin and extreme Yang, combining hardness and softness, that would be true indestructibility!"

"System! Using the Dragon-Elephant Golden Bell Shield as the core, fuse the concepts of the cold Cultivation Techniques and deduce for me... a peerless divine art that is unified and indestructible through ten thousand tribulations!" "Go all in! Throw all 200 points into it!"

[Command accepted! Cultivation Technique Fusion and deduction in progress...] [Deduction Difficulty: Extremely High. Energy Consumed: 200 points!]

Boom! Gu Yang's body was instantly enveloped in a mass of golden light and black Qi.

His body seemed to become a battlefield where two completely different forces were frantically clashing, tearing, and then merging.

His skin cycled through breaking and Rebirth. The original dark-gold skin gradually faded, replaced by a return-to-basics bronze color. But beneath this bronze, a layer of black mercury seemed to flow.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Gu Yang slowly opened his eyes. His pupils had become heterochromatic, one gold and one black, before fading away. A terrifying force field as heavy as a mountain instantly spread out with him at the center.

Crack! The fine iron prayer mat beneath him was pressed directly into a flat disc, and the surrounding ground silently sank by three inches!

[Deduction successful!] [Obtained new Cultivation Technique: Primordial Indestructible Golden Body (First Layer)]

[Special Effect 1: Absolute Defense (Protected by Yin and Yang Qi, Physical/Spell resistance increased by 300%).]

[Special Effect 2: Gravity Domain (Forms a super-gravity field within a three-meter radius; enemies' movements are slowed, and internal force is hard to penetrate).]

[Special Effect 3: Counter-shock (Received attacks will be reflected with double the Primordial force).]

"This is... true invincibility." Gu Yang slowly stood up, feeling the unified and ceaseless power within his body.

He casually picked up a teacup from the table. He didn't use force, just a light touch of his fingertip.

The teacup didn't shatter; instead, it instantly turned to dust, as if ground down by an invisible force.

This was the passive effect of the Gravity Domain!

"Now, even if I just stand there and let that Iron-Armored Dragon Rhino ram me, the one to die will definitely be it." The corners of Gu Yang's mouth curled up in a confident smile.

Just then, Zhao Wuji's slightly anxious voice came from outside the door: "Gu Yang! Are you in there? Someone from the capital has arrived!"

The capital? Gu Yang's brow arched. He restrained his aura and pushed the door open.

"Division Head, what wind blew a big shot from the capital here?"

Zhao Wuji's expression was grave as he lowered his voice: "It's the Inspector from the Demon Slaying Division headquarters, Hate Heaven Li."

"This man has an eccentric personality and uses ruthless methods. Furthermore... he is a renegade of the Blood God Cult and loves to collect Martial Artists with vigorous blood qi to serve as 'Blood Slaves'."

"He saw your battle report and specifically asked to see you."

"Gu Yang, he comes with ill intent. You must be careful."

Upon hearing this, not only was there no fear in Gu Yang's eyes, but a hint of bloodlust flashed through them.

Blood Slave? He wants to make me a Blood Slave?

"Perfect. I've just mastered a divine art and was worried about not having a target to test my moves on."

Gu Yang stroked the coiling dragon pillar behind him with a "kind" smile.

"You go ahead. I'll go meet this... big shot in a moment."