Having taken care of the old Daoists, Bai Long decided to hunt some kids. After all, he needs to feed his heaven-despair tree given that he can't afford to let it starve thus, he left the forest and went to the nearby village.

He needs to keep low as much as possible and avoid getting caught, considering he isn't powerful and doesn't have a powerful background. Good thing he doesn't have a guardian who follows him so, he can easily do all the acts he wants no matter how corrupt they are.

**

It was a peaceful and calm village, with serene air and breathtaking beauty, with many houses and people living in harmony. Bai Long saw some kids playing outside who looked happy and innocent.

Alas, quite the misfortune but it's the very law of nature for the strong to hunt the weaker. Hunger drives one forward be it literal hunger or metaphorical hunger for power, status, or ego.

He came to a house that had a signboard saying "Cultivation center." He looked inside and saw many kids training... These kids would be perfect for feeding his tree, no hard feelings.

The village seems to be one of the merely moderate villages despite being next to the valley of three beauties and four virtues. The difference between these two places is like that between heaven and earth.

Looking at kids, one seems to be fairly talented having built spirit roots at the age of 14, while others still possess a spirit embryo.

Bai Long went inside, only to alert an old man who had burned all of his talent and was stuck at the fourth stage of soul soul-wondering realm.

"You... Who are you," the old man asked immediately getting up, his hands glowing with bright golden energy, the pressure of about about-wondering realm flaring like a blazing storm.

Bai Long merely looked at the old man with disappointed eyes but he could be a good nutritious food for the dragon scale, given that, Bai Long wasn't afraid of the old man who was literally three minor realms above him.

"This humble one is messenger of death, and harvester of telent, the name Lord Yama," with a poetry as dignified as his presence, he summoned the dazzling soul lotus instantly freezing all the kids within seconds, after all, they had no actual cultivation base. They were merely a body refining phase.

That's still a cultivation realm but they are merely developing the body to hold spiritual energy, so they can't be said to be a proper Daoist.

"Lord Yama? Messenger of death?" The old man widened his eyes feeling confused. Wasn't Lord Yama, the god of hell, but there were times when Lord Yama indeed brought the message of death, but only to those who had achieved divinity.

However seeing how the kids were frozen in a strange ice, the old man's eyes narrowed as he launched himself at Bai Long despite the soul-numbing feeling released by the capacity soul lotus technique.

"Have eyes but are unable to see the vast mountains, you deserve death..." Bai Long caught his fist with his raw hands, the golden energy vanished into thin air making the old man realize the young man wasn't simple.

"Mercy—"

Before the old man could beg for mercy any further, a long needle-like thing made out of you're spiritual energy was stabbed in his heart, sucking all his life force in an instant. The old man's body was frozen by the soul lotus, so, he couldn't do anything as he was helpless as a pig in a slaughterhouse.

As Dragon scale sucked his soul & essence, Bai Long threw the body on the floor with cold eyes, and looked at the kids, who were all frozen. He grabbed the one with the most potential one who has yet to build a spiritual root.

The heart of the child was beating. He was alive but unmoving. The old man also only seemed like a teacher or a caretaker of these kids, probably he didn't seem to have a family.

Bai Long placed his hand on the kid's chest. The kid had a good-looking face, and using his spiritual sense he could see his veins, blood vessels, his blood, his heart, everything that one can't see with the naked eye.

"Pfft!"

Bai Long's hand penetrated the kid's chest and grabbed his heart, instantly pulling it out, he couldn't feel the pain the kid was going through but could imagine it.

Bai Long having pulled out the kid's heart, crushed it in his hand, with blood splattering all over the place. As twisted as it may sound, he was enjoying the kid's suffering and his heart's death, there are people who just feel satisfied seeing others getting killed.

He looked at the kid's face, who was crying in pain and agony given that his soul was frozen so, he wasn't fully dead yet.

"I am sorry kid, but this is how the world works... I hope you are happy with this," Bai Long said, grabbing his neck. The next moment the kid was sucked into his sea of consciousness.

The heaven despair tree was still in the growing phase so, it wasn't magnificently tall, vast as the Shun Mountains, and as fall as the sky could stretch, nevertheless it wasn't a twig either.

Woosh!

Two agile branches of a tree, like snakes dish towards the kid, one branch penetrated the heart from above, using its head like a trophy, while the other one swallowed the body, using it as fertilizer, and the soul was sucked by dragon scale.

Not a single thing was put to waste.

And one by one, the process repeated, as Bai Long sacrificed all the kids to the tree showing no mercy and the tree happily took root on all of them.

However, one of them who had developed spirit root wasn't taken by the tree. The tree only feeds on spirit embryo, however Bai Long burnt the kid alive as to leave no trace.

Even the profound sage won't be able to tell what had happened here.

**

Two days passed by,

Bai Long hunted as much as he could without shedding any mercy. One time he even burned the mother and father while sacrificing their newborn child to heaven disappear tree. The kid was born with a gifted sword intent and somehow Bai Long managed to obtain it. With the tree, Bai Long literally stole the talent. He could also feel that his spirit root was growing more powerful, and was about to break through soon.

The growth is too abnormal. Who can develop spirit root, cultivate so much within less than one month? It would create jealousy among all nine realms.

Also, the reward,

Day 1) Immortal foundation pill ×5

Day 2) Blood essence recovery pill × 100

***

Bai Long went to the restaurant run by the beautiful mother and daughter again to eat their signature soup of dragon and Phoenix.

"Have you heard that kids in the nearby village are mysteriously disappearing, could it be some demonic cultivator?" one man clad in a white robe uttered to another man.

They looked like disciple of some sect.

Bai Long who was just at the side also listened to their conversation with interest.

"I don't know, this one also believes that kids are abducted by someone for evil purposes..." another Daoist replied.

"The sect tournament is happening... Also, have you heard that Madam Gu has broken through the fourth stage of the nascent soul realm and is currently at the peak about to break through to the fifth stage..."

"Yeah. I heard all her talent was burned but strangely she managed to make a sudden breakthrough... Couldn't be that Patriarch Gu has spent a lot of resources, but I doubt the patriarch would be stupid to burn a lot of resources on her, rather than on the new generations."

"True. The patriarch would surely not waste a lot of resources but she sure is beautiful, I think she has another man outside who is helping her but I can't prove it..."

"Hmph, don't be jealous... You just can't see someone make a breakthrough because you have burnt all your talent too, they are from a rich family, they have means that we don't..."

Bai Long who heard all this couldn't help but look at the man on the left at the table, he was indeed correct. Bai Long is helping her cultivate, alas the fool on the right thinks it's jealousy unable to comprehend the bigger picture behind smaller actions.

"The tournament is also on close... I think Kan Dragon Palace is going to win, that Young Master Gu is very powerful..."

"Hmm, this one doubts that, I think the Shaolin Temple would win, their powerful disciple have yet to unleash the full potential, I have heard he has mastered the Shaolin bell..."

"Hmm, I wonder what Young Master Hong is doing, he is literally the number 1 genius, but Young Master Gu might soon beat him..."

"Young Master Gu? Don't you know there is a new genius... I heard his bone age is roughly around 20, but his cultivation base is already the soul-wondering realm..."

"S-Soul wandering? What nonsense is this? How can merely a 20-year-old brat reach a soul-wandering realm? Could he be practicing demonic arts?"

***

( Note: I am back, this protest was kinda bad but necessary. I will fix all the chapters within 2 days. I wanted to first tame Madam Gu and focus on actively hunting the protagonist however, now I will add the mother and daughter from the restaurant too... All upcoming chapters shall focus on seggs and little lores. After that we will move to hunting protagonist )

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.