The training grounds of the Jade Lily Sect were a marvel of ancient engineering.
Carved deep into the mountain's heart, they comprised dozens of specialized chambers, places designed to test every aspect of a cultivator's abilities. Combat arenas where gravity could be adjusted. Meditation halls where time seemed to flow differently. Refinement furnaces that could purify essence to its purest form.
"Your predecessor used these facilities for decades," Elder Hua explained as they toured the complex. "By the time he left, he'd mastered techniques that made the great sects look like children playing at cultivation."
Lin Feng studied the nearest chamber, a circular arena surrounded by crystalline walls that hummed with contained energy.
"How do they still work? It's been a thousand years since anyone maintained them."
"The sect designed them to be self-sustaining. As long as essence flows through the mountain, the formations remain active." The ghost paused. "Though some chambers have degraded. We'll need to be careful about which ones you use."
"Which one should I start with?"
"The combat arena. Your technique is impressive, but it lacks refinement." Elder Hua's expression grew serious. "The divine beasts won't give you time to figure out their patterns. You need to adapt instantly, strike without hesitation."
Lin Feng stepped into the arena, feeling the formations activate around him.
"What am I fighting?"
"Everything."
The walls came alive.
---
The constructs that emerged from the crystalline walls were nightmares given form.
They had no fixed shapes. One moment a wolf, the next a serpent, then something with too many limbs and not enough recognizable features. They attacked in waves, each one probing his defenses, learning his responses, adapting to counter his techniques.
Lin Feng fell into combat instincts honed by weeks of training and three beast absorptions. Devourer's Fang sang in his hands, its edge cutting through essence-constructs with terrifying ease.
But for every one he destroyed, two more emerged.
"You're thinking too much!" Elder Hua's voice cut through the chaos. "Stop analyzing, start feeling!"
Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one being swarmed by creatures that seemed to anticipate his every move.
Lin Feng ducked under a construct's slash, countered with a strike that dissipated its form, only to have another slam into his back, sending him stumbling.
*This isn't working*, he realized. *I'm fighting their battle, not mine.*
The hunger stirred, offering an alternative.
*Let go*, it whispered. *Stop thinking like a human. Become what you've consumed.*
Lin Feng hesitated. The partial transformation had worked against the serpent, but it had also pushed him dangerously close to losing control.
A construct's blade grazed his arm, drawing blood.
He didn't have time for hesitation.
*Fine*, he told the hunger. *Show me.*
---
The transformation was different this time.
Instead of forcing his body into a specific shape, Lin Feng let the consumed essences guide his movements. Wolf instincts sharpened his awareness of pack tactics. Boar aggression added power to his strikes. Serpent cunning revealed patterns in the constructs' attacks.
He stopped fighting as a human and started fighting as something else.
The results were immediate.
His body flowed through forms that no martial art had ever taught, animal movements blended with human precision, creating a style uniquely his own. Devourer's Fang became an extension of his will, striking where enemies would be rather than where they were.
The constructs fell before him.
One by one, then in groups, then in waves. Lin Feng moved through them like a force of nature.
When the last construct dissolved, he stood alone in the arena, breathing hard but uninjured.
"Better." Elder Hua's voice held a note of approval. "You're learning to integrate rather than separate. That's the key to the Devourer's Path."
"It feels..." Lin Feng searched for the right word. "Natural. Like this is how I was always supposed to move."
"Because it is. You're not borrowing beast power. You've made it yours. The difference seems subtle, but it changes everything." The ghost materialized beside him. "The original spent years reaching this point. You've achieved it in weeks."
"I had good teachers."
"You have unusual talent." Elder Hua's expression grew thoughtful. "I'm beginning to understand why the Scripture chose you."
"Chose?"
"The Devourer's Scripture isn't a passive text. It has awareness. Fragments of every soul that's ever wielded it, bound together into something that resembles consciousness." The ghost's eyes met his. "It doesn't reveal itself to just anyone. It chose you specifically, Lin Feng. Out of all the broken, desperate souls that have encountered it over ten thousand years, it chose you."
Lin Feng didn't know how to respond to that. The idea that the Scripture had evaluated and selected him was unsettling.
"Why?" he asked finally.
"I don't know. Perhaps because your meridians were shattered, and the path was literally your only option. Perhaps because your heart held the right mixture of rage and restraint." Elder Hua shrugged. "Or perhaps the Scripture saw something in you that none of us can perceive. Either way, you're here now. Make the most of it."
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
Whatever the reason for his selection, he couldn't afford to waste the opportunity.
---
The days that followed were a blur of training and absorption.
Lin Feng pushed himself through every chamber the sect had to offer. Combat drills honed his reflexes. Meditation sessions expanded his control over consumed essence. Refinement processes purified his core, making room for more power.
"Your capacity is growing faster than your ability to fill it," Mei observed during one of their evening conversations. "At this rate, you'll need to hunt again soon."
"I know." Lin Feng flexed his scaled hands, feeling the hunger's constant pulse. "The question is what to hunt."
"The wastelands are full of corrupted beasts."
"Corrupted beasts won't be enough. Not anymore." He'd consumed too much power already. Wolf, boar, serpent, the original God Eater's accumulated essence. Lesser creatures were like drops of water to an ocean.
"Then you need something stronger." Mei's expression was serious. "But the only things stronger are divine beasts. And from what Elder Hua says, confronting one of those directly would be suicide."
"Unless I'm prepared." Lin Feng turned to face her. "The scrolls mention something called the Divine Hunt Protocol. A method the original developed for tracking and engaging divine beasts systematically."
"I've seen those scrolls. They're sealed. You can't access them yet."
"I know. But Elder Hua said the seals unlock when I reach certain thresholds." He smiled grimly. "I think I'm getting close."
Mei studied him for a long moment.
"You're eager," she said. "More eager than you should be."
"Maybe." He didn't deny it. The hunger had been growing stronger with each passing day, fed by the training but never truly satisfied. It wanted more. Always more.
"Just remember what we talked about. The path isn't worth walking if you lose yourself along the way."
"I haven't forgotten." Lin Feng reached out and took her hand. "I have you to remind me."
Mei's grip tightened.
"I won't always be there. In battle, against the beasts, facing the heavens, there will be moments when you're alone with the hunger. Moments when it would be easier to let go than to hold on."
"Then I'll think of you." He met her eyes. "Your face. Your voice. The way you looked at me when everyone else saw nothing but a cripple."
"That's quite romantic."
"It's true." Lin Feng pulled her closer. "You're my anchor, Mei Ling. The weight that keeps me from floating away into the hunger's depths. Don't underestimate how important that is."
Mei's eyes glistened.
"Lin Feng..."
He kissed her.
It was awkward at first. Neither of them had much experience with such things, and his scaled lips made the sensation strange. But then she responded, pressing against him, and the awkwardness faded into something warmer.
The hunger stirred, confused by emotions it couldn't consume.
Lin Feng ignored it.
Some things were more important than power.
---
They didn't speak of the kiss afterward.
It hung between them like a secret, acknowledged in glances and brief touches but never directly addressed. Lin Feng wasn't sure what it meant. He wasn't sure he was capable of the kind of relationship normal people had.
But he knew he didn't want to lose her.
"You're distracted again," Elder Hua noted during their next training session.
"I'm fine."
"You're lying." The ghost's eyes were knowing. "But that's alright. Even devourers need something to fight for beyond revenge."
Lin Feng didn't respond. His personal life wasn't Elder Hua's business.
"The third seal is weakening," the ghost continued, changing the subject. "A few more days of refinement and you should be able to access the Divine Hunt Protocol."
"What exactly does it contain?"
"Locations. The original spent decades tracking the divine beasts' territories, mapping their movements, identifying their weaknesses. The protocol contains everything he learned."
"Including how to kill them?"
"Including how to *approach* them without dying immediately." Elder Hua's expression grew serious. "The divine beasts aren't like corrupted creatures, Lin Feng. They're ancient intelligences with power that approaches godhood. Each one has spent millennia perfecting its defenses."
"But the original managed to consume some of them."
"The original had advantages you don't. Centuries of accumulated power. Techniques he'd developed over generations. Most importantly, he had the element of surprise. No one had walked the Devourer's Path in thousands of years."
"And now they know someone's walking it again."
"Exactly." Elder Hua's form flickered with concern. "The divine beasts will have prepared. They'll have defenses specifically designed to counter consumption techniques. They may even have coordinated with the heavens."
"Then I'll need to be smarter than they expect." Lin Feng's smile was grim. "Good thing I have excellent teachers."
---
The third seal broke on the seventh day.
Lin Feng felt it happen during a meditation session. A barrier in his consciousness dissolving, revealing knowledge that had been hidden behind it.
The Divine Hunt Protocol flooded his awareness.
He saw the mortal realm from above, mapped in the original's meticulous hand. Nine territories, each belonging to a different divine beast. Nine powers, each capable of destroying armies. Nine targets for a hunter patient enough to learn their patterns.
*The Vermillion Phoenix claims the southern volcanic regions*, the knowledge whispered. *It's the weakest of the nine, relatively speaking, and the most territorial. It will fight rather than flee.*
*The Azure Dragon holds the eastern seas. Wiser than the Phoenix, more willing to negotiate. Approach with caution and respect.*
*The White Tiger rules the western mountains. Pure combat power, no subtlety, no mercy. Do not engage until you've consumed at least three other divine beasts.*
The information continued. Descriptions of hunting grounds, feeding patterns, known weaknesses. Everything the original had learned over centuries of observation.
And at the bottom, a warning:
*The Kun-Peng guards the Heaven's Gate. Do not approach until you have consumed all other eight. It is beyond any single hunter's ability to challenge.*
Lin Feng opened his eyes.
"You've accessed the protocol," Elder Hua said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes." He stood, feeling the knowledge settling into place alongside his other absorbed memories. "I know where to find them. All nine."
"Then you know where to begin."
"The Vermillion Phoenix." Lin Feng met the ghost's eyes. "The weakest, most aggressive, most likely to fight without retreating."
"It's still a divine beast, Lin Feng. You're not ready—"
"I know." He smiled without humor. "But I have to start somewhere. And the longer I wait, the more time they have to prepare."
Elder Hua was silent for a long moment.
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow." He glanced toward the door, where Mei would be waiting. "I need to say some goodbyes first."
"The healer won't let you go alone."
"I know that too." Lin Feng's expression softened. "But this time, I'm not going to argue with her."
The ghost smiled.
"Perhaps there's hope for you yet, Devourer."
Lin Feng walked toward the exit, toward Mei, toward a future painted in blood and fire.
The hunt for divine beasts was about to begin.
