đź“– Chapter 1351 - Gluttony Lord
There were around twenty mincemeat acolytes in Tongue’s Desire City, and all of them had entered the Buried Realm for the Great Hunt. But at this point, Shen Ludao had killed and devoured half of them, and several more had fallen to the oddities of this place. In total, according to Cheng Lingzi’s perception after he used his secret art, there were only six remaining.
These six weren’t the most powerful, but they all had special techniques for concealment. However, no matter how well-hidden they were, they couldn’t escape the detection of Cheng Lingzi’s secret art.
After all, this secret art had been specially imparted by a Gluttony Lord in order for Cheng Lingzi to locate other mincemeat acolytes. According to his father’s original plan, even if he didn’t manage to become the next Gluttony Lord, he would still be able to reap great benefits.
Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a perfect plan. Now, Cheng Lingzi was using this secret art to help Wang Baole instead of himself, and he was even perfectly willing to do so. It could only be said that the human heart was difficult to figure out. Sometimes, after being kneaded to a certain extent, it would become a shape impossible to imagine.
The current Cheng Lingzi had exactly such a heart. He flew rapidly throughout the Buried Realm with bloodshot eyes, until soon… he suddenly came to a stop in midair. Looking down at an empty plain, he spoke.
“I’ll give you a chance. Come out and follow me, contribute half your law of tongue’s desire to my benefactor, and I’ll guarantee your life.”
His words echoed, but no response came. After waiting for a few breaths of time, Cheng Lingzi became impatient and suddenly flew over to a certain spot, raising his right hand and grabbing at nothingness. All of a sudden, the void around him distorted, and a blurry figure could be seen rapidly escaping.
Cheng Lingzi let out a cold snort and gave chase. Rumbling spread out, and a dozen or so breaths of time later, Cheng Lingzi’s figure once again flew into the distance. This time, a rope was hanging behind him, and tied up in that rope was a pale-faced mincemeat acolyte.
There was a huge gap in strength between this mincemeat acolyte and Cheng Lingzi, so he couldn’t fight back for very long. In the end, he had been captured and tied up like a prisoner.
Just like that, two days passed. Cheng Lingzi’s efficiency was astonishing; in just two days, he had hunted down five of the six hidden mincemeat acolytes and captured all of them alive. However, complications arose as he searched for the last one.
Currently, Cheng Lingzi was standing in the sky, looking down at the ground below him. This region was a bit special, with countless puddles in the ground filled with red water. In this place, countless chaotic wills lurked everywhere, dampening the effect of Cheng Lingzi’s secret art.
He could sense that there was a mincemeat acolyte nearby, but unless he turned the entire place upside down, it would be difficult to find them. With his current cultivation base, thoroughly searching this area filled with chaotic wills would take a long time.
But since he wanted to finish things as quickly as possible, he had to think of another method. At this moment, Cheng Lingzi suddenly turned and looked behind him, at the five mincemeat acolytes who were entangled in his rope.
“Originally, if I found all six of you, your lives would have been spared. After all, your laws of tongue’s desire would have been enough for my benefactor’s needs, and there would be no need to take your lives to make up the difference. However… if there’s one missing, I can’t guarantee anything.
“I’ll give you an incense stick’s worth of time. There’s a mincemeat acolyte nearby, and you have to find them. If you fail… I don’t need to tell you what will happen, right?” As he spoke, Cheng Lingzi inserted restrictions into each of the five people behind him and loosened the rope.
“I, Cheng Lingzi, will never break my promise. If you don’t believe me, just try and escape. Even if you somehow escape my restrictions, unless you never return to Tongue’s Desire City, your final end will be the same.” With that, Cheng Lingzi closed his eyes, crossed his legs in meditation, and began to count.
The five pale-faced mincemeat acolytes all looked at each other helplessly. They didn’t dare to provoke Cheng Lingzi, and it was impossible for them to never return to Tongue’s Desire City. At this moment, all they could do was hope that Cheng Lingzi would keep his promise. After all, his words did make sense; if they found an additional person to share the burden with, they would each be more likely to survive.
Thus, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and lower themselves to the ground, spreading out and searching through the puddles with whatever methods they had. Usually, those who were good at hiding would also be good at searching, so Cheng Lingzi didn’t think he could do any better than them. With the five people working together, it wasn’t long before they obtained some results. Soon, a boom echoed out, and Cheng Lingzi’s eyes opened wide.
“Found ’em!” Cheng Lingzi disappeared on the spot. A minute later, he was flying out into the horizon again, this time with six people on the rope instead of five.
Just like that, as the six mincemeat acolytes stewed in anxiety, Cheng Lingzi led them to fly at full speed. When dusk of that day arrived, the group had already arrived back at Wang Baole’s location.
Although the person inside the gigantic vortex couldn’t be seen, the terrifying rumbles it gave off and the heaven-shaking power of law emanating from it made the six captives pale in fright.
“What, you’re not going yet?” Seeing his captives pause, Cheng Lingzi’s eyes grew fierce. He tugged the rope and brought the six people in front of the vortex, immediately kneeling down the moment he got close. Now, his fierce expression melted away, turning extremely obedient and respectful as he spoke loudly.
“Benefactor, I’ve brought you all the remaining mincemeat acolytes.”
“Very good.” A thunderous voice echoed out from the vortex, causing rumbles to reverberate throughout heaven and earth. At the same time, six gigantic chains formed from black mist shot out, swiftly entering the bodies of the six mincemeat acolytes and extracting their laws of tongue’s desire.
As for Cheng Lingzi, he didn’t need Wang Baole to say anything. Without hesitation, he offered up his law of tongue’s desire and sent it into the vortex, making Wang Baole feel extremely satisfied.
Now, Wang Baole’s breakthrough had reached a critical moment. His aura already surpassed that of an ordinary Gluttony Lord, but his realm had always lagged behind. But with the influx of laws from the mincemeat acolytes, this difference was finally made up for.
After an incense stick’s worth of time, the six mincemeat acolytes had already been drained of nearly 70% of their law of tongue’s desire. At this moment, a low roar echoed out, and the vortex suddenly shrank, revealing a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering figure.
This figure was originally one hundred zhang tall, but as the vortex shrank and fused into it, the figure continuously expanded. From one hundred zhang, it became 130 zhang, then 170 zhang, 210 zhang, and then…
A 330 zhang tall Desire Body appeared in the sky as the vortex vanished without a trace. The suppressive force of a Gluttony Lord descended, causing the omnipresent red mist to churn violently as the ground shuddered and quaked.
Right now, although the figure’s face couldn’t be made out, its massive form seemed to be the only thing between heaven and earth.
“Greetings, Gluttony Lord!” Cheng Lingzi was the first to shout in reverence.
The other six mincemeat acolytes endured their fatigue and quickly knelt down in reverence as well.
As they all bowed their heads, that massive figure’s features slowly became clear, revealing the face of Wang Baole.
He smiled.
The ninth… Gluttony Lord!