Outside the secret realm, the Great Elder Yue Se approached Su Zhong with a lovely smile that didn't suit his face. "How about we make a bet, Su Zhong?" he said.

Su Zhong felt a weird feeling seeing the smile on Yue Se's face. "What bet are you talking about, Yue Se?" he asked.

"Let's talk about which faction performed well," Yue Se said. "If your faction performs well, then I will send my half of the wealth and listen to your commands for 2 years in the Red Lotus sect. But if you don't win, then the vice versa."

"What performance type are you talking about?" Su Zhong asked.

"If your faction performs better, I will give you half of my wealth and follow your commands for two years in the Red Lotus Sect. But if you lose, then the opposite will happen," Yue Se explained with a sly grin.

Su Zhong found the bet to be too tempting, like "a sheep walking into a slaughterhouse." However, he knew that if it was that easy, Yue Se wouldn't have suggested it in the first place. It seemed like something was backing his confidence. Su Zhong asked with caution, "How will we decide the winner?"

Yue Se thought to himself, "Got you!" before replying, "It's pretty simple, Su Zhong. The winner will be decided based on which faction gains the most opportunities within the secret realm and has the highest number of members alive and in good health."

Su Zhong fell into deep thought, contemplating the pros and cons of accepting the bet. He then looked at Yue Se and said, "Okay, I'm in the bet." He decided to put his trust in his grandson Su Chen, hoping that he would lead their faction to victory.

Yue Se immediately said, "I don't believe in you. You should take a heaven's oath on the condition of this bet, and I will do the same."

Su Zhong pointed his finger at Yue Se in anger but eventually sighed and said, "Okay, I will take the heaven's oath." He knew that if he refused, it would be impossible to proceed with the bet.

....

"Ah, the Tenth chaos strand," Wang Chen said with a bitter smile. He had grown accustomed to the pain, but he was not one to revel in suffering.

"Let's get this over with," Wang Chen said through gritted teeth as he began refining the chaos strand.

After a few moments of intense focus and pain...

"Huff, huff... Finally, it's done," Wang Chen gasped, feeling the excruciating pain subside.

As he attempted to rise to his feet, a sharp pain suddenly tore through his dantian and mind sea, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. The sensation was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he could feel his body writhing in agony. The pain was so intense that he couldn't even bring himself to scream. Instead, he lay there gasping for breath, trying to make sense of what was happening to him.historical

[ Ding! It is advisable that he should absorb all the resources he has and use some chaos strands as well. ]

Upon hearing the response from the system, Wang Chen was dumbfounded. Without any hesitation, he retrieved the storage bag and ring he had looted thus far, then emptied their contents onto the ground. Among the items were numerous spirit stones, medicinal herbs, and various types of precious stones.

Wang Chen hastily grabbed a herb and began to chew on it, hoping it would alleviate his pain. However, it had little effect, yet he persisted and even resorted to consuming the spirit stones. Despite his efforts, the pain continued to persist without any sign of diminishing.

[Hey, you foolish host! I only advised you to absorb those herbs, and here you are eating them like a gluttonous pig! Haven't you already mastered the Celestial Thief Technique Part-2? Why don't you utilize that technique and absorb these resources at a much faster rate?]

Wang Chen's face was already flushed red due to the excruciating pain when he heard the reply from the system. Feeling embarrassed, he didn't say anything to the system and immediately activated the Celestial Thief Technique Part-2.

As Wang Chen attempted to perform the technique, he found that he couldn't even move his body. He lay on the ground, unmoving, as his body was wracked with pain. Blood began to seep from his eyes, and every cell in his body felt like it was on fire, but the pain in his little brother was the worst. It was as if someone was peeling away his flesh and tossing it into a pool of lava.

Wang desperately tried to maintain his Qi flow, but it was all in vain. He felt like a helpless lab rat being subjected to torturous experiments, unable to control anything and simply waiting for his demise. As the pain continued to ravage his body, he feared that at this rate, he would become a eunuch.

Wang Chen's eyes widened as he watched the strange black gas emanating from his body. The gas seemed to have a life of its own, moving and writhing like some sort of malevolent creature. Its aura was ominous and foreboding, and just feeling it gave Wang Chen goosebumps.

As he observed, the black gas slowly crept forward, inching towards the chaos strands he had been trying to refine. And then, as if on cue, the gas enveloped the strands and began to mix with them. Wang Chen watched in amazement as the chaos strands and the black gas, combined and transformed into a dark flame that spread across the room, burning everything in its path.

At first, Wang Chen was afraid that the flames might harm him, but soon he felt a soothing sensation spread through his body, and the excruciating pain began to subside. Gradually, he gained control over his body again, but he was hesitant to move, fearing that any sudden movement might trigger the flames and cause harm.

After a while, the void flame burned everything in its path, leaving only Wang Chen with his new storage ring containing the chaos strands and all the treasures he had looted. He felt grateful for having made the right decision to store all his belongings in the ring, as even his clothes were reduced to ash. As he surveyed his surroundings, his gaze fell on his little brother, and he saw steam rising from it.

"Did it burn completely and become a plain playground? Without a player, how could I score goals?" Wang Chen's dao heart was on the verge of complete collapse as he felt no reaction or anything.

As the streams finally settled, Wang Chen intently gazed at the private part. Suddenly, he screamed loudly, "Aaahhhhhh! Where did the red snake come from?"

He shifted his position backwards, startled by what he saw. "Could it be that my little brother used some kind of summoning technique in his last moments, bringing forth this enormous red snake?" He couldn't quite make sense of it.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he extended his hand towards the creature. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as his hand made contact. "It doesn't bite, but it's so hot to the touch."

[Hey Host, I'm considering finding a more suitable person to bind with, and leaving you behind.]

Wang Chen's expression turned to one of shock and disbelief. "What Nonsense are you blabbering?"

[I should ask the same thing of you! That 'red snake' you were touching is actually your little brother, with an upgraded form.]

"It cannot be! My little brother was only 7 inches long, how could it become 12 inches now? I cannot even call it a little brother anymore, it has grown so big that it should be called big brother!" exclaimed Wang Chen in disbelief.

[ Are you done playing? Your exaggerated reaction is worse than a sheltered maiden who has never seen a man before.]

"Cheh," Wang clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Now spill the beans, what the hell were those void flames and how did they come out of my body? And it turned me into a beggar as soon as it appeared...." Wang fired off his questions nonstop.

[ This phenomenon occurred because of the Devouring Essence fetus inside your body. When the Devouring Essence fetus sensed the chaotic energy, it couldn't sit still and wanted to devour it, ]

[ The black mist was the essence of the Devouring fetus, so when it mixed with the chaos strands, it devoured them. This led to the upgrading of the Devouring fetus into a Devouring Bud. ]

[ As for the flames, they were Heavenly Devouring Flames. They can devour anything when their level is high, but you only obtained a low-level version of the flames. It can be upgraded as you devour different types of flames, unlocking more abilities. ]

"Then how do you explain the abnormality of my 'big brother'?" Wang Chen demanded.

[...]

"Tell me, I'm not dead serious!"

[ It was because you got an excessive amount of Chaos Qi which couldn't be stored in the dantian or by devouring flames as it is only low level. So all the energy was transferred to your weakest part. ]

"....."

"Repeat that."

[Your little brother is weaker....]

"Stop it." Wang Chen interfered as he didn't want to Listen system criticising him.