Chapter 124: The Devouring Dragon Tactic
"Terrifying."
Su Tianhao's voice was low—almost a whisper—but the weight it carried pressed heavily on his chest.
The lingering echoes of the Devourer's Codex still rippled through his mind, each word burned in like heavenly decree. There was no more room for ignorance. No safety in not knowing.
If he failed to control the instinct, he would become no different from the monsters he sought to destroy.
And that thought was more terrifying than the power itself.
"I need to find a way to achieve control before something like that happens again," he said quietly, urgency threading through his voice.
He turned inward, reaching into his inherited memories once more—searching through strategies, techniques, anything that could help him master the devouring ability.
They did not disappoint.
---
Within minutes, a single technique surfaced from the depths of his sea of consciousness. Everything else faded into blankness around it—the rest of his inherited knowledge retreating completely, as if offering this one thing willingly.
The Devouring Dragon Tactic.
The name appeared in his mind written in golden script, carrying a strange and immediate sense of familiarity.
"The Devouring Dragon Tactic..." Su Tianhao repeated softly.
Without hesitation, he tapped into it—diving into its mysteries with focused intent. The moment his mind connected, a surge of ancient knowledge poured into him. Vast. Overwhelming. Yet perfectly ordered. He gritted his teeth and held steady as the torrent stabilized within his consciousness.
This was no ordinary cultivation method.
---
The Devouring Dragon Tactic is a profound bloodline technique, created by the original progenitor of the Heavenly Devouring Dragon itself. Unlike traditional martial arts or Qi refinement techniques, it was not designed to strengthen one's power—but to tame it.
It is a technique that can only be cultivated by those with the Heavenly Devouring Dragon bloodline. For anyone else, walking this path is no different from seeking death.
---
Su Tianhao exhaled slowly, letting the words settle.
The bloodline restriction didn't concern him. What surprised him was the origin.
'Created by the Heavenly Devouring Dragon progenitor...' His heart quickened. 'The progenitor was a peak powerhouse even in the Immortal Realm. Even without knowing its rank, a technique born from such a being is anything but simple.'
Hope and anticipation swelled within him. He dove back in.
---
The Devouring Dragon Tactic teaches the cultivator to harmonize the Devouring Instinct with their soul—binding its chaotic hunger to conscious will. Through specific breathing patterns, mental visualizations, and spiritual resonance, it allows one to suppress the wild urge to consume and redirect it with clarity and purpose.
It is not brute suppression. It is mastery through inner alignment.
To devour not blindly, but with precision.
To consume without losing oneself.
At higher mastery, the tactic enables the refinement of all forms of energy and matter into reformed power—transforming what is consumed into healing force, strength enhancements, or even abilities derived from the devoured source.
---
"This is it," Su Tianhao whispered, golden eyes gleaming. "This is what I need."
His heart pounded—not in fear this time.
In purpose.
He repositioned himself into a perfect lotus position, closed his eyes, and turned his full focus inward.
---
Minutes became hours.
By midday, Su Tianhao sat like a statue carved from stone—his expression serene, his figure completely still. But beneath that outward calm, a baptism of knowledge was constantly refining his understanding of his own innate ability.
The devouring ability wasn't just the power to consume. It held the power to refine. To recreate every form of power in existence. The Heavenly Devouring Dragon Physique didn't merely allow the devouring and refinement process to succeed—it was a physique that defied the heavens and forged its own path, with dominion over all energy and essence beneath the sky.
The bloodline itself wasn't meant to simply be used. It was a gift with instinct—and if not controlled, if abused, it could lead to the damnation of the user.
Despite the technique's complexity, Su Tianhao understood every concept with crystalline clarity. No resistance. No obstacles. The knowledge flowed through his consciousness like destiny falling into place—each truth a missing piece of his soul.
It resonated with his bloodline on a far deeper level than the Shrouded Dragon Veil ever had. The Shrouded Dragon Veil responded to his bloodline. This technique was forged for it.
He didn't force it. He flowed with it—allowing it to guide him, disregarding time entirely, as if he had submerged himself in a different realm of enlightenment within his own consciousness.
---
By evening, when the sun began its gentle descent and warm gold washed across the quiet courtyard, Su Tianhao's eyes slowly opened—revealing majestic dragon eyes that lasted only a fleeting moment before settling back into their usual golden hue.
"Devouring Dragon Tactic—Initial Mastery."
Even at Initial Mastery, his entire perception of his innate ability had shifted. For the first time since his awakening, he understood the mysteries of his bloodline with genuine clarity rather than instinct and guesswork.
'Time to test it,' he thought.
He rose from the bed in one smooth motion and made his way out into the courtyard.
---
The evening breeze greeted him—gentle, carrying the scent of oak bark and blooming flowers. His robes rustled. His hair stirred.
For the first time in a long while, there was peace.
He took a slow breath, adjusted his sleeves, and walked.
He paused at the spot where Blood Grin's corpse had vanished. There, half-buried in the sand, something caught the fading light—a silver ring with a faint metallic luster.
"Blood Grin's spatial ring," Su Tianhao said quietly, crouching to pick it up.
He turned it over in his fingers, studying the surface. Then his expression shifted into a frown.
"Tsk. The runes have been destroyed."
Although he hadn't yet begun formally studying formations, his knowledge of runes and spatial techniques was considerable—inherited from a father who was a formidable formation expert even in the Immortal Realm. He could read the damage clearly. The spatial runes engraved within the ring had been annihilated by the devouring process. The ring itself remained intact—but its contents were inaccessible to all but the most specialized of techniques.
'If I can find a technique capable of replacing the spatial rune, I might be able to access its contents someday,' he thought. Not a simple matter—such techniques were extraordinarily rare. But for Su Tianhao, it wasn't a closed door.
Without another glance or speculation, he tossed the ring into his storage pouch.
'Focus. Control over the innate ability first. Everything else comes after.'
He walked deeper into Fei Wu Quarter—into one of the abandoned, run-down courtyards that had stood empty since his exile. At the center stood a massive tree, filled with greenery and flowers, vibrant despite the neglect surrounding it.
"Perfect."
Su Tianhao stood at a measured distance, hands extended toward the tree, eyes closing.
'To devour not blindly, but with precision. To consume without losing oneself.'
"Devour."
His eyes snapped open the moment the word left his lips, golden and bright beneath the dimming sky.
Whoosh.
The swirling vortex within his dantian stirred to life—and he noticed immediately that the suction radius had expanded. Not twenty meters. Thirty.
He held his focus, his hand pointed at the tree with precise intent.
The suction force locked onto it—and only it.
Creak. CRACK.
The tree groaned as dense, vibrant green energy was slowly drawn from its bark. But there was no trembling in the air. No wind stirred. No surrounding disturbance.
Just control. Precision.
Whoosh.
The green energy tore free—but it didn't disappear into his body. It hovered inches from his palm, coiling like a serpent made of pure vitality.
With a precise exhale and a deliberate thought, the suction force dissipated. The vortex returned to dormancy.
The tree remained standing. Slightly older, a little less vibrant—but alive.
Su Tianhao gazed at the energy coiling in his palm. Just breathing the air around it sent a faint rush of healing and vitality through him. But that wasn't what moved him. What moved him was the simple, undeniable fact.
It worked.
"I did it," he murmured.
For the first time since his bloodline awakened, he had controlled the devouring process from beginning to end. No wild consumption. No loss of self. No erasure.
Just pure, deliberate extraction.
A slow smile spread across his face, golden eyes reflecting the faint glow of the energy dancing in his palm.
"I finally have control."