Devour

As his mind sank inward, the state of Xu Yuan's intent-soul once again surfaced in his inner vision. Those floating particles had already spread to every corner across the surface of his intent-soul, dense and layered, rippling like waves of wheat ready for autumn harvest. The method of combating foes with this intent-soul secret art, which paired with the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, was quite simple. Though described at great length, it boiled down to just two words: Sever and devour. Forming one's condensed intent-soul into a blade to sever the intent-soul an enemy extended outward, and then devouring and refining it using the special secret technique. The former was extremely difficult; unless one was a prodigy whose comprehension was maxed out, it was impossible to master on the first attempt. Yet the present situation did not require Xu Yuan to resort to the former at all. Perhaps for the sake of concealment, these floating particles had already effectively ground themselves to powder and served themselves right to his mouth. All he needed to do now was use these floating particles for practice. Xu Yuan carefully took control of his intent-soul and attempted to circulate the secret technique. An Innate Soul Body possessed a sensitive and precise command over the intent-soul. The moment the art circulated, a few floating particles quietly vanished amid the "waves of wheat." Carefully enveloping them, Xu Yuan began refining and absorbing them along the path dictated by the secret technique. As he absorbed them, he kept a close eye on the movements of the floating particles on the surface of his intent-soul. A mere handful did not seem to draw the attention of the woman beside him. The rhythm of the undulating wheat across his intent-soul remained unchanged. Once absorption was complete, the few floating particles transformed into an imperceptible wisp of pure intent-soul that merged into Xu Yuan's sea of consciousness, adding a minuscule sliver of strength to the defensive line across his intent-soul. After repeating the process several times, Xu Yuan grew far less clumsy with the technique than he had been at first. He briefly gauged the rate at which the floating particles were grinding against the surface of his intent-soul. If he opened his belly and devoured these particles without restraint, Su Jinxuan would have no way to deal with his condensed Innate Soul Body either. Yet Xu Yuan chose not to alert the enemy prematurely. Her upper limits remained entirely unknown to him. While she indeed had no countermeasure right now, he could not be sure whether she possessed some method to drag him down with her. The particles clinging like ants across the surface of his intent-soul were beyond count. If Su Jinxuan had some way to detonate them... Reining in his mind, with the cautionary tale of his prior overconfidence fresh before his eyes, he thought it wiser to remain cautious. By siphoning them off bit by bit, Xu Yuan steadily tested the limits of Su Jinxuan's perception. A few, a dozen, several dozen, a hundred... Not until he absorbed over a thousand floating particles in a single breath did those clinging to the surface of his intent-soul show any sign of disturbance. Having roughly deduced her limit, Xu Yuan refrained from getting greedy. Each time, he evenly picked out seven to eight hundred lucky candidates across his intent-soul to devour and absorb. Time slipped past amid this continuous cycle. Su Jinxuan truly seemed unable to stray too far from him. For several days in a row, she used the floating particles to control his body and keep him inside her room. Whether relieving himself or washing up, Su Jinxuan never stayed more than ten meters away from him. As time went on, the number of floating particles Xu Yuan devoured steadily mounted, and Su Jinxuan's complexion gradually turned from charming and rosy to pale. At dawn on yet another day, just as Xu Yuan was preparing to pick out another few hundred lucky candidates for breakfast, Su Jinxuan's plaintive voice drifted softly from his side: "Third Young Master, what did you do to Jinxuan last night?"