My System Devours Immortals

Into the Beast Forest

The portal tore open at sunrise.

A rift in the air. Purple light. The smell of old blood and ancient trees. Disciples from a dozen sects gathered at the edge, waiting. Azure Peak. Crimson Blade. White Lotus. All of them hungry.

Cris stood alone. The jade token hung from his neck. The pendant was cold against his chest.

Elder Shen approached. His smile was kind. His eyes were not.

"Remember," the elder said. "Devour everything. Leave nothing for the others."

"And Zhao Lei?"

"He enters with the Azure Peak team. He will hunt you." Elder Shen leaned closer. "Kill him if you can. He's more useful to me dead."

Cris said nothing.

The portal flared. Disciples surged forward. Cris stepped through.

---

The forest was wrong.

Trees stretched into the sky, black bark, silver leaves. The air was thick with qi. Every breath felt like drinking power. Somewhere in the distance, something roared.

Cris landed in a clearing. Around him, other disciples scattered. Some ran immediately, chasing treasures. Others formed groups, watching each other with suspicion.

"The forest is alive," the system said. "Everything here wants to kill you."

"Good."

Cris moved.

He walked for an hour. The forest was silent. Too silent. No birds. No insects. Just the crunch of leaves under his boots.

Then he heard it. A low growl. Behind him.

He turned.

A beast stepped out of the shadows. Wolf-like. Massive. Six legs. Eyes like burning coals. Its fur was matted with old blood.

"Flame Wolf Alpha. Foundation Establishment. Dangerous."

The wolf circled him. Cris didn't move.

"Can I devour it?"

"If you kill it first."

The wolf lunged.

Cris dove sideways. Claws raked the tree behind him, splitting bark. He rolled, grabbed a fallen branch, and swung. The branch shattered against the wolf's skull. It barely flinched.

"Its hide is too thick. You need a weapon."

Cris had no weapon.

The wolf turned. Its jaws snapped inches from his face. He grabbed its throat. The ring flared.

"Devour."

He couldn't kill it. Not yet. But he could drain it. The wolf yelped as qi flooded out of its body. Its movements slowed. Its eyes dimmed.

Cris drove his fist into its skull. Once. Twice. Three times. Bone cracked. The wolf collapsed.

"Devour."

He pressed his palm to the corpse. Heat surged through him. The wolf's cultivation—Foundation Establishment, raw and wild—poured into his meridians. His body screamed. His bones cracked and healed.

"Qi Gathering Seventh Layer. Eighth. Ninth. Peak."

Cris gasped. Power flooded him. His meridians expanded. His senses sharpened. He could hear everything. Smell everything.

"Foundation Establishment. Breakthrough."

Pain exploded through his body. He collapsed to his knees. His qi spun, condensed, and broke through a wall he hadn't known was there.

When he stood, he was different. Stronger. Faster.

"Foundation Establishment First Layer. Congratulations. You are no longer trash."

Cris looked at his hands. They glowed with faint light.

"Now I can kill Zhao Lei."

"Not yet. He's Seventh Layer. You need more."

Cris stood. The forest stretched before him. The pendant pulsed against his chest.

"Then let's find more."

---

He walked for hours. The forest grew darker. The trees twisted. The air grew cold.

He found the first body.

A disciple. Crimson Blade Sect. Throat cut. Robes stripped. His storage ring was gone.

Cris knelt beside him. The body was still warm.

"Killed recently. Someone is ahead of us."

Cris searched the body. Nothing. He moved on.

The second body was twenty paces away. White Lotus Sect. Same wound. Same stripped robes.

Then the third. The fourth. Five bodies in a row. All killed the same way. All stripped.

Cris stopped.

"This isn't a beast. This is a hunter."

"Yes. And they're close."

A branch snapped behind him.

Cris spun. A blade stopped an inch from his throat.

Joe held the sword. His face was cold. His eyes were colder.

"You," Joe said.

"Me."

Joe didn't lower the blade. "I told you we'd fight. I didn't think it would be this soon."

"I didn't kill those disciples."

"I know." Joe sheathed his sword. "I've been tracking the killer for an hour. He's fast. Faster than me. But you're loud. You led him right to me."

Cris tensed. "Where?"

Joe pointed. "There. Behind the black tree."

Cris looked. He saw nothing.

Then he saw the eyes. Red. Glowing.

The figure stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Robed in black. A mask covered its face. In its hand, a curved blade dripped with blood.

"Two little Devourers," the figure said. Its voice was wrong. Layered. Like two people speaking at once. "How delightful."

Joe drew his sword. "Who are you?"

"I am what the Court sends when they want something dead." The figure tilted its head. "And they want you both very dead."

It moved.

Joe blocked. Steel clashed. The figure was fast—faster than anything Cris had seen. Joe was pushed back, boots digging into the dirt.

Cris attacked from the side. The figure spun, blade slicing toward his throat. Cris ducked. The blade cut his shoulder. Blood sprayed.

"It's too strong. Run."

"No."

Cris grabbed the figure's wrist. The ring flared.

"Devour."

He pulled. Qi flooded into him—vast, dark, ancient. But wrong. Tainted. It burned his meridians.

"Abort. This qi is corrupted."

Cris released. He stumbled back, coughing blood. The figure laughed.

"You can't devour me, little furnace. I'm not alive. I'm not dead. I'm something else."

It raised its blade.

Joe slammed into it from behind. His sword pierced its back. The figure screamed. Black smoke poured from the wound.

"You little—"

Joe twisted the blade. The figure dissolved. Black smoke scattered into the trees.

Joe fell to his knees, gasping. "What was that?"

Cris stared at the spot where the figure had been. "I don't know."

The pendant burned against his chest. The ring pulsed.

"That was a servant of the Court. A Hollow. They cannot be devoured. They can only be destroyed."

Cris looked at Joe. "We need to move. More will come."

Joe stood. His face was pale. "Why did you save me?"

"I didn't. You saved me."

Joe stared at him. Then he laughed. Short. Bitter. "I still hate you."

"Good."

They walked into the dark together.