The Forbidden Godly Beast

Chapter 2: The Forbidden Domain and the First Devouring

The heavy iron gates of the Surya Capital slammed shut behind Shaktivel, the sound echoing like a death knell in the silent night. The city walls, glowing with protective golden runes, towered high above him, casting long, mocking shadows into the dark wilderness. Inside those walls lay warmth, wealth, and the people who had just stripped him of his dignity. Outside lay the Forbidden Forest—a place where even seasoned cultivators feared to tread after sunset.

Shaktivel looked down at the creature in his arms. It was still small, its midnight scales cold against his skin, but its violet eyes burned with a steady, fierce light. It didn't look like a defect. It looked like an exiled king, just like him.

"Well, buddy," Shaktivel whispered, his breath pluming in the chilly night air. "It's just you and me now. They think we’re going to die out here."

The small beast let out a low, vibrating hum that resonated directly in Shaktivel’s mind. “Die? No, contractor. They have merely thrown us into our kingdom. Walk forward. Do not look back.”

Taking a deep breath, Shaktivel gripped the beast tighter and stepped into the dense foliage of the Forbidden Forest. The air here was heavy with raw, unrefined spiritual energy, but it was also thick with the scent of blood and decay. Twisted trees stretched their branches toward the sky like skeletal hands, blotting out what little moonlight remained.

For hours, Shaktivel walked blindly, guided only by a strange, instinctual pull from the beast in his arms. His legs ached, his worn boots offered little protection against the jagged rocks, and his stomach twisted with hunger. Yet, the further they went, the hotter the blood ran in his veins.

Suddenly, the small beast froze. Its violet eyes narrowed, and the tiny obsidian blade at the tip of its tail twitched violently.

“Stop,” the beast’s voice echoed in his mind, sharp and commanding. “A predator approaches. It smells your weakness.”

Shaktivel’s heart leaped into his throat. He ducked behind a massive, moss-covered tree, holding his breath. Through the thick mist, a pair of glowing crimson eyes appeared. The bushes rustled, and a massive creature stepped into the clearing.

It was an Iron-Tusked Boar, a Bronze-Rank Tier 1 beast. It was three times the size of a normal boar, covered in jagged, armor-like hide, with two razor-sharp tusks protruding from its jaws that could easily rip a human in half. It sniffed the air, its heavy hooves stamping the ground, leaving deep imprints in the dirt.

Shaktivel choked back a gasp. As a human who hadn't even reached the First Layer of the Qi Condensation realm, fighting a Bronze-Rank beast was suicide. In the capital, even low-level guards needed to team up to bring one down.

"We need to run," Shaktivel whispered frantically to his beast. "It will kill us."

“Run?” The beast let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a dark chuckle. “Look at me, Shaktivel. I am the apex. I am the hunger that consumes the stars. This overgrown pig is not a threat. It is breakfast.”

"But you're too small! You have no spiritual energy!" Shaktivel argued, his forehead covered in cold sweat as the boar turned its crimson eyes directly toward their hiding spot.

“I have no spiritual energy because the seals on my body are locked,” the beast replied calmly as it squirmed out of Shaktivel’s arms, landing silently on the grass. “To break the seals, I must devour. Watch closely, contractor. This is the bond we share.”

The Iron-Tusked Boar squealed, a terrifying, high-pitched sound that shook the leaves from the trees. Recognizing Shaktivel as weak prey, it lowered its head, its tusks gleaming dangerously under the faint starlight, and charged. The ground shook beneath its massive weight. It was moving with the speed of a runaway carriage.

"Move!" Shaktivel screamed, reaching out to grab his beast.

But the small shadow beast didn't dodge. It stood firmly in the center of the path, its tiny skeletal wings flaring out slightly. As the massive boar closed the distance—ten feet, five feet, two feet—the small beast opened its jaws.

What happened next defied all laws of cultivation.

The beast’s mouth didn't just open; it expanded, stretching into a terrifying, endless void of pure darkness. A massive vortex of black energy erupted from its throat, creating a powerful gravitational pull. The air rushed forward, and the ground beneath the boar cracked and shattered.

The Iron-Tusked Boar tried to dig its hooves into the earth to stop its charge, its crimson eyes widening in sudden, primal terror. It realized too late that it was no longer the predator. It was the prey.

But it couldn't escape the pull. The black vortex wrapped around the massive creature like hungry tentacles. With a final, choked squeal, the giant, three-hundred-pound Iron-Tusked Boar was lifted off the ground, compressed into a ball of raw energy, and sucked entirely into the small beast’s mouth.

Gulp.

The small beast snapped its jaws shut. The black vortex vanished. The forest fell into an eerie, absolute silence.

Shaktivel sat frozen on the ground, his mouth wide open, his eyes staring at the empty clearing where a monstrous beast had stood just seconds ago. "You... you ate it? Whole?"

The small beast turned around, licking its chops. Suddenly, its body began to tremble violently. The midnight scales on its back began to glow with a brilliant, pulsing golden light. The jagged obsidian blade on its tail grew longer and sharper, and its skeletal wings expanded, now covered in a thin membrane of dark energy.

CRACK.

A sound like breaking glass echoed inside Shaktivel's own soul.

[System Notification: First Seal Broken. Current Form: Adolescent Shadow Fiend.] [System Notification: Host Shaktivel has received shared energy from the Devouring.]

Before Shaktivel could process the strange words echoing in his mind, a wave of immense, burning energy exploded from his dantian. It felt as if liquid fire was rushing through his veins, tearing apart his blocked meridians and rebuilding them with pure, unyielding power.

He roared in agony and ecstasy as the dark energy washed over him. The impurities in his body—years of malnutrition, weakness, and the hidden poisons left by the noble clans to keep him weak—were forcefully pushed out through his pores as black, foul-smelling mist.

He felt his bones hardening, his muscles tightening, and his senses sharpening. He could suddenly hear the fluttering of a moth's wings a mile away; he could see perfectly through the pitch-black darkness of the forest.

When the energy finally settled, Shaktivel fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air. But he didn't feel weak. He felt stronger than he ever had in his entire life. He checked his internal spiritual sea.

"The Third Layer of Qi Condensation..." Shaktivel muttered, his voice trembling with sheer disbelief. "In less than a minute... I went from a mortal to the Third Layer?"

Cultivators in the Surya Empire spent years, consuming thousands of expensive gold coins and spirit stones, just to reach the First Layer. Prince Kael was considered a genius for reaching the Fourth Layer at eighteen. And yet, Shaktivel had jumped three layers just because his beast had eaten a common wild boar.

“Do you see now, Shaktivel?” The beast walked over, its footsteps no longer silent but carrying a heavy, dominant pressure. It was now the size of a large hound, its form much more muscular and terrifying. “This is the power of the Forbidden Godly Beast. I do not cultivate. I consume. And whatever I consume, you share.”

A wild, manic laugh bubbled up from Shaktivel’s throat. He stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow. For years, he had been trampled. For years, he had been told his blood was trash.

"They called you a corpse," Shaktivel smiled, a cold, dangerous glint appearing in his eyes. "They called you a manifestation error. If a Bronze-Rank beast can give us this much power, what happens when we hunt a Silver-Rank? A Gold-Rank? What happens when you eat Kael's four-winged falcon?"

“Then we shall bring down the heavens themselves,” the beast replied, its violet fire eyes flashing with a shared thirst for vengeance. “But for now, contractor, the commotion we caused has attracted larger eyes. Look ahead.”

Shaktivel’s smile faded as he looked deeper into the forest. The mist was parted by a massive, freezing wind. The temperature dropped instantly, coating the leaves in frost.

From the shadows of the ancient trees, three massive figures emerged. They weren't Bronze-Rank. Their bodies were covered in glowing silver runes, and the air around them vibrated with an immense pressure that made Shaktivel’s newly gained Third Layer energy fluctuate wildly.

Silver-Rank Tier 3 Frost-Bite Wolves. A whole pack of them.

Any normal cultivator would have fled for their life, but Shaktivel didn't move. He stood his ground, his fists clenching as his beast stood right beside him, its obsidian tail whipping the air, eager for a true feast.

"Three Silver-Ranks," Shaktivel whispered, a dark, fearless smile returning to his face. "Are you still hungry?"

The adolescent shadow beast let out a terrifying roar that shook the very foundations of the Forbidden Forest.

"I AM FAMISHED."

With a burst of dark energy, Shaktivel and his forbidden beast charged forward into the silver moonlight, straight toward the pack of monsters.