Devouring the Heavens (ATG)

Chapter 28: Extraction and Advancement

A/N: So, in the vote, short and frequent chapters won by a country mile and from next week, the schedule will change to four 2-2.5k chapters a week.

Release days will probably be: Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday at 17:00 (GMT + 1).

Or if you go by Webnovel timezone: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday at 00:00.

Enjoy the Chapter and the rest of your weekend. (Bonus 2/2)

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Shane closed his eyes and started to concentrate. An invisible spike, made of his profound energy infused with the earth element, formed at one end of the 'rope', before it was unceremoniously pushed into the ground.

The glass-like surface layer was only around half a meter thick, but it gave him some severe resistance, however, he quickly grew accustomed and reinforced the 'spike' with more energy. Before long, it passed through and his speed of advance increased considerably.

After a few minutes of time had passed and with over half his profound energy depleted, Shane finally reached the crystal deposit. With beads of sweat gathering on his forehead, and while silently thanking the Goddess it was all one piece, he began spreading his energy over the entire crystal deposit.

The 'rope' of energy coiled around the crystals and began to fray apart into thousands of thin strands of energy, before wrapping around the deposit like a cocoon. More of the surface was covered in his energy each second and he could almost feel a connection to it.

People do say that hard-working men are more attractive and Qingyue, who stood by the side, could attest to that. She stared at Shane's incredibly focused face in a slight daze, feeling butterflies in her stomach as she fell in love with him all over again...

The reverie was broken when she looked closer and noticed his strained visage and the sweat droplets forming across his forehead. Shaking her head and swiftly withdrawing a handkerchief from her ring, she started to wipe it away like a dutiful little wife.

"Uff." With a last bit of mental effort, the completely enveloped crystal was moved directly into Shane's storage and he let out a breath of relief. Opening his eyes, he displayed a bright smile at the dutiful Qingyue, causing her to enter a daze again.

Feeling a little good about himself, he decided to tease her. "Am I handsome? Did you fall for me?~"

"Yes!" Not expecting her to react that way, he was caught by surprise when she nodded and jumped into his embrace, arms and legs wrapping around his neck and back, pulling him in for a hot kiss.

Shane felt a warm and slimy object pushed past his lips and teeth as Qingyue added her tongue to the mix. It wreaked havoc inside his mouth for a few seconds before pulling back. She extended a finger, wiped his lip and then put it straight into her mouth, sucking it clean. "Delicious" She whispered alluringly.

This time it was Shane's turn to become dazed and Qingyue replied with her own tease. "Is Qingyue beautiful? 'Young Master~"

*Slap* "Ahhh" "You see if I won't punish you later!" He said domineeringly while his dishonest hand made its way inside her dress, fiercely rubbing her soft butt over the place he just slapped.

Her teasing face was quickly replaced by a blushing one and she released a hot sigh before begging coquettishly. "Ahh no, mmm. Husband, Qingyue was wrong mmm."

'This little succubus!' Shane cursed in his mind and swiftly put her down, lest he loses control. A flash of green, and a familiar weight appeared around his arm, accompanied by some happy chirps, earning him another pout from Qingyue.

Shane brushed some stray hairs behind her ear and said. "Don't you want to see what I got?"

Qingyue's pouty look quickly turned into one of interest and then again into one of abject shock as a huge lump of quartz-like crystals appeared next to them.

The group of translucent white crystals were grouped together in a cluster of long prismatic shapes, complete with glowing purple veins that ran through the entire structure and pulsed rhythmically as if they were alive.

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That wasn't all, as soon as they were released into the open, the surrounding air was immediately suffused with an aura of immense power!

Shane took a deep breath in, feeling extremely comfortable and his cultivation actually started to advance just by being next to it. It was only when he noticed the uncomfortable look on his wife's face that he stored it away.

"Quickly! Sit down and cultivate." Acting immediately, Shane checked his profound energy to find only around 40% left, and didn't hesitate to pour it all as far out into the surrounding air as possible.

Finding it wasn't enough, he called upon the energy from the small world and added that too. Soon, the speed of his energy's saturation of the air molecules exceeded that of the escaping energy of the Crystals and he stopped pushing it forward.

Spreading his own Wind Energy out into a dome shape, Shane managed to form an extremely huge albeit thin as a cicada's wing, wind barrier. His own energy, combined with an instinctual use of his Will, interacting with the air molecules in such a way that they managed to trap the lingering energy from the crystals.

The air, dozens of meters around them in every direction was completely under Shanes control, effectively creating a very primitive Wind Domain. Now wasn't the time to think about that, however, and he checked to make sure the energy trapped inside his barrier wasn't dissipating.

Only after being Satisfied that it wasn't, did he relax and turn to Qingyue, whose brows were furrowed in discomfort. "Qingyue. Don't force yourself, just relax and calm your mind. The energy isn't going anywhere now."

To be honest, she was indeed a monster. At the peak of True Profound, she could cultivate with the energy from a resource, still used by people in the Divine Realms, albeit with slight discomfort.

His calming words seemed to have an effect and her expression gradually smoothed out while the surrounding temperature started to drop at a rapid pace. Funnily enough, the pace of her energy absorption increased as she relaxed. 'Truly broken.'

Shane sat down next to her and began to greedily absorb the surrounding energy while concentrating on steadily reducing the size of the wind barrier. This was a good chance for him to practice controlling a large amount of elemental energy at once and also had the added benefit of keeping the energy density in the air around them at a constant level.

The usual cyclic energy transfer started with Dusty and it wasn't long before two identical sounds could be heard. *Peng Peng* Shane and Dusty smoothly entered the [4th of Spirit Profound] and while his cultivation slowed down immensely, hers did not.

The next thing to happen was a rapidly spreading hoarfrost that originated from under Qingyue and in the blink of an eye, covered over a dozen meters. Another sound akin to breaking glass echoed within the surroundings.

She smoothly broke through to the [1st of Spirit Profound] and Shane, not affected by the temperature in the slightest, placed a hand on her shoulder, devouring away the ice that had momentarily accumulated in her closed entrances.

Did he really need to run his fingers all over her body, the first time he removed the ice? Absolutely not. Would he ever admit it? Absolutely not.

She opened her eyes to see Shane's gentle smile and couldn't help but return one of her own. He handed her a few special Nascent Profound, 'vitality pills' while touching her cheek lovingly. "Congratulations my love. Now exit the barrier and use those to stabilise your realm."

Qingyue showed him a beautiful smile, her perfect pearly whites on full display, and kissed him on each cheek before turning around and heading out of the barrier.

Fortunately due to her training and consuming Shane's vitality pills and vitality 'injections' often, her foundation was extremely solid. A few more pills and some meditation should help to adjust her body to the new realm fairly quickly.

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With her back turned to Shane, Qingyue put a hand to her chest as her heart fluttered wildly again at his words and actions.

Shane was so caring towards her, always thinking of her and always prepared with anything she may need. Most of the time, they didn't even need to talk between themselves for him to know and all the little things he did for her made her love him even more.

Being with Shane made every single day fun and exciting, he just kept bringing her surprise after surprise. Like the 'date' today for example... It was like he opened up a whole new world for her and she just couldn't get enough of it.

Qingyue's steps turned lighter as she giddily recalled their 'date', how he prepared all that delicious food, fed it to her, and treated her like a princess...

She giggled to herself. Perhaps she was the first person in The Blue Wind Empire to be taken on a 'picnic date'... even if she wasn't, she was the first person that Shane took out on a 'picnic date'. In the end, that was all that really mattered.

She had even broken through to the Spirit Profound Realm, all thanks to him...

Warmth exploded in her chest and a beautiful smile graced her cherry lips. She was well aware that Shane had many important things to do yet he still made sure to make the day special for her before everything else.

He was always thinking of her, but she wasn't any different. He dominated her thoughts, day and night, and by this point, he was almost her entire world.

She was definitely in too deep now, in fact, she was almost drowning in her love for him.

No, perhaps it had even gone beyond that.

Of course, she was well aware but all Qingyue knew was that she had absolutely no intention of keeping herself afloat.

The longer she stayed with him, the more she found herself slipping. Deeper and deeper, it was just so... intoxicating. She was his and she would do absolutely anything to stay by his side.

Anything he asked her for, she would give.

Anything he desired, She would get.

Anything he needed, she would acquire.

All of his troubles, she would willingly face with him.

All of his enemies She would destroy.

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With Qingyue safely out of the barrier, Shane started to compress it at a frightening pace, absorbing the lingering energy at such a speed, that a small tornado of Profound Energy formed above his head. *Peng* The cycling energy finished another full revolution and Dusty broke through again.

By the time the wind barrier was flush against his skin, Shane had barely advanced half of the way through the [4th of Spirit Profound] and frowned when he sensed that Dusty had reached the peak of the [5th of Spirit Profound].

Sighing, he shook his head, reabsorbed the wind barrier and lamented. 'Aiya, there goes my idea of absorbing the crystal to reach the heavens in a single leap. My veins truly require too much Profound energy to advance!'

Although the lingering energy in the air, could not be compared to using an actual piece of the crystal to cultivate, the amount given off by 50kg of the stuff was still dense enough for him to estimate its effects.

He already had a feeling that cultivating normally was not going to be a viable option and it looked like he would need to go hunting for more beasts to devour soon. It was a pity that the crystal was not classified as an Organic material and couldn't be devoured.

Shane glanced around and frowned. The area still looked incredibly suspicious, practically screaming 'come look over here!', and there was still a slight aura of power hovering in the air. That wouldn't do at all.

He definitely did not want the Phoenix empire attacking Blue Wind or even having any reason for planning to do so.

This nation would be the starting point for his and Qingyue's eventual conquest of the continent and then the world!

Why conquer? Well, originally he didn't have that thought but after his wake up call with the bandits, he gradually changed his mindset.

Shane and Qingyue were both guaranteed to reach the Divine realm sometime within the next few years, it wasn't a guess or unfounded arrogance, it was a reality. Their cultivation speed was already monstrously fast and when her entrances were all open, it would only get faster.

They would also inevitably cause a lot of commotion during their time on the Profound Sky Continent. Two less than 20-year-old peak Sovereigns would probably do that anywhere.

Similarly, there were some extremely disgusting people in this world that would turtle underground and not hesitate to act when the two had left. People like Xuanyuan Wentian and Ye Xinghan.

Those people had to die...

Shane wanted to make sure this place was completely safe for whatever friends and family they left behind. He would do this for the simple reason of being able to travel the Realm of the Gods leisurely with Qingyue and without worries.

If that meant dirtying his hands then Shane would do it without hesitation. Plus, that rapist bastard Ye Xinghan would want to lay his filthy hands on Qingyue given half a chance and that was enough for him to be sentenced to something much, much worse death

That would inevitably lead to conflict as The Sun and Moon Divine Hall would never let the death of their young master slide and Shane would never let him go. The bastard's favourite thing to do was kidnap beautiful women to use as cultivation incubators, essentially **** with a side helping of mind-break.

In the novel, he had tried to do the same to Feng Xue'er and that adorable little girl was already on Shane's protection list, in fact, it wouldn't be long before he paid her a visit with Qingyue...

That particular Sacred Ground was also filled with scum like his father, Ye Meixie, who clearly condoned his son's actions, and so they would eventually need to be dealt with.

Back to the suspicious-looking surroundings and while lost in his thoughts, Shane had still been pouring Profound Energy into the earth. Now that he felt it was saturated enough, he started walking towards the edge of the glass-like substance. *Tap tap tap. Rumble rumble*

With each step taken, the ground churned and overturned, fresh soil replacing the black glass as the peculiar substance was buried meters under the ground, in seconds. The phenomenon spread out until the entire circular area, dozens of meters in diameter, was all fresh brown soil.

Shane didn't stop there and took out a few herbs before devouring them and compressing their unrefined vitality into pellets. Flicking his wrist, they appeared on his palm and he pinched them between his fingers, turning them to dust. He then used the wind to spread the powder across the recently churned area of soil.

What happened next looked like magic, as different grasses and small meadow flowers began to grow up from the soil. Within minutes, there was no visible difference between the area and the surrounding grassy hills.

Glancing at the evening sunset, Shane smirked to himself. The whole thing had barely taken him a few hours whereas those idiots from the Divine Phoenix Empire took months or even years to dig it out!

Crystals now acquired and the area covered up, he turned to Qingyue just as her eyelids fluttered open. She stood up, gracefully floated over to his side and naturally hugged onto his arm. "Are you finished my dear?" He asked while stroking her cheek.

"Mmm" She hummed a reply and without another word needed, they began to walk back towards Floating Cloud while Dusty slithered along, frolicking in the grass nearby.

Shane was extremely happy, there were only two things left to do tonight before he could begin forging tomorrow. The first one was to somehow deal with an agitated little birdy, who could feel the increase in both his and Dusty's cultivation and had been sending him feelings of displeasure across the bond for the last hour or so.

The other was to finally look at the formation inside of Qingyue's Pearl of Frozen Deception and see if there could be anything inside that would aid him in reforging his weapon

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When Shane and Qingyue returned to their courtyard, it was already almost dark, the only illumination around was provided by the several lanterns that were hanging above the porch.

Dongling, who was waiting diligently beside the table, greeted them with a bow. "Welcome back young miss and you-" *Cough* "Master Long. It's a pleasant evening, would you like to dine outside?"

Shane patted Qingyue on the butt and used his eyes to signal her to talk about his earlier offer. She nodded, smiled softly in return and skipped into the courtyard towards the maid before dragging the girl inside.

Shane, who sensed a presence fast approaching, only had time to crouch down and spread his arms before a pink, white, and crimson blur crashed into his chest. *Phi! Phi! Phi!* cried out the little birdy in indignation while nipping his fingers.

Shane swept her into his arms and cooed. "I know, I know. Who's my sweet little Coral? Did you work hard?" She snorted a little but quickly calmed down as he began to run his fingers along her silky plumage while making his way over to the table.

Grabbing some of the better, looted herbs from his storage, Shane turned them into little snack pills mixed with some of his own profound energy and gently fed them to her.

"There there. Don't worry, you will get some good stuff tomorrow too." He said soothingly while playing with her little crown. Her anger and jealousy, completely forgotten, she rubbed her head into his chest before laying out flat in his lap and somehow purring like a kitten.

Shane could feel Dusty's amusement through the bond as she made some *hihihihi* sounds at her little sister, from her perch on the edge of her pool.

even he couldn't help but chuckle at how easy Coral was to satisfy...

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A/N: With this, we hit 100000 words! Woop Woop!

Maybe short chapters are impossible for me, This chapter is still 3k.