The Primal Hunter Chapter 1223 - An Act of Grand Consumption

From deep within the Malefic Viper, Jake sensed the internal stomach of Palate begin to stir. He realized immediately that the Malefic Viper’s capacity far outstripped his own. This wasn't unexpected, given the comparison between an A-grade and a C-grade, yet the sheer scale of the disparity left Jake feeling stunned.

With time dilated, Jake watched as the Malefic Viper unsealed the pathway connecting the stomach to the external world. This maneuver felt strange to Jake at first, but he soon deduced that the Viper intended to ingest something in the vicinity, even though Jake’s own senses detected nothing.

Unlike Jake’s current limitations, the Viper was not restricted to holding a single item within his Palate stomach. Jake could sense several artifacts of immense power stored within, though the only one he could clearly identify was the Eye of the Magus, which the aspiring snake god had already consumed.

As Jake speculated on the Viper’s next move, the answer manifested. Once the channel was established, the Viper began a massive inhalation. He didn't target a specific object; instead, he simply began devouring the mana permeating the atmosphere, an act that appeared deceptively simple at the start.

However, as the process intensified, Jake understood there was a deeper layer to this action. Within the confines of the barrier set by the World Leader—now under the control of the Viper’s ally—the future Primordial was consuming every scrap of energy trapped inside, including the lingering essence of the fallen A-grades.

A moment later, Jake felt a colossal surge of Records flooding into Palate’s internal stomach. These Records manifested in a form Jake was highly attuned to; he realized the Viper was actually targeting the lingering concepts floating in the air.

Traces are always left behind when mighty entities clash—remnants of power consisting of both energy and concepts. Usually, this mixture is just called "concepts." Every type of elemental energy possesses innate concepts, which Jake had begun exploring long ago, like the way dark mana seeks to consume other types or how life mana drives growth.

The concept-heavy energy remaining after the death of a powerful being was far more potent and intricate than the ambient mana found in nature. These concepts could drastically alter the environment, occasionally forming new domains that benefited certain monsters, though they more frequently resulted in the land becoming corrupted.

Jake was aware of this, but he also knew that such leftover energy was generally considered worthless to most. While it could create sacred grounds for monsters, this only happened because the system would slowly filter and release the energy and Records back into the world over a long period.

Rare formations or rituals existed that could utilize this residual energy, but it wasn't a standard practice. Typically, those who defeated a powerful foe would simply purify the region to ensure the dead being's energy didn't linger.

A perfect example was the ongoing conflict between the Risen and the Holy Church. The death of a high-level undead left behind concepts of death, whereas a fallen member of the Holy Church left behind holy energy. Each side would purify any seized territory to prevent the opposing faction's energy from lingering, as a land saturated with the death affinity was unsuitable for the Holy Church's followers.

Possessing this knowledge, Jake watched in curiosity as the Malefic Viper began devouring the energy of the deceased A-grades. As Villy pulled the energy in, Jake instinctively knew that the Viper couldn't actually assimilate this energy directly.

All the "useful" Records had been granted to the Malefic Viper the moment he secured the kills, and the Truesouls had long since vanished. While he was eating some fragments left by the souls of the defeated, what he consumed didn't seem particularly powerful or beneficial.

Yet, as the Viper continued his feast, Jake realized he wasn't trying to absorb it. He was simply breaking it down internally and storing it away.

Before long, everything within the barrier had been consumed, but Jake could tell the Viper wasn't finished. Although he couldn't read the thoughts of the future Primordial, he felt a vague sense of the dragon's intent. Jake’s eyes widened just as the Viper issued an order to his partner.

“Release the barrier.”

The cloaked individual didn't even show themselves, and Jake detected no specific action, but the barrier suddenly shattered like glass. As expected, every fragment of the barrier was immediately pulled in by the A-grade Viper. The dragon looked down and opened his jaws even wider.

Power erupted from his frame as Jake felt the Malefic Viper push Palate to an even greater intensity, expanding the range of his consumption. The world below was affected instantly. To Jake's surprise, the Viper wasn't swallowing physical matter like the heavy crust of the planet. He wasn't even focusing on mana anymore, taking only the minimum required to seize his true target:

Concepts.

Jake watched in silence as the environment underwent a slow transformation. Below them, the stone lost its pigment, and the very air turned into a monochrome landscape of black and white. Like a void draining life and color, the Malefic Viper pulled everything in, leaving a vacuum behind as the planetary devastation spread.

His reach continued to grow until the entire world was caught in the effect. Jake sensed an endless stream of concepts entering the internal stomach. Some were familiar, but the vast majority were far beyond his understanding, largely because he couldn't even attempt to grasp them.

The Viper wasn't attempting to understand them either. He continued to store everything while the planet withered. Even if Jake couldn't see the final result yet, he knew that eventually, no life would be able to survive there. To be clear, the Viper wasn't actively killing. Palate lacked true offensive power and could only ingest environmental energies. However, by removing everything else, the Malefic Viper left only one thing behind:

Desolation.

In just minutes, the planet had been turned into a wasteland, with no one capable of halting the future snake god. Even the World Core had been drained of its essence, unable to resist the power of an A-grade, especially with the World Leader already dead.

Despite witnessing this, Jake was plagued by a single question: why?

Why perform such a massive act of consumption? He had taken in so much useless energy, and it wasn't as if he could even process all the concepts he had seized. Furthermore, most of these concepts were so basic they wouldn't even help a D-grade Cultivator.

It made no sense—until the Malefic Viper shut his mouth, ending the consumption and beginning the process of digestion.

With his jaws closed, the link between the internal stomach and the outside world was cut, allowing the stomach’s passive traits to activate. The first effect felt like a passive acceleration of time; however, it was the second effect that truly caught Jake’s eye.

Just like Jake’s version of Palate—before he had accidentally ruined it—the Malefic Viper could employ Touch to refine his consumed items. But instead of refining the objects directly, the Viper sought only to accelerate and boost one specific trait of the natural treasures he had swallowed:

Their capacity to absorb energy from their surroundings.

Upon feeling this, the Viper's plan became crystal clear. The Malefic Viper knew he couldn't use these concepts himself. They were worthless to him, which was why he had no intention of actually absorbing them.

Instead, he had gathered them to create a perfect environment where his stored treasures could feast and grow. One treasure in particular, the Eye of the Magus, was feasting greedily.

The Malefic Viper had gathered Records in the form of concepts used by a dozen elite A-grade mages, and now the Eye of the Magus was drinking them all in to enhance its own power.

The brilliance of this was that the Malefic Viper wasn't doing the work himself. He wasn't forcing the items to do anything. He simply let their own system-given functions do the labor, which eliminated any risk. Had he tried to manually control the process, he might have corrupted the potent natural treasures, but this method ensured only benefits.

After about a minute, the Malefic Viper finished the setup, even isolating the Eye of the Magus slightly so it could grab the best concepts without the other treasures interfering.

Jake understood that most of what had been swallowed was indeed junk. Only a tiny fraction of the devoured energy was useful; the rest would eventually be expelled or slowly broken down by Palate over time into basic resources for the Viper.

But that was a concern for later. For now, the Malefic Viper faced a long period of digestion as the items absorbed their new nutrients. Jake also realized that the Viper could, if he wanted, refine specific items and use the lingering concepts to assist the process, but Jake stopped himself from overthinking that path.

It was more vital that he focus all his mental energy on learning the mechanics of the skill itself, rather than the long-term gains he might see after it became part of his own Cultivation.

As soon as those thoughts crossed Jake's mind, time snapped back to the beginning of the Malefic Viper's devouring process. It started exactly as before, with the cloaked figure atop the barrier as the Viper spoke:

“Keep the barrier active for now and let it drop at my signal.”

After the figure vanished, Jake only had enough time to confirm the person was definitely male. Aside from that minor detail, he poured his focus into understanding Palate, and surprisingly, it was quite easy.

During the first cycle, Jake had already gained a solid grasp of the upgrade's purpose and function. He suspected this clarity was partly due to his actions right before entering the vision.

Currently, his body and soul were overflowing with concepts and Records. The system had stabilized his mind for the vision, allowing him to process the concepts already inside him—at least the ones relevant to this Palate upgrade.

As the second cycle of the vision concluded, Jake felt the skill within his Soulspace beginning to take its true shape. The corrupted or missing Records were being replaced rapidly. The parts of the system the Malefic Viper had intentionally broken to keep Jake stable were being reconstructed using the system’s perfect Records.

Halfway through the third loop, Jake finally heard the familiar sound of a system notification. He knew the process wasn't finished, but he checked the update with a sense of relief.

[Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] --> [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)]

The change was minimal. A few lines in the description had been altered, but it was essentially the same Palate Jake had broken previously. At that moment, the connection to his internal stomach was restored, which allowed him to focus on the true upgrade the vision was leading toward.

He had already been studying it, but now he could give it his full attention since Palate was finally repaired. He experienced the Malefic Viper’s use of the skill several more times, but he held off on finalizing the upgrade, wanting to absorb every possible detail.

By the seventh repetition, Jake felt ready, but he still waited. After the ninth, he sensed the vision was nearing its end, and as the tenth began, he knew it was his final chance.

For the last time, Jake watched as the Malefic Viper consumed the world and the remains of the A-grades. In the process, he had also swallowed the concepts of the weaker inhabitants and a mountain of useless debris.

Jake focused most intensely on the filtering and purification of the intake. The Malefic Viper didn't want the curse energy born from so much death. He let the treasures handle most of the filtering but stepped in to remove anything that might actually harm them.

Ultimately, aided by the flood of concepts in his being, Jake succeeded in consolidating everything as the tenth loop ended. With a steady mind, Jake felt the upgrade and confirmed it.

[Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] --> [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Mythical)]

He didn't check the new description immediately, as the vision was still active. Jake expected an experience similar to his time with Valdemar’s vision—not necessarily for inspiration, but for the vision to linger a bit longer.

He suspected this was a High-Record fragment because of the cloaked figure's presence, or perhaps because the Eye of the Magus was more significant than he thought. Either way, he was desperate to know the identity of this person.

The Malefic Viper wasn't known for being a trusting individual, so seeing who had earned the future Primordial’s confidence was intriguing.

Just as Jake thought, time continued forward instead of resetting. The Viper hovered high above the ruined planet, no longer paying it any mind. Magic washed over him as he used Polymorph to return to his humanoid form.

Villy was breathing heavily; the task had clearly been exhausting. The Malefic Viper turned his head, and the robed figure teleported exactly into his line of sight.

“Well, that went about as smoothly as it could,” the Viper remarked to his companion.

“Indeed,” the figure replied in a raspy, metallic tone. He raised his hands and pulled back his hood, finally showing his face, and...

Jake had no idea what race this person was. He couldn't tell if it was a monster or not, only that it was unlike anything he’d ever seen. The figure was humanoid—closer to a human than any other enlightened race—but he looked much more like a machine.

His lower jaw was crafted from silver metal, his eyes were mechanical, and he lacked hair, possessing only small ports on his skin. He had no ears, just metal plates on the sides of his head. When he moved, Jake noticed he didn't have fingers, but a strange, shifting liquid metal where a hand should be.

Rather than a human, the man looked like a cyborg from a sci-fi film—a blend of tech and biology. Jake briefly wondered if he was an automaton, but the feeling was wrong, even if there were similarities.

“I trust that our deal still stands,” the mechanical man said.

“Of course,” the future Primordial confirmed with a nod. “I’ll take my share of the benefits and help boost the Eye of the Magus, then we can finish the trade.”

“Good,” the metal humanoid replied, his face remaining expressionless. “We will remember your help and hope our alliance continues to prosper.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” the Viper said, smiling casually. “I should be the one thanking you. Who wouldn’t want to be on good terms with the most powerful faction in the universe?”