For the rest of the day, the pale youth with white hair and crimson eyes either immersed himself in studying ancient texts or experimented endlessly with the Black Aura.
By the time night fell, his control had already reached a frightening level.
Only when dawn came did he head to meet the Su Patriarch.
The training grounds stretched wide like an open battlefield.
Ancient stone tiles covered the earth, each one etched with formation marks that faintly glowed beneath the surface.
Su Daoxuan stood at the center.
"Use your Yin Devouring Aura."
"Yin Devouring Aura?" Su Ye blinked slightly.
"We can't keep calling it 'black aura,' can we?" Su Daoxuan waved his hand. "Yin Devouring Aura sounds far more imposing."
"…Alright."
The Patriarch really is a fanatic…
Su Ye exhaled.
In the next instant—
A dark aura surged out from his body.
It coiled around him like living shadows, layering upon his frame until it formed a suit of pitch-black armor. The surface rippled like liquid, yet gave off an oppressive, devouring presence.
"Truly astonishing," Su Daoxuan murmured, his eyes gleaming. "Only 1 day–no, just one night, and you've reached this level."
"I've been thinking," Su Ye said calmly, his crimson eyes steady. "If I fully envelop myself in it…nothing should be able to harm me."
"How precise is your control?"
Su Ye did not answer.
Instead the armor rippled.
Strands peeled away like silk threads, drifting into the air. They twisted and reshaped—
Hair-like tendrils.
A perfect cube.
Then dozens of sharp, floating swords.
Each transformation was seamless.
Su Ye's breathing remained steady.
Only a faint hunger gnawed at his stomach.
Su Daoxuan narrowed his eyes. "Impressive… but it's flawed."
Su Ye looked at him.
"What if someone lifts a mountain…and smashes you with it?"
"…Am I Sun Wukong now?" Su Ye muttered under his breath.
"I've considered that," he said aloud. "Watch."
With the armor still wrapped around him, he bent down and picked up a stone.
The moment it touched the aura—
It disintegrated.
"I've tested it," Su Ye continued. "Spirit stones, artifacts, living creatures… anything that makes contact is either suppressed or erased."
"If I increase the output…even living beings won't last."
Is it because my soul doesn't belong to this world?
Su Daoxuan nodded slowly.
"Then let's try a sword array."
With a flick of his sleeve—
A formation appeared instantly.
Complex patterns spread across the ground, glowing with layered runes.
Su Ye stepped forward.
The moment he entered the formation—
Crack.
It shattered.
"…As expected," Su Daoxuan murmured. "How is it destroying it so fast?"
Su Daoxuan remade it in a different form.
This time it didn't break.
But it flickered violently like a candle in a storm.
"Interesting…" Su Daoxuan's hands shifted slightly.
"Patriarch?"
"This time the array is being sustained by my spiritual energy," Su Daoxuan said calmly. "Your aura is devouring it faster than the formation can stabilize."
"If I stop…even for a breath, it'll collapse."
"Then let's test further."
Su Ye nodded.
The Yin Devouring Aura expanded outward like mist.
"Good control," Su Daoxuan said. "Now defend yourself."
His fingers moved.
"First Step: Transformation Stage."
Buzz—!
Swords formed instantly.
They vanished and struck like lightning.
Su Ye's pupils shrank.
He couldn't even see them, but he could feel the wind.
Every strike was swallowed whole.
T-this is only the first step?
Without waiting, Su Daoxuan readied his next strike.
"Second Step: Alternative Stage."
The air exploded.
The number of swords doubled—no, tripled.
They rained down like a storm of steel, each strike carrying explosive force.
The ground trembled.
The air howled.
Yet Su Ye stood unmoving.
Every attack vanished upon contact.
"Third Step: Solidification—"
"Wait—!"
"No waiting."
Su Daoxuan's calm face twisted slightly—
Into something far more dangerous.
The swords merged.
Two massive blades formed in the sky.
They fell.
Like executioners.
Like falling stars.
The air ignited from friction, Heat blasted downward.
"Hot—!"
Su Ye's expression changed for the first time.
"Hot! Hot!!"
The aura began to distort.
Su Daoxuan narrowed his eyes.
Looks like this is the limit. The Yin Devouring Aura can't handle temperature. If faced against a dragons breath or a blizzard, he would be–
Suddenly the aura changed.
It reacted and adapted on the spot.
From Su Ye's back, black tendrils erupted, stretching outward like living veins. At their ends—
Openings formed.
One released freezing air.
The others devoured heat.
The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly.
"W-what!?" Su Daoxuan's eyes widened. "You can create ice?!"
"What!? I can!?"
Su Daoxuan's smile deepened.
Interesting… very interesting.
Looks like even he doesn't recognize that he's done it. Or could it be that this Yin Devouring aura has a spirit of its own? What a scary aura.
"Again!"
"Wait—!"
"Die! Hahaha!"
"Patriarch!?"
The blades crashed down.
The swords fell down with the force of a meteorite that could level the whole mountain.
BOOM—!!
The entire formation shook violently.
Dust and energy exploded outward.
But at the center Su Ye stood unharmed.
The blades had shattered into countless fragments upon touching him.
"…Even the third step can't break it," Su Daoxuan muttered while scratching his chin.
"WAIT!" Su Ye shouted. "You just said 'die'!"
"What's wrong?"
"You're actually trying to kill me, aren't you!?"
"Not at all," Su Daoxuan replied calmly. "That was for dramatic effect."
"…It worked! I really thought I was going to die!"
Su Daoxuan coughed lightly. "My mistake."
He paused, then smiled.
"So? Continue?"
Su Ye took a deep breath.
His crimson eyes sharpened.
"…Let's go to the next step."
Su Daoxuan's smile widened.
"As expected of a member of the Su family."
His aura surged.
"Let's continue."