Chapter 1123: Nutrient-Rich Archbishop

Chen Ling could feel a surge of Red Star power continuously flowing into his body through his red paper tentacles. Compared to the last time he raw-devoured it in the Mortal Realm, the efficiency was far greater. Not only was there no waste, but the process was also more elegant.

As the Red Star power was absorbed and transformed by his body, his previously slow-growing Fifth-Order psychic energy began to visibly surge. It felt like he had consumed a powerful tonic, invigorating Chen Ling from head to toe.

He closed his eyes, savoring the power that came with devouring the Red Star energy. A scorching breath escaped his lips.

"Hoo..."

Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes.

He didn't know why, but these Scarlet Sky Cult members, imbued with Red Star power, were indeed a great boon for him. Other humans didn't seem to have the same reaction; otherwise, if consuming Scarlet Sky Cult members could increase psychic energy, the higher-ups in the human realms would have long since united to relentlessly hunt them down, rather than treating them like rats in a sewer.

It appeared that Red Star power was only highly beneficial to a "Mocking Calamity"... or perhaps, only to an "Apocalyptic Calamity"?

Chen Ling couldn't fathom the reason and decided not to dwell on it. Whatever the underlying principle, he simply wanted to consume more. These three ordinary Scarlet Sky Cult members were, at most, just an appetizer for him.

Chen Ling cast a casual glance at the three desiccated corpses on the floor, then casually pushed the door open. Transforming back into "Zheng Ye," he walked straight towards the house opposite.

Creak—

The sound of death opening a door echoed once more.

"Zheng Ye? Is something wrong?"

"Come here, I have something good to show you..."

Rip—!!

The red paper monster opened its vicious fangs, madly devouring the lives and blood of the three Scarlet Sky Cult members. Dawn slowly broke, its faint light illuminating the despairing ground, leaving behind streaks of wildly flailing tentacle shadows.

Minutes later, Chen Ling, clad in a red robe, emerged from the house, leisurely licking his lips.

He moved like an elegant diner browsing a buffet.

One by one, houses were purged by Chen Ling. In the undetected silence, the number of Scarlet Sky Cult members rapidly dwindled. By the time the sun fully rose, and Chen Ling emerged from the sixth house, the original forty-five cult members had been sharply reduced to twenty-seven.

Just as Chen Ling was about to enter the seventh house, a rapid knocking sound resonated throughout the village.

Chen Ling quickly retracted the foot he had stepped out, then swiftly closed the door behind him.

"Discovered?"

Chen Ling's brows furrowed slightly.

Chen Ling believed his actions were swift enough, but the scattered residences of the Scarlet Sky Cult members made it difficult to silently kill everyone. Aware of this, after each kill, he had compressed their desiccated bodies and hidden them in the corners of the rafters, delaying the discovery of the corpses. However, if the cult members began a search, finding the bodies would only be a matter of time.

In the worst-case scenario, Chen Ling would have to face all the Scarlet Sky Cult members in the village alone.

However, Chen Ling soon noticed something unusual. As the knocking sound continued, numerous Scarlet Sky Cult members emerged from their rooms, but instead of heading to the houses where the killings had occurred, they swarmed towards the village entrance.

Hidden inside the house, Chen Ling peered through a crack in the window towards the village entrance.

Dim sunlight cast down from above the cliff. Along the narrow path, several figures were approaching the village.

The "person" leading them was towering, almost apelike, carrying an unknown withered plant whose thick roots and leaves dragged like refuse on the ground. Behind him followed two red-robed bishops. One dragged Jiang Xiaohua's body, leaving a furrow in the dirt, while the other slowly advanced, dragging two unconscious figures, one in each hand.

"An Arch-Bishop? Don't only Bishops usually come for the rituals? Why an Arch-Bishop this time?"

"One Arch-Bishop, two Bishops... This is an unusual lineup, isn't it?"

"Is it because of those two 'fusers' reported the night before last? The main headquarters probably takes it seriously, so they specifically sent an Arch-Bishop... After all, if it really is the Fusion Faction causing trouble, things could get very complicated."

"What are they dragging? Are they offerings from the main headquarters?"

"I don't know... Looks like a calamity."

Whispers spread through the crowd. As the Arch-Bishop and his companions approached, the ordinary Scarlet Sky Cult members immediately knelt, pressing their foreheads to the ground in utmost reverence.

Behind the window crack, Chen Ling saw the Arch-Bishop leading the group and froze.

The next moment,

A string of glistening drool uncontrollably trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Chen Ling had never smelled such an enticing aroma. It was as if all the dishes from a Manchu Han Imperial Feast had been concentrated into a single drop of perfume; just one whiff made Chen Ling's stomach rumble. It took him a while to realize his lapse in decorum, and he silently wiped away the drool, but his gaze towards the Arch-Bishop remained filled with intense desire.

When Chen Ling was in the Mortal Realm, he had only tasted the "flavor" of Bishop-level entities. The Red Star essence contained within those two bishops alone had surpassed the combined total of all other Scarlet Sky Cult members at that time, causing Chen Ling's psychic energy to directly break through one and a half ranks.

Now, the naked Arch-Bishop before him possessed an even denser concentration of Red Star power than the two bishops. If ordinary Scarlet Sky Cult members were snacks and bishops were fine meats, then this Arch-Bishop was a ginseng-level tonic!

Chen Ling had a premonition: if he devoured the Arch-Bishop, the resulting increase in psychic energy would likely be enough to push him to Sixth-Order, or even higher.

At that moment, only one thought consumed Chen Ling's mind:

Eat him!

By any means necessary, eat him!

Chen Ling suppressed his intense craving as best he could, glanced at the unknown object on the Arch-Bishop's shoulder, then naturally looked behind him. When he saw the figures being dragged by the two bishops, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Why are they here??"

Chen Ling never expected to encounter Jian Changsheng and the other two here. This was a Scarlet Sky Cult branch deep within the Gray Realm, a place where very few humans could reach.

Shouldn't the three of them be in some human realm, carrying out a task for the Twilight Society?

While Chen Ling was utterly perplexed, many Scarlet Sky Cult members also couldn't help but ask:

"Arch-Bishop, Bishop... what are you dragging...?"

The Arch-Bishop didn't even glance at them, walking straight ahead with the Jack of Diamonds and a bone club on his shoulder. Only when the bishop following him passed did he open his mouth:

"So that's how it is," the leading Scarlet Sky Cult member suddenly understood.

Chen Ling: ???

Chen Ling heard no human language, only a chaotic, ape-like cacophony. Yet, the Scarlet Sky Cult members seemed to understand, nodding one after another, their gazes towards Jian Changsheng and the other two filled with subtle meaning.