The power of thunder covered Ren's entire body, and the thunder whip in his hand kept swinging. Every time he struck, a giant hollow perished. As Ren ascended to the realm of the giant void, his mastery over flash thunder had reached an entirely new level.
"Bang!"
The thunder whip crackled with energy, carrying both the power of thunder and an unmatched range. With a single, devastating swing, Ren cleaved a massive worm-shaped hollow in half, its severed torso writhing before its lifeless form disintegrated into nothingness. His giant tail followed up instantly, activating the ghoul soul technique.
"This ghoul ability truly excites me!"
Ren reveled in the thrill of battle, each kill feeding his insatiable hunger. As he unleashed his ghoul soul, he devoured the spiritual pressure of the defeated hollows, his power growing exponentially with every kill. With each enemy that fell, his spiritual pressure surged, amplifying his already formidable presence on the battlefield.
Therefore, after a relentless series of battles, Ren showed no signs of exhaustion. Instead, he grew fiercer, stronger, more relentless—like an unstoppable force of destruction. He had become a merciless executioner, a machine of war, harvesting the lives of these giant hollows with chilling efficiency.
Each crack of his thunder whip was a death sentence. Each swing was followed by the agonized howls of hollows as their existence was erased.
Ren had just dispatched a monkey-like hollow when he sensed a trio of looming threats behind him. Without turning his head, he smirked, already anticipating their attack. The moment their claws reached for him, he disappeared in a flash, teleporting a hundred feet away in an instant.
"Tch... too slow."
Having absorbed the monkey hollow's spiritual pressure, Ren turned his attention to the remaining adversaries. His eyes glowed beneath his mask as he observed them. A cruel smile stretched across his face.
"Don't be impatient. One by one, I'll take care of all of you."
The hollows had originally been embroiled in battle amongst themselves, but now, one by one, they turned their attention toward Ren. Though they attacked in unison, it was in vain. At his current level, killing hollows of similar rank was as simple for him as stepping on ants.
Within moments, the battlefield was littered with dismembered hollows, their spiritual essence devoured by Ren. What had once been twenty battling behemoths had been reduced to a single survivor—a giant indigo lizard. Ren frowned as he observed the creature. It was weak, its spiritual pressure barely noticeable. This one must have only recently evolved into a giant hollow.
"How disappointing," Ren muttered to himself. "You get to be the last one."
The lizard hollow trembled violently. It had just witnessed Ren slaughter more than a dozen hollows of its own rank as if they were nothing. Though its intelligence was limited, it understood one thing—fear. Primal, inescapable fear that seeped into its very soul.
Ren sighed, already losing interest, and swung his thunder whip lazily.
"Bang!"
With a deafening crack, the lizard hollow was sent flying. Half of its body was obliterated instantly, charred flesh sizzling as the remaining half twitched in agony.
Ren was about to finish it off with his ghoul soul when something unusual caught his attention. The lizard's severed body did not vanish. Instead, countless small granules of flesh sprouted from the wound, writhing and squirming at an incredible speed. In a matter of seconds, the hollow had fully regenerated—but at a cost. Its body was noticeably smaller, its spiritual pressure weaker.
Ren's expression shifted from boredom to sheer exhilaration.
"This... this is super-speed regeneration!"
A maniacal laugh erupted from him. His excitement was palpable.
"Hahaha! What luck! I've been searching for this ability, and it practically delivered itself to me!"
Ren had long coveted this power, but super-speed regeneration was a rare trait, possessed only by high-tier hollows. He had expected it would take him ages to acquire. Yet here it was, presented to him on a silver platter, in the depths of the Great Void Forest.
"You are truly a treasure, aren't you?"
Ren wasted no time. His massive centipede-like tail wrapped tightly around the lizard hollow , restraining it completely. With a flick of his wrist, he released another flash of thunder, scorching the struggling creature's body.
Then, without hesitation, he opened his mouth wide and bit down.
Of course, this was no random act of brutality. The process of acquiring an ability through the ghoul soul required this exact method. Otherwise, Ren would have no interest in tasting a giant lizard hollow.
The lizard hollow convulsed violently, all four of its limbs flailing as its body spasmed uncontrollably. Its eyes rolled back, its form rapidly diminishing.
Within moments, something changed.
A faint flicker of light pulsed within Ren's body. His cells vibrated, his essence shifting. He could feel it—the acquisition of power. The lizard hollow, now pitifully small, was reduced to a mere shadow of its former self, no longer a giant hollow but a mere fragment of what it once was.
Ren exhaled slowly, feeling the newfound energy coursing through him.
"This... this is it. The power of super-speed regeneration."
As his body adjusted, Ren clenched his fist, testing the capability. A moment later, he conjured a blade of thunder and slashed across his own arm. The wound closed almost instantly, as if it had never existed.
A satisfied smirk played on his lips.
"With this ability, I am one step closer to true power."
He turned his gaze upward, toward the vast void of darkness above. The battles ahead would only grow more intense. But with every enemy he devoured, with every new ability he seized, he was forging his path toward dominance.
"This is only the beginning."
Ren was stunned when he looked at the changes in the lizard's emptiness. Then, a golden thunder arc flashed between the index finger of his right hand as he stroked the white cuticle on the wrist of his left hand.
In an instant, the skin and flesh split open, and bright red blood flowed out. However, in the next moment, the granules on his arm wriggled, and the wound closed as if it had never existed. If not for the fresh blood still clinging to his skin, Ren might have thought he was hallucinating.
"Speed regeneration… I have acquired speed regeneration!"
Ren laughed as he watched his arm heal. In the brutal world of the void, where attacking power reigned supreme, survival often depended on endurance. Now, with super-speed regeneration, he could wage wars of attrition against any opponent who couldn't utterly crush him.
Beyond that, he knew that once he evolved into an Adjuchas, any severe bodily damage could strip him of his right to evolve further. However, now that he had acquired speed regeneration, that fear no longer lingered in his mind!
Thinking of this, Ren couldn't help but grin.
His gaze then fell upon the small lizard hollow that had lost its speed regeneration and degenerated into a weak, powerless creature.
Ren unleashed his ghoul soul upon it once again—but this time, he did not seize its abilities. Instead, he devoured it completely!
The once formidable lizard hollow had been reduced to nothing but sustenance for Ren.
"It's not that I insisted on eating you," Ren mused. "But without your ability, you wouldn't have survived in the Great Void Forest. Instead of wandering aimlessly, it's better to become part of my strength and march toward eternity! No need to thank me—after all, you gave me your most precious ability. Consider this my reward to you."
He chuckled to himself. "Ah, I'm always too soft-hearted. It's a bad habit!"
Despite having only just arrived in the Great Void Forest, Ren had slain nineteen giant hollows in a single battle—or rather, eighteen, since the lizard had ultimately degenerated into a lower-tier hollow and no longer counted.
More importantly, this battle had not only granted him speed regeneration but had also increased his spiritual pressure by over 10%.
"Only a 10% increase from devouring eighteen giant hollows?" Ren muttered. "I wonder how I compare now to that monstrous Gillian."
Each time his strength grew, he couldn't help but think back to the alien Gillian. That being had left an unforgettable impression on Ren when he had first arrived in the void realm.
It was witnessing that Gillian's mastery over Flash and the devastating Ring technique that had driven Ren to refine these powerful abilities for himself.