"Stay awwwway, mon~sterrr!" the man shrieked, his voice trembling, as he scrambled backward, fear stripping him of all energy. He could only crawl, the surrounding bloodlust choking him. Mo Chen stared at the pitiful figure, his eyes taking in the gruesome sight of dried-up corpses strewn around him.

"Who are you?" Mo Chen's voice, deep and resonant, echoed in the confined space, causing the man to lose control of his bladder, collapsing into a faint. Surprised, Mo Chen cautiously moved closer, but what he saw was a horror beyond belief.

Without laying a finger on the man, he watched as the man's body contorted, squeezed, and then violently exploded, raining blood. The final scream of agony was quickly replaced by silence, leaving only a withered, dried-up husk behind. Without any further explanation, he understood the cause of all that had transpired before him.

Earlier, the men, drawn by his murderous intent, had attacked him, mistaking him for a beast. They got too close to the domain and their life force was instantly drained to restore his own broken body.

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Mo Chen concluded that, until he could gain control of his domain, he would need to drain life force to prevent his body from gradually stiffening and decaying. "Hmm," he sighed, looking at himself. His body had outgrown his clothes, and he looked every bit the part of a mad beast.

He tore the tattered cloth from his body and attempted to change into one of the dead men's clothes. That's when he realized the domain absorbed the life essence from living beings but repelled other substances from getting too close. The clothes almost disintegrated as he tried to touch them, but after several attempts, he discovered that he could wrap the clothes with his own qi, and only then was he able to put them on.

With a powerful leap, he propelled himself out of the hole and surveyed his surroundings. He found himself in a forest. Suddenly, his head throbbed, and he almost fainted.

"I'll be back, son," his father's last words flashed through his mind, igniting his smoldering anger. "Yes," he muttered, his voice filled with resolve, "I still have a mission to complete. I still have lives to offer before I gain control of this domain."