Essence Devouring Art

BOOM!

A pillar of Crimson Gold Blood Flame shot toward the sky, burning through the roof and piercing the night like a rainbow.

An overabundance of qi and blood erupted from his countless pores, surging out to fill the entire private room. The terrifying heat instantly turned the building into a sea of fire.

SKREEE!

Even more terrifying was the tyrannical cry of a whale, a sound from the primordial past, that rang out on a spiritual level.

It was like a shadow that could blot out the sky and overturn the seas.

Vast and heavy.

The suffocatingly fierce pressure turned the very air into a deep sea ten thousand fathoms down.

It instantly forced Aunt Xiang and three other stunning women, who had also revealed their fox ears and tails, to their knees. They were pinned to the ground, unable to move, as if crushed under a great mountain. Even lifting their heads was an immense struggle.

"Yip!"

A heart-wrenching fox cry rang out.

The closest one, Xing Ying, had her head caught in the jaws of Wu Dao’s right hand, which had transformed into a ferocious dragon’s head.

The terrifying Blood Flame instantly burned away her human form, revealing her true self: a pink, two-tailed fox about two meters long.

BOOM!

In the next instant,

the dragon head gathered the heat of his qi and blood and gently exhaled.

Before Aunt Xiang’s bloodshot eyes, which looked ready to split from rage,

an even more scorching, blinding torrent of Blood Flame erupted from the dragon’s head like a flamethrower, roasting the pink, two-tailed fox from head to tail and turning it into a golden-brown suckling.

"No!!!"

CRUNCH!

The sound of tearing flesh cut off the cry.

Wu Dao ignored Aunt Xiang’s grief-stricken howls.

He opened his cavernous mouth, which was like a volcanic furnace, tore off half of the golden-brown roast fox with one bite, and began to chew and swallow hungrily.

But after just one bite,

a difficult expression appeared on his face.

Sour!

Fishy!

Gamy!

Muttony!

The four nauseating flavors assaulted his taste buds and grated on his nerves, nearly making him vomit.

However, ’whether it’s fishy or foul, once it’s in my mouth, it’s meat!’ Wu Dao directly manipulated his body’s tissues to block his senses of taste and smell, then devoured the other half of the crispy fox in one go.

Teleportation Points +150

150!

It was more than he’d gotten from the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui and the Koutou Abomination, even though they were on the same level.

’As expected.’

’I have to suppress these anomalies with absolute power and swallow them whole. That way, their ’nutritional value’ won’t be lost.’

"Ah, you beast! I’ll kill you!!"

Her own child had been roasted alive and eaten right in front of her!

Such a cruel act.

The pain was no less than ten thousand knives stabbing her heart, so agonizing she couldn’t breathe!

Tears of blood streamed from Aunt Xiang’s beautiful eyes. She instantly lost all reason and let out a sorrowful shriek to the heavens. The Demon Pill inside her flared with black light, and her Demon Qi ignited like oil being poured on a fire.

Drawing on the power of her Demon Pill,

she actually broke free from the binds of Wu Dao’s oppressive aura. She transformed into a large, two-tailed white fox nearly four meters long, gathering a dangerous beam of black light as thick as an arm in her mouth.

However...

"You want to kill me?!"

Wu Dao scoffed. The Fierce Dragon Flesh of his arm tensed, and his Dragon Whale fist shot up before smashing down at supersonic speed!

THUD!!

The Dragon Fist tore through the air like a meteor.

The heavy force, like a falling mountain, hammered the White Fox’s head. The blow made her eyes bulge and her features contort, shattering her fangs and forcing the black light she had been gathering back down her throat.

BANG!

An explosive roar erupted.

The follow-through Power, like a crashing meteorite, transformed its immense kinetic energy into an explosive shockwave. The entire burning Celestial Character Building instantly disintegrated, collapsing layer by layer.

RUMBLE—

The Gangfeng Qi Flow, which compressed and then violently expanded, swept the three smaller foxes into the sky along with a jumble of debris from the building.

All that remained was a massive crater, fifty to sixty meters in radius!

In the center of the crater,

the two-tailed White Fox was unrecognizable. Black blood spurted from its body in a miserable sight. It was now nothing more than a dying dog on its last breath.

A complete crush of absolute Power!

’What’s the fucking use of a power-up?!’

"Tsk, what’s the rush? You’ll all be reunited soon enough."

In the massive pit,

the Primordial Fierce Demon-like Wu Dao shook his terrifying Dragon Whale head. He strode forward, took the barely-breathing White Fox, and tied it around his waist like a belt. A Crimson Gold Yang Flame flared up, slow-roasting it over a low fire.

’This old fox has an unusual status.’

’Her mouth is still useful.’

’Can’t eat her just yet.’

’As for the others...’

"Spread those little stubby legs and run bravely!"

He grinned ferociously.

Like the Purgatory Demon King, Wu Dao bent his knees and shot out of the crater. Before the sonic boom could even register, his massive, mountain-like body had already appeared in another location.

"No, spare..."

SPLAT!!

The Demon Mountain fell, and a head shattered.

Wu Dao descended from the sky and stomped on the head of a Fox Demon that had been blown away earlier and was trying to escape, blowing it apart. His Evil Dragon-like right arm snatched up the corpse, and he devoured it in a few bites.

Teleportation Points +130.

One hundred thirty.

"Tsk, what a waste."

Wu Dao mumbled, chewing on roasted flesh and bone fragments, somewhat dissatisfied.

The three foxes besides Aunt Xiang,

including Xing Ying, were all equivalent to the First Rebirth. They shouldn’t only be worth one hundred thirty points. It was too little.

’Let’s see...’

’It must be because they were already dead. The nutritional value of the ingredients was lost.’

’Mm.’

’I’ll be more careful next time.’

「Meanwhile.」

Run, run, run!!

A three-meter-long, black-furred, two-tailed fox scrambled for its life, its eyes filled with horror and dread, as it fled frantically toward the edge of the Joyful Forest.

In all her five hundred years of life,

even though the Mountain Master had repeatedly warned them since they were young that not all humans were food, that some Great Powers could slay them with ease, and that they must never be careless,

she had never seen or heard of a human as violent and cruel as Wu Dao.

No!

To be precise, he was a Fierce Beast!

He treated them completely as prey, the naked hunger in his eyes plain to see.

He was like a tiger hunting in the mountains,

with not a shred of humanity!

The black fox’s courage had shattered the moment Xiaoying was swallowed in two bites and Aunt Xiang was taken down with a single punch.

This kind of fear

didn’t stem from a difference in strength, nor from cowardice. It was an innate terror, a biological, genetic instinct of a creature facing its superior on the food chain!

Run!

The farther the better!

There wasn’t the slightest thought of resistance or a desperate, last-ditch struggle in the black fox’s mind.

’A Fierce Beast of this level!’

’Only someone at the Clan Leaders’ level could possibly deal with him!’

But just as the black fox was about to escape the Joyful Forest...

BOOM!!

The moment Wu Dao had made his move, Zhao Jianji and the others had activated the Array Plate, starting up the Chain Fire Wall Array.

A towering curtain of Supreme Yang Blood Flame had sealed off the entire Joyful Forest like an iron drum, blocking all escape routes.

Outside the Flame Wall Array,

Zhao Jianji sat cross-legged on the ground, holding the Array Plate. The virile qi and blood of a Martial Artist were being frantically absorbed by the blood-colored plate, transformed into Blood Flame, and channeled into the wall of fire.

"My god, such a huge fox... What the hell was I fucking..."

The moment he saw the ferocious, ugly black fox—desperately fleeing only to slam hard into the Flame Wall and scream as it burned—he jumped in fright.

His face, already abnormally pale from the loss of blood, turned as ugly as if he’d eaten shit as certain memories came to mind.

But in the next moment,

his expression shifted to one of terror.

THOOM!

A cataclysmic crash rang out, and a million stones and bits of earth exploded into the sky.

A majestic and tyrannical demonic figure, wreathed in roaring Red Gold Blood Flame and with a physique like ten thousand entangled dragons, descended from the sky, brutally and barbarically dominating Zhao Jianji’s entire field of vision.

Before Zhao Jianji’s horrified gaze,

the Fierce Demon, which resembled both a dragon and a whale, landed with the weight of a thousand mountains. A White Fox, roasted to a pale yellow, was wrapped around its waist.

Ignoring the black fox’s struggles and pleas for mercy, its dragon-headed right fist bit down on the fox’s head while its other hand spewed Red Gold Blood Flame like a flamethrower.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...

"Ah!! No!!!"

The Blood Flame surged.

The screams shook the heavens and the earth.

As if it were grilling meat, the Fierce Demon turned the black fox over and over, roasting it until it was golden and crispy. Then, it opened its cavernous, Abyss-like maw and swallowed it whole in one gulp!

"Foxes... are actually pretty cute..."

Zhao Jianji muttered to himself, his gaze vacant.

He swallowed hard.

’Can Martial Arts really turn a person into such a Fierce Demon?’

At that moment, his worldview was shattering.

Teleportation Points +150

Teleportation Points +150

「A few minutes later.」

He had finished eating the two golden, crispy foxes.

The White Fox at his waist, carefully roasted by Wu Dao, was now emitting an alluring aroma, though it was still breathing its last.

Wu Dao simply tore off one of the fox’s legs and, while taking large bites, followed the Demon Qi he could sense toward the final target.

Because he had discovered one that had slipped through the net.

"D-don’t come any closer! Or I’ll kill him!"

In a corner of the Joyful Forest,

a withered, sinister-looking, fox-headed old man was holding the Joyful Forest’s Steward, Ji Chang, by the neck. He roared at the approaching, colossal, crimson-flamed demon, his ferocity a bluff to hide his inner terror.

At the same time,

he was cursing his mysterious Guangqing Chief Eunuch in his heart.

’He promised reinforcements would arrive immediately!’

’Everyone over here has been eaten, and there’s still no sign of help! Is he trying to get me killed?!’

"Are you threatening me?"

Wu Dao paused his steps, still gnawing on the fox leg. His eyes, like two small, blood-red suns, looked down with great interest at the fox-headed old man.

’His aura is identical to that mysterious fox-headed person from the other day.’

’They must all be freaks living in symbiosis with demons.’

’But his strength is far inferior.’

’This fox-headed old man before me is at the First Rebirth level, at most.’

"Yes... I am... threatening you. If you don’t want him to die..."

Faced with the overwhelming pressure emanating from Wu Dao, the fox-headed old man’s speech was faltering. It sounded less like a threat and more like a plea for mercy.

"You’re adorable."

Wu Dao was amused by the man’s stupidity. Immediately after, his gaze sharpened. The Dragon Whale opened its eyes within his pupils, and his Blood Flame surged violently.

"Ugh..."

An invisible hand formed of spiritual power reached out and viciously squeezed the fire of the fox-headed old man’s Divine Soul, instantly turning him into a puppet with no self-awareness.

"Ahhh!!!"

A scream rang out.

It wasn’t from the fox-headed man.

It was from Ji Chang, the Steward of the Joyful Forest.

As Wu Dao drew closer, the terrifying heat of his Blood Flame caused the Steward’s clothes to spontaneously combust.

The man turned into a human torch.

He screamed and ran toward a water source in the forest.

Wu Dao ignored the sprinting torch, taking a single step to appear before the fox-headed old man. He slightly retracted his Blood Flame, and his voice boomed like a striking bell. "Do you know an Innate Half-Fox who looks like you?"

"I do. He is the Chief Eunuch of the Fox Race in Guangqing Prefecture. But the identities of Eunuchs are kept secret from one another. I don’t know who he is."

’He’s good at hiding.’

Wu Dao’s eyes flickered. He continued to ask, "Where is the headquarters of the Immortal Family behind you?"

’These few foxes in the Joyful Forest... are just minor characters, ’hired hands.’ With their level of strength, they’re not nearly qualified to make an Innate Martial Artist give up his humanity. There must be a massive chain of interests behind them, leading to a main den of the Fox Race. And... The Chief Eunuch of Guangqing Prefecture? Are there other Eunuchs in other places? This Fox Race... is quite a bit larger than I thought. With what happened today, there’s no doubt I’ve offended them to the bone. Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Wu Dao never fights a battle he isn’t prepared for.’

But...

"I don’t know. The Immortal Family always takes the initiative to select its Eunuchs. We are not qualified to know the location of the Immortal Family’s Blessed Land."

’Even the Eunuchs don’t know?’

Wu Dao wasn’t disappointed by this. With a single thought,

FWOOSH~

blood and fire surged.

The fox-headed monster’s Divine Soul was crushed, and the Blood Flame incinerated it, leaving nothing but flying ash and a black embryo the size of a soccer ball.

Inside the embryo,

a gray fox could be seen curled up. It was very weak, not even comparable to the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui.

The dragon head bit down, and Blood Flame erupted.

Wu Dao roasted the Demon Embryo into a meatball, tossed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

Teleportation Points +100.

"Mm, the flavor is mellow, fragrant, and fresh. It’s rich but not greasy. If I ignore the gamy taste, it’s a bit like a Lion’s Head meatball."

Wu Dao smacked his lips, savoring the aftertaste. He gave it a passable review. ’So-so, I guess.’

"*Hic.* Time for the main course."

He let out a satisfied burp.

Wu Dao manipulated the tissues of his stomach, compressing them to make room. His torch-like eyes turned greedily to the golden-brown, two-tailed White Fox roasted at his waist.

Eight hundred years.

Equivalent to the Third Rebirth.

The same level as the Stone God.

’Barely counts as a feast.’