Essence Devouring Art

His eyes were clear and bright, divine and saintly, holding the infinite wisdom of a Celestial, Human, Immortal, and Saint.

But below those eyes...

...his crimson face was completely twisted like a demon’s, a grin stretching to his ears to reveal two rows of terrifying, perfectly interlocking triangular shark teeth.

On his demonic physique, every inch of crimson muscle seemed alive, vibrating and undulating like a series of volcanoes on the verge of eruption.

HUFF!

INHALE!

The thunderous sound of his breathing stirred the heavy air.

Anyone with a weak Spiritual Will who heard those breaths would instantly feel as if ten thousand ghosts were wailing and Divine Buddhas were chanting in their minds, driving them to the brink of madness!

One of the Three Days Secret Methods of the Essence Devouring Art—

Divine Ghost Heaven!

The human body cannot use all of its own Power, and even a Heaven Stealer after Potential Release is no exception!

The brain’s protective mechanisms are one reason; the second is that the body is too fragile to support Power exceeding the load-bearing Limit of its bones and muscles.

But the Divine Ghost Heaven Secret Technique could ignore these limitations!

It allowed a Heaven Stealer to instantly enter a state of Limit with no preparation time and completely disabled the brain’s protective mechanisms for their current stage of Potential Release!

The body, inside and out, entered an ultimate state of combustion on the very edge of life and death, thereby unleashing two hundred percent of its physical Power!

But the side effects were enormous!

Once the body entered this life-or-death state, it required a constant supply of Healing Fluid to heal injuries and repair overloaded tissues, keeping the scales tipped toward life.

If the supply of Healing Fluid failed...

...the scales would tip. The body would be drained of all flesh and blood, turning into a dessicated corpse, burned out like firewood. At that point, death would be absolute.

Not to mention, the optimal Physique for executing the Divine Ghost Heaven Secret Technique was the Heroic Domain; using it with a Beast King Domain was pushing the limits far too much.

But Wu Dao ignored all of this.

The twenty-some snake eggs in his stomach had become his most stable reserve energy source; he didn’t have to worry at all about being drained dry.

"What kind of monster are you?"

An overwhelming, frenzied, and malevolent aura, mixed with the whispers of Gods and Ghosts, surged toward him.

Meng Qingshuang focused his mind, guarding his heart as he stared at the fiery red demonic figure in the blood mist. He tensed his ugly, writhing body, hunching over and bracing himself, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

He was certain that his last strike had shattered the flesh and bone of Wu Dao’s right fist. Forget moving it; Wu Dao should have been screaming in agony.

Yet, not only was Wu Dao not grievously injured, but he had instead become even more savage and violent, as if his shackles had been broken!

The change was so far beyond his understanding that it drove him, a monster in his own right, to ask what kind of monster Wu Dao was.

BOOM!!

Meng Qingshuang’s answer was a fiery red fist that tore through the air, growing ever larger in his vision like a bolt of blood-red lightning.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

In that instant.

Meng Qingshuang felt the air around him turn into a vast sea of blood, compressed and boiling under that sun-like fiery fist until it became so heavy he could barely breathe.

BANG!

From seven or eight meters away, it was as if he teleported, tearing through the curtain of rain to arrive in an instant!

A green fist and a red fist, both massive, collided with a thunderous boom!

The ferocious, domineering force, like two colossi crashing together, instantly caused the compressed air to explode. The resulting shockwave blasted the surrounding drizzle into mist, clearing a space around them.

CRACK!

RIP!

Blood splattered as the distinct sound of breaking bones and tearing muscle rang out.

After that single blow...

...both staggered backward, their right arms a gruesome sight.

A flicker of pain crossed Meng Qingshuang’s eyes. His entire right arm looked as if it had been blasted by a cannonball. His fist had exploded, and the flesh of his arm was torn open, revealing severed, writhing green, serpentine muscles.

But looking at Wu Dao, in contrast...

...Meng Qingshuang’s pupils contracted again.

Wu Dao’s condition was no better. Shards of bone jutted out from his fiery red fist, a mangled mess of blood and flesh. His major tendons were snapped as well.

However.

Despite such a horrific injury, that face where Gods and Ghosts coexisted still wore a twisted, frenzied smile. His blood-red eyes stared intently at Meng Qingshuang, showing not a single trace of pain.

’He’s really not human!’

Meng Qingshuang took a deep breath. A green light flickered in his abdomen as streams of cold energy flowed into his right arm. Within a few breaths, his severed muscles were as good as new.

This was the advantage of a Demon Body.

As long as the demonic being inside him wasn’t drained, he could rapidly heal from any injury.

"If you won’t tell me what you are, then I’ll beat it out of you!"

With a roar, Meng Qingshuang shot forward again like a frenzied python leaving its lair, intending to press his advantage and take his enemy’s life.

However...

BANG! BANG! BANG!!

Three lightning-fast punches blasted through the air, leaving blurry afterimages.

They smashed into the approaching Meng Qingshuang’s forehead, neck, and chest, causing blood and rainwater to erupt from his body in three plumes of red mist.

PTUI!

As if struck by three cannonballs, Meng Qingshuang was sent flying backward, spitting disgusting little green snakes from his mouth.

’How is this possible...’

From the corner of his eye, he saw Wu Dao’s perfectly intact right fist, and his mind, seemingly frozen, filled with utter disbelief.

"Heh. ’Dogshit’?"

Still wearing that savage smile, Wu Dao bent his knees and leaped forward with a THUD, brutally stomping on Meng Qingshuang’s abdomen before he hit the ground.

THWUMP!

A huge spray of bloody mud exploded outward.

"PUAH!!"

Meng Qingshuang slammed into the ground, the immense force driving his entire body into a muddy pit. His eyes bulged as even more small snakes spewed from his mouth.

"Damn you! DAMN YOU!!"

A furious roar tore from his throat!

Meng Qingshuang knocked Wu Dao’s legs aside and, in a mad frenzy, began fighting with reckless abandon, like a wild python.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

It was as if two colossal beasts from the Wilderness had invaded the muddy shantytown, their roars and the sounds of their impacts echoing without end.

RUMBLE!

Every punch and kick from the two Fierce Beasts was like a cannon blast, shockingly powerful as they unleashed pure, muscular Power.

The wooden shacks continuously shattered and collapsed under their assault, kicking up clouds of dust. The onlooking members of the Four Seas Gang didn’t dare go anywhere near them.

The longer they fought, the more fear grew in Meng Qingshuang’s heart!

As a Martial Artist, he naturally didn’t rely solely on brute force.

He unleashed the Spiritual Snake Fist, one of the three great Ultimate Skills of the Four Seas Gang. It was agile and treacherous, yet ferocious as a python and impossible to defend against, causing bloody blossoms to erupt all over Wu Dao’s body.

But it was useless!!

No matter how much damage Meng Qingshuang inflicted, Wu Dao was like an unkillable cockroach, healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Most importantly!

Wu Dao seemed like an iron statue, completely incapable of feeling pain!

He maintained that inhumanly savage, twisted smile the entire time, ignoring his own mangled body—a veritable Blood Gourd—as he frantically traded blows with Meng Qingshuang.

Under the dual physical and psychological pressure...

...and with the demon inside him beginning to fail and drain his own vital essence, making a bad situation worse, the fear in Meng Qingshuang’s heart spiraled out of control.

BANG!

When Wu Dao’s fist, its knuckles exposed, struck again, punching clean through Meng Qingshuang’s chest and sending him flying like a broken ragdoll...

...he finally broke.

"Monster! You’re a monster!"

Meng Qingshuang shrieked. The wound was so grievous that his chest couldn’t regenerate. His courage completely shattered, he scrambled to his feet and tried to flee for his life.

But he was already at the end of his rope.

How could he possibly escape?

BAM!

A large hand, like a tiger’s paw, descended, blotting out the sky.

It closed!

A searing pain shot through his skull.

CRACK!

Meng Qingshuang’s vision went black. He felt as if a window had been opened in his skull, and the world turned to crimson.

"Save me..."

His final gaze fell upon the stunned Zhao Gou nearby and the members of the Four Seas Gang who were fleeing for their lives.