Essence Devouring Art

Run, run, run!!

The moment Meng Qingshuang’s head drooped, Zhao Gou, who was watching the battle from a distance, was scared out of his wits. The Heart Lake Alarm Bell in his mind rang wildly!

He didn’t dare linger for a second, nor could he muster any will to resist. Clutching the brocade box, he fled for his life.

SNIFF SNIFF~

Wu Dao tossed aside the mangled flesh and shattered bone in his hand and twitched his nose. Like a Fierce Beast that had locked onto its prey, he whipped his head around to look at the fleeing Zhao Gou.

Or rather, at the brocade box in his arms.

He grinned, revealing a savage maw. His blood-soaked, demonic body tensed, and with the snake’s nest in one hand, he leaped forward with a loud THUD, like a giant grasshopper.

BANG!

A powerful gust of wind erupted as mud and water splashed everywhere.

He covered a distance of over ten meters in a single leap.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The massive, Hell Asura-like demonic form soared and landed, bounding relentlessly across the ground. Each landing blasted a new crater in the earth as it closed in on Zhao Gou.

’Dammit, dammit! Where in the world did this monster come from?!’

Feeling the overwhelming, murderous aura closing in from behind, Zhao Gou was drenched in a cold sweat. He pushed himself to his absolute limit, his heart filled with endless regret.

The reason he hadn’t fled immediately was his unwavering faith in Meng Qingshuang. He never expected Wu Dao to be so ferocious as to tear Meng Qingshuang apart with his bare hands!

By the time he realized the situation was hopeless, Wu Dao’s aura had already locked onto him, and he had lost his best chance to escape.

WHOOSH!!

A scorching, tyrannical, wild, and endlessly bloodthirsty aura screamed closer, crushing his body and will!

While fleeing for his life, Zhao Gou subconsciously glanced back. His vision narrowed to a terrifying sight: a pair of huge, clawed feet, like a tiger’s paws, descending from the sky, blotting out the sun!

’This is the end for me!!’

BOOM!!

The ground shook violently!

Like a meteorite impact!

Zhao Gou’s entire upper body was smashed into the mud. His bones shattered on impact, his chest cavity collapsed, and his skull was crushed. It was a gruesome sight.

Blood and mud erupted in a ghastly spray.

An instant kill!

Haaa—

A long, scorching breath plumed out, forming a white dragon in the air.

With that exhalation,

the molten-lava-like skin and muscles of Wu Dao’s body quickly returned to their normal color. The boiling temperature of his internal organs dropped rapidly, and his thunderous, drum-like heartbeat slowly calmed.

「A few seconds later.」

The divine, saint-like clarity in Wu Dao’s eyes gave way to the seven passions and six desires of a mortal as he exited the Divine Ghost Heaven State.

The snake eggs he had swallowed last night had been completely burned up as fuel during the battle. If he continued to maintain the Divine Ghost Heaven State, he would start burning his own life force.

Ngh...

The moment he left the Divine Ghost Heaven State, Wu Dao grunted and staggered, clenching his teeth slightly. His indifferent gaze swept over his upper body.

It was a landscape of craters. Bite marks deep enough to expose bone were everywhere. Red flesh and white bone were visible, with blood flowing ceaselessly. The sight was exceptionally savage and grotesque.

The energy from the snake eggs was completely spent.

Without the subsequent healing from the Healing Fluid, the injuries inflicted by Meng Qingshuang flared up, and endless pain gnawed at his soul.

It was for this very reason that Wu Dao had relentlessly pursued Zhao Gou to the death—all for the abnormal snake eggs in his possession.

He looked down and lifted the box’s lid.

Twenty-four crystalline, emerald-green snake eggs, not one missing, emanated a rich fragrance.

GULP~

Wu Dao swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Stepping on the corpse, he tilted his head back, opened his cavernous mouth, and swallowed them all whole, just like swallowing dates. His throat bobbed continuously, and with a series of GULP, GULP sounds, he downed every last one.

「A few seconds later.」

Wonderful messages began to surface in his mind.

"Teleportation Points +0.85+0.85+..."

Twenty-four abnormal snake eggs.

A gain of 20.4 Teleportation Points!

Haaa~

He exhaled a stream of scorching air.

The remaining energy from the eggs’ whites and yolks erupted, and his stomach became as hot as a furnace.

Wu Dao adjusted his breathing. The distracting thoughts in his mind faded. His heart hammered, his blood surged, his adrenaline spiked, and his entire body flushed red and hot as he entered the Divine Ghost Heaven State once more.

He needed to heal his injuries quickly, but the normal conversion rate of the Essence Devouring Art into Healing Fluid was too slow.

Only by entering the state of Divine Ghost Heaven’s Extremity and forcing his stomach’s digestive abilities into overdrive could he speed up the conversion process.

BZZZ~

After entering Divine Ghost Heaven, his body vibrated wildly, inside and out. His stomach churned like a blender, frantically breaking down the abnormal snake eggs, converting them into Healing Fluid that surged through his limbs and bones.

Visible to the naked eye,

the cratered flesh of Wu Dao’s upper body began to regenerate. New muscle and sinew grew, quickly filling the holes. The blood scabs fell away, leaving his skin as pristine as before.

「In just over ten seconds.」

His internal and external injuries—to muscles, organs, sinews, and bones—were all healed. The towering, robust figure, seemingly cast from bronze and iron and radiating a ferocious aura that would make all beasts grovel, once again stood firm upon the earth, showing not a single trace of damage.

’Haa... My Potential Release is still too low. If I could reach 75% and enter the Overlord Domain, my body would have rapid self-healing. I wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble.’

Opening his eyes, Wu Dao exhaled a turbid breath and exited the Divine Ghost Heaven State, recalling the undying body from his past life that could regenerate from bare bone in the blink of an eye.

Hm? 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

’Is that... another fragrance?’

Suddenly, a scent even richer and more fragrant than the snake eggs wafted into Wu Dao’s nose, jolting his senses.

He followed the scent and turned his head to look.

The source was, surprisingly, the monster he had tossed aside on the ground—the one called the "azure snake’s nest."

At some point,

the monster’s body had become withered and cracked. Within the fissures, countless small, green snakes were tangled together. It truly looked like someone had opened a snake’s nest, and it was exceptionally disgusting.

Wu Dao wasn’t afraid of snakes, nor did he have trypophobia. He reached out his large hand and began to grope around in the densest part of the ’snake’s nest.’

After a moment, Wu Dao yanked hard and pulled out a peculiar, human-faced snake. It was about half a meter long, as thick as a chopstick, and its entire body was as crystalline as green jade.

"A demon?"

Wu Dao, intrigued, lifted the listless, lifeless little snake to his eyes. He found it fascinating that its face bore a slight resemblance to Meng Qingshuang’s.

This strange creature...

...immediately reminded him of the demons from the myths, legends, and strange tales of his previous life—beings who possessed all sorts of bizarre and terrifying powers.

’But...’

"Is that all? It’s so weak."

Wu Dao pinched the limp little snake’s weak spot, gave it a shake, and felt a little disappointed.

It seemed this little snake lacked the bewitching, mysterious powers described in the legends.

Its only ability, it seemed, was to demonize a person and turn them into a monster. It was probably just not powerful enough yet.

Wu Dao glanced at Meng Qingshuang’s corpse at his feet, which had turned into a snake’s nest, and he had already pretty much figured out the relationship between her and the little snake.

A symbiotic parasitism.

They flourished together and withered together.

"If there are people like Meng Qingshuang everywhere, this world might actually be interesting."

Wu Dao rubbed his chin, recalling Meng Qingshuang’s frenzied state when she demanded to know where the "medicine" was.

It was obvious that for an Extraordinary human like Meng Qingshuang, who coexisted with a demon, the way to increase her power was this "medicine" she spoke of.

And the source of this medicine...

...was utterly devoid of humanity, bloody, and cruel.

"Thinking about it that way, it seems I’m cursing myself out too, ha."

Wu Dao grinned, his face holding only a hint of self-mockery, without a shred of pity.

He liked this world!

SPLAT!

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Like eating a spicy stick snack, he popped the little snake in his hand into his mouth. His shark-like teeth opened and closed, chewing relentlessly as the fragrance wafted out.

While eating his ’snack’, Wu Dao walked toward the living quarters of the Four Seas Gang members, deeper inside the Red Fire Mine.

He knew far too little about this world and urgently needed to absorb knowledge and broaden his horizons.

As the master of the Red Fire Mine, Meng Qingshuang was certain to have such books in her house.

GULP~

By the time Wu Dao arrived at a clean and tidy complex of green-bricked, green-tiled buildings inside the Red Fire Mine, he had swallowed the last piece of flesh and blood from the little snake in his hand.

He waited a few seconds.

"Teleportation Points +10!"

A full ten units of Teleportation Points!

And this was from a green snake that had already been drained and was dead. If it had been intact, he estimated he would have gotten even more.

’What a haul!’

A glint appeared in Wu Dao’s eyes, and his "hatred" for the Four Seas Gang grew even stronger. Licking his lips as if wanting more, he opened his attribute panel.

[Physique: Beast King (Limit)]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (57% Potential Release) +]

[Teleportation Points: 40.24]

’A tough fight increased my Potential Release by 1%?’

After glancing at the data on his panel, which had soared, Wu Dao noted the 57% progress on his Essence Devouring Art. He wasn’t surprised by the increase.

He had engaged in a life-or-death battle in his Divine Ghost Heaven’s Extremity state, his body constantly breaking and repairing itself. After the fight, it was only natural for his physique to improve again.

Along with releasing another 1% of his potential,

his Beast King Domain had also advanced from the Great Success stage to the Limit stage. His strength had increased, but not significantly.

’Unfortunately, opportunities to use battle to fuel battle are rare, unless I can find another anomaly that can be eaten two ways.’

Wu Dao felt the heat from the egg whites and yolks in his stomach, which had already diminished by more than half after repairing his battered body, and a hint of regret appeared on his face.

He estimated that after he finished digesting everything, his Potential Release could probably increase by another 1%.

"Get lost, this is mine!"

"You’re courting death!"

Two quarreling voices suddenly rang out, interrupting Wu Dao’s thoughts.

He looked up, a little surprised.

A few dozen meters away, below an elegant three-story building that stood out like a crane among chickens, two members of the Four Seas Gang were brawling, with gold, silver, and other valuables scattered on the ground around them.

Apparently, the two had taken advantage of the chaos to do some looting, brazenly breaking into Meng Qingshuang’s residence to plunder, but had started fighting over an uneven split of the spoils.

’Perfect. I was just looking for someone to answer my questions.’

A smirk touched the corner of Wu Dao’s lips. He kicked off the ground like a tiger emerging from the mountains, stirring up a howling gale as he crossed several dozen meters in the blink of an eye.

"Who’s there!"

SPLAT!

One of the Four Seas Gang members had just heard the violent sound of tearing air when, before he could even turn his head, his skull exploded like a watermelon. His headless body tumbled away.

SPLOOSH!

A hot spray of red and white matter blasted all over the face of the remaining Four Seas Gang member—a short, stout man with slightly dark skin and a black patch over his right eye, who resembled Wu Dalang.

THUD!

The sound of heavy footsteps landing.

"G-Great hero, spare me! I was just slacking off and looting a bit, I never attacked you!"

The moment he saw Wu Dao’s face clearly, "Wu Dalang’s" one good eye nearly popped out of its socket. He fell to his knees, pissing and shitting himself as he kowtowed and begged for mercy.

The psychological trauma Wu Dao had inflicted on him was too great.

He was an absolute berserk beast who killed without batting an eye. His methods were exceptionally vicious and cruel—he either tore people to shreds or smashed them to pieces. He was even more terrifying than a Living Yama.

"I can spare you, but first, you have to satisfy me."

Wu Dao flicked a piece of flesh from his hooked fingernails. He looked at the "Wu Dalang" who was kowtowing on the ground like a roly-poly toy, a look of anticipation on his face.

"Yes, yes, yes! This humble one will answer any question and grant any request!"

How could "Wu Dalang" dare to hesitate? He immediately straightened up, nodding his head like a pestle grinding garlic.