Essence Devouring Art

SPLASH~

The bright moon cast a frosty glow upon the clear lake water.

In a pavilion draped with gauze curtains, fairies played in the water.

More than ten stunning beauties, their voices sweet and coquettish, their bodies half-hidden and half-revealed.

Their playful laughter and splashing created all sorts of titillating and fragrant scenes that would make one blush.

A strange, floral fragrance filled the air, making one’s blood boil with excitement.

HUFF HUFF HUFF~

The sound of heavy, ragged breathing became a chorus.

It was such a tempting scene.

It made the eyes of the hundred or so Primordial Demons surrounding the lake instantly turn red!

In the middle of the lake.

A woman with emerald-green eyebrows and captivating eyes that could steal a soul saw that the hundred-odd members of the Overlord Whale Alliance had red eyes and were drooling. A look of derision appeared in her gaze as she spoke in a voice that could melt bones:

"My brave warriors, on such a fine night with such a beautiful view, why not join us for some carnal pleasure?"

CLANG!

A Brass Treasure Sword was thrust into the ground.

Luo Ying wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and grinned, revealing two rows of triangular, shark-like teeth that glinted with a ghastly white light to the green-eyebrowed woman:

"Sure, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle us!"

Hm?

Upon hearing this, the woman in the lake frowned.

She looked again at the towering black silhouettes surrounding the lake and inexplicably shivered.

Because in those crimson eyes, there wasn’t a trace of lust—only the avarice of a predator locking onto its prey.

’The Enchanting Smoke failed?’

’How is that possible?’

The green-eyebrowed woman looked shocked.

Enchanting Smoke was a Demon Poison that targeted the soul. As long as there was even a sliver of desire for love or lust in one’s soul, it would erupt like a mountain collapsing or a tsunami crashing.

’Unless they’re made of stone.’

’Otherwise, even a eunuch would feel that desire.’

’These people aren’t normal!’

CRACK CRACK—

THUD THUD THUD!

Just as the ’beauties’ in the lake sensed something was wrong, the sound of drum-like heartbeats and the violent rasping of muscle and bone filled the air.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

It was accompanied by waves of heat that blasted out, evaporating the nearby lake water into steam.

From the dark shadows of the forest, figures all around began to glow scorching red, like furnaces set ablaze, releasing a terrifyingly potent Yang Qi.

At that very moment.

BOOM!

A pillar of lifeblood-smoke, like a rainbow, shot nearly twenty meters into the sky!

The released extreme Yang Qi was so explosive and vigorous that waves of heat distorted the air, bathing the entire lake in a blood-red light.

Having unleashed his Primordial Magnetic Demon Embryo, Luo Ying transformed into a monstrous creature over twenty feet tall. His body was like a small mountain, with blood-red muscles coiling around him like Barbaric Dragons. Spewing blood and fire from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, he sneered, his voice like thunder:

"You worthless sluts, you cheap and gaudy whores! You think your pathetic little tricks can disturb my devotion?"

Ever since they were transformed into Primordial Demons,

Luo Ying’s and all the other Primordial Demons’ souls had been offered to Wu Dao.

Within their souls, there was only loyalty.

And more loyalty!

Their first rule of existence was to forever follow Wu Dao’s will.

Alien Species must be killed!

After being killed, they must be offered to the Alliance Leader.

The Alliance Leader’s happiness was their highest honor, the ultimate fulfillment of desire!

As for other personal desires?

They simply didn’t exist!

These dozen or so peerless beauties, who could make fish sink and geese fall in the outside world,

in the eyes of Luo Ying and the others,

were not worth even a single strand of Wu Dao’s hair!

"Kill!!"

BOOM—

The sound of shattering earth and rock exploded forth.

Luo Ying, cloaked in the killing aura of the Military Dao, used his massive, mountain-like Dragon Whale physique to stomp through the lake, shattering the water’s surface as if walking on flat ground.

SHING!

A bone claw over a meter long shot out from his Dragon Fist. Moving at supersonic speed, he flashed across the lake like a bolt of fiery lightning, using his claw as a sword to instantly pluck off a beautiful head.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill!"

The shouts of "kill" shook the heavens and the earth.

The hundred Primordial Demons who had unleashed their Dragon Whale Dominating Body also moved. They stomped the ground, shattering it as they charged into the lake, their terrifying body heat instantly evaporating the water into plumes of white steam.

Their ferocious and malevolent appearance was like that of devils from Purgatory invading the mortal realm.

"Xiaohong!"

The green-eyebrowed woman was startled by Luo Ying’s sudden burst of violence. By the time she reacted, one of her kin next to her had already been beheaded, and she flew into a rage.

"Sisters, fight them to the death!"

BOOM~

Demon Qi surged, lashing out at the air.

The lake water exploded as thick, python-like roots of various colors burst forth, writhing and churning. They split the waves and whipped toward the Primordial Demons in all directions like Divine Whips.

Looking now, in the lake churning with white, steamy mist, there were no longer any peerless beauties.

Under the bright moonlight, there were only a dozen Tree Demons, their upper bodies beautiful human forms, but their lower bodies constructed from a dense mass of gnarled, python-like roots!

The dozen or so Tree Demons, after revealing their true forms, the weakest among them had five hundred years of cultivation, having achieved human form. Entrenched within the lake, their thick roots continuously lashed out, flaying the skin and flesh of the frenzied Primordial Demons and sending them flying.

"You vile creature, take my sword!"

Luo Ying’s roar shook the heavens. Using his bone claw as a sword, he drew upon the killing intent of heaven and earth. Tearing through the wind and waves, his entire body became a burning, blood-red torch, a pillar of lifeblood-smoke rising from his back as he charged the green-eyebrowed demon.

To catch the bandits, first catch the king!

That green-eyebrowed Willow Tree Demon was the strongest.

’What a huge, verdant willow tree!’

It was at least fifty meters tall, its Demon Qi the most intense. With nearly a thousand years of cultivation, it was only One Step away from becoming a Great Demon!

SHRRIP!

Luo Ying’s sword-strike was like a lightning bolt. The Soldier’s Killing Intent it carried descended instantly upon the Tree Demon’s head, cleaving straight down at its brow!

Luo Ying was already a Grandmaster of the Military Dao, the strongest in combat.

Furthermore, the Soldier Embryo within his Yellow Court had absorbed Soldier Qi, the purest form of killing intent between heaven and earth!

Empowered by the Dragon Whale Dominating Body, not even a peak Grandmaster would dare to face this full-powered sword-strike head-on!

Let alone a Willow Demon that had yet to reach a thousand years of age?

SHRRRIIIP!!

With a sound like tearing silk, Luo Ying’s downward slash was unstoppable. He cleaved the Willow Tree Demon from the top of its head halfway down its trunk, splitting it in two and revealing innumerable writhing roots tangled inside like a ball of yarn.

"ROAR!!"

So grievous was the wound that the Willow Tree Demon let out a horrific, inhuman scream of pain. Spurred by the agony, its massive roots thrashed wildly, flinging hundreds or even thousands of tons of lake water into the sky.

It wasn’t just the Willow Tree Demon.

Under the siege of a hundred Primordial Demons—the weakest of whom possessed combat strength at the Divine Power Peak—the other ten or so Tree Demons were instantly overwhelmed.

"Sister Lv Mei!"

"You little slut, die!"

"Tear it apart!"

The lake water churned and boiled. The Tree Demons’ roots were relentlessly and brutally torn to shreds by the savage Primordial Demons. The gushing sap dyed the lake various colors. Desperate screams and demonic roars made the scene resemble a slaughterhouse in Purgatory.

"Hahaha, it is your honor to become one with the Alliance Leader! Accept your fate!"

Having grievously wounded the Willow Tree Demon with one strike, Luo Ying cackled maniacally. He pressed his advantage, his Spiritual Perception locking onto the Willow Tree Demon’s Demon Pill. Killing intent surged and converged as he prepared to use his claw as a sword to take its life.

"Matriarch, save me!"

But at this critical moment, the Willow Tree Demon suddenly opened its mouth and wailed, the sound shaking the mountain forest and startling countless birds and beasts in the distance.

Hm?

’Not good!!’

Just as astonishment appeared in Luo Ying’s mind, he felt a terrifyingly dreadful Demon Qi erupt from the bottom of the lake like a volcano.

"Get out of here!!"

In his haste, Luo Ying only had time to let out a roar as he transformed into a phantom and dashed toward the shore.

The next moment...

BOOM!!

The entire lake, over a li in circumference, seemed to have its countless tons of water flung into the sky. The earth quaked and split, as if a behemoth was awakening and turning over.

Ancient, gnarled black roots, so thick it would take five or six people to encircle them, shot out like frenzied dragons bursting from their lair. They overturned the lake and pierced the heavens, wrapping around the battered Tree Demons and yanking them down, disappearing into the lakebed.

BOOM!

The sky-high plumes of muddy lake water crashed back down.

Along with them came the members of the Overlord Whale Alliance, who were thrown off their feet and landed awkwardly in the water.

By the lake’s edge.

Luo Ying watched the churning lake and the cracked earth around it with lingering fear, feeling as though he had just walked through the gates of hell and back.

That Demon Qi from just now. It was at least at the Land Immortal Level.

If it had wanted to kill them, none of them would have escaped. But strangely, the Great Demon only rescued the besieged Tree Demons and didn’t make a move against them.

This was rather intriguing.

’Has it not fully recovered its cultivation, so its power is limited?’

’Or is there some other reason?’

Haaa~

He exhaled a turbid breath.

Luo Ying extended his perception into the lake, but he could only detect a faint residue of Demon Qi at the bottom. It was as if the tentacles of the Great Demon that had just appeared were merely an illusion.

"So what if it’s a Land Immortal? If the Overlord Whale Alliance has its eyes on it, then it’s destined to be meat in the Alliance Leader’s mouth!"

Retracting his perception, Luo Ying snorted coldly and said, "Dig trenches and drain the water. Empty this lake. I’ll notify the Alliance Leader immediately!"

’How can I let a fish that’s already on the hook get away!’

’Drain it!’

’We have to drain it!’

The lake wasn’t large or deep, and it was located on a mountain peak. For Extraordinaries, draining it wouldn’t be difficult.

"Yes, sir!!"

The hundred Primordial Demons complied without a second word. Extending the claws of their Dragon Fists, they split into several groups and began digging like gophers, sending dirt and rock flying into the air.

In no time at all, they had dug several artificial river channels around the lake, each seven or eight meters deep and over ten meters wide.

Their efficiency... would make an excavator weep.

RUMBLE—

By the time Wu Dao tore through the sky, wrapped in a rumbling sonic boom cloud, and descended from above, the lake had been drained, revealing the mud at the bottom.

Luo Ying had already explained the details in the Communication Jade Talisman.

So, after landing, Wu Dao wasted no words. His immense Spiritual Perception enveloped the entire lakebed, following the residual Demon Qi deep into the mud.

A moment later, Wu Dao retracted his perception, his expression slightly odd. Then, he commanded in a booming voice, "Spread out!"

"Yes, sir!"

The surrounding Primordial Demons knew the Alliance Leader was about to use his power, so they immediately scattered to a safe distance.

VMMM~

After the members of the Overlord Whale Alliance had dispersed, Wu Dao landed in the center of the muddy basin. He activated his Magnetic Field, and an invisible domain expanded out from him as its core, violently repelling everything around it.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

A sound like crashing waves echoed out.

Countless tons of mud surged outwards in a circular curtain, like a tidal wave, clearing the entire li-wide lakebed in the span of a breath and submerging large swathes of the surrounding mountain forest.

PAT~

Wu Dao descended from the sky, his feet landing on solid ’ground’—the ochre-colored Energy Shield that had been revealed at the bottom of the lake after the mud was cleared.

Wu Dao fully extended his Spiritual Perception, and discovered that this Energy Shield actually extended for nearly ten li before curving and enclosing itself, like a giant egg protecting some unknown entity within.

"What an impressive setup!"

Wu Dao retracted his perception, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He could clearly sense that this ochre Energy Shield seemed to be the manifestation of an Array. It was connected to the Earthly Muddy Qi and the Magnetic Field of the surrounding mountains. Its defensive strength was astonishing; he estimated that even an expert at the Celestial Human Third Floor wouldn’t be able to break it with brute force.

’A mere Land Immortal Great Demon. Could it possess such methods?’

"Heh, I’d like to see just what secrets you’re hiding."

He sneered.

Wu Dao shot into the air and unfurled his Primordial Magnetic Field. The flow of all the surrounding Magnetic Field Power instantly became as clear as day, revealed down to the finest detail.