Essence Devouring Art

HUMMM—

With a thought, Wu Dao used his matriarchal authority to command the Ten Thousand Healing Crystals stored in the Primordial Demons’ hearts.

The crystals melted into Healing Fluid, which flowed through their hearts and bloodstreams, coursing through their bodies. Soon, their injuries were healed, and they were once again full of vigor.

""Thank you for your gift, Alliance Leader!""

The Primordial Demons felt their bodies return to peak condition. Overwhelmed with gratitude, they knelt and kowtowed, not once considering that the wool came from their own backs.

"Rise. You did well this time."

Wu Dao’s expression was odd. After a moment of thought, he said, "From now on, you don’t need to hand over the Ten Thousand Healing Crystals. Absorb them yourselves and increase your strength as quickly as possible."

After reaching the Human Extreme realm,

the Heaven and Earth Energy was endless and inexhaustible.

Whether he had the Ten Thousand Healing Crystals or not made no difference to him. There was no longer a need to fleece the Primordial Demons.

With the aid of the Ten Thousand Healing Crystals,

the Primordial Demons’ strength would also increase rapidly, and he would be the ultimate beneficiary.

’He’s pretty fast.’

Just then, Wu Dao noticed on his sea of consciousness radar that the Red Rat King was about to escape the range of his Primordial Magnetism senses.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

He wasted no more time. With a shift of his magnetic field, the Demon Pills from the Abyss instantly gathered by his side.

Then, Wu Dao distorted the magnetic field around him and vanished from the world in an instant. He became a silent, traceless phantom, giving chase in the direction the Red Rat King had fled.

The underground caverns were vast, dark, and deep.

The entire area beneath Linqing County, thanks to the efforts of the Red Rat King’s clan, had been transformed into a subterranean kingdom. Its tunnels branched in every direction, and one could occasionally see stockpiles of grain heaped up like small hills.

In a sense, the Red Rat King was a pretty good king. He never forgot his people even after becoming powerful. Already an Innate Great Demon, he still stole grain to feed his subjects.

Such selfless, devoted leadership

was leagues ahead of most humans.

Of course,

from a human perspective, this guy was the root of all evil.

If this were allowed to continue,

the entirety of Lin County would likely be eaten clean by his descendants.

"Damn you humans! I eat a little of your grain, and you slaughter my entire clan!"

In the cavern tunnels, the Red Rat King, his body scorched black, sprinted madly, grinding his teeth.

"Just you wait! Once I find my parents, my grandparents, and my ancestors, I’ll make you pay in blood!"

’Parents?’

’Grandparents?’

’Ancestors?’

’Tsk tsk...’

Wu Dao trailed behind like a Wandering Soul, munching on the Demon Pills of the Red Rat King’s wives and brothers while listening to the king’s hateful muttering. His eyes gleamed ever brighter.

’What a lucky star!’

Wu Dao gazed at the Red Rat King as he scurried out of the caverns, his face full of praise. He decided to give this lucky star a dignified death.

’I’ll swallow him whole.’

’Less painful that way.’

WHOOSH—

The sky was frigid, the ground was frozen, and heavy snow filled the air.

After leaving the caverns,

the Red Rat King transformed into a portly, simple-faced middle-aged man with a tuft of red hair tied into a small braid at the back of his head.

He stood on the snow, closed his eyes for a moment,

then his small eyes lit up. After getting his bearings, he shielded his body with Gang Qi and shot forward at extreme speed, blasting up countless snowflakes that shattered and swirled in his wake.

"Teleportation Points +100."

Trailing behind, Wu Dao finished off the last Demon Pill from a semi-transformed demon.

He opened his attribute panel—

[Physique: Human Extreme (Minor Achievement)]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (87% Potential Release) +

Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist 3000 Years (Fourth Floor True Intent) +

Divine Desolate Transformation 3000 Years (Horizontal Refining Sixth Gate Great Success) +]

[Teleportation Points: 66115]

The recent slaughter

had netted him a full 31,000 Teleportation Points!

His Teleportation Point count had reached a new high.

The two Innate Rat Kings were just a small part of the haul.

The bulk of it came from the vast number of 500- to 800-year-old Transformed Rat Demons, as well as the even more numerous semi-transformed ones—the little mice that had just begun to form nascent Demon Pills.

’I like rats.’

Wu Dao grinned, closed the attribute panel, and continued to follow the Red Rat King from a distance, silent and unseen.

Tonight’s late-night snack

was just the appetizer!

The main course was yet to come!

BOOM! RUMBLE—

Above the desolate mountains and wilderness,

the sonic boom of his Gang Qi barrier resounded. Snow churned like a dragon in his wake. As a Great Demon at the Innate Second Step, his flight speed was already quite fast.

Wu Dao trailed behind the Red Rat King, using his magnetic field to conceal the signs of his own flight. They quickly crossed hundreds of miles.

When the Red Rat King finally slowed down,

they had already flown into a vast, snow-covered plain.

’This place...’

Wu Dao looked down at the snowy wasteland, barren for a hundred miles in every direction. A thought struck him, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

’Such a desolate land

doesn’t seem like a place that could support a colony of rats.

So why did the Red Rat King come here?’

Heh!

’He’s not as dumb as he looks.’

Wu Dao scoffed. After sensing the magnetic field of the snowy plain, he fearlessly followed the Red Rat King down.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

Deep in the snowy plain, a world of silvery white stretched out. The swirling, goose-feather snow obscured his vision, and the cold wind cut like a knife.

In the distance,

one could even see crystalline icebergs and glaciers that had been there for an unknown amount of time, radiating a frigid current that seemed capable of freezing the very world.

HUMMM—

The moment the Red Rat King landed,

his body seemed to melt into its reflection on the ice. A gust of wind and snow blew past, and he vanished without a trace.

"Activate the array!!"

At that very instant,

an ancient roar echoed from deep within the snowy plain, tearing through the blizzard.

CRACK! CRACKLE—

Immediately,

from the ground around Wu Dao, an endless, terrifying torrent of deep blue cold erupted. It rapidly froze the air, forming a thick, gigantic dome of ice that trapped him inside.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

In an instant,

the temperature plummeted wildly.

The terrifying, deep blue cold energy assailed him, forcing Wu Dao’s figure to become visible. White frost formed on his eyebrows and hair, and it seemed as if he would be frozen into an ice sculpture at any moment.

He glanced around.

Through the translucent blue ice that sealed the heavens and earth, he could see a man and a woman standing in the air around him.

The male was ancient in appearance, with a triangular head, a long, drooping mustache, and small eyes that glinted with a cunning, vicious light.

The female was stunningly beautiful, with a seductive and enchanting figure. Her three thousand icy strands of hair danced in the wind, and her body was veiled in a light gauze, making her look like a polar goddess.

"Hahaha, you foolish human! You’re courting death, trying to play mind games with us from the Rat Race!"

The Red Rat King, who had disappeared earlier, reappeared in the air. His potbelly was prominent, and his red, drooping mustache fluttered as he looked down at Wu Dao and sneered, "This grandpa has only fifteen hundred years of cultivation. If you really wanted to kill me, how could this grandpa have possibly escaped?

You only let this grandpa live because you wanted to follow the vine to find the melon. Such a petty scheme... you’re just showing off your ax in front of Lu Ban’s door!"

"Shut up!"

Wu Dao, inside the Blue Ice Array, snorted coldly. He glared at the Red Rat King outside the array and scolded him with great dissatisfaction:

"This little bit is barely a mouthful! Where are your ancestors? Why didn’t you call them over, you useless thing!"

’These two old rat demons...

Their strength is formidable, one at the Fourth Floor, the other at the Fifth Floor.

But it’s not enough!

Far too few!

This falls far short of my expectations!’

"You..."

The Red Rat King was stunned for a moment, unable to comprehend where Wu Dao got the audacity. He was already trapped in a deadly situation, yet he still dared to scold him in the tone of an elder!

He made it sound as if he was a good-for-nothing disappointment.

"You’re courting death!"

Feeling his dignity as a rat had been insulted, the Red Rat King flew into a rage. Like a bullied child, he wailed to the two elder rat kings:

"Great-Grandfather, Great-Grandmother! Little White, Little Green, Little Black... they were all eaten by this beast! You have to grind his bones to dust! No, crack open his bones, suck out the marrow, and boil him into a soup!"

"Hmph. Rest assured."

The stunningly beautiful female among the two elder rat kings glanced at the Red Rat King with a benevolent expression, then sneered.

"Your Great-Grandfather’s Snow Soul Evil Qi was condensed from Ten Thousand Years of Cold Ice Qi. Don’t even mention a puny Celestial Human Fourth Floor like him—even someone at the Fifth Floor would be frozen into ice shards!"

They assumed Wu Dao was at the Celestial Human Fourth Floor because he had previously displayed Fourth Floor True Intent in Linqing County.

To prevent Wu Dao from having any hidden trump cards,

the Red Rat King had directly summoned his Great-Grandfather, the Snow Soul Demon King—a being who had lived for over five thousand years and reigned supreme at the Celestial Human Fifth Floor.

Furthermore, they had set up the Ice Soul Array in advance.

Not even a Fifth Floor expert could escape it!

No matter how many trump cards Wu Dao had,

it was impossible for him to bridge a two-floor gap in power and escape with his life!

"Junior, you dared to slaughter our Rat Race. You must have eaten the guts of a Divine Being! In your next life, watch who you cross!"

The Snow Soul Demon King’s expression was frigid. The Rat Race placed extreme importance on blood ties. Wu Dao had slaughtered a huge number of his descendants in one go; a grudge that couldn’t be repaid even by killing him a thousand times over.

HFF—

As the killing intent stirred,

the Snow Soul Demon King opened his mouth and spat a stream of eerie blue Snow Soul Evil Qi into the Ice Soul Array. The terrifying cold current completely froze the surrounding world, raising the Grand Array’s might to another level.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

Instantly,

a category-ten blizzard-hurricane raged within the Ice Soul Array. Crystalline blue snowflakes, carrying a terrifying chill, sliced through the frozen air, ravaging every inch of space.

Anyone below the Celestial Human Fifth Floor

would be instantly frozen into an ice sculpture, then sliced into countless tiny ice shards!

"Great-Grandfather, leave a whole corpse!"

Seeing Wu Dao swallowed by the ice storm, the Red Rat King’s small eyes lit up with greed as he issued the reminder.

"I’ll let you eat the tastiest part later."

The Snow Soul Mouse King replied dotingly. The Snow Soul Evil Qi spewing from his mouth grew even more terrifying, turning the inside of the Blue Ice Array into a zone of absolute destruction.

But...

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!

The sharp sound of metal striking metal suddenly rang out from the core of the Blue Ice Array, accompanied by countless exploding sparks. It was like a stubborn piece of Divine Iron in a Refining Pool, impervious to the thousands of ice blades cutting at it, not suffering the slightest bit of damage.

How was this possible?

The Snow Soul Mouse King’s expression turned to shock. Within his perception, Wu Dao stood in the Blue Ice Array facing the Ice Soul Evil Qi—an energy capable of shredding a Celestial Human Fourth Floor and freezing a Celestial Human Fifth Floor—with a calm and composed look. There was no panic in his eyes, only a hint of boredom.

’Is this person’s body forged from Divine Iron?’

"Die!!"

The Snow Soul Demon King grew desperate. He revealed his true form, transforming into a hundred-meter-tall ice rat that resembled a blue ice sculpture. He vibrated his Demon Pill, and the Snow Soul Evil Qi he spat out turned the world for over twenty li around into a frozen domain.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

The sound of metal being forged within the Ice Soul Array grew louder. A sky full of sparks mixed with blue snowflakes, creating a bizarrely brilliant and dazzling sight.

"Hm? Old thing, you actually hurt me!"

Suddenly,

Wu Dao’s brow furrowed. He felt his skin had been broken. He abruptly raised his god-like eyes and, through the Ice Soul Array, gave the Snow Soul Mouse King a single, emotionless glance.

DONG! DONG! DONG—

In that instant,

the Heart Lake Alarm Bell in the Snow Soul Mouse King’s mind rang wildly!

All the ice-needle-like fur on his body stood on end!

This sense of danger...

"Worthless descendant! Fuck your great-grandmother, you’ve killed me! Run!!"

BOOM!!

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR—

The Snow Soul Mouse King’s shocked and furious roar had just begun when the Cold Ice Array trembled violently. An endless draconic roar, accompanied by fiery, Crimson Gold qi and blood, instantly filled the entire space of the Grand Array.

And then—

BANG!!

Countless shards of ice exploded. A tidal wave of Extreme Yang Red Gold Qi Blood, like an erupting abyssal spring, surged to the heavens and submerged the sky.

At once,

the temperature of the world skyrocketed.

The frozen air melted, evaporated, and vaporized. The tidal wave of Extreme Yang qi and blood howled in all directions, melting everything in its path.

It was as if a Yang God was being born. The terrifying Yang Qi that filled the air instantly transformed this extremely cold region into a searing, red-hot, fiery hell.

RUMBLE—

Beneath a crimson sky, scorched red by the churning sea of Crimson Gold qi and blood for a hundred miles around,

Wu Dao stood tall, his Divine Desolate Dominating Body and Divine Ghost Heaven unleashed. He looked like one of the Ancient Demon Gods, with the face of an Evil Ghost and the eyes of a Divine Buddha, gazing down upon the three Rat Demons.

"Care to guess which one of you tastes the best?"