Essence Devouring Art

Cloud Heaven Flow knew all too well.

This yellow smoke possessed a bizarre power that softened flesh and dissolved bone. It would spread relentlessly until every bone in a person’s body had melted away!

SPLURT!

Enduring the excruciating pain, a ruthless glint appeared in his eyes. With his sword in his right hand, he chopped his entire left arm clean off at the shoulder!

Fortunately, at the Realm of Divine Power, one could just barely staunch the flow of their blood and vital energy.

Otherwise, he would have passed out from massive blood loss at the very least!

By comparison, Mao Ba’s fate was far more gruesome and terrifying.

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s yellow smoke had sprayed directly onto his neck!

One moment, he felt an unbearable itch on his neck. The next, his neck stretched out like pulled dough, and his head dropped straight down to his chest!

Normally, such a horrifying injury would have killed Mao Ba instantly.

But, as expected of an Immortal Descendant, a faint green light emerged from within his body, forcibly keeping him alive!

"Agh, this pain is killing me!!"

But the pain was real!

Mao Ba clutched the head that had fallen to his chest, letting out an inhuman scream like a pig being slaughtered.

PFFT!

The next moment, enduring the agony, he spat out another mouthful of blood essence. The second silver talisman paper in his Gua Bag activated, and he transformed into a phantom, disappearing into the distant darkness in less than the blink of an eye!

He had fled!

Now, the remaining fighters—Zhao Wei, Mengqingshan, Mr. Ya, and Cloud Heaven Flow—were in deep trouble.

They had already exhausted themselves trying to stall the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui and buy time for Mao Ba. Their bodies were covered in wounds, and they were lucky to have even thirty percent of their strength remaining.

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui, on the other hand, had shrunk slightly, as if resisting the Thunder Talisman had consumed a great deal of its Life Force.

But it was in far better shape than the humans.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

It merely swept its arm, and everyone was sent flying like ragdolls, completely unable to resist.

RRRIP!

Cloud Heaven Flow suffered the most gruesome fate!

The young, righteous warrior, a man with the unyielding spirit of a true swordsman, had his longsword shattered by the creature’s claws before being torn to pieces. He died on the spot, his ambitions unfulfilled.

"Eat... Eat... Eat..."

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Its heavy footsteps echoed. The last vestiges of Spirituality in the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s pupils were gone, replaced by pure, instinctive hunger and bloodlust.

Seeing no more resistance, it immediately targeted the nearest person, Zhao Wei, and charged!

HUFF... HUFF... HUFF...

Zhao Wei’s body had returned to its normal size. He lay on the ground, his ragged breaths sounding like a wheezing bellows as he clung to life. He felt as if every bone in his body and all his internal organs had been shattered.

The stench of death washed over him.

His fifty years of life flashed before his eyes.

’Sigh... In the end, it was all just a fleeting dream, like a summer cicada’s song...’

In the end, all those memories dissolved into a long, unwilling sigh.

He closed his eyes.

He quietly awaited the arrival of death.

At the last moment, he suddenly thought of Wu Dao, whom he had met not long ago.

A Fist Dao Grandmaster at the Divine Power Peak!

’If he were to show up now, determined to save us, the nearly-spent Flesh and Blood Tai Sui wouldn’t be able to stop him.’

’But...’

’Would Wu Dao even try?’

CRUNCH!

An immense force crushed down! Bones shattered. His skull exploded.

An endless darkness consumed everything.

There were no "ifs."

"Eat, eat, eat..."

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui tore at the corpse with its claws and fangs as it ambled toward the remaining two, Mengqingshan and Mr. Ya.

The two men lay face down on the ground, only the faint rise and fall of their chests indicating they were still alive. It seemed they had given up all struggle.

Ten steps...

Five steps...

Three steps...

"Mr. Ya!!"

Mengqingshan, who had been deathly still, suddenly roared.

BAM!

The exhausted Mr. Ya slammed his hand on the ground and shot into the air. Air whistled around him as he dove like a celestial hawk, his intact left claw plunging straight toward the location of the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s Demon Pill!

It happened in a flash, as quick as lightning, with no warning whatsoever!

The timing was perfect. The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui never saw it coming.

’Hahaha, die!’

Mengqingshan’s eyes filled with madness and triumph.

’We’ve finally won!’

However...

WHOOSH—

SMACK!

At the critical moment, a fist-sized stone suddenly shot out from the darkness and struck the Eagle Shark’s left arm, knocking it off course by a foot.

ROAR!!

That one-foot difference!

The tables were turned!

Before the Eagle Shark could pull his arm from the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s chest, the frenzied beast tore him in two!

"Wu Dao!!!!"

Mengqingshan’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he let out a demented roar that shook the forest. He knew instantly who was responsible!

But it was no use. The surrounding darkness remained silent. There was no sign of Wu Dao, and no answer came.

’Bastard!’

’Monster!!’

’How could you be so cruel and vicious?!!’

Mengqingshan was so filled with hatred he could have coughed up blood. He had already guessed Wu Dao’s intentions. An icy chill crept over his body, and his soul felt smothered by an absolute, suffocating malice.

But all he could do was lie there, seething with impotent rage, waiting for the slaughter. He was powerless.

’One wrong step leads to a path of ruin.’

’If only I hadn’t underestimated the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui.’

’If only I had curbed my greed and gotten away in time.’

’How did I end up in such a state?’

’I am the Young Master of the Four Seas Gang... A master of Horizontal Training by the age of thirty...’

’I had so many honors, such a bright future.’

’But...’

’In the end, it’s true what they say: "Men die in pursuit of wealth, just as birds die in pursuit of food."’

’The moment desire takes hold, all wisdom vanishes!’

The light in Mengqingshan’s eyes turned to ash. He completely gave up the struggle.

’The predator becomes the prey.’

In his final moments, Mengqingshan suddenly felt a sense of release, of acceptance.

A profound silence fell.

WHOOSH...

The stars and moon shone brightly, and the night wind blew in powerful gusts.

All the noise and clamor had faded away.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH...

In the forest clearing, the sounds of shattering bones and clashing teeth, rhythmic and orderly, became the only melody of the night.

CRUNCH—

Suddenly, a jarring, uncoordinated chewing sound broke the beautiful symphony of death the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui was quietly enjoying.

ROAR!!

It whipped its head around and roared a warning into the darkness of the forest, like a feeding beast whose kill was being eyed by another Hunter.

Yes. A Hunter!

In the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s perception, the newcomer was ’not human.’

It was a super-predator, something at the very peak of the food chain!

Its aura was an undisguised storm of violent bloodlust—primitive, savage, and utterly devoid of humanity!

It reminded the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui of a time when it was weak.

It had once been targeted by a forest Tiger King, which had cornered it, painstakingly dug it out of the mud with its claws, and then subjected it to the suffocating terror of being torn apart, bite by bite.

’Danger!’

’Extreme danger!’

At its peak, the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui would have felt no fear!

But now...

Even with its recent "meal"...

Even if the unknown "Hunter" let it finish eating...

It would, at best, only recover sixty or seventy percent of its peak Power.

After all, that last blast of yellow smoke was its ultimate trump card. Using it had drained the very source of its Demon Pill, and that was not something it could easily recover.

Its chances of victory...

...were now an unknown!

CRUNCH—

GULP...

The final sound of chewing and swallowing echoed in the darkness.

Wu Dao’s nine-foot-tall, barbaric frame—as burly as a bear and as powerful as a tyrannosaur—stepped out from the darkness. He spat out a shard of bone. "Fucking stinks!"

The meat of the Red Armored Bat King was disgusting.

It was harder to swallow than shit. A can of surströmming would be a gourmet meal in comparison.

But as they say, the fouler the stench, the richer the "flavor."

Eleven Teleportation Points.

That was even more nutritious than the Little Snake Demon from before.

It brought his accumulated Teleportation Points to 40.

Also...

"URP..."

Wu Dao let out a deep belch. A warmth like a furnace spread through his stomach, filled with an astonishing amount of Energy—enough to sustain him through a fight to the death.

CRACKLE... POP...

He rolled his stiff neck.

Wu Dao grinned at the restless Flesh and Blood Tai Sui, his eyes flashing with unconcealed, ravenous greed. "Go on, eat your fill. Don’t mind me.

The victor is king, the weak are meat.

It’s just the natural way of the food chain.

However, I don’t like ’lean’ meat. So please, do me the favor of fattening up a little faster.

Of course..."

RRRIP...

Wu Dao’s tone suddenly shifted. A crazed light filled his eyes as he tore his shirt to shreds. He spread his arms wide, revealing a magnificent upper torso built to the golden ratio. His muscles coiled like dragons and tigers, resembling the carapace of some ancient, colossal crab, and pulsed with immense Life Force:

"Kill me, and you’ll get a damn good meal yourself!

So...

For the great evolution of life!

Let us, with the utmost respect, begin this hunt! Natural selection, where the loser becomes the meal!!"