Essence Devouring Art

"Heh... heheh... Good... Good!"

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s ugly, deformed face was contorted with mania. Facing Wu Dao’s challenge, it did not retreat. A grating, raspy voice, like the sawing of wood, rasped out intermittently:

"You... are a tiger... but I... am also a tiger now. I’m... not afraid of you!"

Two tigers cannot share one mountain.

When two tigers meet, one must die!

The shadow of being preyed upon by a fierce tiger when it was weak had haunted it for several hundred years.

Even after it grew strong and killed that tiger.

In the end, it had still retreated back then.

Faced with a powerful Hunter.

It had fled with its tail between its legs like a stray dog!

The shame!!

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s transformation was incomplete, its intelligence rudimentary. It didn’t know what an obsession was, or what a Heart Demon was.

It only knew one thing.

If it fled again, it might never become the king who roared through the mountains and forests, before whom all creatures bowed. It would never be able to truly make its own voice heard in this cruel world!

’Kill him!’

’Kill this tiger!’

’Trample on his corpse!’

’Bathe in his blood!’

’Chew on his flesh and bones!’

’Roar out my own majesty to this world, to all its living beings!!’

’Primal Instinct!!’

Sensing the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s surging, primitive, bestial nature, Wu Dao smiled in satisfaction.

Compared to conflicts born from grievances, passions, deep-seated hatred, or racial allegiances...

...he much preferred it when all things returned to their natural state—

’This Great Era is a fighting cage, and we are all trapped beasts!’

A fight for survival!

For evolution!

For dignity!

The purest, most primitive slaughter!

GULP...

He swallowed the last mouthful of flesh and blood.

The young "tiger" rippled his muscles, a low growl escaping his throat as he slowly straightened his back.

CRACKLE! POP!—

His bones cracked loudly, and his flesh-and-blood carapace vibrated.

The ten-foot-tall, crimson, demonic muscle-man reappeared, his ten half-meter-long, razor-sharp claws glinting with a deadly cold light!

"ROAR!!"

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s listlessness vanished. It roared at Wu Dao like thunder, its demonic and malevolent might shaking the surroundings like a collapsing mountain and a raging tsunami.

It was telling Wu Dao something.

This was its perfect hunting form!

It would hold nothing back. This was a fight to the death!

WHOOSH—

A foul, stinking gust of wind blasted him, stirring Wu Dao’s dormant, hot blood and rousing his powerful heart, which beat like the core of a volcano!

THUMP!!

The sound of a heartbeat!

Like thunder, like a drum, like the prelude to a volcanic eruption!

Building!

Roaring!

Erupting!!

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP—

The war drums thundered, the lava surged!

A breathing sound with a strange rhythm, mingled with the eerie wails and whispers of Gods and Ghosts, enveloped the battlefield, shaking one’s very soul.

"ROAR!!"

Not to be outdone, the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui hunched over and roared, its cry blasting out in all directions.

The roar of a Demon.

The whispers of Gods and Ghosts.

The battle auras of the two surged majestically, rising wildly, like two great floods crashing into one another!

HFF—

A long stream of blood-red mist was exhaled.

Wu Dao’s tyrannosaurus-like physique was now covered in scorching, crimson skin. Thick, bulging veins coiled across its surface like sinister black snakes.

Every muscle in his body seemed like a block of red-hot steel that had come to life, rising and falling as they frantically wrung out his Life Origin.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!—

Within his Brain Domain. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

One protective shackle after another unlocked.

His Life Force skyrocketed!

In the blink of an eye—

His eyes became like a god’s!

His face, like an Evil Ghost’s!

His body’s functions were released to two hundred percent!

Divine Ghost Heaven, descended once more!

This time, Wu Dao’s human potential was already approaching the Heroic Domain. Activating this state again, his strength was more than just doubled compared to when he was at the Red Fire Ore mine.

He felt as if a volcano was hidden inside him, its infinite Power the sealed-off magma. The pressure was immense, demanding release!

Then...

...let the volcano erupt!!

BOOM!!

He stomped his foot!

The Power, like an exploding cannonball, instantly caused the ground to shatter and collapse!

The mud and sand undulated like waves. Within a five-meter radius, fragments of bat flesh, grit, and bloody water all trembled and flew into the air, hovering several feet high!

KABOOM!!

The crimson, burly figure shot out like a fiery dragon, blasting through the hovering debris of flesh and gore, which exploded into a cloud of red mist.

Ten meters!

It took less than the snap of a finger!

The Demon God-like Wu Dao was already in front of the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui, fist clenched. His savage grin, stretching from ear to ear, was reflected with terrifying clarity in the Tai Sui’s rapidly contracting pupils!

Fast!

Too fast!

His strength was completely incomparable to anyone it had faced before!

In a flash!

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui only had time to form a wall with its arms to block its chest.

BANG!!

The next instant.

It felt as if it had been struck head-on by a Barbaric Whale that roamed the vast seas. An irresistible, immense Power instantly shattered its pride-and-joy flesh-and-blood carapace, and its bones suffered comminuted fractures!

KABOOM!!

Only then!

Did the air compressed behind Wu Dao from his supersonic movement violently explode outwards!

The turbulent, violent airflow swept up the still-falling flesh and gore. The muddy, bloody water covering the ground shot out like a tidal wave, instantly clearing the area, as if a sea of blood had been parted in two!

SQUELCH!!

The terrifying brute force was not completely spent after shattering the flesh and bone of its arms.

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s legs plowed two foot-deep trenches in the ground.

Its ten-foot-tall, heavy body was dragged for five or six meters before being sent flying like a rag doll. It crashed into a rooted stone twice the height of a man, causing countless cracks to spiderweb across its surface.

"Heheh... Not strong enough!!"

A low, demonic voice issued from Wu Dao’s mouth, expressing his dissatisfaction.

He wore the twisted smile of an Evil Ghost.

CRACK! CRACK! He twisted his neck, bent his legs, and stomped, shattering the ground. He launched himself forward, blasting through the air, and swung his right leg like the tail of a great whale, chopping down towards the dazed Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s head!

Whale Splitting Technique!!

BANG!!

CRACK-CRACK—

The massive rock exploded, shattering into pieces. Shrapnel shot out in all directions like bullets, piercing through the forest and striking leaves, embedding themselves in the surrounding tree trunks with a series of THUDS.

WHOOSH!!

Amidst the dust and smoke.

Wu Dao’s Evil Ghost-like figure shot out, tearing through the cloud of dust. He gave it no chance to breathe, held nothing back, and charged with a deafening boom towards the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui, which had just narrowly escaped disaster!

He had given the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui a chance to recover.

This was to ensure the nutritional value of this "meat" wouldn’t be too diminished.

If he had been greedy.

He could have easily taken advantage of its weakness to finish it off.

But the "meat" obtained that way would have too little nutritional value to satisfy his appetite!

Therefore, he needed to ensure the prey’s nutritional value was worth his effort, without it having enough fight left to wound him, the Hunter.

The current Flesh and Blood Tai Sui...

...perfectly met Wu Dao’s expectations.

Its thorns had already been mostly pulled by Mengqingshan and the others.

All he had to do was crush it with absolute Power, end the hunt quickly, and prevent too much of the prey’s nutritional value from being lost.

To be honest.

If his Potential Release progress wasn’t so low and his physical body so fragile...

...Wu Dao would have wanted to unleash the Second Day Secret Method from his Essence Devouring Art and instantly kill the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui.

A pity...

BANG! BANG! BANG!—

RUMBLE—

Within the Dark Forest.

Earth crumbled, stones shattered, and massive trees were toppled!

Clouds of dust billowed and churned, rising and falling in a turbulent tide.

After dodging at first.

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui grew vicious. It stopped dodging and began to trade blows wildly with Wu Dao, a furious exchange of collisions that continuously destroyed the surrounding terrain.

"RAWR! RAWR! RAWR—"

"Haha, yes, yes, just like that! Hit me, hit me! No dodging allowed!!"

A wild roar.

A maniacal laugh.

It was like two Primordial Fierce Beasts fighting for the title of Overlord.

A tragic, ferocious aura spread through the darkness in all directions.

In the distance, beast after beast trembled, lacking even the courage to flee under the oppressive might of an absolute apex Hunter.

ROAR!

Suddenly, the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s roar intensified, filled with high spirits and abnormal excitement!

BOOM—

CRASH!!

In the darkness, Wu Dao’s molten-lava Demon-like figure was sent flying backward. He crashed into the ground, blasting a crater, then tumbled continuously away, kicking up clouds of dust.

THUD!!

The Flesh and Blood Tai Sui’s massive body broke the sound barrier as it slammed into the ground, missing crushing Wu Dao’s head by a hair’s breadth.

Ten meters away.

Wu Dao’s entire body was a bloody mess, with almost no spot left unscathed. Blood gushed out, pooling like little streams at his feet.

’I’m extremely pissed off right now!’

Not because he couldn’t defeat the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui.

But because the bastard had once again drawn on the Power of Origin from its Demon Pill to maintain its peak condition!

’It’s messing with my meat!!’

"ROAR—"

A pained roar, filled with endless hatred, erupted from the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui.

Its condition wasn’t good either. Wu Dao had smashed its left arm into a mangled pulp that hung limply at its side.

Its ten-foot-tall physique was covered in fist-sized craters deep enough to reveal bone. Mangled flesh was mixed with shattered bone fragments—a truly gruesome sight.

If not for its reliance on its Demon Pill.

In this state...

...it wouldn’t even be able to move a muscle, let alone fight!

However, it wasn’t anxious. In fact, it even felt a sense of glee.

Because it could feel that the "tiger" before it was on its last legs.

The longer this dragged on...

...the more fiercely its Life Force would burn.

If it just kept stalling with its Demon Pill...

...the tiger would be drained of life by its own Power, burning itself out from within!

When that time comes!

Victory would belong completely to it, and it would finally undergo its true metamorphosis!