Essence Devouring Art

SPLASH...

The rain poured down, and thunder rumbled in waves.

The night grew deeper and more clamorous.

After the second patrol of guards moved away,

Wu Dao, having suppressed his aura, manipulated his body’s microscopic tissues to change his appearance. He became a phantom in the dark, rainy night, slipping silently into the manor.

Overlord Whale Fist—Meticulous Thunder Listening.

Even in the most chaotic and clamorous environment, Wu Dao could clearly perceive and distinguish the tiniest bits of information in advance.

He moved forward with his senses fully extended.

Without attracting anyone’s attention, he silently made his way toward the winery at the heart of the manor.

Elder Qin loved wine as if it were life itself.

Every night before bed, no matter what had happened during the day, nothing could stop him from getting thoroughly drunk in his winery. He was most likely already drinking at this very moment. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Wu Dao... Wu Dao... I’ll kill you... I’ll kill you!!"

As he passed a courtyard, Wu Dao’s perception suddenly caught an exceedingly venomous, yet weak, curse. Focusing his senses to "see," Wu Dao was amused.

’So it’s that wolf pup, Qin Nanchun.’

He wasn’t sure what method Elder Qin had used to treat him.

Qin Nanchun seemed to have recovered, but his face was as pale as paper. With his Dantian shattered, he was so weak a gust of wind could knock him over.

At this moment, he was writhing on the bed like a maggot, seething with impotent rage, endlessly cursing Wu Dao as if he wanted to eat him alive.

Wu Dao scoffed at the sight and was about to leave.

Then, he suddenly recalled some legends from his past life about fallen prodigies rising to power. A vicious glint appeared in his eyes, and he silently slipped into the courtyard.

’If you don’t cut the weeds by the roots,’

’they’ll grow again when the spring winds blow. Evil must be completely eradicated!’

’To give an enemy even a shred of hope is to disrespect your own life!’

"Who?!"

Qin Nanchun, who had been cursing non-stop on the bed, suddenly felt an intense chill wash over him. His bloodshot eyes snapped toward the doorway.

Although Wu Dao had destroyed his Dantian, costing him his Harmonizing Force, it didn’t mean he was now an ordinary person. His body might be temporarily weak, but his perception still far surpassed the Divine Power Realm.

Just a moment ago, he had clearly sensed it—a feeling as if a Fierce Beast from the Wilderness had emerged in the dark, rainy night outside his door. A faint, yet violent, aura made his heart pound with terror.

CREAK...

The door opened, then closed.

BOOM!!

A clap of thunder, seemingly from the Nine Heavens, exploded and lit up the world.

By this flash of light, Qin Nanchun saw the newcomer’s appearance.

He wore a gray shirt and pants, his physique as burly as a great beast’s. He was only a head shorter than the daytime Wu Dao, who had resembled a steel tyrannosaur.

But his face was that of a completely different person, and his eye sockets were empty, devoid of eyeballs. He seemed to be a blind man.

"Who are you? Get out!"

When the visitor remained silent, an inexplicable panic seized Qin Nanchun, and he barked, feigning courage he did not feel.

"Young Master Qin truly has a short memory."

Wu Dao grinned, revealing his signature, shark-like triangular teeth.

Within his empty eye sockets, a pair of black-gold eyes that resembled two abysses suddenly "grew" into place. His facial features shifted, returning to his true appearance, and he stared mockingly at Qin Nanchun on the bed.

The reason he’d hidden his eyeballs was that, although he could control his microscopic tissues to change his form, he still couldn’t perform the kind of cellular manipulation needed to change their color to match another person’s.

’A blind martial arts expert with a blood feud against Elder Qin, here for revenge.’ This was the cover identity he had created for the operation; he’d even picked out a fake name.

"Wu Dao... Guards! Guards!!"

The moment Qin Nanchun saw Wu Dao’s face, he screamed in terror as if he had seen a ghost. He pissed himself, which just went to show how deep the psychological trauma Wu Dao had inflicted on him was.

Unfortunately for him, no matter how he screamed, with the pouring rain and rumbling thunder, coupled with his own extreme weakness, his voice couldn’t carry beyond the courtyard even if he shouted himself hoarse.

His only hope was that the guards in the courtyard would notice something was wrong and inform Elder Qin.

"Don’t bother shouting."

Wu Dao picked his ear and said with a grin, "While you were cursing up a storm just now, I took care of all the guards in the courtyard.

So...

Accept your fate!"

WHOOSH—

The moment the words left his mouth, Wu Dao moved like a bolt of lightning. Shaking off a spray of raindrops, he crossed from the doorway to the bedside in an instant.

His iron hand, as large as a cattail fan, seized Qin Nanchun’s neck and lifted him up as if he were a little chick.

"Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

Wu Dao’s Black Abyss-like eyes narrowed, staring at the endlessly terrified Qin Nanchun. His voice was as cold as shards of ice.

"Live... Live..."

Qin Nanchun struggled to force out the two words from within the grip of Wu Dao’s iron hand, his desire to live incredibly strong.

Wu Dao slightly loosened his right hand. "Does your grandfather have a treasury? Where is it? And where is the copy of the Giant Whale Skill?"

That’s right.

Wu Dao’s trip here wasn’t just to kill Elder Qin; he also had his eyes on the elder’s private stash and the White Whale Martial Arts Hall’s core inheritance, the Giant Whale Skill.

If he wanted to take down that big hedgehog of unknown strength in Tan City anytime soon, he had to increase his own power!

The attribute panel required too many Teleportation Points; he couldn’t rely on that.

Even in the Heroic Domain, the Essence Devouring Art was a slow and steady grind.

It wasn’t something where you could just take some medicine, cultivate once, and see your potential increase by 1%.

Following the standard progression, even with Wu Dao’s vast experience, it would take at least half a year to possibly reach the Great Success stage.

This rate of improvement was already incredibly fast.

But Wu Dao wanted to be even faster!

That meant he needed to approach it from other angles.

For example, the Martial Arts of this World!

With the aid of the Essence Devouring Art’s Celestial Human State, coupled with his Meticulous control over his body, he could make rapid progress in any Martial Arts as if he were using a cheat.

The Giant Whale Skill was the White Whale Martial Arts Hall’s core Horizontal Training Secret Technique, rumored to grant a body capable of physically challenging an Innate master upon reaching Great Success.

It was an excellent option.

Unfortunately, although Wu Dao had been appointed a County-level Hall Master, the White Whale Martial Arts Hall had a probationary period. Normally, it lasted three years, to confirm one’s character and loyalty were sound.

Only then, or if one performed a great service, would Qi Canghai bestow the Giant Whale Skill.

And even then, it would be incomplete. One was only qualified to access the next layer after mastering the previous one.

If he could obtain the complete version ahead of schedule and use it to complement his Essence Devouring Art, his strength would skyrocket in the short term, even without relying on the attribute panel.

However, this would require a large amount of silver to purchase medicinal herbs to aid his Cultivation. Otherwise, even if he obtained the Giant Whale Skill, he could only stare at it helplessly. He would be better off just continuing to cultivate the Essence Devouring Art.

This old codger, Elder Qin, could solve a whole series of Wu Dao’s problems.

Having served as an elder for so many years while also keeping a gang of thugs to run his illicit businesses, he had certainly amassed a massive fortune.

Most importantly, a high-ranking member of the hall who had undergone a Second Rebirth and held four Giant Whale Orders was qualified to receive the complete copy of the Giant Whale Skill!

"Yes, yes, I’ll tell you! Don’t kill me!"

Hearing a chance to live, Qin Nanchun didn’t even consider any other issues. In a rapid-fire barrage, he sold out Elder Qin completely:

"There’s a secret room in my grandfather’s wine cellar. Every night after he’s had his fill of drink, he goes down to look at his fortune before sleeping.

As for the copy of the Giant Whale Skill, it should be in there too."

Wu Dao listened, mentally noted the details, and gave Qin Nanchun a strange look. ’Calling him a wolf pup was right on the money. An ungrateful one at that.’

Earlier today, the boy was gravely injured, and Elder Qin had made a great show of grieving for him, even going so far as to have a falling out with Qi Canghai just to ’seek justice’ on his behalf.

’I thought their bond as grandfather and grandson was deep.’

’But to think that Qin Nanchun would sell out his grandfather so completely without a moment’s hesitation, just to save his own skin.’

’Such a selfish, petty, and vengeful person... if I were to truly let him live, there’s no telling if he’d find a way to stab me in the back later.’

So...

CRACK!

The five fingers of the fan-sized iron palm snapped shut, the terrifying force instantly crushing Qin Nanchun’s entire neck into a pulp of red and white mush.

THUMP—

He released his grip, and Qin Nanchun’s limp body fell back onto the bed. It twitched for a moment, then went still, his eyes locked on Wu Dao, filled with resentment and venomous hatred until the very end.