Essence Devouring Art

He ignored the stunned Zhao Jianji.

Wu Dao passed through the crowd and headed straight for the Lin Village ancestral hall.

The story was complete.

It also contained the information Wu Dao was looking for.

For instance, only two people within Lin Village knew the location of the Stone God: the former Clan Leader, Lin Zongyao, and the deceased Lin Zongwen.

Lin Zongwu, the head of his branch of the clan, only knew the approximate location was deep within the old village site in the mountains. He didn’t know the exact hiding spot. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

However,

there was still one item in the Lin Village ancestral hall that could pinpoint the Stone God’s location.

And yet...

’Has it grown cautious because of what happened last night?’

Inside the ancestral hall, Wu Dao’s expression darkened as he took down a cracked, blood-colored jade memorial tablet from its central place of honor. The names of over a thousand people from Lin Village were densely micro-carved upon it.

This blood-colored Jade Token had been refined by that Daoist long ago, using a drop of blood taken from between the brows of every person in Lin Village.

It contained an Array structure that Wu Dao couldn’t comprehend; it was so intricate that its profound nature could only be perceived when one actually held it.

When he probed it with his Spiritual Perception, he discovered all sorts of chaotic spiritual wills lingering within. Deeper inside, a faint channel connected to the spirit of some colossal entity.

Unfortunately,

the Jade Token was shattered, and the channel was severed.

’Public opinion...’

CRUNCH!

With a flicker in his eyes, Wu Dao crushed the fragmented tablet into dust, the fine powder spilling from between his fingers. A look of sudden realization dawned on his face.

As he’d expected, this Jade Token was a miniature Spiritual Array created through the methods of an Immortal Family. It connected to the Public Opinion Stone above and the people of Lin Village below.

Once the collective will of most of Lin Village’s people reached a certain threshold, it would trigger a feedback mechanism within the Array, and the Public Opinion Stone would receive the command to act on their behalf.

But now, this Token was shattered.

This meant...

The Public Opinion Stone had developed its own consciousness over the vast span of time.

The death of the Chong Ghost last night had alerted it to danger, so it had severed its connection with Lin Village to prevent its enemies from finding it.

However, he was certain of one thing: it was still in its original location.

That Daoist from long ago had apparently worried about the Public Opinion Stone gaining sentience, so he had placed a restriction at its core, eternally binding it to its ’birthplace’.

’The old village, then?’

Wu Dao stepped out of the ancestral hall, his head raised toward the majestic and sprawling Niu Shou Mountain, so named for its resemblance to an ox’s head. The morning mist billowed and steamed, obscuring the view of its upper reaches.

Back when that Daoist was severely injured, Lin Village was just a poor mountain hamlet, its people scraping a living from the earth. Only after becoming prosperous did the entire village relocate to the foot of the mountain, a place more livable and convenient for production.

The Public Opinion Stone’s general location was within the old village grounds. The area was vast, and given that the stone was intentionally hiding, searching for it would be troublesome.

However,

that was only true for an ordinary person.

After Wu Dao entered the Heroic Great Success Domain, his brain had undergone another transformation, expanding the range of his Spiritual Perception to monitor a two-hundred-meter radius around him.

With a general location to start from, finding the Public Opinion Stone wouldn’t be difficult for him at all.

"Hall Master, it’s urgent!"

Just as Wu Dao decided to arrange some follow-up matters before heading into the mountains, Zhao Jianji came rushing over.

"What is it?"

Wu Dao’s brow furrowed, an inexplicable sense of foreboding rising within him.

"Someone..."

Zhao Jianji said breathlessly, "Lin Zongwu said that before dawn this morning, two people from the Imperial Court’s Jingzhe Bureau entered Lin Village! He doesn’t know what method they used, but they confirmed the Public Opinion Stone’s location and headed straight into the mountains."

The Jingzhe Bureau!

Wu Dao’s expression darkened. ’Someone’s trying to cut me off!’

The Jingzhe Bureau was founded by the Great Li Ancestor.

Its duty was to monitor and handle the corruption festering in the dark corners of the Dali territory.

Through six hundred years of turmoil, even as the Dali dynasty declined, the Bureau was never abolished. It held a formidable reputation both On the Mountain and in the world below.

In these chaotic times, with demons and other evils emerging to wreak havoc, such matters naturally fell within their jurisdiction.

Setting aside their many rumored deeds...

In terms of strength alone:

Within the Jingzhe Bureau’s hierarchy,

the Seal Master was stationed in the heartland of the Central Plains Imperial Court, while under him, the Commander-in-Chiefs of the four seasons—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—presided over the four regions of Dali.

Further down the hierarchy were the Prefecture Commanders, and beneath each Commander were the ranks of Hundred Households, Xiaoqi, and Jingzhe Guard.

The truly terrifying part was this:

even the most common Jingzhe Guard in the Bureau was at the Cocoon-Breaking Realm, having undergone one Rebirth!

Furthermore, they never recruited from the outside.

They were almost all secretly selected as children and brainwashed into die-hard loyalists, single-mindedly devoted to vanquishing evil and serving the Celestial Emperor to their last breath!

Under these circumstances,

if those two from the Jingzhe Bureau were not ordinary Jingzhe Guards...

if he was too late, he wouldn’t even get the leftovers!

Wu Dao’s expression darkened. He had spent a solid month in frenzied training, finally achieved a major increase in strength, and built up his confidence. He was just about to make his move and hunt.

’And now someone is trying to snatch it from me?’

He was absolutely furious!

GRIND... Wu Dao ground his Fine Steel Shark Teeth, sending sparks flying and making Zhao Jianji’s heart leap in terror. He said in a chilling voice,

"You don’t need to follow me. Investigate how many of Lin Zongwen’s die-hard loyalists are left in Lin Village. You should understand the principle that if you don’t pull out the roots, the weeds will just grow back.

Also,

regarding Er Gou’s severe injuries and the men who were hurt today... have a long talk with Lin Zongwu about compensation."

BOOM!!

The words had barely left his mouth.

Before Zhao Jianji could even reply,

a thunderous explosion erupted from the level ground. The earth trembled violently as a large area collapsed and burst apart, sending soil and rock fragments flying through the air.

The turbulent Gangfeng Qi Flow created by the explosive, high-speed compression scraped countless tiles off the nearby brick houses, sending them clattering and crashing to the ground.

But the one responsible, Wu Dao, had already vanished from Zhao Jianji’s line of sight, plunging headfirst into Niu Shou Mountain like a furious dragon bursting from the sea.

BOOM!

BAM! BAM! BAM—

The very next moment,

a series of loud, intense sonic booms echoed through the mountains, as if Niu Shou Mountain were being bombarded by a volley of missiles.

Earth and rock shattered, giant trees toppled, and turbulent currents of air carried dust and smoke skyward. Wu Dao was plowing a flat path straight up the mountain by sheer force.

"Hiss... Even someone with a body of solid steel wouldn’t dare to smash through things like that!"

Covered in dust, Zhao Jianji stared wide-eyed at the path being carved up Niu Shou Mountain at incredible speed—a trail of shattered rock and splintered wood forged by pure, brute force. The sight made his teeth ache and his heart palpitate.

Indeed, a body of steel and iron wouldn’t dare to smash through like that.

But what about bones refined thirty times into fine steel and flesh refined twenty-nine times?

RUUUUMBLE—

The earth quaked and the mountains shook amidst waves of thunderous booms.

Wu Dao’s fine-steel, tyrannosaur-like body tore a path forward, smashing through everything. His physique glowed red from the friction of the shockwaves, and he left a long, hurricane-like wake of air in his trail.

Whether it was giant boulders or towering ancient trees in his path, he neither dodged nor evaded; they shattered on impact as if they were made of tofu.

Two hundred and twenty years of Meticulous Thunder Listening.

How terrifyingly precise had his Spiritual Perception, his control over his body’s Power, and his reaction speed become?

Whether charging straight ahead or turning, he could anticipate every move without slowing in the slightest. With a body of fine steel, he had no fear of injury.

In his eyes, the complex mountain forest was no different from a flat, open road. He wasn’t the least bit worried about being unable to adjust his course in time and smashing headfirst into the mountainside.

BOOM~

A few moments later,

Wu Dao had thundered his way up the mountain. Guided by his perception, he burst into a wide, flat clearing on the mountainside.

WHOOSH—

After he stopped, the turbulent Gangfeng Qi Flow from his charge blew away the dense, sky-blotting fog around him. The blue sky was visible for a brief moment before being swallowed again.

Once the thunderous echoes faded from the forest,

the surrounding area fell silent. All traces of birds, beasts, and insects were gone, leaving only the faint, cold, veil-like mist that shrouded everything.

Lin Village!

Wu Dao squinted, his gaze fixed on the end of the dirt road.

Within the veil-like mist, a dilapidated gatehouse leaned precariously, a wooden plaque on top bearing the name: Lin Village.

This was the old site of Lin Village.

The "great hedgehog"—the one that left Transforming Force masters helpless, gave even Innate experts trouble, and had torn Lin Village apart—was hiding somewhere inside.

With his eyes alone, he could see that the village was overgrown with weeds amidst crumbling walls and ruins. He could vaguely make out the shapes of adobe and thatched-roof houses.

It wasn’t hard to see that the former Lin Village had been no different from most poor, rural villages.

Now abandoned, it was at most a bit gloomy and dilapidated, a common enough sight with nothing visibly abnormal about it.

But that was just an illusion!

Wu Dao closed his eyes slightly, his Spiritual Perception spreading out to probe the village.

The moment his perception touched the ethereal mist within the village, it vanished like a stone tossed into the ocean. He found it impossible to "see," and everything became illusory.

’Yin Fog again?’

Opening his eyes, Wu Dao muttered to himself, unsurprised.

Over the past few days, using his status as the Hall Master of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, he had gained access to many channels for learning more about the world’s anomalies in detail.

Places that bred demons and other evils often had a convergence of yin and foul energies. This would coalesce into a shroud of Yin Fog, capable of blocking Spiritual Perception and creating illusions.

Its strength was determined by the power of the demon or evil entity it concealed.

This Yin Fog in Lin Village was terrifyingly potent, capable of blocking the Spiritual Perception of someone at Wu Dao’s level.

This proved that the Public Opinion Stone had indeed transformed into a powerful demon.

The cause was most likely corruption from the various impure and malicious thoughts absorbed from the people of Lin Village over their long years of worship.

Huuuh~

Wu Dao slowly exhaled, his gaze flickering with uncertainty.

The terrifying strength of the Yin Fog meant that the two Jingzhe Guards hadn’t succeeded yet; they were very likely trapped inside.

In this situation, Wu Dao didn’t know whether to feel pleased or concerned.

The lowest-ranking Jingzhe Guards were at the Cocoon-Breaking Realm. For those two to have dared to enter the old Lin Village site despite such powerful Yin Fog, meant they had a certain degree of confidence.

They couldn’t just be at the ordinary Cocoon-Breaking Realm; it was highly likely they had undergone a Second Rebirth, or even a Third!

But even with that kind of strength, they were still trapped inside.

So just how terrifying was that "great hedgehog"?

’Second-Layer Black Lotus?’

’Or Three-Layered?’

A Second-Layer Black Lotus Fierce Gu could already force a Martial Artist who had undergone a Third Rebirth to tread as if on thin ice.

And if it was Three-Layered...

No wonder even Qi Canghai had found the situation thorny and had specifically warned Wu Dao not to enter Lin Village.

"Heh, a Three-Layered Black Lotus..."

Wu Dao rolled his neck, producing the clanging sound of grinding fine steel. He licked his lips greedily and strode into the old Lin Village site.

A month ago, he might have been wary.

But one month later,

he was a completely different man. What was there to fear?