Essence Devouring Art

BANG!

The ground exploded with a deafening roar.

Wu Dao’s mountain-like physique shot into the sky like a rainbow, plowing through layers of air. Though he moved second, he arrived first. His giant palm spread wide, snatching the Yellow Dragon Daoist’s legs and, with a single squeeze, crushing them into a pulp of mangled flesh and bone!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—

After landing,

Wu Dao said nothing. Gripping the Yellow Dragon Daoist’s legs, he swung him like a hammer, smashing him wildly against the ground.

In the span of a few breaths,

the surrounding ground was densely pockmarked with blood-stained, human-shaped craters.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist was breathing his last, his body a bloody, unrecognizable mess. He was charred black by the raging Blood Flame, emitting a strange, burnt odor.

THUMP~

Wu Dao exhaled a turbid breath and tossed the Yellow Dragon Daoist to the ground like a broken rag doll. He was just about to crush his skull with a stomp.

"Wait... wait..."

the Yellow Dragon Daoist’s voice rasped, extremely weak.

A flicker of light crossed Wu Dao’s eyes.

He retracted his raised foot.

"What, you have some last words?"

Wu Dao shook his massive, ferocious head. The scalp tissue that had been damaged earlier was already fully healed.

His eyes, which spewed Blood Flame, stared indifferently at the unrecognizable form of the Yellow Dragon Daoist on the ground. He seemed to have found a shred of mercy, giving him a chance to speak his final words.

"Can you let this old Daoist die with some understanding... Why did you have to kill me?"

The Yellow Dragon Daoist’s increasingly charred eyes stared at the night sky, which had been burned red. His voice was laced with unwillingness, his entire being like a flickering candle in the wind, seemingly about to have his Fate Return to the Yellow Springs at any moment.

"Why kill you?"

Wu Dao’s expression was indifferent, his tone certain. "Because you wanted to harm me."

"..."

WHOOSH~

The air seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Atop the scorched mountain peak,

only the crackling of furiously burning plants and buildings remained.

"You... PFFT!"

Such an absurd reason.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist, his anger overwhelming him, coughed up a large mouthful of congealed blood.

’What do you mean, *I* wanted to harm *you*?!’

’You barge into someone’s home for no reason, beat them half to death, and then say you’re hitting them because they wanted to harm you?’

’How did I want to harm you?’

’With your level of power, where would I get the nerve to even think of harming you?’

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

It was too infuriating.

On the verge of exploding with rage, the Yellow Dragon Daoist had no choice but to gasp for air, his mouth wide open like a fish on land.

’This old fool is so slow!’

A hint of impatience, however, appeared on Wu Dao’s face.

"Heh... heheh."

Just then,

the Yellow Dragon Daoist, who had been struggling on the brink of death, suddenly let out a mocking, cold laugh. It could even be described as a crazed roar:

"You whelp! Remember this in your next life: never give your enemy a chance to breathe! Now, come be buried with this old Daoist!!"

BZZZZ!

The moment the words fell,

the air rippled violently like water.

The previously mangled body of the Yellow Dragon Daoist was suddenly enveloped in thousands of rays of lightning. A tattered, purple Talisman—ethereal and indistinct, invisible to the naked eye—flew from the Purple Mansion between his brows.

This tattered Talisman was forged from countless strands of purple thunderbolt, crackling loudly. It emanated waves of Celestial Might, a Supreme Yang power that could judge all things in the world!

"Not good!!"

Wu Dao let out a ’panicked’ shriek, his face draining of color as he turned to flee.

BOOM!!

But in less than the blink of an eye,

the tattered purple Thunder Talisman had already exploded.

It burst into thousands of shooting bolts of Thunder Gang that blazed across the night sky. Terrifying Thunder Energy enveloped the ruins of the entire Yellow Dragon Temple.

"Haha... Let’s die together!"

At the core of the destructive thunderstorm, the Yellow Dragon Daoist laughed with crazed, malicious glee.

This tattered purple Thunder Talisman,

was a high-grade Spirit Talisman.

Only a Land Immortal at the third step of Qi Refining would have the cultivation to create it.

This was because refining this Talisman required using Spiritual Gang to capture a real bolt of Celestial Thunder!

Then, one had to use a powerful Divine Soul Dao Fire from their Purple Mansion to concentrate and seal the Celestial Thunder within a Talisman before its power could dissipate.

Once it detonated,

it was a true, heaven-sent thunderbolt strike!

Below the level of a Land Immortal, absolutely no one could withstand it!

The Yellow Dragon Daoist had acquired it through a stroke of luck.

While traveling the world in his youth, he had found this high-grade Thunder Talisman in the ruins of a Taoist Sect. He had kept it hidden as his ultimate trump card and had never used it.

The main reason was that the cost of using this Talisman was too great.

The Spiritual Consciousness left behind by the Land Immortal within the Talisman was too immense to be truly refined.

It was impossible to control from a distance while flying; it could only be used at close range. To use it was to take the enemy down with you.

This kind of technique—killing one thousand of the enemy at the cost of one thousand of your own—

unless one was at the end of their rope,

no sane person would dare to use it.

After all, not everyone has the courage to face death calmly.

However,

after sensing Wu Dao’s absolute killing intent,

the Yellow Dragon Daoist knew his fate was sealed. Tonight was the night he would die; there was no chance of escape.

Since death was certain,

what was there to hesitate about? He would just take his enemy down with him!

’You want my life?’

’Then you can forget about living!’

Although the purple Thunder Talisman was tattered and incomplete, its Thunder Power greatly diminished,

when detonated at such close range,

its power was still enough to annihilate any Grandmaster of the First Step.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist refused to believe it couldn’t blast Wu Dao to death!

BOOM—

Amidst the Yellow Dragon Daoist’s crazed laughter, thousands of explosive bolts of lightning destroyed everything in their path, completely submerging the entire Yellow Dragon Temple.

In the central core of the explosion,

the desperate Yellow Dragon Daoist didn’t last a moment before being reduced to flying ash.

At the very last moment,

he strained to open his eyes wide.

He wanted to see a look of pain and regret on Wu Dao’s face.

However...

There was no regret.

There was no pain.

The only thing there was...

...was a terrifying, twisted face where Gods and Ghosts coexisted, its eyes devoid of any shred of humanity.

’He let me use this Thunder Talisman on purpose?’

’Why...’

BOOM!

The thunderstorm ripped his final lingering thoughts to shreds.

Endless darkness completely carried the Yellow Dragon Daoist away.

RUMBLE—

The sound of the exploding thunderbolt echoed in all directions, rumbling ceaselessly.

At the foot of Fuguang Mountain,

Chen Ergou and a group of Inner Strength Martial Artists from the Tan County Branch had just arrived at the Fuguang Mountain area. Before they could even catch their breath, they were stunned by the terrifying flash of lightning from the peak.

That Celestial Might, which could judge all things,

made his hair stand on end even from such a great distance. He felt as insignificant as dust, couldn’t help but shrink his neck, and swallowed hard. "The Hall Master isn’t in trouble, is he?"

"He should be... fine, right?"

Lv Tiezhu also wiped away a cold sweat and said in a low voice, "We haven’t known him for long, but I get the feeling the Hall Master isn’t the type to do something he’s not confident about."

But,

we shouldn’t act rashly. When it’s over, the Hall Master will come and find us."

His anxious tone,

proved that Lv Tiezhu was also feeling unnerved, unsure if Wu Dao could emerge unscathed.

...

「Fuguang Mountain Peak.」

Yellow Dragon Temple Main Peak.

WHOOSH—

The thousands of lightning rays had vanished without a trace. The entire main peak was deathly silent. An area several hundred meters wide at the core of the thunderstorm had been razed to the ground.

In the center,

within a massive crater ten meters in radius, residual wisps of lightning crackled.

The only thing left standing,

was a sky-propping figure, two zhang tall and resembling a Demon Mountain. Its entire body was like charred stone. As the night wind blew, pieces of blackened human tissue flaked off.

There was no heartbeat.

There was no breath.

The majestic physique was lifeless.

It seemed he had perished along with the Yellow Dragon Daoist, falling on the spot.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes...

Time slowly trickled by.

The majestic figure standing in the crater remained utterly still.

In the darkness,

a long-hidden breath grew gradually greedy and rapid.

Four minutes.

Five minutes!

BOOM!!

A pillar of black Demon Qi shot into the sky, illuminating the heavens and the earth.

The figure in the darkness could finally restrain itself no longer. Like an Evil Dragon bursting from its cave, it smashed through the astral winds in its path, trailing a rumbling sonic boom as it crossed several hundred meters in less than the blink of an eye.

WHOOSH—

The astral winds whipped up a surging maelstrom of dust.

Within the furiously surging black Demon Qi,

a bizarre figure with a human body and a fox’s head was vaguely visible. Its eyes shot out a terrifying, greedy, murderous light. Braving the supersonic shockwave, it formed a Fist Seal with its hand and smashed it toward Wu Dao’s charred head in the crater.

In that fleeting instant,

time and space seemed to slow down.

Fifty meters!

Thirty meters!

Ten meters!

Five meters!

The mysterious Fox-headed Person could already smell the enticing flesh within the cracks of the majestic, charred figure in the crater. The hunger in its heart surged to its Limit.

But...

’Why are the cracks getting bigger?’

’It’s like a cocoon shattering!’

’Not good!’

’He’s feigning death!’

’It’s a trap!!’

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

An unprecedented sense of mortal danger rang like an alarm bell in its Heart Lake!

SCHRING!

The sound of steel grinding at high speed rang out.

Reflected in the mysterious Fox-headed Person’s suddenly constricting pupils,

the charred, carbon-like head of Wu Dao in the crater abruptly and unnaturally twisted one hundred and eighty degrees to face backward!

Chunks of burnt flesh were flayed off by the violent astral winds, revealing a twisted, crazed face with eyes like a god and a smile like a devil.

That mocking, cruel smile,

was like that of a hunter who had been waiting a long time.

The prey had finally fallen into the trap!