Essence Devouring Art

And then...

A series of inhuman, blood-curdling screeches erupted from within the ruins—

”You... you’re not... killing me?”

”Wait... what are you... doing?”

”AHHH!!!”

Amidst the terrifying screams that would shatter the courage of any who heard them,

CRUNCH CRUNCH—

Wu Dao used both hands, coordinated with his Qi and Blood Prison Cage, and violently kneaded the 1.78-meter-tall Kneeling Gu in his grasp, crushing it into a goose-egg-sized ball as if it were a snowball.

Then,

he opened his fiery-red, cavernous mouth, clamped his teeth down, and with a bob of his throat, swallowed the Kneeling Gu whole.

GULP~

It was like eating a popsicle on the hottest day of summer.

It went down cool and prickly.

It even scraped his throat a little, as if it was unwilling to accept such a miserable fate and was putting up one last struggle.

Unfortunately...

It was a useless struggle!

’Trying to raise hell after ending up in my, Wu Dao’s, stomach?’

Wu Dao sneered. His Spiritual Thoughts controlled his esophageal muscle fibers, sprouting red-hot steel needles as strong as twenty-nine times refined steel.

They plunged viciously into the struggling Kneeling Gu’s body, instantly turning it into a pincushion. The more it struggled, the more pain it felt, and soon, it stopped moving entirely.

The steel needles retracted.

The Fierce Gu finally dropped into his stomach, releasing such a massive wave of cold energy that even Wu Dao shivered.

However,

this cold energy quickly vanished as the notification from the attribute panel sounded in his mind.

’Teleportation Points +120.’

’The reward isn’t bad. About the same as the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui. A complete one would probably give more, but unfortunately, it lost a lot of its power during the subjugation process.’

But in terms of actual strength,

it was hard to say whether a five-hundred-year-old demon was stronger or a First-Layer Black Lotus Fierce Gu was.

After all, the two were not from the same system.

One was a tangible, flesh-and-blood existence. Although it possessed strange Demon Techniques, it could be effectively damaged by physical power.

The other was a non-corporeal aggregate of pure consciousness and soul—shadowless, formless, able to fly through the sky and pass through the earth, attacking one’s spirit directly.

It was only because Wu Dao’s strength had greatly increased, and he now possessed Spirit Armor to attack the Fierce Gu and the Qi Blood Prison to restrain it.

Otherwise,

if he had encountered such a ”hedgehog” before reaching the Hero realm, his brute force methods would have been useless. Even opening the Divine Ghost Heaven would have only allowed him to flee in disgrace.

TAP TAP TAP...

A series of rapid footsteps sounded from a distance behind him. It was most likely Zhao Jianji and the others, who were rushing over now that the commotion in the hall had died down.

Wu Dao glanced at his own naked, reddish, magnificent, steel-like physique and shook his head helplessly. He pulled a piece of black cloth from the rubble to cover himself.

Normal clothes had too low of a burning point.

From now on, they would likely be burned to ash in every fight, leaving him in a state of nakedness, which would look rather odd to outsiders.

However,

this was an Extraordinary World. Naturally, there were specialized clothes designed for those with powerful physiques.

Half a month ago, while selecting Elixir Pills at the Black Dragon Commerce Association, Wu Dao had heard of a type of clothing woven from Black Silkworm Ice Silk.

This Treasure Clothing had no other special effects, but it was extremely tough and heat-resistant, making it perfect for Horizontal Refining Martial Artists. The only downside was the expensive price tag; a slightly better piece could cost several million taels!

’Money is a trivial matter, though. Once I’m more well-off, I can get one made.’

WHOOSH~

As he was lost in thought,

Zhao Jianji had already arrived at the ruined courtyard, leading a group of the Tan County Branch’s upper management in a frantic rush.

At first glance, everyone saw that the elegant courtyard, which had originally spanned several dozen meters, had been completely reduced to ruins as if struck by an earthquake. In the center, a large crater remained, as if a meteorite had struck the ground.

’Just how much strength would that take!’

Everyone stared in shock at the steel-like Fierce Beast standing tall and motionless in the center of the ruins, sucking in a cold breath.

’Even a Transformed Martial Artist wouldn’t be much more than this, right?’

In just one short month.

To have grown to such a level...

For a moment, everyone’s scalp tingled with fear as they wondered if Wu Dao was a monster wearing human skin.

”Hall... Hall Master, are you alright?”

Zhao Jianji stammered as he gazed at Wu Dao’s towering, magnificent back in the crater.

A month ago, he could still joke and laugh calmly with Wu Dao.

But over the past month,

every time Wu Dao appeared, the ferocious aura emanating from him grew stronger by the day, striking more and more terror into Zhao Jianji’s heart.

And now,

he truly seemed like a humanoid Primordial Fierce Beast standing right before him.

The faint trace of violent aura he exuded without any anger made Zhao Jianji want to kneel and submit.

He wouldn’t dare to joke around even if he were ten times bolder, terrified that Wu Dao might swallow him whole and skin him alive in the next moment.

”Just a little hedgehog. Insignificant.”

Wu Dao glanced indifferently at Zhao Jianji as if he had just done something trivial, not worth mentioning. He was about to speak again when...

”Help me... save me...”

A faint, aggrieved cry for help suddenly sounded from the ruins.

Wu Dao swept the area with his senses, a strange expression on his face.

It was Chen Ergou, who had been buried in the rubble earlier. His body, already wrapped up like a mummy, had been crushed under a large amount of bricks, stone, and roof tiles, turning him into a complete Blood Gourd.

”Uh, Er Gou?”

Zhao Jianji’s eyelid twitched when he heard the voice. ’The Hall Master really doesn’t treat Er Gou like a person at all,’ he thought.

He immediately turned to the group behind him and barked, ”Don’t you have any sense? Hurry up and dig Instructor Chen out!”

A short while later,

the men worked together to dig Chen Ergou—who was truly just barely hanging on by a thread—out of the ruins and moved him elsewhere for treatment.

Wu Dao, however, glanced at the crescent moon, which was already starting to set in the west. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he asked coldly, ”Is everyone assembled?”

Hearing this, Zhao Jianji naturally knew what Wu Dao intended to do and nodded.

”Yes, more or less. We notified the entire hall this evening, as well as the nearby town-level branches.

Between the masters of Firmness and Flexibility, the Inner Strength Realm Vice Instructors, Stewards, and town Hall Masters, there are about a hundred in total. Including the disciples under them and fighters from other affiliated Outer Sect forces, we can probably muster a thousand combatants.

They’ve all brought their weapons and are waiting on standby outside the city, just waiting for your order, Hall Master.”

Over the past month,

with the authority granted by Wu Dao, Zhao Jianji had been given free rein to fully display his talents and ambitions, putting the power-brokering techniques he learned from his ancestors to thrilling use.

With Chen Ergou and Lv Tiezhu, two Divine Power Realm ”Evil Dogs,” clearing the way,

he employed a carrot-and-stick approach, playing both good cop and bad cop.

By now, the entire Tan County had become a unified stronghold. Those who were disobedient had long been pushed out or overthrown by various means.

As for those who were obedient,

under Zhao Jianji’s campaign of propaganda and brainwashing, they now followed Wu Dao’s lead exclusively. Secretly, they even referred to him as the third whale of Guangqing Prefecture—the Overlord Whale!

Under these circumstances,

it was only natural that his call would be answered by a hundred followers.

Of course, all of this was predicated on the strength of Wu Dao, their Stabilizing Needle.

If he were just an ordinary Martial Artist who had undergone Breaking the Cocoon,

and if he hadn’t had that impressive display of challenging the Elder Council on the assessment grounds, with Qi Canghai showing him favoritism,

Zhao Jianji’s series of schemes might have still been useful, but their effect would have been greatly diminished.

”Well done. After this is over, you will be rewarded accordingly.”

Wu Dao nodded, affirming Zhao Jianji’s capabilities.

Although he was usually flippant and never serious, he had not, in the end, disgraced the name of his ”Master’s Family.”

To make it so that only his, Wu Dao’s, voice was heard throughout Tan County in just one month—that level of ability was worthy of the title Tiger Head Military Advisor.

The big ”hedgehog” behind Lin Village.

It was impossible to get intelligence on it through normal means.

After all, it had been kept under tight wraps for so many years. The clan had most likely issued an extremely strict gag order, so killing one or two people would be useless.

But as long as they were human,

they were bound to have a weakness!

The continuation of their clan was Lin Village’s greatest weakness!

At the same time,

if the so-called Stone God truly protected Lin Village, it wouldn’t just stand by and watch the village suffer!

Wu Dao had no interest in playing some detective-style mystery game with them.

He never cared about the means, only the results.

Tan County was his territory. He had the strength, the power, and the men. Why would he need to fight alone? He could just crush them with overwhelming force and push through!

So what if Lin Village had two thousand people?

A large population was fucking useless!

In this world, being able to fight was all that mattered!

...

Outside the city walls of Tan County,

the bright moon was setting in the west, and the sky was already beginning to lighten.

On the open plains, spirited horses pawed at the ground. A sea of people, all full of vigor, masculine, and imposing, held blades, axes, and spears in their hands. They stared intently at the city gate, their eyes filled with anticipation, as they chattered amongst themselves.

”Hall Master Wu is still the most domineering. A mere Lin Village dares to scratch the face of our White Whale Martial Arts Hall? They must be tired of living.”

”Exactly. I heard from the Lord of the Records that the Elder Council has been too timid and afraid of trouble, which is why they never made a move against Lin Village.”

”The Elder Council is nothing! Our Hall Master is the Grandmaster’s trusted confidant. He was probably appointed this time specifically to deal with Lin Village.”

”Of course. Otherwise, why would a powerhouse who has gone through a Second Rebirth be assigned to our Tan County Branch?”

Lv Tiezhu, with his dark, iron-tower-like physique, sat cross-legged on a huge boulder with his arms folded. In front of him stood his Watermelon Copper Hammer, taller than a man.

Hearing the discussion behind him, his face twitched involuntarily. He had to admire Zhao Jianji’s gift of gab; the man had practically everyone completely fooled.

However,

they were all in the same boat with Wu Dao now, so he naturally wouldn’t refute these comments.

After all,

joining Wu Dao in making a scene like this meant a dividend of twenty thousand taels of silver. Who would turn their back on money?

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE...

NEIGH—

Just then, the city began to tremble and roar. The continuous sound of cracking whips and neighing horses echoed through the silent dawn of Tan County.

”Quiet!”

Lv Tiezhu immediately stood up and barked at the noisy crowd, ”The Hall Master is here! All of you, shut up!”

His thunderous roar drowned out the noisy chatter, and the crowd instantly fell silent, not daring to make another sound.

Within this past month,

not only had the fame of Wu Dao’s Skull Shattering Hand spread throughout Tan County, but so had the reputation of the three ”Evil Dogs” under his command.

Although this Lv Tiezhu looked as honest as a farmer and even had the nickname ”Fellow Countrymen,”

he was actually a black-hearted and ruthless character.

In the past month,

in order to help Wu Dao firmly establish his footing in Tan County, he had secretly used his Copper Hammer to smash more than a few people’s bones to bits.

If you truly angered him,

he would absolutely make good on his threats.