Essence Devouring Art

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

The void twisted and the Yang Fire seethed.

An area dozens of meters wide had been transformed into a crimson Purgatory of flames.

Under the terrifying heat of the Yang Fire, the dense crowd of stone men melted and flowed like snowmen under a blazing sun, evaporating into thick plumes of black smoke.

Within the black smoke.

GLUG GLUG GLUG~

The molten rock, as if alive, revealed twisted, malevolent faces of Evil Ghosts. It slithered and stretched like snakes, gradually coalescing into a humanoid form.

Beneath the blazing sun, a massive shadow grew increasingly distinct, soon eclipsing Wu Dao’s five-meter-tall Giant Whale Dominating Body.

WHOOSH~

WOOOO WOOOO—

The eerie sound of wind whistling through countless holes echoed.

THUD~

A heavy footstep rang out. The ground, unable to bear the weight, shattered over a large area.

”Finally done running?”

Wu Dao’s eyes, blazing with Blood Flame, held a hint of excitement. He gazed at the behemoth revealed after the black smoke dissipated, and his brow twitched.

’Abstract!’

’Disgusting!’

’Spiritual Contamination!’

A horrifying humanoid creature, about seven or eight meters tall and as majestic as a small hill, had a jade-like texture. Its entire body glowed with a hazy white light, appearing both divine and sacred.

But beneath that sacred white light...

...was an exceedingly hideous body—

From head to toe, it was densely covered in tiny, honeycomb-like holes.

These holes constantly twisted and shifted, forming agonizing, malevolent human faces.

WOOOO WOOOO—

As the wind scraped past the holes, it produced waves of insidious, murmuring curses that encompassed all the malice of the human heart, transforming into a voice of judgment that tore at the brain and soul.

”Pfft...”

In the distance, Ding Bai had only managed a single glance.

The whispered curses carried on the wind made him feel as if he’d been cast into the eighteenth level of Purgatory. He suffered endless spiritual torment, and blood immediately streamed from his nose and mouth. The whites of his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

WHOOSH~

A light breeze blew.

Endless, whispered curses eroded the soul.

Wu Dao had already entered the Celestial Human State. Even so, the intense Spiritual Contamination and brain damage still caused blood to flow from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

But he seemed to feel no pain. Blood gushed from his seven orifices, only to evaporate into a bloody mist, rendering his face even more ferocious than an Evil Ghost’s.

He lifted his terrifying, ghastly head.

He looked at the massive, honeycomb-like Stone God and revealed a mouth full of terrifying shark-like teeth. His constantly bleeding face twisted into a savage grin.

”Nice. Now this is what I’m talking about!!”

BOOM!

The earth exploded as if struck by thunder, collapsing and shattering. Bricks and rubble blasted into the sky!

In less than the blink of an eye, his mountain-like Giant Whale Dominating Body smashed through the Gangfeng Qi Flow. He flipped in mid-air, his steel-like right leg swinging like a whale’s tail splitting the sea. A thunderous Whale Splitting Technique slammed viciously onto the honeycomb Stone God’s massive head.

CLANG—

It was like two indestructible pieces of metal colliding. Dazzling sparks flew, and a vast, rolling sonic boom thundered throughout the valley.

BZZZZ—

Visible to the naked eye, ripples of Power vibrated down from the honeycomb Stone God’s head like waves, finally dissipating into the earth.

BOOM!!

The ground instantly erupted as if tons of high explosives had been buried beneath it. The terrifying Power detonated, causing the earth to shatter in a ring around the honeycomb Stone God. The ground for fifty or sixty meters around buckled and collapsed, sinking an entire layer.

CRACK—

The next instant, the sound of breaking bone was heard.

’What a tough turtle shell!’

Wu Dao’s eyes narrowed slightly. He could clearly feel that his right leg bone, which was as tough as steel refined thirty times, had fractured!

GRAB!

A horrifying, honeycomb-like giant hand snatched Wu Dao’s calf with lightning speed.

The Stone God’s pupils, formed from thousands of holes, stared coldly at Wu Dao as it spoke without a trace of emotion: ”Ant!”

CR-CR-CRUNCH—

An immense force crushed his calf.

The Stone God’s grip squeezed his steel-like flesh and bone, leaving deep finger imprints. Bones broke and tendons snapped. Scalding hot blood sprayed out—a gruesome sight.

Then—

BANG! BANG! BANG!!

The Stone God swung Wu Dao around like a sledgehammer, repeatedly and ferociously smashing him into the ground. Each impact was like a meteor strike, blasting one terrifying crater after another. Wu Dao’s flesh and bones were constantly being pulverized.

”Hahaha, an ant? An ant?!!”

But even so, Wu Dao, who was being beaten into a bloody pulp, showed no signs of pain or terror. His mangled face twisted even more like an Evil Ghost’s as he laughed, as wild and demonic as a madman.

SZZZLE~

At a certain moment, the honeycomb Stone God suddenly felt the heat of the ’crimson flame monster’ in its grasp spike dramatically.

The terrifying heatwave of Yang Fire seared it, making its physique, which was as cold as ancient ice, feel a roiling heat. Plumes of black smoke began to rise from its body.

The calf it held seemed to be made of clay; the flesh and bone abruptly shrank by a size, allowing him to slip free from its grasp.

HUUFF—

—INHALE—

A deep breath, like rolling thunder, mixed with the wails of gods and the howls of ghosts, resounded from within the swirling black smoke.

It was as if a Divine Being from the Nine Heavens had descended and a devil had crawled out from the Abyss, both converging within a single body.

”That felt so good...”

The inhuman murmur of an Evil Ghost echoed from deep within the smoke. The intensifying Yang Fire burned the smoke away, revealing Wu Dao in the distance, a being of both God and Ghost.

FWOOSH~

Human physical functions liberated by two hundred percent!

The Second Door of Transverse Cultivation, Qi and Blood Burning Prison, was pushed directly to its limit!

Flames of Qi and blood, over ten feet high, erupted from the pores all over Wu Dao’s body. His previously mangled flesh and bones had already returned to normal.

His physique, like that of a crimson tyrant, was bent over like a volcano about to erupt. He truly resembled a great burning torch. The raging Blood Flame shot toward the sky, faintly showing signs of coalescing into a signal flare!

”So, I’m begging you, give me an even better time!!”

BOOM!!

A sonic boom erupted!

A tsunami-like torrent of Gangfeng Qi Flow surged, compressed, and exploded, kicking up countless shards of earth and rock to form two curtains that shot to the sky. It was as if the world had been instantly plowed in two.

In the tenth of a finger-snap!

CLANG!!!

A thunderous sonic wave exploded and rolled out.

One large, one small!

One covered in countless holes!

One wreathed in raging Blood Flame!

Two fists, carrying immense Power, slammed into each other!

The same technique!

The most lethal move in the Overlord Whale Fist: Whale Shark Island!

The Public Opinion Stone Spirit had once killed the previous Hall Master of the Tan County Branch. As a Fierce Gu of the Three-Layered Black Lotus, it could devour and integrate human memories. Its terrifying spiritual intensity allowed it to comprehend and master all sorts of acquired knowledge in an extremely short time, making it its own.

Therefore, although the Stone Spirit had not existed for long, after devouring the souls of countless people, its ’Comprehension’ had surpassed that of innumerable geniuses. Its proficiency in the Overlord Whale Fist was comparable to a Grandmaster of Micro Mastery!

Combined with the Power from its terrifying physique, which was formed from a ’Spirit Stone’, it could probably fight and kill one or two Innate experts head-on!

It had to be said, aside from not being human, the innate advantages of the Deceitful Species were truly far greater than those of the Human Dao.

RUMBLE—

The moment the large and small fists collided, the world seemed to transform into a vast ocean where two Ancient Barbaric Whales, rulers of the sea, crashed their heads together in a contest of strength. The immense Power kicked up towering, stormy waves.

Ripples of Power traveled over their bodies, only to be completely redirected into the earth beneath their feet by their respective Meticulous levels of Power control.

CRUMBLE CRUMBLE CRUMBLE—

The Power detonated underground in concentric rings, causing continuous collapses and explosions. The ground caved in layer by layer, forming an ever-deepening crater. Tens, even hundreds, of tons of earth and rock were pulverized into dust that shot into the sky.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

The raging Gangfeng Qi Flow, carrying sand and dirt, swept through like a sandstorm, dyeing the entirety of Lin Village a dusty yellow.

In the center of the thunderously trembling crater, the two were like savage beasts in an arena, locking horns and still locked in a contest of strength!

The Stone God’s face twisted and shifted continuously, its thousands of holes howling out soul-polluting, whispered curses amidst the hurricane-force winds.

Raging Blood Flame erupted from Wu Dao’s body, soaring to the heavens. His eyes were like a Divine Being’s, his face like an Evil Ghost’s. His grin stretched to his ears, revealing a set of inhuman, savage shark-like teeth that were even more horrifying than the Stone God itself.

years of Mastery of Fist Dao!

His Heroic Great Success Brain Domain, with its functions released at two hundred percent, gave him enough Spiritual Power to resist the Stone God’s soul contamination!

Their spiritual proficiency was evenly matched.

Now, the contest came down to their pure Power!

RUMBLE—

CRACKLE POP—

Terrifying Power madly clashed and dissipated. The ground beneath their feet constantly exploded, and on their bodies, flesh and bone—and stone flesh—were continuously shattering and healing.

When experts clash, there aren’t so many flashy moves.

The victor can be decided in a single contest of strength!

Every single second, the Power they output was like a constant barrage of missiles—explosive and immense, but also consuming a massive amount of energy.

However, Wu Dao wasn’t worried.

After reaching Heroic Great Success, his Divine Ghost Heaven could be sustained for forty minutes just by burning himself. He didn’t believe this giant porcupine could last that long against him!

”How about we stop here?”

Without any warning, the Stone God suddenly spoke. Its voice was a chaotic and unpleasant mixture of what sounded like hundreds of voices:

”I can sense that you still have hidden Power within you, but... if we continue to fight, mutual destruction is the only possible outcome.

”I can promise you that after I break free from my restraints, I will live as a secluded hermit and cultivate, and I will not bring disaster upon the world.

”This is not a string of deceitful words.

”When I was born, I was symbiotic with the stone and mutated. I can sustain myself by devouring nature’s spiritual energy, unlike other Deceitful Species that need to rely on the souls and flesh of the Human Race to survive.”

Unexpectedly, the Stone God had actually chosen to sue for peace.

It didn’t want to engage in a pointless battle with Wu Dao.

However...

”You... are ridiculous!”

Wu Dao lifted his face, a visage of both God and Ghost, and sneered with a savage grin. ”To be born of nature, to be a super-predator, yet to flee from the laws of nature... it’s truly ridiculous!!

”Why do you think I came looking for you?

”Because you’re a plague upon the world?

”So I’m here to slay demons and vanquish evil?!

”No, no, no!

”Those inferior creatures... whether a thousand die or ten thousand die, it’s only because they were weaker. Why would I feel any anger over that?

”When I eat meat, I don’t care if that piece of meat was good or evil in nature.

”Because!

”I just simply want to eat meat!!”

BOOM!

Wu Dao grew more and more frenzied as he spoke, his tone filled with uncontrollable greed. The Power he outputted surged terrifyingly, pressing the Stone God down and making it visibly shorter.

He rolled his neck, stretching his muscles, and slithered forward like a snake. Saliva dripped from between his shark-like teeth, evaporating into a hazy blood mist.

HAAAH... HAAAH...

After taking a deep sniff of the fragrance emanating from the Stone God’s body, his face filled with rapture. He roared with laughter, as crazed as a starving Evil Ghost:

”Hahaha, the smell... it smells so good! Do you have any idea how tempting you are?!

”The first moment I saw you!

”Even the pores of my skin grew teeth out of sheer gluttony!!

”I’m going to chew you slowly and savor every bite!

”With the utmost sincerity!

”I’ll experience the fragrance of every piece of your flesh!

”The chewiness of every one of your tendons!

”The hardness of every one of your bones!

”I’ll carefully feel that supreme, wonderful sensation as we merge into one, as I evolve and ascend!

”So...

”Let me eat you, okay?

”Okay?

”My little treasure?!!!”