Essence Devouring Art

「Three days later.」

Near dusk.

BOOM!

The earth trembled and the mountains shook as dust and smoke billowed into the air.

Outside Tan County.

In a barren, desolate valley.

The surrounding cliffs inside the valley crumbled, turning into countless scorched black fragments that clattered across the ground.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

It was as if a great red sun was rising.

Terrifying Yang Flame surged and roared, layer upon layer.

The resilient wild grass outside the valley was scorched black, while the valley’s interior instantly transformed into a great furnace, glowing a blinding red—hot enough to smelt iron and melt steel!

At the center of the crater.

A massive molten pit shimmered with heatwaves. Liquid magma churned as the very air seemed to twist and distort.

In the middle of the molten pit.

A towering figure, like a Demon God from Primordial Chaos, sat cross-legged. It slowly opened its eyes, reviving. Its flame-abyss-like eyes emanated a tyrannical and ferocious power that could make all of creation bow.

FWOOSH~

The heroic and burly Giant Whale Dominating Body, nearly two zhang tall, had every one of its countless pores continuously spewing forth terrifying, inexhaustible Blood Flame. This formed a pillar of qi and blood smoke—Supreme Yang and Firm—that shot backward into the sky, clearly visible from a great distance.

Outside the valley.

Zhao Jianji, who had come to report on important matters, was covered in a fine sweat. He stared blankly at the pillar of Supreme Yang smoke erupting from the valley, soaring dozens of meters into the sky.

In his terror, his legs instantly turned to noodles. He couldn’t even stand steady and let out a series of strange cries:

”A pillar of qi and blood smoke! He’s become a demon! He’s really become a demon!!”

A pillar of qi and blood smoke!

This was the hallmark of the Horizontal Refining Third Gate. Once a Body Refiner entered this realm, they could challenge an Innate expert with their physical body alone!

’How long has it been?’

Zhao Jianji suspected he was following a monster!

In the lava-filled valley.

Wu Dao sensed the commotion outside the valley. The pillar of qi and blood smoke that pierced the sky instantly retracted, and his physique shrank back to its normal form. He then leisurely walked out of the valley.

’Three days!’

’The foot-square Spirit Stone, completely consumed!’

’The Horizontal Refining Third Gate, a pillar of qi and blood smoke!’

’72% Potential Release!’

’The Heroic Limit Domain!’

’Hundred Refinements of Refined Steel Bone, Ninety-Nine Refinements of Steel Flesh!’

’The toughness of my bones and flesh!’

’I could chew on a Spirit Sword raw without any trouble!’

WHOOSH~

Outside the valley.

A domineering figure, like a colossal barbarian god carrying residual heatwaves, walked from the distance, slowly entering Zhao Jianji’s line of sight.

The moment he saw Wu Dao.

Zhao Jianji felt as if the sky had suddenly darkened. A brutal and ferocious aura, heavy as the deep sea, instantly made him feel as if he were in the presence of a God and Demon. He fell to the ground, prostrating himself, and stammered out a loud cry:

”Congratulations... Hall Master! Felicitations, Hall Master! Your Divine Skill is at Great Success, your Divine Power is world-shaking! Uniting the Jianghu is just around the corner!”

”What is it?”

Wu Dao’s face was like cold steel. He ignored Zhao Jianji’s crazed flattery, his tone flat yet resonant as clanging steel, shaking one’s very soul.

”The custom Black Silkworm Ice Robe you ordered has arrived.”

Zhao Jianji straightened up and respectfully presented the custom Black Silkworm Ice Robe, worth millions. Then he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and managed to raise his head to reply:

”Also, people from Yellow Dragon Temple have come to demand an explanation. Three of them, very aggressive. I’m afraid they don’t come in peace. Er Gou and the others are holding them off outside the hall right now.”

”Three of them? The Yellow Dragon Daoist didn’t come?”

Wu Dao slipped on the cool and refreshing Black Silkworm Ice Silk Robe, covering his Demon God-like physique, and his body temperature quickly dropped.

Hearing Zhao Jianji make no mention of the Yellow Dragon Daoist, he felt a slight sense of regret.

’My precious blade is now forged.’

’I can’t wait to find a whetstone to test it on.’

”He didn’t come.”

Zhao Jianji shook his head. ”Those three Daoists must have been passing through Tan County and found out about what happened at Lin Village, which is why they came looking for us.

They said...

They said that you, Hall Master, are a thief and that you need to give them an explanation.”

’A thief?’

’Tch!’

Wu Dao’s dark eyes grew cold as he scoffed inwardly.

’It’s not like I took it from your house.’

’I earned this with my own strength. On what grounds do you call it stealing?’

However.

Since he had already decided to tear off all pretenses of peace,

whether it was considered stealing or not

made no difference at all.

”I’d like to see just what kind of explanation they want.”

BOOM—

A murderous glint flashed in Wu Dao’s eyes. He crouched slightly, then stomped, shattering the ground. Kicking up a violent Gangfeng Qi Flow, he vanished from Zhao Jianji’s sight amidst a rumbling sonic boom before the thousands of clods of earth could even hit the ground.

...

「Tan County Branch.」

At the main entrance.

Lv Tiezhu and a recovered Chen Ergou had brought men from the branch hall to block the main entrance completely.

In front of the crowd.

Stood three Daoists in yellow Daoist Robes. Their large sleeves fluttered, and they had an otherworldly air about them, but their expressions were extremely dark and grim.

These three were none other than Guang Shen, Guang Li, and Guang Fa, who had descended the mountain some time ago to investigate Mao Ba’s death.

About seven or eight days ago,

after many twists and turns, they finally found a Jianghu Traveler who had participated in the fight for Mao Ba’s Gourd that night and learned of Wu Dao’s existence from him.

Afterward, the three of them followed the trail.

In the territory of Lancang County, they heard about how Wu Dao had shown off his strength and stolen the show at the White Whale Martial Arts Hall’s Heroes’ Tournament. After careful investigation and comparison, their suspicions about Wu Dao deepened.

With a suspect in mind, things became much simpler. The three immediately rushed toward Tan County without stopping.

But before they even entered Tan County,

they learned of something else that made them fly into a rage—

their Master’s Spirit Cultivation Land in Tan County had been snatched by someone else!

Spirit Cultivation Land.

This was a common concept in the Immortal Dao.

The Spiritual Qi in this region was thin, so some Qi Refining Daoists would often roam the world, selecting Blessed Lands with dense Spiritual Qi to set up their arrangements.

At the shortest, it would take a dozen or so years.

At the longest, several decades. In that time, Spirit Stones and Spiritual Objects would be nurtured, which would in turn benefit the creator.

The Public Opinion Stone in Lin Village

was just one of the many Spirit Cultivation Lands set up by the Yellow Dragon Daoist. Every month, he would activate his Sensing Array to check on the cultivation progress of his lands scattered across the world.

But this month,

the Spirit Cultivation Land in Lin Village was completely empty, and he couldn’t sense anything from it at all!

It was as if the fat cabbage he had painstakingly raised for decades had suddenly been snatched by someone else.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist was so furious he nearly suffered a cultivation deviation. He immediately sent a message ordering Guang Shen and the other two to investigate Lin Village at once.

There was no need to investigate on-site at all.

The events in Lin Village had long become the talk of the town in Tan County. They could find out everything just by asking anyone on the street.

Well, what do you know.

It was Wu Dao again!

New grievances and old hatreds!

Now they had all piled up at once!

The three of them immediately stormed over to the Tan County Branch to demand an explanation.

”My dear Daoist, how many times do I have to say it? Our Hall Master is out. He’s not in the hall. What’s the harm in waiting a bit?”

Chen Ergou sat on the stone steps at the entrance with one leg crossed over the other. He looked at Guang Shen, who was glaring at him, and let out a yawn that just begged for a punch.

He had figured it out.

Although these three Daoists looked like they bore a deep-seated grudge against the Hall Master, gnashing their teeth, they also seemed wary and didn’t dare to act rashly.

’Since that’s the case,’

’why give them any face?’

’So what if they’re from Yellow Dragon Temple? I’m with the White Whale Martial Arts Hall. Who’s afraid of whom?’

”You, you young punk!!”

Guang Shen, who had always cultivated his mind with scriptures and resembled a refined scholar, was completely unable to deal with a street thug like Chen Ergou. His face instantly flushed red.

Chen Ergou had guessed correctly.

They were indeed wary of Wu Dao’s strength.

According to rumors, something had gone wrong with the Spirit Cultivation Land in Lin Village, nurturing a massive hedgehog with a Three-Layered Black Lotus.

But Wu Dao had dealt with it all by himself!

This level of strength was not something three minor Daoists at the Dao Fire Second Layer could hope to contend with.

Therefore,

the main purpose of their trip was to make Wu Dao hand over the Spiritual Objects from the Spirit Cultivation Land.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist had been stuck at the Qi Refining Grandmaster level for many years. He thought day and night about breaking through his bottleneck, and every single Spirit Stone and Spiritual Object was extremely important to him.

As for the disasters that had occurred in Lin Village,

the original favor had been repaid, and the karma was settled.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist didn’t pay it too much mind.

’He was just a Swordsmith; how the sword was used was the business of the sword-wielder. The sin couldn’t be counted on his head.’

Then there was the matter of Mao Ba.

It was not wise to make this matter public for the time being.

First, they were afraid Wu Dao would be alerted and flee.

Second, it was still just a suspicion. They had no witnesses and no physical evidence. If Wu Dao adamantly denied it, there was nothing they could do.

When the Yellow Dragon Daoist was free in the future,

he would apply Thunderbolt pressure, and the truth would naturally come to light. New grievances and old hatreds would be settled all at once!

”Enough wasting words with them!”

Guang Fa, the stoutest and most hot-tempered of the three, saw that the stalemate was getting them nowhere and that Chen Ergou was looking down on them with such disdain. He snorted coldly and stepped forward to force his way in!

Yellow Dragon Temple had been secluded from the world for many years.

All the disciples in the temple, from top to bottom, had a mentality of being above worldly affairs. Inevitably, they had a certain air of superiority, looking down on the ”mud-legged” commoners of the secular world.

In Guang Shen’s view,

they had already given the White Whale Martial Arts Hall enough face by waiting patiently for so long.

But Wu Dao had refused the courtesy.

In that case, they no longer needed to behave themselves.

He truly didn’t believe that Wu Dao would dare to offend Yellow Dragon Temple and attack them.

”What do you think you’re doing?”

”Back off!”

”Is this a place for you to run wild?”

SHIIING—

The moment Guang Fa moved, the several hundred disciples at the branch hall’s entrance, armed with Steel Sabers and Steel Spears, drew their weapons in unison as shouts and rebukes rose one after another.

”Let me give you a little warning!”

Lv Tiezhu’s black-iron-tower-like physique blocked Guang Fa’s path. He held his Copper Hammer and said in a cold, buzzing voice:

”Our Hall Master has a very bad temper. If you try anything funny, he will really kill you!”

”Heh, what big talk!”

The fat on Guang Fa’s face quivered. He snorted, gathered his Power, and roared at Lv Tiezhu in a thunderous voice:

”What, you’ve done something wrong, and now the big boss won’t show his face, sending his underlings out to take the heat? Tell Wu Dao to get his ass out here!!”

RUMBLE—

The moment Guang Fa’s voice fell,

a series of violent thunderous explosions suddenly rang out under the clear sky, echoing throughout Tan County. Countless tiles on the roofs of the surrounding houses rattled and clattered.

A raging wind and sonic booms swept through the area. The ordinary people in the County instantly felt their chests tighten, their eardrums vibrate, and their heads spin. They were so dizzy they nearly vomited blood on the spot.

’Huh?’

’Was my shout that powerful?’

’Or did I just happen to run into a freak weather event?’

Even Guang Fa was stunned for a moment, not understanding what was happening.

”Look out!”

”Get out of the way!!”

But before he could react, the fierce sonic boom was suddenly pierced by the hoarse, desperate roars of Guang Shen and Guang Li.

’Wha—’

Just as Guang Fa was about to turn his head,

BOOM!

One moment, a crimson tyrant wreathed in a visible supersonic shockwave was still a kilometer away.

The next, it slammed violently into Guang Fa’s stout body at a speed the naked eye couldn’t follow and the nerves couldn’t react to.

SPLAT!!

A huge cloud of blood mist exploded on the spot!

WHOOSH—

Before the countless red and white remains could hit the ground,

the very next instant,

they were swept up into the sky by the subsequent, surging, violent gangfeng, along with a layer of mud and grime, and instantly vaporized from the face of the earth!