Essence Devouring Art

The Evil Dao was a despicable thing, hated by all, and incredibly dangerous.

Using the guise of spirituality and mysticism, they deceived people, amassed fortunes, and often drove their followers to extremes, leading to ruined families and death. They were a scourge that everyone wanted to exterminate!

Of course.

Lv Tiezhu wasn’t taking this seriously out of some hot-headed desire to slay demons. There were few good men in the Overlord Whale Alliance, himself included.

The main reason was this:

If the Evil Dao were allowed to continue deceiving the masses and reaping believers, their growth would inevitably threaten the Overlord Whale Alliance’s interests and cut into their ”harvest”!

Daring to snatch food from the Overlord Whale Alliance’s bowl?

They were truly asking for death!

After a few days of investigation.

Lv Tiezhu confirmed there were no other Evil Dao branches in the city and decided to close the net tonight—to wipe them out in one go.

The reason for tonight...

...was because he had tortured a follower of the Saint King Dao and learned something.

Tonight, their so-called Saint King would descend to grant his blessing, and all the cultists in Chenliu County would gather.

”Sir, I was just deceived! This is my first time here, it has nothing to do with me!”

After a fierce internal struggle, Wang Wu...

...finally mustered his courage, stood up, and proclaimed his innocence.

The Overlord Whale Alliance was hardly a benevolent force. If he fell into their hands, what good could possibly come of it?

SLAP!

A resounding slap echoed.

A scar-faced brute stepped forward, knocked Wang Wu to the ground with a backhand, grabbed his hair, and snarled viciously:

”Stay down! If you didn’t want to join, what the hell are you doing here, you son of a bitch?”

That one slap...

...shattered any lingering hope in the others’ hearts. Pale-faced, they all hugged their heads and trembled on the ground, not daring to look up.

”Hey, you old bastard, are you deaf?”

Just then.

Lv Tiezhu noticed that the old man in red was actually still standing.

He was even staring at them with the ravenous eyes of a hungry wolf. Displeased, Lv Tiezhu strode forward and swung a slap at the old man’s face.

RRRIP!

The expected sound of a slap never came.

In its place...

...was a tearing sound, like cloth being ripped apart.

Lv Tiezhu’s bear-like palm struck the old man’s face.

The skin on the man’s right cheek instantly ripped open like a torn canvas, revealing stiff, black animal fur, like steel needles, underneath the gash.

”AHH!!”

A terrified shriek rang out.

A commoner in the crowd who had stealthily raised his head happened to witness the horrific scene and instantly wet his pants.

”You’re...”

Lv Tiezhu’s dark face changed drastically. He instinctively retreated, tightening his grip on his Copper Hammer, facing a formidable enemy.

”AWOOO!!”

RRRIIIP—

A piercing wolf’s howl, accompanied by the explosive sound of tearing fabric, echoed through the underground space. Under the torchlight, the shadow cast on the ground grew ever more terrifying.

Before everyone’s eyes.

The body of the old man in bloody robes rapidly swelled, bursting through the human skin to transform into a nearly ten-foot-tall, muscle-bound Black-maned Hungry Wolf with glowing green eyes.

The Black-maned Hungry Wolf stood on its hind legs, its breath reeking. Its gaze was predatory as it roared angry human words at Lv Tiezhu:

”For disrespecting the Saint King, your crime is...”

BAM!!

The Copper Hammer sliced through the air and smashed squarely into the Black-maned Hungry Wolf’s forehead, knocking the rest of its words back down its throat. Dazed, it staggered backward.

”Crime, my ass!”

Lv Tiezhu cursed loudly after throwing his hammer. His expression was one of extreme excitement, his eyes gleaming with a greed more chilling than the wolf’s. He bellowed:

”Brothers, we’ve struck it rich! Ten thousand taels! Beat it! Beat it ’til it smokes, just leave it breathing!”

Was he kidding?!

No matter how you looked at it, he, Lv Tiezhu, was a Transverse Cultivation Martial Artist at the Great Success of the Divine Power Realm, possessing no less than ten thousand catties of brute strength!

He might be afraid of some formless, intangible specter.

But this thing of flesh and blood? It looked fierce, but it was really just an oversized wolf. What was there to be afraid of?!

Not to mention...

...the allure of wealth!

Ten thousand taels!

Goddamn it.

Today was meant for a guy like me to get rich!

”ROAR! I’ll eat you all alive!”

After its initial humiliation, the Black-maned Hungry Wolf was immediately consumed by infinite rage. Every strand of its mane stood on end!

It was an Apostle, enlightened by the Saint King.

Mere humans...

”Wolf pup, still barking like a dog!”

THUD!

CRACK!

Accompanied by Lv Tiezhu’s excited curses, a dark fist carrying the force to shatter stone tablets slammed into the Black-maned Hungry Wolf, instantly collapsing its sternum and sending it flying like a ragdoll.

”Hack it to death!!”

A chorus of bestial roars exploded in the underground space as burly, broad-shouldered men wielding sabers and clubs swarmed forward to beat the downed wolf.

BAM! BAM! BAM—

Dust clouds rose as flesh was torn open.

Blades, fists, and feet rained down mercilessly on the Black-maned Hungry Wolf.

Under Lv Tiezhu’s suppression.

The Black-maned Hungry Wolf couldn’t even get up. It rolled around on the ground as wounds rapidly multiplied all over its body. Someone had even kicked its nose crooked.

”Pah! Saint King, I’ll give you a Saint King!”

”Get its kidneys!”

”Son of a bitch, don’t chop its head off! It’s worth more alive than dead!”

Vulgar curses, the sound of breaking bones, and agonized screams echoed endlessly through the underground space.

’Just who are the real monsters?’

Wang Wu and the other commoners huddled in a corner, trembling as they watched the ferocious-looking Lv Tiezhu and his men.

At the same time, a trace of envy grew in their hearts.

The Overlord Whale Alliance had placed a bounty on Alien Species.

A confirmed capture would earn ten thousand taels!

Ten thousand taels...

You could eat meat every day for the rest of your life with that kind of money!

BANG! BANG! BANG—

Under the rain-like storm of blows from the crowd.

The Black-maned Hungry Wolf was soon dyed red by its own gushing blood. Barely breathing, its blurry, turbid eyes looked toward the Divine Statue of Ten Thousand Beasts on the altar.

”Saint King, your Holy Envoy is suffering. Why do you just watch?”

But the only response...

...was the cold, profound gaze of the Divine Statue of Ten Thousand Beasts.

After a thorough beating.

”Stop!”

Lv Tiezhu shouted, halting the Overlord Whale Alliance members who were getting addicted to the beatdown. He looked down and saw the Black-maned Hungry Wolf’s breath was faint; it had passed out.

”Pah! That’s it?”

He spat fiercely.

Lv Tiezhu rolled his neck and waved a hand.

”Tie it up! We’re taking it to the County City tonight!”

A few of his underlings, who had come prepared, immediately took the soft steel ropes from their waists and bound the Black-maned Hungry Wolf tightly.

”Hall Master, what about this thing?”

At that moment.

A disciple pointed to the eerie Divine Statue of Ten Thousand Beasts in the center of the altar.

Lv Tiezhu frowned, approached with his Copper Hammer, and tapped it with his knuckles. He found it was just ordinary stone, with nothing unusual about it.

But the craftsmanship was truly terrifying.

Even the sesame-seed-sized beast heads were lifelike.

It was probably not the work of a mortal artisan.

”Tie it up too, and send...”

After a moment’s thought, Lv Tiezhu was about to order his men to carry the statue away, but just then...

SHHHHHHH~

The Divine Statue of Ten Thousand Beasts suddenly weathered away at high speed, turning into a cloud of fine dust and ash before their very eyes.

”What the hell was that!”

Lv Tiezhu was startled and quickly backed away. Seeing no further effects, he breathed a sigh of relief and ordered with a grim face:

”A few of you stay behind to interrogate these morons. The rest of you, follow me to the County City immediately!”

The statue’s sudden weathering without any warning...

...was clearly not the work of ordinary Mortal Power!

He thought he was just catching a small fish, but he’d ended up poking a whole Fish Nest!

He had a hunch.

He was probably going to earn some major merits this time!

...

「Just as dawn was breaking.」

After a mad dash through the night, Lv Tiezhu’s group, escorting the Black Wolf, finally arrived at Lancang County City.

After explaining their purpose.

The Overlord Whale Alliance’s City Guards in the County City were also greatly alarmed. After a glance at the terrifying beastly silhouette under the black cloth on the carriage, they immediately opened the city gates and provided an escort, announcing their passage all the way to the headquarters without obstruction.

...

「Overlord Whale Alliance Headquarters.」

The Martial Arts Training Ground!

Most of the Alliance’s high-ranking members, who had been alerted, had already gathered at the training ground. They clicked their tongues in amazement as they gazed at the crippled Black Wolf on the ground, bound tightly and the size of a water buffalo.

”That’s the gist of it. This subordinate sensed the matter was not simple and immediately rushed it to headquarters.”

Lv Tiezhu, who had been so imperious last night, now stood carefully bowed beside Wu Dao, reporting everything he knew in detail.

After listening carefully, Wu Dao swept his Spiritual Perception over the half-dead Black Wolf on the ground, from inside to out. A hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.

Because...

This wolf was not a demon!

It didn’t have that appetizing fragrance inside it that stimulated his hunger.

If he had to give it a precise classification...

...it was a wild beast whose physical strength surpassed a tiger’s and which had gained intelligence prematurely. Its power didn’t even reach the threshold of a true demon.

This was rather strange.

Beasts had to cultivate arduously for five hundred years to escape their primal ignorance, possess complete human-like intellect, and comprehend the world.

But this Black Wolf before him, which even a Divine Power Realm expert like Lv Tiezhu could suppress, clearly defied common sense.

Furthermore.

According to Lv Tiezhu.

The Black Wolf wore human skin, and its every word, action, and mannerism was no different from a normal person’s.

It could even deceive people and recruit Daoist Disciples.

Such intelligence.

Even the incompletely transformed Flesh and Blood Tai Sui from before couldn’t compare!

The Saint King Dao...

Thinking of the so-called Saint King that this Black Wolf revered like a Divine Being.

A guess formed in Wu Dao’s mind. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his Stinging Dragon Pupil shot out wisps of Crimson Gold electrical sparks as his vast Spiritual Consciousness invaded the Black Wolf’s mind.

But the next moment...

BOOM!

An explosion erupted.

Red and white bits of flesh and bone splattered in all directions.

Wu Dao’s protective Magnetic Field kept him from being sullied.

However, Zhao Jianji and Lv Tiezhu, who were standing nearby, were showered with the gore and couldn’t stop spitting. ”Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!”

”Tsk...”

Wu Dao retracted his Spiritual Perception, a savage grin spreading across his lips.

’You think leaving a failsafe to silence it means I can’t do anything? Ridiculous!! Meat delivered right to my mouth... I’ll shoot it down even if it grows wings!’

VMMMM~

An invisible Primordial Magnetic Power enveloped the Black Wolf’s headless remains.

The next moment.

The Magnetic Field sliced the Black Wolf’s corpse into several hundred pieces, which then vibrated in mid-air and were compressed into palm-sized Flesh Tokens.

Then.

Wu Dao spat out a drop of Crimson Gold Flame Blood that shone like a miniature Sun, crackling with explosive electric fire. It instantly caused the temperature on the Martial Arts Training Ground to soar, as if they were in a smelting Purgatory.

”Alliance Leader, please retract your Divine Techniques!”

The clothes on Zhao Jianji and Lv Tiezhu, who were standing beside him, caught fire. Their heads aflame, they screamed in pain and rolled around on the ground.

Wu Dao gave them a faint glance. The Magnetic Field transferred the heat, and the flames instantly peeled away from their bodies and vanished.

Afterward.

He controlled the Magnetic Field, diluting and dividing the drop of Crimson Gold blood he had spat out, and sent it flying into each of the Flesh Tokens.

CRACKLE~

Faint red electrical sparks flickered to life.

Under the enhancement of Wu Dao’s high-energy blood, the Tokens’ vitality greatly increased, allowing them to resist decay for a period of time.

At the same time.

The unique, faint Life Magnetic Field belonging to the Black Wolf’s flesh within the Tokens also strengthened as if it had consumed a powerful tonic.

By carrying these Tokens to search.

As long as they sensed a presence with a Life Magnetic Field similar to the Black Wolf’s, the Tokens would turn red and heat up—the closer they got, the stronger the reaction!

CLATTER~

The Flesh Tokens fell in a heap.

They formed a small mountain on the ground.

Wu Dao’s abyss-dark eyes swept over the surrounding high-ranking members of the Overlord Whale Alliance, his voice like the clang of cold steel:

”Two Tokens for each village and town hall. Five for each county hall and branch hall. Distribute them by express horse. As long as it’s one of this mongrel’s kind, a Token will react within five li!”

””As the Alliance Leader commands!!””

The Overlord Whale Alliance’s upper echelon immediately took One Step forward, knelt on one knee, and accepted the order with a resounding cry.

With their Leg Strength at the Cocoon-Breaking Realm.

It would take them less than half a day to cover the entire Prefecture and distribute all the Tokens!

By then...

”Heh. Playing hide-and-seek in my hunting ground!”

Wu Dao watched the numerous experts of the Overlord Whale Alliance disperse, an icy smile spreading across his face, revealing two rows of Crimson Gold shark-like teeth.

A thing like the Evil Dao...

...is like cockroaches in a house. If you see one, it means there’s a whole nest.

The Black Wolf was clearly just an ordinary ”salesman” tasked with recruiting new members.

Above it.

There had to be a big fish that had already matured—one he could eat!

’I just hope the meat is fatty enough.’

If the portion was large enough, he could bypass arduous cultivation and directly reach the Overlord Limit!