Essence Devouring Art

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

The cold wind cut like a knife, and the autumn rain fell in a fine drizzle.

”KILL! KILL! KILL!!”

Outside the East City Gate of Pingliang County City.

A great army stood in formation, their battle cries soaring to the heavens.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The war drums thundered, echoing in all directions.

An iron-blooded, malevolent aura surged like the sea, and a brutal, killing Battle Intent shot straight into the sky.

High in the sky, before the great army.

Wu Dao and Sikong Lie faced each other, a thousand meters apart.

This was a duel of Fighting Generals.

A one-on-one confrontation.

It was to be fair and just, with both sides using every means at their disposal.

No outsiders were to interfere until life and death were decided.

RUMBLE—

The air in the void continuously exploded and roiled.

The fight had not yet begun.

One possessed an unparalleled tyrannical will.

The other, an inferno of blazing flames.

Their rising auras surged and collided like two vast oceans, churning and compressing, turning the surrounding several thousand meters of sky and earth into a distorted vacuum.

’So that’s how it is. No wonder Zhou Zhiyin said that when Sikong Lie unleashes his full power, he has the strength to approach the Second Floor.’

Wu Dao’s dark eyes swept over the tens of thousands of soldiers below, their Battle Intent surging to the heavens. Feeling Sikong Lie’s ever-strengthening aura, he immediately understood.

After reaching the Overlord Limit.

He could now perceive all sorts of strange and varied Magnetic Field Energies between heaven and earth, some hidden and some manifest. The connections between these magnetic fields were as clear to him as a fire in the night.

In his perception at this moment, as the tens of thousands of soldiers below roared their battle cries, their Essence, Qi, and Spirit linked together. Their individual Life Magnetic Fields merged into one, with Sikong Lie in the sky above as its core, like the eye of a maelstrom, continuously boosting his aura.

A military formation...

Wu Dao withdrew his gaze, his expression unchanging, showing no sign of surprise.

Using a military formation to enhance an army’s combat strength existed in ordinary worlds. The people of the Extraordinary World were no fools; not only did they have them, but theirs were even more powerful and effective.

’He’s noticed?’

Sikong Lie’s fiery aura surged, his crimson spear like a dragon. Seeing Wu Dao glance at the military formation below before calmly retracting his gaze, his heart sank a little further.

From beginning to end!

He couldn’t see through Wu Dao at all!

He was as majestic as a mountain, as profound as an abyss!

This kind of aura was impossible for someone at the so-called Land Immortal level!

A Celestial Treasure!

A Celestial Treasure!

Could it really be so absurdly powerful?

Haaa~

He slowly exhaled a breath of crimson fire.

Sikong Lie’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit had already climbed to their peak. His physical body was like a single spark igniting the surrounding Primordial Qi, and the explosive crimson fire rapidly spread out in a ring, turning the sky into a sea of flames.

WHOOSH~

The sea of flames churned violently and converged!

”SCREEE!!”

The cry of some kind of Divine Bird rang out!

The temperature of the sea of flames suddenly skyrocketed as it surged toward its center like a pilgrimage.

BOOM!

An instant later.

A mountain-sized, fire-bathed ’Vermilion Bird’ rose from the center of the flames. Its wings blotted out the sky, its eyes streamed with fire, and its cry shattered the very clouds.

”A pity he’s only just entered the Divine Sea Realm. His cultivation level prevents him from fully mobilizing the army’s power, otherwise...”

Atop the Treasure Ship in the distant sky.

Gu Qianhuang gazed from afar at the sky-blotting Vermilion Bird, which looked like a king of ten thousand flames, his eyes flickering slightly.

With his Eye Power.

How could he not see it?

That fire-bathed bird was not a simple condensation of Primordial Qi, but a true manifestation of Sikong Lie’s Gun Dao’s Mental Realm!

Furthermore!

Under the enhancement of the military formation and the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of tens of thousands of soldiers, his First Floor Gun Intent was nearly at Great Success!

Coupled with his own Celestial Human First Floor combat strength, his current battle power was infinitely close to the Second Floor level.

And this was with Sikong Lie’s cultivation limiting him from fully mobilizing the army’s power.

If his cultivation were just a bit higher.

Sikong Lie’s Combat Power would definitely break through to the Second Floor!

On the other side.

Zhou Zhiyin’s beautiful eyes were fixed on Wu Dao, the curiosity within them growing ever stronger.

Although Wu Dao’s Fist Dao had reached the level of True Intent.

In Gu Qianhuang’s evaluation, it was only at the First Floor level.

That was far from enough to defeat a powerful enemy whose combat strength was infinitely close to the Second Floor.

Let alone...

With a single punch!

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

The sea of flames churned, the Vermilion Bird cried out.

The sky became an arena for the Fighting Generals!

Sikong Lie himself transformed into a ball of crimson flame. Standing on the Vermilion Bird’s head, he brandished his spear, stirring the eight wildernesses. He looked like a Fire God descended to the mortal world, gazing down at Wu Dao as his voice boomed like spring thunder:

”One move to decide life and death!!”

One move!

And only one move!

In a life-or-death battle between experts.

There was no such thing as a ”three-hundred-round battle.”

Once their Essence, Qi, and Spirit reached their peak and their power shone at its absolute limit, a single move was enough to determine superiority, victory, and life or death!

If one could not withstand that one move.

Any further struggle would be futile.

SCHING!

The instant his voice fell.

Sikong Lie switched from a one-handed to a two-handed grip on his spear. With his legs spread one in front of the other, he thrust the long spear forward in the most simple and basic of wide, powerful lunges!

SCREEE!!

As this spear thrust out.

The sea of flames churned, and the Vermilion Bird went berserk!

RUMBLE—

The moment its fire-bathed wings spread to soar.

The heavens boomed and exploded, the void collapsed and cracked, and a sky-covering sea of flames crashed down, submerging everything in sight.

For a moment, all Wu Dao could see were the crimson waves of fire blanketing all directions, and the fire-bathed Vermilion Bird at the center of it all, cleaving through wind and waves as it sped toward him.

Closer and closer!

It looked more and more like a divine spear!

The berserk flames and heaven-burning Gun Intent it carried seemed intent on incinerating all life in the world, turning the universe to scorched earth!

A heatwave blasted him, and the sea of flames surged.

The charging Vermilion Bird in his vision was like a bolt of lightning.

But to Wu Dao’s ultra-high-speed brain, it was all moving frame by frame.

So slow!!

Haaa~

Facing the Vermilion Bird that shattered the void with a beat of its wings, Wu Dao let out a soft breath. His face instantly took on an appearance of both god and ghost as he unleashed Divine Ghost Heaven. He stomped, shattering the void, and stepped forward, drawing back his fist!

CLANG CLANG CLANG—

The sound of Divine Iron clashing was rapid and intense.

As he drew back his fist, the muscles all over his body, constructed from strands of Nine-Revolutions Immortal Extreme Gold, bulged and knotted like a host of Evil Dragons coiling around him. The clothes on his back stretched taut, revealing the pattern of a dragon’s nest.

RUMBLE—

The sound of a great river surging suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.

Reflected in Sikong Lie’s suddenly constricting pupils, Wu Dao’s physique seemed to transform instantly into an abyss of ten thousand dragons. A brilliant, rainbow-like stream of Essence Qi erupted from his Heavenly Spirit Cover, as if a great primeval beast was reawakening!

ROAR—

A dragon’s roar tore through the sky!

One after another, Red Gold Blood Dragons roared and surged from Wu Dao’s pores.

Carrying an aura of Supreme Yang, they shot into the sky, pouring back down to entwine and converge, forming a brilliant, fifteen-hundred-zhang-long Crimson Gold Qi Blood River!

The Qi Blood River of the Horizontal Refining Fifth Door!

Fifteen hundred zhang!

He was approaching Minor Achievement in the Fifth Daoist Sect!

No wonder he had the confidence to challenge Pingliang!

But...

It wasn’t enough!

For the Transverse Refining Dao to fully match an early-stage Heavenly Human Divine Sea Realm Martial Artist with Physical Power alone, one would need to reach at least Great Success in the Fifth Daoist Sect!

Not to mention, he also had his First Floor Gun Dao True Intent!

In a flash of lightning, the thought moved with electric speed.

Sikong Lie gritted his teeth slightly, and his Essence, Qi, and Spirit completely merged with the Vermilion Bird of True Intent beneath his feet, which folded its wings and pointed its head forward like the tip of a spear!

Eight hundred meters!

Five hundred meters!

CRACKLE!!

The seven-revolutions Immortal Cells rubbed against each other at extreme speed!

Generating a wildly explosive bio-electric current!

It was like a Divine Sun of lightning and fire had exploded! Thick bolts of electricity danced like golden snakes, covering the sky and submerging a vast swathe of the void!

OM!

The Primordial Magnetic Field domain rotated!

Like a black hole, a great abyss of gravity, appearing out of nowhere!

An unparalleled magnetic pull forcibly linked to and dominated the magnetic fields of all things. Instantly, the heavens fell into chaos as all magnetism paid homage!

Sever!

Wu Dao’s eyes were like those of an Asura. With a single thought of killing, the invisible Primordial Magnetic Celestial Saber rose up and severed the magnetic link between Sikong Lie and the military formation below. The Vermilion Bird’s Gun Intent instantly weakened by a large margin!

’How is this possible...’

Utter shock and disbelief instantly filled Sikong Lie’s pupils.

But before his shocked thought could even fully form, dominated by Wu Dao’s tyrannical will, the Magnetic Field Power generated by the military formation acted as if it had received an Emperor’s command. It betrayed Sikong Lie without hesitation and actively linked itself to Wu Dao!

After reaching the Overlord Limit, his Primordial Magnetic Power had become so strong that he could seize the Magnetic Field Power of any weaker living being within his range and make it his own.

Now, with Divine Ghost Heaven unleashed, his Spiritual Power was released at two hundred percent!

Within a radius of nearly ten li!

He was the king of ten thousand fields!

’I don’t need your permission. If I want it, you have to give it!’

If he were to step into the Human Extreme realm, it would be truly terrifying. He would even be able to command the magnetic fields of non-living things!

Originally, Wu Dao had planned to unleash Shen Wutian to deal with Sikong Lie.

But since he could use someone else’s power, why should he waste his own?

All of this took a long time to describe, but it all happened in the span of a single thought.

In the eyes of outsiders, they only saw Sikong Lie’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit erupt to their peak as he stood upon the fiery Vermilion Bird, piercing through the void with his heaven-burning Gun Intent and charging toward Wu Dao like a bolt of lightning.

The moment Sikong Lie made his move, Wu Dao stepped forward and drew back his fist, revealing the power of the Horizontal Refining Fifth Door, yet he still seemed to be at a disadvantage.

But no one knew that the scales of victory had already tipped completely in Wu Dao’s favor the instant shock appeared in Sikong Lie’s mind.

BOOM!!

The sound of a punch, like a Divine Being beating a drum, exploded across the Ten Directions of heaven and earth!

When the two were a hundred meters apart, Wu Dao finally threw his punch—

Whale Shark Island!!

SCREEE!!

The cry of a Divine Whale from the primeval wilderness suddenly resounded throughout Pingliang County City.

An indescribably heavy Fist Intent pressed down like a vast ocean, suppressing the four seas!

Its tyrannical will, which none dared to defy, instantly made countless people’s Divine Souls tremble, leaving them with only the urge to kneel and kowtow!

”I’ve misjudged...”

In the distant sky, aboard the Treasure Ship, Gu Qianhuang, whose expression had been calm from start to finish, suddenly paled the moment the whale’s cry rang out.

Because the Fist Intent and Power unleashed by Wu Dao’s punch had, without a doubt, stepped into the Celestial Human Second Floor!

But what he couldn’t understand was...

how on earth did Wu Dao forcibly seize the power of the Pingliang Army?

It was completely illogical!

...

BOOM!

The punch shook the heavens and moved the earth!

With the power of the Pingliang Army reinforcing him, Wu Dao’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, already at their limit, skyrocketed once again!

The Divine Whale galloped forward with a swing of its tail!

A sea of blood submerged the blazing flames!

Its mountain-like head crashed forward, kicking up thousand-zhang waves!

Compared to it, the Vermilion Bird that had been setting the sky ablaze now seemed as tiny as fish bait!

Its Mental Realm and aura were completely crushed from all sides!

The outcome, naturally, was—

BANG!

The Divine Whale smashed into the island!

The sea of flames exploded!

The Vermilion Bird cried out in sorrow as it was annihilated.

The Red Flame Long Spear shattered inch by inch.

’Your Majesty, your old servant has failed you...’

In the final moment of his life, Sikong Lie looked toward the Central Plains, his eyes filled with deep shame. In an instant, the mountain-like Divine Whale smashed him into countless fragments.

He said one punch, and one punch it was!

Governor of Two Mansions, Sikong Lie!

Dead!!

BOOM—

A long-reverberating explosion tore through the sky, the shockwave like a cloud.

After obliterating Sikong Lie, the Divine Whale’s momentum didn’t lessen in the slightest. It slammed viciously into the void, exploding like a giant, blood-red fireball.

The violent shockwave formed layer upon layer of concentric rings, compressing the atmosphere. It expanded rapidly, repelling and pulverizing all the minuscule water vapor in its path.

A white, egg-shaped curtain formed and expanded swiftly into the distance, completely vaporizing the rain falling over Pingliang City, which for a long time could not fall again!

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

The air rushed back in, creating a ferocious gale.

Amidst the raging storm, Wu Dao’s god-and-demon-like face remained unchanged. His abyss-black eyes turned to Yang Wufeng and Nangong Hao in the distance as he spoke coolly:

”Do you want to die together, or die in line?”

CLANG!

OM!

The Bladeless Treasure Sword was unsheathed!

Purple talisman paper swirled!

Yang Wufeng and Nangong Hao’s eyes were bloodshot. They took a deep breath, clenched their teeth in silence, and without any hesitation, showed their stance through their actions.

Grief, anger, hysteria...

None of it could change a thing.

To let this villain know, and to remind those who would come after, that there are some beliefs that cannot be shaken in the slightest, even in the face of death and the annihilation of one’s soul!