Essence Devouring Art

But it had paid a heavy price. All its senses plunged into darkness. Like a blind man falling through the void, it spiraled down from the starry sky and crashed into a boundless sea of fire.

RUMBLE—

After crashing to the ground, the Yong Bird immediately folded its wings to defend with all its might. It was like a blazing red giant, frantically devouring the pure Spiritual Qi from the surrounding space.

This was a huge gamble.

A bet on whether it would recover first, or if the primary attackers would escape the effects of the Drought World Pupil before it could.

FWOOSH~

All around the hunting ground, under the might of the Drought World Pupil, the various Hunters had all suffered grievous injuries. Unable to move, they had turned into clusters of Heaven-Reaching white torches, their Life Origins rapidly evaporating.

On the outskirts of the hunting ground.

When they saw the mutually destructive stalemate on the hunting ground, the breathing of some smaller Dharma Aspect Powers on the outskirts grew ragged.

"Boss?"

Inside the damaged Red Dragon Ship.

The thirty Red Dragon Thieves, their faces flushed, all looked toward Heavenly Dragon in the command seat.

Desolate Divine Body Soldiers!

Right before our eyes!

"Wait a little longer."

Heavenly Dragon frowned. His centuries as a great thief told him that this matter wasn’t so simple. If they entered the fray now, they might come away empty-handed.

However, just because they could hold back didn’t mean everyone else could.

"Hahaha, I thank you all for your kind accommodation! It would be impolite of this old one to refuse."

A hoarse, ancient laugh suddenly thundered through the silent hunting ground.

From a certain corner of the starry sky, an endless tide of white bones surged forth, revealing a sinister old man in a skeleton-print Daoist Robe. He rode the boundless sea of bones as he charged toward the Yong Bird.

"The White Bone Old Daoist?"

"That old dog actually came too, and he was hiding so deep!"

"Damn it, the old bastard wants to take it all for himself! Brothers, attack!"

The moment the old Daoist riding the sea of bones made his move, most of the other powers that had been lying in wait outside the hunting ground could no longer restrain themselves. Battle cries echoed through the starry sky as they all revealed their techniques and charged into the hunting ground.

The White Bone Old Daoist.

He was a notorious Great Demon from the Underworld Sea Star Realm of the Border Wilderness, known for slaughtering the life on entire planets to refine his Sea of Bones Divine Technique.

However, his strength was only at the Fifth Step of King Grade Dharma Aspect, not an invincible opponent. Naturally, the other powers were unwilling to simply let him have it.

"Hehe, a bunch of little brats. You think you’re worthy of competing with me? Myriad Rivers Sea of Bones, block them!"

The White Bone Daoist sneered sinisterly. The surging sea of bones transformed into a sky-curtain of a myriad rivers, its endless Deadly Evil Qi blocking the first wave of attackers and buying him time.

"Boss?!"

Inside the Red Dragon Ship.

The thirty Red Dragon Thieves grew anxious as they saw the White Bone Elder getting closer and closer to the Yong Bird. If not for their insufficient strength, they would have charged out long ago.

’Is there really no catch?’

Heavenly Dragon frowned, looking at the immobilized, burning Dharma Strongmen, then at the Yong Bird, which had turned into a great, sun-like furnace to heal itself. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

But when he saw that the White Bone Elder was only a million li away from the Yong Bird, all his hesitation was completely destroyed by greed.

"Fuck it, let’s do it!!"

BOOM!

Heavenly Dragon’s eyes were bloodshot. A silver divine light suddenly erupted from within his body, like a weaver’s shuttle. With a single tremor, it instantly carried him across several million li of space, even breaking through the blockade of the sea of bones.

"A Boundary-Breaking Shuttle?!"

"The boss is incredible!"

"I can’t believe the boss was hiding something like this!"

The thirty Red Dragon Thieves howled with excitement. They never expected Heavenly Dragon to possess a Boundary-Breaking Shuttle, an item said to be able to instantly cross realms and escape across ten million li.

This time, they were almost certain to strike it rich!

"The Desolate Divine Body Soldiers are right in front of us! Kill!"

"Old dog, die!"

"Get lost, it’s mine!"

With Heavenly Dragon bursting into action, all the other Dharma Aspect Powers cast aside their worries. Unleashing their Divine Techniques, their battle cries rang out in waves as divine light once again flooded the entire hunting ground.

Deep within the hunting ground.

KRACKLE, KRACKLE—

Watching the Dharma Phase Practitioners enter the hunting ground one by one, Wu Dao grinned and rolled his neck, producing a sound like Divine Iron striking Divine Iron. In the darkness, his magnificent, towering physique slowly straightened up.

"Little treasure, you’re mine!"

In the center of the hunting ground.

The White Bone Elder’s entire body trembled with excitement. His massive hand blotted out the sky as a tide of wailing, whimpering bones surged to envelop the recovering Yong Bird.

"Old dog, you dare!"

"Kill!"

"You old bastard!!!"

Behind him, the Dharma Phase Practitioners’ eyes were splitting with rage. They frantically crossed the void, wishing they could cave in the White Bone Daoist’s head with a single punch.

But at that very moment.

"Old bastard, you think you’re worthy of sticking your claws in this?"

A tyrannical, thunderous voice shook the hunting ground.

The White Bone Daoist’s pupils suddenly contracted.

He whipped his head around.

He saw that Lie Huang—who had been trapped and unable to move an inch within the white drought fire—had suddenly blasted the flames apart. Although his physique was now shriveled, his presence was still that of a god or a demon.

And it wasn’t just him.

"This is a Fierce Beast’s hunting ground. Are wild dogs worthy of fighting over the scraps?"

The Divine Blade of Romer, Alliance Leader of the Qianzai Alliance, hummed as it slashed apart the white flames of the Drought World. His icy gaze swept over the crowd of Dharma Phase Practitioners as if they were already dead.

Afterward.

The Mother of the Void, the Dharma Alliance.

The powers from these two factions also broke free from their restraints simultaneously. Although their auras had been depleted by more than half, they still possessed the combat power of the Sixth Step of Dharma Phase. Sweeping through the hunting ground would be no difficult task for them.

They were perfectly aware of the abilities of a Desolate God like the Yong Bird and had made ample preparations before the hunt.

Whether it was Life-extending Pills or reserves of faith, how could they have truly allowed a mutually destructive outcome where they lost all ability to fight back?

"If you must blame someone, blame yourselves for being too greedy and overestimating your own strength!"

Lie Huang’s voice was tyrannical and icy cold. His physique was shriveled, but his pressure, like that of an Ancient Fierce Beast, was not the slightest bit weaker. He clenched his fist and smashed it toward the Dharma Phase Practitioners in his direction.

It was the same in the other directions.

Romer, the Mother of the Void, and the Dharma Alliance all began to act as well. They clearly intended to clear the field first before fighting amongst themselves over the prize.

"Damn it! I knew these sons of bitches would pull a fast one!"

Heavenly Dragon’s expression was utterly foul.

He immediately and desperately activated the Boundary-Breaking Shuttle to flee from the hunting ground.