Xuanjiao gazed at the Giant Wood Demon Corpse he had knocked down and laughed heartily. His body instantly reverted to its true form, and he opened his mouth to swallow the enormous corpse. But the Giant Wood Demon Corpse suddenly released a cloud of deep-green poisonous mist. Xuanjiao was startled. He hadn't expected so much poison to be contained in its body.
Xuanjiao opened his mouth and spat out streams of flame, wrapping them around the Giant Wood Demon Corpse. Watching it engulfed in blazing fire, he said, "I'll slowly refine you."
The Giant Wood Demon Corpse let out a shrill howl in the roaring flames as its body steadily shrank. Perhaps it was being refined by the fire; perhaps it was doing so intentionally. A streak of light burst from the dark-green poisonous mist. Xuanjiao's heart stirred, and his whole body turned into a streak of fire. Using the Fire Escape Technique, he opened his mouth and swallowed the streak of light.
The light was moving too fast. Xuanjiao's enormous jaws managed to bite off only half of it, and a vast force of wood element surged into his body. The immense power battered him from within. Xuanjiao threw back his head and roared, and a ferocious dragon head burst out of his body.
Xuanjiao watched the light retreating into the distance, and greed welled up inside him. He became a streak of light and chased after the pure wood-element power.
Just as Xuanjiao was about to leave the ancient road, a fierce lion's roar rang out behind him. The sound struck directly at his mind, but Xuanjiao only paused for a moment before continuing to rush toward the light.
The scene around Xuanjiao suddenly changed. Before him stood a towering, pitch-black mountain, with the foul-smelling Yellow Springs River