The Dao Heart Breaker, the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao, the Great Famous Mountains, the Little Bandit

The Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao was still forming. Though it seemed plentiful, it was a drop in the bucket compared to all the living beings searching for it within Wangwu Mountain. Anyone who managed to obtain some was among the luckiest of the lucky.

Why was that?

The answer was Yuan Tianzong!

The more Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao one absorbed and refined, the closer one's connection to heaven and earth became, and the faster one's spirit transformed.

Perhaps it was a shortcut to increasing one's cultivation during this stage of awakening. With his solid, exceptionally stable spiritual foundation, Yuan Tianzong seized the opportunity and raced from place to place, taking every last wisp of Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao.

Because of him, the already scarce Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao was even less likely to fall into the hands of other living beings. It grew rarer by the day.

Yuan Tianzong's habit of stripping everything bare wherever he went earned him countless curses under people's breath.

After the two nicknames "Refiner" and "Dao Heart Breaker," he acquired another: "Bandit."

People cursed him, but they were increasingly astonished by the strength of Yuan Tianzong's spiritual foundation. They couldn't imagine how stable his spirit could possibly be.

One lucky soul obtained a wisp of divine smoke and experienced the spiritual impact firsthand. He nearly got blasted into an idiot, but after barely enduring it, his spirit finally transformed.

As soon as he awakened, he left Wangwu Mountain. He no longer wanted any more divine smoke, convinced that he couldn't withstand another wave of that kind of impact.

The comparison only made Yuan Tianzong's terrifying ability all the more apparent.

Based on traces he had left behind, some people made a rough estimate: he had probably obtained more than thirty wisps of divine smoke. The exact number was unknown.

If he absorbed it all, the consequences were unimaginable.

For a time, "the Refiner" became synonymous with invincibility on Wangwu Mountain. Anyone who saw him had to bow their head.

While Yuan Tianzong rampaged across Wangwu Mountain, harvesting divine smoke, China—and even the entire world—was swept up in a frenzy over its appearance.

On famous mountains and great rivers, and even in certain cities, incense ash and strange soil appeared, sparking fierce competition among living beings from every quarter.

The appearance of the divine smoke also made countless ordinary people suddenly realize that the cultivation world was full of long-hidden old monsters and young prodigies.

This sparked heated discussions online, and traffic exploded.

Several superhumans at the very peak were highly active, eagerly refining the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao.

The Dragon King, Feitian, Black Tiger, and other established superhumans led their teams in clashes with various sects and clans.

It was even reported that the Dragon King had clashed with members of a more mysterious sect near Mount Tai. Badly wounded, he fled Mount Tai and went elsewhere to continue competing.

The established superhumans had made quite a splash, but the newcomers were even more imposing.

One fellow known as the "Bull Demon King" had horns atop his head and was as muscular as a bull. He was exceptionally domineering. Upon hearing that the Dragon King had been defeated at Mount Tai, he charged in of his own accord, declaring that he would establish a superhuman martial arts school there!

The humans were locked in endless conflict, and the Molting Beasts were no less busy.

Extremely powerful Molting Beasts emerged in various places, their former hiding places unknown.

These Molting Beasts swept through the land like kings returning to rule the world. Wherever they went, they brought large groups of followers, challenging powerful superhumans, contending with Great Sects, and showing no fear of ancient clans.

Established powerhouses, newly risen stars, and mighty figures from all sides made their entrances, making this period seem terribly chaotic while also teeming with brilliant new life.

Netizens were dazzled. Unable to join the fight for divine smoke, they chose to open another battlefield: fan wars!

There was no accounting for taste. Countless netizens became fans of some powerful being of their own accord, singing their hero's praises online and tearing down the competition. The flames of battle spread far and wide.

"The Dragon King's nothing! Didn't he get kicked out of Mount Tai?"

"The Bull Demon King is the real deal! He charged into Mount Tai to settle the score. Any Great Sect can get out of his way!"

"The Great Sects are mysterious and unfathomable. They're not so easy to deal with. You say they should get out of the way, but where's your proof? No picture, no truth!"

Everyone hurled insults, each boasting louder than the last.

Click into the comments and, good grief, it seemed Earth couldn't contain all these powerhouses.

Amid all the outrageous boasts, someone from Wangwu Mountain scoffed, "What Dragon King? What Bull Demon King? And what are those random Great Sects? In front of my lord the Refiner, they're all just dogs by the roadside~"

"Lord Refiner? What's that supposed to be?"

"Some nobody dares to pick a fight with our Dragon King?!"

"Tch. If your Dragon King runs into my lord the Refiner, he'll have his dragon tendons pulled right out. Believe it?"

"Nope. Tell him to come out and take a lap, then."

"See? Nothing to say now, right?"

Unlike the netizens' all-out fan wars, the various factions gave no response. They were all focused on fighting for the divine smoke.

Many people had already discovered something but kept quiet about it: the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao could condense mystical objects within the spiritual domain.

One wisp could help awaken the spirit.

Three wisps could condense into a stick of incense, standing tall within the spiritual domain, mysterious and unknown.

Nine wisps could condense into an incense burner.

Twenty-seven wisps could form a divine platform.

Among the small circle of top experts, this was the real battle that mattered.

A prodigy from a Great Sect had already endured the impact of nine wisps of divine smoke and condensed an incense burner. He returned to his sect to await the unknown changes in peace.

The Bull Demon King was remarkably powerful. He fought the sect's people in Mount Tai without giving ground, absorbing twenty-one wisps of divine smoke. He wanted to surpass the many old and new powerhouses and condense a divine platform, making quite a few people frown in secret.

"My talent is peerless, and I've gained the fortune of powerful exotic fruits. Who can stand against me!" the Bull Demon King proclaimed arrogantly in Mount Tai.

Elsewhere, in a rising sect, many elders protected a young man as they fought for divine smoke on his behalf. They guarded him while he absorbed it, using an inherited formation to suppress the spiritual impact and help him absorb more, hoping he could condense a divine platform.

A divine platform?

Yuan Tianzong paid no attention to what was happening online. When he looked within, he saw three divine platforms formed from divine smoke already towering in his spiritual domain, imbued with some unknown mystery.

When the divine platforms appeared, he felt his connection to heaven and earth grow more intimate.

Absorbing and refining the divine smoke made his spirit soar like a rocket. If he had cultivated step by step, he had no idea how long it would have taken.

He could still take more, so he kept harvesting divine smoke.

While others were still struggling at the brink of collapse, enduring wave after wave of spiritual impact and trying to condense a divine platform, he had already absorbed more than fifty wisps of divine smoke—all without anyone guarding him.

The strong fought over the divine smoke, taking the best for themselves.

The weak had no choice but to settle for fighting over incense ash.

"Dig fast! The price of incense ash has gone through the roof!"

"Just a tiny handful is enough to leave you with more money than you could spend in several lifetimes!"

A five-person team was beside themselves with excitement as they gathered incense ash from a patch of strange soil barely a few square meters in size.

From a corner, Bone crept closer on tiptoe. With practiced ease, he broke off an exceptionally hard rib, raised it high, and aimed at the back of one person's head.

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

The five, still caught up in their excitement, each took a blow to the head and toppled to the ground.

Bone quickly set down the jade box on his back. On instinct, he spat twice onto his bony palm—though he had no saliva, and it was purely a reflex—then grabbed a shovel and cleared all the incense ash from the strange soil in just a few strokes.

Before long, the five woke up, clutching their heads.

One look at each other told them exactly what had happened.

"Little Bandit!"

The Refiner was the Big Bandit, specializing in stealing divine smoke.

The Little Bandit was another figure who had recently become notorious on Wangwu Mountain. He specialized in stealing incense ash, and his reputation was terrible—he was even more hated than Yuan Tianzong.

Many people had fallen victim to his ambushes. They had swollen lumps on their heads, with no idea what kind of stick he used. The lumps wouldn't go down for days, and they hurt so badly that people gritted their teeth and couldn't sleep at night.

"Fuck you! Which beast is hiding in the shadows?"

"Let me catch you, and I'll skin you alive and take your bones apart!"

Before long, the five men with lumps on their heads found their main group. Seeing the swollen bumps that had refused to go down for days, they were furious.

The victims' alliance kept growing, determined to find the one who had been knocking people out.

"Find the Little Bandit and kill him!"

"We can't afford to mess with the Big Bandit, but why the hell should we be scared of this Little Bandit who doesn't even dare show his face?"

"Get him!"