Tai Sui Transformation

Canyun Mountain.

As Wu Dao and the others were trapped within the Strange Fog Forest Sea.

Whoosh~

At the mountainside, the thin mist surged.

Amidst the flickering of firefly-like yellow light, two figures stepped out at a leisurely pace.

Looking up, the mountain forest ahead was dappled with moonlight, filled with the chirping of nightingales and insects—it was a completely different world from the deathly silent sea of fog behind them.

These two.

Were none other than Mao Ba and Yun Tianliu.

"Phew, many thanks to the Daoist for the reminder. Otherwise, I fear I would have been trapped in that sea of fog as well."

Yun Tianliu cast a lingering, fearful glance at the fog sea behind him and cupped his hands in a salute to Mao Ba.

"Daoist friend, you are too kind."

Mao Ba waved his hand with a faint smile and said, "Both of us hail from reputable sects; it is only right that we stand together."

"That Zhao Wei and Meng Qingshan are both remnants of the Giant Whale Sect that plagued the region back in the day. A leopard cannot change its spots; in the end, they are nothing but birds of a feather."

"Not to mention."

"They have even aligned themselves with such a cruel and bloodthirsty person!"

Mao Ba seemed to still harbor resentment over Wu Dao's massacre before his very eyes, his tone filled with bitterness: "If we truly let them obtain that Flesh Tai Sui, it would be aiding a tyrant in his oppression."

"That is why I played a small trick; they won't be able to escape this Illusion Mist Realm for some time."

"The Daoist's words are most true. If it weren't for the fact that my strength was lacking..."

Yun Tianliu nodded, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes. Whether it was Meng Qingshan, Zhao Wei, or Wu Dao, he did not consider any of them to be good company.

"Hehe, there is plenty of time for that later. For now, you and I should..."

Thud!

A heavy, powerful impact, like a meteorite crashing into the earth, cut Mao Ba's words short.

The two were startled, turning back in unison.

Amidst the flying debris of dirt and stone.

A nine-foot-tall, bronze-cast, iron-forged savage frame stood tall and proud, flashing a mouthful of terrifying black shark teeth at them.

"The Daoist has truly impressive legwork."

Wu Dao stretched his stiff neck, which cracked and popped, his half-smile making Mao Ba and Yun Tianliu feel as though they were being stared down by a vicious shark.

Thud, thud, thud--

Before the two could recover, three more consecutive thuds sounded as figures descended from the sky.

"Haha, as expected of disciples from an Immortal Sect, your methods are truly extraordinary."

Amidst the booming laughter.

Meng Qingshan's bald head, reflecting the moonlight, was exceptionally glaring, and behind him stood the deathly silent Yingsha.

"What rotten luck..."

The last one, muttering curses, was Zhao Wei.

Compared to the others, he looked somewhat disheveled, his body stained with blood and covered in bits of flesh and tissue, as if he had just been through a slaughter.

Indeed...

None of those in the Divine Strength Realm were simple.

Seeing these three, Wu Dao was not particularly surprised.

The Divine Strength Realm already involved spiritual transformation, and Zhao Wei was a Fist Dao Grandmaster with at least forty years of cultivation; his mental fortitude was no small matter.

Meng Qingshan and the other were even more formidable.

If they had been easily trapped in the illusions of the fog sea, that would have been the abnormal part.

However.

Wu Dao was somewhat curious about where Zhao Wei had gotten all that gore on him.

"Ran into those three unlucky fellows..."

Seeing the confusion in Wu Dao's eyes, Zhao Wei explained helplessly: "Those three had completely lost their minds; they started attacking the moment they saw me..."

Wu Dao nodded, signaling his understanding.

The Tyrant Whale Fist was a fierce and violent external martial art, cruel and ruthless, often taking lives at the slightest provocation.

Although Zhao Wei appeared amiable on the surface, looking like a kind old man, his inner nature was definitely not that of a soft-hearted or benevolent person.

They were just three insignificant minor characters, after all.

Killing them was just killing them.

No one cared.

Right now, there was something else more worthy of their attention...

"Ahem, I didn't expect this fog to be so bizarre. I fell for it before I even realized it. My miscalculation..."

Facing the aggressive gazes of the group.

Mao Ba bit the bullet and offered a forced explanation, secretly regretting his previous arrogance and for underestimating these people.

"Hehe, no need to blame yourself, Daoist. There is no one in this world who knows everything."

Meng Qingshan chimed in with a forced, insincere smile.

Wu Dao and Zhao Wei remained silent.

After all.

If they wanted to find the Flesh Tai Sui, they still had to rely on Mao Ba. Now was not the time to burn bridges.

But after what had just happened.

No one in the group would blindly trust Mao Ba anymore.

As for being played for a fool.

When the time came to turn on each other, they would settle the score then.

Thus, everyone, each harboring their own schemes, chose to endure in the face of profit, temporarily maintaining a facade of harmony.

Green Crane led the way.

With Mao Ba at the front, after a brief silence, the group of six plunged once again into the vast mountain forest.

This time.

No matter who it was, they remained fully vigilant, their eyes locked firmly onto Mao Ba ahead, staring until cold sweat broke out on his back.

Canyun Mountain was huge.

Even though they had reached the mountainside, the terrain was not steep.

The surroundings were still a sea of towering ancient trees, many so thick that four or five people could barely wrap their arms around them. It was a primitive landscape everywhere, and walking through it made one feel exceptionally small.

After traveling another ten miles or so.

Wu Dao, who had kept his five senses fully alert, twitched his nose and caught a thick scent of blood.

It wasn't just him.

Everyone present smelled the stench and instinctively quickened their pace, rushing toward the source.

Pushing past the dense foliage.

An open valley wetland came into view.

Under the bright moonlight.

A small river meandered, and the water plants were lush.

Fruit trees grew in clusters, with red and green fruits as far as the eye could see.

On some of the thick tree trunks, one could see simple houses constructed of branches and leaves, connected to each other by vine ladders.

The scale was not small.

There were probably forty or fifty treehouses, looking like a primitive human settlement hidden away from the world.

But...

At this moment, this place, which resembled a Shangri-La, was shrouded in a thick, suffocating stench of blood and an aura of death!

Wu Dao raised his eyes to scan the area.

In the treehouses, on the water, on the rocks, on the fruit trees...

Lying quietly were no fewer than a hundred "puddles" of twisted corpses of White-Haired Ape, with blood flowing like a stream, staining the water plants in the valley red.

Why call them puddles?

Because.

Those corpses were truly like flattened dough or modeling clay, reduced to nothing but limp heaps of flesh and blood; some were even stretched out for seven or eight meters, a truly hair-raising sight.

Clearly.

The "bones" of these White-Haired Ape had vanished.

Or rather...

They had been eaten!

Are apes and humans really the same?

Wu Dao looked at the scene of this flesh-and-blood hell under the moonlight, feeling no ripples in his heart, yet this question suddenly popped into his mind.

However.

It seemed that the intelligence of an ape was indeed higher than that of most animals.

Furthermore...

Wu Dao noticed the crude grass-leaf "garments" on the White-Haired Apes, as well as several "weapons" scattered about.

Knowing how to cover their bodies, flexibly using tools, and building shelters.

The intelligence of this group of White-Haired Apes had clearly reached the level of primitive humans.

So, in other words.

Is this a case of quantity over quality?

A guess formed in Wu Dao's mind.

"Damn it, a step too late..."

The moment Mao Ba saw the scene in the valley, he leaped toward the corpse of an ape, reached out to examine the blood that had not yet congealed, and his expression turned sour:

"This demon is extremely cautious. The moment the Chang Ghost in Panshui Town was subdued, it knew it had been exposed, so it couldn't safely undergo its transformation.

Therefore, it chose the inferior path: forcibly transforming into a human using the bones of these human-like White Apes.

Right now, it might have already..."

"Who is it!!"

Suddenly, a cold shout interrupted Mao Ba.

Meng Qingshan, who was closest to the valley exit, let out a roar, and Yingsha, who was with him, had already darted out ahead of time.

Wu Dao looked up immediately.

He saw that on the crown of a fruit tree at the valley exit.

Illuminated by the moonlight, it was clearly visible.

Standing there was an old man less than a meter tall, chubby and round, with long ears and a large mouth, wearing tattered clothes, looking just like a clay statue of a local deity in a temple, smiling happily at the crowd.

Neither quite human nor beast!

His entire body was blood-red!

Strands of fresh, fleshy tissue wriggled incessantly like earthworms or long insects, and his face was twisting and shifting—it was utterly disgusting!

Flesh Tai Sui?

Has it already transformed?

Thump, thump, thump!!

In an instant.

Greed erupted in the eyes of everyone present, like a volcano that had been suppressed for a long time. They trampled over the rocks and wood beneath their feet, launching themselves toward the Flesh Tai Sui like cannonballs.

"Hehe... fun... so fun..."

The old man transformed from the Flesh Tai Sui gave a "silly" laugh, his figure flickered, and he vanished from the treetop without a sound.

"What a bunch of reckless fools!"

Mao Ba was a step behind, and seeing Yun Tianliu also chasing after it impatiently, he couldn't help but curse in frustration before urging the Green Crane to follow closely behind.

Different levels of vision.

Lead to different ways of handling things.

In Mao Ba's view, the Flesh Tai Sui had already transformed; although it was only a semi-finished product, its strength already exceeded Foundation Establishment.

A monster that had reached its five-hundred-year maturity.

It had already cultivated what the world often called "Demonic Arts," possessing incredible power that transcended the mundane.

Although this kind of Demonic Arts was quite weak.

It was still far superior to mere brute force.

And as for human cultivators.

Only those in the Innate Realm could truly be considered transcendent, having broken free from the simple constraints of physical strength.

Without sufficient strength.

Charging in blindly without knowing the risks.

They were most likely going to suffer a huge loss!