[Rampage]

"Roar, kill!!"

He threw his head back and roared, swallowing the stars and moon!

An unprecedentedly savage aura erupted from Meng Qingshan's body, surging and howling in every direction. It was as if a prehistoric monster had awakened, ready to tear apart every living thing before it.

"Zhushan Technique!"

Perched in the distant treetops, Zhao Wei narrowed his eyes and said warily,

"It's said that once this Hard Qigong reaches perfection, the body becomes comparable to an iron pillar or stone mountain, and one's strength can rival a Cocoon-Breaker at the Unified Force stage. After breaking through the cocoon, one's foundation will far surpass that of others at the same level.

"But cultivating this technique is agonizing. Every day, you have to endure blows from hammers and stones, as well as crossbow bolts, until you can completely disregard blunt and cutting injuries. Only then can you be considered to have mastered it. It's beyond what an ordinary person's willpower can endure.

"Third Brother Meng really is ruthless. Judging by how far he's gotten, he can't be far from perfection..."

"Tsk, but the consequences must be severe, right?"

Wu Dao clicked his tongue in amazement. After "unleashing" himself, Meng Qingshan's aura was more than twice as powerful as before, but Wu Dao didn't believe a perverse technique like this could be free of side effects.

"Of course."

Zhao Wei nodded. "When all is said and done, every Hard Qigong in the world is just a way of tormenting the body, squeezing out its potential, and forcing growth before its time. Even with good medicine to help, it still leaves behind hidden ailments.

"Take Meng Qingshan. If he can't break through the cocoon and undergo Rebirth before his blood and qi decline, his later years will be agonizing. Every day will be worse than death.

"However, I've heard he possesses a rare Qi Sea Dantian. His breakthrough should be all but certain, which is why he dares to practice Hard Qigong so recklessly."

Qi Sea Dantian...

Hearing that term once again, Wu Dao's eyes flickered.

The Innate suppression in this world was absurd. Without an Innate Organ, it was almost impossible to break through the seal of the Cocoon-Breaking Realm.

That made him realize a weakness of his own—

After reaching the Divine Strength Realm—or, more precisely, after advancing to the Heroic Realm—how would he explain the strength he possessed?

At that thought,

sparks of insight collided rapidly in Wu Dao's mind.

A moment later,

his gaze steadied, and he said in a tone of "disdain," "A Qi Sea Dantian? So you can't advance without one? That may not be true."

He was taking a gamble.

He was gambling that Heaven hadn't shut every door in this world, that there was still a glimmer of hope—that some other, unorthodox path could bypass the Innate blockade.

But he didn't know what that path was.

So he needed Zhao Wei, a native of this world, to "create" one for him.

If no such path existed,

he would have to reconsider how to proceed from here.

Fortunately,

Zhao Wei's answer didn't disappoint him...

"Uh, according to conventional wisdom, that's true."

Zhao Wei's expression immediately turned uncertain, as if he were deeply shaken. He studied Wu Dao carefully, then asked hesitantly, "Brother Wu, have you obtained a 'Heavenly Treasure'?"

Heavenly Treasure?

Wu Dao was puzzled, but his expression remained calm as he smiled faintly, giving off an air of inscrutable depth. "Brother Zhao, some things are better left understood without being spelled out, don't you think?"

"Sorry, sorry. I spoke out of turn."

Zhao Wei's expression changed at once, and he hurriedly apologized.

In the martial world, prying into someone else's trump cards was a grave taboo. Someone with a bad temper might turn on you right then and there.

Some hidden techniques were so secret

that even one's closest family couldn't be told. That was common knowledge in the martial world.

And all the more so for a Heavenly Treasure, something countless people would fight tooth and nail over if it appeared.

Though Zhao Wei didn't explain what a Heavenly Treasure was, out of respect for the rules of the martial world,

his shocked expression

made it easy for Wu Dao to guess that this so-called "Heavenly Treasure" was exceptionally precious—precious enough to make even a Grandmaster who had roamed the martial world for thirty or forty years lose his composure at the mere mention of it.

But...

Did this thing take root upon reaching its owner, making it impossible to seize?

Wu Dao had been paying close attention to Zhao Wei's expression. He'd seen surprise and envy, but no greed.

That didn't quite make sense.

After all, he and Zhao Wei had only just met. When the stakes were high enough, Wu Dao had every reason to assume the worst of people.

But he didn't know why.

So Wu Dao let the matter go instead of foolishly giving himself away.

Once he had settled down, he would investigate what this so-called Heavenly Treasure really was.

Rumble!!

As the two spoke briefly,

dull, thunderous impacts sounded in the distance, like a savage elephant stamping the ground.

After "unleashing" himself, Meng Qingshan strode forward with heavy steps, sending the shattered flesh and muddy blood splattering everywhere. Like a golden mountain toppling or a jade pillar collapsing, he charged ferociously at the Flesh Tai Sui!

This time,

everything was completely different.

Meng Qingshan had become a Black Iron Tyrannosaurus, possessed of boundless, terrifying brute strength. He savagely tore apart the Flesh Tai Sui's attacking tendrils, one after another.

His fists, each as large as a millstone, completely ignored the suction force. They crashed down in a storm of blows, making the massive mound of flesh sway this way and that like a wobbling roly-poly doll as it shrieked incessantly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!!

Meng Qingshan wasn't the only one fighting in earnest. Uncle Ya also showed his true strength as a Cocoon-Breaker.

Every punch and claw seemed packed with high explosives. His domineering force struck again and again, blasting the Flesh Tai Sui's shredded flesh into bloody mist!

Force, force!

It sounded mysterious, but it was actually simple.

When ordinary people tense their entire bodies, they can feel their strength gathering into a single force, giving them a sense of explosive power. That's force.

But ordinary people are limited by their mortal bodies and can't maintain that force for long.

Overloading the body's tissues and injuring themselves in the process is one reason. Their minds can't endure it, either. If their focus slips even for a moment—if they pause to catch their breath—the force might disperse.

But cultivators who have undergone Rebirth for the first time can keep their muscles, tendons, and bones throughout their bodies "tensed," with their strength gathered into a single force!

Cultivators at this level have integrated the force of their entire bodies and can wield it as they please.

If a martial artist at the Unified Force stage asks to flick your forehead, don't fall for it.

Because

they can unleash their entire body's force through a single finger and flick your head clean off!

A finger flick like a flood dragon or elephant; a punch like a cannon blast!

Those two phrases vividly explained the meaning of Unified Force.

And Yingsha's Uncle Ya was a martial artist at the Unified Force stage. He might have been a little short of the genuine article, but there was no doubt about the damage he could inflict!

The clearest proof was this:

Even after Meng Qingshan unleashed his own strength, he could only play a supporting role. Uncle Ya was still the main source of damage!

He was practically a human artillery cannon in battle. Each move, each punch and kick—whenever one landed squarely, it exploded like a grenade and left the Flesh Tai Sui with injuries that took a long time to heal.

"Wuwu... It hurts..."

Under the relentless barrage, the Flesh Tai Sui finally stopped giggling. It shrieked in pain, unable to even grow new tendrils. All it could do was take a beating.

"Die!!"

Strike while the iron was hot—finish it while it was down!

Boom, boom, boom—

Meng Qingshan and Uncle Ya gave it no chance to catch its breath. Their attacks blurred into afterimages, raining down like a meteor shower.

At last!

At one moment—

"Ah!!"

Rumble!!

Amid a heart-rending scream,

the four- or five-meter-tall mound of blood-red flesh burst apart with a crash. Shredded flesh flew everywhere, and bloody mist engulfed the area. Within it, only two heavy, labored breaths rose and fell.

"Chik chik chik... Eek..."

At the same time,

the vast swarm of Bat Foxes, which had blotted out the sky, seemed to break free of its control. It scattered in every direction, revealing two "blood gourds" in the center.

They were Mao Ba and Yun Tianliu.

The Bat King, however, was nowhere to be seen. It seemed not to have been killed.

Clearly,

the two of them really had been slacking off and stalling for time. They hadn't actually tried to kill the Bat King.

A hundred meters away,

Wu Dao stared fixedly at the center of the bloody mist. A sense of danger welled up in him for no apparent reason.

His keen senses told him

the battle wasn't over. It had only just begun!!

Chik chik chik...

The Red-Armored Bat Foxes wheeling through the sky let out harsh cries.

Wu Dao's nostrils flared.

He caught the scent of something incredibly enticing!

He looked around.

Wu Dao quickly spotted the gray Bat King, its wings riddled with holes and its injuries seemingly severe, fleeing for its life through the woods.

The Flesh Tai Sui's recent self-destruction had probably severed the connection between them, leaving it unable to control the Bat King.

And the source of the enticing scent

was the flesh exposed by the Bat King's wounds...

Wu Dao gave one last look at the violent, terrifying silhouette gradually emerging from the center of the bloody mist. After a moment's hesitation, he darted away and went after the Bat King.

"Brother Wu?!"

Zhao Wei froze, unsure why Wu Dao had suddenly made such a move. There'd been no warning—he had simply left without a word.

"I'm no match for them. There's no point wasting my effort."

But Wu Dao merely glanced back at Zhao Wei with a meaningful look. After a few flickers, his figure vanished completely from Zhao Wei's sight.

What...

For a moment,

Zhao Wei was puzzled, and also somewhat uncertain, torn between staying and leaving.

To be honest,

he didn't have the confidence to compete with Meng Qingshan and Mao Ba for the Flesh Tai Sui on his own. He wasn't even strong enough to wait on the sidelines and profit from their fight.

But if he gave up,

he found it truly hard to let go...

However,

Zhao Wei's indecision didn't last long. A new development on the battlefield seized all his attention, and his expression changed dramatically!