Cutting Weeds and Eliminating Roots

As the dust settled.

A crater several meters wide, resembling a meteorite impact, remained in the center, with Mao Ba, still protected by his Golden Bell Shield, buried up to his crooked neck!

The power of a single punch was terrifying to this extent!

This was the strength unleashed after entering the Heroic Domain and achieving a high level of liberation of human potential!

Within his Steel Body, all human organs, muscles, and microscopic tissues tightened, channeling every strand of power into a single, unified force!

If the power of a normal Unified Force was like a high-explosive bomb, then the power released by Wu Dao's punches and kicks after entering the Heroic Domain was comparable to the bombardment of a small missile!

"Wah..."

Already not fully recovered, Mao Ba suffered such a blow that even with the protection of the Golden Bell Talisman, he spat out a large mouthful of hot blood, feeling as if his internal organs had been shattered!

Crack! Crack!

But what terrified Mao Ba even more was the sound of the Golden Bell shattering in his ears.

Just one punch!

A single punch had broken the Golden Bell Talisman, which even a peak Unified Force expert would struggle to crack with their full strength!

This proved one thing once and for all—

Wu Dao had truly stepped into the realm of the Second Rebirth!

Danger! Danger! Danger!!

An endless aura of death flooded his mind.

This was an absolute crushing of power!

Any scheme would be in vain!

However.

Mao Ba still held onto a sliver of hope.

The greatest strength of the Golden Bell Talisman was not its defense!

After all, once a turtle shell shattered, one would still die.

The most formidable aspect of this talisman was its ability to return the opponent's own power back to them; once the talisman reached its limit, the energy it had absorbed would be reflected back at the attacker!

Mao Ba was gambling!

Gambling that Wu Dao would not notice the anomaly of the Golden Bell Talisman!

Unfortunately!

He had bet wrong this time!

After achieving Subtle Mastery, one's Vitality and Spirit interacted with the heavens and earth; within one's own small world, any minute change was as loud and clear as a thunderclap!

How could Wu Dao fail to notice that the Golden Bell before him was currently condensing and gathering power, as if an electromagnetic cannon were about to fire.

Once his next strike descended!

It would explode instantly!

But would it be of any use?

"Death throes!"

Thinking of this.

Wu Dao sneered and clenched his fist again.

The perfect muscles across his body writhed like dragons and snakes, his internal organs tightened, and surging power gathered together as he brought down another heaven-shaking Whale Hammer Style!

Boom!

The earth trembled once more, the ground buckled, and after being pulverized once, it was overturned again, sending up countless mud shards as a compressed, violent blast of air formed a gale that spread outward, coating the surrounding forest in the color of soil.

Snap!

The second punch!

The power instantly exceeded the limit of the Golden Bell Talisman, causing it to shatter with a boom!

"Go to hell!!"

At that very instant.

Mao Ba let out a loud roar, his mental intent shifting as the shattered Golden Bell condensed into a golden arrow the thickness of a thumb, piercing toward Wu Dao's head!

This arrow!

Concentrated the power of Wu Dao's two "full-force" strikes.

And it was released in the blink of an eye!

Mao Ba did not believe Wu Dao could dodge it!

However.

Did Wu Dao need to dodge?

Even though Subtle Mastery had already detected it, he had absolutely no need to dodge!

Clang!!

It sounded as if an iron nail had been fired against a steel plate!

After the golden arrow pierced through a layer of Wu Dao's iron-like scalp, it could not advance a single inch further, coming to a halt against the surface of his skull—which was comparable to high-quality refined steel—leaving behind only an insignificant mark.

Bones are the load-bearing beams of human strength!

The perfectly evolved Stealing Heaven's Secret System naturally prioritizes the evolution of the skeletal structure to exert perfect control over power!

Under such circumstances.

How could a Heaven Stealer possibly be harmed by his own power?!

Unfortunately.

Mao Ba was completely unaware of this point.

Self-righteous and clever in his own conceit!

"Are you done making a scene?"

With a flicker of thought from Wu Dao, his damaged scalp wiggled like iron wire worms to repair itself, and he bared his teeth in a vicious grin at Mao Ba, whose face was covered in the pallor of death!

At this moment, Mao Ba had reached the end of his rope.

It was as if a fragile mage, having exhausted all his skills, was now facing a warrior who was both fully tanky and possessed berserk attack power.

He could only wait for death!

But he was unwilling to accept it!

He had once dreamed of roaming the world with a sword; how could he break his blade just after stepping out the door?

Thinking of this.

Mao Ba gritted his teeth and deployed his final trump card—

"Wait, if you kill me, from now on..."

Bang!

A giant foot stomped down, shaking the earth!

A perfectly good head exploded like a watermelon.

Mao Ba would never be able to finish his remaining words.

Thus.

The battle at Canyun Mountain.

Every participant!

Except for Wu Dao, was dead!

What happened in the mountains.

Would be buried here forever; known only to the heavens, the earth, and Wu Dao.

No!

There was someone else who knew!

A fierce light flashed in Wu Dao's black-and-gold eyes; he bent his legs, kicked the earth until it exploded, and surged into the forest in the direction where the three martial artists had fled, kicking up a violent gale of air.

Perception at the level of Subtle Mastery!

Every trace and clue appeared clearly in his mind!

In just a dozen breaths, Wu Dao, trailing a violent wave of air, intercepted the three frantically fleeing martial artists.

There was no small talk!

And not a shred of mercy!

After a brief, violent slaughter, the three were torn directly into shreds, dead beyond any hope of recovery!

If Mao Ba had not returned to the scene.

Wu Dao would not have taken their lives.

Unfortunately...

One could only blame Mao Ba.

Mao Ba was a disciple of Huanglong Temple.

From the wary tone Zhao Wei had used earlier.

It was not hard to see.

This Huanglong Temple was also a major power in Guangqing Prefecture, no less significant than the Four Seas Gang.

More importantly.

Huanglong Temple was composed of Immortal Cultivators with mysterious and unpredictable methods!

If word of killing Mao Ba were to leak out, it would be like poking a hornet's nest!

For a very long time to come.

He would be living in constant fear!

Wu Dao would never allow any "what ifs" to exist.

If he had the ability to nip danger in the bud, he would never trust human nature; he had to root it out completely!

Whoosh~

A mountain breeze swept by.

Wu Dao glanced at the bits of flesh and blood covering his body, and just as he was about to return to the spot where Mao Ba died, he recalled Mao Ba's final words.

With a shift of his thoughts.

His vast mental energy swept through his entire body, inside and out, not missing a single minute detail, and soon, he discovered something unusual.

"Heh, this trick again."

Wu Dao sneered with a scoff.

Under the perception of his mental thoughts.

Within his brain, unbeknownst to him and having bypassed his mental perception, a tumor-like mark had appeared, shaped very much like a miniature Yellow Dragon.

Before advancing to the Heroic Realm.

He might have been helpless against this.

But now, Wu Dao could use his powerful mental thoughts to master every inch of his body's tissues and perform surgery on himself.

Such a petty trick.

Wasn't even worth mentioning!

With a thought.

He cut off the nutrient supply to the Yellow Dragon Mark, locked his blood energy, controlled his microscopic tissues to "excise" it, cracked his skull open, expelled it directly from his body, and then watched his skull heal rapidly.

Snap!

Wu Dao squeezed his iron palm, crushing the expelled Yellow Dragon Mark in his grip; as his spirit probed inside, he could find a phantom, miniature "Mao Ba" existing within.

Squelch!

His iron palm closed, sparks flying!

The tumor-like Yellow Dragon Mark was instantly reduced to a puddle of bloody water.

After dealing with the hidden danger.

Wu Dao did not leave immediately, but instead carefully tidied up the battlefield, covering his tracks.

Finally.

He set a fire, and the raging flames reduced all of Huilong's body fragments and belongings to ashes!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

The wind in the mountains was strong; the wind fueled the fire, and before long, thick smoke billowed straight into the sky, but Wu Dao, the arsonist, had long since vanished from the mountainside.