Taiji Grindstone! (Seeking Collection!)

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The massive water and fire dragons roared as they descended, leaving the two figures atop the Golden Winged Eagle in utter shock.

Ye Feng did not hesitate for a second, leaping directly from the tail feathers of the Golden Winged Eagle. His True Essence surged outward like wings, propelling him away to the side.

For cultivators at the Xiantian Spirit realm, the Qi-refining path generates True Essence within the body, while the Body-refining path generates Divine Power.

True Essence can manipulate magical artifacts and flying swords, and can even be projected outward to form Sword Qi, Blade Qi, and various other manifestations.

However, the Body-refining path is different; the Divine Power of a Xiantian Spirit realm expert cannot be projected outward and remains contained within the divine body.

Yet, the heavens always leave a sliver of possibility. Although Divine Power cannot be projected, those who cultivate different body-refining techniques to the Xiantian Spirit realm gain extraordinary abilities through the Divine Patterns condensed upon their divine bodies.

Some can summon the thunder of heaven and earth, while others can control mountains, stone, the earth, or hurricanes...

The Chiming Nine Heavens Map draws upon the power of the two supreme stars, the Taiyin and the Taiyang. Once one crosses into the Xiantian realm, they can manipulate water and fire with immense power, capable of instantly slaying ordinary Xiantian Spirits!

"Break!"

The burly figure suddenly produced a Red-Gold Copper Staff in his hand. He leaped from the Golden Winged Eagle, wielding dual staves to meet the roaring water and fire dragons, intending to use brute force to shatter the manifestations of natural power.

Unexpectedly, the massive water and fire dragons traced two arcs, bypassing him to instantly coil around the Golden Winged Eagle behind him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The water and fire dragons swirled around the Golden Winged Eagle, instantly forming a massive Water-Fire Taiji Diagram.

"Awoo~~" The great demon Golden Winged Eagle shrieked in agony, flapping its wings frantically in an attempt to break free.

But as the Water-Fire Taiji Diagram spun like a giant millstone, it not only exerted a terrifying suction force, but the water and fire also contained endless cold and scorching heat.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The Golden Winged Eagle's metallic body proved useless, instantly becoming charred and frozen. Then, the invisible grinding force of the Water-Fire Taiji Diagram descended, tearing it to shreds right there in mid-air.

"My eagle!" Seeing the water and fire dragons bypass him to slaughter his mount, the burly figure flew into a rage. He glared at Zhou Hao's position, intent on engaging him in a life-or-death struggle.

But at the mountain ruins, Zhou Hao was nowhere to be seen.

Ye Feng, who had been the first to leap from the Golden Winged Eagle, was also terrified to see the great demon so easily slaughtered.

I'm glad I was quick-witted. Anyone who cultivates the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to the Xiantian realm is a monster. I'll leave that killing god to him, Ye Feng thought to himself.

I'll capture that woman first, then slaughter those lowly commoners. No matter how monstrous that man is, he will surely be affected. That woman clearly has a deep connection to him; if I capture her, I will be in an invincible position.

Coming from a large tribe, though not a hegemonic power on the Great Wild Plains, he had been raised on schemes and calculations. Later, under the tutelage of Motai Xiao, he had managed to stand out among many disciples and reach the late Xiantian stage, naturally possessing his own merits.

Do not plan for victory without first planning for defeat!

This was the creed Ye Feng had lived by for years, helping him survive numerous dangers and slay enemies stronger than himself.

Still in mid-air, Ye Feng scanned the area, intending to capture Xiangcao first.

But before he could even spot her, he saw Zhou Hao wreathed in flames, hurtling toward him like an arrow.

"Oh no!" In a panic, Ye Feng swung his long sword to unleash Sword Qi, roaring, "Commander Yuan, save me!"

"Save you? Even if the Heavenly King himself came, you would still die!" Zhou Hao bellowed.

He had already seen the tragic state of the Iron Ox Tribe. Whether it was the clean-cut wounds or the trenches carved into the ground by Sword Qi, Zhou Hao immediately understood that the young man with the sword before him was the one who had wrought this slaughter.

He thought of Zhamu, the simple man who had given him the Cold Iron Dagger—the man who had refused to trade it for a Wild Ox, and when he couldn't be swayed, had insisted that if Zhou Hao had nothing to eat, he should come to his home, for his wife's cooking was the best...

Now, Zhamu's body had been hacked in two.

Then there was the Blind Man, the archer who always squinted, yet whose eyes were as sharp as a hawk's the moment he picked up his Ironwood Bow. Now, he had lost an arm and would never be able to draw a bow again.

And Qingshi, and the other Iron Ox tribesmen whose bodies were shattered, their eyes wide with the injustice of their deaths...

"Die!" Zhou Hao clenched his right fist, unleashing a cannon-like punch that struck Ye Feng squarely in the chest.

Crack! BOOM!

Ye Feng's body shattered like porcelain under Zhou Hao's punch.

Severed limbs flew everywhere, leaving only his head to tumble toward the fallen members of the Iron Ox Tribe.

The eyes of Ye Feng, still retaining a flicker of life, were filled with terror and disbelief.

"Well killed!" Iron Ox rushed forward, his heart full of hatred, and channeled all his strength into his right leg, kicking the only intact part of Ye Feng—his head—as it flew through the air.

Splat!

Like a bursting ball, red and white matter splattered in every direction!

Ye Feng, the late-stage Xiantian Spirit expert of the Black Hand Tribe, was dead!

Though it took time to recount, the battle between experts was lightning-fast.

From the moment Zhou Hao manipulated the power of heaven and earth to form the water and fire dragons to slay the Golden Winged Eagle, to his sudden appearance before Ye Feng to shatter him with a single punch, not even a single breath had passed.

The burly figure on the other side had just landed, standing exactly where Zhou Hao had been moments before.

"Your turn," Zhou Hao said coldly.

Slaughtering the culprit behind the Iron Ox Tribe's casualties had slightly quelled the grief and rage in his heart.

But this man had first interrupted his chance at enlightenment and then appeared alongside the Black Hand Tribe's Xiantian Spirit. If he did not kill this person, there would surely be an endless stream of enemies to follow.

Zhou Hao killed that great demon avian first thing to cut off the enemy's retreat.

Cultivators at the Xiantian Lifeform stage, even those of the Qi Refinement path, cannot fly using their own bodies even if they use True Essence to drive magic treasures. Those of the Body Refinement path cannot even project their divine power externally, and can only rely on movement techniques to sprint across the ground.

Zhou Hao had achieved the Xiantian Lifeform stage by cultivating the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, the premier God-Demon Body Refinement technique. His body had shed its mortal shell, becoming akin to a Xiantian God-Demon born of heaven and earth.

Both his strength and speed far exceeded those of other Body Refinement experts at the same level.

Furthermore, he possessed the "Taiji Grindstone," a technique derived from the sliver of True Meaning of Water and Fire he had realized earlier.

Even if Motai Xiao, the strongest of the Black Hand Tribe, were here now, Zhou Hao was determined to slay him!

"The Chiming Nine Heavens Map is formidable, but it's a pity you've only just entered the Xiantian stage at the fourth level. If you had reached the fifth, even I wouldn't dare claim I could defeat you."

From the dust of the shattered mountain peak, that hulking figure walked out slowly. His speech seemed clumsy at first, but it grew more fluent as he continued.

"An ape demon?" Zhou Hao was somewhat startled to see the face revealed by the figure was that of an ape. "Why can I sense no demonic aura from him?"

When wild beasts gain intelligence, they absorb the essence of heaven and earth to become demon beasts; once a demon beast undergoes a transformation and enters the Xiantian stage, it becomes a great demon.

Although a Xiantian great demon can take human form, the demonic aura on their body cannot be concealed unless they possess a special technique to hide it.

Yet, this figure with an ape's face did not hunch his back like a monkey, his hands and feet were clearly human, and there was not a shred of demonic aura about him. Zhou Hao could not tell what species he was.

Could he be a human-demon hybrid? Zhou Hao thought to himself, then spoke aloud: "Even if I have just entered the Xiantian stage, it is enough to deal with a monkey like you."

The Chiming Nine Heavens Map is recognized as the number one God-Demon Body Refinement method. While one cannot claim to have the absolute power to fight above one's rank like a true God-Demon upon mastering it, crushing Qi Refinement experts of the same level is no problem at all.

Even among those on the Body Refinement path, one who enters the Xiantian Lifeform stage by cultivating the Chiming Nine Heavens Map is equivalent to the late stage of other ordinary Body Refinement techniques, even at the initial level.

That man had neither projected divine power when he used his copper staff to interrupt his enlightenment, nor when he tried to shatter the water and fire dragons earlier; he was clearly not a Purple Mansion expert.

As long as it wasn't the Purple Mansion stage, one would only know who was stronger after a fight!

"Monkey?" The man known as Commander Yuan by Ye Feng revealed a ferocious expression.

He was a human-demon hybrid born after a human woman was raped by an ape demon. His limbs and torso were no different from a human's, save for a face like an ape's.

His mother abandoned him in the wild at birth, and he grew up in the mountains following wild beasts, which made him bloodthirsty and demonic in his daily conduct.

Later, he was taken in by an expert from the Fire Worship Sect, who named him "Yuan Lie" after an ancient Great Sage of the Demon Race, and thus he embarked on the path of cultivation. He even had the fortune to obtain a God-Demon Body Refinement inheritance in an abandoned cave dwelling.

Once Yuan Lie mastered it and entered the Xiantian stage, the first thing he did was slaughter his mother's entire clan.

Because he bore an ape's face, he hated being called a monkey more than anything in his life.

Zhou Hao had first killed his great demon spirit beast, and now he had touched upon his taboo, naturally stirring the bloodthirsty, insane demonic nature within him.

"ROAR!"

Yuan Lie let out a great roar, his upper garments shattering to reveal a body covered in blood-red magic patterns.

His already thick arms, in particular, bulged and lengthened, reaching the ground without him needing to hunch over.

In an instant, Yuan Lie's ferocious aura surged to the heavens. Holding two Red-Gold Copper Staffs, he looked like a long-armed demon god.

"You look even more like a long-armed ape now." Zhou Hao spoke deliberately to disturb the other's focus, while his mind stirred, activating the two great Divine Patterns on his back.

Right where Yuan Lie stood, water and fire dragons appeared out of thin air, rotating and coiling like a massive grindstone descending to crush him.

This was the "Taiji Grindstone," a move Zhou Hao had created by combining the True Meaning of Water and Fire he realized during his enlightenment with the Taiji Fist he had practiced.

Crushing through the Taiji Grindstone was several times more powerful than simply manipulating the force of water and fire. Moreover, Zhou Hao had practiced visualization since childhood, and his soul far exceeded that of ordinary people; he had possessed divine sense even before he began cultivating.

Now, his control over water and fire was far more powerful than others who cultivated the Chiming Nine Heavens Map.

As for the name of the move, just like Internal Martial Arts moves such as Advance Crushing Fist, Step-Up Splitting Fist, or Golden Rooster Shakes Wings, it didn't matter if it sounded good—as long as it was powerful, that was enough.

Chi! Chi! Chi!

The Taiji Grindstone landed on Yuan Lie, the immense force feeling as if a real grindstone were rotating and crushing against his body.

"HA!" Yuan Lie let out a shout, his arms, now swollen to several times their original size, swinging his copper staffs outward. With a loud BOOM, he shattered the Taiji Grindstone.

Although the power of water and fire within it left scorching and freezing wounds on his body, the magic patterns flashed with a blood-red light, and the wounds closed completely in the blink of an eye.

Once a Body Refinement practitioner reaches the Xiantian stage, their body naturally undergoes a rebirth, becoming akin to the legendary God-Demon physique.

Divine power is contained within the body; even if an arm is severed or the torso is split, it can be restored by consuming some divine power.

It is for this reason that the Body Refinement path dares to claim it can crush the Qi Refinement path at the same level.

Like the deceased Ye Feng, if he had been a late-stage Xiantian Body Refinement expert, he would not have died even if only his head remained.

To kill him, I must strike his vitals, Zhou Hao thought.

For most God-Demon Body Refinement methods, the vital point at the Xiantian Lifeform stage is the head, as the head is where the origin of the soul resides—the most important part.

Even the premier method, the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, only allows one to have no vitals upon reaching Xiantian perfection; other methods require the Purple Mansion stage to achieve this.

Zhou Hao's gaze shifted, and six pitch-black flying knives flew from his body, turning into six cold beams that whistled toward Yuan Lie's head.

"Die!"