Devouring Heaven

A face both familiar and strange appeared clearly before Yang Xiao's eyes beneath the bleak moonlight.

"It's actually—Zhao Hu?"

Yang Xiao's scalp went numb, and his instincts screamed at him to bolt, but he suddenly came to his senses.

It was already deep night. If Yang Xiao rashly appeared on the main street now, he would definitely be seized by the night patrol soldiers, or even—cut down in the street!

"Zhang Long and Zhao Hu are snakes and rats in the same nest. Those two originally planned to take advantage of the chaos during the Grandmaster Dao Debate six days from now to kill me and seize my house and property in the inner city."

"Since Zhao Hu came to kill me alone tonight, Zhang Long probably doesn't know."

"Looks like Zhao Hu wanted to get ahead of Zhang Long, kill me early for my wealth, and peel off my human skin to use as a mask. He must have kept this from Zhang Long, maybe even from Song Que!"

Yang Xiao forced himself to calm down and carefully reviewed everything he had done today. Only after confirming there were no gaps did he let out a slight breath of relief.

However, Yang Xiao also understood that Zhao Hu's death could only be concealed for a while. Once enough time passed, there was no way it would get past Zhang Long.

But the Grandmaster Dao Debate was only a few days away, and the Peace Sect's uprising was imminent. Yang Xiao did not believe the Sixth Princess had no backup plan.

"For the next few days, I need to guard against Zhang Long first. I can't let him see any flaws. Also, I have to speed up my breakthrough to Iron Skin."

"No, within these six days, I must succeed in my first blood exchange. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to beat Zhang Long!"

Yang Xiao felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Run? He definitely could not run.

Now that the world was in chaos, rebel armies were rising everywhere throughout the Great Yan Dynasty. Only the capital was the safest place!

And as a hereditary house slave of the Princess Mansion, the moment Yang Xiao fled, wanted notices would spread across the realm in an instant.

With Yang Xiao's current strength, only by obediently staying in the Vermilion Bird Tower would he be safest!

Moreover, the cultivation resources Yang Xiao needed could only be provided by the Vermilion Bird Tower!

"Since I can't escape, then I'll build up my strength, strike first, and find a suitable chance to get Zhang Long killed, cutting off future trouble at the root!"

Yang Xiao quickly thought everything through, and a trace of ruthlessness flashed through his eyes.

For now, though, he still had to deal with Zhao Hu first, lest new branches grow from the knot.

After taking a brief breath, Yang Xiao took up a shovel and was just about to dig a pit. But as soon as he walked into the courtyard, he fell into hesitation.

"No. This is the inner city, after all, right beneath the Son of Heaven's feet. If I hide a corpse in the courtyard, it will remain a hidden danger. Once someone discovers it, the consequences will be unimaginable."

A struggle flickered in his eyes. With a dark expression, Yang Xiao walked back into the inner room and shut the door tight.

After hesitating for a moment, a ruthless glint flashed through Yang Xiao's eyes. "I only want to keep a low profile and live, but you people insist on killing me. Zhao Hu, you brought this on yourself—don't blame me!"

With that said, Yang Xiao circulated the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art. A phantom immediately walked out from within Yang Xiao's body and headed toward Zhao Hu.

"Splash~"

Black light flashed across the phantom, and Zhao Hu instantly became an empty void. Where was there still any trace of Zhao Hu?

Even the bloodstains covering the floor had vanished without a trace.

If not for the mess all over the floor, Yang Xiao would even have felt that everything before him was nothing but a dream.

"No wonder the Peace Sect has been hated by emperors of every generation. Emperor Ming of the current dynasty is even locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Peace Sect, willing to shake the very foundations of the state and personally lead three campaigns, swearing to eradicate the Peace Sect."

Although Zhao Hu, this hidden danger, had already disappeared, Yang Xiao's mouth was still dry, and he sensed the mystery and strangeness of the Peace Sect.

However, according to Yang Xiao's guess, the Yellow Heaven Body-Forging Scripture might also be able to devour Zhao Hu, but there would definitely be lingering aftereffects. It would not be as safe as the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art.

Hm?

Suddenly, Yang Xiao's entire body shook, and his eyes filled with disbelief.

It turned out that after the phantom devoured Zhao Hu, memories concerning Zhao Hu immediately appeared in Yang Xiao's mind.

Yang Xiao closed his eyes and began to digest them. Only after a long while did he open his eyes again.

"So Zhao Hu came to kill me tonight because he lost money on the top floor today. That's why he hid it from Zhang Long and secretly came in the middle of the night to murder me and rob me..."

Huu!

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Yang Xiao finally let his suspended heart drop back into place.

Yang Xiao had not expected that after the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art devoured Zhao Hu, it would actually obtain Zhao Hu's memories as well.

Unfortunately, perhaps because Yang Xiao had hacked Zhao Hu more than a hundred times, chopping him into scattered bits and pieces, these memories were extremely fragmented and blurry. Many crucial parts could not be seen, and some had even been lost.

Even so, Yang Xiao still obtained quite a bit of useful information.

"So Song Que, this branch master of the Peace Sect's Great Yan capital branch, spent many years secretly developing quite a few informants among the Vermilion Bird Tower's odd-job workers and waiters."

"Six days from now, all the Peace Sect disciples in the capital will break the whole into parts, disguising themselves as all kinds of guests or assuming other identities. Using the opportunity of the Grandmaster Dao Debate, they will openly infiltrate my Vermilion Bird Tower."

"At that time, those Peace Sect disciples and the insiders arranged by Song Que, people like Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, will coordinate from within and without to do something earth-shaking."

"Unfortunately, Zhao Hu was only a pawn. He didn't know what this major affair was; he would only receive the order at the last moment."

Yang Xiao immediately felt curious, but he had no intention of digging further into the matter. Instead, he planned to directly request a day of rest six days from now, hide in his own house, and avoid wading into muddy waters.

Though muddy waters might hide opportunities to fish up, staying safe and lying low was more important!

And through Zhao Hu's memories, Yang Xiao finally understood: the Mystic Fire Buckle Ye Feng had given him today had originally belonged to Zhao Hu.

As for why Zhao Hu's Mystic Fire Buckle had ended up in Huo Zhen's hands, then been passed by Huo Zhen to Ye Feng after he was eliminated, Yang Xiao did not know, because that portion of the memories was missing.

But that did not matter!

"Looks like this thing is useful, but in the end, it's still a hidden danger. Good thing Zhao Hu is dead. This item can serve me now."

Taking out the Mystic Fire Buckle and placing it in his palm to examine it carefully, Ye Feng gently pressed the hidden compartment.

With a crisp "click," the Mystic Fire Buckle split open at once, revealing a feather inside as thin as a cicada's wing, fine as a strand of hair.

This was—the Shadow Feather Talisman!

The Mystic Fire Buckle could only maintain its sensing within the range of Vermilion Bird Tower, but the Shadow Feather Talisman could sense everything within a hundred li!

However, the Shadow Feather Talisman had a limit on the number of uses. The Shadow Feather Talisman that Zhao Hu had secretly hidden in the inner layer of Yang Xiao's Mystic Fire Buckle could currently only be activated three times.

"The Mystic Fire Buckle only lets two buckles sense each other, but the Shadow Feather Talisman has no such restriction. You only need to plant a hook on the other person in advance."

"Zhang Long probably wouldn't dream that the Mystic Fire Buckle in his hand had long since been planted with a hook by Zhao Hu."

After putting the Shadow Feather Talisman back into the Mystic Fire Buckle, Yang Xiao stopped paying attention to it, and his gaze fell on the illusory shadow ahead.

After this illusory shadow devoured Zhao Hu, its entire body remained motionless, as if it were carefully digesting. It did not directly give Yang Xiao any feedback.

Yang Xiao was not anxious about this. He breathed in and out while waiting.

Like this, who knew how much time passed...

Accompanied by a thunderous boom in his mind, that familiar, long-lost feeling of power once more filled Yang Xiao's limbs and bones.

Advanced Iron Skin!

Feeling the skin all over his body become as tough as Iron Skin, Yang Xiao suddenly rose and slapped his palm straight down.

"Smack!"

The wooden stool shattered at the sound. Yang Xiao's palm was completely unharmed; he had not even felt the slightest pain.

Yang Xiao walked into the courtyard and tried punching again and again, chopping with his palms, kicking, and even ramming his head into a dead tree nearby.

After a round of testing, Yang Xiao finally had a rough yet clear understanding of his own strength.

"Although I don't know what level other Iron Skin martial artists are at, if Zhao Hu weren't dead, I could slap him to death with one palm!"

That powerful strength finally brought a rare trace of a smile to Yang Xiao's face, which had been tense all this time.

According to Zhao Hu's memories, although Zhang Long was formidable, he was also only at the Iron Skin realm and had not stepped into First Blood.

"Six days from now, even if I can't break through to First Blood, I'll definitely be able to surpass Zhang Long!"

"But what's a pity is that Zhao Hu's unique lightness skill, which came and went like a ghost, and his disguise technique, which had reached the realm of divine transformation, are things I can obtain the contents of by reading his memories, but I can't secretly learn them through observing qi. Otherwise, if those two great arts worked together, things would be much more convenient for me in the future."

Yang Xiao sighed softly, inwardly telling himself that a man should not be greedy without limit. He stopped thinking about it and returned to the inner room again.

Looking at the floor covered in broken scraps and debris, Yang Xiao's heart stirred. He tried using the illusory shadow to devour them, and it truly devoured all the "trash" cleanly, leaving not a single trace.

"As expected of the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art. Not only can it devour flesh and vegetables, it can actually devour other things too?"

"If my strength is powerful enough, given time, wouldn't I really be able to devour all things—even swallow the heavens?"

The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more excited he became.

However, traces of immortals were hard to find in this world, so there was no hurry in this matter.

Yang Xiao also discovered that the effect of devouring "trash" was likewise very "trashy." Swallowing it was the same as not swallowing it; for his strength, the increase was infinitesimal.

Yang Xiao was not discouraged by this. After all, he had the illusory shadow devour that trash only to destroy the corpse and erase the traces, so no one would see any flaws.

After a careful round of cleaning, Yang Xiao looked at the empty inner room and only then let out a complete sigh of relief.

"Tomorrow, I only need to buy a few tables and chairs again. Even if someone comes to investigate, they won't be able to see the slightest clue."

Yang Xiao's mind settled greatly, and only then did his gaze fall on the bamboo slip propping up the corner of the table.

By now, the hour of the Tiger had passed, and the hour of the Rabbit had just arrived. In the distance, roosters could faintly be heard crowing the dawn, and the sky had also begun to show a little fish-belly white.

Yang Xiao could even hear early-rising stall owners outside the courtyard, carrying heavy loads as they walked past with labored steps.

"A new day has already arrived. The number of times I can observe qi should have refreshed as well."

"Let me take a good look at this ominous incomplete scripture that even Great Yan's Grand Ancestor never comprehended and that caused countless experts to die suddenly—just what mystery does it hold?"

Placing the bamboo slip on the table, Yang Xiao first went to wash his hands, then changed into a clean set of clothes. Only then, with a nervous and excited heart, did he carefully look toward the bamboo slip.

After two days of research, Yang Xiao had already understood that his "divine ability" to observe qi did not activate simply because he glanced at someone.

Instead, it required a certain amount of "preparation" time.

The higher a martial artist's cultivation realm, and the higher the grade of a martial technique or scripture, the longer this "preparation" time became!

However, the length of this time was only relative.

Yang Xiao stared fixedly at the bamboo slip, not shifting his eyes.

After roughly a dozen breaths.

That long-lost golden light once more appeared above the bamboo slip...