Secret Art Shows Its Might, Slaying the Ferocious Beast to Obtain an Origin Fragment

At the entrance to the valley, a natural barrier formed from chaos currents shimmered like a thin curtain of water, glowing with a dim azure light. A warm, gentle aura continuously spread from behind the barrier, standing in stark contrast to the violent aura outside.

Xuan Chen summoned every ounce of strength and charged desperately toward the barrier. Taotie's roars behind him drew ever closer, and that rancid stench nearly made him pass out. He could clearly feel Taotie's claws about to reach his back; the icy killing intent made his entire body stiff as stone.

"Now!"

Xuan Chen spun around sharply, gathering every last trace of spiritual energy in his body into his right hand. At the same time, the system's notification rang out in his mind:

[Detected that the host has encountered a fatal crisis. The beginner secret art Chaos Finger may be temporarily activated. Consume 50% spiritual energy to activate?]

"Activate!" Xuan Chen answered without the slightest hesitation.

In an instant, a surge of Chaos Power far purer than before rushed from his fingertips. Though this force was still weak, it was condensed to the utmost limit, sharp as a needle's tip and glimmering with a faint golden radiance. As its name implied, Chaos Finger was a secret art containing the mysteries of the Chaos Dao. Though merely beginner-level, it could unleash unexpectedly tremendous power at critical moments.

Xuan Chen's eyes gleamed as he fixed his gaze on Taotie's left eye. That was one of its weaknesses, and the only spot he could possibly strike. He took a deep breath, poured all his strength into his fingertip, and thrust fiercely toward Taotie's left eye.

"Roar!"

Taotie seemed to sense the danger and let out an enraged roar, trying to close its eye, but it was already too late.

"Pfft!"

With a soft sound, the Chaos Power condensed by Chaos Finger pierced precisely into Taotie's left eye like a sharp sword.

"Aooow—!"

The searing pain made Taotie release a heart-rending shriek that shook the entire valley, throwing even the surrounding chaos currents into turmoil. A massive amount of black blood instantly gushed from its left eye. As the blood dripped onto the ground, it hissed and corroded small holes into the rocks.

Taotie wildly shook its head, trying to fling Xuan Chen away. But Xuan Chen had already used the recoil to flash aside, then swiftly rushed toward the Chaos Barrier at the valley entrance.

"Bang!"

Xuan Chen's body struck the barrier as though crashing into a layer of soft cotton. Ripples spread across it, cleansing away all the filth and killing intent on his body, while a gentle force ushered him into the valley.

After entering the valley, Xuan Chen immediately felt a rich life force envelop him. His completely depleted spiritual energy began to recover slowly, and the wounds on his body rapidly healed. Looking back, he saw Taotie grow even more frenzied from the agony in its eye before ramming headlong into the Chaos Barrier.

"Boom!"

The enormous impact made the barrier shake violently, and its azure glow dimmed considerably, but it ultimately blocked Taotie's attack. Taotie unwillingly slammed into the barrier and roared outside it in a frenzy, yet it could never break through that seemingly fragile screen.

Xuan Chen let out a breath and collapsed onto the ground, gasping heavily. That life-and-death instant had nearly drained all his strength and focus. Even recalling it now left lingering fear in his heart.

He raised his head and surveyed the inside of the valley. It was as different from the outside world as heaven and earth. The valley was not large, spanning only a few miles. Verdant spirit grass covered the ground, dotted with crystalline dew that gave off a faint fragrance. At the center of the valley stood an enormous azure rock, roughly thirty feet tall. Its entire body was translucent and lustrous, warm as jade, its surface covered in naturally formed Dao patterns. The aura of Chaos Origin Essence was emanating from this very rock.

"This is... the Nuwa Stone?" A flicker of excitement flashed through Xuan Chen's eyes. He could sense an exceptionally pure and powerful spiritual intelligence within the rock. Though still in a muddled, nascent state, its potential was boundless. It was precisely the Chaos Relic Pearl he had sought—the Nuwa Stone.

Just as Xuan Chen prepared to approach the Nuwa Stone, Taotie outside the barrier suddenly released an even more savage roar. Immediately afterward, Xuan Chen felt a terrifying wave of power coming from beyond the barrier. Alarmed, he looked up and saw Taotie beginning to devour the surrounding chaos currents. Its body swelled at a visible rate; its already massive frame became even larger, the scales on its body darker and harder, while its wounded left eye actually began to heal slowly.

"Not good! This beast is devouring the chaos currents to heal itself—and growing stronger!" Xuan Chen's expression changed drastically. Taotie lived by devouring. With the chaos currents here so dense, if it continued feeding, its injuries would soon fully recover, and its strength might even advance further. When that happened, this Chaos Barrier might not be able to stop it.

Xuan Chen knew he could not give Taotie that chance. Before Taotie broke through the barrier, he had to eliminate it completely!

But his spiritual energy was currently depleted. With only the strength he had left, he was no match for Taotie. Unless... he used the Innate Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Origin hidden deep within his soul.

Yet once he used that Origin, it would inevitably draw the Heavenly Dao's attention. In the early days of the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao's laws were not yet complete, but it remained exceptionally sensitive to power at the level of an Innate Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. Revealing his strength too early would inevitably invite countless troubles. He might even be regarded as a threat by the Heavenly Dao and exterminated ahead of time.

As Xuan Chen hesitated, the system's voice rang out again:

[Detected a chaos ferocious beast near the Nuwa Stone, threatening the safety of the host and disciple. 1% of the Innate Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Origin may be temporarily unsealed to slay the ferocious beast. Unsealing it will create a Heavenly Dao fluctuation. Duration: one breath. Unseal?]

"One percent of the Origin, with the Heavenly Dao fluctuation lasting one breath..." Xuan Chen calculated rapidly. One breath was exceedingly short. If he ended the battle swiftly, killed Taotie, and immediately restrained his aura, he might avoid the Heavenly Dao's focused attention. Besides, if Taotie broke through the barrier, not only would he be in danger, but even the Nuwa Stone might be devoured by Taotie. If that happened, the mission would fail, and he would die all the same.

"Unseal it!"

Xuan Chen made his decision once more, a flash of resolve crossing his eyes.

In an instant, a vast and majestic power far beyond imagination surged from the depths of his soul. Like an ancient colossal dragon that had slumbered for hundreds of millions of years, it radiated terrifying pressure the instant it awakened. The entire valley shook, while the surrounding chaos currents churned madly and converged into his body.

Xuan Chen's aura surged in an instant, shooting directly from the Innate True Immortal realm to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Though it was only temporary, and though it was merely 1% of his Origin power, that force was still unimaginably terrifying—more than enough to crush the Taotie before him.

He took a single step, and his figure instantly appeared before the Chaos Barrier. The barrier that had seemed incomparably sturdy parted on its own before his aura, like paper.

Taotie was madly devouring the chaos currents outside the barrier. Sensing the terrifying pressure behind it, it whipped around. Upon seeing Xuan Chen, its eyes filled with terror and disbelief. It could not understand why the tiny creature it had driven into such a wretched state moments earlier had suddenly erupted with such horrifying power.

Xuan Chen's gaze was icy, and he wasted no words as he condensed Chaos Finger in his right hand again. This time, the Chaos Power at his fingertips was no longer a faint gold, but a dazzling, brilliant golden radiance. Containing the power of 1% of a Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Origin, it was sharp enough to tear apart everything.

"Wretched beast, die!"

Xuan Chen gave a low shout. Though his voice was not loud, it carried the majesty of the Great Dao, making Taotie tremble all over as it tried to turn and flee.

But Xuan Chen was swift as lightning, so fast that Taotie could not react at all. He instantly appeared before it and drove the Chaos Power at his fingertip toward Taotie's glabella. The glabella was a vital point of all living beings, as well as Taotie's weakest spot. It had no scales to protect it and directly connected to its soul origin.

"Pfft!"

The golden Chaos Power pierced Taotie's glabella as easily as slicing tofu, instantly passing through its brain and reaching its soul origin.

"Aooow—!"

Taotie let out one final shrill scream. Its enormous body suddenly stiffened, the ferocious gleam in its eyes rapidly fading into lifeless silence. Its body slowly collapsed, and its massive head smashed into the ground with a muffled boom.

Xuan Chen withdrew his finger. The 1% Origin power within him rapidly retreated into the depths of his soul and was sealed away again, while the Heavenly Dao fluctuation vanished with it. He could sense that, in that instant, a faint trace of Heavenly Dao intent had swept across this place. But because the fluctuation had lasted too briefly, and because he immediately restrained his aura, that intent did not linger and quickly disappeared.

"That was close!" Xuan Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. What he had just done was truly dancing on a blade's edge. Had he been even slightly slower, the Heavenly Dao might have noticed him.

At that moment, the system's notification rang out again:

[Congratulations to the host for slaying the Innate Chaos Ferocious Beast Taotie. Obtained Chaos Origin Fragment ×1.]

[Chaos Origin Fragment: Contains pure Chaos Origin Force. May be used to strengthen cultivation, repair Origin damage, bless a disciple's innate foundation, refine Dharma treasures, or arrange formations.]

[Detected that the host has completed his first ferocious beast kill. Reward: Spirit-Recovery Pill ×3. Consuming one rapidly restores all spiritual energy.]

Xuan Chen was overjoyed. Looking at Taotie's corpse on the ground and the rewards displayed in his mind, all the exhaustion and danger from before vanished like smoke. A Chaos Origin Fragment was an excellent thing. It would be of immense benefit to both himself and his future disciple, Nüwa. He walked over to Taotie's corpse, intending to collect the Chaos Origin Fragment. According to the system's prompt, the fragment would automatically escape from the ferocious beast's body and condense into form. Sure enough, a moment later, an azure speck of light floated out from Taotie's glabella. The speck gradually condensed into a crystal the size of a fingernail. Chaos currents roiled within it, containing exceptionally pure Origin power.

Xuan Chen extended his hand and held the Chaos Origin Fragment in his palm. A warm force instantly spread through his entire body, making his somewhat depleted body feel refreshed, while his spiritual energy recovered somewhat as well. He carefully put the fragment away before turning his gaze to Taotie's corpse.

Taotie's corpse was extremely valuable. Its scales could be used to refine defensive Dharma treasures, its fangs could be made into offensive Dharma treasures, its flesh and blood could be used to refine pills, and even its bones could be used to arrange formations. Xuan Chen naturally would not waste any of it. He took out one of the Spirit-Recovery Pills rewarded by the system and swallowed it. His spiritual energy rapidly recovered, and he then began processing Taotie's corpse.

With his Innate True Immortal cultivation, along with the simple refining techniques supplied by the system, Xuan Chen spent an hour completely dismembering Taotie's corpse. He collected Taotie's scales, fangs, bones, and a portion of its essence blood. He casually discarded the remaining flesh, which was soon completely devoured by the chaos currents outside the valley.

After dealing with Taotie's corpse, Xuan Chen looked once more at the Nuwa Stone in the center of the valley, his eyes full of anticipation. Now that the threat had been removed, he could finally complete the system mission in peace and take Nüwa as his disciple.

The Nuwa Stone stood quietly at the center of the valley. The Dao patterns on its surface shimmered with a faint glow, while its warm aura grew increasingly rich, as though welcoming his arrival. Xuan Chen took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the Nuwa Stone.

He understood that from the moment he approached the Nuwa Stone, his path through the Primordial World would officially begin. And his first goal would be to awaken the spiritual intelligence within the Nuwa Stone, forge a master-disciple contract, and make Nüwa his personal disciple. Then, together, they would carve out a Great Dao of their own amid this crisis-ridden Primordial World!