At the moment Wu Dao crushed the Yellow Dragon Mark.

Somewhere in Guangqing Prefecture.

The vast sea of clouds churned, and a thousand peaks soared into the heavens.

At the highest point of this majestic mountain range.

Fuguang Mountain!

A band of seven-colored radiance wrapped around it.

The deep, rumbling morning bells inspired introspection.

White cranes danced in the sky, Spirit Beasts roamed the ground, and the faint, ethereal sound of chanting drifted through the air.

The Yellow Dragon Temple, renowned throughout Guangqing Prefecture as a place of immortals, was situated atop this Celestial Human Blessed Land.

During the morning’s early lessons.

Deep within the Daoist Temple.

A slim Daoist with white hair but a youthful face sat cross-legged, clad in a golden Yellow Dragon Daoist Robe.

At a certain moment.

The Daoist seemed to sense something. He jolted awake from his meditation, his eyes snapping open, his face a mask of grief and fury.

"You insolent whelp! How dare you bully my Yellow Dragon Temple!"

Shortly after his voice fell.

The bell on the mountaintop rang out thunderously, its chimes echoing across the sea of clouds.

After five consecutive chimes.

The elite Direct Disciples, Second Generation Disciples, and Third Generation disciples of the Yellow Dragon Temple, who had been at their morning studies, all gathered in the Ancestral Master Hall.

"Xiaoba has fallen. His Daoist candle in the Hall of the Immortals has been extinguished. He died in Canyun Mountain, within the Black Stone Desert. But the killer is extremely cunning and left no mark."

High up in the Ancestral Master Hall.

The Yellow Dragon Daoist sat on his cattail mat. His words were concise. Before the disciples could even express their shock and anger, he continued, "Guang Fa, Guang Shen, Guang Li, the three of you are to descend the mountain at once. Go to Canyun Mountain and find out which vile spawn is responsible for this!

We have not entered the mortal world for many years.

Don’t let them think my Yellow Dragon Temple has fallen into decline!"

"Master, rest assured. We watched Xiaoba grow up. We will avenge him!"

On the second tier of cattail mats.

Three middle-aged Daoists with extraordinary appearances and transcendent demeanors, dressed in yellow Daoist robes, rose to their feet, bowed, and accepted the order.

Gray robes for the Third Generation, yellow robes for the Second Generation, and silver robes for Direct Disciples.

The different Daoist Robes represented different levels of cultivation.

Second Generation Yellow Robed Disciples.

They were Immortal Dao Cultivators of the Dao Fire Realm.

They had already shed their mortal bodies and ignited the Dao Fire of spirit and soul in their Purple Mansion!

Those who have ignited the Dao Fire once.

Their mortal flesh transforms into a Spirit Body, their spirit undergoes a metamorphosis, and they can manipulate objects, observe Yin and Yang, perceive the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the world, and use the Innate Spiritual Energy in their Purple Mansion to create simple yellow-grade Talismans.

The "Exorcism Talisman" technique that Mao Ba had to pay a heavy price to perform was effortless for cultivators at this level.

Those who have ignited the Dao Fire twice.

Such as the three who had just stepped forward: Guang Shen, Guang Fa, and Guang Li.

The Dao Fire in their Purple Mansion had already flowed through them, illuminating them inside and out. They could briefly communicate with the impure Spiritual Qi between Heaven and Earth to craft Silver Grade Talismans and Treasure Artifacts, perform Alchemy, and set up Arrays...

Although their physical bodies were weaker than those on the Martial Dao path.

Their connection to and use of Heaven and Earth Energy was far faster than the Martial Dao, and their methods were numerous and unpredictable.

In a true life-and-death battle, a Martial Artist of the same level who relied solely on the brute force of their Qi and Blood Power would indeed find it difficult to contend with them.

On the Martial Dao path.

Only after completing the Third Rebirth.

Would one’s spirit and soul be strong enough to communicate with Heaven and Earth.

This builds a bridge between the outer world and the Qi Sea Dantian, allowing one to absorb Primordial Qi, store it in the Dantian, break free from the shackles of Qi and Blood Power, and wield the Power of Heaven and Earth in combat.

One could just imagine.

How valuable those who had ignited the Dao Fire twice were in Guangqing Prefecture. Even Transformed Martial Artists who had undergone the Third Rebirth had to treat them with respect.

Not to mention.

Guang Shen and the other two were outstanding even among the Second Generation Disciples.

Yet, these three ’powerful’ individuals.

Were sent down the mountain just for a single Mao Ba.

This showed just how protective the Yellow Dragon Temple was of its own.

One could imagine.

If Wu Dao had been careless and failed to dispose of the Yellow Dragon Mark in time, or if he had been soft-hearted and left behind a source of future trouble.

He truly would have stirred up a hornet’s nest—one that could track his location. For some time to come, he would have been beset by attacks both overt and covert, making it impossible to defend against them all.

Fortunately.

Wu Dao was cautious enough, and ruthless enough.

He murdered, he burned, he destroyed the corpse and erased all traces!

No matter how furious Guang Shen’s group was, only a patch of scorched earth would await them.

Even if the methods of the Immortal Dao were unfathomable.

And there were other, unknown methods to lock onto the killer, Wu Dao estimated that it would be impossible to achieve in the short term.

Because when he had stomped his foot.

It wasn’t just Mao Ba’s head he had crushed!

After reaching the Meticulous realm.

His perception could Observe Yin and Yang.

His control over his Spirit Armor had also reached a new level.

In a state of direct contact.

He could completely obliterate an enemy’s Spiritual Consciousness—their so-called soul!

He really didn’t believe.

That some mere Immortal Dao from Guangqing Prefecture had the ability to get information from someone who was deader than dead, whose ’body and soul were both destroyed’!

In fact.

Wu Dao’s guess was correct.

Half a day after he left Canyun Mountain.

Guang Fa’s group of three arrived at Canyun Mountain, their hearts filled with rage.

When they saw the barren, scorched earth on the mountainside, their faces immediately became as ugly as if they had eaten shit!

Especially when.

The three of them tried to use Mao Ba’s Life Lamp, which had been left at the Yellow Dragon Temple, to communicate with his soul, they discovered that his soul was completely gone!

The spirit and soul of an Immortal Dao Cultivator.

Were exceptionally resilient compared to cultivators of other paths.

If not actively destroyed, their soul could linger in the world for a short time after death without dissipating. The Immortal Dao had methods to gather such souls and see the killer.

But Mao Ba’s bones had been burned to ash, his body and soul utterly annihilated!

’What kind of deep-seated hatred was this?!’

They couldn’t understand it at all.

Mao Ba had only been down the mountain for half a month. How on earth had he provoked such a ruthless enemy and met such a tragic end?

"The killer should be a Martial Dao Cultivator. Judging from the traces left behind, they’re at least an expert who has undergone the Second Rebirth. Furthermore, their Transverse Strength Training Dao is astonishing. They’ve at least stepped through the Horizontal Refining First Gate: Qi and Blood Furnace."

Among the three, the most observant, Guang Shen, quickly confirmed the killer’s strength by examining the surrounding scorched black pits, which looked as if they had been ravaged by a tyrannosaurus rex or struck by meteorites.

Finally.

He raised his unusually long, white eyebrows and said:

"However, although a Martial Artist who has undergone a Second Rebirth has a ’Spirit Armor,’ it’s only for protection. Unless they’re fighting a pure spirit body like a ghost, they can’t directly attack an enemy’s Divine Soul."

"Meticulous!"

The somewhat stout and plump Guang Fa narrowed his eyes and said, "If their Martial Arts reaches the Meticulous realm, they can manipulate their Martial Dao Will to destroy an enemy’s Divine Soul on direct contact, even without having reached the Third Rebirth!"

"Second Rebirth, Horizontal Refining First Gate, Meticulous realm!"

The somewhat bookish Guangyuan chewed on this information and snorted coldly. "A character like this wouldn’t be a nobody in Guangqing Prefecture!

Even the most careful planner slips up eventually!

This fiend may be utterly ruthless and cautious, but their own characteristics can never be hidden. That is their greatest flaw!"

It had to be said.

The saying, ’Never think you’re the only smart one and treat everyone else like a fool,’ was absolutely correct.

Although Wu Dao had been cautious enough to destroy the corpse and erase all traces, leaving no evidence behind.

Guang Shen and his two companions.

Still quickly managed to piece together a general profile of the killer from a few clues, and they were about eighty to ninety percent certain.

However.

This was all within Wu Dao’s expectations.

He wasn’t too worried.

Based on a vague profile alone.

In the vast Guangqing Prefecture, while people fitting this description were rare, they were by no means unique. It would be impossible to find him, Wu Dao, in a short amount of time.

Not to mention.

Wu Dao now walked the path of the Essence Devouring System. He didn’t even have a Dantian. Strictly speaking, he was a ’Body Cultivator,’ not even a Martial Artist.

’The one who killed was Wu Dao the Martial Artist.’

’What does that have to do with me, Wu Dao the Heaven Stealer?’

Most importantly.

The unique nature of the Essence Devouring Art and his attribute panel gave him a way to rapidly increase his strength.

By the time Guang Shen and the others actually found him, his strength would have certainly improved again. As for who would be destroying whom at that point, that was still up in the air.