Is It You, Sword White

"He must have been a peak quasi-emperor before death."

Ling Xi immediately reached this judgment.

Although this massive Taotie corpse had weathered countless ages, the remnants of Dao resonance and pressure within it were condensed to an extraordinary degree, far surpassing ordinary quasi-emperors. It had clearly touched the threshold of the Emperor Realm, only lacking the final transformation.

The rich aura of devouring origin power before her, pure and overbearing, surprised even her, with her past life's knowledge as an emperor. She had rarely encountered anything of this kind.

"In the Tianlan Great World, the Taotie clan has long been annihilated by the river of time. In my past life, seeking to comprehend the Great Dao of Devouring, I explored many ancient sites without ever seeing their true form."

"I never thought I would find such a nearly complete remains here."

This discovery brought joy to her heart.

She quickly extended her divine sense to scan every detail of the bones.

"It doesn't seem to have died in battle. More likely, it exhausted its power and sat down in meditation, or failed in its assault on the emperor realm and suffered backlash?"

The bones were intact, yet inwardly barren, radiating a sense of a hero's tragic end.

Without hesitation, she decided to investigate further.

"Break."

Ling Xi drew a longsword and struck downward with force.

"Hum——!"

A muffled crack sounded from beneath the earth. The somewhat damaged formation nodes slowly collapsed, revealing a deep, dark entrance just wide enough for one person.

The powerful devouring aura surged forth at once.

Ling Xi activated her cultivation technique, her aura swelling dramatically to prepare for any sudden dangers within the cave.

Then, with a flash of her form, she vanished into the entrance.

Soon, her feet touched solid ground as she entered the underground space protected by the formation.

She approached the mountain-like Taotie corpse, feeling its immense pressure.

With her current cultivation at the peak of the Celestial Realm, even with an emperor's divine sense, she struggled under the pressure emanating from the remains. Every step was arduous, a testament to the beast's terrifying power in life.

She stopped, gazing up at the ancient being. Her clear, cold eyes shimmered with intense curiosity.

Both in her past life and this one, she cultivated the Great Dao of Devouring. Everything in heaven and earth could be consumed and transformed.

This Taotie origin was a supreme nourishment for her, an unparalleled treasure to validate her own Dao.

Ling Xi slowly raised her hand. A thread of devouring power, born from her own cultivation, gathered at her fingertip, gently tapping toward the dark, condensed core of energy.

The Taotie origin, stirred by this identical but higher-level force, trembled slightly. A stream of pure devouring Dao resonance flowed back along her fingertip, merging with and verifying her own Dao.

In that instant, Ling Xi's mind shook.

She felt a different devouring force—more primal, more overbearing, leaning toward instinctual plunder, yet lacking in flexibility and transformation.

This stood in sharp contrast to her own devouring Dao, which incorporated limitless cultivation wisdom, emphasizing refinement and control.

"Overbearing yet lacking in transformation, but this primal meaning, rooted in bloodline instinct, is closer to the essence of devouring. Perhaps by studying it, I can enhance the speed of my devouring."

A spark of realization lit up in Ling Xi's eyes.

She wasted no time, swiftly sitting cross-legged before the vast Taotie remains. She guided the pure, ancient Taotie Dao resonance into a deeper fusion and mutual verification with the devouring Dao she cultivated.

Her aura gradually quieted. The devouring force flowed naturally, resonating with the devouring pressure radiating from the remains.

In Ling Xi's mind, countless insights into devouring surged forth. The cultivation experiences of her past and present lives, her master's subtle and perfectly timed guidance, clashed and fused with the primal Dao resonance from the Taotie.

The Taotie's devouring was instinct, talent, a near-rule-based plunder—pure and extreme. Her own Dao, built upon this foundation, incorporated a cultivator's wisdom, control, and evolution, seeking to accommodate all Daos within herself, striving for a realm beyond.

Neither was absolutely superior; they were like two sides of the same Dao fruit.

Now, using the ancient insights from the Taotie remains, Ling Xi deepened her understanding of the Devouring Dao. Her cultivation technique began to operate and evolve on its own.

...

Somewhere not far from the ruins of the Demon Heaven Sect, in a plaza.

As the great battle ended, most cultivators had left or entered zones of Dao resonance to cultivate insights.

Yet a few still lingered, experiencing the aftermath of the battle and digesting what they had gained.

Watching the clash of top-tier prodigies had brought them significant gains.

Suddenly!

A vast surge of azure-green blood energy erupted from a deep pit, blasting straight into the sky!

The blood energy churned, scattering the clouds overhead.

At the same time, immense pressure swept outward like a solid tide, causing distant peaks to tremble slightly and throwing nearby onlookers off balance.

At the center of the blood energy, a figure slowly rose.

It was Wang Zhan!

His battle robe remained tattered, with traces of blood where Xiao Ruobai had injured him.

But now, illuminated by the azure-green blood energy, his form appeared even sharper.

His already upright posture now seemed more domineering, as if fused with the surrounding world. He carried an aura of commanding the heavens and overlooking all beings.

His tightly shut eyes snapped open. A flash of azure-green passed through them, along with a sharp, uncontrollable gleam from his advancing cultivation.

"Hah."

He slowly exhaled a breath. The breath shot out like an arrow, pulverizing a nearby boulder weighing ten thousand jin.

Feeling the surging blood energy in his body—far more majestic than before seclusion, like a mighty river—and his deepened connection with heaven and earth, as if a mere gesture could summon cosmic phenomena, a faint, proud smile of satisfaction curled on Wang Zhan's lips.

The frustration from his defeat by Battle Asura seemed to have dissipated considerably with this advancement.

He looked up to the sky, his voice rolling like thunder, brimming with confidence.

"Battle Asura! Today, my Cangtian Saint Body has advanced further, its foundation complete! Once I fully settle my cultivation, I will seek you out for another battle! Then, I will wash away the shame of my past defeat!"

The sound waves rumbled across the ruins, filled with exhilaration and fierce confidence in the future.

He seemed to already envision the moment when he crushed the figure who had brought him humiliation underfoot.

But just as his pride and ambition peaked,

a voice clearly reached his ears, dampening his surging momentum.

"Master Brother need not trouble himself."

The voice was soft, yet carried an eerie penetration, calm and unnerving.

Wang Zhan's pupils suddenly contracted. He spun around!

His surging blood energy instinctively condensed, like a lion defending its territory.

Only then did he see—on the top of a half-collapsed palace ruin, a figure had appeared, unknown to him.

The figure was clad in white robes, spotless amid the blood-red sunset and howling wind.

His bearing was straight and tall, like a pine. In his arms, he held a sword in its sheath, the sheath ancient, showing no special trait.

“You?”

Wang Zhan frowned as he recognized the newcomer.

Jian Baiyi.

Battle Asura’s junior brother.

What was he doing here?

And how had he failed to sense him approaching at all?