202: Taotie

Xiao Zhuo consumed a miasma dispelling pill, and a faint light screen appeared around his body as he plunged into the dense forest.

At this moment, his Divine Sense was suppressed even more severely; its effective range was less than five li, but Xiao Zhuo's expression remained calm and unconcerned.

After all, if even he was suppressed to this extent, it would likely be difficult for an ordinary Tribulation Crossing Realm Prodigy to extend his Divine Sense a hundred zhang from his body.

After just ten li into the dense forest, Xiao Zhuo’s brows slightly twitched, as faint rumbling sounds began to emanate from ahead.

"Someone is fighting!" Xiao Zhuo stopped on a towering ancient tree, a hundred zhang tall, and listened carefully, quickly understanding the situation.

Activating his Universe God Step, his body concealed itself within the spatial interlayers.

Xiao Zhuo thus leisurely flew forward.

The sounds of explosions grew closer.

"Boom!"

A figure was blasted away, crashing through several giant trees, and as leaves and dust filled the air, the atmosphere in the dense forest grew even more turbid.

Xiao Zhuo focused his gaze and saw a young man in blue, who appeared quite young.

However, a Cultivator’s age is not easily discerned, so Xiao Zhuo naturally did not believe the other party was truly a youth.

But in this Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm, the younger a Cultivator’s appearance, the higher their innate talent generally is, because a young appearance indicates that they formed their Nascent Soul earlier.

At this moment, the young man’s blue robes were torn, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were fixed on a tall figure slowly approaching from deeper within.

"Taotie?" With a sheep's body, a human face, tiger teeth, and human claws, Xiao Zhuo immediately recognized the Vicious Beast's identity.

This was a legendary Vicious Beast, and he hadn't expected to encounter one here.

At this time, the Taotie's mouth was drooling, and it gazed greedily at the young man in blue, while several deep, bone-visible wounds on its body were healing at a visible rate.

In just a few blinks of an eye, it had fully recovered.

Xiao Zhuo made no move; his Divine Sense had already detected several deeply hidden auras.

Evidently, he wasn’t the only one attracted by the commotion.

"Rumble!" The Taotie let out a roar like thunder.

A black light sphere condensed in its mouth, and the young man in blue's face tightened; his barely risen body shimmered with a ripple-like light.

The light shimmer shattered, and the young man appeared hundreds of meters away out of thin air.

"Arc!"

A beam of light seemed to have anticipated the young man's position, striking his body almost simultaneously.

Countless giant trees along its path were instantly pierced through, and the young man was now directly hit by this beam of light.

A silver-white light screen instantly appeared around him, but unfortunately, it only resisted for less than half a breath before shattering with a bang.

The young man no longer had time to dodge and was squarely hit by the light beam.

His entire body directly exploded.

Just as his Nascent Soul was about to escape, the Taotie opened its massive maw, and a terrifying suction force, even from hundreds of meters away, pulled the Nascent Soul backward into its mouth.

"Fellow Daoists! Save my life; I am Xiao Hanyi, Saint of the Cold Moon Palace in the Dao Yi Realm. If I survive, I will repay you handsomely!" The young man's Nascent Soul cried out in panic.

In Xiao Zhuo's perception, besides himself, there were six other hidden individuals nearby, each a Prodigy above the Tribulation Crossing Realm, but evidently, the young man had only detected two.

Listening to the young man's cry, one of them seemed to consider acting but ultimately hesitated, yet the Taotie's Devouring power was incredibly strong; even with the Tribulation Crossing Realm Nascent Soul escaping with all his might, he was still pulled to within a hundred meters of the Taotie in a few breaths.

Moreover, although these individuals were all Tribulation Crossing Prodigies, the Taotie was a terrifying Vicious Beast with a notorious reputation even in ancient times, capable of easily killing the young man in blue, who was in no way inferior to them. How could any of them dare to step forward alone?

Just as everyone was still hesitating, Xiao Zhuo's figure appeared.

He took one step and instantly appeared above the Taotie's head.

A heavy kick landed squarely on the Taotie's head.

"Boom!"

The Taotie, with its massive body of thirty zhang, immediately toppled forward from that kick.

The sustained Devouring power instantly vanished.

Xiao Hanyi's Nascent Soul was immediately out of danger, but he did not hesitate; a blue light flashed around him, and he was about to escape.

"Your promised generous reward hasn't been given yet! Did I tell you to leave?" Seeing the fellow trying to flee directly, Xiao Zhuo's lips curled into a playful smirk, and he pointed a finger.

The Nascent Soul instantly froze in mid-air, the blue light dissipated, like a fly embedded in the air.

Almost at the moment Xiao Zhuo froze the young man's Nascent Soul, the Taotie, which he had kicked down, flipped its body, and a black light instantly shot towards Xiao Zhuo.

However, this attack, which was enough to kill a Tribulation Crossing Prodigy, was utterly insignificant in Xiao Zhuo's eyes. He merely casually waved his right hand, which he hadn't yet retracted, and the black light immediately changed direction.

It was casually swept towards the sky by him.

The Taotie's cross-shaped golden pupils suddenly constricted, letting out a whimper as if in disbelief.

The six hidden individuals around were also shocked.

If it were them, none would dare to be so overconfident.

The Taotie's massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up dust and shattered wood.

The ferocity in its cross-shaped golden pupils remained undiminished; instead, it was thoroughly enraged, letting out an earth-shattering roar.

The immense force contained in Xiao Zhuo's kick caused its head to throb with pain, but it also ignited the ferocity in its bones.

"Roar—!"

The Taotie suddenly flipped over, its massive maw opening, no longer spitting a black light sphere, but a terrifying, bottomless vortex!

In an instant, the surrounding Spiritual Qi, the scattered energy, and even light itself, all frantically collapsed into and were devoured by that vortex!

Xiao Zhuo felt a powerful suction force pulling at him, as if trying to drain his magical power and even his life force.

"Heh, Devouring all things? Unfortunately, it's useless against me." Xiao Zhuo sneered, activating his Devouring Divine Body. The Devouring power formed an invisible barrier around his body; the terrifying suction force was like hitting an invisible wall, easily isolated outside.

He did not use any Spell or Divine Ability; his figure moved like lightning, instantly closing in on the Taotie's massive body.

"Bang! Crack!"

A powerful punch landed heavily on the Taotie's shoulder blade, which was barely getting up; the dull sound of bone cracking was clearly audible.

The Taotie howled in pain, its massive body staggering backward, but black light surged at the wound, and the fractured bones and torn muscles visibly wriggled and healed!

The energy it devoured was continuously converting into terrifying regenerative power.

Xiao Zhuo's eyes narrowed slightly: "As expected, it's thick-skinned and has astonishing regenerative power. Ordinary energy attacks would probably just be supplements for it."

He completely abandoned the idea of using Spells or Divine Abilities, relying purely on his Physical Body strength combined with the exquisitely refined Universe God Step, transforming into an elusive streak of light around the Taotie's massive body.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

Fists, palms, elbows, knees! Each of Xiao Zhuo's attacks landed precisely on the Taotie's massive body, each accompanied by a dull thud and the sound of cracking bones.

The Taotie roared in anger, biting, clawing, lashing its tail, and even spitting out Devouring light beams again, but Xiao Zhuo's movement technique was too elusive; he always managed to dodge at the last possible moment, leaving new wounds on its body.

The Taotie frantically devoured all the surrounding energy; countless free Evergreen Immortal Power and ancient tree essence within the dense forest were extracted by it, continuously replenishing itself, and its wounds constantly healed, but Xiao Zhuo's offensive was like a torrential storm, relentless, and its recovery speed gradually began to fall behind the speed of destruction.

Its tough fur was torn, its thick bones were repeatedly broken, and its massive body was covered in grotesque indentations and cracks.

This gigantic Taotie, facing Xiao Zhuo, was simply like a self-repairing punching bag.

"Awoo—!" The Taotie let out a mournful wail, its aura noticeably weakening.

Its terrifying Devouring vortex also became dim due to insufficient energy supply.

"It's time to end this." A cold glint flashed in Xiao Zhuo's eyes, and his figure suddenly appeared directly above the Taotie's head. His right fist was clenched, muscles bulging on his arm, and golden light seemed to flow beneath his skin.

This time, he had no frills; he purely condensed the most fundamental and violent power of his Physical Body, and the space around his fist slightly collapsed and distorted due to the sheer force!