Jiang Dao sank into his meditation, turning his focus inward.
He could feel it instantly—a surge of power. The meridians that had been stretched taut with energy didn't just fill, they widened, thrumming with new capacity. Each channel was now easily three times thicker than before.
Just as I'd suspected, he thought. A stronger body meant a greater reservoir for power. The path forward was clear: he would forge his physical form into an unbreakable weapon.
Exhaling slowly, he called up his status panel.
Name: Jiang Dao
Strength: 5.9
Speed: 5.2
Spirit: 1.9
Abilities:
Mad Demon Blood Soul Saber [Locked]: Enhances Speed, Viciousness, and the God-Slaying Strike.
Vajra Human-Demon Physique [Locked]: Grants indestructible defense, scorching energy, and explosive boosts to strength and speed.
Life-Nourishing Art [Locked]: Heals, accelerates recovery, and provides an inner-qi shield.
Innate Grand Sanctity Art [Locked]: Creates an indestructible Qi-Net and channels Grand Sanctity True Qi.
Wind & Thunder Poison Palm [Locked]: Infuses attacks with poison and thunder-flame.
Gale Saber Technique [Locked]: Pure speed.
Hundred-Mile Dragon Movement [Locked]: Swift, burst-like steps.
Too many scattered techniques, Jiang Dao mused. I wonder… can I fuse the Gale Saber with my Blood Soul Saber?
He closed his eyes again, his mind becoming a forge. He broke down both saber arts, hammering their concepts together. Since they shared a foundation, the process was speedy.
Four hours later, he opened his eyes. The panel had changed.
The Mad Demon Blood Soul Saber and the Gale Saber Technique were gone. In their place was something new.
Extreme Dao Demon Saber, Twelve Forms [Modifiable]
"Modify," he commanded.
Instantly, the system projected the technique thirty years into the future. A flood of insight—mastery, combat applications, and raw instinct—poured into his mind. The new art retained all the brutal strengths of his old style but added a devastating new move: the [Frenzied Demon Slash].
It was an attack that dwarfed even the God-Slaying Strike. In a single heartbeat, he could unleash 365 distinct slashes, forming an inescapable vortex of death. It was an all-out, defense-shattering assault that no opponent, human or otherwise, could dodge. They could only face it and break.
Incredible. He savored the feeling. Now, for those three internal energy manuals.
"Hall Master…" A hesitant voice called from outside.
Jiang Dao's focus shattered. He frowned. "What is it?"
"The Guild Master sent a messenger," said Guo Dutian, his voice tight with anxiety. "He's summoning you to headquarters."
"Tell him I'm in seclusion," Jiang Dao replied flatly. "I'll go when I'm done."
There was a pause. "Yes, Hall Master," Guo Dutian finally said, his footsteps retreating.
Jiang Dao's eyes went cold. So, Fang Tianba is getting nervous. He doesn't trust me. A grim thought settled in his mind. I hope you're smart, Fang. Play your part, and you can keep your title. But if you push this, the Raging Flames Guild gets a new master today.
He sank back into his cultivation.
The news reached the Raging Flames Guild headquarters.
Fang Tianba's face was a thundercloud. A dangerous heat radiated from him as he stared at the messenger. "He really said that?"
"Word for word, Guild Master," the man stammered. "I don't think… I don't think he respects your authority at all."
Fang Tianba let out a cold snort, his mind churning with murderous intent.
"Honestly, Fang, why are you keeping him around?" a young man in white robes drawled from a nearby chair. "Just kill him and be done with it. If you want, I can handle it for you."
"A problem left to fester will only get worse," added a one-eared Daoist priest, smiling thinly.
A nearby monk simply nodded. "Indeed."
"Make the call, Guild Master," the Right Protector urged, his voice low and intense.
The conflict in Fang Tianba's eyes gave way to pure, cold resolve. He took a deep breath. "Revered Ones, I'll leave this in your hands."
"It's a small thing," the man in white said, rising gracefully. "Hardly a challenge."
"We'll go together," the monk and priest agreed, getting to their feet.
As they left, Fang Tianba turned to his protector. "Right Protector, gather the men and lock down Qian Yuan City. I want Jiang Dao's entire family dead. Not a single one left. Then send teams to Feng Zhou and Heng Zhou. Find anyone associated with them and eliminate them. I want his entire bloodline erased. No loose ends."
"As you command," the Right Protector said with a grim bow, then hurried to carry out the order.
Fang Tianba walked to the window, his aura thick with killing intent. "You arrogant fool," he whispered to the city below. "I was going to give you a clean death, but you threw it away. Now, I'll burn your family to the ground and make sure your name is forgotten forever."
Back in his room, Jiang Dao was deep into the [Poison Dragon Heart Manual]. His mastery of the Poison Palm gave him a natural affinity for it, and progress was swift. In less than an hour, it appeared on his panel.
Poison Dragon Heart Manual [Modifiable]
He focused his will. "Modify."
The panel flashed.
Poison Dragon Heart Manual [Locked]
Another high-level manual, he noted. The first modification only brings it to the thirty-year mark.
Suddenly, a deafening BOOM tore through the front courtyard, followed by blood-curdling screams.
"Ahhh!"
"Hall Master—!"
It was the voices of Guo Dutian and his men, cut short by agony.
Jiang Dao's face hardened. A new, venomous energy was already coursing through his meridians, a searing heat that was instantly soothed by his Life-Nourishing Art. He didn't hesitate.
He erupted from his meditation, blasting the door off its hinges and into splinters.
BOOM!
As he moved, his body transformed. Muscles swelled and bulged, hardened plates of flesh bursting forth, gleaming like dark metal. He smashed through wall after wall, growing with every step until he stood over ten feet tall—a monstrous titan of corded muscle and pulsing, black-violet veins. A terrifying heat poured from him, as if a star burned within his chest.
The Vajra Human-Demon Physique was unleashed.
From the courtyard came the sound of arrogant laughter. The young man in white flicked his wrist, sending a beam of black energy into a group of guild members. They exploded into a shower of gore.
"Mortals," he sneered. "Boring as ants. I hope this Jiang Dao is at least a little entertaining."
He and his companions, the monk and the priest, continued their casual slaughter, launching bolts of energy that disintegrated anyone they touched. No martial skill, no desperate charge could get near them.
"Hall Master!" Guo Dutian screamed one last time.
Then, the courtyard wall exploded inward. A shockwave of heat and poison washed over the area as a figure like a living meteor charged through the dust and debris.
The young man in white froze, every instinct screaming danger. He spun around just as a monstrous hand, impossibly large, filled his vision.
CRACK!
An unstoppable force met his face, and Jiang Dao slammed him into the earth. The ground fractured, erupting in flames and toxic gas. The man let out a single, strangled scream before Jiang Dao clenched his fist.
SPLAT!
His head burst like a rotten fruit.
But Jiang Dao wasn't finished. He grabbed the headless corpse and used it as a club, smashing it into the ground and the surrounding structures again and again, each impact shaking the compound to its foundations.
The air grew thick with a scorching heat.
The monk and the priest stared, paralyzed by a terror so profound it froze their souls. They couldn't comprehend what they were seeing.
This… this wasn't a man. It was a monster.
With one final, thunderous slam, Jiang Dao tossed aside what was left of the man's body. It was an unrecognizable ruin of shredded flesh and shattered bone.
He stood tall, a terrifying silhouette radiating waves of heat and venom. His eyes, burning with cold fire, swiveled to the two remaining assassins.
"Now," his voice boomed, echoing like a death knell. "How do you two want to die?"
The monk and the Daoist swallowed, their throats dry with fear. Before this… thing… they felt utterly, hopelessly outmatched.
"Hall… Hall Master Jiang," the one-eared Daoist stammered. "If I told you this was all a misunderstanding… would you believe me?"
"A misunderstanding?" Jiang Dao's voice was flat, devoid of emotion. "Who sent you?"
"That's… not something we can say," the Daoist choked out.
SWISH!
Jiang Dao vanished. He moved so fast he seemed to teleport, reappearing directly in front of the Daoist. A hand the size of a platter swung through the air.
BOOM!
The Daoist shrieked as he was sent flying like a rag doll, crashing into a distant wall. But on impact, his body dissolved into a puff of white smoke, leaving behind a tattered straw doll.
His real self appeared across the courtyard, scrambling desperately for the exit. The large-headed monk, seeing his chance, broke from his stupor and bolted in the other direction.
Jiang Dao glanced at the shredded doll. "A substitute puppet."
His colossal form blurred again. The sheer explosive power of his physique was absolute. He instantly appeared behind the fleeing monk, his hand shaped like a claw. He struck down, his fingers punching through the monk's skull with a sickening crunch. He gripped tight and pulled.
With a wet, tearing sound, he tore the man's head and spine clean from his body in a single, gruesome motion.
The headless corpse stumbled forward and collapsed.
Without pausing, Jiang Dao flickered again, appearing behind the one-eared Daoist. He was still holding the bloody skull and spine, and he swung it like a gruesome flail.
"No!" the Daoist screamed.
CRUNCH!
The makeshift weapon connected, sending the Daoist flying once more. The skull and spine shattered on impact, spraying bone fragments and gore everywhere.
Jiang Dao watched as the Daoist's body hit the ground. Again, it dissolved into smoke, leaving another straw doll behind as the real man appeared even further away, his face deathly pale and his body trembling. He staggered, then tried to run again.
"I wonder," Jiang Dao rumbled, a horrifying smile spreading across his face, "how many more of those do you have?"
He disappeared again.
"No, please! I was wrong! Mercy, Hall Master Jiang, I'll tell you everything!" the old Daoist shrieked, his voice cracking with pure terror. His mind was screaming. They said he was just a martial artist! This is no man! This is a monster! More terrifying than any fiend!
BOOM!
Jiang Dao reappeared, his massive palm sweeping sideways. The air sizzled and warped from the sheer heat of the attack. The Daoist coughed up a spray of blood as the blow sent him tumbling into the far wall. This time, there was no puff of smoke. There was only the sound of every bone in his body shattering.
He lay in a broken heap, whimpering as the fire-poison from the attack began to burn him from the inside out.
"I thought you might have another trick," Jiang Dao's voice thundered as he strode toward the broken man. "But I guess you're all used up." He bent down, his giant hand engulfing the Daoist's body. "You so-called Spirit Exorcists, acting like gods among men. Did you ever, for one second, imagine you would end up like this?"
"Mercy… please, spare me…" he sobbed, blood and tears streaming down his face.
"Who sent you?" Jiang Dao demanded.
"Fang Tianba! It was Fang Tianba!"
"Fang Tianba?" Jiang Dao's smile was a terrifying slash in the darkness. "You lie. Why would the Guild Master want to harm me?"
He closed his hand.
SQUISH.
The sound was like a foot crushing an insect. A final, gurgling scream was cut short as the Daoist was reduced to a paste of blood, guts, and bone. The searing Yang energy in Jiang Dao's palm instantly incinerated the remains.
All three assassins were dead.
Jiang Dao casually shook his hand clean and turned to his stunned subordinates. "Guo Dutian, Du Feng," he commanded, his voice calm and clear. "Gather the men. Wait for my signal. When you see it, storm the headquarters."
"Yes, Hall Master!" they both snapped, shaking off their shock.
Jiang Dao turned his gaze toward the center of the city. His eyes narrowed. Fang Tianba, I was going to let you be. But you forced my hand. You sent killers after me. Now, it's your turn to die.
BOOM!
He launched himself forward, a juggernaut of pure destructive force. He became a blur, tearing through the streets of the city, leaving a trail of shattered paving stones and rising dust in his wake as he raced toward the heart of the Raging Flames Guild.
At the headquarters, Fang Tianba was pacing. A strange, primal anxiety was gnawing at him, a feeling he hadn't experienced in years. Did something happen to them? No, impossible. They were Spirit Exorcists. Killing a mere martial artist should have been trivial…
But the sense of dread only grew stronger, more potent than he could ever remember.
He threw open the doors and stepped into the main courtyard. The Right Protector was already there, assembling a small army of the guild's most elite killers: the Twelve Blood Eagles, the Three Jiaos of Jiangnan, the infamous Northern Duo—all legendary criminals and masters of the Divine Power realm he had kept hidden as his secret weapon.
Fang Tianba's face was grim. "Move out," he ordered. "Kill Jiang Dao's family first. Then proceed to Heng Zhou and Feng Zhou. Leave no one alive."
"Yes, Guild Master!" they roared in unison, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
Suddenly, a thunderous CRASH erupted from the front gate. The entire compound shook as if struck by an earthquake. Buildings crumbled. Panic erupted.
"What's happening?!" Fang Tianba yelled.
A subordinate came sprinting from the front, his face pale with terror. "A monster!" he screamed. "A monster is breaking through! Wait—it… it has Hall Master Jiang's face!"
"What?!" Fang Tianba roared, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Nonsense! Everyone, with me! Let's see what this is!"
He and his assembled killers charged toward the front of the compound.