In the void, the blood sea shattered, and blood water exploded outward in every direction.
In the blink of an eye, the crimson blood light that had filled heaven and earth vanished without a trace.
Wu Mengchuan stood rooted to the spot, his complexion deathly pale, looking as though his soul had fled his body.
The Blood Spirit Bottle had been destroyed, and the massive backlash had struck him as well. Combined with the Time Flows Like an Arrow Seal that Yang Kai had previously branded into him, he now had barely half his life remaining. Blood spurted from his mouth without cease, his body swaying unsteadily — he could barely even stay on his feet.
Yang Kai was in no better shape.
This was the second time he had summoned the Mountain and River Bell. After a single strike, his vision darkened, his head spun, his ears buzzed with a deafening hum, and his heart pounded like war drums, each beat a thunderous boom.
He clenched his teeth, veins bulging across his forehead, and raised a hand. The Million Sword transformed into a streak of brilliant light and shot toward Wu Mengchuan.
With a soft, wet sound, the Million Sword pierced straight through Wu Mengchuan's abdomen, pinning him firmly to the ground. Blood instantly stained the earth crimson.
Wu Mengchuan struggled with all his might, but he lacked the strength to wrench himself free.
The next moment, Yang Kai waved his hand and released the Dharma Body once more. Through strained breaths, he said, "I'm leaving the rest to you!"
The Dharma Body had not participated in this battle, but from within the Profound World Bead, it had watched everything outside with crystal clarity. The moment it appeared, it strode directly up to Wu Mengchuan and brought a massive palm crashing down upon him.
BOOM…
The earth shook violently. The area where Wu Mengchuan stood was completely swallowed beneath the colossal palm.
The Dharma Body's eyes erupted with blazing radiance, like twin bolts of lightning piercing through all of time. It roared in a deep, exhilarated voice, "Heaven-Devouring Art!"
The divine technique activated, and pristine energy of the highest purity began seeping out of Wu Mengchuan's ancient, withered body, drawn into the Dharma Body without a trace left behind.
Before long, the Dharma Body let out a string of strange, exultant cries — cries laced with unmistakable joy and elation. Within its titanic frame, waves of arcane power rippled outward, permeating every inch of its being.
Seeing this, Yang Kai knew the Dharma Body was on the verge of breaking through its bottleneck.
Wu Mengchuan had been right. If the Dharma Body devoured him, it could advance. It didn't matter who had cultivated the original version and who had cultivated the copy.
Wu Mengchuan had schemed and calculated every step of the way, yet in the end, he had only handed everything to someone else. Had he known this was how things would turn out, he probably never would have taught the Heaven-Devouring Art to Yang Kai all those years ago.
Then again, who else in this world could possess the Dharma Body's extraordinary foundation? Someone who could practice the Heaven-Devouring Art without being consumed by its backlash? How many at the Dao Source Realm could have stood against Wu Mengchuan in the first place?
The Blood Spirit Bottle alone was enough to make ninety-nine out of a hundred Dao Source Realm cultivators turn and flee.
Anyone else who had mastered the Heaven-Devouring Art and crossed paths with Wu Mengchuan would have been nothing more than a dish on his table.
His mind finally unclenched, an endless tide of exhaustion crashed over him. Yang Kai fought to keep himself from passing out, slowly lowering himself into a cross-legged position. He pulled out a large handful of spirit medicines and stuffed them into his mouth, then closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
From the Dharma Body's direction, those strange, exhilarated cries continued to thunder out like the roar of storms.
As the Dharma Body devoured on, Wu Mengchuan's aura grew fainter and fainter, as though he could die at any moment.
Suddenly, the Dharma Body let out a sound of surprise, as if it had discovered something. Its enormous palm slammed downward with savage force, and with a sharp crack, Wu Mengchuan's body burst apart like a smashed watermelon — a mangled ruin of flesh and blood, beyond any hope of survival.
The Dharma Body continued devouring without pause.
A short while later, the Dharma Body withdrew its hand and rose to its feet. A flicker of contemplation passed through its lively eyes, and it stood there in silence, motionless for a long while.
Its eyes grew ever brighter. After a flash of sudden understanding, the Dharma Body sat straight down into a cross-legged position, fingers forming an incantation seal. It did not stir.
There was no baptism of heaven and earth energy, no gathering of spiritual qi from the world around it. The Dharma Body had simply fallen into some kind of deep slumber.
Time trickled by. It was a full two days later before Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes. His body was still somewhat weak, but it no longer hindered his movement.
He first recalled the Mountain and River Bell and the Million Sword, then turned his gaze to the Dharma Body.
Though he had been meditating, he had been keeping close watch on the Dharma Body's condition the entire time, so he knew exactly what had transpired over there.
After observing for a while, Yang Kai couldn't help but furrow his brow.
He had detected the Dharma Body's aura steadily weakening — not only the physical aura, but even the fluctuations of its spiritual soul power had gradually become imperceptible, as though it had truly fallen into a deep sleep.
Yang Kai didn't dare interfere rashly.
After all, the Dharma Body was not a flesh-and-blood being. Its advancement differed greatly from that of ordinary cultivators. Without the customary baptism of heaven and earth energy, he had no way of knowing whether this was normal.
All Yang Kai could do was provide the Dharma Body with enough Source Crystals so it would have sufficient spiritual qi.
Thinking this, he hastily pulled a mountain-sized pile of Source Crystals from his space ring and stacked them around the Dharma Body.
But the moment the crystals were set down, they were engulfed by a mysterious force, their spiritual energy drained in an instant, crumbling to powder.
Yang Kai's heart lurched. The Source Crystals he had just produced numbered at least thirty million, and they had vanished in a single gulp. The rate of consumption was frankly terrifying.
Fortunately, he was far from short on Source Crystals, so he quickly produced another batch.
And then another. And another.
Hundreds of millions of Source Crystals — high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade alike — were fed into the vortex before the Dharma Body's rate of absorption finally began to slow.
In the days that followed, Yang Kai remained focused on the Dharma Body's condition, replenishing the supply of Source Crystals whenever the pile ran dry.