Chapter 17
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 17: Tearing Off The Veneer
"Saint Son, that’s over two hundred years’ accumulation for you. If it is a scam, won’t all your two centuries of hard work just go to waste?" The green snake dragon exclaimed repeatedly.
"To the Western Region."
Ning Wudao grasped the jade slip, having fully absorbed the information about the Tomb of the God King.
The Poisonous Forest of the Western Region was something he had occasionally heard about.
This was a forbidden territory perpetually shrouded in poisonous miasma, teeming with venomous creatures where ancient toxic insects lurked—insects that could poison even heavenly gods to death.
Carrying a mix of three parts bewilderment, three parts anticipation, three parts reverence, and one part of the unknown, Ning Wudao steered the treasure carriage pulled by the green snake dragon out of Linglong City’s gates and flew westward.
The green snake dragon transformed into its serpentine form. His magical energy coalesced into words that surged into the Purple Palace, infusing a communication jade talisman.
And yet.
As he finished writing the message, he abruptly discovered this communication jade talisman couldn’t be sent.
The void had been sealed. A gaze brimming with murderous intent landed on the green snake dragon.
It came from Ning Wudao.
"Eighty years ago, when he dispatched you to accompany me, I already knew his motive." Ning Wudao stated dispassionately. "It was simply to send you to spy on me."
"Saint Son…" Panic flashed across the green snake dragon’s features, but he restrained himself, continuing to pull the treasure carriage through the skies.
He wasn’t certain, and dared not make a reckless move.
Though he scorned Ning Wudao’s half-demon blood, Ning Wudao was still the Saint Son of the Celestial Demon Hall. If he attacked first, it would be insubordination, giving Ning Wudao just cause to execute him.
"Today, I have finally found a way to break this stalemate."
Ning Wudao expelled a mouthful of Turbid Energy, fixing his eyes on the green snake dragon.
This thorn in his flesh had remained for eighty years; today, it could finally be extracted.
Whoosh!
Hearing this, the green snake dragon immediately convulsed his body, shedding the treasure carriage. His serpentine form twisted as he tried to dive into the void and flee.
Ning Wudao remained motionless.
Thump!
The void had become hard as iron, impervious as a fortress. The green snake dragon crashed headfirst into it, smashing his head and drawing blood.
"Saint Son, do you intend to kill this old servant?" Trapped in the void Ning Wudao had sealed with great magic, and knowing escape was impossible, the green snake dragon turned his gaze back on Ning Wudao, speaking in human tongue. "This old servant was assigned by the hall master. If I die, the hall master will surely be furious. He will apprehend and punish you." The green snake dragon threatened.
Even at this moment, he was still attempting to send a message.
And yet it was still useless.
The instant Ning Wudao obtained the jade slip, he had already prepared to strike and eliminate the green snake dragon. Otherwise, keeping him around was like carrying a radar; he would inevitably lead the hall master of the Celestial Demon Hall straight to Ning Wudao.
"I’ve let you live eighty extra years. You’ve had more than enough."
At Ning Wudao’s mental command, seven second-tier divine weapons flew out from his Purple Palace—Seven swords, each corresponding to one of his seven powers.
This was his divine weapon, custom-made according to the Seven Kill Scripture.
"Ning Wudao, you bastard, you think you can kill me all by yourself?" With the masks finally coming off, the green snake dragon no longer hid his disdain for Ning Wudao.
"I too am at the Peak of the Divine Catastrophe stage! Should we truly fight, it’s yet to be seen who will prevail!"
Boom!
The elderly man in green transformed. Half-man, half-dragon, with a dragon head atop a human body, his entire frame was covered in sturdy, emerald-green dragon scales. In his hand, he gripped a dragon bone sword forged from dragon vertebrae.
Crack!
The void abruptly shattered. As the elderly man in green channeled power into the dragon bone sword, it transformed into a divine dragon that rent the void asunder. Like a skeletal dragon, it opened its maw and swallowed the treasure carriage whole, devouring Ning Wudao along with it.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Countless streaks of sword light wove and clashed violently within the skeletal dragon’s body, seeking to shred Ning Wudao into nothingness.
Ning Wudao stood unmoving as a mountain. A golden divine light emanated from his entire body, his form as lustrous and shimmering as glazed porcelain. The falling sword lights simply couldn’t breach his defense.
"The Glazed Golden Body?" The green snake dragon’s expression underwent a great change. "You… you actually mastered this divine ability?"
Both stood at the Peak of the Divine Catastrophe stage, but their strength was on entirely different levels.
Even if Ning Wudao didn’t lift a hand to retaliate, the green snake dragon found it nearly impossible to pierce his defenses.
Boom!
Ning Wudao raised his hand and pressed down. The power of the Seven Killing Sword erupted. Seven divine swords materialized, forming the Seven Killing Sword Formation. An overwhelming, annihilating intent pulverized the dragon bone sword instantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ning Wudao pointed a single finger towards the green snake dragon.
Seven strands of sword energy, immense as surging rivers, slashed directly towards him.
"Ning Wudao! Kill me, and you expose yourself instantly! The hall master will come for you personally without delay!" The green snake dragon roared, his voice raw with desperation.
"I don’t want to die!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Seven Killing Sword Formation swept over the green snake dragon. His mighty scales disintegrated into dust in an instant. His physical form was utterly shredded by the sword formation. His primordial spirit didn’t even have a chance to escape before it too was extinguished.
In the blink of an eye, a Peak Divine Catastrophe stage expert was extinguished by Ning Wudao.
Ning Wudao’s expression remained as placid as still water. Killing the green snake dragon meant as little to him as brushing off dust.
Though they shared the same cultivation stage, Ning Wudao was near invincible within the Divine Catastrophe stage.
Ten green snake dragons wouldn’t be a match for him.
With a slight stirring of his thoughts, the seven divine swords returned one after another, flying into his Purple Palace.
Thump! Thump! Schlick!
He plunged one hand into his own chest and hard tore out his own heart. It pulsed vigorously, blood streaming forth unceasingly.
Ning Wudao channeled his magic power. From within the violently beating heart, he forcefully expelled a pitch-black insect, minuscule and nearly invisible to the naked eye.
This was the Heart-Eating Bug.
After he entered the Celestial Demon Hall, the hall master of the Celestial Demon Hall had secretly planted it on him.
Not only him. Every core disciple of the Celestial Demon Hall carried a Heart-Eating Bug inside their body.
Ning Wudao fought his way through and killed eight core disciples, discovering this bug on each of them. He had investigated it thoroughly and understood its origin.
This was a method for the hall master of the Celestial Demon Hall to track his successors’ locations. By remotely manipulating it, he could inflict unbearable agony on anyone eroded by the Heart-Eating Bug.
However, it only affected cultivators below the Divine God realm.
For Ning Wudao as he was now, it posed minimal threat.
Ning Wudao dug the bug from his heart and crushed it in one swift motion, his expression utterly unchanged.
He was a truly ruthless man.
Killing the spy and expelling the bug meant Ning Wudao had completely torn off all pretenses with the hall master of the Celestial Demon Hall. Their father-son relationship dissolved instantly without a trace.
After squashing the Heart-Eating Bug, Ning Wudao stared toward the Celestial Demon Hall.
"Golden Toad, next time I return, it will mean your death."
…
Celestial Demon Hall.
The hall master, Golden Toad Demon God, sat upon the throne. He wore a brocade robe and stood tall, yet his aura was gloomy and oppressive, his eyes brimming with malice.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly sensing something, Golden Toad Demon God turned toward Ning Wudao’s direction, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips. "So, you’ve found the key to break this stalemate."
"No wonder you possess the Celestial Demon form—truly worthy of my selection."
Golden Toad Demon God, mentally linked to his Heart-Eating Bug, instantly detected its destruction.
Ning Wudao had rebelled.
He had long known Ning Wudao had seen through his schemes yet deliberately allowed it to unfold.
Golden Toad Demon God also wanted to witness how much potential Ning Wudao—blessed with the Celestial Demon bloodline—could unleash under relentless pressure.
"Report!"
A figure stumbled into the great hall, knelt immediately, and kept his head low, not daring to glance at Golden Toad Demon God. He announced, "Lord hall master, Jiao Qingshan’s soul lamp has extinguished."
"I am aware. Dismissed."
Golden Toad Demon God waved his sleeve casually.
"Yes."
That demon clan disciple didn’t dare speak further, bowing as he retreated from the hall.
"He even eliminated Jiao Qingshan. It seems I am next in line." Golden Toad Demon God’s face remained impassive, betraying no hint of his thoughts.
"My loyal son, after eighty years of endurance, why tear our ties before ascending to divinity?"
"Attendant!"
Golden Toad Demon God summoned abruptly.
"Your subordinate is present."
A demon clan cultivator at the Peak of the Divine Catastrophe stage entered the great hall.
"I grant you three days to trace the Saint Son’s recent movements."
Golden Toad Demon God issued the command and soared out of the Celestial Demon Hall, speeding toward the fallen green snake dragon’s location.
An ominous premonition clawed at him.
Ning Wudao slipping beyond his control was a glaring alarm for impending peril.
