The instant he leapt off the cliff's edge, the entire world seemed to fall into silence. There were no more wolf howls, no more ragged breaths only the piercing, icy scream of the wind, like countless sharp blades ceaselessly slicing into his flesh.
Below lay an endless expanse of darkness, a bottomless abyss with no visible end. Wen Tan plunged in free fall, sheer cliff walls flashing past on all sides. In his mind, a single thought echoed over and over:
"Could it be… that this time I will truly die here?"
Despair surged within him. Blood from the wounds on his shoulder and chest was torn away by the wind, painting streaks of red across the pitch-black night.
Bang! Bang!
His body suddenly slammed hard onto a flat rock ledge jutting out from the mountainside. The violent impact rippled through his entire body, his bones feeling as though they were about to shatter. Wen Tan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his vision blurring.
Fortunately, the White Tiger bones hidden within his body took effect. Wave after wave of brutal force was absorbed and partially neutralized, preserving a fragile thread of life. Had it been an ordinary mortal body, it would have been smashed to pieces long ago.
His breathing grew faint, blood spreading across the stone slab. His body trembled briefly, then fell completely unconscious, leaving only the howling wind echoing through the frigid rock hollow.
In the boundless darkness, the rocky ledge was like a cold hand temporarily clutching onto his life, suspending him between life and death.
Wen Tan's consciousness sank deep into a pitch-black void. Within his sea of consciousness, the censer emitted a brilliant golden-crimson light, drawing him into a vast, illusory space without limits.
When the light faded, the scene before him made his breath catch.
A shattered heaven and earth lay in ruin. The sky was torn apart by countless spatial rifts, thunder roared unceasingly, and a surging sea of blood rolled like a tide, as if it could devour all things. Within that blood sea, colossal spectral figures gradually emerged.
To the east: the Seven Great Ancestral Dragons. Their immense bodies stretched like rivers and mountains, each dragon exuding an ancient aura, their scales reflecting boundless divine radiance. Some had eyes blazing crimson, some bore six wings, others were shrouded in black clouds every one of them carrying a majesty that suppressed heaven and earth alike.
To the west: the Ten Great Sacred Beasts, their divine forms standing firm, their might no less formidable. Their figures towered as if touching the heavens: a divine crane spread its wings, veiling the sun and moon; a nine-tailed divine fox burned with blazing flames; a divine elephant, its body like a sacred mountain, crushed the void beneath each step.
Between heaven and earth, the combined auras of the two factions converged like an army of celestial soldiers, their radiance driving back the darkness.
Yet standing against them… were the Twelve Primeval Ferocious Beasts grotesque, savage forms, as if incarnations of calamity itself. The aura they emitted caused the heavens and earth to tremble, turning the very sky and land pale.
Wen Tan felt his soul shudder from a single glance, his mortal body nearly dissolving under the pressure.
One by one, names soaked in blood echoed through the void, as though they were being carved deep into his very soul:
Chaos Demon Ape — a colossal ape wreathed in blood-red flames, eyes like bottomless abysses, its fists capable of shattering the sun and moon.
Nine Nether Profound Serpent — its body stretching tens of thousands of zhang, scales black as steel, its maw devouring myriad souls, an evil aura that eclipsed the stars themselves.
Heaven-Devouring Blood Elephant — a gigantic blood elephant, its form like a living volcano, each roar shattering heaven and earth.
Celestial Demon Pale Swarm — countless white worms fused into one, endlessly shifting in form, draining the blood and flesh of all living beings.
Infernal Flame Demon Tiger — a tiger of demonic fire, its body wreathed in black flames that burned even space itself.
Bone-Sea Rakshasa — a towering skeletal giant bearing iron chains, its aura of desolation akin to the depths of hell.
Netherworld Heavenly Shadow Bird — a black bird whose vast wings blot out heaven and earth; with every beat of its wings, an endless sea of darkness is unleashed.
Blood-Sea Colossal Leviathan — a water beast shaped like a giant sea fish, yet with deep crimson eyes; when it opens its maw, a sea of blood surges forth.
Six-Winged Demon Horn — a beast with six wings and a horn of blood-jade growing from its head; its speed is like lightning, tearing straight through the void.
Desolate Heaven Scale Qilin — an armor-clad beast whose roars generate shockwaves that shatter the void itself.
Myriad-Poison Toad Sovereign a colossal toad whose body is covered in poisonous pustules that explode, turning into toxic mists that blanket tens of thousands of miles.
Voidless Shadow Fiend a hazy form, half real and half illusory; whenever it appears, it devours the very souls of living beings.
Roars and howls echoed as the two sides collided. Heaven and earth collapsed, all things trembling in the cataclysm.
Wen Tan stood amidst this scene though only his consciousness was present, the terrifying pressure still made both body and soul quake, as if he were about to be crushed between heaven and earth.
The Seven Great Ancestral Dragons Origin of the Dragon Clan
Primordial Void Ancestral Dragon
Its entire body was covered in silvery scales, radiance flowing like a galaxy.
Ability: Dominion over space and time. With a single sweep of its tail, the void shattered, opening rifts that dragged enemies into endless abysses.
True Flame Ancestral Dragon
Crimson scales ablaze, its body like a living volcano.
Ability: Flames that annihilate all things able to incinerate even the seas. Each breath of dragonfire became an infernal ocean of flame.
Profound Water Ancestral Dragon
Azure body, eyes like the deep ocean.
Ability: Water shaping heaven and earth calling wind and rain. A single breath could raise heaven-piercing tsunamis.
Thundercry Ancestral Dragon
Black scales shot through with violet light, lightning coiling endlessly around its form.
Ability: Celestial thunder judgment. Its roars boomed like thunder, each strike capable of cleaving mountains and rivers apart.
Earth-Heart Ancestral Dragon
A majestic form, flesh like living stone, its aura incomparably steady and profound.
Ability: Resonance with the earth's veins. Every tail strike shook heaven and earth, collapsing mountains and draining seas and rivers dry.
Starlight Ancestral Dragon
Its entire body radiated brilliance, scales seemingly forged from starlight itself.
Ability: Summoning stellar punishment able to draw upon the power of the stars, using the heavens themselves as blades to slay myriad demons.
Nether Ancestral Dragon
Ash-black in color, its eyes like abysses of death.
Ability: Authority over life and death. Its aura could sever the cycle of life itself; a single draconic utterance could erase countless souls.
The Ten Great Sacred Beasts — Divine Guardians of the Realms
Azure Luan Earth-Ancestor (Blue-Flame Divine Bird)
Long-winged, with azure feathers suffused with fire.
Ability: Undying true flame. Each flap incinerated corruption, and it could be reborn from ashes.
White Zephyr Remnant (Divine Beast of Wisdom)
Resembling a white tiger, with divine markings glowing upon its brow.
Ability: Comprehension of all tongues, deciphering formations, suppressing evil spirits.
Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven
Its body wreathed in crimson flames, long tail feathers covering the sky.
Ability: Heavenly flames of rebirth. Upon death, it transformed into a lotus of fire, reborn from blazing scarlet flames.
Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox
Snow-white fur, nine tails swaying gracefully.
Ability: Illusion and mind-domination. Each tail governed a divine art ice, fire, illusion, soul techniques, and more.
Sacred Elephant of Mount Tai
A colossal elephant with diamond-hard skin, each step crushing mountains and rivers.
Ability: Thousand-fold mountain-suppressing strength pure, unstoppable power.
Qilin of the Yellow River
Its entire body shone with radiant light, its aura gentle and benevolent.
Ability: Purification of all spirits dissolving resentment and healing the wounds of allies.
Great Black Tortoise Colossus
A gigantic tortoise bearing mountains and rivers upon its back, with a long serpent tail.
Ability: Unity of water and earth erecting indestructible barriers to withstand annihilation.
Heavenly Eagle of Golden Wings
A dark gray raptor whose wings stretched across thousands of miles.
Ability: Sky-piercing speed. A single dive could cleave through tens of thousands of troops.
Golden Crane of Longevity
A golden crane with jade-like feathers and an ancient, primordial bearing.
Ability: Channeling longevity qi its breath transformed into spiritual radiance that prolonged the lives of its companions.
White Night Divine Wolf (Shén Láng Bái Yè)
A snow-white wolf with eyes cold as ice, bearing an awe-inspiring presence.
Ability: Moonshadow Slaughter when the full moon rises, its power increases a hundredfold; countless wolf phantoms manifest, besieging and annihilating the enemy.
When the Seven Great Ancestral Dragons and the Ten Great Sacred Beasts joined forces, heaven and earth blazed with light. Primordial, sacred auras surged forth, tyrannically suppressing the entire world. Yet standing against them were still the Twelve Ancient Ferocious Beasts, forcing the battle into a deadlock so violent that heaven and earth shattered, with no victor in sight.
The sky was dyed crimson like blood.
The land crumbled, mountains shattered, and the oceans boiled.
Within the void, waves of power so immense surged that time itself seemed to halt, space on the verge of collapse.
To the east, the Seven Ancestral Dragons spread their wings.
The Primordial Void Ancestral Dragon soared amidst the galaxy, silver scales glittering like countless stars; every beat of its wings twisted heaven and earth.
The True Flame Ancestral Dragon roared, spewing a sea of dark crimson fire that incinerated innumerable lesser ferocious beasts.
The Profound Water Ancestral Dragon coiled its body, summoning thousand-zhang tsunamis that howled forth from the void.
The Thundercry Ancestral Dragon swept its tail, lightning interweaving like a net; each bolt carried the might to annihilate nations.
The Earth-Heart Ancestral Dragon descended, its every step shaking heaven and earth as the earth veins roared.
The Starlight Ancestral Dragon shot skyward, starfall raining down like glittering meteors of absolute death.
The Nether Ancestral Dragon flickered in and out of darkness, each breath it exhaled making countless souls tremble.
To the west, the Ten Great Sacred Beasts ruled the skies.
The Azure Luan spread flaming wings; the Vermilion Bird was reborn within seas of blood; White Zephyr roared, dispersing specters; the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox erected layers of illusions to dominate the battlefield.
The Sacred Elephant trampled celestial armies; the Qilin transformed into purifying light; the Black Tortoise bore mountains and rivers as a bulwark; the Heavenly Eagle cleaved the sky; the Golden Crane sang of longevity; and the White Night Divine Wolf howled at the moon, summoning thousands of moon-shadowed spectral wolves.
Facing them stood the Twelve Ancient
Ferocious Beasts—each towering tens of thousands of zhang, their bodies wreathed in dense malevolent qi. A single roar from any of them could shatter starfields and overturn heaven and earth.
Nine-Infant (Jiuying) — bird heads atop a beastly body, its howls tore the heavens apart, sonic waves obliterating gods.
Taotie — a maw without bounds, devouring mountains and rivers, gnawing at heaven and earth alike.
Hundun — a formless being without eyes, nose, or ears, mindless yet immortal; each strike was primal chaos splitting the firmament.
Ferocious Qilin Demon — the mad, destructive counterpart to the Sacred Qilin.
Kunpeng Demon Form — a fish that swallowed seas, a bird that blotted out the sky, its shadow covering all creation.
…alongside seven other ferocious beasts, each bearing endless resentment, every one a symbol of primordial destruction.
🌩️ The collision erupted heaven and earth were torn apart.
The thunder of the Thundercry Ancestral Dragon collided with Nine-Infant's sonic waves, exploding into black holes that devoured the sky.
The flames of the Vermilion Bird burned Taotie's body, only to be swallowed whole and converted into retaliatory power.
The Azure Luan cleaved through vast armies, yet was blasted from the star domain by Kunpeng's wingbeat, storms roaring in its wake.
The Earth-Heart Ancestral Dragon smashed mountains with its tail, but Hundun endured without a single wound.
Divine blood and ferocious blood rained down, forming rivers of red. Mortals dared not look skyward. The entire realm seemed on the verge of reverting to primordial chaos.
Amid the turmoil, the Primordial Void Ancestral Dragon lifted its head to the heavens.
Silver eyes blazed with sorrow. He understood that even with the Sacred Beasts and Ancestral Dragons united, exterminating all Ferocious Beasts was nearly impossible. Should both sides perish together, nothing but ashes would remain for future generations.
"If all are destroyed… who will leave behind even a single spark of hope for those who come after?
We truly underestimated you this time… but still "
At that very moment, as Taotie charged forward, the Primordial Void Ancestral Dragon let out a thunderous roar. Starlight exploded as he used his final power to seal both himself and Taotie within a dharma artifact shaped like an ancient incense burner.
The incense burner was born radiating golden runic light intertwined with dark crimson blood patterns, embodying two opposing extremes life and destruction, light and darkness.
With a final surge of Primordial Void Divine Light, the Ancestral Dragon cast the incense burner out of the battlefield, sending it into the river of time. It drifted through countless epochs, across cycles of annihilation and rebirth.
In the end… it fell into the mortal world, into the hands of a tiny, insignificant human Wen Tan.
The war raged for three days and three nights. Heaven and earth overturned, sun and moon lost their light. Divine blood and ferocious blood mingled, dyeing entire starfields crimson.
When the White Tiger Divine Beast let out its final roar, the sound tore through heaven and earth yet it was a cry of sorrow. Its colossal body had been torn apart by Nine-Infant and Hundun, leaving only a blood-soaked white skeleton. Its golden eyes, once capable of scorching the heavens, slowly dimmed.
In its final moment, the White Tiger separated a fragment of divine bone containing its bloodline and indomitable battle will, along with its shattered divine soul, escaping its body. It roared in bitter fury:
"I, the White Tiger, was ambushed by you two Ferocious Beasts—how hateful!"
That bone fragment pierced layers of primordial chaos seals, drifting through time into the mortal world.
The Fates of the Other Divine Beasts
Azure Dragon:
Its draconic body scattered, leaving behind a single drop of essence blood that transformed into the Azure Dragon Seal, falling into the lower realm and hiding within the lineage of some mortal.
Vermilion Bird:
Its flaming wings turned to ash, yet a single sacred feather ablaze with fire flew far away, buried within a fire abyss that would burn unextinguished for ten thousand years.
Black Tortoise (Xuanwu):
The turtle shell shattered, the serpent body torn apart—only the mysterious black armor remained, lost within an endless subterranean river.
Qilin:
Before falling, it left behind a luminous tear imbued with purifying power, hidden deep within a sacred spiritual mountain.
All of them were gravely wounded and went into hiding across the world, leaving behind only fragmented remnants, awaiting those fated to inherit them.
The White Tiger Bone Fragment — Wen Tan's Fated Opportunity
That fragment of bone was precisely the mysterious divine bone Wen Tan had encountered within his sea of consciousness.
It contained the unyielding battle intent and a portion of the White Tiger's divine soul. Because of this, Wen Tan would later be able to merge with the power of a Divine Beast and open a path far beyond that of ordinary beings.
Moreover, because the ancient incense burner housed the seals of the Tai Xu Ancestral Dragon and the ferocious beast Taotie, the moment it encountered the White Tiger bone fragment, it resonated violently forcing the remnant soul of the White Tiger to merge into Wen Tan.
From that moment on, he became the inadvertent heir of the ancient cataclysmic war, a bearer of heaven's mandate who embodied both opposing extremes: order and chaos.
Wen Tan's consciousness was dragged into an endless illusory space.
Before him lay a desolate battlefield corpses of Divine Beasts and ferocious beasts piled high, heaven and earth drenched in dark crimson blood. Amid this scene of devastation, a massive figure slowly emerged the White Tiger Divine Beast.
Its entire body was torn and mangled, wounds crisscrossing its form. Clumps of white fur were soaked in blood, while its exposed bones gleamed like divine metal. Its golden eyes, though dimmed, still carried an indomitable battle intent that seemed capable of piercing the Nine Heavens.
The White Tiger let out a low growl that shook heaven and earth, then spoke slowly each word striking Wen Tan's mind like iron nails:
"Mortal… you are fortunate to be entrusted by the Ancestral Dragon.
I have only a trace of remnant will left, yet I have chosen you as the one fated to inherit it.
My battle intent, my bloodline, my divine soul… today, all are given to you.
I once intended to seize your body, but now it seems that letting you live will be of greater use."
A drop of precious blood flew from its heart meridian crimson like a stellar flame, containing surging primordial bloodline power. At the same time, the White Tiger's remnant soul shattered into countless rays of light, condensing into a silver-white sigil that slowly engraved itself onto Wen Tan's brow.
Wen Tan felt his entire skeleton crack apart, his blood boiling violently, as if ten thousand wild steeds were rampaging through his meridians. The roar of a tiger echoed within his sea of consciousness, overwhelming him with boundless battle intent, nearly tearing him apart.
Yet even in unbearable agony, Wen Tan clenched his teeth and endured. His divine soul trembled, but it did not collapse.
At that moment, the White Tiger let out its final thunderous laugh, its voice resonating like the Great Dao itself:
"Fight without retreat. Die without yielding.
This is the Dao of the White Tiger!
From this day forth, you are the inheritor of my will.
Grow strong… and avenge me!"
BOOM!
That majestic figure shattered into countless points of light, completely dissipating into the void leaving behind only pure divine soul essence and the precious blood, both merging into Wen Tan's body.
Wen Tan's divine soul flared brightly, growing several times stronger.
The drop of precious blood fused into his bones, transforming his bloodline and igniting the origin of Divine Beast battle blood.
The White Tiger sigil was deeply engraved within his sea of consciousness, becoming an inseparable part of him.
From that moment on, the final remnant will of the White Tiger Divine Beast in the mortal realm completely vanished leaving behind an immortal legacy within Wen Tan's bloodline.
In the darkness of the abyss, Wen Tan's unconscious body suddenly convulsed violently.
The bone-piercing pain caused by the eruption of the White Tiger's precious blood within his veins made him scream silently. His entire body felt as if it were torn apart and reconstructed anew.
Silver-white bones emerged, etched with ancient luminous patterns that radiated primordial aura. Blood surged violently as streams of dark impurities were forced out of his flesh, releasing a thick, foul stench.
This was the process of rebirth through tempering, the complete cleansing of his mortal foundation.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Void Art began circulating on its own. Streams of spiritual energy spiraled into deep, black vortexes, merging with the newly integrated White Tiger bloodline.
Two opposing forces one the violent Divine Beast bloodline, the other the silent, formless Dao of the Void collided, ground against one another… and then fused as one.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion, as if the heavens themselves were being cleaved open, resounded as Wen Tan's new physique was finally forged:
✨ Void Battle Physique — Initial Awakening! ✨
The moment its aura emerged, heaven and earth trembled.
From beyond the nine layers of clouds, heavenly radiance descended. A pillar of azure-blue light like the acknowledgment of the Heavenly Dao itself crashed straight into his body.
That light surged through every inch of him, sealing all torn wounds, restoring each damaged meridian, and cleansing every fracture in his bones. Even the fatal injuries from his fall off the cliff vanished without a trace, leaving behind a body thousands of times stronger than before.
This was not merely healing
it was a Heavenly Dao–sealed acknowledgment, proof that this physique was a peerless, unprecedented variant never before seen.
As the pillar of light gradually faded, Wen Tan opened his eyes. Within his jet-black pupils flashed a streak of golden tiger-king radiance, intertwined with boundless void aura.
He whispered softly, his chest rising and falling as battle intent surged:
"So… this is my new power…?"
At the very instant the Void Battle Physique was formed, heaven and earth resonated in response.
High in the vast sky, dark clouds gathered in torrents. Thunder and lightning interwove like roaring silver dragons. Amid the clouds, a colossal vortex opened, from which strands of pale violet spiritual light fell like primordial celestial rain.
Within a thousand-mile radius, spiritual energy went mad, converging from all directions and flooding toward the abyss where Wen Tan had fallen, as if seeking to enthrone him as the axis of heaven and earth.
Ten Thousand Beasts Tremble
The pack of Black-Scale Wolves roaring atop the cliff suddenly tucked their tails, bodies shaking violently as instinct screamed at them .
This was an aura far beyond their capacity to resist.
Second- and third-tier demonic beasts within the surrounding forests all lifted their heads and howled in unison before fleeing headlong in terror.
Condensation of Spiritual Radiance
A column of azure light descended from the heavens, piercing through layers of clouds and illuminating the depths of the abyss. Within that radiance, Wen Tan's battered body was completely reborn wounds closed, flesh and blood refined as if tempered by divine fire.
Spiritual power surged within him like a tidal wave. His aura stepped beyond mortal limits, forcefully reinforcing his foundation and stabilizing his breakthrough.
Shockwaves Through the Sect
Far away, within Yun Sword Sect, several elders abruptly opened their eyes during meditation.
Third Elder Wei Cheng frowned as he looked toward the Wuwei Mountain Range:
"What kind of anomaly is this… to cause heaven and earth to resonate to such a degree?
Spiritual energy surges like tides, thunder roars like dragons .
could it be that another heaven-defying prodigy has emerged?"
Another elder sighed softly:
"That aura… it doesn't feel like a mere realm breakthrough.
It's more like… the birth of a new physique acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao."
As the celestial phenomena gradually dissipated, Wen Tan opened his eyes once more. His pupils radiated void-born radiance and awe-inspiring authority, interwoven with the proud phantom shadow of the White Tiger.
That physique
the Void Battle Physique
was now officially engraved into heaven and earth.
Deep within the abyss, as the Heavenly Dao's light faded, Wen Tan quietly rose to his feet. His body felt newly forged; each joint cracked with thunderous pops, like the roar of a tiger.
Within his mind, a strange current began to flow .
the Void Laws had awakened.
The moment they circulated, the surrounding space immediately wavered. Invisible ripples spread outward like water disturbed by a thrown stone.
He murmured softly:
"Is this… truly my power?"
Fracture of Space
A tiny fissure like a crack in glass appeared before him. Strange lights flickered within it, and unfamiliar, discordant auras poured out, as though it connected to another world entirely.
In that fleeting instant, a familiar scent brushed past his nose
dust and smoke, steel and iron, and…
memories of Earth.
Wen Tan's mind trembled.
"That… that's my home!
That's the world I once lived in!"
He struggled to reach out, but in the next instant his entire body felt as if it were being swallowed by the abyss. His spiritual power was drained completely in a heartbeat. The rift immediately collapsed, space sealing shut once more, leaving him slumping to the ground, gasping for breath.
An Ancient Voice
At that very moment, deep within his sea of consciousness, the golden incense censer erupted with brilliant light. From the void echoed a deep, ancient, and majestic voice
The voice of the Primordial Void Ancestral Dragon.
"You have activated a trace of the Void Law, allowing you to open rifts between the myriad worlds.
However, with your current cultivation, your body cannot withstand the pressure of spatial transmission.
If you force your way through, the only outcome will be the complete annihilation of your soul."
The dragon's voice reverberated as if from distant ages past, carrying overwhelming primordial authority:
"If you wish to return to your homeland…
you must at least step into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Only then will your Void Battle Physique be capable of enduring the twisting of the void."
The voice gradually faded, yet a trace of concern still lingered:
"Remember this well.
The mortal world is long, and your fate does not belong to a single world alone…
but to countless realms that lie beyond."
Hearing those words, a resolute light flashed in Wen Tan's eyes.
He clenched his fists until blood seeped from his palms.
"Foundation Establishment Realm…
I will reach it quickly.
Earth, wait for me. I will return.
I will go home."
Within the darkness of the abyss, his eyes shone like twin stars, his resolve unshakable.
Deep within the pitch-black depths, where even light struggled to penetrate, Wen Tan sat cross-legged atop a cold stone slab. The spiritual energy within him surged like tides, wave after wave raw, new, and untamed.
His body was no longer a mere mortal vessel. Every tendon and muscle faintly gleamed like hidden scales as the Void Battle Physique gradually began to circulate.
He rose to his feet and drew upon a thread of void law.
In an instant, space twisted. His figure vanished then reappeared dozens of meters away, leaving behind only a fading afterimage.
"So fast…
Several times faster than before.
This must be the Void Movement Technique hidden within the cultivation art!"
He continued testing his strength.
With a single punch, the void shattered into fragments. The shockwave pierced through a rock as hard as steel in the distance, leaving behind a terrifying scar.
Every strike carried power far beyond that of an ordinary Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
Encounter with Abyssal Demonic Beasts
A shrill, ear-splitting howl echoed from the depths of a cavern. Pairs of blood-red eyes opened within the darkness
Shadow Wraith Wolves, third-tier ferocious beasts that dwelled deep within the abyss.
They melded into the shadows, moving with ghostly speed, their forms hazy like illusions.
One lunged forward, claws tearing through the void, its vicious aura slashing toward him.
Wen Tan shouted sharply:
"Void Art — Phantom Shadow Step!"
His body split into three overlapping figures, shadows weaving together. The Shadow Wraith Wolf's strike missed entirely.
In the next instant, Wen Tan gathered his strength and threw a direct punch.
A thunderous explosion rang out as ripples of void energy burst outward. The demonic wolf's body detonated into a mist of blood, its afterimage dissipating into the darkness.
The remaining wolves roared in fury and charged.
This time, Wen Tan neither retreated nor dodged.
He advanced instead choosing to use them as whetstones to hone his newfound power.
Hot blood splattered as deep gashes tore across his shoulders and arms, yet his gaze only grew sharper and more steadfast. With every technique he unleashed, he could clearly feel the void responding around him, as if engraving itself into his very instincts.
At last, after a brutal slaughter, the pack of Shadow Wraith Wolves scattered.
Wen Tan panted heavily, his body drenched in blood, but his eyes gleamed .
The power of the Void Battle Physique had entered his initial stage of control.
In the silent night of the abyss, he sat cross-legged once more, sensing the breath of heaven and earth as he circulated the Void Art.
Powerful auras continued to gather within his sea of consciousness. His body gradually merged with the darkness itself, becoming a true fragment of the void.
"This… is only the beginning.
One day, I will be strong enough to step through spatial rifts and return to my homeland.
But first… I must reach the Foundation Establishment Realm."
The abyss was gloomy, day and night indistinguishable. Only the howling wind and the roars of demonic beasts echoed endlessly. Wen Tan lived like a secluded cultivator, hiding within the darkness using danger as his furnace, blood and battle as his whetstone.
Each day, he faced the brink of death:
At times, the encirclement of Shadow Wraith Wolf packs.
At others, ambushes by Black Frost Storm Raptors soaring through the night.
Once, he even encountered a peak second-tier Armored Rhinobeast.
Every battle left him wounded, yet with the Void Battle Physique and the fused White Tiger divine soul, he was reborn again and again within blood and flame fighting with ever-increasing ferocity.
Through this relentless tempering, the spiritual energy within his body boiled and surged, his divine soul steadily growing stronger. In just a few short days, Wen Tan broke through three minor realms in succession, advancing from Qi Condensation Level One all the way to Level Four.
But what was truly terrifying was this
His strength did not stop at the fourth level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
Relying on the Void Art, a body tempered by the White Tiger bloodline, and a powerful divine soul, he could unleash might far beyond that of cultivators at the same level. Even some outer disciples at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Condensation would struggle to withstand him for long in a head-on confrontation.
His true combat power was at least twice what his cultivation realm suggested, and he could even faintly contend with certain late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators.
After a brutal battle with a pack of Ironblood Spirit Apes, Wen Tan tilted his head back to gaze at the boundless darkness of the abyss. Fresh blood dripped from his shoulder, staining the stone beneath his feet crimson.
Yet there was no longer panic in his eyes only a cold, unwavering resolve.
"Only in extreme danger can I break free and forge strength that truly belongs to me.
If combat power were measured solely by cultivation realm… I would have died several times already."
He straightened his back. Spiritual energy surged around him like rolling tides, the void trembling faintly as indistinct, tiny cracks appeared in the surrounding space.
Wen Tan was no longer the same person he had been just days ago.
During his days of secluded cultivation, Wen Tan constantly explored the terrain. The abyss was shrouded in darkness, layered with sheer cliffs. Below lay pitch-black fissures that swallowed all light; above loomed towering rock walls that seemed to reach the heavens.
Yet with the movement technique he had comprehended from the Void Art, he could briefly borrow the power of the void, leaping across perilous stone slabs and climbing upward tier by tier. Every step was taken with caution, carefully avoiding demonic beasts lurking in the shadows.
Finally, after three days of braving danger, he caught sight of a faint ray of light filtering down through a crack in the rocks above. His heart pounded. His divine soul surged, his body erupted with power, and he used the momentum to vault out of the abyss, collapsing onto a broad stone at the forest's edge.
Crimson twilight bathed the land. Mountain winds brushed across his face.
He had escaped.
Raising his gaze toward the distance, a flash of cold light gleamed in Wen Tan's eyes.
"That pack of Black-Scaled Wolves… you were the ones who forced me into the abyss.
Today, I will wash this humiliation away with your blood!"
He followed the traces the wolves had left behind claw marks etched into tree trunks, deep footprints pressed into the soil, and a heavy stench of blood drifting on the wind. Before long, wolf howls echoed throughout the forest.
A clearing came into view. There, nearly a dozen Black-Scaled Wolves were tearing apart the corpse of a second-tier demonic beast, fresh blood soaking the grass crimson.
At their center stood the massive Wolf King, its body covered in jet-black scales, eyes glowing blood-red, aura ferocious and oppressive .
The very beast that had led the hunt against him before.
Wen Tan took a deep breath. Spiritual energy boiled within him as the Void Battle Body began to circulate. A phantom image of the White Tiger flickered into existence behind his back, letting out a thunderous roar within the void.
The pack of wolves turned their heads in unison, blood-red eyes locking onto him as they released long howls filled with killing intent.
One man. One pack of wolves.
The air seemed to freeze.
Mountain winds swept past, leaves rustling softly, the thick stench of fresh blood rising all around.
Wen Tan curled his lips slightly, his voice cold and merciless:
"This time, the ones who will be buried here… will be you."