Xuan Zi fell back down quite pathetically from the air directly to the place where he had been before being teleported.
Withered grass grew all around, and a few crooked-necked trees stood sparsely, making a wailing sound whenever the wind blew.
He fell heavily to the ground, and without the support of his arms, it took a great deal of effort just to sit up.
He struggled to stand, his body rolling a few times on the ground before he barely managed to steady his figure against a rock.
Then he just sat there, his eyes staring fixedly at the empty sleeves, at those completely empty sleeves, as if his Soul had been sucked out of his entire being.
"On what grounds?"
Xuan Zi's teeth were clenching so hard they made a clicking sound; he was already trying hard to suppress his emotions, but the intense anger and grievance were surging up from the depths of his heart at this moment.
"Why should I have to suffer this kind of treatment?"
"I was just going to participate in a competition, just going to take back the reward that belonged to me, just trying to recover myself, but what was the result?"
"As a result, I actually turned into a trash Spirit Saint with only 7 Spirit Rings, and now I've even lost both arms. What else can I possibly do?"
Xuan Zi's body was trembling violently.
Thinking of how he, Xuan Zi, had been glorious for decades, standing above ten thousand people and below only one person within Shrek Academy, and being the renowned Gluttonous Douluo throughout the entire Douluo Continent, he had never suffered such treatment, nor had he ever been humiliated like this by anyone.
Yet now he had fallen to such a desolate state, not only being treated like this by that Shrek Academy in the Sky, but even the very Shrek Academy where he was born had long since expelled him.
That was his home, the place where he had lived since childhood, the place where he had poured his lifelong effort, but now that home was gone, and he had even had one of his arms crippled by Bei Bei's own hands.
He was unwilling to accept this, and he hated it immensely.
He hated Lin Feng, he hated Bei Bei, he hated all those people standing on the high platform watching him make a fool of himself, and even more, he hated this unimaginably cruel fate.
However, at this moment, something suddenly thumped violently inside Xuan Zi's body.
That was the throbbing of his Spirit, a sign that something long-dormant deep within his Bloodline was being awakened.
Xuan Zi felt a scorching hot current rapidly spread out from the position of his heart, flowing through his limbs and bones, igniting a ball of fire wherever it passed.
His emotions ran high, and that hot current seemed to sense his resentment and unwillingness, becoming increasingly fierce, causing his entire body to begin trembling violently.
Immediately after, a terrifying Aura suddenly erupted from Xuan Zi's body.
The originally earth-yellow Spirit Power abruptly changed color at this moment, stained with a layer of dark red dim light, carrying a suffocating Aura of violence.
His messy white hair moved without any wind at this moment, fluttering in the air like an infuriated beast.
Under the impact of this dark-red Spirit Power, the withered flowers, plants, and trees around him were entirely reduced to powder, and even the tree trunks shattered in an instant, with wood fragments flying everywhere.
Feeling this quite terrifying power surging within his body, Xuan Zi could not help but be slightly dazed.
His Spirit was still that same Spirit, still the Taotie Divine Ox, but the Aura contained within it was completely different from before; compared to the steady and heavy feeling of the past, the Taotie Spirit at this moment was more like a Vicious Beast driven by hunger, roaring wildly deep within his Soul.
"Taotie… What is the Taotie best at?"
"It is devouring."
Xuan Zi suddenly came to a realization.
For so many years, he had always relied on chicken drumsticks, wine, and those worldly foods to satisfy his appetite, treating the Taotie Spirit as an ordinary gluttonous beast, but that was not the true meaning of the Taotie at all.
The true Taotie was meant to devour all things to strengthen itself, to turn the flesh, blood, Spirit Power, and even Souls of all living beings into its own nourishment.
The path he had walked before was wrong from the very beginning.
Xuan Zi slowly stood up; although he lacked arms, that dark-red Spirit Power formed a thin gas barrier around his body, shrouding his entire person within it.
At this very moment, he quite keenly detected several guys dressed in black around him.
Those few people all radiated Killing Intent from their bodies, thick and pungent, obviously desperadoes whose hands were stained with quite a bit of fresh blood.
They were hiding behind the nearby bushes, secretly spying on Xuan Zi with greedy expressions on their faces.
"Isn't this the illustrious Gluttonous Douluo? Why has he fallen so low?"
The leader was a burly middle-aged man with a ferocious scar on his face. He looked Xuan Zi up and down, then let out a sneer of disdain.
"Tsk tsk, without hands, do you still have a shred of the Gluttonous Douluo's majesty?"
"If you ask me, it's better to just turn him straight into nourishment for our Cultivate. Even though he's an old piece of trash, he's at least a Spirit Saint. Brothers, release your Spirits! Send this old fellow on his way!"
The few men in black burst into loud laughter, their laughter filled with mockery.
The dark-red light flickered continuously within Xuan Zi's eyes.
The scar-faced man took a few more steps forward, a hint of banter in his tone.
They were all at the Spirit King level of cultivation. In their view, so what if a Spirit Saint without arms had a higher Rank than them?
Without arms, he couldn't even protect himself; what was there to fear?
Xuan Zi finally spoke, his voice hoarse, carrying a feeling that sent chills down one's spine.
At this very moment, a huge phantom had already condensed and formed behind Xuan Zi.
The Taotie True Body instantly emerged. That sheep-bodied, tiger-toothed monster floated in mid-air, a pair of eyes growing under its armpits, its mouth wide open to reveal two rows of chilling white fangs.
A low and piercing hiss issued from the monster's mouth, followed by its huge maw suddenly widening, and a terrifying suction force erupted from within it.
The smiles on the faces of the men in black instantly froze. They wanted to struggle and escape, but that suction force was simply too strong. They tried to release Spirit Power to resist, but the next second, their bodies uncontrollably lifted off the ground and flew toward that massive Taotie maw.
Screams, curses, and pleas for mercy blended together in a mess.
Yet Xuan Zi remained completely unmoved.
The massive maw of the Taotie True Body snapped shut, and those figures completely vanished before his eyes.
Following that was a massive surge of flesh, blood, and Spirit Power pouring into Xuan Zi's body—several strands of mixed Spirit Power, thick and scorching, flowing all the way down along his Meridians.
Xuan Zi let out a muffled groan, feeling as if his entire body was being roasted over a fire. Immediately after, an incredible force surged out from the position of his left shoulder.
That originally completely empty sleeve actually began to bulge little by little.
First the forearm, then the wrist, and then the palm.
A brand new arm grew out just like that from the severed stump.
Looking at his newly regenerated arm, Xuan Zi was stunned for a moment, then burst into a quite frantic laughter that echoed through the desolate mountains and fields, indescribably piercing.
"Hahaha… Hahahaha!"
"So that's how it is… So this is the true destination of the Taotie Spirit!"
Xuan Zi threw his head back and laughed aloud, his laughter filled with madness.
For the greater first half of his life, he had basically spent it exterminating Evil Soul Masters, maintaining the order of the continent, protecting the reputation of that Shrek Academy, and guarding the peace of the Douluo Continent, but what was the result?
As a result, he was now actually going to Cultivate just like an Evil Soul Master.
But all of this… all of this no longer mattered.
It was the Douluo Continent that betrayed him first.
He had conscientiously guarded this Douluo Continent for the greater half of his life. Since his youth, he had taken Shrek Academy as his home, desperately Cultivate for the honor of this home, desperately growing stronger.
He had stepped out countless times to fight desperately against those Evil Soul Masters, countless times getting injured to protect the people behind him, believing that everything he had paid would be remembered.
Yet how had they treated him?
Bei Bei had crippled one of his arms, Mu En's dragon core had not been given to him, and that Shrek Academy in the Sky had even tortured him to shreds right in front of the entire continent, tearing off his very last arm as well.
With such kicking of a man when he was down, he might as well stop guarding this Douluo Continent.
A flash of madness flickered through Xuan Zi's eyes, and a quite evil Aura radiated from his entire being.
Starting today, he would work hard to develop, and then destroy all these fellows completely, destroying everything!
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter
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