Chapter 524 - 296: Great Cultivator Heritage? Death!

Tao Xinglie slightly parted his lips but no longer made any sound, instead switching to transmitting a secret message.

He spoke word by word.

"The Tao Family cannot be humiliated. You’ve provoked me time and again, and from now on, I won’t hold back anymore... I will crush you as easily as reaching into a bag for an item!"

Tao Xinglie’s gaze was locked onto Su Mu.

Upon hearing these twisted words, Su Mu’s expression remained calm, even with a faint smile on his lips, as if he were watching something extremely interesting.

"Very well, I look forward to it."

Su Mu took another step but then suddenly paused, as a voice transmission reached his ear, though it wasn’t from Tao Xinglie on the stage.

"Something happened to the girl in the manor at the end of Huai’an Square, and the one who acted..."

Su Mu’s previously calm face showed ripples. He knew that the person being referred to was that girl, Li Lu. His deep eyes scanned the crowd quickly and identified the messenger, who hadn’t bothered to conceal their identity.

"It’s the Tao Family..."

The figure’s mouth continued to move, saying something further. Su Mu glanced at the figure, knowing they were aware of his residence, and quickly deduced their true identity.

After hearing the message, Su Mu took a deep breath and glanced at Tao Xinglie on the stage, whose face was eager. Within Su Mu’s pitch-black, night-like eyes surged a cold killing intent.

One step, three steps, Su Mu resumed his stride and stepped onto the Martial Arts Arena.

Associate Professor Gu Dongcheng of the county school could be regarded as a Donglai Scholar. Though his cultivation hadn’t reached the Upper Three Grades of the Knowledge of Destiny Realm, his perception was not lacking. He could clearly sense the intense killing intent both parties had for each other, as if the air itself was igniting with sparks.

"Let the contest be measured; when forgiveness is possible, one should be lenient..."

The elderly man glanced at both of them; neither of their expressions changed in the slightest, so he sighed inwardly and announced, "I declare the contest to begin."

With that, Gu Dongcheng left the Martial Arts Arena, knowing this was a feud between two families that he could not mediate.

Today, one would be injured, perhaps even dead.

"I know you’re unconvinced."

Su Mu casually reached up to touch his white, well-defined neck muscles, and chuckled lightly, "This time, I’ll give you ample time to make your move."

"Hurry up, my patience is limited."

Su Mu gently twisted his neck, and his joints emitted a series of crisp sounds.

This scene fell into Tao Xinglie’s eyes, causing his eyes to almost blaze with fire. His gaze quickly turned cold as he swept his hand.

Three powerful streams of Spiritual Light emerged.

The Fifth-Grade Dharma Artifact, the Gale Saber, was held in Tao Xinglie’s hand, and an unadorned, ancient jade seal floated in mid-air, growing enormous against the wind and hovering above his brow, spilling forth streams of Spiritual Light forming a cascade barrier.

Moreover, a stream of Spiritual Light landed on Tao Xinglie’s empty left hand, forming a jade talisman, its aura surging, unmistakably another Fifth-Grade Talisman Treasure.

This scene instantly drew exclamations from the watching crowd below the stage.

"These three are all Fifth-Grade items!"

"A single Fifth-Grade Dharma Artifact is enough to become a treasure of protection for a faction, yet Tao Xinglie brandishes three at once. Truly a generous hand from the head of the Tao Family, the premier of the Donglai Noble Family."

"The Spiritual Qi cultivated by an ordinary Fifth-Grade Daoist Cultivator is barely enough to drive one Fifth-Grade Dharma Artifact, yet Tao Xinglie can simultaneously wield three. His Spiritual Qi is truly robust and exceptional."

At this moment, everyone watched with serious expressions, eyes fixed on the two in the Martial Arts Arena, their speaking voices subconsciously lowered. Many held their breath, anticipating Tao Xinglie to unleash a world-shaking strike with the three Fifth-Grade Dharma Artifacts.

But unexpectedly, after invoking the three artifacts and Talisman Treasure, Tao Xinglie did not launch an offensive, as if these weren’t his trump cards.

On the Martial Arts Arena, after summoning the three artifacts, Tao Xinglie took a deep breath, causing the air to warp instantly, with visible streams swirling, and whole areas of air drawn in by a single breath from him.

"Heaven-Burning Technique·Profound Fire Dharmic Body!"

Tao Xinglie’s entire body inflated like a balloon, his black hair wildly flaring and instantly turning fiery red, with his white skin rapidly becoming crimson, each fiber of his being displaying flame-like textures.

His muscles bulged inch by inch, like a piece of iron blazing red-hot.

Yet there was no sense of instability, as circles of visible heat waves radiated outward from Tao Xinglie as the epicenter. The most astonishing thing was,

When he exhaled again,

The intangible air turned a faint crimson, already scorching and searing, as if Tao Xinglie had transformed into a monstrous furnace even more terrifying and blistering than Guo Zhen, who had reached the fourth transformation in Qi Blood.

His entire form was engulfed in a raging scarlet flame over a foot high.

Every movement, even his breath, caused a sharp rise in temperature, emanating a dreadful high heat.

It was a kind of power that could be felt to the naked eye as a mighty, surging heat wave expanded from Tao Xinglie, spreading a fearful sense of oppression as if facing celestial flames.

"Hiss—!"

A chorus of gasps erupted from the audience below the stage, even among the four great geniuses of Donglai County, Song Jingyuan and Guo Zhen both showed drastically changed expressions, feeling an extreme and intense dread.

They both sensed that Tao Xinglie’s power was rapidly climbing, doubling terrifyingly within mere breaths.

"What terrifying aura, what cultivation technique has Tao Xinglie been practicing?!"

"This kind of overwhelming aura, even a Fourth-Grade Cultivator is no match!"

"Heaven-Burning Technique?... It’s said that centuries ago, in the land of Qingzhou, there was a Great Cultivator who called himself the ’Heaven-Burning Daoist,’ tyrannical in his ways, shrouded in mystery, with no one knowing his background... The cultivation technique he practiced was the Heaven-Burning Technique. Could it be that Tao Xinglie has inherited the legacy of that ’Heaven-Burning Daoist’?"