Chapter 1: Utter Annihilation

"Boss, what kind of miraculous medicine is this? Hurry up and hand it over so I can devour it!" Max raised its dragon head, drooling as it urged him impatiently.

"How did you turn out just like Judah?" Leng Tian thought speechlessly in his heart. Looking at Max’s eager appearance, he felt a sudden urge to kick it a couple of times, but his annoyance quickly subsided. For a dragon yearning for a breakthrough in power—whether to maintain its noble lineage or simply for the sake of pride—this reaction was entirely understandable.

With a thought, a lotus seed pulsing with purple flames materialized, floating directly in front of Max. A wave of intense heat rushed toward them, instantly scorching the golden dragon scales until they grew piping hot.

"This is... the lotus seed of the Purple Flame Companion Lotus... for me...?" Upon seeing the lotus seed, Max’s emotions surged with intense agitation, and its voice trembled as it looked at Leng Tian.

"Of course it's for you. Do me a favor and stop looking at me with that gaze; it makes me really want to give you a couple of kicks!" Leng Tian scolded with a mock display of irritation.

"Hehe... I'm just excited, Boss. I knew you still care about me..."

"Stop... Cut it right there. If you keep talking, I really am going to kick you!" Leng Tian raised his foot to cut Max off, then turned serious and asked, "Can your body handle this lotus seed? I suppose that with your divine dragon bloodline, you shouldn't be much inferior to those fierce beasts!"

"Rest assured, Boss. The lotus seeds of the Purple Flame Companion Lotus are recorded in our clan's archives. The records state that several thousand years ago, an ancestor of our Golden Dragons once consumed a lotus seed of the Purple Flame Companion Lotus. That ancestor later ascended to become a Holy Dragon, becoming an immortal milestone for our Golden Dragon clan!"

When Max mentioned this Holy Dragon ancestor, its expression was filled with deep reverence and yearning.

"Then you shall be the next Holy Dragon. I await the day you become a Holy Dragon, and the day you carry me soaring across the heavens!" Leng Tian reached out and stroked Max's dragon head, speaking with great anticipation.

"Rest assured, Boss, Max will certainly not disappoint you!" At this moment, boundless heroic spirit surged within Max's heart. It spread its gigantic wings, and a resounding dragon roar echoed through the azure sky.

Seeing that Max was now brimming with fighting spirit, Leng Tian waved his hand, and a stone basin appeared on the ground before Max. Inside was a full pound of Azure Sea Divine Spring, a thick, azure-green liquid emitting a faint, terrifying wave of energy.

"Boss, what treasure is this now?" Max's heart was already pounding wildly. Facing Leng Tian—who had first produced the Purple Flame lotus seed and now presented this green liquid comparable to divine power—Max was moved beyond measure.

"This is the Azure Sea Divine Spring, a treasure infinitely close to divine power. To help you break through to the Saint Beast realm this time, I've really bled a fortune!" Leng Tian said with a feigned expression of heartache.

Two unfilial dragon tears welled up and rolled down as Max spoke in a trembling voice, "Boss, you are too good to me, wuwu..."

Black lines began to appear on Leng Tian's forehead. He sternly shouted, "Swallow this Azure Sea Divine Spring first. Once the divine spring is fully absorbed, take the lotus seed. That way, with the energy of the divine spring already in your body, it should be much easier for you to absorb the fire elemental law power contained within the lotus seed."

Max nodded repeatedly in agreement. Under Leng Tian's watchful gaze, it swallowed the Azure Sea Divine Spring in the stone basin in a single gulp, then closed its dragon eyes, sprawled quietly on the ground, and circulated its inner dragon essence to absorb the spring's energy with all its might.

Shortly after swallowing the divine spring, Max's dozens-of-zhang-long body began to radiate wave after wave of formidable aura, accompanied by wisps of green light flashing in and out across its skin.

Leng Tian observed for a while and, seeing no abnormalities in Max, flicked away to another area. When he reappeared, four glowing, golden fruits were floating right in front of him.

These four suspended fruits were none other than the Mysterious Spirit Fruits that Leng Tian had seized. After capturing them, he had only managed to preserve them because Judah reminded him to use spatial power to seal them within a pocket dimension.

The reason these fruits had to be sealed in spatial storage was simple: whenever a heavenly spiritual fruit reaches maturity, if it is not picked and preserved, it will automatically detach, fall to the ground, and dissipate into primal energy. At the time, Leng Tian had been unaware of this. It was only due to Judah's reminder that he, as the master of Purgatory, had split off a pocket of space to seal the fruits within, preventing their dissipation and preserving them until now.

"Since the Mysterious Spirit Fruit has the efficacy of giving a peak Mortal-Vesting stage expert a strong chance of advancing to the Saint-Transforming stage, its value is a notch higher than the lotus seed of the Purple Flame Companion Lotus! However, I still don't know enough about its specific properties. I'll ask Zhuangzhuang about it when I get back before making further plans."

With these thoughts in mind, Leng Tian resealed the four Mysterious Spirit Fruits within the spatial pocket. Having nothing better to do, he teleported to watch Judah and the Heaven-Slaying Leopard engage in hand-to-hand combat.

"Let go of me, you bastard! Do you really think this lord won't cave in your leopard skull?!" One of Judah's legs was clamped tightly in the jaws of the Heaven-Slaying Leopard, which refused to let go, while Judah was relentlessly kicking the leopard's massive head with his other foot, producing a rapid succession of dull thuds.

"I'm going to eat you! This damn place doesn't even have a hair's breadth of food. If I don't eat you, I'll starve to death!" Ever since he was thoroughly beaten up by Xue Han last time, the Heaven-Slaying Leopard had become much more well-behaved. It no longer put on airs about its noble bloodline, pinning all its hopes on the arrival of the next roasted suckling pig.

However, after waiting for a long time without anyone sending a suckling pig over, panic began to set in, plunging it into a long and agonizing search for food. Until now, it hadn't found a single edible thing. If Judah hadn't appeared to seek it out for a brawl, the beast would have seriously considered eating rocks. The moment it saw Judah, it felt as though it had laid eyes upon its own mother, instantly hurling itself into battle with a singular desire to devour him and fill its stomach!

"Let go! Will you let go..." With one leg clamped firmly in the leopard's jaws, Judah found it impossible to dissolve into a formless shadow and escape. His only remaining option was to... bite back!

Realizing he couldn't shake off the Heaven-Slaying Leopard's jaws, Judah grew furious and hardened his heart. Relying on his Shadow Demon true form to freely alter his physique, he stopped trying to break free from the bite and instead lunged backward at the leopard.

Judah continuously elongated his Shadow Demon body. His terrifying face, adorned with three tufts of black hair, wore a ferocious expression as he opened his wide mouth, revealing two rows of large, yellow teeth, and charged directly toward the leopard's backside.

"This guy's transformation is truly thorough. Damn it, he didn't even spare the yellow teeth!" Leng Tian was completely speechless regarding Judah. He never expected this fellow to recreate the fat man among the three lecherous demons with such absolute fidelity.

The Heaven-Slaying Leopard's full set of sharp teeth had only recently regrown, and their sharpness was still somewhat lacking. After biting down hard for ages, it hadn't managed to tear off a single piece of flesh. Then again, if it could genuinely bite off a piece of flesh, Judah wouldn't be the Formless Shadow Demon.

"You shameless dead leopard, this lord is going to cut off your lineage today!" Judah had already charged behind the Heaven-Slaying Leopard, locked onto its nether regions, and bit down viciously.

"Oh crap, this guy..." From the bottom of his heart, Leng Tian felt that Judah's lineage-severing bite was entirely too fucking shameless.

"Aah..."

The Heaven-Slaying Leopard let out a heart-rending, blood-curdling scream, finally releasing its grip on Judah. It rolled around on the ground, its two hind legs kicking wildly in a desperate attempt to dislodge Judah, though this time the roles were reversed and it was the leopard shrieking for the other to let go.

Looking at Judah, his small eyes flashed with green light, and his teeth remained locked onto his target with absolute determination to bite it right off. All the while, he chanted a single phrase incessantly: "Cut off your lineage... I'll make sure you have no descendants..."

The Heaven-Slaying Leopard rolled about continuously, wailing in agony while its two hind legs kicked frantically against Judah's fat face. Because of the sheer force, Judah's plump face was flattened into a meat patty, leaving only his protruding mouth locked tightly onto the target.

Watching this scene unfold, Leng Tian had no intention of intervening. He had never held any fondness for the Heaven-Slaying Leopard anyway. As for the matter of cutting off its lineage, he actually felt that Judah possessed quite a bit of grit, willing to make such a massive sacrifice to accomplish this great undertaking.

"Aah..."

Amidst the heaven-shaking scream, Judah was kicked flying far away by the Heaven-Slaying Leopard. A burst of crimson blood painted a brilliant and vivid trail across the air. Though sent flying, Judah still held onto the spoils of war within his jaws.

A tuft of black hair, along with a chunk of skin that was still dripping with blood, was spat out by Judah. Still feeling unsatisfied, he cursed angrily, "Count yourself lucky today. This lord needs to go rinse his mouth—this taste is way too fucking musky..."

Judah spat continuously, trying his hardest to rid his mouth of the fishy, musky stench. Still resentful, he yelled, "Dead leopard, you just wait for me; we'll fight another day." With that, he vanished into a wisp of smoke, going off to find water to rinse his mouth.

Only the Heaven-Slaying Leopard remained, rolling on the ground and wailing miserably as blood pooled around its groin. Seeing its pathetic state, Leng Tian felt a fleeting surge of sympathy. Casually retrieving the very last roasted suckling pig from his storage ring, he tossed it beside the leopard.

Strangely enough, the moment the wailing Heaven-Slaying Leopard caught the rich aroma of the roasted meat, it miraculously stopped rolling. Its tear-filled eyes locked onto the delicious suckling pig ahead, and with a renewed howl, it lunged forward.

Discarding all awareness of the pain in its lower body, it tore into the roasted suckling pig with ravenous fury, treating it as if it were a mortal enemy. Unable to bear watching any longer, Leng Tian prepared to teleport away, when suddenly, a heaven-shaking dragon roar rang out, filling him with immense joy. "Max has broken through! This momentum is vastly stronger than before!"

At the same time, Xue Han and the other young women, who were still playing and flying kites, all halted and turned their gazes toward Max's location.

"Could it be that the big clumsy dragon has broken through?" Xue Han said with a look of skepticism.

"The giant dragon has ascended to become a Saint Beast! With this, Big Brother Leng has gained yet another massive asset. Hehe... when we head back, riding a dragon of the Saint Beast rank will definitely be extremely cool!" Guo Guo's pretty face bloomed with a smile, full of eager anticipation.

"What is a Saint Beast? How come I've never heard of this grade division before?" Tu Maomao muttered in utter bewilderment.

"Ignorant country bumpkin..." Guo Guo and the other girls chorused in disdain.

The twin fox demon sisters nearby had also been about to ask, but seeing the expressions and tones of Guo Guo and her companion, they wisely clamped their mouths shut.

Martial Peak - Chapter 1: Cutting Off Lineage has been updated!