Yet Wei Zhao was plainly not foolish enough to truly clash head-on with it. Given the creature's physical toughness, he was now nothing more than a Nascent Soul in the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment; even his true body at the Profound Ascension stage might not have gained the slightest advantage. To do so would be to seek his own death.

With a low, deep dragon's roar, a streak of Five Elements killing intent, so solid it seemed almost tangible, shot from his hand and met the creature's steel claw head-on. The outcome was beyond doubt: it was shredded in an instant, not even dregs remaining—a classic case of an egg striking a stone.

"Heh, is that all you've got?" The Brain-Eating Bug sneered. In its eyes, this was far weaker than the true-qi elixir-flame bomb from before. That bomb, crude and simple as it was, had packed no small power—crammed into its mouth as it had been, it could still inflict some damage. As for this seemingly exquisite Five Elements killing intent, before it, it did not amount to a fart.

Before the words had died away, another streak of Five Elements killing intent was already upon it. The Brain-Eating Bug grew even more contemptuous, lazily extending its steel claw once more as it mocked, "This little bit of power isn't even enough to scratch an itch. Send it a thousand times, ten thousand times—the result is the same. A waste of effort!"

This time, however, a dense layer of Eight Trigrams patterns had appeared atop the Five Elements killing intent—incomparably more profound and mysterious than the previous streak. It was now, in truth, a genuine Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon!

Crunch! The Brain-Eating Bug's steel claw failed to tear it apart; instead, it was bitten—and the entire claw was severed clean at the root in an instant. Blood sprayed forth in a torrent, splattering across the sky.

The Brain-Eating Bug let out a howl of agony. Careless it may have been, but its combat instincts were no joke. Its mind had not yet caught up, yet its venomous tail stinger had already lashed back in the first instant. But before it could land, the Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon gave another dragon's roar and sent it flying with a single sweep of its tail, slamming it viciously into the mud below, where it sank and could not free itself.

The scene unfolded too fast. Not to mention the stunned Brain-Eating Bug, even Duanmu Yu below was left gaping.

It was plainly the same Five Elements killing intent—moments ago it had been utterly fragile, so how had it suddenly turned so ferocious? And what was even more shocking: where had Wei Zhao gone?!

Duanmu Yu was utterly bewildered, but the Brain-Eating Bug was no fool. Having just suffered a great loss from this surprise, its mind raced furiously. It stared in immense shock at the Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon parading its might in the sky and said, "You're Wei Zhao?!"

The Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon did not speak, but it wore an expression strikingly human. Clearly, the Brain-Eating Bug had guessed right—it was Wei Zhao!

"This... how is this possible?" Duanmu Yu was completely at a loss for words. She knew Wei Zhao was a Nascent Soul, but a Nascent Soul was still a Nascent Soul. As far as she knew, a Nascent Soul could at most take the form of its original body beyond its mist-like state—it could not transform into countless other shapes at will. Surely Wei Zhao's true body was not actually a flood dragon?!

Of course Wei Zhao was no flood dragon. The reason he could take this form now was, in fact, thanks to her—Duanmu Yu.

Originally, with Wei Zhao's lowly realm of mere Great Perfection in Foundation Establishment, he was far from capable of unleashing such a devastating move as the Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent. But this time, through his empty-mind enlightenment, though his realm remained the same, his strength was utterly different—because he had comprehended Withered Leaf Returns to Spring.

Of course, what he had comprehended was not the original Withered Leaf Returns to Spring. It restored no true qi and healed no wounds; it concerned the Nascent Soul!

The human body has its own self-protection mechanisms, and so does the Nascent Soul. Theoretically, after suffering sufficiently grave damage, the Nascent Soul does not simply collapse; like the body, it enters a state of self-induced dormancy. That is to say, of one's full tenfold strength, at most seven tenths can ordinarily be brought to bear; the remaining three tenths are reserved for final self-preservation. Between the two lies an extremely solid gate—normally, even if one wished to draw on it, one could not.

The Leaf Spirit Sect's Withered Leaf Returns to Spring could open this gate of the flesh after injury, restoring one to peak condition in a short time—except that this state was akin to a deathbed resurgence, and so carried tremendous aftereffects.

Now, after three days of empty-mind enlightenment, Wei Zhao had successfully found the gate that locked away the Nascent Soul!

Once the gate opened, the Nascent Soul's power could surge by more than thirty percent—even more. Wei Zhao's strength had already reached the absolute limit of Great Perfection in Foundation Establishment; with a thirty-percent surge, he immediately became a bona fide Golden Core expert. Even if only temporary, the extra strength was not false.

Of course, given the vast gulf in power between him and the Brain-Eating Bug, a mere temporary Golden Core—even a true Golden Core—would be of little use. At most, his true-qi elixir-flame bomb would pack more power, but against the Brain-Eating Bug its effect would still be limited.

The Five Elements killing intent went without saying. But this absolutely did not include the Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent!

In terms of tier, the Five Elements killing intent alone already far surpassed the Golden Core stage—after all, it was a technique that ran rampant even at the Nascent Soul stage. It was only that Wei Zhao's realm was now too low and that he faced a madman like the Brain-Eating Bug, which made it seem so feeble.

The Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent was different. Its tier was far higher still. The crushing superiority in technique grade it displayed against the Brain-Eating Bug even far exceeded the Brain-Eating Bug's substantive power suppression of Wei Zhao. Put plainly, once the Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent emerged, it was enough to completely reverse the balance of strength between them.

Still, even with Wei Zhao's strength reaching a temporary Golden Core, he was originally insufficient to unleash such a profound martial art as the Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent. So he had thought of a solution: relying on the convenience of being a Nascent Soul, he fused his entire Nascent Soul into it. Thus he not only successfully formed the Five Elements Eight Trigrams killing intent, but brought forth a living Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon!

"You can even transform into a flood dragon? Is this your true body?" The Brain-Eating Bug was utterly shocked, gazing at the Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon circling overhead with the utmost dread. Across the entire spirit-beast world, the dragon race had always been synonymous with invincible power—even flood dragons. Though the Brain-Eating Bug was exceptionally gifted, before the dragon race it could not help but feel fear. This was instinct, a trembling from the depths of its soul, impossible to suppress no matter how it tried.

"Take a guess?" The Five Elements Eight Trigrams flood dragon suddenly spoke in human tongue—it was Wei Zhao's voice.