Heaven Trampling Severance

On the small island shrouded in thick mist, with ancient, moss-covered trees glistening with poison, Chen Tian stood firm. The Qi sensitivity of his Three-Eyed Moon Wolf Martial Soul was now at its peak, as if it were an extension of his very senses. The faint third eye on his wrist throbbed, resonating with the approaching waves of powerful energy. The suffocatingly sweet, poisonous aroma was now so thick, he could almost taste it.

The heavy rustle of scales, resembling the grinding of ancient stones, grew clearer. No longer a distant whisper, but a hiss that shook the air, approaching from behind the thick curtain of mist. The mud beneath Chen Tian's feet trembled faintly, a sign of the size and weight of the coming creature. He could feel a cold, deadly, and ancient predatory aura—an aura radiating thousands of years of essence. This was the prey he sought.

"Prepare yourself, boy," Hei Xuan's voice growled within Chen Tian's mind, his tone now filled with dark anticipation. "This snake won't be as weak as those Iron Dragon Sect rats. This is the Poisonous Mist Serpent, one of the top predators in this swamp. Its realm is equivalent to a Martial Warrior Stage 9, perhaps even stronger than that in terms of speed and poison."

Chen Tian clenched his fists, his Martial Soul throbbing. A Martial Initiate Stage 4 against a Martial Warrior Stage 9. The gap was vast, a huge chasm that could only be bridged by absolute cunning and brutality. He had no choice but to win. This was his ticket to power, or his grave.

Suddenly, the curtain of mist before him tore open. Two eyes, radiating green poison, glowed in the darkness, sharp as daggers carved from jade. Then, a colossal head emerged, followed by an elongated, slithering body.

The Poisonous Mist Serpent. Its size was colossal, at least twenty meters long, with a thickness like an ancient tree trunk. Its scales were purplish-grey, shimmering under the faint moonlight, as if made of the mist itself. Each scale seemed to throb with invisible poison. Its fangs, long and curved, dripped with thick green liquid that hissed as it fell into the mud. The poison it radiated was so strong that the surrounding vegetation withered and blackened in an instant.

The Gold Grade aura emanating from its body felt like physical pressure, pushing Chen Tian until he staggered slightly. It was a pure, strong, and terrifying aura, far surpassing the Common, Rare, or Elite Soul Beasts he had ever encountered.

The snake hissed, its voice like a thousand knives scraping bone. Its head lowered, its poison-radiating eyes fixed on Chen Tian, as if judging the size of the prey before it.

"Hah! It seems to underestimate you, boy. Make it pay for that!" Hei Xuan scoffed, a bloodthirsty urgency in his voice.

The snake lunged. Its speed was astonishing, despite its massive size. Its long body writhed through the mud with impossible agility, sliding towards Chen Tian like a poisonous arrow.

Chen Tian did not panic. He was a flash of blood-red. Using the speed honed by his instincts, he dodged aside as the snake's fangs struck where he stood a second ago, leaving a deep, poisonous indentation in the mud.

"Its poison is deadly! Don't get hit!" Hei Xuan warned. "Its body is poisonous! Don't touch it directly! Use your speed, Chen Tian! Attack its eyes! That's the source of its poison!"

The snake did not give up. Its thick tail slammed the air, creating a shockwave that toppled surrounding trees. At the same time, a denser, purplish-green mist, reeking of bitter, deadly almonds, spewed from its mouth, covering a wide area.

Chen Tian felt his Qi tested as he forced shallow breaths through his protective Qi. The mist tried to seep in, burning his throat. He knew he couldn't stay in this mist for long.

"Attack! Use Half-Moon Bite! Focus on its eyes!" Hei Xuan urged.

Chen Tian darted again. He sped under the snake's writhing body, using the unstable mud as a foothold. He had to get close. The closer he was, the greater the risk, but also the greater the chance. He dodged snapping fangs, scraping scales, and spewing poison mist. His small body was his advantage in this duel.

He saw an opening. As the snake slightly lifted its head to spew more poison, its eye was exposed.

"Now!" Hei Xuan hissed.

Chen Tian raised his injured left hand, ignoring the throbbing pain. The Three-Eyed Moon Wolf Martial Soul on his wrist throbbed wildly, and from its back, the spiraling, purplish-black energy disc, the fruit of Half-Moon Bite, appeared and shot forth.

The disc did not strike directly. It shot like lightning, avoiding the snake's fangs, and lodged itself precisely in one of the Poisonous Mist Serpent's eyes.

HISSSSSSS!

The snake let out an ear-splitting hiss, no longer a sound of threat, but one of immense pain. The eye impaled by the disc began to dim, its light fading, and the poison emanating from it weakened. However, the snake grew even more vicious. Its body writhed more wildly, destroying surrounding trees in blind fury.

"Good! But not enough! This snake is stubborn! Absorb more! Let it suffer!" Hei Xuan yelled, relishing the Soul Beast's agony. Chen Tian held on.

Although one of the snake's eyes was blinded and its essence was slowly being drained by Half-Moon Bite, the snake was still extremely dangerous. Its other fang struck blindly, its tail lashed the ground, and its poisonous mist grew thicker, as if it was exerting all its strength to retaliate.

An unexpected tail whip struck him, sending Chen Tian flying, slamming into an old tree trunk. Pain burned his back, and he coughed, a little blood seeping from the corner of his lips. The poison from the mist began to attack his lungs.

"Fool! You need to be faster! Do you think you can win without sacrifice?!" Hei Xuan cursed. "Its poison is starting to rot you! Quickly! Unleash a full Moon-Eater Howl! Suck it dry!"

Chen Tian had no choice. He felt his Martial Soul throbbing wildly, the pain in his back making him even more furious. He rose, his eyes blood-red, like a wounded wolf still ready to pounce.

"O wrathful Moon,

Witness a world laid waste,

Let your fangs tear through mortal flesh,

And let this putrid soul be my feast!"

This time, the Three-Eyed Moon Wolf Martial Soul on his wrist radiated a dazzling dark purple light. From behind Chen Tian, the illusion of a colossal, three-eyed wolf emerged, towering above him. The wolf didn't just roar—it let out a sky-ripping howl, and from its maw, a much larger and more powerful spiral energy vortex than Half-Moon Bite shot forth, swallowing the entire head of the Poisonous Mist Serpent.

HISSSSSSS!!!

The snake's terrifying howl echoed throughout the swamp. Its colossal body began to tremble violently. Its Essence, which had only been slowly drained, was now brutally and massively sucked away. Its scales began to dry, its flesh shriveled, and its remaining eye faded. The poison it radiated now returned to its source, forcibly drawn, as if the entire existence of the Poisonous Mist Serpent was pulled into the void created by Chen Tian's Martial Soul.

This was a battle of wills, a battle of life against death. Chen Tian felt his Qi flooding him, overflowing, exceeding the limits of the Martial Initiate realm. The pressure from the Gold Grade Soul Beast was immense, its Qi pure and abundant.

GRRRRRR!

A rumble within Chen Tian, not from his body, but from his surging Qi ocean. The walls around his Martial Initiate realm trembled, cracked, and finally shattered. A wave of new power erupted from within him, flooding every meridian, flowing to every cell. He felt his Qi transform, becoming denser, stronger, purer.

Martial Initiate Stage 5.

A piercing pain in every meridian, as if his bones were being twisted into threads.

Martial Initiate Stage 6.

His Qi trembled wildly, like a raging flood, crashing against every boundary of his realm.

Martial Initiate Stage 7.

The surrounding aura began to swirl. Trees swayed not from wind, but from will.

Martial Initiate Stage 8.

He heard a howl, not from his wolf's maw, but from his own soul.

Martial Initiate Stage 9.

The world seemed to stop. Everything fell silent. Even the poison in the air hushed.

Then... a crack sounded within his realm.

Not from without, but from the very boundaries of his body.

A wall…

Torn asunder.

Martial Adept Stage 1.

As if his body had swallowed the moon. An ancient light exploded in Chen Tian's chest.

It was not the sweetness of victory that came, but hunger.

He had broken through! From Martial Initiate Stage 4, fueled by the pure Gold Grade Essence Bead, Chen Tian had ascended to the realm of Martial Adept Stage 1! A remarkable leap, thanks to the absolute power of the thousand-year-old Soul Beast.

This realm breakthrough granted him new strength, new stamina, and greater control over the Moon-Eater Howl. He pulled more, more ferociously, devouring the snake's Essence to the last drop.

Finally, with a last, deafening rumble, the Poisonous Mist Serpent collapsed into the mud. Its colossal body was now just skin and bones, dry and empty, like a dead branch left by a storm. Its poisonous eyes had extinguished, and the once deadly venom had vanished, completely absorbed. It left a trail of death and emptiness around it.

Chen Tian staggered, panting. Blood still seeped from his lips, and his back ached. However, his Qi was abundant, his Martial Soul glowed, and a dark, satisfied smile now graced his face. He had done it. He had conquered a Gold Grade Soul Beast.

"Hah! It wasn't in vain that I taught you, boy!" Hei Xuan's voice thundered, filled with immense satisfaction and a rare sense of pride.

"You did it! You have swallowed a Gold Grade Essence Bead! And you have broken through! Martial Adept! You're starting to become something interesting now!"

Chen Tian wasted no time. He knelt beside the snake's carcass, his trembling hand moving to retrieve the Soul Beast's core of power—the brightly golden Gold Grade Essence Bead. It was the size of a fist, emitting a captivating warm glow and an aura of ancient power.

As he held the bead, an extraordinary sensation flooded him. This was not merely absorbing Essence from a corpse. This was absorbing the core Bead. He channeled the Bead's energy into his Martial Soul.

Wave after wave of pure golden Qi flooded Chen Tian's Qi ocean, merging with the existing Essence Beads, making his Three-Eyed Moon Wolf Martial Soul rumble. The wolf's body on his wrist became denser, its dark purple color deepened, and most strikingly, its third eye was now visibly clearer, though still closed.

A thin layer of purplish-black scales, like those of the snake, faintly appeared on parts of the Wolf Martial Soul, indicating the assimilation of its prey's essence.

Power. That was the sensation flowing through him. Not just an increase in Qi, but an increase in every aspect of himself: speed, physical strength, Qi sensitivity, and most importantly, control over his techniques.

"Now, boy, you have your ticket," Hei Xuan's voice resonated, his tone filled with triumph.

"A ticket to enter a larger wolf's den. Don't disappoint me. You've trampled trash, and now you will sit at the table with the wolves. Show them who the true king of this darkness is."

Chen Tian looked at the Essence Bead, now perfectly integrated into his Martial Soul. He had obtained what he needed. He had advanced realms. And he had proven that he was a predator, not prey.

Night had fully fallen, shrouding the swamp in deeper darkness. However, within Chen Tian, the fire of ambition burned brighter than ever. He had overcome mortal danger, defeated a far stronger opponent, and now held the key to a darker, more perilous world—the Black Mist Auction.

Anticipation and danger mingled in his mind as he imagined the intrigues of the underground auction. This was just the beginning. He would step into the next chapter of his journey, bringing his new fangs, and ready to compose a greater symphony of destruction.