Chapter 132: Condensing a Hundred Arms

Chapter 132: Condensing a Hundred Arms

The flock of three-headed crows fell into complete disarray. These creatures seemed to possess an unnatural attraction to the corpses of their own kind, ignoring Wu Hong entirely, even as his internal energy began to wane.

A chain reaction ensued. As the two golden crows were devoured, those that consumed them saw their own bodies take on a faint, golden hue. This instantly sparked chaos; any crow displaying a golden tint was immediately set upon by countless others. Wu Hong watched with a calm mind, seeing everything clearly. Once the two crows were torn apart and consumed, the bodies of the scavengers began to flicker with an unstable golden light. The gold on their bodies was significantly paler than the pure radiance of the original two, yet these faintly golden crows became the new targets for their pitch-black brethren.

Wu Hong’s heart skipped a beat. He pushed out his thousand arms once more, unleashing a barrage of golden light. This time, his accuracy was extraordinary, striking hundreds of crows. Chaos erupted in the high heavens as the three-headed crows turned against one another. Those struck by the golden light saw their strength jump to the early stage of the Marrow Refining realm, allowing them to fight ten opponents at once.

Hundreds of golden rays converged back upon Wu Hong, instantly replenishing his depleted energy to its peak. He was overjoyed. A third energy arm began to shimmer in and out of existence, showing clear signs of solidifying.

The situation grew even more chaotic. Though only a hundred crows had been struck by Wu Hong’s golden energy, the resulting turmoil was self-perpetuating—every time a golden crow was torn apart, it triggered further pandemonium. With his worries eased, Wu Hong began to swing his energy arms wildly, firing beams of light. Countless crows caught in the frenzy were struck. Wu Hong was delighted to find that this intense consumption of energy was not depleting him; in fact, the power channeled back from the struck crows was ten times greater than before.

Soon, his third arm solidified completely. Wu Hong felt a jolt through his body as his energy surged—he had broken through! He was filled with immense joy; each additional energy arm granted him the power of an additional Peak Post-Heaven expert.

As Wu Hong unleashed his thousand-armed technique again, the golden light moved with newfound speed, and his accuracy continued to climb. The sky, once filled with black gales, was now dominated by thousands of golden crows, all of which had become targets for the rest of the flock. Even if one or two golden crows attacked him, it was of no consequence; they could not even break through his protective aura.

Arms—five arms, six arms... The sky was a scene of total disorder. In the blink of an eye, Wu Hong solidified over a hundred arms. His internal energy flowed endlessly, and the golden light he projected moved at the speed of light, never missing its mark. Even if every three-headed crow in the sky were to attack, Wu Hong now had the confidence to handle them. Since it took ten thousand crows to solidify one energy arm, he had now purified one million of them.

The balance of power in the sky shifted inversely. The pitch-black crows were constantly being eliminated by the evolved, golden three-headed crows. Wu Hong eventually stopped firing his golden light, realizing that if he struck a golden crow again, its body would instantly disintegrate.

Time passed, and eventually, the sky was no longer filled with malevolent black crows; only a million golden three-headed crows remained. These creatures, once embodiments of pure evil, now radiated a sense of holiness. Every one of them had ascended from the Bone Refining realm to the early stage of the Marrow Refining realm. Wu Hong was struck with overwhelming astonishment. If this million-strong army of Marrow Refining experts were to descend upon the mortal realm, they would sweep away everything in their path. Even Wu Hong felt a chill at the thought of facing such a force himself.

Wu Hong sensed his own condition—each energy arm now possessed the power of a Peak Post-Heaven expert.

"Caw—caw—" The millions of crows circled him, chirping softly, expressing their submission.

Wu Hong smiled to himself. "It seems my long-held belief that this golden light purification technique was somewhat evil is not entirely true; if used correctly, it can be a blessing. Is there an absolute definition of good and evil? If a wicked technique is wielded by a kind heart, it can benefit the world. What of the Demon Sect? What of the Daoist Sect? Are there no scoundrels among the Daoists? Are there no benevolent souls among the disciples of the Demon Sect who practice dark arts?"

The black gales were gone, replaced by holy, golden three-headed crows. He wondered if other regions still held the pitch-black entities; the sky was vast, and his current location was but a small corner of the whole.

"Remember this," Wu Hong said to the million golden crows, "cultivate diligently, assist the kind, and do no more evil."

Strangely, the crows seemed to understand, all nodding their three small heads in unison.

Wu Hong retracted his Tathagata energy form, returning to his human guise. Two large, hand-shaped wings materialized on his back, and he continued his flight toward the horizon. The million golden crows vanished back into the black gales, though they could no longer blend perfectly with the darkness. That did not matter; the combined power of these million golden crows was formidable enough that they were no longer a concern to him.

Soon, Wu Hong emerged from the layer of black gale clouds and arrived in a vast, fiery-red realm, rich with fire elemental energy. There were no more black gales, only fire clouds with temperatures likely exceeding a thousand degrees. Fortunately, with his strength greatly increased and his unique energy properties, he could barely withstand the heat. To his surprise, while the fire waves eroded his protective aura, the consumption and his own energy replenishment were in perfect equilibrium. Fire, the most fundamental element, was supreme Yang; his Great Sun Tathagata energy was also a technique of supreme Yang. The sun and fire shared the same origin and were mutually compatible.

As the thousands of fire clouds consumed his protective aura, they also infused his body with pure, fiery energy, forcing him to adapt. Wu Hong maintained a strange balance with this world. He had learned his lesson and, fearing excessive energy depletion, cautiously climbed higher into the fiery realm.

He no longer knew how far he was from the ground, nor how much time had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps a month. There was no day or night in the sky, making it impossible to keep track of time.

"Oppression—oppression—" Suddenly, a sound like a human voice echoed from the distance of the fiery realm, strangely repeating those two words in unison.

Wu Hong frowned, feeling a sense of helplessness. Had he been too reckless in seeking the supreme existences of the high heavens? Many of the innate experts who had ascended never returned to the mortal realm; there must be great peril there. While he was nearly invincible on the ground, this unknown world was fraught with endless danger. But it was too late for regrets; he could only press forward.

"Whoosh—" A fierce, fiery gale whipped up. Before him appeared a strange kind of monkey. It was grotesquely alien, and even with all the monsters Wu Hong had seen, the sight of this creature still made his heart tremble.