Chapter 178: Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps
The next day, just as dawn broke over the Verdant Mist Forest, brilliant rays of light pierced through the thick vines covering the cave mouth like golden spears hurled by the rising sun itself, slicing through the emerald gloom with sharp, unyielding precision.
The first beams struck Su Tianhao's serene face where he sat cross-legged in the depths of the cave. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders like spilled ink, and the faint gold sheen beneath his skin caught the light, making him look almost luminous—like a dragon carved from star-forged jade awakening from slumber.
His breathing was slow, deep, and perfectly rhythmic. Each inhale drew in the cool morning mist laced with spiritual energy; each exhale released a faint golden mist that coiled lazily around him before dissipating into shadow.
Inside his dantian, two core seeds—one blazing golden, one cold pitch-black with violet veins—slowly revolved around the central vortex like twin celestial bodies locked in eternal orbit. The sight filled him with quiet wonder.
"Core seeds... the foundation of multiple Martial Cores."
He murmured softly, voice carrying restrained excitement.
"The Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art truly is a heaven-defying technique."
He had spent the entire night without sleep—meditating, reflecting, guiding the residual dark essence into harmony with his dragon bloodline, stabilising his cultivation base at the 7th level. The process had been smoother than expected. No violent backlash, no internal struggles. Only steady, profound refinement.
Aside from that, he had reflected on the past few days of combat. His prowess was nearly unmatched for his level—except for one glaring gap.
Speed.
It wasn't that he was slow. He had simply neglected the one thing that could make him faster—Movement Techniques.
As the name suggested, Movement Techniques were specialised martial arts focused on speed, agility, evasion, positioning, sudden bursts of acceleration, and superior maneuverability in both combat and traversal.
Blood Grin's Shadow Clone Steps had been an outstanding example. Back then, Su Tianhao had been intrigued and had intended to cultivate one of his own—but consumed by other priorities, he had set it aside.
After reflecting on his recent battles, the cost of that neglect was clear. The pursuit by Mo Tianye's men. His desperate escape from the Dark Nether Beast. All of it would have been easier—safer—with a proper movement technique.
He slowly opened his eyes. The light within them sharpened until they resembled twin blades of molten gold.
"I have stalled too long."
His voice carried absolute conviction.
"It's time."
---
His expression turned serious. He settled back into lotus position and closed his eyes.
The moment those golden orbs fell shut, it was as if the world had descended into darkness—submerged in endless, infinite nothingness.
In the void of his mind's eye, his consciousness sharpened, and only one thought remained.
Movement Technique.
The words seemed to etch themselves into the emptiness. His mind opened like a vast island of knowledge—mapped sections illuminating the boundless expanse of his inheritance.
Without hesitation, his awareness drifted toward a particular section.
Martial Arts Techniques.
But this time he didn't stop there. Like an ancient sage hungry for forbidden knowledge, he ventured further—into territories he had never explored before.
Movement Techniques.
The moment he tapped into this segment, countless techniques unfurled before his mind's eye, each one outstanding in its own right.
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Flowing River Steps — Smooth, continuous movement like flowing water. Allows the user to circle enemies effortlessly and change direction without losing momentum. Ideal for prolonged chases or defensive fighting.
Shadow Leaf Steps — Footwork that mimics falling leaves—unpredictable zigzags and sudden halts. Creates multiple afterimages that flutter like autumn leaves, confusing opponents.
Drifting Cloud Steps — Light, flowing footwork that makes the user appear to glide or drift like a cloud. Excellent for evasion and repositioning in battle.
---
Su Tianhao merely skimmed the first three. Though impressed, he wasn't moved.
Each of these was a Peak Spirit Rank technique from the Immortal Realm—far surpassing most movement techniques in the mortal realm. Even so, Su Tianhao wasn't swayed. He continued searching.
Dozens of techniques passed before him. None felt right.
Then another appeared.
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Moonlit Veil Steps — A profound movement art that allows the practitioner to move with ethereal, almost ghostly grace. Under direct moonlight or in dim, shadowy environments, the effect strengthens: the practitioner's figure seems to blend partially into the silver glow, reducing visibility and making sudden direction changes feel unnaturally fluid and unpredictable.
---
Su Tianhao paused.
This technique was on an entirely different level from the others. He couldn't even determine its rank. Looking deeper, he realised it was a movement art once cultivated by his mother.
"Moonlit Veil Steps..."
His heart stirred with temptation.
On one hand, he wanted to honour his mother's legacy. On the other, he wanted a bloodline technique—something native to the dragon lineage, like the Raging Dragon Fist or the Shrouded Dragon Veil. Having felt the heaven-defying might of those arts, it was difficult to settle for anything less.
Just as he deliberated—
Another technique appeared in his mind, carved in dark golden script and pulsing with ancient runes.
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Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps
A powerful movement technique created by the Progenitor of the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Clan. It does not merely grant speed—it transforms the user into a vortex of motion, devouring spiritual energy from the surroundings to fuel explosive acceleration and transcendent movement.
---
Su Tianhao's breathing quickened.
"Devouring spiritual energy from the surroundings to fuel explosive acceleration and transcendent movement?"
This technique was created by the original Progenitor of the Heavenly Devouring Dragons—the same ancestor who had created the Devouring Dragon Tactic for the younger generation. Even his father had cultivated this very technique!
Su Tianhao took a deep breath, struggling to contain his turbulent emotions.
He was stuck in a dilemma.
After a moment of deliberation, he shook his head, brows set with quiet conviction.
"Sorry, Mom... but I have to choose Dad's technique."
At this moment, Su Tianhao had no way of knowing that this simple decision would cost his mother a bet she had made with his father decades ago about which movement technique their son would ultimately choose.
He cast one last reluctant glance at the Moonlit Veil Steps.
"Too bad I can't cultivate two movement techniques at once..."
A mysterious smile touched his lips.
"At least... not yet."
---
The moment he tapped into the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps, the technique unfurled in his mind like a blooming lotus—filling him with profound, overwhelming information. All other techniques vanished into the void.
Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps.
The name echoed within his consciousness like the toll of an ancient bell, stirring the very depths of his bloodline.
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In the primordial ages, when the Nine Supreme Dragon Clans ruled the heavens, the Heavenly Devouring Dragons were feared not merely for their power to consume, but for their ability to devour the very fabric of space itself.
While others flew, they tore through reality.
While others ran, they consumed distances.
This movement technique embodies that ancient dominance—a footwork born from the fundamental truth that to a Heavenly Devouring Dragon, all things exist only to be consumed.
---
Bu-thump!
Su Tianhao's heart shook violently. His blood surged like molten lava. Golden light flickered beneath his skin as the dragon bloodline roared in response.
---
Unlike conventional movement techniques that drain the practitioner's reserves with every step, the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps draws power from heaven and earth itself. In spiritually-rich environments, a master of this technique becomes nearly inexhaustible—the world itself fuels their movement, turning every stride into a cycle of endless consumption and rebirth.
---
Swallowing hard, Su Tianhao continued.
The Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps consists of two volumes and nine forms.
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The First Volume: Ascending Dragon Path
The foundational volume containing the first four forms, designed for cultivators still bound by the mortal boundaries.
"Even a mortal dragon may devour the heavens—step by step, and ascend to immortality."
---
Su Tianhao repeated the words under his breath.
He nodded once, then shifted toward the second volume.
---
The Second Volume: Supreme Dragon Dominion
Accessible only to those who have transcended mortality and stepped into the realm of Immortals. It contains the remaining five forms, each one a heaven-defying mastery that bends the laws of space, reality, and existence itself to the dragon's will.
"When the dragon ascends to immortality, the cosmos becomes mere prey. Step, and all distances cease to exist; devour, and the heavens themselves would bow."
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"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Su Tianhao burst into exhilarating laughter, his voice rolling through the cave like thunder.
"This is it! I made the right choice!"
After laughing for several moments, he stopped as abruptly as he had started.
His expression hardened with focus.
"The Second Volume is far beyond reach. Better to focus on the First Volume."
He settled back into lotus position, mind locked onto one thing.
The First Volume. Ascending Dragon Path.
---
Consume space, distance, and even attacks themselves.
The phrase echoed in his mind. His heart pounded with anticipation. At that moment, he had become a cultivation fanatic—hungry for knowledge, thirsting for perfection.
Under his fierce comprehension, the first form finally unfolded.
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First Form — Dragon Burst
The foundation of the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps. In a single instant, the user's physique awakens, devouring all spiritual energy within their immediate vicinity and converting it into raw kinetic force. The body explodes forward with overwhelming velocity, propelling the practitioner at breakneck speed far surpassing their realm.
The technique's true terror lies in its scalability. As the practitioner's mastery increases, so too does their devouring radius and energy conversion efficiency. What begins as an emergency escape evolves into a sustainable combat technique—and eventually, a movement art capable of defying the heavens—allowing the user to achieve the speed of an entire major realm higher.
---
"Achieve the speed of an entire major realm higher?!"
Su Tianhao's eyes snapped open.
What does that truely mean?
A 7th level Martial Adept achieving the speed of a 7th level Martial Core Realm expert—for even a short time. A Peak-stage Martial Core Realm expert momentarily reaching the velocity of a Peak-stage Martial Soul Realm expert.
And this was only the First Form!
Su Tianhao was grinning like a child who had just received his most treasured gift—a sight rare even in his childhood days.
With renewed vigor, he dove back into the technique with ferocious intensity.
---
Time passed unnoticed.
During this period, nothing else existed. Nothing mattered.
There was only him and the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps.
By midday, when the sun stood at its zenith, his eyes slowly opened. His golden irises gleamed with unprecedented brilliance.
"Dragon Burst..."
His voice was soft, yet carried profound satisfaction.
"Initial Mastery."
Even with success, he wasn't satisfied.
"I may have reached Initial Mastery in understanding—but I haven't perfected it in execution."
He rose to his feet for the first time since dawn. His body emitted audible sounds of cracking bones—joints realigning, muscles stretching after hours of stillness.
"Time to test it."
---
He shifted his stance. Long black hair fluttered. Azure robes swayed in the still air.
His golden gaze turned toward the cave entrance—sharp, piercing, filled with ironclad resolve.
"Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps..."
His voice rang out, calm yet resonant.
"First Form—Dragon Burst!"
He made a grasping motion into empty air.
Whoosh!
Spiritual energy surged into his body like a tidal wave answering the call of the void.
Boom!
His figure exploded forward in a burst of blinding golden energy—propelled like a divine arrow loosed from an ancient bow. The air trembled. Shockwaves tore through the cave, sending dust and debris flying in every direction.
In an instant, Su Tianhao arrived at the cave entrance—his body flickering in a blur of motion so fast it left afterimages in his wake.
He skidded to a halt, sending dust and stones flying in the air, chest heaving slightly.
"Heavens!"
Su Tianhao exclaimed, eyes wide with shock.
---
Although he was a 7th level Martial Adept, his natural strength and body density already granted him speed surpassing most Peak-stage Martial Adepts. But without a movement technique to draw out that potential, his natural speed only slightly exceeded others at his level—especially when they activated their own movement techniques.
But upon activating Dragon Burst, everything changed.
At the 7th level Martial Adept Realm, his spiritual energy amplification had increased to ninefold—bringing his total force output to 180,000 pounds. Not quite at the 1st level Martial Core standard of 200,000 pounds, but close.
Dragon Burst consumed that gap entirely.
By devouring surrounding spiritual energy and converting it directly into kinetic force, the technique pushed his effective output to the 8th level temporarily, letting him achieve tenfold amplification of his overall strength—200,000 pounds. Fully equivalent to a 1st level Martial Core Realm expert's strength... and speed.
According to the Dragon Burst manual, the progression was as follows:
Initial Mastery — speed one minor realm higher than natural potential.
Small Success — speed two minor realms higher.
Great Success — speed three minor realms higher.
Perfection — speed four minor realms higher.
And finally—Assimilation. The true transformation: speed of an entire major realm higher.
Although powerful, the technique was tasking.
The Heavenly Devouring Dragon Steps required Assimilation of each form before the next could be unlocked.
---
Su Tianhao took a deep breath. He made another grasping motion into the air—devouring surrounding spiritual energy—and exploded into motion again, feeling the wind rush against his face like a roaring storm.
"Hahahaha! I could do this all day!"
He laughed heartily, executing the technique over and over—exploring new angles, testing distances, pushing his familiarity with the sudden surge in speed to its limits.
Before now, he had never been able to fully unlock the potential of his superior physique. Now he was surpassing it! How could he not be happy?
The forest became a blur. Trees whipped past. The ground beneath his feet barely registered contact before he was gone again.
For the first time since entering the Verdant Mist Forest, Su Tianhao felt complete.
Offence. Defence. Speed.
The trifecta of combat was finally his.