Essence Devouring Art

The Southern Border.

The Soul-Nurturing Wilds.

The sky was dim, the earth dark, and not a soul could be found for a hundred miles.

From time to time, bolts of thunder tore through the void above the Nine Heavens, striking the ground. Beneath the blasted, scorched earth, the soil was as deep red as blood, and the occasional incorruptible skeleton still clad in battle armor could be seen.

The towering altitude, combined with a unique geographical magnetic field, had created a forbidden zone for life throughout the ages.

And few knew that this was the burial place of the Celestial King, who had stirred up a storm in the Southern Border seven hundred years ago.

”Xi Yue!!!”

At a certain moment, the thunder in the Nine Heavens raged violently. The core of the Soul-Nurturing Wilds swelled and roiled as if a great beast was about to be born. A roar of grief and fury shattered a vast swathe of dark clouds in the sky.

...

Wanshan Prefecture, the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Deep within Ganyin Mountain.

The ruins of the Celestial Empress’s Palace.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

A Gangfeng Qi Flow raged and howled.

”No, spare me!”

”Granny!”

”You broke your promise!”

Brief, desperate wails echoed from the depths of the palace before quickly falling silent.

When Luo Ying, Nangong Li, and the other Primordial Demons cautiously gathered outside the hole in the palace, they witnessed a bizarre scene.

Wu Dao walked out of the palace holding two golden Stone Plates in one hand. With the other, he was happily slurping down a dozen or so arm-thick, ten-foot-long, multicolored roots(?) like they were noodles.

GULP~

The last ”spicy stick” went down his gullet.

’Teleportation Points +150’

A notification sound echoed in his mind.

Wu Dao let out a satisfied burp, but his expression showed he wasn’t quite finished.

It was his first time eating a Demon Pill in the shape of a stick. The flavor was unique, like passion fruit, leaving a memorable aftertaste.

”Greetings, Alliance Leader!”

Seeing that Wu Dao had finished eating, Luo Ying stepped forward and gave a formal bow, the fanaticism in his eyes even more intense than before.

The recent scene—the sky darkening and the boundless baleful aura—had given them a huge fright, and their hearts had been filled with worry.

Fortunately, the Alliance Leader was truly worthy of his title. His Divine Power was boundless, his Martial Arts unparalleled. No matter how ferocious the creature, he could strike it down with thunderous might!

After this incident, their faith became even purer.

”You did a good job with this. Come to headquarters afterward to receive your reward.”

Wu Dao patted Luo Ying’s shoulder, his face filled with the same satisfaction as a father praising his son for a perfect score.

”It is our honor to share the Alliance Leader’s burdens!”

Luo Ying’s face immediately flushed red, and his body trembled. He felt light-headed, as if he were floating on air.

”There’s also a batch of decent burial goods in the palace. Dig them up and let the branch alliance handle them.”

Leaving those words behind, Wu Dao manipulated his magnetic field and shot into the sky. His gains this time were quite substantial, and he needed to properly digest them.

The burial goods in the palace were many and varied.

Spiritual Objects, weapons, Elixir Pills, Array Plates, as well as some Classics and Cultivation Techniques from the Warring States Era...

With these resources, the branch alliance’s foundation would be elevated to a new level.

Of course, besides these ordinary burial goods, the great Celestial Empress’s Tomb naturally contained some truly ultimate treasures.

The first was that Golden-Winged Roc.

And the second...

High in the sky, Wu Dao’s Divine Thought swept over the two golden ”Stone Plates” in his hand. One was a Ten Thousand Healing Crystal, condensed from the blood and flesh essence of the Golden-Winged Roc.

The other...

Golden, tadpole-like characters swam across its surface, forming a series of Visualization Body Refining Maps depicting a Divine Kun devouring all things and a Golden Roc soaring through the Nine Heavens—

The Kunpeng Body Casting Technique!

In a sense, the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique was the greatest reward from this battle.

Because... it was a top-tier Body Refining Divine Skill that led directly to the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door!

...

Streaking through the air at supersonic speeds, it didn’t take long for Wu Dao to return to the headquarters in Lancang County City. He immediately took out his Communication Jade Talisman and sent a message to Zhao Jianji:

”Go to the Black Dragon Commerce Association and find out where that Celestial King from seven hundred years ago is buried.”

Back in the Ganyin Mountain Underground Palace, after killing the Golden-Winged Roc, he had realized a problem—if the Celestial Empress could be resurrected, then the Celestial King surely hadn’t died completely either.

According to unofficial histories and rumors, that Celestial King was a powerhouse at the peak of the Divine Storage Realm and the Celestial Human Ninth Floor, as well as an expert of the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door. His comprehensive strength was at least at the tenth-floor level.

’If he also turned into a corpse demon, I can’t guarantee he’ll be another mindless fool who doesn’t know who he is. Better to prepare early. Nip it in the bud. It’s never wrong to drag an enemy lurking in the shadows out into the open.’

’The Celestial King?’

In the Internal Affairs Hall, Zhao Jianji looked a bit puzzled after receiving the message. ’Isn’t that a figure from unofficial histories and rumors?’

The stories of his life were fragmented and incomplete.

It was said he was betrayed and killed by the Demon Suppression Emperor, but whenever anyone asked where he was buried, no one had an answer.

However, Zhao Jianji didn’t ask any questions. He figured that anything he could think of, Wu Dao had surely already considered. The Alliance Leader wouldn’t act without reason.

”Yes. Does the Alliance Leader have any other orders?”

”I’ll be entering seclusion for a while. Don’t notify me unless it’s something major for the alliance.”

”Understood.”

Zhao Jianji replied respectfully, already used to this.

Wu Dao was like an tireless iron man; you could say he was in seclusion every day. He was as elusive as a divine dragon, showing its head but never its tail. Zhao Jianji and a group of advisors had always been the ones handling the alliance’s various affairs.

As for Wu Dao, after putting away the Communication Jade Talisman, he shot into the vast sky with the two golden Stone Plates.

At his current stage, the disturbances caused by his Cultivation were too great. His every move could cause immense destruction.

Only the vast expanse of the sky was a perfect place for secluded Cultivation.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

More than eight thousand meters high in the sky.

The bright moon rose over the sea, and the stars shone upon the world.

Wu Dao sat in a cross-legged position, the two golden Stone Plates floating beside him, and opened his attribute panel—

[Physique: Overlord (Limit)]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (83% Potential Release)+

Overlord Whale Fist 1500 Years (True Intent First Floor Great Success)+

Dragon Whale Transformation 1500 Years (Fifth-Layer Great Success)+]

[Teleportation Points: 26115]

The Corpse Demon at the Celestial Human Second Floor was worth 6,000 Teleportation Points!

The Land Immortal, Tree Demon Granny, was worth 2,500.

The dozen or so other Tree Demons were worth a total of 2,000.

In this one battle, he had reaped a total of 10,500 Teleportation Points!

Not only that, he had also obtained the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique, temporarily completing the next stage of his Body Refinement path.

It could be described as the most lavish feast in his history!

At this moment, the Teleportation Points on his attribute panel had accumulated to over twenty-six thousand.

It could be said that, as long as Wu Dao wished, he could step into the Realm of Human Extremes at any time.

However, he wasn’t in a hurry.

’Since I’m going to enter the Human Extreme, I must do so in my strongest possible state.’

The fruits of Extraordinary Wisdom in this life were incredibly brilliant. The various derived Horizontal Refining Body techniques could consolidate and temper a person’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit to the greatest extent.

He had cultivated the Essence Devouring Art in both of his lives. But Wu Dao was certain that his past self, at the same Potential Liberation Domain, would be no match for his current self!

It wasn’t hard to understand. It was a matter of the strength of the foundational materials.

”Making do” and ”perfection” are two different concepts.

In his past life, he had been solely focused on achieving one hundred percent Human Potential Release and had not achieved perfection in every domain.

But this life was different.

True Intent Soul Refining!

Horizontal Refining Body!

The strength of the ”materials” forged through countless refinements in each domain far surpassed that of his previous life. The power brought by releasing his human potential was naturally incomparable to what he had before!

Therefore, Wu Dao planned to first merge the Dragon Whale Transformation and the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique to open up the subsequent Transcendent Refining Path before stepping into the Human Extreme.

The level of the Dragon Whale Transformation was a bit low. Its limit was only the Horizontal Refining Fifth Door.

Even if he used the feedback from advancing to the Human Extreme to forcibly break through to the next door, the enhancement to his physical body definitely wouldn’t compare to the boost from the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique, whose limit was the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door.

Hooo~

Gathering his thoughts, Wu Dao immersed his Spiritual Thoughts into the golden Stone Plate that recorded the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique.

BOOM!

In that instant!

Surging waves, boundless primordial chaos—

Wu Dao felt as if he had arrived in a primordial ocean, observing a young black Kun in the depths of the vast sea. It opened its great maw, endlessly chasing and devouring the creatures of the deep.

Every movement, every swallow, every roar. Every subtle action, every change in the Kun Body, transformed into dense scripture that flooded into Wu Dao’s Spiritual Consciousness.

It seemed like a single moment, and yet also like millions of years had passed.

Within the vast sea, the originally whale-sized black Kun had grown to be as large as a mountain. As it swam, it cast an immense shadow beneath the sea’s surface, and a single flick of its tail would unleash terrifying waves.

By this point, the creatures in the sea could no longer satisfy the giant Kun’s appetite.

It began to devour the various mountains and earthly treasures in the sea, absorbing Golden Essence Qi to strengthen itself.

Devouring the essence of living creatures to pass its juvenile stage. Its true growth phase began with Gold Melting Body Refining!

The scripture churned ceaselessly within Wu Dao’s soul as he came to understand the fundamental principles of the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique.

CLANG CLANG CLANG—

Another moment passed.

The black Kun in the deep sea had completely transformed.

It had grown indestructible golden scales and now resembled a golden continent, so massive it was hard to describe. Its every breath could cause an apocalyptic disaster in the ocean.

At this stage, the Golden Kun’s resources changed once more. No longer limited to living creatures and golden essence, it opened its mouth and inhaled. From the sky, the earth, and the sea, boundless Energy surged into its mouth like a thousand rivers returning to the ocean.

It was clearly visible. As it devoured all living things, the sky turned gray and dim, the vast sea lost its Spirituality and became turbid, and the essence of all beings and things dissipated, weathering away into useless dust.

The mature stage!

Devouring heaven and earth, taking the essence of all things as food!

”SCREECH!!”

As if unsatisfied with its meals in the deep sea, the Golden Giant Kun let out a cry. Its body, thousands of miles long, leaped forcefully from the sea, transforming into a Golden-winged Roc whose wings blotted out the sky, and it soared straight up to the zenith of the Nine Heavens.

Then, it opened its mouth and inhaled!

RUMBLE!

The sky and earth went dark, and all things withered.

The entire world seemed to face its shattering apocalypse as the essence of all existence transformed into countless streams of light, disappearing into the Abyss of the Golden-Winged Roc’s mouth.

BANG—

The heavens and earth shattered.

”To devour the essence of all things to mold oneself... what a domineering Demon Skill!”

Wu Dao’s Spiritual Thoughts withdrew. He let out a breath of turbid air, his slightly overwhelmed mind having already memorized the complete essence of the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique.

If the Stinging Dragon Skill refined the human body into an Evil Dragon, then the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique aimed to transform the human body into a heaven-devouring, earth-consuming Primordial Demon Kun!

The juvenile stage—devouring the essence and blood of living beings to strengthen oneself—corresponded to the first through third doors of Transverse Cultivation.

The growth stage—Gold Melting Body Refining—corresponded to the fourth and fifth doors.

The mature stage—capable of devouring the essence of all things—corresponded to the sixth and seventh doors.

Every step was utterly tyrannical, a reckless plunder and devouring that would lead to widespread death and the withering of all things.

It was no exaggeration to call it a Demon Skill!

”Demon Skill or Divine Skill, as long as I can use it, it’s a good skill.”

CRUNCH~

Biting off a piece of the Ten Thousand Healing Crystal, Wu Dao activated Divine Ghost Heaven. His brain’s processing power was unleashed to two hundred percent, and with the wisdom of a Divine Buddha, he began to deduce. The Kunpeng Body Casting Technique and the Dragon Whale Transformation started to clash and merge.

The reason he didn’t use Shen Wutian was mainly because Shen Wutian was created purely for combat. Although it could liberate his Brain Domain by three hundred percent, the state of ”I am not myself” was too restrictive.