Essence Devouring Art

WHOOSH...

He suppressed the turbulent Qi and blood that churned within his body like Great Sun Liquid.

Wu Dao opened his attribute panel.

[Physique: Human Extreme (Great Success)]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (90% Potential Release) +

Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist 5000 Years (True Intent Sixth Floor) +

Divine Desolate Transformation 6000 Years (Horizontal Refining Seventh Door, Minor Achievement) +]

[Teleportation Points: 14,615]

Seventy thousand Teleportation Points had been spent.

The resulting increase in his overall strength was nothing short of a quantum leap!

First was the Essence Devouring Art!

His Human Potential Release had reached 90%, firmly entering the Great Success Domain, and he was only 1% away from stepping into the Human Extreme Limit.

The Thirty-Turns Undying Extreme Gold Body!

With his cells linked by an even more powerful primordial magnetic current, the strength of his Undying attribute had risen to a new level!

Now, even if Wu Dao were blown to smithereens,

he could rapidly regenerate thanks to the connection of the primordial magnetic current.

Unless he encountered something like what happened in his past life—a complete disintegration and destruction at the cellular and genetic level—it would be incredibly difficult to truly kill him.

After the Essence Devouring Art came the Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist.

It was said that refining the flesh and bones was hard, but refining the soul was even harder.

However, a person’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit are one and the same, mutually reinforcing each other. It was impossible for there to be too great a disparity between the body and soul.

After his Human Potential Release reached Human Realm Great Success, this Soul Refining Fist Technique had also taken a double leap, increasing its Power by two thousand years and entering the True Intent Sixth Floor.

Finally, there was the Divine Desolate Transformation.

With an increase of three thousand years of Power, it had now reached six thousand years of Power after he entered the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door!

Six thousand years of Power...

That number alone was enough to prove the strength of this realm.

How strong was Wu Dao now?

Even he wasn’t sure.

His Main Path was the force of a rotating Magnetic Field, generated by the cellular currents from the Potential Release of his Essence Devouring Art.

On paper,

the Seventh Floor of Horizontal Refining was equivalent to the Seventh Floor of the Divine Treasure Celestial Human realm. With the enhancement from the Sixth Floor of True Intent, he could instantly kill any Seventh Floor expert below the Monster Level Demon tier.

If he added the force of his rotating Magnetic Field,

he could reign supreme even against Eighth Floor experts!

And this was just his normal state!

There was still the Divine Desolate Dominating Body, Divine Ghost Heaven, Shen Wutian...

...and his strongest state: the Primordial Magnetic Domain, which commanded the magnetic field power of all things!

The Ninth Floor?

Or the Tenth Floor?

Speculation was ultimately one-sided; he would only know for sure after a real fight!

’The Celestial King...’

Putting away the attribute panel, Wu Dao’s gaze sharpened. The weight in his heart, instead of lifting, had only grown heavier.

Only after truly entering the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door could one understand how powerful this realm was.

And the Celestial King...

...was at the very least at the Limit of the Horizontal Refining Seventh Door, and possibly even the Eighth Daoist Sect.

Not to mention,

he also had the enhancement of his Main Path.

His true combat power...

The Eleventh Floor, or the Twelfth Floor?

Or had he surpassed the Celestial Being realm...

It was unknown!

However, although Wu Dao was still wary of the Celestial King, it was no longer the feeling of having a fishbone stuck in his throat.

The Undying nature of his Primordial Magnetic Cells, granted by the Essence Devouring Art, was his greatest trump card.

As long as it wasn’t a qualitative difference in power,

it would be nearly impossible to instantly destroy his Thirty-Turns Undying Extreme Gold Body. He no longer had to worry about the Celestial King suddenly appearing and slapping him to death.

’It already costs this much to upgrade?’

As his thoughts churned, Wu Dao noticed the number of Teleportation Points required for the next upgrade of his Essence Devouring Art on the attribute panel—

One hundred and fifty thousand!

That number...

Unless he could wipe out an entire clan on the level of the three great Overlords of the Demon Race,

otherwise,

it was basically impossible in the short term.

But Wu Dao didn’t mind.

His current Cultivation speed was already heaven-defying; the attribute panel made no difference.

WHOOSH...

Putting away his attribute panel, Wu Dao looked up at the even more violent Celestial Thunder Gang Wind in the sky above. He made a brief attempt to ascend, but finally stopped at an altitude of 15,000 meters.

Any higher,

and even his Thirty-Turns Undying Extreme Gold Body wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

RUMBLE—

Having identified his current optimal training zone,

Wu Dao didn’t linger.

He activated his Magnetic Field and flew toward his home base, Lancang County City, his figure disappearing into the vast sky.

...

The following days were relatively peaceful.

The war between the four frontier regions and the Central Plains Imperial Court remained at a stalemate. One side would capture a territory one day, only for the other to take it back the next. There were no significant victories.

The Central Plains had always been the most prosperous and most suitable place for Cultivation, a Zhongling Creation Realm. It was home to the three paths of Extraordinary Cultivators, numerous top-tier factions with deep foundations, and most were fundamentally aligned with the Dali as a single interest group.

In the short term,

it would not be so easy for the princes of the four regions to conquer the Imperial Court.

As for the chaos of the frontline battles, Wu Dao paid little attention.

He would occasionally hear of someone’s peerless might on the battlefield or news of a victory from some region, but for the most part, the information went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t delve into the details.

He knew clearly in his heart.

The current war between the four regions and the Imperial Court was merely an appetizer. Once the Imperial Court was taken, the ensuing conquests among the princes would be when true chaos descended upon the world.

At that time,

perhaps his own plans would change.

For now, the right path was to focus on his Cultivation and growth.

A few days after exterminating the Rat Race,

Wu Dao, flying high in the sky, received a message from Fang Lie of the Bai Ze Bureau. The information within instantly lifted his spirits.

They had found a trace of the Celestial King!

But...

”By the time our people found him, the Celestial King had already revived. They only had enough time to send the message before we lost contact with them.”

Fang Lie’s worried voice sounded.

During this period, the Bai Ze Bureau, in conjunction with Prince Nanyang’s faction, had practically turned the Southern Border upside down.

Under this dragnet-style search,

they finally discovered traces of the Celestial King and the Corpse God Palace in the Soul-Nurturing Wilds, a desolate land where the Southern Border meets the East Sea.

But by the time the Bai Ze Bureau’s experts arrived, the Celestial King was gone. An elite team from the Bureau had also vanished, leaving neither living person nor dead body behind. They had most likely been killed.

”Did the Prince offer any guidance?”

Wu Dao’s gaze shifted as a thought occurred to him, and he sent a reply.

Prince Nanyang’s Celestial Treasure seemed to have the ability to predict the future. If that were true, finding a ticking time bomb like the Celestial King shouldn’t be difficult.

”The Prince...”

Fang Lie’s tone faltered for a moment before he continued, ”The Prince is not a Divine Being. If the Celestial King is determined to hide, there’s not much he can do either.

He only ordered us to heighten our guard and not give the Celestial King an opportunity to bring disaster to the world.

Alliance Leader Wu, you don’t need to worry too much either.

Although the Prince is tied down at the front lines and cannot leave, he has already arranged for several Supreme Elders from Martial King Mountain and Zige Mountain to descend.

Even if the Celestial King has surpassed the Celestial Human Tenth Floor, he will definitely not get off easy if he dares to act recklessly.”

’So he can’t predict the future?’

Hearing this, Wu Dao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A menace like the Celestial King was someone Prince Nanyang had no reason to hold back against or ignore.

But since he didn’t know the Celestial King’s whereabouts,

it meant Prince Nanyang’s Celestial Treasure was not the type that could predict the future. This lessened some of the apprehension in Wu Dao’s heart.

It wasn’t that he was wary because of some grudge with Prince Nanyang.

It was just that a person who could see the future was simply too terrifying.

If such a person wanted to plot against someone,

the target would have virtually no ability to resist, because their every move would be under his watch, with no secrets to speak of.

Against such a figure,

it was absolutely necessary to maintain a degree of vigilance and caution. This was far from being paranoia.

Although he now knew that Prince Nanyang didn’t have the ability to predict the future,

Wu Dao guessed that,

even if it wasn’t outright precognition, Prince Nanyang must have some means to glean information related to the future.

Otherwise,

there was no explaining why Prince Nanyang would be so good to him for no reason, even treating him as a kindred spirit.

That word, ”fate,” from Zhou Zhiyin back then...

...Wu Dao had committed it to memory and never forgotten it.

He understood in his heart.

The reason Prince Nanyang had Zhou Zhiyin reveal that information was to pique his curiosity.

When the day came that he could no longer hold back his curiosity and sought him out, Prince Nanyang would lay his cards on the table, for better or for worse.

However, because Wu Dao had always been wary of Prince Nanyang, he kept postponing their meeting, even though he was indeed very curious.

Prince Nanyang was an expert who surpassed the Celestial Human Twelfth Floor.

To deal with such a powerhouse,

Wu Dao estimated he would need to at least enter the Human Extreme Limit Domain and truly possess Eleventh or Twelfth Floor combat power to have some confidence in being able to escape.

Yes.

Escape, not confront.

After all, with a two-level gap in power, any assumptions would be an irresponsible gamble with his own life.

”By the way, Alliance Leader Wu,”

As Wu Dao’s thoughts churned, Fang Lie’s voice once again sounded from the Communication Jade Talisman:

”You must be especially careful recently. Although the Celestial King is cruel and violent, his love for his Celestial Empress was as deep as the sea.

You killed the Celestial Empress.

This grudge is no less than when the Grand Ancestor beheaded him back then. If he makes a move, he will definitely target you first.

What we mean is, you should try your best not to show your face or reveal your whereabouts during this time. It would be best if you came to the Bai Ze Bureau.

We have the Supreme Elders from Zige Mountain and Martial King Mountain here. The Celestial King would absolutely not dare to touch you.”

Running away doesn’t solve the problem.

But it works.

With the Celestial King’s unknown strength above the Tenth Floor, if he deliberately targeted Wu Dao,

with Wu Dao’s ’Celestial Human Fifth Floor’ strength,

he would inevitably be killed in a single strike, with no chance of survival.

Wu Dao was someone Prince Nanyang valued highly.

Fang Lie understood the weight of this and knew he had to protect him at all costs if possible.

”Thank you for your kind intentions, Lord Fang.”

But after some thought, Wu Dao refused. Before reaching Great Success, he might have chosen to avoid the sharp edge of the spear, but now...

His gaze turned cold.

Wu Dao sent back a message, ”Lord Fang, don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t know what’s at stake.

What I mean is,

since the Celestial King will target me first, why don’t we beat him at his own game and lead him into a trap?”

”Wouldn’t that be too dangerous...”

On the other end, Fang Lie’s brow furrowed upon hearing this.

He understood what Wu Dao meant.

It was nothing more than using Wu Dao as bait to set an ambush, lure out the Celestial King, and kill him in the trap.

By common logic,

this was indeed a good idea.

The problem was that the Celestial King didn’t abide by common logic.

An expert above the Celestial Human Tenth Floor.

Their perception of danger is freakishly sharp. How could he possibly walk into a trap knowing it’s there?

This meant,

even if they set a trap, their top experts would have to stay far away from Wu Dao to avoid being detected by the Celestial King.

And Wu Dao,

would have to hold off the Celestial King alone before reinforcements could arrive.

But was that even possible?

Fang Lie knew Wu Dao was a Celestial Treasure Master and his Cultivation speed was monstrous, beyond the measure of common sense.

But no matter how much of a monster you are, you can’t just jump from the Celestial Human Fifth Floor to above the Tenth Floor in less than half a month, can you?

Therefore,

Fang Lie thought Wu Dao’s plan was too risky, one might even say he was overestimating himself.

Wu Dao knew what Fang Lie was worried about, but some things were difficult to explain in detail. He simply replied,

”Lord Fang, when have you ever seen me do something I wasn’t confident about?”

”Sigh... Alliance Leader Wu, could you give me a bottom line? What is your strength right now?”

Fang Lie asked with a soft sigh.