Essence Devouring Art

The Southern Border Front.

Yu Yuan Prefecture.

Outside Mingquan Pass.

Before Prince Nanyang and his forces challenged the Great Divine Power Users of the Southern Alliance to all-out war.

”Sigh... Another blizzard. How is anyone supposed to survive if this keeps up?”

Atop the garrison city’s walls.

Chi Cheng, a Captain of the Mingquan Garrison, stood clad in heavy armor with a saber at his hip. He gazed up at the gloomy, snow-filled sky and sighed melancholically.

There had been days of unending blizzards and sudden downpours.

Many places in the Southern Border had already turned into a frozen Purgatory, and no one knew how many common people it would claim. The heavens were truly merciless.

”Sir, what do you think Prince Nanyang is planning with this move?”

His personal guard frowned, his brow deeply furrowed. Prince Nanyang’s sudden withdrawal of his troops three days ago was too abnormal, too strange.

The higher-ups were worried.

And they, the vanguards on the ground, were anxious. They had a persistent feeling that something major was about to happen, and their eyelids wouldn’t stop twitching.

”What else could it be?”

Chi Cheng shook his head. ”It’s just the same old story: we’ll counter soldiers with generals and floods with earth. The battle has been at a stalemate for a long time. It’s not like one small move can... Hmm?”

As he spoke, Chi Cheng’s brow suddenly furrowed. He levitated into the air to gaze at the distant sky, his expression swiftly turning to one of horror.

There, at the edge of the sky, without any warning, endless black clouds roiled and converged. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as gales howled. A terrifying phenomenon, as if the heavens themselves were enraged, gradually took form, covering an area of a hundred miles.

And it was rapidly closing in on Mingquan Pass City!

”CLANG CLANG CLANG—”

Before Chi Cheng’s face could fully drain of color in horror, the warning Grand Array within Mingquan Pass City suddenly let out a heaven-shaking toll. Sensing the approaching crisis, it activated on its own, forming an egg-shaped, Profound Yellow sky-curtain that enveloped the entire city.

”Dammit, enemy attack! A Divine Ability User!!”

Chi Cheng roared, his voice shaking the military barracks within the city.

DUM DUM DUM—

The war drums thundered, and a baleful aura surged to the heavens!

An army of eighty thousand swiftly formed their arrays. The resident Divine Ability User, who had sensed the killing intent a moment earlier, also shot out beyond the sky-curtain, his expression cold as he prepared for battle.

The City Defense Array of Mingquan Pass would only activate upon sensing the aura of a Divine Ability User.

Combined with the apocalyptic, Hell-like scene in the distant sky—a Celestial Punishment covering a hundred miles—it was clear that a Divine Ability User was attacking!

’Is this the start of an all-out war?’

Outside the Profound Yellow sky-curtain, Tang Che, the Martial Arts Divine Ability Practitioner guarding Mingquan Pass City, stared at the rapidly approaching clouds of Celestial Punishment, his gaze dark.

News of the failed attempt to ambush and kill Wu Dao was already common knowledge among the Divine Ability Users of the Southern Alliance.

They had long anticipated what the consequences would be. Prince Nanyang’s side would surely cast aside all pretense, break the rule that Dao Embryo masters would not participate in the war, and retaliate with thunderous force.

However, he hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.

He could only hope the opponent wasn’t at the level of Divine Power Two Transformations or higher.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to hold out for reinforcements, and Mingquan Pass would be breached!

Haaa—

He took a deep breath.

Tang Che’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit rapidly surged to their peak. He directed a booming roar, like rolling thunder, toward the approaching black clouds of Celestial Punishment:

”Who goes there? State your name!”

BOOM—

But the response to Tang Che was a single Thunderous Divine Fist, formed from countless crimson bolts of lightning, that emerged from the depths of the black clouds. From a hundred miles away, it blotted out the sky and sun as it smashed down viciously toward Mingquan Pass City!

CRACKLE—

The moment the Thunderous Divine Fist struck, the entire world seemed to transform into a Purgatory of crimson lightning!

The surging great momentum of the Fist Dao transformed into a world-ending thunderous punishment that crushed everything in its path. Wherever it passed, dense crimson lightning cascaded like a waterfall, like a flood.

Mountains exploded and the earth split into abysses. Plants, soil, and rock, along with countless layers of snow, were vaporized in an instant, as if a God and Demon was enraged.

The great momentum of the Fist Dao!

Feeling the tyrannical Fist Intent carried by that Divine Fist—an intent that had become one with the great momentum of the world itself—Tang Che’s face instantly went pale.

To be empowered by the great momentum of the Fist Dao!

Even a Divine Ability User in the First Transformation domain could contend with a Two Transformations practitioner of a single path. This was the peerless First Transformation level.

And Tang Che...

...happened to be only a single-path First Transformation practitioner!

”How audacious!!”

But even so, Tang Che did not shrink from the battle and flee. His mind quickly connected with his Communication Jade Talisman to call for aid as he roared to the sky and threw a punch in retaliation!

ROAR!

AOOO!

The moment Tang Che clenched his fist to strike back, the roars of a dragon and a tiger echoed from his Dantian Dao Embryo, booming across a hundred miles of sky and earth. The Divine Light of his technique blazed out in all eight directions.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

Wind follows the tiger, clouds follow the dragon.

His Dragon-Tiger Wind-Cloud Divine Technique rode the wind and commanded the clouds, manifesting two black-and-white dragon-tigers more majestic than mountains. They galloped and roared, moving with his fist, shattering layers of void and creating a ravaging hurricane that clashed head-on with the Thunderous Divine Fist.

But the next moment...

”What trash. Get lost!”

Along with a cold snort from deep within the clouds of Celestial Punishment, the crimson Thunderous Divine Fist instantly tore through the wind and clouds. With unstoppable, utterly domineering force, countless bolts of lightning blasted the black-and-white dragon-tigers apart in midair!

BOOM—

The Energy shockwave from the collision erupted like a Category 10+ tsunami.

A sky-covering tide of sonic booms and shockwaves, laced with shattered and frenzied Primordial Qi, violently ripped up a layer of the earth for a hundred miles around, crashing relentlessly against Mingquan Pass City.

If not for the City Defense Array, countless things within Mingquan Pass City would have been instantly crushed into particles by the shockwave and vaporized from the mortal world.

PFFT!!

The instant his Divine Technique was shattered, Tang Che felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. It was like his Dao Embryo itself had been brutally smitten by Celestial Thunder. His entire body was charred black as charcoal as he coughed up a large mouthful of black blood in midair. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit deflated like a popped balloon, and his heart was filled with absolute horror.

One punch!

Just one punch!

He, who had been immersed in the Divine Power First Transformation domain for many years, couldn’t even withstand a single punch from the newcomer!

What kind of Fist Momentum was this?

To have such terrifying Mighty Power at only the First Transformation!

In that instant, he truly felt as if he were facing Celestial Punishment itself. His soul and body were being judged, both destined for annihilation in the Thunder God’s wrath!

Unbeatable!

Invincible!

After just one punch, Tang Che felt a suffocating gap in their power!

BOOM!

While Tang Che was reeling in shock, time hadn’t stopped.

The sky-blotting Thunderous Divine Fist, now unobstructed, descended upon the heavens above Mingquan Pass City, which spanned dozens of miles!

Then...

CRACKLE!

The massive, sky-blotting fist splayed its five fingers, unleashing countless crimson bolts of lightning!

Before the terrified and horrified eyes of the eighty thousand soldiers of Mingquan Pass City, the entire garrison city was enveloped by the giant hand of thunder and violently shaken!

The next moment, the City Defense Array of Mingquan Pass City offered no resistance at all. As if infected by a virus, it rapidly fell into disarray and collapsed without being attacked.

Afterward, Mingquan Pass City—a place of unknown but immense weight that covered dozens of square miles—was forcefully ripped from the fractured earth by the great hand of thunder!

”You beast! Stop!!”

The charred Tang Che’s eyes were nearly splitting from rage. He could only watch helplessly as Mingquan Pass City, along with its eighty thousand soldiers, was enveloped and ripped from the ground by the giant hand of thunder. His heart was filled with a suffocating mixture of fury and terror.

”I’m a beast for breaking the rules? Then what does that make you?”

A cold laugh rang out.

Wu Dao stepped out from the black clouds.

His majestic Fist Intent coalesced into a great momentum, forming a ten-thousand-zhang divine shadow behind him that was part-human, part-whale, and wore a crown. Crimson thunder rolled in its eyes as it coldly looked down on Tang Che.

”You’re Wu the bandit...”

Tang Che recognized Wu Dao at a glance, and he gnashed his teeth even harder.

Because of this damn bandit, they had lost two Divine Ability Users and had one at the Peak of Three Transformations severely injured.

The upper echelons of the Southern Alliance all hated Wu Dao so much they wished they could skin him alive and eat his flesh just to appease their hatred.

But along with his hatred, Tang Che’s heart was filled with even more terror.

Wu Dao had already entered the Divine Power Domain.

Since he had made a move, it proved Prince Nanyang no longer wanted to be bogged down in a war of attrition with the Southern Alliance. He was going to settle things at the Divine Power Level!

The Southern Alliance had just lost three Divine Ability Users.

Under these circumstances, if reinforcements didn’t arrive from the Central Plains, they would definitely be at a disadvantage!

SLAP!

Before Tang Che’s turbulent thoughts could even settle, an invisible backhand viciously struck his face, nearly shattering his skull.

”A defeated general dares to bark like a dog!”

Wu Dao’s expression soured. He reached out with a large hand made of his Magnetic Field and, as if grabbing a grasshopper, seized the dazed Tang Che and pulled him close.

’Calling me Wu the bandit, damn bandit, treacherous bandit, evil bandit at every turn!’

’This Royalist Faction is full of loudmouths. They need to be taught a harsh lesson!’

”Feels good to run your mouth, doesn’t it? I’ll make you feel so good you’ll ascend to the heavens!”

He grinned ferociously.

Wu Dao’s large hand covered Tang Che’s forehead.

Then—

CRACKLE—

The Celestial Punishment Thunder went berserk.

Countless red lightning bolts turned into small serpents, madly burrowing into Tang Che’s flesh, bones, and soul, torturing and destroying him from the inside out.

”AHHH!!!”

Instantly, it was as if countless steel needles were piercing his bones, stabbing his flesh, and penetrating his soul. An inhuman scream he couldn’t suppress echoed in every direction.

From far away, one could clearly see a figure in the sky, crackling with red lightning, his bones and soul electrocuted until they were charred black and smoking. It was a gruesome sight.

”So your mouth isn’t so tough after all.”

Wu Dao looked at Tang Che’s mouth, which had been turned to charred ash, nodded in satisfaction, and stopped the electric therapy.

This loudmouth was at the Divine Power First Transformation.

Killing him would be effortless.

The reason he was kept alive was, naturally, because he was still useful.

Not for much.

Just for a few words.

With this in mind, Wu Dao grabbed Tang Che’s charred skull and grinned chillingly.

”Notify all Divine Ability Users of the Southern Alliance below the Fourth Transformation. Tell them Grandpa’s skin is itching for a fight, and I’ll be waiting for them here at Mingquan!

If they don’t come,

the lives of the eighty thousand soldiers of Mingquan will be on their hands.

Oh, right.

I know how many Divine Ability Users you have at that level in the Southern Alliance. If even one is missing... heh heh.”

The Land of Three Prefectures.

Dozens of garrison cities were scattered about.

’Attacking them one by one would be too much trouble.’

’Gathering them all in one place saves time and effort.’

This was also why he had chosen Mingquan City.

The city was just one large military camp.

’On the battlefield, everyone walks a path to their own death.’

’It doesn’t count as breaking any taboos.’

He wasn’t afraid the Divine Ability Users wouldn’t come.

Eighty thousand lives.

That was no small number.

’Don’t they always proclaim themselves to be moral Saints, loyal to the emperor and loving the people, standing on the side of righteousness? In that case, I’ll use morality to tie you down and drag you here!’

”You... you madman! I guarantee... you’ll die a miserable death!”

Tang Che’s breath was as faint as a thread, and he didn’t even have a mouth anymore, yet he still had the strength to curse.

At this moment, he didn’t know that the Southern Alliance’s Divine Ability Users of the Third Transformation and above were fated to be unable to reinforce Mingquan Pass City.

He still thought Wu Dao would be struck down by a thunderous force.

”I’ll count to three. One!”

Wu Dao couldn’t be bothered with a war of words. His voice was ice-cold as he began to count, simultaneously manipulating the giant hand of thunder, causing it to slowly contract and rain down a thunderous punishment.

”Ah!”

”No!”

”Lord Tang, save us!”

Instantly, piercing screams erupted from within Mingquan Pass City, which was still enveloped by the great hand of thunder. It was as if they were suffering unimaginable torment in Purgatory.

”Stop! I’ll do it... I’ll do it!”

Tang Che cried out frantically.

The screams coming from Mingquan City were more heart-wrenching to him than the torture of the thunderous punishment he had just endured.

”Aha, now that’s more like it. After all, I, Wu, am not some kind of devil.”

Wu Dao smiled in satisfaction.

He immediately stopped the thunderous punishment from descending upon Mingquan City.

Following Tang Che’s frantic message, Wu Dao didn’t have to wait long.

RUMBLE—

From the Ten Directions of the universe, powerful and majestic auras of Divine Techniques surged forth simultaneously. They carried a thunderous momentum, their fury drowning the world, as killing lights of all colors filled the sky. They formed an encirclement, rapidly converging on Mingquan City.

”Wu the bandit, you’re truly courting death!”

”Damn bandit, how dare you!”

”You disloyal, unrighteous slave of two houses, how dare you act so rampantly here!”

”Vile bandit...”

...

Accompanying them were heaven-shaking roars of fury, which caused the void for hundreds of miles to rumble ceaselessly, as if they had fallen into the eye of a thunderstorm.

Heh...

Wu Dao stood at the center of the raging gales, his spine as straight as a Celestial Pillar. His black robes whipped in the wind, and he looked like a Demon God descended from the heavens, his baleful aura overturning the sky.

An endless tide of killing intent and malice washed over him, but he only slowly broke into a ferocious grin, revealing two rows of vicious, demonic shark-like teeth.

Then, under the gazes of countless eyes that were nearly splitting with rage,

BANG!

He stomped his foot!

Tang Che exploded into a sky-full of black mist.

BOOM!

The giant hand of thunder clenched shut!

Mingquan Pass City, along with its eighty thousand soldiers!

Were annihilated into dust and smoke!

At the same time, a voice of utmost tyranny and wild arrogance thundered, overpowering even the storms of the Nine Heavens—

”I dared. What can you do to me?!”