Essence Devouring Art

’This is...’

NO!!!!

BOOM—BANG!!

The final, lingering vestiges of his unwillingness were annihilated!

The Money Ruyi, sublimated to its absolute limit, instantly shattered into countless points of light, illuminating the land for four to five hundred miles.

Mutual destruction!

But...

It was with that sliver of gray Celestial Thunder!

Throughout heaven and earth.

A calm finally descended.

The hysterical roars were gone.

So too was the wild, demonic laughter.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The only thing that remained...

...were the concentric, tidal shockwaves and sonic hurricanes unleashed by the mutual destruction of the Money Ruyi and the gray Celestial Thunder, continuously expanding and compressing the void in all directions.

CRACKLE—POP—

At the highest, highest reaches of the sky.

A faint current of Primordial Magnetism struggled to glow amidst the raging tempest, connecting countless cells—invisible to the naked eye and like Immortal Celestial Crystals—and slowly drawing them together.

Wu Dao’s consciousness and soul...

...had been completely crushed the moment he triggered the gray Celestial Thunder, plunging them into a dark Abyss.

The recovery process underway was not a conscious act.

It was driven by a survival instinct, forged to be as tenacious and indestructible as Divine Iron through countless trials of life and death.

’He trusted no one but himself!’

’He trusted his own survival instinct!’

That’s why he dared to go all-in!

Why he dared to let Shen Wutian act without restraint, no matter the cost!

But this time...

...the unexpected happened!!

”In the thirty thousand years past, and for untold years to come, your like has never been seen. The seven hundred years of Dali are, admittedly, trivial in comparison, but...”

A long, ancient, and decrepit sigh echoed through the silent world. Following this sigh of begrudging admiration came a killing intent even colder than ten-thousand-year-old ice:

”No matter how pathetic it may be, it is still my country. How can I... How can I stand by and watch it be destroyed at the hands of you demons!”

BOOM!!!

Before the words had even faded!

At the edge of the sky!

A decrepit, decaying hand that blotted out the heavens suddenly rose up. An endless, gloomy light erupted from its palm, as if it could cover the world with a single strike and seize the sun and moon in one grasp.

A Great Divine Technique—

Innate Qi Grand Capture!

A thousand miles trembled, and the world itself seemed to vanish!

Its might and momentum!

This was clearly a peerless Great Divine Power User of the Nine Transformations Level!

WHOOSH—

The sky darkened, and the eight poles of existence crumbled!

In less than the span of a thought, the decaying hand descended upon Mingquan Pass City. It locked onto Wu Dao’s countless cellular particles in the sky, spewing forth an endless gloomy light, intending to obliterate them completely!

At this critical moment!

”Brat of the Zhou Family, have you no shame?!”

From the edge of the sky, another domineering, ancient roar of fury exploded across the world, booming and thundering like the roar of a True Dragon!

It wasn’t *like* a roar!

It *was* a massive dragon stretching across the sky!

ROAR!!!

At the edge of the sky!

A scrawny little old man dressed in the simple garb of the Warring States Era, his wild white hair dancing freely, gave a cold snort. He clenched his fist and pressed down his arm!

This manifested a savage Black Dragon a thousand miles long. It roared to the Nine Heavens, then whipped its tail down in a cleaving blow. The indescribable might of a True Dragon detonated the space in all ten directions, shattered mountains and rivers, and brutally smashed the decrepit hand that covered the world!

A Great Divine Technique—

True Dragon Arm!

Another Nine Transformations Great Divine Power User!

”True Dragon Arm...”

On a mountaintop a thousand miles away.

A plainly dressed old man in gray robes, who bore some resemblance to Prince Nanyang, retracted his hand. Staring at his raw, wounded fist, he muttered to himself:

”The Second Generation Martial King, Senior Zhan Qian?”

The Second Generation Martial King!

A figure from the Warring States Era!

’He was indeed qualified to call me a ”brat.”’

”The Great Tribulation is coming. Instead of remaining in seclusion to keep your Dao cultivation from declining, what are you doing hopping around out here? Get lost!”

On the other side of the sky.

After stopping the gray-robed old man, Zhan Qian gave a cold, warning snort. He was incredibly domineering, showing no respect at all, even though the old man was the previous Emperor of Dali, the Wantu Emperor.

But upon closer inspection,

one would discover

that Zhan Qian’s aura had weakened slightly after that attack, and it took a long time to recover.

The reasons for this

were known only to those at their level.

After the Nine Tribulations,

the Celestial Dao’s suppression had descended to the level of the Dao Embryo.

The closer one was to the peak, the harsher the suppression.

The Nine Transformations Great Divine Power Users from the Warring States who had survived to this day...

...with the exception of the Celestial Treasure Masters who were naturally aligned with the Great Dao...

...the Nine Transformations Great Divine Power Users of the three normal paths...

...all went into seclusion after reaching their peak to maintain their prime state in preparation for the Great Tribulation.

This was because the more they acted, the more they influenced the world, and the more severely the Celestial Dao would suppress them. Each strike came at a great cost.

Zhan Qian and the former Emperor of Da Li...

...were both normal Nine Transformations Great Divine Power Users.

They had been in seclusion for many years.

If not for the events of today,

before the Great Tribulation,

they would almost certainly not have appeared.

The reason this battle occurred

was because when they decided to initiate a decisive battle of Divine Techniques against the Southern Alliance, Wu Dao and Prince Nanyang had anticipated that Dali would grow desperate.

Therefore,

Prince Nanyang had asked Zhan Qian, the Second Generation Martial King from Martial King Mountain, to back Wu Dao up and prevent Dali from acting without any martial virtue.

Now, it seemed

that this precaution had been the right move.

Otherwise,

an assassination attempt from a Great Divine Power User of the Nine Transformations Level...

...would have left Wu Dao with no chance of survival.

”Senior, are you truly so optimistic about that son of mine?”

The Wantu Emperor, Zhou Hong, dressed in simple gray robes, watched Zhan Qian with eyes that were profound yet clear. He showed no intention of retreating.

The Great Tribulation was approaching.

Everyone was placing their bets.

Just as he had placed his bet on Zhou Heng.

Zhan Qian, it seemed, had placed his bet on Prince Nanyang.

Regarding this fifth son of his,

Zhou Hong’s heart was filled with complex emotions.

When Prince Nanyang was young,

his mother, a former palace maid, passed away, leaving him wailing in helplessness.

But he, the Emperor, had been heartless, showing him almost no affection.

As a result, Prince Nanyang, who should have enjoyed the glory of a Prince, had to struggle to survive in the deep palace courtyards like a feral child.

Back then, Prince Nanyang,

though resolute in character, had been mediocre in talent and aptitude, showing no particular promise.

Therefore,

Zhou Hong had never considered Prince Nanyang for the position of Crown Prince.

After abdicating the throne,

he hadn’t seen him even once.

He had sent Prince Nanyang, carrying his mother’s belongings, alone to the Southern Border Land, paying him little attention and having no expectations.

But the world is unpredictable...

Decades later,

he didn’t know whether to feel pride or guilt in his heart.

But he knew.

Prince Nanyang surely held some resentment toward him in his heart.

Huuu~

As his thoughts churned,

a middle-aged man in a green robe strode over from the horizon. His expression was calm, neither surprised nor pleased. From a distance, he bowed and said:

”Your son pays his respects to Father Emperor.”

His etiquette was perfect, with no hint of resentment.

But it was limited to just that—etiquette.

After all,

strictly speaking,

this was only the second time the father and son had formally met.

The first time

had been when Prince Nanyang was born.

One could only imagine how much father-son affection existed between them.

”Good, good, good. You’re all grown up.”

Zhou Hong felt an inexplicable pang of sorrow in his heart. A thousand words were reduced to just this single sentence.

After carefully studying Prince Nanyang and imprinting his image in his mind, he sighed and vanished from the edge of the sky, a lonely figure.

The reason he hadn’t retreated earlier...

...was simply for this one meeting.

If he were to attack again...

...it would be meaningless, aside from turning father and son against each other, with the son joining an outsider to strike down his own father.

”Alright, after making a move like that, it’ll probably take this old man two or three months to recover. Don’t come bothering me.”

With a hint of wistfulness, Zhan Qian glanced at the departing Zhou Hong, then clapped Prince Nanyang on the shoulder with his broad hand.

Then,

he glanced up at Wu Dao in the sky, who, far from recovering, was now rapidly disintegrating. He spoke with deep meaning:

”As for that kid... tsk, Immortal Black Tortoise... he’s a cunning one. You’d best be on your guard.”

With those words,

Zhan Qian also turned and disappeared from the world.

”My apologies for the trouble, Senior. Take care.”

Prince Nanyang withdrew his gaze from Zhou Hong, the complex emotions in his eyes dissipating. He bowed in the direction Zhan Qian had departed.

After straightening up,

Prince Nanyang’s profound gaze turned once more to the sky.

In a matter of moments,

Wu Dao seemed to have been utterly annihilated, not even a single particle left behind.

”Heh. The courage of a tiger, the body of a dragon, and the heart of a fox. My master was right after all.”

But Prince Nanyang simply shook his head and smiled, his gaze shifting to a mountaintop a thousand miles away.

Responding to him

was Wu Dao, standing tall on the peak as if holding up the sky, baring his teeth in a grin.