Essence Devouring Art

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

「Half a month later.」

The land was frozen, covered in a vast expanse of snow.

The Southern Border Front.

Puyang Prefecture City.

Outside what was once the Southern Alliance’s Governor’s Mansion, now the temporary Nanyang Prince’s Mansion.

Wu Dao strode out of the Prince’s Mansion.

He looked up at the overcast sky, and the thought of the object nestled against his chest made him lick his lips in anticipation.

A blizzard swept through.

And with it, his figure vanished into the heavens.

「At the same time.」

In the Southern Border Territory, across the Boundless Gobi Desert.

At an altitude of 17,990 meters.

CRACKLE—

WHOOSH—

A grayish-red Celestial Thunder Gang Wind crackled and surged, its destructive Celestial Punishment Power saturating every inch of space.

Every single strand of it contained energy comparable to a full-power strike from a Four Transformations Peak Divine Ability User.

In the center of this ocean of Celestial Thunder Gang Wind.

CRACKLE—

Glazed, multicolored currents of Primordial Magnetism linked countless Immortal Extreme Gold Cells.

This collective of innumerable cells seemed to be breathing.

With each inhale and exhale, it repeatedly contracted into a human form, then exploded into countless cells and soul particles, again and again, tempered a thousand times over.

At a certain moment, a thought stirred in Wu Dao’s mind. He split his focus, one consciousness controlling two bodies.

He had his Incarnation, which was speeding through the sky, retrieve a token engraved with the pattern of the Ancient Divine Beast, Bai Ze.

The Bai Ze Order!

Possession of this token made one the Commander of the Bai Ze Bureau, with authority over all Bai Ze Guards in the Southern Border!

Of course, the token was just proof of identity.

The most crucial part was still receiving Prince Nanyang’s approval.

The battle at Mingquan Pass had been a transaction between Wu Dao and Prince Nanyang.

He had secured the Three Prefectures for Prince Nanyang.

In return, Prince Nanyang’s price was the Bai Ze Bureau—the very organization that monitored the dark side of the Southern Border and suppressed its ghouls and ghosts!

After learning that the Great Tribulation was imminent, Wu Dao, despite his confidence, still felt a sense of urgency.

One year.

Relying solely on his own Cultivation, his growth rate was still too slow.

But if he advanced on two fronts—engaging in arduous training on one side, while hunting Alien Species to accumulate Teleportation Points on the other—the time it would take to break the Human Extreme barrier would surely be drastically reduced.

Therefore, he had set his sights on the Bai Ze Bureau under Prince Nanyang’s control.

Or rather, the Alien Species hunted by the Bai Ze Bureau.

That was what he truly wanted.

His original demand was that during his tenure in charge of the Bai Ze Bureau, all Alien Species hunted by the Bureau would belong to him!

Prince Nanyang had agreed.

And so, half a month later, he received this token granting him control over the Bai Ze Bureau.

From now on, the Bai Ze Bureau, like the Overlord Whale Alliance, would become another one of his underlings, a wage slave tasked with finding food for him.

With the two organizations combined, the entire Southern Border would become his pasture.

And he, the rancher, would only need to wait for his workers to feed him.

If they encountered a great white shark they couldn’t handle, only then would he personally intervene.

”This just goes to show, as long as you have enough power and know how to use your brain, the rules of society will naturally bend to your will, fulfilling your every need.”

Gazing at the distant fields blanketed by falling snow, Wu Dao smiled faintly, put away the Bai Ze Token, and returned his main consciousness to his Main Body.

As for his Incarnation, it headed to the Bai Ze Bureau headquarters to assume its post.

The alliance between the Bai Ze Bureau and the Overlord Whale Alliance was no small matter.

He still had plans to implement measures targeting Alien Species and improving efficiency; he couldn’t just be a hands-off boss.

However, with his Incarnation present, he could split his focus.

It wouldn’t interfere with his Cultivation time.

WHOOSH~

His main consciousness returned.

Deep in the Southern Border’s Dome Sky.

While enduring the unending, destructive onslaught of the grayish-red Celestial Thunder Gang Wind, Wu Dao opened his attribute panel—

[Physique: Peak of Human Extremes]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (95% Potential Release) +

Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist 13,000 Years (Three Fist Transformations) +

Undying Transformation 13,000 Years (Horizontal Refining Eighth Gate, Six Yang Celestial Light, Great Success) +]

Little Divine Techniques:

Primordial Magnetic Gang Shield, Primordial Magnetic Celestial Saber, Ten Directions Divine Slaughter, Primordial Magnetic Tribulation Finger, Celestial Essence Magnetic Burst Fist, Primordial Magnetic Celestial Prison Cage, Primordial Magnetic Demon Embryo, Black Tortoise Incarnation.

[Teleportation Points: 50,000]

During half a month of extreme, arduous training.

Five days ago, while his Incarnation was reaping the Alien Species collected by the Overlord Whale Alliance, he finally broke through the barrier from the Human Extreme Limit to the Peak of Human Extremes, achieving 95% Human Potential Release!

After this Potential Release, the resulting all-encompassing feedback from his body caused the data on his attribute panel to leap forward.

Soul Refining: Three Fist Transformations!

Refined Flesh: Horizontal Refining Eighth Gate Great Success!

Main Path: Immortal Extreme Gold Body at sixty revolutions.

If he were to fully unleash his state right now, without borrowing any Celestial Might, he could still annihilate a Four Transformations Peak Divine Ability User.

As for a Five Transformations Great Divine Power User, with the help of Celestial Might, he would not fear one.

This was the monster-level combat power brought about by Triple Cultivation!

”Immortal Black Tortoise...”

His thoughts swept over the Horizontal Refining Undying Transformation.

The thrilling and perilous battle at Mingquan Pass from half a month ago resurfaced in Wu Dao’s mind.

When ten thousand taels sacrificed everything, unleashing the power of a Four Transformations Peak Divine Ability User in an attempt to take them both down, he, in his Divine Heavenless State, had also done whatever it took to slay his enemy.

He forcibly mobilized the Celestial Thunder from the 18,000-meter Great Divine Power Domain.

The consequence was that his physical body instantly exploded into a state of micro-particulate cells, and his soul shattered, plunging him into darkness.

But how powerful was his survival instinct, honed through countless life-and-death struggles?

The instant his body and soul turned into cellular micro-particles, a few cells shot away, carrying fragments of his soul, and escaped the battlefield.

In his prior calculations, he had already considered that Dali would act without Martial Virtue after the battle and send a Great Divine Power User to kill him, so he had already ingrained a post-battle escape program into his instincts.

Of course, this was only one of his backup plans.

His true fallback was a clump of flesh he had hidden outside the battlefield beforehand.

After cultivating the Xuanwu Undying Divine Skill, his already incredible Undying property of flesh and soul, linked by the magnetic field currents, had ascended to a new level.

As long as a single piece of his flesh existed in the world, he could transfer his life force into a hidden fragment of flesh, just like transferring consciousness between his Main Body and Incarnation.

Of course, there was a prerequisite.

The quality and strength of the cells and soul hidden within the transferred flesh had to be identical to his main body’s.

Otherwise, his strength would definitely decline after he recovered.

’If I’d had the Xuanwu Undying Divine Skill in my previous life, I wouldn’t have been so cornered.’

Wu Dao’s memory flashed back to his previous life, to the moment he faced the Biological Gene Annihilation Bomb, the scene of his cells and soul being completely annihilated.

If it happened again, he wouldn’t even need to be at 100%!

Even at his current 95% level, with the blessing of the Horizontal Refining Xuanwu Undying Divine Skill, that so-called Biological Gene Annihilation Bomb would absolutely not be able to destroy his cells, much less kill him.

Even if it blew him to smithereens, his cells, tempered by sixty revolutions of Primordial Magnetic Power and the Great Success level of the Xuanwu Undying Divine Skill... as long as a single one remained, he could be revived. At most, it would just take some time to recover.

In a sense, this could be considered a process of evolutionary adaptation, albeit one with a rather high cost.

’Perhaps one day, I will be omnipresent, truly Immortal and Undying.’

WHOOSH~

The stray thoughts in his mind dissipated.

Wu Dao closed the attribute panel and continued to immerse himself in the extreme Cultivation of being struck by lightning and having his soul battered by the Gang Wind.

At his current stage, the strength of his physical body could no longer be measured by the normal standards of the Transverse Refining Dao.

After all, the limit of the Eighth Gate in this era was only comparable in strength to a Four Transformations Peak Divine Ability User.

He had merely reached Great Success, yet he could already endure the torture of the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind at 17,990 meters—the equivalent of a Four Transformations Peak user—without being destroyed.

However, these last ten meters were exceptionally difficult to break through.

For five days, he had continuously tempered and adapted himself, but he had only advanced one meter. He was still nine meters away from the 18,000-meter mark that corresponded to a Great Divine Power User.

Once he crossed that distance and adapted to it, the attacks of a Five Transformations Great Divine Power User would no longer be able to destroy his physical body.

As for his combat strength... that was another matter.

After all, the physical body wasn’t everything. For the Cultivators of this era, their main combat power was still reflected in their Divine Power Main Dao.

Unless one was like the founder of Martial King Mountain, at the limit of the Ninth Gate, truly Immune to All Laws within their Divine Power Domain.

...

While Wu Dao’s Main Body was engaged in arduous Cultivation, his Incarnation sped along its path.

It soon arrived at the Bai Ze Bureau headquarters, located in what was now the Southern Border Capital, Nanyang Prefecture.

The process of assuming his post went smoothly, without any trouble.

After all, Prince Nanyang himself had appointed and approved him, and had already notified all the upper and lower echelons of the Bai Ze Bureau in advance.

The personnel structure of the Bai Ze Bureau was something Wu Dao already understood.

Backed by Zige Mountain and Martial King Mountain, its members mostly came from these two great Cultivation Holy Lands.

From top to bottom, there was a group of Celestial Human Ten-Floor Elders who oversaw the Bai Ze Bureau.

Then the Commander.

Then the Governors.

Fang Lie, who had participated in the battle at Luotou Mountain, was one of these Governors, commanding the Bai Ze Guard of an entire Prefecture.

And below them...

Overall, aside from the Elder Council, the Bai Ze Bureau wasn’t much different from the Jinyi Guard as Wu Dao knew them from his previous life.

As evening fell inside the Bai Ze Bureau, Fang Lie gave Wu Dao a complicated look, then lowered his head and bowed. ”Sir, the things you asked for have been delivered,” he said.

”Mm, thank you for your trouble.”

Wu Dao nodded. Ignoring Fang Lie’s complex emotions, his figure flickered and vanished from the courtyard.

”ROAR!”

”HEHEHE—”

”Release this king!”

Within the pitch-black underground space, as soon as Wu Dao’s figure appeared, he saw three Alien Species bound in talisman-runed chains. They were shrieking and giggling strangely at him, full of anxiety.

A ghoul, a demon, and a Fierce Monster.

The three major races of Alien Species.

All present and accounted for.

”Hehe, don’t be afraid. This won’t hurt a bit.”

Wu Dao grinned benevolently. He cracked his neck, and a ball of Primordial Magnetic current appeared in his palm. Like a mad scientist, he stepped into the darkness.