Essence Devouring Art

”The Prince truly understands me.”

Wu Dao cracked a grin. ”As you know, Prince, I also practice the Transverse Refining Technique, so I’m quite interested in the techniques for the Ninth Gate.

A stone from another mountain can polish my own jade.

If I can reference and verify my own path with other Transverse Refining Techniques, it goes without saying that I’m eager to learn.”

’Transverse Refining Techniques for the Nine Gates?’

Upon hearing this, Prince Nanyang took a moment to sense Wu Dao’s aura again. Understanding dawned on him, and he said with admiration, ”If I’m not mistaken, Alliance Leader Wu, you wish to achieve the status of a Sacred Spirit?”

To enter the Tenth Gate, one must first become a Sacred Spirit.

This was the secret to achieving the Horizontal Refining Tenth Dao Gate.

And the ancestor from Martial King Mountain was not the only one who knew it.

Prince Nanyang stood at the apex of this world.

Throughout history,

he was privy to many secrets concerning the various Paths of Transcendence.

He was well aware of them all.

Naturally, he knew why Wu Dao wanted to collect the Cultivation Techniques of the Nine Daoist Sects.

To be precise,

it was about the Cultivation Techniques of the Nine Daoist Sects related to the Sacred Spirit!

In that case, the purpose of Wu Dao’s trip was clear—

The Saint Elephant Ancestor!

”Haha, with the Prince’s vast knowledge, it seems I was the one being petty.”

Wu Dao laughed freely, not at all surprised that Prince Nanyang knew the method to become a Sacred Spirit.

The Transverse Refining Dao.

It was true that the further one walked this path, the fewer fellow travelers one would find.

In any era, those of the Nine Daoist Sects were exceedingly rare, but that didn’t mean that a Ten Yang Gods had never appeared throughout the long Nine Tribulations.

Even if the legacy of the Ten Gates was reaped during the tribulations or was otherwise lost, some information would surely have been left behind.

For Prince Nanyang, who possessed a unique Celestial Treasure,

knowing these things was no difficult task.

”The method to reach the Ten Gates is no secret among the top Great Divine Power Users, but...”

Prince Nanyang sighed. ”Alliance Leader Wu, you cultivate Transverse Cultivation, so you should understand how difficult this path is for an ordinary cultivator.

Forget the Ten Gates.

Even reaching the limit of the Ninth Gate...

a thousand years ago, before the Great Dao suppressed the realm Above Divine Techniques, the ancestor of Martial King Mountain was the only one to do it.

The ancestor wasn’t oblivious back then; he learned of the Holy Spirit Technique very early on, but he still chose to specialize in the Immortal Black Tortoise Divine Skill.

The reason was simple:

The Fusion Technique is tantamount to the Creation Technique.

A talented physical body isn’t enough.

One must possess Divine Buddha Comprehension at the Path-Opener Level.

The ancestor knew that with his level of Comprehension,

he could never fuse the various techniques while simultaneously breaking through the successive Horizontal Refining Gates.

If he had forced himself down the path of the Sacred Spirit,

it was highly likely that he would have succumbed to qi deviation due to insufficient Comprehension before even reaching the Ninth Gate, or worse, made a fatal mistake in his cultivation.”

’Comprehension...’

’So that’s the reason.’

After hearing this secret, Wu Dao realized he had misunderstood the ancestor of Martial King Mountain.

Back when he received the ancestor’s guidance,

he had thought the ancestor had simply walked the wrong path.

He never expected...

it was because his Comprehension was insufficient.

’What is Comprehension?’

’To put it plainly, it’s one’s learning speed in a given field.’

’Someone with good Comprehension, if they find their calling, can advance a thousand miles a day.’

’As for someone with poor Comprehension, you could give them the answer, and it would still look like gibberish; they would be utterly unable to replicate it.’

’So what is Path-Opener Level Comprehension?’

The Immortal Dao, the Martial Dao, and the Military Dao.

The creators of these three Paths of Transcendence for the Human Race had a level of Comprehension that could be described as that of a Path Creator.

Transverse Cultivation, Soul Cultivation, Pill, Array, Artifact, and Talisman crafting...

These were based on the three Main Paths.

Later generations pioneered all sorts of auxiliary paths.

These pioneers,

possessed a Path Opener’s Comprehension, a level just below that of a Path Creator.

Below the Path Opener,

Comprehension could be ranked from high to low as peerless prodigy, super-genius, genius, clever person, ordinary person, and fool.

The ancestor of Martial King Mountain’s Comprehension of the Transverse Refining Dao was by no means low; he could absolutely be considered a peerless prodigy.

Otherwise,

he wouldn’t have become the only person in the Nine Tribulations to reach the limit of the Nine Gates, and at the very end of the Nine Tribulations at that.

Unfortunately,

the sliver of difference was as wide as a celestial abyss.

No matter how much of a prodigy one was, they could never compare to a monster-level Path Opener.

As for Path Creators...

one path gives birth to ten thousand things.

They were complete anomalies of the Great Dao.

For all these reasons,

Wu Dao finally understood why, ever since he had stepped onto the Transverse Refining Dao,

all the information he gathered warned him that the path would become harder and harder until it became a dead end.

A Path-Opener Level of Comprehension in Transverse Cultivation

was required to step through the Tenth Daoist Sect.

Of course that was a dead end.

No wonder that in the thirty thousand years of the Nine Tribulations,

the Ninth Daoist Sect was considered the final masterpiece of Transverse Cultivation.

Thinking about it now,

his previous attitude of thinking others were exaggerating really was spoken from a position of ease.

Because,

his Comprehension...

With the blessing of the ever-growing Divine Ghost Heaven, he could achieve Unity of Heaven and Man and possess Divine Buddha Wisdom.

In a way, it was like having an omnipotence cheat enabled.

As long as it was something he could learn, the only question was whether he wanted to, not whether he could.

Not to mention,

the creation of the Essence Devouring Art in his past life...

On a grand enough scale,

that too was a form of path creation.

”Of course, with Alliance Leader Wu’s Comprehension of Transverse Cultivation, achieving the Sacred Spirit state is certainly not a problem.”

Prince Nanyang breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued, ”But if my knowledge is correct, going from the Ninth Gate to the Tenth Gate requires a full five Holy Spirit Techniques.

Even if you collect them all, fusing them will take a considerable amount of time, not to mention the time needed to charge into the Ten Gates afterward.

Given the current situation...

it will be difficult!”

The Transverse Refining Dao.

Its power was undeniable.

If one cultivated Transverse Cultivation alongside their Main Path, advancing them in tandem, their battle strength would be unrivaled in the same realm.

But since ancient times,

for the Extraordinary beings who walked this path,

the higher they climbed, the fewer companions they found.

Not to mention the Ninth Daoist Sect.

In any era, practitioners in this domain were as rare as a phoenix’s feather.

Coupled with the Great Tribulation,

in the current era,

with many top-tier legacies lost, each of the Nine Transverse Refining Techniques was a priceless treasure.

For Wu Dao to pick out and find the Holy Spirit Techniques among these priceless treasures was no less difficult than finding a golden needle in the ocean.

The most important reason,

as Prince Nanyang said, was that the situation didn’t allow for it, and time certainly didn’t allow for it.

In another half a year,

the Great Tribulation would descend.

Under such circumstances,

it was simply too unrealistic for Wu Dao to gather five Holy Spirit Techniques and then ascend to the Ten Gates.

It was highly likely he would end up with nothing to show for it,

having wasted his time and energy.

Prince Nanyang had no idea

that for Wu Dao, Transverse Refining Techniques were the perfect nourishment to feed back into his Main Path of Essence Devouring.

As for the issue of time,

that was even less of a problem.

As long as he gathered the five Cultivation Techniques,

he could fuse and cultivate them simultaneously, without delaying his Main Path at all.

Even if there was only one month left,

with his current astonishing wisdom, he was completely confident he could create the Holy Spirit Technique and step into the Ten Gates.

So,

in response to Prince Nanyang’s well-intentioned advice,

Wu Dao simply smiled. ”I am aware of the difficulties involved.

So I am just making an attempt.

As I said before,

a stone from another mountain can polish my own jade. One more technique will be of great help to my current Transverse Cultivation.”

’Just an attempt?’

’I doubt it...’

A glint flickered in Prince Nanyang’s eyes, but since Wu Dao was confident, he didn’t throw any more cold water on the idea. He shifted the topic to the Saint Elephant Ancestor.

”I’m sure Alliance Leader Wu is aware of the situation in the Central Plains.”

”At the end of their rope, fighting like a cornered beast.”

Wu Dao nodded slightly, summing up the current predicament of the Central Plains in a single sentence.

Besieged on all sides, completely isolated.

With Dali left with only its final Three Prefectures,

even someone who knew nothing of military strategy could guess what tragic fate awaited them.

’Speaking of which,’

’Emperors truly are heartless.’

Prince Nanyang and the King of the Living Prison in the north

were both sons of the still-living Wantu Emperor, Zhou Hong.

When these sons fought their father,

they truly showed no mercy.

But there was no helping it.

Who told the Wantu Emperor to side with the current Emperor of Dali? The fact that they didn’t just strike him down on the battlefield was already an act of mercy.

It didn’t matter, though.

Prince Nanyang might not be a model of filial piety,

but Wu Dao had no intention of going easy. When he got the chance, he would make the Wantu Emperor regret ever coming to this world.

To return to the matter at hand.

”With the Central Plains defending the last Three Prefectures, all their forces are concentrated. One wrong move could bring the whole thing down,”

Prince Nanyang shook his head slightly. ”Under these circumstances, attacking a single location is meaningless.

Once the assault begins,

it will be the final battle, requiring the combined strength of all four regions to break through their iron wall.

More importantly,

it hasn’t been long since the last great battle, and the Divine Ability Users of every region are still recuperating, so...”

The meaning behind his words

was already crystal clear.

After the war between the four regions and the Central Plains reached this stage,

small-scale attacks

were meaningless against Dali, which was completely focused on a desperate defense. Dali wouldn’t even respond.

Only when the four regions attacked simultaneously again

would Dali be forced to fight.

Only then would Wu Dao have a chance to face the Saint Elephant Ancestor and obtain the *Holy Elephant Heaven-Equalizing Force* from him.

As for now...

even if Wu Dao went to the front lines and challenged them to a duel of Fighting Generals,

the Dali side wouldn’t be so foolish as to accept.

Wu Dao was naturally aware of this situation. His trip was only to get a firm date for the next move.

For the four kings to attack Dali together,

without any infighting,

Prince Nanyang and the other three kings must have formed an alliance, and they would surely have a plan for when to strike.

”Half a month!”

Indeed.

Prince Nanyang’s expression turned serious as he revealed the time for the next and final offensive:

”In half a month, the four regions will attack Dali again. This will also be the final time; victory or defeat will be decided then.

Before we make our move,

I will notify Alliance Leader Wu in advance. When the time comes, I hope you will not hold back.”

Dali’s last Land of Three Prefectures

was the land where the world’s fortune was most concentrated, and also the largest piece of the cake.

The various kings had already reached the Absolute Peak

and could be said to be unable to advance another inch.

They were naturally determined to claim this massive prize that could allow them to advance once more.

’Half a month...’

Wu Dao lightly tapped his finger on the table, briefly calculating how much he could grow in half a month. Once he had an idea, he asked:

”You have fought the Saint Elephant Ancestor, Prince. What level would you say he is at?”

If the Saint Elephant Ancestor wasn’t that strong,

then perhaps

he could settle his grudge with the Wantu Emperor at the same time.

”The Saint Elephant Ancestor’s Main Path is not strong,”

Prince Nanyang commented. ”His Main Path is only at the Peak of Divine Technique Eight Transformations. He only managed to squeeze into the Ninth Transformation by relying on his Great Success in the Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate.

If I had to place him,

he’d be at the peak of the first step.”

’The peak of the first step...’

Hearing this, Wu Dao had a good measure of the Saint Elephant Ancestor’s strength.

Over the thousand years of the Ten Tribulations,

the Nine Transformations Domain was expanded time and again,

forming a whole new realm of its own.

This realm was divided into four steps based on the strength of one’s Combat Power:

One Step of Minor Achievement.

Two Steps of Great Success.

Three Steps of the Absolute Peak.

If he wasn’t mistaken,

the four kings and one emperor

should all be at the Absolute Peak level.

As for the Fourth Step...

it was only a theory; no one in the current world had achieved it.

The only one in question was the Demon Suppression Emperor,

who might have half a foot in the realm Above Divine Techniques.

But what level he was truly at,

only he himself knew.