Essence Devouring Art

Yu Qing took a deep breath. After confirming that Wu Dao wasn’t joking, he said, ”Please wait a moment, Alliance Leader Wu. I’m afraid I don’t have the authority to make this decision.”

With that said,

Yu Qing took the Communication Jade Talisman from his waist.

There was no need to guess.

He was surely contacting King Bao Tong of the East Sea.

A moment later, Yu Qing put away the Communication Jade Talisman. He gave Wu Dao an admiring look and said, ”Alliance Leader Wu, you’re in luck. My lord does indeed possess a Nine Gates Holy Spirit Technique, and he has agreed to the exchange.

Furthermore,

to ensure you aren’t at a disadvantage,

my lord wishes to gift you a piece of information that might be of interest. Consider it a gesture of friendship.”

”Oh? I’d be glad to hear it.”

Hearing that King Bao Tong was willing to trade, Wu Dao’s heart settled. The rest of the message piqued his interest.

’Information that interests me?’

’Could it be...?’

Yu Qing didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, ”That last Celestial Emperor of the Central Plains wields the Celestial Treasure, the Golden House.

Before the chaos in Dali, he collected and read ancient and modern scriptures and secret texts from all over the world to complete its Celestial Treasure Ceremony.

In his possession,

there is a high probability of finding the Nine Gates Holy Spirit Technique you need.”

Zhou Heng.

The Celestial Treasure Golden House...

’In books, one can find a thousand measures of grain; in books, one can find houses of gold.’

’Viewing books and reading scriptures as sustenance.’

’No wonder a great Celestial Emperor’

’would stoop to being a gatekeeping disciple at the Holy Land Scripture Pavilion for decades.’

Wu Dao’s eyes narrowed slightly as various schemes and calculations surfaced in his mind, only to be calmed a moment later. He cupped his fist and said,

”Please relay to the Prince that I accept his friendship. If he needs anything in the future, he has only to ask.”

Just pleasantries, of course.

Words cost nothing.

Only an idiot would take them seriously.

...

「Three days later.」

Wu Dao once again visited the Southern Border Black Dragon Commerce Association Headquarter to meet with Yu Qing.

After handing over the Immortal Black Tortoise Divine Skill,

he received a brand-new Ninth Taoist Gate Transverse Refining Holy Spirit Technique—

the *Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture*.

’Qiongqi...’

In the skies beyond the Southern Border Territory,

endless black karmic fire seemed to surge within Wu Dao’s mind. It constructed the image of an Ancient Fierce Beast: it had the horns of an ox, the body of a tiger, a pair of wings on its back, fur like a hedgehog’s spines, and it trod upon Karmic Fire—

the Qiongqi!

ROAR!!

The Qiongqi stepped upon the flames and roared, spewing black Karmic Fire that incinerated all the world’s evil desires and wickedness. Countless beings wailed as they were reduced to ash, and worlds in every direction burned to ruin. Its ferocious might was utterly lawless.

As for a Sacred Spirit like the Qiongqi,

legends of it existed in both of his lives, similar yet distinct.

The one consistent image

was that it was never a divine or auspicious beast.

On the contrary,

in every legend and myth, regardless of the source, the Qiongqi was always an ancient Fierce God, a violent and lawless Evil Beast.

According to legend,

the Qiongqi not only enjoyed devouring humans but also took pleasure in punishing the good and promoting evil.

Yes.

Punishing the good and promoting evil.

Not punishing evil and promoting good.

It didn’t just enjoy eating people; it also loved to meddle in the conflicts of other beings.

It did so in a manner that violated all morality,

siding with the unjust party.

It brutally persecuted the kind

and lavishly rewarded sins that incurred the wrath of both heaven and man.

In the legends of his previous life,

the Qiongqi’s behavior was attributed to its inherently evil nature, as it represented the world’s fierce and malevolent energies, earning it the title of an ancient Fierce God.

But in this world,

for the Qiongqi’s anti-moral behavior,

there was an explanation from the Extraordinary Side.

According to legend,

the Qiongqi’s Lifebound Divine Technique was the Black Lotus Karmic Fire, which bore a deceptive resemblance to the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

The similarity was that

whether it was Red Lotus Karmic Fire or Black Lotus Karmic Fire,

both used sin and karmic energy as fuel.

Once ignited, they could not be extinguished; one could only be freed after the Karmic Fire had completely burned away all sins and evil desires.

The difference was

that Red Lotus Karmic Fire was a Great Brightness Method, cultivated by a Saint Buddha. It required performing good deeds, punishing evil, saving the world from suffering, and nurturing a heart of great compassion to be achieved.

The Black Lotus Karmic Fire was the complete opposite.

It was a demonic fire—fierce, malevolent, violent, and lawless—born from slaughter and sin. The more evil karma flourished in the world, the more fuel it had to burn.

The Qiongqi, which wielded the Black Lotus Karmic Fire,

naturally became the ancient Fierce God that punished good and promoted evil.

For all these reasons,

the *Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture*, which emulated the Fierce God Qiongqi, was, in essence, a top-tier Demon Skill.

Its various cultivation concepts

and cultivation methods for each realm

frequently involved blood and soul sacrifices. They were rebellious, lawless, and filled with evil, emulating the Qiongqi to nurture a Fierce God’s Karmic Fire within one’s heart. Ninety-nine percent of its practices would incite the wrath of both gods and men, being incomparably bloody and cruel.

For someone whose principles did not align,

attempting to practice such a Cultivation Technique

would likely mean failing to even get started, let alone attempting a reverse-attribute fusion.

However, these drawbacks

were not a major problem for Wu Dao.

All he wanted was the essential nature of the creature from the *Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture*. Using his Divine Ghost Heaven, he would extract the crystallized wisdom of its Transverse Cultivation and integrate it into his own Dao, not actually practice the technique itself.

As for the conflicting attributes...

his Primordial Magnetic Power could control all the Magnetic Field Powers in the world. As long as he understood a power, he could imitate and master it.

More importantly...

’I wonder how many times the Cultivation Technique Creator of the *Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture* died in the Mud Prison Abyss, a place teeming with Endless Evil Karma and Sin?’

”*Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture*, Reversed Celestial Spirit... HUFF...”

He suppressed his turbulent thoughts.

Within the 18,500-meter-wide, pure gray Celestial Thunder and Gang Wind Sea Eye, Wu Dao—who had dissolved into cellular particles—began multitasking, focusing on three things at once.

VMMM—

In his Divine Ghost Heaven State,

he achieved Unity of Heaven and Man, possessing Divine Buddha Wisdom.

Waves churned in his Chaotic Consciousness Sea, which then split in two. A brilliant light of wisdom shone forth, seemingly capable of solving any problem with ease.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

CRACKLE—

The full deductive power of his All-Powerful Path-Opener Level Comprehension was unleashed.

Under the illumination of this light of wisdom,

his Chaotic Consciousness Sea split in two.

On one side, the shadows of various Sacred Spirits roared and clashed with the Karmic Fire Qiongqi. On the other, the azure Primordial Magnetic True Gang fused with the colorless Reversed Celestial Spirit.

An invisible progress bar appeared.

The deduction and fusion process officially began.

’The Divine Ghost Heaven has evolved...’

In his state of Unity of Heaven and Man,

Wu Dao could clearly feel that his Divine Buddha Wisdom, consciousness, and Divine Soul had improved significantly.

He was simultaneously deducing and fusing four different Dharma Gates,

all while enduring the torture of the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind.

Yet he didn’t feel the slightest strain. On the contrary, he handled it with ease, and could even have diverted his attention to other tasks without any issue.

’Divinity...’

Wu Dao understood in his heart.

’It must be the divinity I nurtured in the Mud Prison Abyss and the Endless Sea of Suffering that has enhanced my wisdom and Comprehension.’

’Gods are omniscient and omnipotent.’

’Their wisdom is boundless, their computational power infinite.’

’As someone who possesses divinity,’

’after unleashing the Divine Ghost Heaven,’

’my humanity has been completely replaced by divinity.’

’It’s only natural that my wisdom and Comprehension are approaching that of a truly omnipotent god.’

’Perhaps one day,’

’my divinity will be able to transform completely into a Divine Format—truly omniscient and omnipotent—while still remaining compatible with my humanity.’

’Are gods the end of the food chain?’

A question surfaced in his mind,

only to be snuffed out a moment later.

Wu Dao focused all of his Spiritual Consciousness and began to deduce and fuse the *Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture* and the Reversed Celestial Spirit with all his might.

At the same time, the tempering of his physical body did not stop.

At a snail’s pace,

he slowly ascended toward the Heavenly Punishment Domain above the 18,500-meter mark, continuously challenging his body’s limits. He used the Celestial Punishment Magnetic Field to repeatedly destroy, re-form, and strengthen the structure of his Primordial Magnetic Cells.

In half a month,

the four regions would sound the horn for the final assault on Dali.

Saint Elephant Ancestor, the Wantu Emperor...

...and the Xuanwu Emperor, who he had learned just days ago very likely possessed another Nine Gates Holy Spirit Technique.

If he wanted to accomplish multiple goals in one fell swoop,

his current strength was not enough.

He would need the strength of the Second Step of the Ninth Transformation, at the very least, to realize his plans.

But he was close.

Although his current comprehensive strength looked low on his status panel,

Seven Fist Transformations.

Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate Minor Achievement.

A normal cultivator with these stats could at most contend with an Eight Transformations Great Divine Ability User.

But he wasn’t normal.

Three-Phase Divine Punishment, three Fist Momentum schools in one!

Minor Achievement in the Nine Daoist Sects, enhanced by Human Potential Release!

Seventy-six revolutions of Primordial Magnetic Power!

After fully unleashing his state,

he could now easily crush the likes of the Saint Elephant Ancestor.

If he had to pinpoint his current level,

it would probably be half a step into Nine Transformations Great Success.

Conveniently,

his Potential Release was at 97%.

He was only half a step away from 98%.

In half a month,

he was confident that he could take that half step while fusing the four Techniques, thereby stepping fully into the Second Step of the Ninth Transformation and becoming the strongest person beneath the Absolute Peak.