Essence Devouring Art

The only right path was to charge forward with all his might.

There was no need to create unnecessary complications and delay his growth for a few Teleportation Points.

WHOOSH—

His consciousness returned to his Main Body.

His avatar continued to roam the world.

”Soon...”

Wu Dao’s body and soul dissolved into countless cellular particles. He ’glanced’ at the pure white Heavenly Punishment Domain, now only thirty meters above his head, and once again entered a state of dormancy.

Once he stepped into that domain,

even if only at the Absolute Peak,

no one in the world would ever be able to threaten his life again.

...

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

On the northern border of Guangqing Prefecture.

Deep within the Ten Thousand Peaks Snowfield.

A sinister wind howled as the sky grew dark and gloomy.

The once magnificent, snow-covered plains had, after the black snow disaster, completely transformed into a Black Sea, submerging many of the lower peaks.

’Hmm?’

At a certain moment, deep within the snowfield, an illusory figure woven from multicolored divine light, who had been strolling through the void, came to a halt.

OMM—

A large, iridescent hand reached out.

There was no earth-shattering phenomenon.

Like an eraser wiping away dirt from paper,

the thick snow on the ground vanished.

It revealed a flattened mountain base, clearly formed by someone trampling it down.

”Tread all peaks to level all mountains; beyond my mountain, none stand taller... What spirit.”

The figure of interwoven divine light stared at the sharp, powerful characters carved into the mountain base. He murmured in admiration, a flicker of curiosity in his heart about who had left them.

”Heh heh, that little fellow has more than just spirit.”

A faint, ancient voice spoke.

It seemed to exist not in this time and space, but somewhere between reality and nothingness.

WHOOSH—

A gust of cold wind mixed with black snow swept past.

The figure of interwoven divine light flickered slightly before stabilizing. He bowed deeply toward the depths of the snowfield, performing the ritual greeting of a junior, and said:

”This latter-day junior, Zhou Yuan, pays his respects to the Great Emperor.”

Zhou Yuan!

The Demon Suppression Emperor!

He was a Great Emperor himself, yet he was bowing to another Emperor.

It wasn’t hard to imagine,

just what kind of figure this ”Great Emperor” he addressed was.

OMM—

As the Demon Suppression Emperor’s voice faded, a towering mountain deep in the snowfield trembled. A beam of blood-red light, so condensed it seemed both real and illusory, shot out from a Grotto Heaven within the mountain.

Within that bloody light, a terrifying vision flickered and vanished: a madman throwing a punch, causing the starry cosmos to collapse, while countless Gods and Demons bled and fell from the Nine Heavens.

WHOOSH—

The beam of blood-red light was like a lonely ghost, banished beyond the bounds of space and time.

Aside from the horrifying vision, its passage caused no disturbance in the world. It drifted silently before the interwoven divine light of Zhou Yuan and hovered there.

An formless gaze, filled with scrutiny.

Even though it was just a faint, firefly-like wisp of bloody light,

someone as powerful as the Demon Suppression Emperor still felt a terrifying tremor from the depths of his soul the moment the gaze from within the light fell upon him.

His own existence felt infinitely small.

It was like facing the gaze of an Emperor among gods, one who sat atop the Ninefold Celestial Palace, looking down upon all worlds as their supreme ruler. He could not muster the slightest thought of resistance or defiance.

”Tsk.”

After a moment of scrutiny, a bored voice spoke from within the bloody light, offering a critique:

”Among Dharma Aspects are the supreme grades: King Grade’s Nine Dragons Coiling a Pillar, Saint Grade’s Violet Qi Fills the Nine Heavens, and Emperor Grade’s Thirty-Three Heavens.

Different categories, different potentials.

They determine how far one can go in the future.

You were too eager for quick success.

You should have had the potential of a Saint, with a Dharma Aspect like ’Violet Qi Fills the Nine Heavens.’ Instead, you ended up with the aspect of a common genius, not even reaching the supreme grades. It’s an ambiguous form at that. Truly a waste.

And...”

At this point, the Slaughter Emperor’s gaze turned playful. ”Eagerness for success always comes with drawbacks. You won’t be able to maintain this humanity of yours for much longer, will you?”

”The Great Emperor’s lesson is correct, but... this junior had no choice.”

Zhou Yuan’s gaze was lowered, showing no sign of rebellion.

As one of the first cultivators to reach the peak after the Nine Tribulations, he certainly knew what the Dharma Level after attaining Divine Techniques meant.

He also knew what he would become after losing his humanity.

But just as he said,

he had no choice.

He didn’t have the right to choose.

Under the suppression of the Great Dao,

achieving even this ambiguous form in six hundred years

was already incredibly difficult.

To hope for more would have been to overestimate his own abilities.

”Hmph. This Emperor gave you a path back then, and the right to choose. You were just too stupid to take it.”

The Slaughter Emperor scoffed in disdain.

During the thirty thousand years of the Nine Tribulations,

in every single tribulation,

the Slaughter Emperor would select a ’Dao Seed’ he favored to lay the groundwork for the future.

Over six hundred years ago, when Zhou Yuan swept across the world, reigning as an invincible Emperor, he had a chance encounter with the Slaughter Emperor.

Zhou Yuan had asked the Slaughter Emperor for a way to save the world.

But the Slaughter Emperor, the main culprit, showed not the slightest hint of guilt or remorse.

He had only stated coldly:

”A bunch of useless ants, what value is there in saving them?”

That single sentence had allowed Zhou Yuan to finally, truly understand just what kind of madman the Slaughter Emperor was.

Utterly heartless and devoid of loyalty, he never regretted his actions.

In his heart, there was only his own Dao.

Beyond that, every other existence was merely a tool for his advancement. He had no concept of so-called merit, demerit, good, or evil, let alone feelings of remorse or guilt.

Perhaps in his heart, the only regret he had was not being strong enough back then.

However, just as Zhou Yuan was despairing and enraged, the Slaughter Emperor had offered something.

If Zhou Yuan was willing to walk his path, he could point him toward a path of survival.

Unsurprisingly, Zhou Yuan refused.

He had pacified a chaotic world, suppressed Evil Demons, and cared for all the common people. How could he possibly walk the Slaughter Emperor’s path of heartless slaughter?

The two parted on bad terms.

Over six hundred years had passed since that separation.

Seeking out the Slaughter Emperor again, Zhou Yuan wasn’t planning to bow his head and fall from grace. Instead...

”The Ten Tribulations are coming, and the Divine Wilderness will perish.”

Zhou Yuan’s voice was weak and sorrowful. He bowed deeply once more and spoke in a near-trembling tone:

”This junior... dares to... once again implore the Great Emperor to show the Divine Wilderness a path to survival, even if it’s only to preserve... a single spark.”

”Heh...”

Faced with Zhou Yuan’s plea, the Slaughter Emperor was unmoved. He replied just as coldly, ”This Emperor does indeed have a way and could preserve a spark for the Divine Wilderness before the Great Tribulation fully descends.

But...

this Emperor said it six hundred years ago, and it’s still true six hundred years later: they are not worthy of this Emperor’s salvation.

Giving a bunch of trash an escape route...

What’s the use?

Just like you now.

You’ve also become trash, and this Emperor never invests in trash.

However...”

At this, the Slaughter Emperor changed his tune, speaking mockingly, ”Who can blame this Emperor for being kind-hearted? What’s the harm in bestowing a path upon you?”

Faced with the Slaughter Emperor’s humiliation, Zhou Yuan did not get angry.

Because the heights they stood on were like the stars in the Nine Heavens compared to the dust on the ground.

Getting angry would only be the rage of the powerless.

It was utterly meaningless.

”I ask for Senior’s guidance.”

After hearing the Slaughter Emperor change his tune, Zhou Yuan’s body trembled slightly. Even though he could clearly hear the mockery in the Slaughter Emperor’s tone, he immediately grasped this thorny lifeline.

”Heh heh, simple.”

The bloody light swayed as the Slaughter Emperor said playfully:

”Annihilate this tribulation’s Tribulation Descenders and cross the turbulent currents of spacetime beyond the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven. Then you can naturally escape the Divine Wilderness.

The path has been shown to you.

Whether you can do it or not depends on your own ability. Hahaha.”

Amidst his wild laughter, the Slaughter Emperor’s swaying bloody light vanished into the vast snowfield, having apparently lost all interest in continuing the conversation.

Six hundred years ago, he had valued Zhou Yuan’s potential and was willing to invest.

But six hundred years later, his attention was completely captivated by the monster that was Wu Dao. He even had the unprecedented idea of ’a cuckoo occupying the magpie’s nest’.

In the end, his gamble failed.

He didn’t have the slightest regret, nor was he flustered and exasperated.

On the contrary, he admired Wu Dao even more.

So after the gamble ended, he not only forcibly stuffed Wu Dao with the Great All Heavens Divine Technique, Reversed Celestial Spirit, and many of the arrangements he had made outside the Divine Wilderness, but also told Wu Dao of a path to self-preservation that the Demon Suppression Emperor had sought but could not obtain.

Once Wu Dao set foot on that path, the moment he escaped his predicament in the future would be the moment Wu Dao was completely bound to him, the Slaughter Emperor.

As for the path given to Zhou Yuan, it was indeed a real method.

The Dragon Mud Cave Heaven was the connection point between the Divine Wilderness and the outer world of Hongyuan. If he could kill all the Tribulation Descenders and seize control of the Grotto Heaven, there was indeed a sliver of a chance for survival.

The reason it was called a ’sliver of a chance’ was because, even if the Divine Wilderness won this time, crossing the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven was still a near-impossible feat.

So in essence, this path to life was still one with a ninety percent chance of death!

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

The sinister wind howled, and black snow danced in the air.

But colder still was Zhou Yuan’s heart, which had just been burning with hope before being doused with ice water.

Annihilate the Tribulation Descenders.

Traverse the turbulence of spacetime.

A path to survival?

It was.

But for the current Divine Wilderness...

The prerequisites...

...were as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The Nine Tribulations all ended in failure!

In past eras, there were plenty of people with far more talent and genius than them.

But they still failed.

Born in the era of the End of the Dharma, they were living through the Tenth Tribulation, the most hopeless of all...

What made them think they could win?

WHOOSH—

Suppressing the pessimism in his heart, Zhou Yuan took one last deep look into the depths of the snowfield, then turned and vanished into the void, ending this brief meeting between two Emperors.

Regardless,

this tribulation was the Divine Wilderness’s last chance.

Even if his soul were to scatter and his Dao perish,

as the pillar supporting the heavens, the one closest to them,

even for just a sliver of hope,

he would carve out a bloody path for all the living beings of the Divine Wilderness!