Essence Devouring Art

”Central Plains Dali will defend to the death and never retreat!”

Perhaps noticing Wu Dao’s gaze, Zhou Heng let out a complicated sigh.

It seemed he had finally let go of all their past grievances. After his resonant declaration shook the heavens and earth, he withdrew the sea of books, and all returned to tranquility.

「A few days later.」

”Hahaha, I’ve done it! I’ve finally done it!!!”

「The Northern Lands.」

The Eighteen Layers of Purgatory rumbled and churned.

Its form and spirit were now complete.

The sun and moon vanished, and the world plunged into darkness.

Countless evil ghosts from the Netherworld roared, their cries shaking heaven and earth.

Clad in a magnificent red robe, Zhou Prison was like the King of Fengdu who commands the Netherworld. He swallowed the Eighteen Layers of Purgatory in a single gulp and roared with mad delight, displaying his power to the world.

「In the days that followed.」

In the Western Desert, the sky filled with blood and fire. Divine beings beat war drums, a mighty army roared, and the smoke of battle billowed across the heavens, heralding the birth of a new War God.

The East Sea shimmered with a kaleidoscopic light. Countless rare treasures from heaven and earth swarmed as if on a pilgrimage, forming a Ten Thousand Treasures River that surged into the Royal Capital like countless streams flowing to the sea. Jade Pearl Golden Lotuses rained from the sky, and mountains of gold and silver sprouted from the ground.

The Western Emperor and the Eastern Emperor.

One after another, they shattered their fetters and took the Fourth Step.

「Just one day later.」

「The Southern Border.」

「The Great Xu Country.」

All sentient beings...

...suddenly felt their very souls tremble, sensing an inexplicable, powerful presence rising from the Imperial Capital.

It soared straight up into the Nine Heavens.

The presence tugged at the destinies of all living things, as if the Master of Destiny, who holds sway over the fate of all creation, had descended upon the world.

There were no world-shaking phenomena.

Silent and unseen...

Prince Nanyang had also taken the Fourth Step.

”Excellent! Excellent! All the Emperors have reached the Fourth Step. We have a chance to survive this tribulation.”

With all the Emperors having reached the Fourth Step, the Great Divine Power Users across the land wept tears of joy. After being suppressed in deathly silence for so long, on the very brink of despair, the Emperors had finally burst forth in a blaze of glory.

Even though the future remained dark and uncertain...

...as long as these lights shone...

...they could at least see a glimmer of hope.

「On this same day.」

Within the withered, gray sea of bamboo...

...the last piece of porcelain fell from the old man’s face. The only human expression left was one of profound relief.

...

Time slowly passed.

The violent storm continued to gather strength.

Within the chaotic and ruined Divine Wilderness...

...all the Emperors lay in wait.

They waited for the torrential storm to finally break, ready to act for their own reasons, yet all intending to shield the future of the Divine Desolate Human Race.

RUMBLE—

On this day,

A clap of spring thunder cracked through the air,

startling every living being and stirring monstrous waves in the seas of their minds.

Just like when the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven first opened,

the vast fluctuations from the collision of two different space-times once again shook the entire Divine Wilderness World.

The space-time rifts that had scarred the skies of every land...

...suddenly contracted,

leaving behind only five shafts of golden light, like wells punched through the heavens.

Barely visible within,

one could vaguely make out vast, blurry figures shrouded in divine radiance at the far end. They had begun their journey from an immense distance, using the golden light to traverse the void and cross into this world.

’Three more days...’

From within the deep river of the cosmos,

Wu Dao opened his eyes and gazed down upon the world. Tapping into its myriad energies, he focused on the well-like openings in the sky and pinpointed the exact arrival time of the Tribulation Descenders from the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven.

SWOOSH~

With a single thought,

the Bitter Dust Robe, woven from countless scraps of mismatched cloth, expanded in the wind.

Resembling a Ten Thousand Monk’s Robe, it was simple and unadorned, radiating no divine light whatsoever.

But in just an instant,

the Bitter Dust Robe had already concealed this part of the world, hiding Wu Dao’s presence and bringing him into a strange domain between existence and non-existence.

”Bitter Dust Robe: Pseudo-Emperor Artifact (1%)”

’Short of someone with a True Dharma Aspect,’

’no one could hope to find him.’

This wasn’t about taking refuge.

In fact, hiding was useless.

Fate was not on his side; he would eventually be exposed.

He just needed a little more time—

[Physique: Human Perfection]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (???) +

Three-Phase Divine Punishment Fist: Thirty-three thousand years (Pseudo Dharma Aspect) +

Holy Spirit Transformation: Thirty-two thousand five hundred years (Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate, Eighteen Extreme Yang Heavens, Perfection) +]

[Great Divine Techniques:

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, Qiongqi’s Karmic Fire, Juntian Sacred Armor, Chaos Heart Monkey, Wind and Thunder Roar]

[Great All Heavens Divine Techniques: Immune to All Laws (Pseudo Dharma Aspect) +]

[Celestial Treasure: Bitter Dust Robe (Pseudo-Emperor Artifact 1%)

Celestial Treasure Advancement Ceremony: Suffering Dust Mortal Transformation.

Celestial Treasure Law: Concealing Celestial Secret, Cause and Effect Immunity.]

[Teleportation Points: 932,150]

’The last five hundred years...’

His consciousness swept over his Holy Spirit Transformation, which had reached Nine Transformations Perfection after thirty-two thousand, five hundred years of cultivation.

Wu Dao could feel that within his ancient, cosmos-like physique, ninety-nine percent of his Life Origin had already transformed, taking on the foundation of a Sacred Spirit.

He felt neither nervous nor excited.

Concealed by the Bitter Dust Robe,

he began his final push.

At the same time,

with a single thought,

he contacted his incarnation.

When the space-times of the two worlds collided for the second time,

that would be the moment the escape channel mentioned by the old monster would appear.

After preparing for so long,

it was time to send the Primordial Demons away.

...

「Divine Wilderness Central Earth.」

On a vast inland seabed in the Central Plains.

The center of the Divine Desolate Heaven and Earth that the old monster had spoken of.

It was a surreal space beneath a trench of unknown depth, a place where sight and sound twisted together like a distorted scroll.

RIPPLE~

At a certain moment,

the scroll-like spatial barrier rippled like water, and Wu Dao led nearly a hundred Primordial Demons and Yaya into this strange space.

’The center of heaven and earth.’

Wu Dao’s eyes were slightly closed as he activated his Magnetic Field. He could indeed feel it—a sense of being at the very center of the universe, standing at the heart of all things.

This location was very special.

It had a sense of ethereal unreality, as if it existed and yet didn’t.

If one didn’t already know the location,

it would be impossible to find from the outside, nor could one sense anything special about it.

Within the space,

a series of distorted scrolls...

...formed what looked like a spiral staircase.

At the very end was a channel of Chaos, like a round mirror or the mouth of a well, emitting a mysterious and unknown aura.

’Perhaps this channel is the sliver of hope the Great Dao granted to the Divine Wilderness amidst all the tribulations, and simply no one has ever found it?’

Wu Dao’s eyes flickered. He sent out a tendril of his Magnetic Field, suppressing its power below the threshold of a Divine Technique, and tried to approach the channel at the end.

HUMMM~

An intense feeling of repulsion and negation washed over him.

The channel shook,

looking as if it could crumble at any moment.

After seeing this,

Wu Dao stopped probing. The last vestige of wishful thinking in his heart vanished.

”Alliance Leader, is there really no other way?”

Zhao Jianji’s resonant voice was like the striking of a bell.

His swarthy physique reflected a cold, metallic luster, and he was nearly as tall as Wu Dao. But at this moment, the tough man was shedding tears, choking with reluctance to leave, like a wanderer about to depart from home.

By Wu Dao’s design,

he and the other Primordial Demons had forgotten their past, forgotten Wu Dao, forgotten the Divine Wilderness—they didn’t even have the concept of the Divine Wilderness anymore.

But the one thing they didn’t forget...

...was the loyalty, intimacy, and sense of belonging carved into their very bones and souls.

As long as they stayed by Wu Dao’s side,

they found meaning in their existence, and their hearts were filled with a peace they had never known.

Deep within their bloodline was a fervent devotion, like that of a zealot for their god; they were willing to sacrifice everything for Wu Dao.

That deep attachment to their creator, their Mother Goddess,

had already become too strong to sever.

”There is no need to look back. Remember your mission. I will be with you.”

Wu Dao smiled gently and tapped Zhao Jianji’s chest, right over his heart. He was indicating that he would always be with the Primordial Demons—quite literally occupying a space in their hearts.

”Through countless trials and tribulations, we will never betray you!”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Nearly a hundred Primordial Demons knelt on one knee in unison, striking their hearts with their fists. The resonant clang was like a tide of steel, and their roiling blood and energy shook the very space around them.

Two months of hellish training.

As of today,

of the nearly one hundred Primordial Demons, the weakest had reached the Great Success stage of the Horizontal Refining Fourth Gate. Ninety percent had stepped into the Horizontal Refining Fifth Gate, and the strongest seven had even reached Great Success in the Fifth Gate.

Their overall strength,

even in the Divine Wilderness, wouldn’t be considered strong.

But as long as they lay low and developed their strength,

with the inhuman, demonic will they had forged over two months, they would quickly grow to become formidable powers on a grand stage like Hongyuan.

”Go. Don’t disappoint me.”

Wu Dao grinned in satisfaction, pointed to the channel at the end of the Spiral Space, and issued his final command in the Divine Wilderness.

”As you command!”

Without any hesitation.

Fulfilling Wu Dao’s command was the sacred duty of the Primordial Demons.

Led by Zhao Jianji,

nearly a hundred Primordial Demons plunged into the Space-Time Channel like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

As the last Primordial Demon entered the channel,

the magnetic field connection between Wu Dao and the Primordial Magnetic Demon Embryos was completely severed. This meant the Primordial Demons had already entered another world, their presences vanishing completely from this one.

Within the Spiral Space,

silence returned after the Primordial Demons disappeared, leaving only the sound of coarse sniffing and inhaling.

Wu Dao lowered his gaze to his chest.

What met his eyes was a head of smooth white hair that even the finest silk could not compare to.

Just like when he first arrived in the Divine Wilderness,

Yaya was curled up in the ’pouch’ on his chest, constantly inhaling his scent.

Last time, it was with affection and dependence.

This time...

...it was with the naked greed and hunger of a fierce beast for its food.

As if sensing Wu Dao’s gaze,

a trace of ’reluctance’ flickered in Yaya’s scarlet eyes. She opened her twin rows of blood-red, shark-like teeth, took a great, gasping bite, and then, still seemingly unsated, wiped her mouth and leaped from the ’pouch’.

In two months,

Yaya had not only reverted to her true nature,

but she had also grown much taller.

She was around five-foot-three.

Her silvery-white hair flowed down to her ankles.

Her skin was as radiant as jade.

Her features, just beginning to blossom, held the promise of an otherworldly, nation-toppling beauty that no earthly loveliness could ever hope to match.

The only flaw...

...was that pair of crimson eyes, which glowed with a primal, feral light. They were like those of a starved beast prowling the darkened woods, shattering her aesthetic perfection and leaving not a trace of humanity.

However,

in Wu Dao’s eyes,

this wild, bestial nature was a bonus.

Even if she was just ’raw material,’

she was very much to his taste.

Amidst the silence,

Yaya raised her head, her haunting scarlet pupils looking directly into Wu Dao’s abyss-like eyes. She trembled slightly and then looked away.

Like a startled young animal at the foot of a mountain looking up at the Beast King on the peak, she felt a sense of inadequacy and retracted her newly sharpened, immature claws and fangs.

’When...’

’...will I be able to look Daddy in the eye?’

”Wu Dao, will you die?”

The silence was broken.

Yaya asked, her gaze lowered, a hint of ’concern’ in her voice.

Beasts have a keen, innate perception of danger.

Having followed Wu Dao to this place for two months, despite having no contact with the outside, Yaya could still sense the heavy, murderous atmosphere that permeated the world. A great and terrible darkness, a horrifying omen, was descending.

And Wu Dao...

...couldn’t escape!

WHOOSH~

A warm breath enveloped her.

Wu Dao squatted down to look Yaya in the eye, his broad hand caressing her face, and asked back in a gentle voice, ”Well, will Yaya die?”

”I won’t.”

Yaya bared her teeth in a smile. Before it could blossom into one of legendary beauty, it was shredded by the sight of two rows of scarlet, shark-like teeth, shattering the beautiful image.

”Then I won’t either.”

Wu Dao grinned as well, his own shark-like teeth like cold, distant stars glinting in an abyss.

”Pinky promise.”

”Haha, alright.”

A picture of fatherly love and filial piety, a scene of perfect harmony.

One large and one small pinky hooked together, their thumbs pressing to seal the promise.

Behind the childish oath...

...was the profound ’love’ each held for the other, a constant, gut-wrenching concern.

They had not yet become truly one, inseparable as glue.

How could one of them possibly allow death to separate them, to let the other take that final step alone?

WHOOSH~

After watching that fluttering wisp of snow disappear into the channel,

Wu Dao slowly exhaled a heavy breath. His gaze quickly went vacant. The incarnation disintegrated like sand in the wind, and his consciousness returned to his Main Body.

The last of his distracting thoughts were gone.

He no longer needed to divide his attention.

All of his energy could be poured into the final ascent.