Essence Devouring Art

HUMMM—

Within the silent, dead spacetime.

Devoid of light and color, sound and breath.

Or perhaps it was a great hand, one that devoured all the light in the world, all mighty power, all things tangible and intangible, all sounds and images and the Ten Thousand Techniques. It rose from beneath the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Wherever it passed,

everything, tangible and intangible, microscopic and macroscopic—

the light of any Divine Communication Technique or power was extinguished, annihilated into the primal, dark nothingness that existed at the dawn of time!

WHOOSH—

Like sandstone weathering away.

The Great Silence of All Heavens, the moment it touched the Primordial Magnetic Celestial Saber, actually ’weathered’ away and was annihilated inch by inch under the cold gaze of Qing Yu Celestial Venerable!

The annihilation was endless.

It seemed as though everything Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s gaze fell upon was destined to return to primal darkness.

Annihilation!

A frenzied annihilation!

The Primordial Magnetic Celestial Saber completely dissipated into the darkness.

The colorless, light-devouring darkness surged like a tide,

carrying the power of primordial annihilation.

In the nearly frozen spacetime,

it enveloped the Divine Demon Fist.

It submerged the towering, magnificent physique.

It transformed the ten thousand miles of the world into a Great Annihilation domain—a place without light or form, colorless and shapeless, even more profound than a black hole.

”Is he dead?”

”Perhaps?”

”It is a Creation Divine Technique, after all... No, wait!”

The Great Powers from all factions, watching from ten thousand miles away, stared at the domain of Great Annihilation Darkness. Just as the grimness in their eyes was about to fade, they discovered something even more terrifying!

The golden light marking of the Great Dao!

It had not dissipated!!

”What kind of monster are you?!?!”

The shocked thought had barely formed

when it was interrupted by an even more incredulous roar from within the darkness!

RUMBLE—!

Like a colossal cosmic black hole beginning to spin!

In an instant,

an indescribable and unimaginable gravitational force erupted from within the Great Annihilation Darkness domain. Like an oceanic whirlpool, it spun with a thunderous roar, swallowing the darkness that spanned ten thousand miles!

Finally...

under the shocked gazes from all eight directions,

in the center of the vacuum of space,

a spherical black hole appeared!

An ultimate blackness!

It tolerated not a single speck of light!

It surpassed the previous Great Silence of All Heavens!

It devoured all light within a radius of tens of thousands of miles.

The only thing visible

was Qing Yu Celestial Venerable beneath the crumbling Thirty-Three Heavens—his hair disheveled, his body withered, his face twisted in a ferocious roar!

A monster!

A true monster!

This wasn’t a metaphor for some monstrously talented individual!

But someone who was inhuman in every aspect!

A monster that could not even be understood through the concept of life itself!

He was at his wit’s end!

Something unprecedented, unseen for countless eons across all tribulations, something that shattered his entire worldview, was happening right before his eyes, assaulting his very soul!

It finally broke through Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s composure, making him roar!

That was one of the Ten Great Creation Divine Techniques!

On what basis!

On what basis could some hick from the backwoods—

—some fugitive abandoned by the era, possibly withstand it!!

”I’ve been wanting to see this for a while.”

From within the utterly profound black hole,

Wu Dao’s Sen Leng voice rang out. His mocking gaze pierced through the darkness, looking down on the contorted face of Qing Yu Celestial Venerable. ”This look of yours... the impotent rage of a defeated dog. Hahaha!!”

His laughter, a crescendo of indescribable excitement, thundered in all ten directions, like a commoner dragging an emperor from his throne only to trample him brutally underfoot!

This ultimate, suffocating humiliation,

surpassing even the earlier disgrace of kneeling and crawling between his legs, made Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s eyes feel as if they would burst and bleed!

He couldn’t die.

But everything he had experienced today

would become a mental demon more terrifying than death. So long as Wu Dao was not eliminated, it would be like maggots clinging to his bones, a shadow that followed his every move!

”Taking a pile of scrap metal and dog shit, putting on airs, acting all high and mighty... You’re just a shit-licker!!”

Wu Dao’s voice suddenly turned utterly Sen Leng.

If he could no longer provide any amusement,

then he would die!!

VMMMM—

The black hole that had devoured all the light in the world abruptly shifted from extreme stillness to extreme motion, spinning at a high-frequency, supersonic speed!

CRACKLE! POP! SIZZLE—

The sound of flashing lightning and exploding thunder rocked the Nine Heavens!

Only now

did Qing Yu Celestial Venerable and the Great Powers from all factions truly see!

Beneath that thin membrane of the black hole

was a solid Gang Shield woven from countless thread-like black electromagnetic strands!

The familiar aura of the Great Annihilation!

The familiar Energy fluctuations!

Everything proved

that this Gang Shield had been formed by swallowing the so-called mighty power of Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s Great Silence of All Heavens palm strike!

’The Great All Heavens Divine Techniques becoming a Reversed Celestial Spirit?’

No!

It was even more terrifying than the Reversed Celestial Spirit!

A true case of using the enemy’s strength against them!

Once again, something that surpassed all understanding was happening right before their eyes.

Even with the combined knowledge of Qing Yu Celestial Venerable and all the Great Powers, they could not identify what terrifying Divine Technique could counter and even suppress one of the Ten Strongest Creation Divine Techniques!

They would never imagine, not even if they racked their brains until they broke,

that what they called a terrifying Divine Technique

was merely a brand-new Primordial Magnetic Great Divine Technique that Wu Dao had developed in less than a year, surpassing its predecessor—

Immune to All Laws!

The Ten Great Creation Divine Techniques were indeed the strongest!

But it’s the Divine Technique that’s strong!

Not the person wielding it!

The Pseudo-Dharma Level Immune to All Laws,

empowered by the second, liberated Shen Wutian...

...naturally resulted in—

Fucking everything, I alone am king!

BOOM!!

After the Invincible True Gang spun to its absolute limit, it was as if the black hole evaporated. All the magnetic field Energy converged and flung out a lightless Silent Extinction Dragon, which annihilated all things as it viciously lashed out at the dog-spawn Celestial Venerable!

”Make your move!!”

Seeing that Qing Yu Celestial Venerable had lost all momentum, the onlooking Great Powers from all factions could finally no longer hold back.

RUMBLE—

One after another, heaven-blotting hands reached out, manifesting various Great Divine Techniques. A kaleidoscope of colors instantly filled the heavens and earth, striking horizontally at the Silent Extinction Dragon.

Previously, they had trusted Qing Yu Celestial Venerable.

They believed that with his power, killing a fugitive from the Wilderness would be no problem at all.

But after getting slapped in the face time and time again,

that trust began to crumble.

When Qing Yu Celestial Venerable was finally at his wit’s end and had been reduced to a complete clown, they could no longer contain themselves—

’Brother, just stop trying to act tough.’

’We know your might as a Celestial Venerable is inviolable,’

’but right now your power is limited. You’re outmatched, and you’re about to be beaten into a dead dog. You don’t look like a Celestial Venerable at all, so stop putting on those pathetic airs.’

”Ah, you abominations!!”

The moment the Great Powers made their move, the pride in Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s heart finally snapped completely. He went utterly berserk with rage!

The Thirty-Three Heavens reappeared, and three killing sabers shone. At the same time, he raised his hand to blot out the sky and unleashed another Great Silence of All Heavens.

CLANG—BOOM!!

The combined attack of Celestial Venerable Ancestral Level figures—a joint effort of six Absolute Peak Pseudo Dharma Aspects—unleashed a terrifyingly extreme mighty power that was far greater than the sum of its parts.

Multicolored divine light pierced through spacetime in all eight directions.

With the force of splitting bamboo,

it annihilated the Silent Extinction Dragon on the spot!

And its momentum unabated, it blasted toward Wu Dao, who was inside his Invulnerable Gang Shield.

HUMMM—

Layer after layer of Primordial Magnetic Vortex Wheels spun within his body.

Wu Dao’s pupils, like a Black Abyss, showed no fluctuation aside from the ultimate madness of slaughter. He chose to face this combined attack head-on!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—

The might of the six brilliant Divine Techniques was like cosmic stars hurtling through space. They sealed off all paths of retreat in the ten directions and slammed viciously into Wu Dao’s majestic physique.

SPLASH—

It was like meteorites plunging into the ocean’s surface.

Under the bombardment of the various Divine Techniques, Wu Dao’s body rippled with layer upon layer of splendid Primordial Magnetic waves. The cores of the ripples were like countless vortexes, madly swallowing and converting the foreign magnetic field Energy.

Visible to the naked eye,

as more and more magnetic field Energy from the Divine Techniques was devoured, the Invulnerable Gang Shield began to rapidly expand like an inflating balloon.

In an instant, its radius spanned several thousand miles. It spun with a high-frequency rumble like an indestructible Divine Furnace, illuminating the endless Dark World.

CRACK!!

The sound of shattering Divine Iron rang out!

While the Invulnerable Gang Shield expanded without pause, cracks also began to appear and shatter across Wu Dao’s flesh and blood!

There is no such thing as an absolute spear or an absolute shield!

The four great powers of the world!

Five Great Powers at the Sect Founder Level!

In the Pseudo-Dharma Realm,

they were only a notch weaker than Qing Yu Celestial Venerable.

With the six of them attacking together,

even Wu Dao, with his liberated Shen Wutian, had finally...

...sustained a flesh wound!

BOOM!!

When the Invulnerable Gang Shield swelled to a critical point, Wu Dao’s gaze turned cold. He rotated the magnetic field, returning all the ’borrowed’ Energy!

He wasn’t some stupid boss in a video game with a mechanic that forced him to stand still and let people pour on the damage to lower his health bar. When faced with danger, he would naturally counterattack!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—

As the Invulnerable Gang Shield contracted and spun, pulses of energy like supernova explosions were returned in kind, traversing the distance of spacetime to blast viciously toward the Great Powers!

VMMMM!!

But the alliance of the six Pseudo Dharma Aspects lived up to their former reputations as monsters. They wove together a Divine Net, layer by layer, and managed to forcefully dissipate the returned Divine Techniques, neutralizing their mighty power.

Wu Dao raised his eyes and surveyed the eight directions.

What met his gaze were vast and majestic Holy Spirit Starry Skies and layer upon layer of Celestial Domain Dharma Aspects!

It wasn’t just Qing Yu Celestial Venerable!

The Tribulation Descenders of the four great powers!

Former monsters!

The Great Powers and Sect Founders of today!

In their youth, every single one of them had stepped into the Yang God Realm!

What was even more frightening

were their Dharma Aspects!

Although they couldn’t compare to Qing Yu Celestial Venerable’s Thirty-Three Heavens,

the weakest among them was still the Twenty-four Heavens!

Every one of them was a Yang God!

Every one of them had an Emperor Grade Dharma Aspect!

And...

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—

The clash of weapons split the heavens, and the Fist Momentum blazed brightly!

They manifested one majestic Dharma Aspect after another, each one tied to the fundamental order and Laws of Heaven and Earth!

Military Momentum! Fist Momentum!

All had stepped into the Pseudo-Dharma Realm!

”You may be a true monster, but you are constrained by the limits of heaven and earth. Two fists can fight four hands, but what about twelve?”

Bai Wuhen, the Domain Master of the Life Destruction Domain in the Luotian Sword Realm of Daluo Heaven, spoke coldly.

He wielded the Ruler Killing Sword. Above his head floated a Thirty-Layer Sword Dao Celestial Domain, and his Sword Momentum had even manifested an Asura Dharma Aspect constructed from countless swords of white bone. His aura was second only to Qing Yu Celestial Venerable.

Ganging up on a single opponent,

and a group of Celestial Venerable Ancestors at that, against a junior from a younger generation—it was utterly shameless and disgraceful.

If word of this got out,

it would surely become the laughingstock of the Hongyuan era for the next ten thousand years.

But...

it didn’t matter.

As long as they killed Wu Dao,

history would naturally be written by the victors!!

Amidst the many layers of Celestial Domains,

at the center of the world, besieged by majestic Dharma Aspects,

”Heh!”

the lone figure of Wu Dao, as small as a speck of dust, stood firm in the void. Hearing the words, he merely sneered, cracked his neck, and declared in a domineering, thunderous voice:

”You want a group fight? Fine. Come on out!!”

’Dharma Aspects?’

’I’ve got a whole bunch of them!!’

VMM! VMM! VMM—

Before his voice had even faded,

under the astonished and uncertain gazes from all directions, Wu Dao’s body erupted with the Power of Undying Soul Intent, as vast as an abyssal ocean.

It was as if the King of Hell Demon Gods had blown his horn to summon his troops, and one majestic Demon God after another began to crawl out of the eternal darkness and roar upon the world!

The Three-Phase Divine Punishment emerged!

CRACKLE! SIZZLE!!

Flashes of lightning appeared!

’Pure Celestial Thunder? How is that possible?’

Under the incredulous gaze of the Goddess from the Thunder Emperor Palace, an endless torrent of pure white, celestial-might-infused lightning erupted from Wu Dao’s Divine Soul.

To Wu Dao’s left, it transformed into the majestic shadow of a God and Demon, wearing an Emperor’s Crown and wielding Celestial Punishment!

How could it be possible!

That a living being would dare to refine a Dharma Aspect with Celestial Thunder?!

A single misstep,

would mean their soul shattering and their Dao perishing!

A true madman...

The appearance of the Celestial Punishment Dharma Aspect completely shattered the worldview of the Goddess from the Thunder Emperor Palace, who specialized in the Thunder Dao.

But this was only the beginning!

’Celestial Thunder?’

’What an old hag!’

’Wu Dao was raising two even more terrifying behemoths!!’

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

The aura of Purgatory—the final destination for all living things—began to surge forth. The suffering of Immortal Gods, the wails of gods and ghosts, echoed from layer after layer of the Mud Furnace Purgatory, for all eternity, with no hope of reincarnation!

As one’s gaze rose from the layers of the Mud Prison Abyss, one would see that all the scenes of Hell were contained within the body of another God and Demon shadow to Wu Dao’s right, also wearing an Emperor’s Crown!

SPLASH—

The Endless Sea of Suffering churned. Within its crashing waves were tales of desperate lives filled with hardship. The Sea of Suffering is boundless, and there is no shore to turn back to.

But there was divinity!

A divinity forged in the Sea of Suffering.

It had not destroyed Wu Dao’s humanity. On the contrary, he had continuously refined it into the most terrifying of the Three-Phase Divine Punishment Fist techniques: the Sea of Suffering Fist Phase!

This was also why the Sea of Suffering Divine Aspect

could occupy the central position!

Even if the Demon Suppression Emperor were revived at his peak,

all his divine radiance would dim before the Sea of Suffering Fist Phase, which shone its divine light upon the boundless suffering from its central position!

[PS: Afraid of losing my perfect attendance bonus, so I’m posting two Chapters first. More to come later.]