Essence Devouring Art

”Good heavens, is this Purgatory?”

”Just the tip of the iceberg is this terrifying. It’s hard to imagine how brutal the great war of the Four Tribulations must have been.”

”How brutal? I heard even a Great Emperor fell in that war.”

”Be careful, everyone. If you’re exposed to the Tribulation Qi for too long, it can corrupt your Dantian and Divine Soul, causing you to fall to madness. You have to return to the outer ring periodically to cleanse it.”

”That fellow is right. Once you’re inside the Tribulation Qi, all contact with the outside world is severed. The deeper you go, the weaker your Divine Soul’s senses become. You must know your limits. If you get lost in there, no one can save you.”

Atop the altar.

Everyone felt like survivors on an isolated island caught in a tsunami.

They watched the multi-hued Tribulation Qi churning millions of miles away, blotting out the sky above the ruined landscape. Their faces were filled with dread as they chattered incessantly.

WHOOSH~

Amidst the crowd.

Wu Dao’s gaze pierced through the distant Tribulation Qi, which pulsed with a destructive aura. He took a deep breath, drawing in a sliver of the Extraordinary Energy from within the Emperor Star.

It was as fierce as fire, as wild as a beast!

It was the complete opposite of the gentle, pure Extraordinary Factors of the outside world.

If a normal cultivator tried to absorb it...

...it would be like trading a gourmet feast for poison to quench one’s thirst.

In an environment like this,

if one’s cultivation wasn’t profound enough,

forget about venturing deep into the Tribulation Qi for opportunities; just lingering on the outskirts for too long risked a descent into madness.

However,

what was a fiery hell in the eyes of others...

...was a Human Immortal Realm to Wu Dao.

He felt like a mouse that had fallen into a granary.

The more violent the Magnetic Field, the more he felt in his element. Power that was too gentle and soft felt lackluster to absorb.

”Fellow cultivators, I assume this is your first time on the Emperor Star as well. Since that’s the case, why don’t we form an alliance and face this together?”

Just then,

within the crowd on the altar,

several quick-witted individuals with leadership qualities began rallying the other cultivators, and many were receptive.

Most of the people here,

aside from a few reasonably strong lone wolves, hailed from minor sects and families across the various Celestial Domains.

Their strength was quite limited.

It was rare to see even a handful of them with Emperor Grade Dharma Aspects.

The great powers of the All Heavens wouldn’t give them the time of day, so their only choice was to band together for survival, fumbling for treasure in the darkness of the Emperor Star.

If their strength wasn’t sufficient,

and they acted alone,

they’d likely be murdered for their treasures before they even found an opportunity.

This was no exaggeration.

Ever since landing on the altar, Wu Dao had felt it.

From the settlement—a safe zone of sorts, built at some unknown time below the altar—more than one covetous gaze swept across them, brimming with greed.

The moment someone entered the Tribulation Qi Forbidden Area alone,

they would undoubtedly be slaughtered like a fat sheep by the predators in the city. All their hard-won Creation would become someone else’s good fortune.

Over the past ten million years,

such incidents were not uncommon.

Most people claimed to be here for treasure, but in reality, they used this place to act as bandits, engaging in risk-free robbery and plundering on a massive scale.

The reason they dared to be so vicious

was that once they left the outer safe zone for the tribulation zone, all contact with the outside world was severed. They had no fear of retaliation.

’That saves me a lot of trouble.’

As Wu Dao felt the greedy gazes from below sweeping over his body, a hungry look flickered in his own eyes.

He chose not to join any of the factions.

Instead, like a reckless greenhorn, he eagerly rushed off alone toward the Tribulation Qi Forbidden Area.

The Primordial Dao Wheel he had forged in the Star Ruins

had been completely depleted after a year of arduous cultivation.

One of his main goals for entering the Taiyi Emperor Star was to gather enough materials to reforge it.

Previously, he had been worried about exposing his abilities

and had acted cautiously.

But now that he understood the rules of the Emperor Star,

he could finally let loose and operate freely in the forbidden area.

Back on the altar,

the cultivators near Wu Dao saw him leave by himself and couldn’t help but shake their heads and sneer.

”Truly, the ignorant know no fear.”

”A mere Saint Grade at the Ninth Step. He probably heard a few stories about the Emperor Star being paved with treasure and let the greed go to his head.”

”Just watch. The veterans in the settlement will probably eat him alive, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.”

In the area where the Loose Cultivators gathered,

though none had a Grotto Heaven,

and it was rare to see anyone above the Tenth Heaven of the Emperor Grade,

there was no shortage of vicious packs of jackals and wolves. Cultivators at the Ninth Step of the Saint Grade were a dime a dozen.

To act alone without sufficient strength

was no different from seeking death.

Sure enough,

not long after Wu Dao departed,

figures with sinister auras flew out from the settlement below. They concealed themselves in the void, tailing him from a great distance.

What’s more,

some among the newly arrived crowd on the altar also harbored ill intent. After exchanging a few glances with their companions, they too followed, hoping to fish in muddied waters.

Once inside the forbidden area,

the law of the jungle reigned supreme.

It was purely the survival of the fittest.

You could ’devour’ others, and in turn, others could devour you.

WHOOSH~

Atop the corrupted earth, which writhed like rotting flesh, Wu Dao crossed a million miles with each step, unhurriedly approaching the raging tide of Tribulation Qi that billowed like a sea curtain at the edge of the world.

With a mere thought,

the entire Magnetic Field of the Ten Directions was as clear to him as the lines on his palm.

Magnetic models of every Dharma Aspect hiding in the void behind him formed in his mind. They held no secrets from him, inside or out.

’Thirty at the Ninth Step of Saint Grade, and two at the First Step of Emperor Grade. Not bad.’

A small smile played on Wu Dao’s lips, as if he were gazing at a school of plump fish.

That was right.

He was fishing.

The settlement was a gathering point for cultivators from All Heavens.

Those capable enough to act as bandits and plunderers were naturally the prize catches among them.

By revealing a hint of ”plumpness”...

...and feigning ignorance and weakness,

they would deliver themselves to his doorstep like sharks smelling blood in the water.

RUMBLE—

After a few more steps,

Wu Dao finally entered the forbidden area ravaged by Tribulation Qi.

It was like entering a chaotic Thunder Sea. His senses were slightly suppressed, and in the distance, he could see crimson bolts of lightning splitting the corrupted earth, carving out deep abysses.

Even more strangely,

within Wu Dao’s perception,

he could clearly detect

that folded within the Tribulation Qi were layers upon layers of Little Grotto Heavens containing ruined landscapes, as well as somber worlds filled with pure, destructive Tribulation Qi.

In still other spaces,

the Emperor Star’s Law of Order permeated everything.

Countless, densely packed Dao Pattern characters glittered, slowly mending the damaged regions.

’According to legend, the Chaotic Star Heaven contains the Star Divine Domain, which absorbs and releases the stellar essence of the Grand Cosmos for the All Heavens and Myriad Realms. It was said to have been constructed by the two Star Lords, Taiyin and Taiyang, who modeled it after comprehending the Dao Essence of the Taiyi Emperor Star. I wonder if the two are connected?’

Wu Dao slowly advanced, avoiding pockets of spatio-temporal turbulence that erupted from collapsing worlds, his mind churning with information about the Taiyi Emperor Star.

The Taiyi Emperor Star.

At its peak, it was second only to a Dao Artifact in power.

It carried the Dao and Techniques of the Taiyi Star Emperor.

Its path to Dao Attainment was to become the Primordial Ancestral Star, destined to rule over the infinite stars of the All Heavens and Universe.

Although the Taiyi Star Emperor never achieved Dao Attainment,

the Emperor Star he forged still possessed a fraction of an Ancestral Star’s Mighty Power. It gathered the Star Power of the universe and contained an infinite Power of Great Dao Order.

It was said that if revived to its peak,

the Taiyi Emperor Star could leverage the Power of the Great Dao to a certain degree, commanding the Power of the Stars from every world in the entire Chaotic Star Celestial Domain for both offense and defense.

This was also why,

during the time of the Four Tribulations,

the Taiyi Star Emperor was able to forcibly move battlefields from all across the Celestial Domain into the Emperor Star.

Everything Wu Dao was now seeing and hearing—

the land, the mountains, the rivers, the stars,

and even the innumerable Pocket Worlds—

had been moved here from the Chaotic Star Heaven by the Taiyi Star Emperor during the Four Tribulations, encompassing all of creation.

The so-called treasure troves,

aside from the tombs of fallen Great Powers,

were primarily the troves of Creation left in the Ancestral Lands of the Four Tribulations Chaotic Star Heaven’s Overlord Forces, all of which had been relocated here.

In a way,

what was buried within the Taiyi Emperor Star

was the accumulated heritage of an Extraordinary Civilization, built over countless years by ninety percent of the peak races from an entire era of the Chaotic Star Heaven.

Given its sheer scale and volume,

it was no wonder the Taiyi Emperor Star was considered the greatest of all treasure troves in the All Heavens.

RUMBLE—BOOM!

A cataclysmic roar shook the chaotic world for hundreds of millions of miles,

snapping Wu Dao out of his thoughts.

He looked toward the source of the sound.

In the far distance, a Pocket World had finally collapsed under the relentless assault of the Tribulation Qi.

It swelled, disintegrated, and imploded into a black hole.

This triggered a terrifying void storm that twisted, broke down, and devoured the surrounding landscape, teleporting it to places unknown.

Several nearby Pocket Worlds

were also caught in the blast.

The cultivators exploring for treasure within them were annihilated by the exploding Tribulation Qi before they had a chance to escape.

Danger lurked with every step.

Opportunity and death existed side-by-side.

This was the reality of the Taiyi Emperor Star.

WHOOSH~

After Wu Dao retracted his gaze,

he sensed the restless group of Dharma Aspects behind him. A faint smile touched his lips as he feigned a look of delight and eagerly stepped into a nearby Pocket World.

A million miles behind him,

the dozen or so Dharma Aspects hiding in the void saw Wu Dao enter a Pocket World alone.

”Move in!”

The leader greedily licked the strange, ink-black hollow dagger in his hand, then charged forward with a shout.

How does one commit robbery in the Extraordinary World?

Naturally, if the target has a Storage Treasure, you take that first.

If there’s no Storage Treasure,

then you use a space-cutting weapon to forcibly carve open the ”fat sheep’s” Dantian and scoop out their wealth, just like digging out fish roe.

If the Elixir Field Space is shattered,

the pain is no less than a trip through Hell itself.

It’s easy to imagine just how cruel the bandits of the Extraordinary World could be.

If you were unlucky enough to meet the more extreme ones,

they wouldn’t even spare your body and soul. Both have plenty of uses and could be sold for a high price.

”Tsk. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. What a bunch of fools. After I’ve cleaned you all out, I’ll take the goods to the black market and make a killing.”

After the first group of bandits entered the Grotto Heaven,

another, more ruthless group led by a sinister old man appeared. They were after not only treasure, but lives as well.

”Heh heh, my Ten Thousand Souls Gourd is just missing a few key ingredients. Brothers, once we’re inside, cut down anyone you see!”

After the old man’s group,

an even more vicious band of marauders revealed themselves from the void. The look in their eyes was so ravenous they seemed ready to devour people whole.

”Shopkeeper, this batch of ’goods’ is first-rate! If we get them to the Primordial Yang Cave, they’re sure to attract plenty of clients.”

...

Following them,

several more groups of ”orioles” appeared.

Each more vicious than the last.

They poured into the Grotto Heaven one after another.

Once the last of the ”orioles” had entered,

CLANG CLANG CLANG—

the sound of a Divine Iron Gate crashing down and locking resounded through the magnetic field. The Pocket World was completely severed from the outside.

The first group of bandits to enter

found themselves enveloped in a profound darkness upon bursting into the Grotto Heaven. There was no up or down, only gloom in all Ten Directions.

It was as if they had entered a forgotten land, abandoned by the heavens and the earth. All their connections to the world were severed and stripped away.

An indescribable fear of the unknown

instantly washed away all their greed. They felt as if their very existence was fading. One of them, trying to hide his fear with bluster, roared, ”You bastard, get the hell out here!”

The instant he spoke,

from several other directions,

other voices, thick with suppressed fear, rang out.

”Damn you, vile creature! How dare you plot against me!”

”Boss, we can’t get out!”

”Which friend is this? Please, don’t be rash. We can all profit peacefully.”

Curses, cries of fear, and wheedling pleas.

A full display of human nature.

WHOOSH~

As the crowd watched in alarm and uncertainty,

a violet-gold Divine Fire suddenly appeared in the depths of the darkness. It pulsed with a profound Demon Nature that could make one’s very soul plummet.

Before anyone could get a good look,

FWOOSH~

The spark became a wildfire, the flames erupting like oil thrown on a pyre.

An endless torrent of violet-gold Divine Fire erupted like a volcano, swiftly sketching the towering, magnificent silhouette of a dark Demon God.

”From the chaos of Heaven and Earth, the Primordial is born. With a breath of Creation, the Great Dao opens. Immeasurable is the mystery, immeasurable the origin. All beings, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, are Primordial...”

The instant the Demon God manifested,

layers of Divine Domains unfurled around the Demon God Physique. They were sacred, yet tinged with a bizarre, malevolent aura. Within these domains, beings as numberless as the sands of the Ganges chanted praises and bowed in worship.

Countless whispered chants

carried an indescribable corruption that seeped in from all directions, invading their very souls and assimilating everything they were.

”Primordial... Primordial...”

CRACKLE—

The weakest among them

immediately lost their True Selves, began to kowtow, and muttered deliriously.

The very essence of their beings was instantly corrupted and assimilated by Wu Dao’s Magnetic Field.

Their bodies swelled and contracted uncontrollably.

At the microscopic level, their Particles began to spin in unison, grinding against one another and emitting snake-like currents of magnetic energy. These currents writhed and spread, continuously eroding and enveloping their Dharma Aspects, souls, and bodies.

At the zenith of the Divine Domain,

Wu Dao’s eyes were sacred and majestic, but his face wore the malevolent smile of a Purgatory Evil Ghost. He looked down upon the defiled souls, and his voice, like a chorus of countless people speaking at once, said with mock compassion:

”The Sea of Suffering is boundless; return to the Primordial, and find your shore.”

CLINK~

The Sky-Splitting Dagger clattered to the ground.

Bathed in the magnetic currents, the leader of the first group of bandits looked as if he had attained enlightenment and been reborn. His ferocious expression melted into one of serenity. He trembled and prostrated himself fully on the ground, tears of gratitude welling in his devout eyes.

”This sinful believer... unworthily accepts Your Divine Grace.”