Essence Devouring Art

The Heaven-Burying Emperor’s Temple.

Essence Qi roiled and Divine Power surged.

The Emperor’s Temple was magnificent enough when viewed from the outside.

Even with the domain of a Small Thousand World unfurled, a Saint Realm expert could only slip through the crack in the door like a mote of dust in a sunbeam. Upon truly entering the Emperor’s Temple, one would be struck anew by the sheer might of a Great Emperor!

It was so vast and holy!

On the dome above, a genuine cosmic Star River flowed in dazzling splendor. Auspicious mists swirled without end in all Ten Directions. The very ground seemed forged from Holy Spirit Mother Gold, which had transformed into countless lifelike Sacred Spirits.

Faintly, ancient apparitions of gods and Immortal Saints could be seen bowing in praise. A solemn, majestic aura filled every inch of space. The very air, thick with the weight of ages, threatened to pull one back to an ancient era, compelling them to kowtow with every step and join the procession to worship the Great Emperor.

”Gasp... This is practically an Immortal Realm! A single breath makes me feel like I’m about to ascend and transcend this world!”

The Black Mountain Demon Saint, who was the first to barge into the Emperor’s Temple, took a deep, intoxicated breath of the temple’s nearly liquefied Cosmic Essence Qi. His body and soul felt transcendent, as if he had just consumed an Immortal Elixir and Marvelous Medicine.

The scale of this Emperor’s Temple was simply staggering!

It seemed the tomb’s owner had dragged an entire universe here as a burial offering before entombing himself. He had turned the universe’s core into a blessed land, connected the great tomb to the Ancestral Dragon Vein, and gathered all the Cosmic Essence from that universe, sucking it completely dry!

That’s why the outside universe they had seen was in a state of heat death and decay. Its scale was a shadow of its former self, and not a single trace of Extraordinary matter remained.

All of the Divine Power!

It had all converged within the Emperor’s Temple and the great tomb, transforming the temple into an unimaginable treasure trove that had spawned all manner of heaven-defying Creations.

A treasure trove like this was a supreme paradise for Cultivation.

If one could take control of this place and cultivate within, making lightning-fast progress would be effortless. Nourished by the Cosmic Essence, one’s potential and talent could even be enhanced, breaking through previous limits. The benefits were innumerable.

”There might be a Cosmic Seed in the tomb!”

The Black Mountain Demon Saint’s breathing grew ragged, his eyes turning red. ’The combined Divine Power and essence of an entire universe is so immense,’ he thought. ’It can’t just be these Heavenly and Earthly Treasures in the Emperor’s Temple!’

’I bet ninety percent of the Cosmic Essence is concentrated in the Emperor’s Tomb! There must be more than just Cosmic Mother Liquid; it’s highly likely it has even nurtured a Cosmic Seed—the ultimate treasure for achieving the Emperor Realm!’

Saint Realm, Emperor Realm!

Most Cultivators in the world only knew that the Emperor Realm came after the Saint Realm. They had no idea that the path between the two was far more arduous than the journey from a mortal to a Saint Master!

After a Saint Master Realm expert perfects their Great Thousand World!

There are still three final steps at the Limit—

Venerable of All Realms!

Integrate the Dragon Veins of the Great Thousand World, cause its rules to sublimate and transform, begin comprehending the Great Dao to forge a Taoist Scripture, and condense a Cosmic Seed!

Great Venerable!

Completely integrate the Dragon Veins and successfully forge the Cosmic Seed!

Quasi-Emperor!

The Taoist Scripture is completed.

Rules begin their transformation into the Dao, the self becomes a constituent element of the Hongyuan, and the Cosmic Seed grows into a Proto-Cosmos!

Only after one more sublimation can a person command a Dao and become a Great Emperor who possesses an Inner Universe!

Among these three steps beyond the Saint Master Realm’s Limit,

the most crucial achievement

is condensing a Cosmic Seed that can carry the Dao. This represents the Great Dao’s acknowledgment of a Cultivator’s personal Dao and can be called a lesser Dao Fruit.

If, before reaching the Great Venerable stage,

a Cultivator obtains a Cosmic Seed, the benefits to their growth are innumerable. At the very minimum, it guarantees they can reach the Great Venerable stage, regardless of their own potential!

However, this was exceedingly difficult.

The All Heavens and Universe are boundless, and an Innate Cosmic Seed—a lesser Dao Fruit—is something one can only encounter by chance, not actively seek. As for a created one, a Great Emperor must expend immense effort over eons to refine just a single one.

But,

these created lesser Dao Fruits were always found within an Emperor’s Tomb.

After death, a Great Emperor would establish an Array to gather their own Dao Essence along with the Divine Power and Cosmic Essence of an entire universe, shaping it into a Dao Fruit to bless their descendants.

All Great Emperors were known figures.

Their Creations were monopolized by the Overlords of Hongyuan. Lesser powers could only look on with envy, with no opportunity to lay a finger on them.

But now, things were different—

An ownerless, unknown Great Emperor’s Tomb!

This meant...

that anyone who entered the Emperor’s Tomb had a chance to obtain the lesser Dao Fruit that might be inside!

”Get out of my way! This is mine!”

”You’re courting death!”

As the Black Mountain Demon Saint was overcome with ecstasy, a bloody free-for-all had already erupted within the Emperor’s Temple. The solemn, majestic atmosphere was shattered. Everyone had gone mad!

Creations were everywhere!

Rare Heavenly and Earthly Treasures were everywhere you looked!

No one could be bothered with anything else; their only thought was to snatch more Creations for themselves!

BOOM!

During the struggle, an Innate Medicine Garden burst open!

A group of humanoid Great Medicines fled from inside. They had developed Spirituality, and their bodies were densely covered with the Dao Patterns of natural laws!

A monstrous wave of essence gushed out wherever they passed. The rich medicinal fragrance permeated space and time; just a whiff of it caused the Demon Saints’ Inner Worlds to ascend, nearly making them pass out from the sheer potency!

”Goddammit, that’s Earth!”

Suddenly, a Demon Saint with disheveled hair stared at the Eight-Colored Divine Soil in the garden and began to scream, almost fainting on the spot from sheer excitement.

”What? Earth!”

Even the Black Mountain Demon Saint could no longer remain calm. He swatted away several Demon Saints who were fighting over a Great Medicine and greedily reached for the Eight-Colored Divine Soil, which was inhaling and exhaling Cosmic Essence like an abyssal maw.

Earth was a famous Innate Spirit Root!

It could naturally absorb Cosmic Essence!

It was the divine soil of choice for supreme powers to cultivate Immortal Elixirs, and it could accelerate the growth and transformation of all living things. Even a common blade of grass planted in the Earth could evolve into a priceless treasure!

Eight-Colored Earth!

That was a Venerable-tier item!

If a treasure was buried within it and provided with enough sustenance, it could be quickly nurtured to the Venerable Level!

’Earth?’

Outside the Emperor’s Temple, Wu Dao’s gaze shifted as he, too, noticed the piece of Eight-Colored Earth.

The ascension of the Primordial Dao Wheel’s main body... required it to devour vast quantities of high-grade treasures and materials at every step. Later stages would take an increasingly long time. If it were nourished by the Earth, however, the situation would be completely different.

The Star Mother had also reached the cusp of sainthood.

The Earth could break down anything into nutrients to accelerate a treasure’s evolution; it would certainly take less time than the Star Mother consuming materials to advance on her own.

’Would burying a person inside have any effect?’

The thought suddenly occurred to Wu Dao, but he quickly shook his head with a wry smile. ’Every Innate Spirit Root possesses its own unique conceptual Mighty Power.’

’The Earth isn’t meant for nurturing people.’

Looking away from the Earth, Wu Dao spotted many other treasures that even he coveted being unearthed amidst the brawl among the Saints.

BANG!

A Scripture Pavilion burst apart.

Countless ancient, stone-carved scriptures flew out, thundering with the celestial hymns of the Emperor Dao. The killing intent they exuded, sharp enough to pierce through all of time and the heavens, revealed them to be the legacy of an Emperor Scripture.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The Celestial Soldier Treasure Pool rumbled, its brilliant light flaring. A Refining Pool burst open, and to the ringing of steel, numerous Holy Soldiers were unearthed, triggering another round of fighting.

A Treasure Bead containing a surging ocean, a Gourd that could inhale and exhale a Star River, a Golden Core with seven apertures, a Talisman crackling with explosive Thunderbolt...

There were far, far too many.

The Emperor’s Temple was a veritable cosmic treasure mine. As the Saints fought, the vast space lit up with dazzling radiances, stirring up infinite greed. Before long, the Emperor’s Temple was stained with blood!

’An Emperor must not be desecrated,’ Wu Dao thought coldly. ’They are all courting death!’

Wu Dao watched on with a cold detachment.

He made no move to enter the temple and join the scramble for treasure.

The Magnetic Field in the Emperor’s Temple felt very wrong; it stimulated and amplified the greed in one’s heart. The more a person snatched, the more they lost their reason!

Some of the First and Second Layer Demon Saints... had no idea how dangerous their condition was. They had already succumbed to a berserker rage.

With bloodshot eyes, they fought their rivals with violent madness, completely forgetting about the treasures. Their only desire was to fight to the death.

As the bloodshed mounted, Wu Dao noticed that at the far end of the Emperor’s Temple, a Magnetic Field was slowly reawakening—the field of the All Heavens Killing Saber, which all the Demon Saints had somehow ignored. It was like a Slaughter Blade about to be unsheathed to taste blood!

This Emperor’s Temple! It was most likely also a Sacrificial Altar.

Wu Dao’s eyes narrowed. The Magnetic Field of the Realm-Slaying Blade Origin Stream within the Emperor’s Tomb was growing alarmingly powerful. ’I hope it’s not what I think it is,’ he thought.

If it was, then unless he abandoned everything and retreated at once, otherwise...

”Heh, old timer,” Wu Dao grinned, baring his teeth. ”I’m definitely taking all your loot today!”

Back in the Divine Wilderness, when he was as weak as an ant, he had dared to gamble his very life against the Slaughter Emperor. Why would he hesitate now?

’The Heaven-Burying Alliance really does know some of the Emperor’s Tomb’s secrets...’

As he watched, Wu Dao noticed that the Saints from the Heaven-Burying Alliance had advanced into the depths of the Emperor’s Temple. They now stood before a gradually reddening Celestial Stele, coldly observing the Black Mountain Demon Saint and the others as they fought.

They had clearly come prepared.

After pretending to join the fray for a moment, they had quietly withdrawn, their minds unclouded by the temple’s bizarre Magnetic Field.

Moreover, they had found the ’keyhole’ of the Heaven-Burying Stele!

Once the sacrifice was complete, it would be their time to feast.

BOOM!

The final Demon Saint exploded!

A vast, surging ocean of golden vital energy and blood appeared.

The Black Mountain Demon Saint stood amidst the sea of blood, his hair disheveled and his body drenched in gore. The Demonic Qi shrouding him dissipated, revealing his true face: ancient and wizened, his skin like wrinkled, scaly stone. He clutched the Earth and roared like a demon:

”A bunch of ants, daring to fight me? It’s all mine! Hahaha!”

Clearly, he had been completely corrupted by the temple’s bizarre Magnetic Field. He had slaughtered every other Demon Saint, but their desperate, life-or-death counterattacks had left him covered in wounds.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

The sound of applause echoed through the Emperor’s Temple.

The divine mist that had shrouded the Emperor’s Temple had dispersed at some unknown time. Su Xiuqi now stood beneath the Celestial Stele, gazing mockingly at the crazed Black Mountain Demon Saint.

”Demon Saint, what an impressive display,” he said. ”To slaughter more than ten of your peers with such ease in your twilight years... I’m truly impressed.”

Behind him, the Heaven-Reaching, blood-red Celestial Stele glowed like a piece of jade that had drunk its fill of blood. It vibrated and pulsed, pulling at the ley lines of the land and revealing ninety-nine keyhole-shaped indentations!

It seemed that once these locks were opened, the true treasure vault of the Emperor’s Tomb would be revealed.

”Hahaha, they say you only get better with age!”

Liang Chen mocked the Black Mountain Demon Saint with false praise as he pressed the final piece of the Heaven-Burying Stele into one of the keyholes, looking at the old Demon Saint as if he were a pitiful clown.

”What... what just happened to me...?”

The Black Mountain Demon Saint snapped out of his trance as if waking from a dream. He felt the countless wounds on his body and then glanced at the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, which had all returned to their original places. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Just a moment ago, he’d even had the absurd thought... of treating himself as an imaginary rival for the treasures, nearly killing himself on the spot.

”You did this?!”

After the initial shock wore off, the Black Mountain Demon Saint’s blood-red eyes snapped toward the mocking faces of Su Xiuqi and his companions. New grudges and old hatreds erupted at once.

”Die!!”

BOOM!

Space-time shook, and the Star Sea seemed to collapse!

Before the word had even left his mouth, the Black Mountain Demon Saint abruptly summoned a black mountain wreathed in Demonic Qi that towered over the Star River. With every tremor it produced, three thousand Small Thousand Worlds were born and annihilated, unleashing the might of a Middle Thousand World!

It was a Great Saint Divine Weapon!

”How pathetic.”

Seeing the Black Mountain Demon Saint play his trump card, Su Xiuqi wasn’t the least bit flustered. He just sneered and connected his consciousness to the Celestial Stele behind him.

He intended to seize control of the Emperor’s Temple’s array, reawaken the Heaven-Burying Saber, and offer the Black Mountain Demon Saint as a living sacrifice!

But as Su Xiuqi connected with the Celestial Stele, his smug expression instantly twisted into one of sheer terror!

BOOM!!

The Black Mountain Great Saint Soldier shattered the Star River and suppressed thousands of Worlds, annihilating space-time in its path. It gave Su Xiuqi no time to react as it came crashing down upon him!

CRACK—BOOM!

Caught completely off guard, Su Xiuqi’s Body-Protecting Great Talisman was shattered. His crystalline body was sent flying like a broken ragdoll, barely escaping being smashed into a pulp on the spot!