Essence Devouring Art

The Burial Realm.

The Celestial Demon Burial Area.

The standoff point between the Innate Divine Race and Daluo Heaven.

It was not the sinister and treacherous place one might imagine. On the contrary, a sea of holy clouds stretched out to infinity.

Amidst the roiling and undulating waves, one could see collapsed Divine Mountains and the ruins of ancient Divine Halls. The temporal order was filled with an aura of peace and ease, like a long-lost Ancient Divine Realm, a forgotten land on the other shore.

The Great Zizai Heaven.

The Other Shore True Realm, created by the Great Freedom Celestial Demon during the era of the Three Tribulations. Legend had it that those who entered this place would be unbound by any restraint, free to act as they pleased, attaining true freedom and leisure.

Was it truly leisure, or was it a trap of obsession from which there was no escape?

After hundreds of millions of years of immense change, few knew the truth.

At least, in the present day, with the fall of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, the once-great Great Freedom True Realm had been weathered by time into a forgotten ruin.

Only in the Central Jun Tian did a magnificent Divine Country, like a mirage towering over the Nine Heavens, still radiate a sliver of its former glorious light.

The Innate Divine Race and the forces of the Daluo Celestial Domain had been engaged in a months-long battle of offense and defense, centered around the Celestial Divine Country that was gradually shifting from a mirage into reality.

The outcome of their battle would determine who could be the first to enter the Zizai Celestial Kingdom the moment it truly manifested and obtain the Divine Format of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon King.

With the advantage of fighting on home turf, the Daluo Celestial Domain undoubtedly had the upper hand, gradually breaking through the temporal defense lines the Innate Divine Race had set up around the Zizai Celestial Kingdom.

At this rate, if nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn’t be long before the Daluo Celestial Domain annihilated the Innate Divine Race completely.

But something unexpected did happen.

Within a cosmic ruin on the front lines, inside the Daluo Heaven’s command center.

The overall commander of the operation, Ye Changgeng, an old-guard Quasi-Emperor from the Luotian Sword Realm, suddenly opened the eyes of his vast Daoist body that filled the cosmos. He split off a thread of his consciousness from his standoff with the Divine Race’s Quasi-Emperor.

”What did you say?!”

Within the Treasure-Splitting Sword at the center of the cosmos, Ye Changgeng’s Incarnation sat enthroned at the head of the temporary war hall. His expression was grim, and in his eyes, countless worlds collapsed and shattered. The fury in them surpassed the Battle Intent he held for his standoff with the Divine Race.

”Elder Ye, it’s the absolute truth!”

In the numerous secondary seats of the hall, the Incarnation of a Quasi-Emperor from one of the Daluo Celestial Domain’s Daoist Lineages also opened his eyes, his expression turning ugly as he spoke:

”Just as we were engaged in a new round of clashes with the Divine Race and couldn’t spare ourselves, people from the Dragon Hunting Tower suddenly appeared in all the top-tier Creation Lands!

Wielding Saint Master Divine Weapons, they crushed and slaughtered the Saints and Great Saints of the major powers, plundered the Creation from each land, and captured a massive number of Celestial Prides!

They only left a few mouthpieces behind to deliver a message.

They proclaimed... they proclaimed that this is only the beginning, and that they will settle the blood debt from last time!”

BOOM!!

Spacetime was annihilated, and the Ten Thousand Realms turned to nothingness!

A single statement ignited the fury of the entire hall!

An utterly terrifying aura, with this cosmos as its epicenter, ravaged the boundless spacetime in the Ten Directions. The rules and order of the Great Freedom True Realm shattered, and the endless auspicious clouds and ruins were instantly annihilated into a vacuum!

When a Quasi-Emperor rages, the cosmos flows with blood!

Not to mention, those present were all Peak Quasi-Emperors from the Daoist Lineages of the Daluo Celestial Domain, or even from the Common Lord’s faction. Even a single murderous thought from them could suppress the eight corners of the cosmos!

”Insolent! Utterly lawless!”

”Settle the score? What does the Dragon Hunting Tower think it is? A bunch of rats from the gutter! What right do they have to talk about settling scores?”

”Those bastards! I’ll request a decree from the Emperors of my sect at once, to purge these demons from All Heavens...”

...

The crowd was in an uproar, their killing intent surging!

This move by the Dragon Hunting Tower was tantamount to shitting and pissing on the Daluo Celestial Domain’s neck. And after they were done, they threatened to make them eat it, completely trampling the Daluo Celestial Domain’s dignity into a cesspool!

This was a declaration of war!

An irreconcilable war to the death!

’How dare they!’

’Just because of that one elusive entity?’

’They’re courting death!’

”Haaah. Enough!”

Ye Changgeng let out a slow breath, his expression returning to one of indifference. He said calmly, ”The Dragon Hunting Tower roams the Chaos, and its coordinates are extremely difficult to lock down. Furthermore, with that greatly inauspicious existence among them, revenge is not a matter of shouting a few words in a fit of passion. Not to mention, at this critical juncture...”

Hearing this, the various Quasi-Emperors, though filled with indignation, had no choice but to temporarily suppress the heaven-scorching killing intent in their hearts.

The Dragon Hunting Tower was a malignant tumor. It had now risen to the level of a Hongyuan terrorist group. As long as it wasn’t eradicated, the All Heavens would know no peace.

But compared to the elusive Dragon Hunting Tower, the immediate crisis—the Divine Format of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon King—was the primary problem the Daluo Celestial Domain needed to solve.

This being was one of the Three Tribulation Masters. Once it revived and returned, the harm it would cause was not something the mere Dragon Hunting Tower, which only dared to make petty moves in the dark, could ever compare to.

”The Dragon Hunting Tower has come aggressively this time. They have a large number of Saint Master Divine Weapons, and possibly even Quasi-Emperors. We must be on guard.”

Ye Changgeng stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the spacetime of the Burial Realm. After a fruitless search, he said, ”Right now, we cannot confirm where they plan to carry out their subsequent acts of revenge. That is the most troublesome part.”

The Dragon Hunting Tower was just like a toad jumping on your foot—disgusting. It was hiding in some unknown, dark corner, ready to jump out and sicken you at any moment. To launch a full-scale war against it would be making a mountain out of a molehill, but if you let your guard down, they would exploit the opening.

”In my opinion...” An old Quasi-Emperor from a Daoist Lineage stroked his beard, his gaze sweeping over the Saints fighting on the front lines as he spoke, ”This sudden attack from the Dragon Hunting Tower was most likely coordinated from both inside and out. Otherwise, their timing wouldn’t have been so perfect!”

”Fellow Daoist Zeng, are you saying the Dragon Hunting Tower has an inside agent in the Great Freedom True Realm?”

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the Quasi-Emperors turned cold.

The timing chosen by the Dragon Hunting Tower was indeed perfect. Just as their group of Quasi-Emperors and Great Venerables became locked in a heated battle with the Innate Divine Race, unable to disengage, disaster struck their rear.

This proved that their every move was under the Dragon Hunting Tower’s surveillance.

’This is getting troublesome.’

’An inside agent, or...?’

”Whether it’s an inside agent or not, we can no longer leave only Great Saints to guard the Creation Lands in the rear. The Burial Realm must also be sealed...”

Ye Changgeng’s consciousness contacted the Luotian Sword Realm, preparing to dispatch more personnel to the Burial Realm to secure the rear.

This catastrophe was indeed caused by their negligence. But even Emperors are not omniscient. Who could have imagined that the Dragon Hunting Tower would be so audacious as to sneak into the Daluo Celestial Domain’s own backyard to commit their crimes, catching them completely off guard?

Most importantly, the Dragon Hunting Tower possessed some sort of method that allowed them to come and go without a trace.

They were in the open, while the enemy was in the shadows. Under these circumstances, they couldn’t take the initiative to attack. They could only dispatch more forces to fortify their defenses and give the enemy no opportunities.

At the same time, Ye Changgeng also requested that the All Emperors seal the Burial Realm, as he suspected that the group of Dragon Hunters who committed the crimes were very likely still within it.

Inside the Burial Realm, although Emperor Level Power was not permitted, as it could detonate the Tribulation Qi, using Emperor’s Weapons to jointly seal off spacetime from the outside would not affect the rules and order within the Burial Realm.

The various Quasi-Emperors also contacted their respective factions, reporting what had happened in the Burial Realm and discussing how many reinforcements to send.

In truth, there was no need to report it. An incident of this magnitude... the upper echelons of the Daluo Celestial Domain in the outside world had known about it immediately. If not for the fear of causing a panic, the news would have spread throughout the entire Daluo Celestial Domain.

Finally, a countermeasure was decided upon. The various powers of the Daluo Celestial Domain would jointly deploy more than one Emperor’s Weapon to completely seal the Burial Realm’s spacetime from the outside.

This action was not just to guard against the Dragon Hunting Tower. Its main purpose was to cut off the Innate Divine Race’s escape routes and reinforcements.

Over in the Divine Ruins Heaven, although the Primordial Giants of the Daluo Celestial Domain were keeping an eye on the Emperor Gods, the Innate Divine Race was still able to transport troops through the Quasi-Emperor Faith Channels. Even as they suffered repeated defeats, they stubbornly held on in a stalemate against the Daluo Celestial Domain.

Once the Emperor’s Weapons sealed spacetime, it would isolate the Burial Realm, severing its connections with the outside world. The Divine Race’s supply line would be cut, and they wouldn’t be able to resist for much longer.

The same went for the Dragon Hunting Tower. If that group of hunters was still hiding in the Burial Realm, as long as they dared to show their faces, they would find themselves with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide under the seal of the Emperor’s Weapons!

Hm?

While Ye Changgeng was conferring with the All Emperors of the Luotian Sword Realm, his brow suddenly furrowed. He had received a message from Ye Xuan, one that was practically seething with gritted teeth—

”Grandmaster Geng, Qingyu has been captured! They left a message saying they’re waiting for me in the Great Freedom True Realm. I don’t know if it’s the Divine Race or the Dragon Hunting Tower...”

”Nonsense!”

Ye Changgeng’s brows tightened. Hearing that Ye Xuan wanted to come to the front lines, he calmly berated him, ”Even Venerables can fall on the front lines! No matter who they are, it’s obvious they’re setting a trap for you. If something happens to you...”

”Haaah... I’m sorry, Grandmaster Geng. I’ve already failed Qingyu too many times. If I abandon her now, what’s the point of living? But don’t worry, I won’t cause trouble for everyone.”

But Ye Xuan’s mind was made up. After speaking these decisive words, he cut off the connection.

When Ye Changgeng tried to sense him again, he could no longer detect Ye Xuan’s location.

For a son of fortune like Ye Xuan, who was destined to revive his lineage, possessing methods beyond ordinary people was not hard to understand.

”That little rascal!”

Ye Changgeng cursed with exasperation. Ye Xuan was excellent in every way, from his background to his talent, which surpassed all his peers.

But in this life, he was hopelessly entangled in romantic affairs. One romance followed another, and every time he went out to train, he would incur a pile of romantic debts.

And yet, he was also extremely proud and strong-willed.

A few years ago, one of Ye Xuan’s female companions was entrapped and killed by an enemy.

It almost shattered his Dao heart. He fell into a long period of depression and depravity, and when the Luotian Sword Realm wanted to intervene, he stubbornly refused, being incredibly obstinate.

Those few Primordial Giants had a hands-off approach with Ye Xuan, seeming to intentionally let him grow wild to temper him, not wanting to restrain his nature. This caused Ye Xuan to sink deeper and deeper into these matters.

This time was most likely the destined tribulation for Ye Xuan that those Primordial Giants had spoken of.

If he passed it, the seas would be wide and the skies clear. He would truly be able to carry the banner for the younger generation of the Daluo Celestial Domain.

If he couldn’t pass it...

He had to pass it, even if he couldn’t!

’It’s good for him to get a wake-up call...’

Ye Changgeng let out a slight breath. Ye Xuan was extremely important to the Daluo Celestial Domain, and not just because he was the descendant and heir of three Primordial Giants. More importantly, it was because of what he carried. It involved the future struggle for the Celestial Mandate.

That seed from Chaos City was lost on the Taiyi Emperor Star due to a moment of carelessness, losing the qualification to compete for and bear the Celestial Mandate.

The same went for Mo Chen of the Celestial Court. Having died once, the transplanted Celestial Mandate was no longer so stable. The opportunities for other competitors in the future would be much greater.

This was also why, during the siege on the Dragon Hunting Tower, Chaos City had acted so frantically.

They had lost their ticket to the game and were destined to be nothing more than side characters in the future.

The secrets of the Celestial Mandate, and the schemes involved, were only known to the powers that had set up the game in the first place.

Therefore, the Luotian Sword Realm was now guarding Ye Xuan with extreme prejudice, with layer upon layer of backup plans. Trying to kill him would be even harder than defying the heavens to slay an Emperor!