Essence Devouring Art

Chapter 532: Chapter 462: Starting with All-Heavens Emperor’s Weapons

The probing from Mountain and Sea.

It didn’t last for long.

HUUUUUU—

On the very day the Guardian Missions were announced.

The ancient, desolate call of a horn echoed from the Ten Celestial Gates of Chaos Abyss, radiating out to the Nine Heavens Pass, the Eight Celestial Passes…

Ripples surged through the endless spacetime dimensions of Shanhai Pass.

All the soldiers of the All Heavens within the pass heard and sensed it: the call of the Desolate God’s Horn, hailing from the Mountain and Sea Exotic Realm. It was a sound that symbolized their grand army marching out on an expedition, ready to bathe the All Heavens in blood.

That same Desolate God’s Horn had sounded once before, three years ago. Back then, Mountain and Sea had launched a massive surprise attack without any warning, catching Shanhai Pass completely off guard. Hongyuan suffered a crushing defeat.

This time…

The numerous factions now shared a common enemy!

But no one dared to predict the outcome.

This was because the elite forces Mountain and Sea had mobilized this time far surpassed those from three years ago!

True Dragons, Phoenixes, Qilins, Vermilion Birds, White Tigers, Kunpengs, Black Tortoises, Golden Crows, Zi Chus, Tengus, Luwus, Fei Yis, Nine-Tailed Foxes, Xiong Xiongs, Zhengs, Hous…

Famous Di Races were too numerous to count!

Chaos, Taotie, Qiongqi, and Taowu!

The Common Lords of the Four Mountains.

Even the Four Great Heaven-Opening Primordial Races were now making their move in earnest!

And that wasn’t all.

The Divine Race of Mountain and Sea had mobilized as well!

From his position within the grand army outside the Seven Days Pass, Wu Dao gazed at the turbulent, chaotic boundary. He discovered an astonishingly powerful magnetic field, pulsing with the Innate Elements of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—and it was suffused with divinity!

That’s right.

There were gods in the Mountain and Sea Realm as well.

For instance, there was the famous Four-Directional Divine Race of Mountain and Sea, whose Divine Masters were the Eastern Wood God Ju Mang, the Western Gold God Ruzhou, the Southern Fire God Zhurong, and the Northern Sea God Yuqiang.

In addition.

There was the Supreme Heavenly God; the pantheon led by Celestial Emperor Di Jun, which included the Sun God, the Moon God, and a host of Star Gods; and then there were gods of seasons, gods of rules, gods of mountains, rivers, and all living things, gods of every event and phenomenon…

The sheer completeness of their various Pantheons was in no way inferior to the Innate and Postnatal Divine Races of Hongyuan.

‘Similar, yet not the same…’

As Wu Dao sensed the intense divinity beyond the boundary of the Seven Days Pass, he was reminded of the Classic of Mountains and Seas he had read in his previous life.

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas from his past life, humans, gods, Alien Races, and Fierce Beasts all coexisted.

Hongyuan’s version of Mountain and Sea had also gone through such a period. However, after the Four Tribulations, when Mountain and Sea broke away from Hongyuan, it underwent a kind of purification.

The Human Race had likely vanished from Mountain and Sea without a trace.

Its societal structure was now primarily composed of the Desolate Divine Seed!

For example, the Four Great Primordial Races were the four Common Lords of Mountain and Sea. As for the Celestial Divine Race led by Celestial Emperor Di Jun and the Four-Directional Divine Races, they could only be considered on par with peak Di Races in terms of scale.

As another example.

The first Daoist of Mountain and Sea was the Ancestral Candle Dragon, who had been the main force during the Second Tribulation—the Tribulation of the Ten Thousand Races—that drove the Innate Divine Race from its divine altar in Hongyuan.

That tribulation was very unique.

The Great Dao evolved from the singular Divine Dao into a multitude of flourishing paths. The fortune of the Dao became so immensely powerful that it gave birth to three Daoists—

the Great Celestial Venerable, the Martial Ancestor, and the Ancestral Candle Dragon!

The second Daoist of Mountain and Sea was the Queen Mother of the West, who reigned from atop Kunlun Mountain, the progenitor of all mountains in the Mountain and Sea Realm. She had been a key figure during the Third Tribulation, the Tribulation of the Celestial Demons, and was known as the Ancestor of Myriad Qi and Myriad Wonders.

What was more incredible,

was that the Dao Fruit of the Fourth Tribulation was still within Mountain and Sea!

The Daoist was Emperor Huang of Zhongshan. It was said he had integrated the Desolate God Bloodlines from all eighteen volumes of the Classic of Mountains and Seas and had nearly become the personification of the Mountain and Sea Dao itself!

During the great war between Mountain and Sea and Hongyuan in the Fourth Tribulation, the Martial Ancestor had slain the Ancestral Candle Dragon’s Near-Dao incarnation, preventing his spirit from ever returning to the Great Dao. If not for that, Mountain and Sea would now possess three Daoists!

It was worth mentioning,

that the Innate Divine Race—the central figures of the world during the First and Second Tribulations—had seen the Near-Dao incarnations of their two Daoists perish during the Second Tribulation.

This caused the Divine Race to fall into a decline from which they could never recover.

The Second Tribulation was shrouded in too many secrets.

For instance, how the Ten Thousand Races of All Heavens managed to drive the Innate Divine Race from their divine altar without a single Daoist on their side remained an unsolved mystery.

Wu Dao had done some digging himself.

The fragmentary ancient records he found suggested the key lay with the Great Celestial Venerable!

As for *how* he was the key, Wu Dao had no idea.

Presumably, only the living fossils—the old relics from the Second Tribulation—knew the secrets of what had happened.

DUM DUM DUM—

As his thoughts drifted,

the horn’s call that had radiated across the Celestial Gates faded, replaced by the even more wild and rousing beat of war drums!

It was as if they were pounding on one’s very heart!

Everyone felt an endless, majestic, iron-blooded Slaughter Qi rolling in from the Chaos on the other side of the boundary. The sound alone was incredibly oppressive, as if the heavens themselves were collapsing under an immeasurable weight.

Beneath the escalating rhythm of the drums, those at the Seven Days Pass with weaker Divine Souls and physiques turned deathly pale. They swayed on their feet, and many felt the urge to vomit blood.

“Hmph!!”

But just then, a cold snort like a crack of Celestial Thunder erupted from the source of the drumming, shattering and silencing the sinister, wild, and vast sound.

The Ten Celestial Passes had taken action!

Wu Dao’s mind remained as placid as an ancient well. He knew that the sinister drumming most likely originated from a Mountain and Sea Primordial Emperor Artifact at the Ten Celestial Passes, its Mighty Power radiating back to affect the countless beings in the Celestial Gates behind the front line.

“Military Lord, who are we facing?”

In the dead-silent atmosphere, which was growing thick with Slaughter Qi, a newly appointed Vice Army Master could no longer bear the pressure and took the initiative to ask.

SWOOSH~

In the heart of the magnificent army, Wu Dao’s towering, heroic form stood beneath the grand banner of the Primordial Battlefield. Hearing the question, he glanced at the Vice Army Master from the Fuguang World and replied impassively:

“The Kunpeng Emperor Clan.”

To be precise, it was the forces of the Kunpeng Emperor Clan.

After all, the Primordial Battlefield was just one battle zone. Above it were the Territories, and several Territories were uniting to deal with the Kunpeng Emperor Clan.

The Kunpeng Race dwelled in the North Nether Sea, beyond the North Mountain of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

In the sea, they are the Kun; soaring, they become the Peng.

It was worth noting that the Golden-winged Rocs had little to do with them, as a Golden-winged Roc is born a Golden Roc and does not possess two forms.

Both clans were Di Races.

Each had its own strengths.

The purity of their Ancestral Bloodlines was roughly the same.

“Uh…” GULP.

The Vice Army Master who had asked the question subconsciously swallowed, his worry obvious.

Though he had a youthful face and crane-white hair, and was who-knows-how-many tens of thousands of years old, he was essentially a greenhorn.

Back in the Fuguang World, he was the Supreme Ancestor of a Great Venerable Holy Land of the Military Dao. He had only recently been conscripted into Shanhai Pass, where he’d fought a few battles against the Di Race and earned a bit of seniority and some battle honors.

That was how he had come to be appointed to the post of Vice Army Master.

And it was precisely because he had clashed with the Di Race that he understood just how terrifying they were. Against an opponent of the same realm, he was completely outclassed!

To say nothing of the fact that he was an ‘old man.’

If it weren’t for his vast experience and a sufficient dose of cunning, the position of Vice Army Master would never have been his.

Who would have thought that before he could even warm his seat,

Mountain and Sea would launch a full-scale offensive of this magnitude, and their assigned opponent would be none other than the Kunpeng Race, one of the top-tier Di Races!

Even before the battle had begun,

he could already foresee the mountain of corpses and river of blood that was to come. He feared that with the slightest misstep, his tens of thousands of years of bitter cultivation would be wiped out as both his body and his Dao perished!

He could only hope,

that this rather legendary Primordial Army Master was strong enough to have their backs.

“Heh.”

As if seeing through the old man’s wishful thinking, Wu Dao couldn’t help but scoff.

“A war of this magnitude isn’t a simple matter of soldier versus soldier or general versus general. No one can guarantee an Ancestral King won’t suddenly charge into the rear and annihilate everyone with a single slap!

If you’re scared, you can run.”

“Ahem, Military Lord, you jest.”

The old Soldier Cultivator gave a dry cough, not expecting Wu Dao to be so blunt.

But then he remembered this was a bloody battlefield—there was no room for courtesy or sentiment. He could only sigh to himself.

‘Just here to fill the ranks.’

Wu Dao’s gaze swept over the many new recruits in the army who were just as anxious as the old Soldier Cultivator, and he couldn’t help but shake his head internally.

Hongyuan was, after all, too comfortable.

Its conflicts were little more than minor squabbles.

It was nothing like the primitive, desolate Mountain and Sea, which revered the law of the jungle. The constant struggle for survival there had forged countless elite and ferocious warriors.

These conscripted recruits… their mindsets had yet to leave the greenhouse.

Without being tempered by several trials of blood and fire, sifted and sorted by the great waves of war, it was impossible for them to truly mature.

However, none of this had anything to do with Wu Dao.

On the battlefields of the Extraordinary World, the average combatant was a world-ending calamity. The top-tier powers were utterly lawless, and the concept of the weak defeating the strong through strategy was nonexistent.

Therefore, once the battle began, everyone was responsible for their own life and death.

At most, he could arrange his troops and formations in advance.

As for the rest,

it would be an achievement if he, the Military Lord, could just look after himself. He had no capacity to worry about the lives of his subordinates—especially since they weren’t truly his to begin with!

‘Something seems to be wrong with Yaya.’

While waiting for the battle to begin, Wu Dao’s thoughts turned to his eldest daughter, Yaya. He hadn’t heard any news of her since arriving at Shanhai Pass.

It seemed she had never once set foot on the battlefield.

The Taotie Race backing her, however, was quite active.

‘Could it be related to the Classic of Mountains and Seas?’

Wu Dao recalled that Yaya had obtained a page from the Classic of Mountains and Seas at birth, and the Great Dao of Mountain and Sea was inextricably linked to that very text.

Thinking of this, Wu Dao couldn’t help but look forward to their next meeting.

“All troops, form ranks! Prepare for battle!!”

A roar as loud as the thunder of creation reverberated through the armies of the Ten Directions, snapping Wu Dao’s thoughts back to the grim, iron-blooded battlefield.

At the very forefront of their position, his gaze passed over army after army in the battle zones ahead.

On the front line, Wu Dao saw a massive, turbid star bobbing high in the Nine Heavens, pulsing with boundless Demonic Qi. From within, demonic chants mixed with starlight billowed out, issuing commands to all the armies of the territory.

The Muddy Demon Emperor.

A Star Lord from the Chaotic Star Heaven.

His Dao practice was at the Fifteenth Heaven of the Emperor Realm.

He was the Domain Master of the Muddy Demon Territory and the direct superior of the Primordial Battlefield. That immeasurably vast and turbid star was a manifestation of his Emperor Dao’s Divine Techniques.

Even further ahead,

there were other towering Dao visages.

They ranged from the Tenth Heaven all the way to the Great Emperor Peak.

These Great Emperors were the Domain Masters from the territories surrounding the Muddy Demon Territory. The battle zones under their command were operating jointly to resist the Kunpeng Emperor Clan.

A crowd of ten thousand is a sea of people.

The grand army Wu Dao was in now numbered far beyond mere trillions, and they formed defensive line after defensive line arrayed outside the Seven Days Pass.

From an even higher perspective,

one would discover

that their defensive line was merely a single link in a ‘Great Wall’!

This Great Wall Dam, formed by the countless soldiers from the numerous battle zones of the vast Seven Days Pass, occupied the Ten Directions of spacetime and sealed off the territory of the Seven Days Pass behind them.

Behind them,

was the Commander’s Law Enforcement Team!

They were Hongyuan’s final iron bulwark. Under normal circumstances, they would not be deployed, but a battle of this scale was clearly not a normal circumstance.

Their duty was to monitor the ‘Great Wall’.

If any link failed to hold,

they would be the ones to fill the gap.

Opposite the Hongyuan army

was the Mountain and Sea Army, which had formed its own spacetime Great Wall Dam on the other side of the boundary. One after another, the Desolate Gods had all manifested their true forms.

They were overwhelmingly majestic and spectacular.

Even the weakest among them dwarfed giant star clusters. The Mountain Sea Ancestor Kings among their ranks were even more terrifying, appearing like super-massive, boundless Grand Cosmoses that exuded an infinite, crushing pressure.

In comparison,

the armies on Hongyuan’s side were no larger than Particles.

Of course,

in the Extraordinary World,

physical size didn’t mean everything. Ultimately, the contest came down to the strength of one’s Dao practice!

RUMBLE—

The dead, oppressive silence did not last long!

Following violent spacetime turbulence that originated from the distant Eight Celestial Passes, the flames of war instantly surged forth to wash over the Seven Days Pass!

“KILL!!!”

BOOM!!

The cry to kill had just risen from deep within the Mountain and Sea Army!

Wu Dao instantly observed through the Magnetic Field a behemoth appearing in the endless, infinite expanse of spacetime, crushing all creation into Chaos!

The myriad Dao Veins and the very rules of order swarmed toward it as if drawn to a great attractor, coalescing on the front line to form a Kunpeng Mixed Cave!

VMMMMMM—

Streaks of pitch-black ripples swept across the battlefield.

Within that Kunpeng Mixed Cave!

The shadow of an indescribable Ancient Fierce Beast roamed within, swallowing and spitting out vast Star Seas and immeasurable universes. It was as if the oceans of All Heavens were churning, unleashing an endless, world-ending torrent and brewing an unimaginably terrifying cataclysm!

“AH!!!”

The screams instantly merged into a single, continuous wail!

Countless soldiers in Wu Dao’s section of the line were struck by the shockwaves from the Kunpeng Mixed Cave. It was as if an immeasurable universe was slamming into their Divine Souls, threatening to grind them to ash!

An All Heavens Emperor’s Soldier!

It was definitely one of the All Heavens Emperor’s Soldiers!

Wu Dao instantly used the Holy Spirit Emperor’s Armor to seal off his own Essence, Qi, and Spirit. His Divine Soul was unaffected by the impact, but he was still inwardly astonished.

The Seven Days Pass.

The Great Dao’s capacity here was limited to the Great Emperor Peak!

Although Mountain and Sea occupied a third of the territory,

it was impossible for them to completely ignore Hongyuan’s Great Dao. Therefore, the price for transporting one of the All Heavens Emperor’s Soldiers here was immense!

And yet, in a state of all-out war,

Mountain and Sea still had the spare capacity to send one of the All Heavens Emperor’s Soldiers to the Seven Days Pass…

No, wait!

It wasn’t just one!

The Kunpeng Emperor Clan was just one Di Race!

Behind them were other Di Races, and even the Four Great Primordial Races!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—

“AAAAAHHH—!!”

The moment the thought crossed Wu Dao’s mind,

colossal, celestial behemoths rose up in all Ten Directions along the Great Wall Dam! They crashed against the defensive line, triggering a boiling tidal wave of screams!

They were starting the battle with the All Heavens Emperor’s Soldiers!

And not just one!

Mountain and Sea was clearly determined to replicate its victory from three years ago. Even if a single battle couldn’t cripple Hongyuan, they were going to seize more territory!