Essence Devouring Art

Luoxian Ridge collapsed.

The Heaven-Stealing Alliance had no reason to miss it.

Wu Dao didn’t think much of the area’s cultivation environment. After excavating the Small Thousand World Innate Mother Qi from its treasury, he wiped Luoxian Ridge from existence and led the Heaven-Stealing Alliance to find a new grave.

The Burial Realm, as the main battlefield of Daluo Heaven’s Three Tribulations, had buried the countless lives of an entire tribulation. Its sheer scale was beyond description; even the term "Three Thousand Great Worlds" was insufficient.

Upon the great earth.

Vast and perilous tombs dotted the landscape.

They had not yet been fully explored, each one burying countless worlds. However, most of these worlds had withered away, leaving only Tribulation Qi.

The same was true of the void.

A single moment of carelessness could lead one to become lost in a spacetime graveyard teeming with the law of destruction, suffer a calamitous fate, and perish completely. It was every bit as dangerous as the Taiyi Emperor Star, if not more so.

However,

the more dangerous the environment,

the more it resembled a paradise to Wu Dao and the Heaven-Stealing Alliance—the perfect environment for cultivation.

The Heaven-Opening Technique was complete.

Achieving perfection in the 365 Grand Circulations was only a matter of time.

The plundering of the unified Emperor Star...

...had left the Heaven-Stealing Alliance with an accumulation of resources so vast that even Holy Lands couldn’t hope to compare. It would be more than enough for them to digest for quite some time.

There was no hurry for an Emperor’s Weapon.

Wu Dao intended to first find a good location, digest his spoils from the Emperor Star, advance the Essence Devouring Art to its third stage, and truly elevate his strength to the upper echelons of Hongyuan.

Within Hongyuan,

if one were to use worldly renown as a metric,

Dharma Aspect cultivators would be considered fledglings, while those in the Cave Heavens Realm would have some minor prestige.

Only those in the Creation Realm—who could forge a complete Inner World and wield the power to create and destroy worlds—were truly significant, becoming the ’masters’ of Hongyuan.

He could already see the limits of the second stage of the Essence Devouring Art.

Its upper limit was already clear.

Even if he perfected all 365 circulations and unleashed the Divine No Evil Lotus, his power would, at best, rival a Fifth-Layer Emperor-Grade Creation Realm cultivator—a minor master who had created five Emperor-Grade Inner Worlds.

Any higher than that...

...was impossible.

The disparity between levels in the Creation Realm was terrifying.

Each layer represented the gap of an entire world!

Wu Dao estimated...

...that even if he unleashed the Divine Image Heaven and pushed himself to the brink of self-destruction, he could only reach the Sixth Layer at most.

No matter how much a quantity increased,

there was a limit if its underlying quality was too low.

He needed a higher tier of quantitative change to ignore realm boundaries and break the shackles of the Sixth Layer. That meant achieving the third stage of the Essence Devouring Art.

The Heaven-Burying Alliance was no small faction.

Its current Alliance Leader, Su Xiuqi, was rumored to be an Immortal Dao Cultivator at the Great Saint Realm.

Although his potential was exhausted,

he had still managed to create a Middle Thousand Inner World and could create and destroy three thousand worlds with the flip of a palm.

’To snatch food from his mouth...’

’The third stage of the Art likely won’t be enough.’

But Wu Dao wasn’t worried.

’You have to eat a meal one bite at a time. The priority right now is to shatter the shackles of the second stage and earn the right to sit at the table.’

BOOM—CRACKLE!

「Deep within the Burial Realm, the Nirvana Valley forbidden zone.」

Legend had it that a Phoenix of the Great Saint Realm was buried here during the Three Tribulations, and its Nirvana Thunder Fire still burned.

Celestial Thunder drew forth earthly fire, and the tribulation aura ground everything down like a millstone.

It was a region of pure, destructive thunderfire.

Every inch of space was filled with a violent Law of Order, as the rampaging Nirvana Thunder Fire that incinerated Essence, Qi, and Spirit left no room for Creation.

On all maps of the Burial Realm,

Nirvana Valley was marked as a lethal forbidden zone where the living dared not tread. Devoid of any value for exploration, no one had set foot there for tens of thousands of years.

But today,

the tranquility of Nirvana Valley, which had been silent for tens of thousands of years,

was broken once again.

It was met by pairs of hungry eyes, gazing upon it as if it were a peerless beauty.

"Nirvana Thunder Fire... the Lifebound Divine Technique of the Phoenix Race of the Mountain and Sea Emperor Clan. At full strength, it could probably reduce even a Great Saint to ash."

On the outskirts of Nirvana Valley,

Zhao Jianji and the other Primordial Demons stared at the valley, which was filled with churning black and gold thunderfire like a world-incinerating grindstone. They trembled with excitement, desperate to charge in and immerse themselves in it.

"What a pity..."

Wu Dao’s gaze was deep and far-reaching. He could clearly see, deep within Nirvana Valley’s burial ground, the dormant skeleton of a Divine Bird as vast as three thousand worlds.

Even across the vastness of space and time,

after hundreds of millions of years,

the oppressive might of this Overlord, who once dominated the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, still made Wu Dao feel an instinctual pressure.

For a Mountain and Sea Dominator like the Phoenix,

even in death,

the might emanating from its bones remained inviolable.

The Nirvana Thunder Fire that permeated the valley...

...originated from the Dao Patterns etched upon the very bones of the Phoenix skeleton.

Its Dao might persisted even after hundreds of millions of years.

One could only imagine how powerful this Phoenix had been in life.

’It’s a shame only a decaying skeleton remains. If the Desolate God Essence Blood within its bones hadn’t dissipated, a single drop could have probably elevated my Divine Demon Body to the Undying Body.’

"Let’s go!"

Having grasped the lay of Nirvana Valley,

Wu Dao no longer hesitated. With a wave of his hand, he summoned the Infinite Holy Hall. It bloomed with an immortal, indestructible golden light, ignoring the surging thunderfire as it carried him and the Primordial Demons into the valley’s depths.

The Infinite Holy Hall.

In its prime, it had been a Saint Master Soldier.

Though he lacked the Great Thousand Innate Mother Qi needed to reawaken its full Mighty Power, its fundamental materials were not something the Nirvana Divine Fire could incinerate.

By activating its Holy Weapon Divine Techniques,

he could still revive a fraction of the Holy Hall’s Mighty Power to resist the corrosive Nirvana Thunder Fire and regulate the intensity of the flames allowed inside.

A perfect home base and cultivation ground.

Next,

it wasn’t just Wu Dao who needed to enter seclusion; the Primordial Demons also had to perfect their circulations.

Relying on the Infinite Holy Hall,

they could enter the core region of Nirvana Valley, an area where even a Saint would be forced to stop.

Furthermore,

Nirvana Valley was located in a vast, uninhabited region and held no value for exploration, ensuring they would not be disturbed.

CRACKLE...

The deeper they ventured into Nirvana Valley,

the more terrifyingly the thunderfire Magnetic Field spiked. Even inside the Infinite Holy Hall, Wu Dao could feel faint traces of a threat.

He was certain.

’If not for the protection of the Infinite Holy Hall,’

’I would have been instantly incinerated into ash by the Nirvana Thunder Fire outside.’

After traveling for some time,

the Infinite Holy Hall reached the core of Nirvana Valley. It was surrounded by surging Five-Colored Thunderfire, and every wisp posed a lethal threat to Wu Dao.

Even deeper in,

there existed six-colored, seven-colored, eight-colored, and finally, at the source of the Phoenix skeleton, nine-colored thunderfire that had burned spacetime itself into a blurry, chaotic black hole.

The Infinite Holy Hall could advance no further.

It stopped in the five-colored region.

The Nirvana Thunder Fire in this region was capable of threatening a cultivator at the peak of the Creation Realm.

Wu Dao wasn’t crazy.

He wasn’t suicidal enough to leap out of the Infinite Holy Hall and cultivate in the Five-Colored Thunderfire. Instead, he used the Holy Hall to draw in wisps of thunderfire suitable for himself and the Primordial Demons.

RUMBLE—

Yet even these insignificant wisps erupted like a cataclysmic sea of fire upon entering the Infinite Holy Hall, raging through every inch of space.

Inside the Infinite Holy Hall,

some of the original stars and dead worlds...

...were instantly incinerated into ash. As far as one’s senses could perceive, there was nothing but roiling, boiling Five-Colored Thunderfire.

"AHHH!! SO GOOD!"

"Hsss, this is the feeling!"

"Alliance Leader, I’m ascending!"

Atop the Infinite Golden Stele,

Wu Dao watched the Primordial Demons on the Seventy-Two Primordial Demon Pillars below. Each shouldered a Primordial Sub-wheel and roared in a frenzy as the thunderfire blasted them apart into their fundamental particles. He smiled in satisfaction.

From that last heist on the Emperor Star,

the energy reserves of the Primordial Dao Wheel were filled to bursting.

This ensured it could continue accelerating without pause.

The vast resources excavated from the Dantians of the All Heavens’ Celestial Prides were more than enough to support the Heaven-Stealing Alliance’s Taotie-like consumption for their cultivation.

’Huuu... Time to begin.’

After the Primordial Demons got into the zone,

Wu Dao also took a deep breath. He created numerous Incarnations, each carrying resources and shouldering a Primordial Dao Wheel, and sent them into the more violent Five-Colored Thunderfire above.

His Main Body,

naturally, was no exception.

Summoning the Primordial Star Mother,

he took One Step,

entering the most ferocious region of the Five-Colored Thunderfire.

In the thunderfire, his Primordial Magnetic Dao Body gradually disintegrated into microscopic particles. These particles then broke down further, holding at the critical point just before degrading into Basic Particles.

The microscopic influencing the macroscopic.

By constantly altering and strengthening the Magnetic Field structure of his own microscopic particles, he could tap into the potential of his Primordial Magnetic Dao Body. The efficiency of this cultivation method was on a completely different level from traditional breathing exercises that tried to influence the microscopic from the Macroscopic level.

On this Foundation,

Wu Dao had also developed the Primordial Dao Wheel as an auxiliary tool to "subcontract" his cultivation.

Three hundred and sixty-five circulations.

Contracted out to three hundred and sixty-five Incarnations.

Coupled with the empowerment from multiple Primordial Dao Wheels and the efforts of his Main Body...

How many times had his speed increased?

It was impossible to quantify. In short, it now took Wu Dao less than a day to master a Heaven-Opening Technique from the Foundation to the Dharma Phase Level.

Back in the Divine Wilderness,

how long did it take him to reach the Peak of Human Extremes, which was equivalent to a Hongyuan Pseudo Dharma Aspect?

Nearly two years!

And that was with the help of his cheating attribute panel.

But now,

after creating the Primordial Dao Wheel 2.0,

it didn’t even take him a day!

’The Third Generation, the fourth... ’

’...how insane will they be?’

’The only thing I need to worry about is the issue of resources.’

As he was being tempered by the Five-Colored Thunderfire,

Wu Dao’s thoughts drifted.

’My Primordial Magnetic Dao Body cultivation doesn’t lack for basic resources. It converts and absorbs energy from the magnetic field, a truly inexhaustible supply.’

’But there’s a fundamental difference between just being able to eat and getting the nutrients of a gourmet meal.’

’Unique Magnetic Field energies that accelerate growth—like Ancestor Essence Blood, Creation Qi from the Cave Heavens Realm, Thunder Pools, and all the exclusive Heavenly and Earthly Treasures needed to cultivate specific Divine Techniques...’

’...these are all exclusive creations of the Great Dao.’

’For now,’

’I can’t create such things from nothing. I can only rely on the "charitable donations" of others.’

’The Primordial Star Mother is in the same boat.’

’Her absurd processing power relies on a massive supply of Divine Soul Energy, and the best fuel for her advancement at each stage is also Divine Souls.’

’As for her own body’s growth,’

’since she is fundamentally a weapon,’

’she also needs to devour vast quantities of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and high-grade Divine Weapons at every stage.’

’The resources required for the transformation to the third stage of the Essence Devouring Art will likely far exceed my expectations.’

Wu Dao’s consciousness swept over the Treasure Mountain and Treasure Sea floating in his Sea of Origin. ’When I make the full advancement to the third stage, my Primordial Magnetic Dao Body will inevitably become a Taotie Abyss.’

’If the Magnetic Field energy can’t keep up...’

’...and the advancement fails... ’

’...well, that would be a catastrophe.’

’The Creation Mother Qi harvested from Golden Immortal Island is off-limits. Until my combat power reaches the peak of the Creation Realm, the World Heavy Artifact remains one of my most important assets.’

’Although the reserves of the Desolate God Essence Blood Sea from the Infinite Holy Hall are vast, they have to supply more than just me.’

’What’s left...’

’...are the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures excavated from the Dantians of the All Heavens’ Celestial Prides. They’re piled high as mountains and deep as seas, and they represent my biggest reservoir of resources for this advancement.’

However,

Wu Dao still had a feeling it wouldn’t be enough.

His gaze swept across the densely packed, colorful cocoons within his Primordial Celestial Demon All Heaven Divine Domain.

Then, an idea sparked in his mind.

’Aren’t these materials just ready-made collectors for high-level Magnetic Field energy—for Creation Qi?!’

’I can’t capture the Creation Qi’s Magnetic Field...’

’...but this flock of devout believers, who have forged Mixed Cave Dragon Veins, shouldn’t have any problem.’

’This is called making the best use of everything.’

’When a Divine Spirit has a need,’

’its believers should naturally offer everything they have.’

’It’s only right and proper.’

"Star Mother, take over their Grotto Heaven Dragon Veins. Regardless of the cost, collect Creation Qi around the clock without rest."

With a mere thought, Wu Dao granted the Primordial Star Mother the authority of the Primordial Celestial Demon’s Divine Format, allowing her to take control of everything related to the believers.

"As you command, Father God."

After the Primordial Star Mother assumed control of the Primordial Celestial Demon’s Divine Format, her Magnetic Field tentacles extended through the Faith Channels and into the empty husks of the believers.

The group of Celestial Prides immediately ’revived’ with vigor. Their Dragon Veins roared to full power, sucking in and storing Creation Qi like oceanic maelstroms.

’Good. If you all just work a little harder, my advancement will be perfect.’

Wu Dao looked upon the rows of generators running at full capacity and felt utterly content. With no more worries holding him back, he officially began his own sprint toward the third stage.