Essence Devouring Art

Burial Realm, Juntian.

Outside the Red Dust Realm, in the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm.

"Nirvana True Lord?"

Liang Chen frowned as he listened to Elder Ji’s terrified voice coming from the Communication Jade Talisman. "Are you certain he’s in the Saint Realm?"

The Burial Realm was the final resting place for many Three Tribulation Great Powers.

Occasionally, some of these experts would manage to return after their tribulations through various means.

But a Great Power like the Nirvana True Lord...

Liang Chen had searched all the histories of the All Tribulations and the Burial Realm, yet he couldn’t find a single piece of information.

’A Saint Realm expert appearing out of thin air?’

No matter how he looked at it, the situation felt bizarre.

"It’s absolutely true!"

Elder Ji’s voice trembled with the lingering fear of someone who had just escaped death. "Guang Jun, one of Tao Chuan’s men, who possessed the Twenty-four Celestial Undying Body—he was slapped, just one slap, and turned into tribulation ash!"

Furthermore, I could feel it.

That Nirvana True Lord is no ordinary Great Power. His application of Law Order was like a Saint Master controlling the cultivation of the Saint Realm!"

’A Saint Master...’

After hearing this news...

Even the perpetually headstrong and tyrannical Liang Chen couldn’t help but feel a shadow of gloom cross his face, a sense of awe involuntarily rising in his heart.

The Saint Realm, the Great Saint Realm, and the Saint Master Realm.

From the Small Thousand Inner World, to the Middle Thousand Inner World, and finally the Grand Thousand Inner World—the increase was not merely in the number of worlds.

It was about the perfection of the Law Order and the proportion of the Great Dao’s volume. A Saint Master had reached the absolute Limit of the laws, controlling a complete branch of the Great Dao!

The gap between these three major realms grew wider the higher one went.

The difference between the Great Saint Realm and the Saint Realm was even more terrifying than the one between the Creation Realm and the Saint Realm!

As for a Saint Master...

It was no exaggeration to say that a peak Saint Master could effortlessly destroy a normal Great Realm the size of the Burial Realm!

If that Nirvana True Lord was truly a Saint Master who had returned from his tribulation...

then forget about him, Liang Chen, or Jia Baocai. Even Su Xiuqi at his peak would have to show respect!

As his thoughts raced...

Liang Chen asked the most critical question:

"What about the Yang Realm Celestial Burial Stele?"

"Well..."

Elder Ji stammered,

"Later, news spread that the Nirvana True Lord’s Divine Envoy received Jia Baocai’s negotiator, Sikong Xuan. The two sides seemed to have reached some kind of deal. It should be in his hands now."

’Hmm?’

"You useless piece of trash!"

Liang Chen finally understood what had happened.

It turned out that Elder Ji originally had a chance to get the Heaven-Burying Stele.

But the old fool got scared and ran away!

’More of a hindrance than a help!’

"That’s not it."

Elder Ji hurriedly explained,

"I contacted an old friend in the Business Realm to ask around. I heard that Jia Baocai paid a steep price—an entire Emperor Scripture—to obtain the Yang Realm Celestial Burial Stele from the Nirvana True Lord."

’An entire Emperor Scripture?!’

This time, Liang Chen was genuinely shocked.

Although Elder Ji was useless, his eyes and ears were spread across All Heavens. That was his greatest asset, so the information was certainly reliable.

’Could it be... that Jia Baocai also knows the secret of the Heaven-Burying Stele?’

For some reason,

Liang Chen felt a strong sense of crisis.

The Liang Clan wasn’t the only bloodline of the Heaven-Burying Emperor. If Jia Baocai had also learned of that great secret through one of his descendants...

’No.’

’He must know!’

Otherwise, a Heaven-Burying Stele that was merely symbolic would never be worth the price of an entire Emperor Scripture to Jia Baocai!

"Did Jia Baocai make any other deals with the Nirvana True Lord?"

Liang Chen pressed, his brow tightly furrowed.

If a suspected Saint Master returning from tribulation was backing Jia Baocai, what the hell was the point of competing? The smart thing to do would be to pack up and run.

"That... I don’t think so."

Elder Ji said after some consideration, "The Nirvana True Lord doesn’t seem to be able to leave Nirvana Valley. I’ve checked all the intelligence reports since the appearance of Nirvana City."

"I found that on the two occasions the Nirvana True Lord has acted, He never left the vicinity of Nirvana Valley."

"Moreover, He doesn’t bother anyone who doesn’t bother Him first."

"He has never actively expanded His territory or influence. Even the Nirvana Alliance was established by the Demon Cultivators of the Border Wilderness, who willingly submitted to Him."

"He is not an ambitious person."

"What damn good is speculation!"

Liang Chen was not satisfied with the ambiguous answer. After a moment of thought, he said,

"Where are you now?"

"..."

On the other end,

Elder Ji, who was hiding in some other realm, cursed inwardly. He knew exactly what Liang Chen was thinking, but his fate was not his own to decide. He could only sigh and say,

"At an old friend’s Daoist temple in the Death Fire Realm. It’s not far from Nirvana Valley."

"I’ll give you one more chance."

Liang Chen said mercilessly,

"Later, I will send you an Emperor Scripture. Go to him, offer it as an apology, and while you’re there, find out clearly if the Nirvana True Lord made any other deals with Jia Baocai."

Where there is demand, there is potential for cooperation.

An Emperor Scripture.

It was, of course, not just a simple apology.

"I... I’ll try..."

Elder Ji looked as if he’d just lost his parents, an expression of pure despair on his face. He had just escaped the Demon Cave, and now he was being sent back.

’How could I have been so blind, getting tied up with such a treacherous fiend!’

「At the same time.」

The Battle Realm.

At the core of an ocean suffused with the aura of a Primordial Ancestor, a rumbling vortex, an ocean’s eye, spun like an abyss, greedily swallowing vast amounts of Ancestral Desolate God Essence Blood.

At the heart of the ocean’s eye,

the Shadow of a God and Demon stood tall. Its wild, blood-red hair danced, its physique towering like a Divine Pillar. Its muscles were like stacked Divine Mountains, and its Undying vitality emanated an overwhelming, ferocious might, transforming into roaring Ancient Fierce Beasts that shattered the Worlds of the Ten Directions.

Deep within this physique that could generate all of creation,

faint strands of golden light, indestructible through all tribulations and supremely sacred, began to emerge. It seemed he had reached a critical point of transformation.

Tao Chuan.

The Lord of the Battle Realm.

Su Xiuqi’s only adopted son.

Horizontal Refining Twelve Dao Gates Undying Body Perfection!

WHOOSH—

A single breath stirred the Nine Heavens Gang Wind into annihilation, causing the vast lands to tremble violently.

"Body Ascension is truly extraordinary. But this final half-step... I’m still missing something. Fortune..."

Tao Chuan, whose sharp features seemed carved from stone, opened his eyes. All the strange phenomena vanished as if he had returned to a mortal state of simplicity. He murmured to himself,

Mortals compete for profit.

The Extraordinaries of the world compete for the Dao.

Before the Saint Realm, they fight for all sorts of worldly resources. After stepping into the Saint Realm, they must fight not only for resources, but also for fortune.

Fortune is mysterious and unpredictable.

Yet it concretely influences the fate, fortune, misfortune, success, failure, and luck of all beings.

Those who are not favored by great fortune must gather the fortune of all things to bless themselves if they wish to step into the Saint Realm.

As a Realm Master, and the master of a behemoth like the Battle Realm at that,

Tao Chuan’s fortune could be considered immense. Stepping into the Saint Realm was only a matter of time for him.

But it was too slow!

Take Jia Baocai and Liang Chen, for example. They were also Realm Masters, controlling realms even larger than the Battle Realm, yet it still took them upwards of five hundred years to break through to the Saint Realm.

Some might say that Body Ascension relies entirely on one’s own power and not the outside world, but without the favor of fortune, it’s debatable whether one can even step into the Extraordinary realm to begin with.

Therefore,

if Tao Chuan wanted to quickly step into the Saint Realm,

his best method right now was to become a revered ancestor like other Saint Realm experts and gather even stronger fortune for himself.

In other words,

the throne of the Heaven-Burying Alliance’s Alliance Leader!

Among the three main competitors,

he was the weakest. In the eyes of outsiders, he was just a lucky guy who got by because of his adoptive father—one of Su Xiuqi’s attack dogs.

But in reality,

he had secretly achieved the Half-Step Sacred Body long ago.

It was enough to contend with a Saint Realm Great Power.

He didn’t give a damn about the likes of Jia Baocai and Liang Chen. His only obstacle was his adoptive father, Su Xiuqi.

’On the surface, he supports my bid for Alliance Leader, but he really just wants to groom a puppet to safely get through his period of weakness. Once he recovers to the Great Saint Realm, the Heaven-Burying Alliance will still be his to command.’

But what Su Xiuqi never expected was that...

while Tao Chuan appeared completely loyal,

...he had long since become disloyal. He had used certain methods to hide the fact that he had broken through to the Half-Step Sacred Body, all for the sake of backstabbing him at the critical moment.

"’Father,’ you always say I’m too young and aggressive. This time, I’ll show you what true aggression is!"

Tao Chuan’s eyes flashed with malice as he cracked his neck.

His wild red hair made him look like a young lion king ready to devour its prey. A true man born between heaven and earth, how could he be content to live long under another’s thumb!

"You said... what?!"

But his triumphant mood didn’t last long.

Tao Chuan received a message that sent him into a towering rage—

His great general, Guang Jun...

...was gone!

Killed by a single slap, no less!

"Nirvana True Lord, Saint Realm, a suspected ancient Great Power?"

After hearing about the strength of the attacker,

Tao Chuan fell silent again. His heart full of fury had been doused with a basin of cold water, extinguishing it completely.

And just at that moment,

Su Xiuqi, who was hiding somewhere nursing his wounds, also sent a message:

"When your strength is inferior, you must endure what must be endured."

"That Nirvana True Lord occupies the forbidden zone of Nirvana Valley. If the information is true, even I would have to give Him a wide berth. Do not stir up unnecessary trouble."

Apparently,

Su Xiuqi had also learned about the incident at Nirvana Valley through his own channels. He was worried his adopted son would lose his head and his life, so he sent a special reminder.

"Guang Jun was like a brother to me. Your son truly cannot swallow this insult..."

Tao Chuan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he put on a murderous display, but in his heart, he knew that Guang Jun’s death would have to be in vain.

"Swallow it, whether you can or not!"

Su Xiuqi’s tone was severe. He then added with emphasis, "Your primary objective now is to gain the support of more than half of the Realm Masters. Then, with my public endorsement, the Alliance Leader’s position will be ninety percent certain."

"You don’t need to worry about Jia Baocai and Liang Chen. If they dare to reject the outcome, I will naturally take action."

’Take action?’

’Action, my ass!’

Tao Chuan sneered inwardly. He had long known that Su Xiuqi was severely injured and had dropped a realm. He was a clay bodhisattva crossing a river—unable to even save himself. At best, he was now equivalent to a newly promoted Saint Realm expert.

However,

there was one thing Tao Chuan didn’t understand.

Why was Su Xiuqi so insistent on him collecting all the Heaven-Burying Steles?

’Could it be...’

"Your son was impulsive."

He had a guess in his heart,

but Tao Chuan didn’t show it. Instead, he ’gritted his teeth’ and accepted the advice, saying he wouldn’t—and didn’t dare to—act rashly.

’A peak Saint Realm expert, backed by a deathtrap like Nirvana Valley... I’d only be confident after fully stepping into the ranks of the Sacred Body. For now, no matter how much I hate it, I can only suppress it.’

As for Jia Baocai’s trade for the Heaven-Burying Stele,

Tao Chuan had naturally heard about it as well.

However, he was already on bad terms with the Nirvana True Lord. Showing up at his door again would likely only escalate the conflict, so he could only remain vigilant in secret.

「Several days later.」

BOOM!

At the outskirts of Nirvana Valley,

a torrent of tri-colored thunder and fire erupted. Elder Ji was blasted out, his hair disheveled, and he fled into the distance as if his life depended on it.

"That old coot is really asking for death!"

"Yeah, the True Lord spared his life last time, and he still dares to come near Nirvana Valley. He must think he has too long to live."

"I think I saw him kowtowing his way in earlier, haha! So what if he was once the Vice Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Burying Alliance? When he comes to Nirvana City, he still has to grovel and submit."

The crowd of Demon Cultivators in the city jeered and laughed at the sight of the wretchedly fleeing Elder Ji. Thanks to the Nirvana True Lord’s presence, Nirvana City had already become a Holy Land of sorts.

Hundreds of millions of Demon Cultivators

all considered it an honor to join the Nirvana Alliance.

Although it was a one-sided wish, it still gave them a reason to stand tall. In Nirvana City, they feared no power from the Burial Realm.

Outside Nirvana City,

after fleeing a certain distance,

Elder Ji finally breathed a sigh of relief. He straightened his appearance, his face beaming and all traces of his wretched state gone, because he had managed to save his own skin.

Not only had he saved it,

he had also negotiated a huge deal!