Essence Devouring Art

RUMBLE...

Outside the pure white, glass-like ocean of Celestial Thunder Gang Wind, a series of abstract, distorted images churned endlessly.

Spacetime was inverted, a bizarre and motley spectacle.

It seemed that with a single step, one could fall into unknown places, much like standing over the Reincarnation Pool and gazing into different worlds.

But this ’rebirth’ was no smooth sailing.

Beyond those abstract images, layer after layer of Chaos-colored vortex storms ceaselessly spewed a dangerous, destructive aura.

Without foolproof preparations, stepping in rashly meant an eighty percent chance of being lost and annihilated into nothingness within the temporal storm, and a nineteen percent chance of landing in an unpredictably dangerous place.

Only a sliver of a chance remained.

To pass through the void storm safely and arrive in a secure location.

DONG DONG DONG—

At a certain moment, it was as if a God and Demon was performing Heaven Opening inside the pure white crystal ball, smashing countless streams of Celestial Thunder Gang Wind with its fists, ceaselessly chiseling through the thick barrier, trying to break out of its cage.

BANG—BOOM!

A resplendent, stellar current erupted and surged. After countless punches, the cage was finally pierced.

But what emerged was not a ’person’.

It was a deep, vast, and dreamlike Star Sea constructed from innumerable, swarming cells.

WHOOSH~

The furious Chaos void storms raged.

They blew against the Star Sea as if it were dust, distorting it, stretching it into a long river of stars that threatened to fall apart.

Within the stretched-out river of stars.

"Not bad. This is intense!"

Ripples spread through Wu Dao’s Divine Soul and consciousness. He instantly felt a void storm that was ten thousand times more ferocious than the Celestial Punishment at the highest point of the Divine Wilderness.

But he loved nothing more than taming a wild steed!

CRACKLE—

Countless micro-particles spun and ground against each other, erupting with Primordial Magnetic currents that dug into the pure white crystal ball like anchors, halting the twisted river of stars from being blown away.

’The shackles... are gone.’

After stabilizing his existence, Wu Dao’s mind stirred. He could clearly feel that after leaving the cage of the Divine Wilderness, the shackles that had bound his path forward in every direction had all vanished.

It was like leaping from a small pond into a vast ocean. His mind was broader than ever before, and his wisdom was no longer suppressed.

The path was boundless. He could stride forward as he pleased!

BUZZZZ—

Like a volcano whose seal had been broken, countless origin particles saw their once-suppressed, vigorous potential erupt like magma. His hundred-revolution Primordial Magnetic Vortex Wheel also began to grow wildly.

It wasn’t just the Essence Devouring Main Path.

His Soul Cultivation, Transverse Cultivation, Divine Techniques...

After the Divine Mountain blocking his way was removed, his Cultivation at the Absolute Peak of the Pseudo Dharma Aspect level also began to charge ahead, racing toward a brand-new realm.

The upper limit in the Divine Wilderness was the Pseudo Dharma Aspect.

During the great war with the All Heavens, Wu Dao had truly reached the absolute ceiling of the Pseudo Dharma Aspect’s peak. His soul and body felt as if they had been stuffed into a narrow water bottle—incredibly cramped and suppressed.

After the self-destruction of the Divine Image Heaven, his potential was further excavated.

The feeling of suppression completely transformed into a highly reactive barrel of explosives.

A terrifying amount of Energy was all squeezed into a tiny space, causing his entire being to ’swell’ to the point where he could self-destruct at any moment.

So, after his ’rebirth’, Wu Dao didn’t hesitate or linger for a moment.

He jumped directly into the deep well of the Spiral Space, carved a path through the Celestial Punishment, and, after being crushed into a cellular state at the highest point, left the Divine Wilderness.

Because he had already found the path that lay ahead!

The shackles were gone. With the suppression gone, he could naturally break through without worry.

HUUU...

After settling down, while resisting the void storm, Wu Dao also began the breakthrough for his Main Path.

’After one hundred percent Potential Release with the Essence Devouring Art, what comes next? How does a lifeform continue to evolve?’

In the final moments of his previous life, Wu Dao had already had an idea. In this life, after absorbing the countless fruits of Extraordinary Wisdom from this World and using them to supplement his own, he had perfected it—

The Grand Circulation!

Devour the heavens of the self to open the Grand Circulation!

’A lifeform’s potential and its Energy storage capacity have an upper limit. If the container isn’t expanded, and life energy keeps increasing, the only possible outcome is for the macroscopic to disappear as the microscopic becomes pure energy.’

’Becoming pure life energy sounds like a great leap forward on the path of evolution, but it’s actually a path to suicide.’

’A drop of water and a vast ocean. Which has the greater volume? Even a fool knows the answer.’

’Without the volume of an ocean, forcibly transforming into a Magnetic Field of energy... the Divine Image Heaven was my own experiment. The experiment was a success. The outcome was as expected. A drop of water falling into the ocean will only have its consciousness erased by the vast sea. The small container is irreversibly filled, bursts, and is assimilated. Until, after its destruction, it becomes an insignificant drop within the ocean’s Magnetic Field—a complete death in every sense.’

’The stones of other mountains can be used to polish one’s own jade. How do the cultivators of Hongyuan control world-destroying Energy without being assimilated by the great sea?’

’They expand their inner worlds!’

’The Extraordinary Human Race of Hongyuan are born with an Inner World of the Dantian. As their realm increases, this inner world constantly expands its capacity. They are uniquely blessed and don’t need to worry about assimilation at all.’

’My, Wu Dao’s, previous body did have a Dantian. In fact, he possessed all Three Dantians. But it was later stolen from me through a scheme. All I was left with was the body of a mere mortal, fundamentally no different from my starting point in my past life.’

’After reaching 100% Potential Release, my container was also full, with no room to advance. So where did the path forward lie? Naturally, it was—’

’Heaven Opening!’

’If I have no Inner World of the Dantian, then I’ll just have to create one myself! I will treat my entire being as a single Dantian!’

’The Great Dao is the Creation of all things. An individual’s existence and all things in the universe share the same root. All similarities are not coincidences but the inevitable result of sharing the same source in the Great Dao. If I return to the origin and forge my body to be like the cosmos... A Dantian? What a piece of trash!’

’The complete self-destruction of the Divine Image Heaven, where the macroscopic human body was assimilated into the most microscopic Essence of the Great Dao. While putting me in a state between life and death, it also allowed me, Wu Dao, to rapidly ’reverse the flow’ of the entire process of the Great Dao’s Creation of all things: the Dao begetting one, one begetting two, two begetting three... I entered nothingness! I glimpsed the Dao! I stood at the origin of all change. I was given a single chance to recreate the structure of my own life, starting from the source.’

’The permission granted was minuscule. It wouldn’t let me ascend to the heavens in a single step. Nor could I mold an invincible god. But what I, Wu Dao, wanted was that one chance to reshape myself— I will perform Heaven and Earth Creation within my own body!’

’Back in the Divine Wilderness, forced by the suppression of the Great Dao and having fallen into that state between life and death, I stopped right before the threshold of creative authority. But this was something I, Wu Dao, did intentionally. It was to strengthen that strand of my indomitable will. To ensure that during the second experiment, I would not fall into that state between life and death again, allowing me to seize the sole opportunity to reconstruct my life’s structure from the most basic, microscopic level!’

’So! Die one more time, Wu Dao!’

BOOM!

Divine Image Heaven Opening!

A thunderclap of Chaos exploded!

The Magnetic Field of all things encountered a Black Hole Level gravitational pull. Even the void storms couldn’t escape, transforming into pure magnetic Energy that poured into the dreamlike Star Sea.

The white ball of Celestial Punishment below was no exception.

As Wu Dao devoured it like a whale, the majestic magnetic Energy formed spiraling pillars that rumbled as they poured into the starry expanse.

The countless cells, shining like stars, began to charge rapidly like a series of batteries.

1%!

10%!

50%!

100%!

BOOM!!!

After transcending his Limit, without any surprises, Wu Dao self-destructed once again. Countless cells exploded, collapsing toward the microscopic level and assimilating into the Magnetic Field of the Great Dao.

But just as he had said, what doesn’t kill him only makes him stronger!

This time, he did not fall into that state between life and death again, nor did he get lost in the endless darkness. Incredibly, he retained a trace of his consciousness.

OMM—

In a span of time shorter than a single thought, the entire universe’s spacetime seemed to freeze completely.

Wu Dao glimpsed the Dao!

His entire existence, along with his consciousness, madly regressed, like a great river flowing backward, rushing rapidly toward the nothingness of the primordial origin!

A majestic flood of information poured in.

Passively accepting even a sliver of it caused Wu Dao’s consciousness to expand so rapidly it almost shattered.

He could only guard his unyielding mind, shield himself from the external information with all his might, and follow the surging river back to its origin.

Outside, it was clearly visible. As Wu Dao continuously self-destructed, the starry expanse began to die out. Countless cells exploded into particles, which in turn exploded into even smaller particles, endlessly returning to nothingness.

Before his most basic microscopic existence was assimilated and vanished, Wu Dao had to complete his reconstructive ’surgery’. Otherwise, he would truly cease to exist.

BOOM—OMMM!

The great river of all things returning to their source finally reached its end!

Wu Dao ignored his dissipating consciousness and peered into the origin of all things, where everything merged—an indescribable, supreme, and magnificent state.

’A trace! To merge with that infinitesimal trace of the power of change!’

Finally! Before the basic microscopic particles shattered, Wu Dao got what he wanted.

Inspiration struck—

’Because I will it, I can!’

"OPEN!!!"

Wu Dao’s eyes snapped open, and he roared at the primordial origin!

RUMBLE—

Like the first thunderclap of creation in the empty void of Chaos, it exploded in the sea of consciousness of every sentient and non-sentient being across the universe and the All Heavens.

"Hiss... Who is undergoing Dao Attainment?"

"No, the fluctuations of the Great Dao are almost nonexistent. It can’t be Dao Attainment. This is..."

"Stealing from Heaven! Someone is stealing the authority of the Great Dao!"

The All Heavens trembled!

Countless old monsters raised their heads in horror, gazing toward the endless, infinite, supreme origin, and began to scry like madmen.

Stealing from Heaven! If the origin itself was altered, the resulting chain reaction would have unimaginable consequences. They couldn’t help but be terrified.

CLANG!!

But before they could finish their scrying, a sound like a heavy floodgate slamming shut once again shook the sea of consciousness of all living beings. The infinitesimal loophole was sealed, and the fluctuations of the Great Dao returned to calm.

"This... there’s no change at all?"

"What in the world did that person steal?"

"Sigh, these are turbulent times. I hope this isn’t a bad omen."

It came and went in a flash. Everything seemed to be unchanged.

And yet, in the unseen depths of fate, there seemed to be a subtle, imperceptible change.

The Great Powers of the All Heavens speculated uneasily. They were all guessing what unbelievable thing that madman had stolen from the Great Dao.

But they were overthinking it.

Wu Dao, of course, hadn’t stolen anything incredible. At his current level, he lacked the ability and qualifications to do so.

It couldn’t even be called stealing.

He had merely exploited a loophole to return to the Reincarnation Pool one time.

He gained the chance to choose for himself. His volume hadn’t increased or decreased, but his future was now completely different.

"Haha, a bit stingy, aren’t we?"

Before the great torrent, the nearly dissipated Wu Dao ’looked’ at the origin, now cut off by a heavenly condemnation, and grinned broadly without a hint of disappointment.

The loophole was sealed. There would be no more opportunities to exploit it like this in the future.

But it didn’t matter.

He had already gotten what he wanted!

SHHHHH—

The torrent that had returned to the origin carried Wu Dao forward once more, surging onward from the very beginning.

But this time, the direction from nothingness to existence was decided by Wu Dao himself!

OMM—

The torrent surged forth from the beginning. Countless basic microscopic particles began to vibrate and fuse, constructing a macroscopic existence.

It was as if a Creator was creating all things.

A complete rebirth and reshaping, starting from the very essence.

RUMBLE...

As the microscopic existences collided and merged, thunder rolled and rumbled without end.

It truly seemed as if Chaos was creating the All Heavens and Myriad Realms.

Under the influence of that trace of authority, countless microscopic particles were continuously constructed into macroscopic, cell-like Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles.

Upon close observation, one would discover that the inside of these Crystal Grain Bodies was a murky haze, like a newborn microscopic world, and was exceptionally similar to the Dantians of the Extraordinaries of this world.

The space was extremely narrow. Its volume was insignificant compared to a newborn Dantian.

But this microscopic world was just one among trillions of Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles!

Furthermore, the properties possessed by a Dantian were all possessed by the Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles as well, and they had infinite potential for growth!

A body like the cosmos, opening the All Heaven!

This was the next step for the Essence Devouring Art!

The human body would simulate the Great Dao of the universe. Using Primordial Magnetism as the trunk, it would sprout ten thousand branches of the All Heaven, absorb nutrients from the magnetic fields of the outer world’s Great Dao, and in turn nourish the Life Primordial Magnetism to evolve toward the true Great Dao!

Transverse Cultivation, Soul Cultivation, all sorts of Divine Techniques, Emperor Scriptures, Taoist Scriptures... all the various Extraordinary methods created by the Great Dao of this world, would all become the branches of the All Heaven that absorbed nutrients!

The goal was grand. It was also distant and difficult to achieve.

But Wu Dao believed, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

The most difficult part of the path had already been paved. The hardships and obstacles that lay ahead were nothing to be afraid of.

RUMBLE...

The thunder was vast and endless. The process of Heaven and Earth Creation continued, and more Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles appeared one after another.

Until all the Basic Particles had transformed into Primordial Magnetic Crystals, they then began to continuously arrange themselves and change.

They simulated the Great Dao of the universe that contained all things, creating the foundations for future, exclusive ’Dantians’ for all of Wu Dao’s Cultivation.

During this process,

the Horizontal Refining Sacred Spirit Transformation!

The Three-Phase Divine Punishment Fist.

All his various Divine Techniques.

also began to ascend toward the true Dharma Phase Level.