Essence Devouring Art

After the Giant Axe Sacred Land.

Wu Dao had manipulated the Celestial Prides of the All Heavens into being his free labor, opening a large number of treasure troves in the forbidden zones.

Not only did he obtain five Great All Heavens Divine Techniques, but he also made a fortune in various Extraordinary Cultivation Resources.

Wu Dao had already recalled most of his Incarnations. He stopped venturing into the forbidden zones and entered a state of dormancy.

He needed to focus all his energy on refining the Second Generation Primordial Dao Wheel and digest the five Heaven-Opening Techniques as quickly as possible, so he couldn’t afford to be too distracted.

Of course, the main reason was that the forbidden zones were not static. Just because he knew the location of a treasure trove didn’t mean it would be waiting there for him to excavate.

Hundreds of thousands of years had passed since the Slaughter Emperor roamed the forbidden zones.

Over such a vast expanse of time, seas had turned into mulberry fields; the changes in the forbidden zones were far too numerous.

Most of the treasure troves had been completely annihilated by the Tribulation Qi of the forbidden zones, or had been displaced by spatial-temporal shifts, vanishing without a trace.

In fact, for all his efforts, Wu Dao often came up empty-handed. His only consolation prize was "converting" the Celestial Prides of the All Heavens who took the bait.

However, this kind of "pig-butchering scam" was a one-time deal. After the incident came to light, the All Heavens grew wary, and he could no longer pull the same trick.

He currently had five Incarnations remaining outside.

Four were roaming various regions, trying their luck.

The last one was stationed at a treasure trove.

This particular treasure trove involved extremely rare resources and legacies from the Horizontal Refining Lineage, and its scale was even more terrifying than that of the Giant Axe Sacred Land.

According to the information left by the Slaughter Emperor, it was the Transverse Refining Leader Holy Land from the era of the Four Tribulations Chaotic Star Heaven—the Boundless Sacred Land.

During the era of the Four Tribulations, the Boundless Sacred Land produced an Infinite Saint Body who had perfected the Thirteen Daoist Sects. This being had battled and killed a Desolate God Ancestor King of Mountain and Sea, which was equivalent to fighting an Immortal Emperor from a higher realm!

This meant that once he obtained the legacy of the Infinite Saint Body, his path to the fourteenth gate of Transverse Cultivation would be completely unobstructed.

However, this would be very difficult. It wasn’t just Wu Dao who had his eyes on that treasure trove. Several Overlord Forces from the All Heavens had discovered the Boundless Sacred Land before he did.

They had stationed a large number of troops and Grotto Heaven experts outside the Holy Land, assaulting the forbidden zone day and night in an attempt to open the treasure trove.

In this era, the upper limit for entry into the Taiyi Emperor Star was the Cave Heavens Realm.

Although it wasn’t the final stage of its opening, those at or above the level of Emperor Grade Cave Heaven with Twenty-four Heavens were already permitted to enter.

Although the current Wu Dao was already absurdly powerful, he wasn’t yet strong enough to cross so many levels and contend with Grotto Heaven Masters at the Twenty-four Heavens tier.

The Transverse Cultivation legacy was fundamental to the Life Magnetic Field of his physical body.

Aside from his Main Path of Essence Devouring, it was the path Wu Dao valued most.

His current freakish indestructibility was inextricably linked to the aid of the Transverse Refining Dao.

Therefore, he was determined to obtain the legacy of the Boundless lineage.

Before the Boundless Sacred Land was breached, he needed to acquire the strength to truly contend with the top Grotto Heaven Masters of the All Heavens, no matter the cost.

However, Wu Dao was not in a hurry.

The layout of the forbidden zone containing the Boundless Sacred Land far surpassed that of the Giant Axe Sacred Land. It was incredibly perilous and would not be easily breached.

His Incarnation there was constantly monitoring the progress.

Every day, a large number of unlucky souls were sacrificed as cannon fodder in the forbidden zone. The great powers of the All Heavens deployed numerous Heavy Artifacts, but to little effect.

This was destined to be a long and grinding effort.

In the short term, there was basically no chance of it being breached.

And once the upgrade of his Primordial Dao Wheel was complete, with the constant, direct infusion of power he would receive, catching up to the top tier of cultivators would not be difficult for Wu Dao.

...

WHOOSH—

「Several days later.」

In the Red Thunder Abyss.

Wu Dao opened his eyes and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air. As his consciousness entered the Heavenly Demon Circulation, the corners of his lips curved upward slightly.

In the hands of the Primordial Celestial Demon, after several days of refinement with Divine Fire and Primordial Magnetism, the Magnetic Mother Star Bead had undergone a massive transformation.

The nine fully "infected" beads broke away from the main body, transforming into a fantastical star-sea turbine composed of concentric star rings and three thousand nodes—the Primordial Dao Wheel 2.0.

As for the most crucial part, the Artifact Spirit...

"Primordial Star Mother, I greet the Father God."

A cold, mechanical voice composed of ten thousand other voices rang out.

Wu Dao’s gaze shifted to the core node of the Dao Wheel, where he saw countless bits of data and Divine Soul information converging to form an abstract figure of starlight.

Though named Star Mother, it was actually genderless. Its physical form constantly shifted between male and female, old and young, and its eyes shone with the brilliant light of infinite wisdom.

’If I had to categorize it, I guess it would be a unique form of super-artificial intelligence?’

Its knowledge reserves and computational power came from the top-tier legacies of the All Heavens that Wu Dao had acquired, as well as the Divine Souls of a hundred Grotto Heaven-level Celestial Prides and nearly ten thousand top-tier Dharma Aspects.

After completely absorbing and fusing all this, its wisdom, Comprehension, and deductive capabilities reached an absurd level, and it was capable of continuous growth and upgrades.

"Star Mother, how long will it take to comprehend all five Great Divine Techniques to the peak of the Dharma Aspect realm?"

With a thought, Wu Dao input the information for the Great Divine Power of Heaven and Earth Creation and the other four newly acquired Great Divine Techniques into the Primordial Star Mother.

VMMMM—

Upon receiving the command, the Star Mother began its operation. Countless waterfalls of starlight, filled with wisdom, flickered as it began to calculate and deduce the information of the five Great Divine Techniques.

A moment later, the Star Mother’s voice rang out again. "Reporting to Father God: at normal power, twenty days. At Gods and Ghosts overclock, ten days. With controllable Godlessness, within three days.

If five Sub-wheels assist the calculations, the Father God can complete his comprehension in less than a day."

Three days!

He could master the theoretical knowledge of five Great All Heavens Divine Techniques to the peak of the Dharma Aspect realm!

And with the help of Sub-wheels, it would be even faster!

If there were enough Sub-wheels, he could even achieve instant comprehension!

This was the computational power of the Second Generation Primordial Dao Wheel. So-called peerless prodigies weren’t even worthy of carrying its shoes.

"Calculate how long it will take to achieve Heaven Opening after I’ve fully mastered the five Great Divine Techniques."

Wu Dao suppressed the joy in his heart, his gaze returning to calm. He then glanced at the remaining materials in his Divine Country, made a quick estimate, and added:

"With the assistance of five secondary Sub-wheels."

The remaining materials were indeed enough to forge five secondary Sub-wheels.

The Primordial Star Mother calculated again. An answer came in an instant:

"Reporting to Father God. With the Father God, your Incarnation, and the Dao Wheel in a three-in-one configuration, it will take one month at full power. I recommend the Father God increase the number of Sub-wheels for greater speed."

One month!

He could refine five Dharma Aspects in just one month!

If word of this got out, even a Great Emperor Celestial Venerable’s jaw would drop in shock!

"Hah, I really do need to increase the number of Sub-wheels,"

Wu Dao took a deep breath.

Although the Celestial Prides of the All Heavens were now on their guard, he could compensate for quality with quantity, and he had already locked onto his targets.

With this in mind, Wu Dao contacted his dormant Incarnations in the various peripheral gathering places and began a new round of "conversions."

The Emperor Star Battlefield was vast and boundless. The number of minor powers and cultivators from the All Heavens who entered the Emperor Star was astronomical, scattered across innumerable gathering places in the periphery.

With such a large population base, who knew how many people went missing and died in the forbidden zones every day.

He wouldn’t be a picky eater. By "shearing" a little here and there, he would never attract the attention and alarm of the great powers of the All Heavens like he did last time.

After his various Incarnations began to move, Wu Dao selected five Celestial Soldiers from his treasury whose Magnetic Fields were similar to the Magnetic Mother Star Bead. He used Primordial Magnetism to pollute and assimilate their Dragon Veins, then began refining the Primordial Sub-wheels.

With a successful prototype, refining the Second Generation Sub-wheels became an assembly-line job, a simple process of putting them together.

In less than half a day, five Second Generation Primordial Dao Wheels were complete, and the reserved materials in his Divine Country had been completely used up.

Adhering to the principle of not letting anything go to waste, Wu Dao extracted all the Ancestor Essence Blood from the husks of a few top-tier Transverse Cultivation practitioners and fed it all to the Primordial Star Mother.

At the same time, Wu Dao tossed the remaining fifteen Magnetic Mother Star Beads into the Primordial Star Mother’s Grotto Heaven to feed its Dragon Vein, allowing it to digest and upgrade while running.

’Whew. Time to begin.’

After finishing all this, Wu Dao eagerly connected to the Primordial Star Mother. He glanced at the tempting Thunder Pool below before diving back into the Foggy Thunder Sea to begin his Cultivation.

Simultaneously, his five great Incarnations equipped their own Second Generation Primordial Dao Wheels and entered the Red Thunder Abyss, each one tasked with comprehending and cultivating one of the Great All Heavens Divine Techniques.

Although the five Great All Heavens Divine Techniques involved the three paths of Immortal, Daoist, and Martial cultivation,

and required different Dantians, cultivation environments, and Extraordinary Factors,

for Wu Dao, it made no difference. The all-encompassing Primordial Magnetic Energy, with its ability to generate any type of Magnetic Field, could satisfy the cultivation requirements of any path.

Well, with the exception of the Divine Format.

The Divine Spirit System was too unique.

Its Power was derived from the faith of living beings, a manifestation of imagination and desire, making it highly idealistic.

Each stage of advancement required a massive number of believers to pray piously, day and night, for an eternity.

Wu Dao had the ability to forcibly capture and "infect" a large number of believers, but it was too troublesome, and the return on investment would take far too long.

For the time being, he could use the Divine Image Heaven to forcibly pollute a Grotto Heaven and construct a Faith Channel, so he wasn’t in a hurry to advance his Divine Format.

Once his business on the Emperor Star was concluded, if his Divine Format was truly falling behind, then he would consider hunting Divine Beings.

RUMBLE—CRACKLE! POP!

Deep within the Red Thunder Abyss, endless scarlet, destructive thunderbolts filled every inch of space, condensing into a fog that annihilated anything that dared to enter.

The moment Wu Dao entered, his body and soul exploded into countless Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles, which were then broken down into even more microscopic entities, becoming an Origin Star Sea that constantly shattered and reformed.

"Hiss... So comfortable."

Within his origin, Wu Dao’s consciousness did sit-ups on the edge of life and death, constantly being destroyed and reformed, letting out a moan of pure bliss.

The Primordial Star Mother, a Celestial Soldier at the level of the Nine Cave Heavens, had a much higher tolerance than he did after its Magnetic Field origin was polluted and synchronized with his own. It plunged even deeper into the Thunder Sea below.

"Star Mother, enter the controllable Divine Void State! Full power!"

After finding a suitable depth, Wu Dao no longer hesitated. He merged as one with the Star Mother and, with a single thought, issued the command.

"As you command, Father God."

After receiving the order, the Star Mother dissolved into countless nodes that scattered throughout the Dao Wheel.

VMMMM!!

In that instant, a vortex like a miniature Star Sea appeared deep within the Thunder Sea, rumbling as it ravenously devoured all the magnetic energy in its surroundings.

The concentric star rings and three thousand nodes of the Primordial Dao Wheel began to spin and grind against each other with increasing acceleration.

A breath later, the principle that extremes give rise to their opposites took hold. The extreme motion transformed into extreme stillness.

The Primordial Dao Wheel began to erupt with an endless current of Primordial Magnetism. Its Cultivation and computational abilities were fully unleashed as it entered the controllable Divine Void State.

The controllable Divine Void State, as its name implied, was a state that unleashed three hundred percent of the power of the Divine Heavenless State, treating the processes of cultivation and comprehension as enemies to be conquered.

The "controllable" part meant that Wu Dao could now actively end this overloaded state at any time.

VMMMM VMMMM VMMMM—

Once the Primordial Star Mother entered its working state, the five Sub-wheels and Incarnations above also began their Cultivation.

In a trinity, Wu Dao’s origin began to vibrate and ascend in frequency. His entire being—his Cultivation, his Main Path, his Transverse Cultivation, his Soul Refining Divine Techniques—all stirred into motion.

Every single moment, his Cultivation efficiency surpassed his previous limits by an untold number of times.

At the same time, a flood of information was being thoroughly digested, comprehended, and poured directly into his mind.

Most of it consisted of the five newly acquired Heaven-Opening Techniques.

In just a few breaths, his comprehension of the five Heaven-Opening Techniques had already reached the Cocoon-Breaking Level.

The paths forward for his other Dharma Gates were also being rapidly cleared of their obscuring fog.

"Haha, this feels incredible!"

As Wu Dao cultivated, he reveled in the all-encompassing, epiphany-like, game-breaking power-up, and his mood was euphoric.

Six Second Generation Primordial Dao Wheels were already this ridiculously powerful. If all of his cultivation aspects were equipped with a Primordial Dao Wheel, then advancing a thousand miles in a single day would be no mere boast!

’All of it, become my Power!’

Once the Primordial Dao Wheel was operating stably, Wu Dao’s consciousness mobilized the freshly refined Ancestor Essence Blood within his Heavenly Demon Circulation.

And with that, a massive amount of exclusive Elixir Pills for Transverse Cultivation and Soul Cultivation from his treasury exploded into a river of medicinal power, which he began to devour with abandon.