Essence Devouring Art

As Wuchen’s thoughts swirled.

BOOM!!

"Chaos City must have a place on the Five Great Venerable Dao Platforms!"

Below the mountain peak.

From a group of Celestial Prides wreathed in Chaos Qi, an old man in white with an ancient, peculiar appearance stepped forward. He unleashed an aura that surpassed the Cave Heavens Realm and forcefully took over one of the Venerable Dao Platforms.

"Hahaha, if that’s how it is, then this old Daoist won’t stand on ceremony."

After Chaos City, another figure emerged.

A lean old man wearing a Tai Chi Daoist Robe and carrying a Duster stepped out from the ranks of Celestial Prides from the Qingming World and also claimed a Venerable Dao Platform.

The Common Lord of the Qingming World.

The Infinite Daoist Palace!

After that.

From the Profound Yellow World, the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty!

From the Daluo World, the Luotian Sword Realm!

From the Chaotic Star Heaven, the Star God Hall!

The Common Lord Powers of the five worlds—their Crowned Kings—all had Creation Realm experts step forward. Their auras suppressed everything in all directions as they occupied the five Venerable Dao Platforms.

The message was clear.

Any Celestial Prides from factions beneath the Common Lord Powers were to stay put and watch the show. Otherwise, they shouldn’t blame the experts for being ruthless and bullying the weak.

As for why these Creation Realm experts didn’t participate in the comprehension themselves, it was due to the restrictive rules of Huanwu Mountain.

The rules of Huanwu Mountain seemed to have become completely linked with the Taiyi Emperor Star over the past tens of millions of years.

In this era.

Those below the Cave Heavens Realm could enter the Grotto Heavens.

But this group of older-generation Creation Realm experts, who had used tricks to sneak in, couldn’t trigger the rules of Huanwu Mountain’s Dao Platforms at all.

To put it bluntly.

The current situation was a contest of backing.

Only Celestial Prides with powerful backing, those with Creation Realm experts as their protectors, had the right to even participate.

This tyrannical behavior naturally drew the ire of the Taoist Influences beneath the Common Lord Powers. Soon enough, someone stepped forward with a frown to voice their dissent.

"The Taiyi Emperor Star is the resting place for countless paragons from the Four Tribulations! It is a treasure, a shared inheritance left by our ancestors for all the future generations of Hongyuan!"

From the contingent of the Thunder Emperor Palace of the Qingming World, a powerfully built middle-aged man whose eyes seemed to contain the rise and fall of the Thunder Realm stared at the Five Great Venerable Dao Platforms and snorted coldly:

"Tens of millions of years ago, when the Emperor Star first opened, there was an unwritten rule among the All Heavens: everyone succeeds on their own merit! Since when is there a principle that it should belong exclusively to a single power!"

Within the Dao, Primordial Chaos is the pinnacle.

Both the Taoist Influences and the Common Lord Powers possessed a foundation in the Primordial Chaos.

There was a gap.

But it wasn’t an insurmountable one.

If the Daoist Lineages were to rise up and attack together, even the Common Lord Powers wouldn’t be able to withstand the assault.

Of course.

Powers on the scale of the Daoist Lineages and Common Lord Powers would not go to war lightly.

Once war broke out.

No one could bear the consequences.

For all these reasons.

The All Heavens Dao Lineages held the Common Lord Powers in awe.

But if their bottom line was crossed...

...there was absolutely no question of them submitting out of fear.

Now, the five great Common Lord Powers wanted to ignore the All Heavens Dao Lineages and hoard the five Strongest Divine Techniques for themselves. This was tantamount to a deep humiliation, a clear trampling of their bottom line.

As expected.

Following the indignant outcry from the Thunder Emperor Palace’s Creation Realm expert, more Creation Realm experts from the various All Heavens Dao Lineages who had snuck in also stepped forward—

"He’s right! The Emperor Star in this era is meant to be a battlefield for the younger generation to contend! Your current actions are far too tyrannical!"

"The older generation shouldn’t interfere. The arenas should be opened up, and every Cave Heavens Realm Celestial Pride should have a chance!"

"I second that!"

...

Faced with such public outrage.

The faces of the five Creation Realm experts from the Common Lord Powers, standing atop the Five Great Venerable Dao Platforms, darkened considerably. They knew they had acted without sufficient consideration and had provoked the crowd’s fury.

They were so used to their word being law.

They had forgotten the immense allure the Strongest Divine Techniques held for the All Heavens Dao Lineages.

"Fellow Daoist Qianqi is not wrong."

In the end, the old Daoist from the Infinite Daoist Palace spoke, a glint in his eyes. "The Taiyi Emperor Star is the common wealth of Hongyuan. It is true that it belongs to no single person, but..."

At this point.

The old Daoist stroked his long beard and said with a smile:

"’Nothing can be accomplished without rules. If just anyone can take the stage, with so many cultivators in the Cave Heavens Realm on this mountain...’"

The old Daoist left the rest unsaid.

But his meaning was clear: it was fine for the younger generation to compete, but one had to see if their juniors were even qualified.

A faction’s resources nurture a certain caliber of talent.

There was bound to be a gap between the top Celestial Prides nurtured by a Daoist Lineage and those nurtured by a Common Lord Power.

"Hah! You needn’t trouble yourself with that, my Daoist friend. If our disciples are not skilled enough and are killed, we won’t have a word of complaint."

The expert from the Thunder Emperor Palace caught the condescending tone in the old Daoist’s voice and let out a cold snort, clearly confident in the Celestial Prides of his own palace.

"Fine. In that case, let’s set a rule."

Atop the Five Great Venerable Dao Platforms.

A noble and majestic, golden-robed middle-aged man from the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty scanned the thousands of Celestial Prides below the peak and boomed:

"’The Twenty-four Heavens will be the barrier to entry. Anyone who has reached the Twenty-four Heavens or higher, who believes they are strong enough, may take the stage, regardless of whether they come from a Daoist Lineage or an Emperor’s Lineage. The victor will be decided in a battle royale!’"

SWISH SWISH SWISH—

As soon as the golden-robed middle-aged man’s voice fell.

From within the five Common Lord Powers, a succession of top-tier Celestial Prides stepped forward. Each possessed otherworldly talent and a disdainful gaze, and they looked down with indifference upon the assembled elites from the All Heavens.

This younger generation.

There were men and women among them, nearly a hundred in total.

Yet not a single one was over a hundred years old. All of them were Daoist Children from the Common Lord Powers who had surpassed the Twenty-four Heavens.

The dozen or so most dazzling figures among them, like moons surrounded by stars, were even more terrifying—they were advancing on three paths simultaneously, a Monster Level of talent no weaker than Su Chen’s!

The moment this lineup was revealed.

It immediately stunned the various All Heavens Emperor’s Lineages, whose hearts had been burning with ambition.

The gap was too great.

The disparity in the number of Daoist Children was simply too vast. Going up there would just be asking for a beating.

"Hmph! As if we’re afraid of you!"

However.

The top Daoist Lineages, like the Thunder Emperor Palace, did not give up.

If they were weak alone, they would join forces.

If the Daoist Children from the various Daoist Lineages of all the worlds united, they might not necessarily lose to the Celestial Prides of the Common Lord Powers!

"Wait!!"

But just as the All Heavens Daoists were about to ascend the stage for the chaotic battle royale...

...the old Daoist from the Infinite Daoist Palace suddenly acted. A look of reverence appeared in his eyes as his Divine Thought stirred, and he raised a hand to stop the Celestial Prides about to take the stage.

"Kong Dongzi, are you trying to go back on your word?"

The expert from the Thunder Emperor Palace frowned, and the expressions of the other Daoist Lineage representatives turned grim as well.