Essence Devouring Art

Golden Immortal Island.

WHOOSH—SPLASH—

After the great battle, the chaotic energies of the world flowed back, forming a hurricane. The area of the Boundless Sea that had evaporated into an abyss was rapidly refilling, stirring up endless waves.

WHOOSH~

Wu Dao strode through the void, moving forward slowly.

"Alliance Leader, after you sent us into Hongyuan..."

Lv Tiezhu followed respectfully by his side. His excitement had settled, and he wore the proud expression of a child presenting a report card to their parents as he began to recount the Primordial Demons’ experiences over the years.

「Roughly twenty years ago.」

Nearly a hundred Primordial Demons, with all information about the Divine Wilderness erased from them by Wu Dao, were sent into Hongyuan ahead of schedule. The stabilized channel ensured they didn’t encounter any spacetime turbulence and arrived safely.

But...

The Overlord Whale Alliance’s beginning was anything but smooth.

The scope of the Hongyuan Heavenly Realms was simply too vast.

It was far beyond what some backwater mud pit could compare to. The nearly one hundred Primordial Demons received a rude awakening the moment they arrived.

Although they had crossed the passage between worlds safely...

...they landed in an extremely hostile environment, within a forbidden life zone in the Daluo World.

They encountered numerous ominous dangers and went through countless life-and-death struggles. It was an inauspicious start; they lost more than ten Primordial Demons before finally breaking out.

After gaining a preliminary understanding of Hongyuan’s structure...

...the Primordial Demons strictly followed the rules of conduct set by the Alliance Leader. They concealed their identities, developed in secret, and never made contact with outside forces.

「In those twenty years.」

Their footprints covered the major worlds as they ventured into numerous forbidden zones. They tempered themselves ceaselessly in blood and fire, and every one of them achieved considerable success.

"Alliance Leader, my own achievements are actually nothing special."

As if remembering something, Lv Tiezhu gave a thumbs-up and said with praise:

"The Vice Alliance Leader has worked tirelessly all these years. He’s constantly devising plans to get us out of danger, and he’s also the hardest-working one among us.

Five years ago, he was the first to achieve the Divine Demon Body. He’s now at the Divine Demon Eighth Layer Heaven, and with his Desolate Divine Body Soldiers, he can fight an Emperor Grade expert at the Eleventh Layer Grotto Heaven.

That kid Er Gou is also pretty amazing.

Two years ago, he got incredibly lucky and found the remains of a Golden-Winged Roc—a Holy Race member from among the Desolate Divine Seeds—in a forbidden zone.

He not only entered the God-Demon Fifth Layer Heaven...

...but he also commands the Golden Roc Body Soldier and possesses extreme speed. Generally, no one below the Fifteenth Layer of the Emperor Grade can stop him.

Beyond that..."

Lv Tiezhu spoke at length, reporting in great detail on the Primordial Demons’ experiences, growth, gains, and losses over the years.

As Wu Dao listened, magnificent scenes unfolded in his mind: life-and-death struggles, tenacious survival, and also moments of joy and laughter.

Twenty years of trials and tribulations.

For the Primordial Demons, who had been like rootless duckweed, to have come this far was truly not easy.

At the same time...

...the Primordial Demons had not disappointed him.

The remaining Seventy-Two Primordial Demons were each like a well-forged divine weapon. The weakest among them was at the peak of the Yang God realm.

Those with the Divine Demon Body, like Lv Tiezhu...

...were not in short supply in the alliance. There were a full six of them!

Each was a Hall Master-level figure capable of holding their own.

And they possessed the best legacies and weapons in all the heavens!

Great All Heavens Divine Techniques!

They had mastered a full ten of them, covering the three main paths and many auxiliary ones.

Not to mention their weapons.

They had a large number of Desolate Divine Body Soldiers, Celestial Soldiers, and Heavy Artifacts. They even had several Holy Soldiers!

However...

...the Primordial Demons didn’t carry the Holy Soldiers with them; they were sealed in the treasury of their main base in Daluo Heaven.

As for other consumable resources...

...not much remained.

After all, the Primordial Demons’ strategy was to fuel war with war. The consumable resources they obtained from raiding forbidden zones were almost always quickly converted into strength or used for the next treasure hunt.

This was also why Lv Tiezhu had come to attack Golden Immortal Island.

Wielding a World Heavy Artifact at a low cultivation level...

...consumed too much Creation Mother Qi, and now the alliance was down to its last reserves.

"Very good. You’ve all worked hard these years."

After hearing Lv Tiezhu’s report, Wu Dao was very satisfied with the Primordial Demons’ achievements. He clapped Lv Tiezhu firmly on the shoulder.

A simple, plain sentence.

"I am willing to die for the Alliance Leader!!"

Yet it was like a divine blessing to Lv Tiezhu. His eyes reddened, and he felt as if a pillar supporting the heavens had been erected in his heart, indestructible against any storm. All the hardships he had endured now felt completely worthwhile.

That they could be where they were today...

...all this creation was a gift from the Alliance Leader.

The Alliance Leader was their heaven, their god.

The Alliance Leader’s praise was the highest honor for them.

"The Vice Alliance Leader and the others have also been talking about you all these years. If they knew you’d returned, they would surely be overjoyed."

Lv Tiezhu straightened up and grinned, thinking of Zhao Jianji’s lonely figure from twenty years ago, looking like a pining stone statue awaiting its master. The reunion would certainly be an interesting sight.

Compared to mere believers...

...the Primordial Demons created from the Primordial Magnetic Demon Embryo possessed all the normal human emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, greed, hatred, and delusion—in addition to their absolute loyalty. They were no different from ordinary people.

This was by Wu Dao’s deliberate design.

A domesticated dog could never compare to a wild wolf or tiger.

Just like with Yaya back then.

He only guided and manipulated the general direction, and after awakening their wild nature, he let them go, releasing them back into the wild without keeping them on a leash.

Thinking of Yaya...

...the image of that mischievous, unruly little white-haired girl appeared in Wu Dao’s mind. He wondered if her "teeth" were sharp enough now.

At this thought...

...Wu Dao’s gaze was calm as he asked, "What about Yaya, who entered Hongyuan with you all back then?"

"This..."

Lv Tiezhu’s face paled at the question. He dropped to his knees in shame and pleaded, "We were incompetent! We failed to look after the young miss! Please punish us, Alliance Leader!"

Hm?

’That shouldn’t be possible.’

Wu Dao raised an eyebrow slightly. Yaya’s soul origin contained the mark of a supreme being. In all of Hongyuan, there were very few who could possibly harm her.

’Or could it be...’

’After the mark activated...’

’...was Yaya located by the Mountain and Sea and returned to her clan?’

After Lv Tiezhu explained in detail...

...Wu Dao understood the full story.

Yaya hadn’t met with any mishap, nor had she returned to the Mountain and Sea clan.

「Twenty years ago.」

Due to her special status, Yaya was carefully looked after by the Primordial Demons after arriving in Hongyuan.

However...

...once her wild nature was awakened...

...Yaya naturally couldn’t remain a sheltered flower in a greenhouse. During an expedition into a forbidden zone in Heaven-Burning Fire, she voluntarily left the Primordial Demons and disappeared alone into the zone, her whereabouts unknown.

「For twenty years.」

The Primordial Demons had secretly investigated Yaya’s whereabouts, but they had found almost nothing.

Their only guess...

...was that Yaya should still be somewhere in Heaven-Burning Fire.

This was because only Heaven-Burning Fire was a paradise for Alien Species. Compared to other Celestial Domains, it was very tolerant, and its environment was more akin to the primordial Mountain and Sea.

’A rebellious phase?’

A slight smile touched Wu Dao’s lips. He found it rather amusing, like an old father hearing about his child’s mischievous deeds.

If Yaya had stayed with the Primordial Demons...

...she would have definitely received excellent training and growth. As long as the Primordial Demons were alive, she would have been safe.

But perhaps she was eager to break out of the framework Wu Dao had set for her, which was why she chose to leave them and venture out alone.

This was good.

Rebellion was the first step toward self-reliance.

Wu Dao had taught Yaya many lessons.

Their core revolved around the concept of self-reliance, and it was clear the little one had truly grasped its true meaning—it wasn’t just a fleeting whim.

"Alright, get up. It was the path she chose for herself. The fault doesn’t lie with you."

Wu Dao’s expression returned to calm. He nodded for Lv Tiezhu to rise, then clasped his hands behind his back and continued toward Golden Immortal Island.

He paid attention to Yaya.

The most important reason was not whether the little lamb had fattened up, but the karmic destiny that would entwine them in the future.

The concept of fate...

...was something one had to believe in when human power was insufficient to overturn the heavens. The idea that "my fate is my own and not for the heavens to decide" was simply too foolish.

Wu Dao had always believed in fate but never resigned himself to it.

What was unknown was fate; what was known could be changed.

Back then in Dragon Gate Town, where the Great Dao had manifested...

...he had obtained two great creations: one was the Bitter Dust Robe, and the other was Yaya.

Two great creations.

When he first saw the Bitter Dust Robe...

...he had a feeling, deep down, that this Celestial Treasure would be of great use to him in the future.

As it turned out, this was true.

A cause was planted, an effect was reaped; fate was verified.

As for Yaya...

...the connection was indescribable, a matter of unpredictable fortune and disaster, but it was a karmic bond that he absolutely had to have, even stronger than the one with the Bitter Dust Robe.

For this reason...

...he had not hesitated to antagonize the Celestial Court to snatch Yaya away. He would just have to see when in the future this would be verified, and what kind of fruit it would bear.

The three thousand paths of the Great Dao all lead to the same destination.

No matter how special the Essence Devouring Art was...

...as long as one had not truly attained the Dao, one remained within its cage. To think oneself extraordinary and assume one had transcended was merely self-deception.

This included his Primordial Magnetic Dao Body.

Its essence was still derived from the Great Dao.

It was by no means created from nothing.

And the step of Attainment Dao was the process of severing all causal ties within the Dao, freeing oneself from all shackles, and transcending its confines.

Severing didn’t necessarily mean killing.

But whether by heavenly timing or human action, since a cause had been planted, it would eventually have to be resolved.

Otherwise...

...no matter how high one’s cultivation, one would remain within the long river of the Great Dao’s destiny, bound by countless threads, adrift in the waves of tribulation, unable to transcend.

Wu Dao had planted many causes.

Some came from his body’s previous owner.

The majority came from the battle of the final tribulation in the Divine Wilderness.

If one were to truly unravel all those countless threads...

...the people and things involved were all figures who stood at the pinnacle of All Heavens.

This also meant...

...that his future path to severing consequences and attaining the Dao would be exceedingly difficult.

However...

...no matter how difficult, he was fearless.

Thinking of his predecessor...

...Wu Dao couldn’t help but think of the Little Mudman from Dragon Gate Town, the one who bore the karma of plundering the Celestial Destiny and Fortune of Wu Dao’s own predecessor, refusing to accept a life of mediocrity.

It had just been a casual act back then.

He hadn’t held much expectation for it.

He wondered if the boy was still around, and if so, what level he had grown to.

"Oh, right, Alliance Leader, there’s something you’ll definitely be interested in."

As Wu Dao’s thoughts drifted, Lv Tiezhu slapped his own head and said with a foolish grin, "Heh, I was too excited just now, I almost forgot.

Half a year ago.

When we were attacking the forbidden zone with the Dao Stone Vein, we ran into a fellow Daoist who also cultivates the Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist and Reversed Celestial Spirit, just like you instructed. His name is Wuchen."

"Oh? Wuchen? How is he?"

A flicker of light crossed Wu Dao’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that just as he was thinking of the Little Mudman, the Primordial Demons had already crossed paths with him.

Moreover, Wuchen... Wuchen! ’He must have already formed a karmic bond with that ’nephew’ of mine, right?’

"He’s pretty tough."

Lv Tiezhu said with some admiration, "When we met Wuchen, we just thought he was a competitor, so we fought him hard.

But that little guy is a bit strange.

He was clearly alone.

But he managed to resist stubbornly with a Heavy Artifact. Just when we were about to get serious, we saw him use the Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist. You could say we wouldn’t have known each other if we hadn’t fought.

After we got to know him better...

...he’s truly worthy of being someone you chose, Alliance Leader.

He’s not even fifty, but his Transverse Cultivation, Divine Techniques, and Soul Cultivation—all three paths—have reached the Emperor Grade Dharma Aspect of the Twenty-four Heavens. He’s an absolute Monster Level Celestial Pride!

A Daoist Child who has only perfected the Thirty-Three Heavens Dharma Aspect in a single path is no match for him at all. He can even fight and kill experts at the King Grade Grotto Heaven."

Monster Level Celestial Pride.

This refers to those freaks and anomalies whose aptitude surpasses even a Daoist Child, whose combat power cannot be measured by conventional realms.

Every single ’Monster’ is the true foundation and cherished treasure of a peak power—a brilliant pearl, like a Son of Revival.

The standard for being judged a ’Monster’...

...is only one thing—

Triple Cultivation, advancing on all three paths at once!

Main Path, Transverse Cultivation, and Soul Cultivation.

An ordinary person can exhaust their energy just to cultivate one, possessing one type of Dharma Aspect and one type of Grotto Heaven.

But a Monster has three!

The light that shines from this trinity is naturally greater than the sum of its parts, which is why a Monster’s combat power cannot be measured by realm.

The Ten Tribulations of the Divine Wilderness.

The reason it caused such an uproar in Hongyuan...

...and became a laughingstock across All Heavens, a topic still discussed to this day...

...one of the reasons...

...was that a large number of ’Monsters’ and brilliant new stars from four major worlds became ghosts at Wu Dao’s hands, dying frustratingly in the Divine Wilderness.