Essence Devouring Art

’The Little Mudman?’

Yaya’s red pupils narrowed as she recalled the person she had just seen in the Nine Heavens Cloud Sea.

She was protected by the Mountain and Sea Supreme Mark.

Her aura and karmic signature were completely concealed.

Wuchen couldn’t recognize her, but she could recognize Wuchen.

Although his features had matured, she could still see the shadow of the Little Mudman from Broken Clothes Alley twenty years ago.

That night.

It seemed Wu Dao and the Little Mudman had made some kind of deal, exchanging a set of tattered clothes.

As for the details of that deal...

Recalling how she had later asked Wu Dao if he truly hated Mo Chen, Yaya already had a good idea what it was about.

’That piece of trash is truly laden with sin.’

She gave a cold smile.

Yaya pulled back her thoughts and, under Xiaocai’s guidance, quickly found an inheritance that suited her.

Her situation was similar to Wuchen’s.

If she were to reveal her true power, she would be rejected by the world—unless she silenced every last witness.

Therefore, she would only have one chance to strike.

Before that, it was only natural to secure whatever benefits and advantages she could.

After all, Wu Dao’s parenting lessons hadn’t been for nothing.

As for Mo Chen?

They would meet at the summit!

...

WHOOSH—

Within the starry sky above Huanwu Mountain’s sea of clouds,

space rippled and undulated.

Wu Dao, clad in a patched black robe, flicked through the Star Mother Prayer Beads with his right hand. His face, etched with worldly weariness and compassion, made him look like an Ascetic Monk wandering the earth.

BUZZ—

As his eyes opened and closed, the entire interior and exterior of the Cosmic Mountain became as clear as the lines on his palm. Its macro and micro pathways, along with the general flow of its Magnetic Field, materialized in his mind’s eye.

Although Huanwu Mountain was an Emperor’s Weapon of the All Heavens, it was currently in a sealed state. The Heaven-Reaching, majestic Divine Mountain before him was not even a ten-thousandth as powerful as it would be when fully awakened.

If it were in its complete state, let alone a hundred-odd Heavy Artifacts, even ten thousand Holy Soldiers couldn’t hope to pry open its pathways or seal the slightest part of it.

But even in its dormant state, the influence of the Emperor’s Weapon’s Magnetic Field was terrifying—a completely tangled mess, yet as impregnable as a fortress.

Even with Wu Dao’s current Primordial Magnetic Mastery, it would still take him some time to find a node in the Magnetic Field that, once leveraged, would allow him to completely seal Huanwu Mountain.

But he was in no hurry.

If he wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop, he couldn’t afford to be careless. Taking a little time was well worth it.

’My dear nephew, my good disciple...’

While observing the Cosmic Mountain’s Magnetic Field, Wu Dao’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted Mo Chen and Wuchen, who were currently comprehending Divine Techniques on two separate Enlightenment Platforms on Huanwu Mountain’s mountainside.

He hadn’t seen them in twenty years.

His dear nephew had certainly grown up.

He had completely shed his immaturity. Dressed in cyan robes with a red gourd at his waist, he appeared as warm and gentle as jade, exuding a steady composure. He even carried a hint of Cyan Yu Celestial Venerable’s transcendent aura.

’What a cherished treasure he is.’

Wu Dao’s gaze swept over Mo Chen, and he discovered a vast Magnetic Field Power, far surpassing the Grotto Heaven realm, lying dormant within his body.

Its intensity far exceeded that of the Creation Realm experts he had observed in the Cosmic Ancestral Land recently.

Faintly, there were also wisps of a majestic aura that did not belong to the Creation Realm.

Without a doubt, it had to be a protective measure left in Mo Chen’s body by some Great Power.

’But it doesn’t matter...’

No matter how great the Power, they would be suppressed upon entering the Emperor Star. Even if they used a Primordial Emperor Artifact to sneak in, they would be limited to the power of a lower-tier Creation Realm cultivator.

As for why Mo Chen hadn’t discovered him through their karmic connection, that was naturally thanks to the effects of the Bitter Dust Robe.

Within the Dao, Primordial Chaos is the absolute limit.

Once the Bitter Dust Robe, a 100% Emperor’s Artifact, was actively manifested and worn, the might it projected reached its absolute peak, granting true Cause and Effect Immunity.

After the incident with Su Chen, to ensure he remained completely in the shadows, Wu Dao had switched the Bitter Dust Robe from providing passive protection to being actively worn.

Even if he were to stand before Mo Chen right now, Mo Chen would only see a stranger, and not the slightest karmic connection would be triggered.

However, what Wu Dao didn’t know was that the karmic link between his predecessor and Mo Chen had already been unilaterally erased.

The current Mo Chen had completely supplanted his predecessor; any karmic entanglement now existed only between Mo Chen and those who had divided and devoured the predecessor’s Creation.

’Tsk, I’d really love to have a nice little chat with my dear nephew right now...’

His fingers twitched slightly.

Wu Dao withdrew his gaze and resumed flicking the prayer beads in his hand.

A moment of impatience could ruin his grand design.

Exposing himself early for a single Mo Chen—a target he wasn’t even certain he could kill—and giving up an entire forest of other targets was a losing trade no matter how he looked at it.

’Don’t disappoint me.’

Wu Dao’s gaze swept in another direction.

On a Dao Platform shrouded in yellow and white qi, Wuchen slowly rose to his feet. His aura was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the heavens as he coldly regarded the host of greedy challengers ascending the platform.

’Not bad.’

Wu Dao examined the transformed Wuchen and nodded in satisfaction.

He had spent so long sharpening this blade.

Now that its edge was keen, it was time for it to taste blood.

It was more than enough to force out all of Mo Chen’s hidden trump cards and so-called Celestial Destiny and Fortune.

All he needed to do was seal Huanwu Mountain before then, creating a perfect kill zone with no escape to the heavens above or the earth below!

Hm?

As his senses swept the area, Wu Dao’s brow twitched. The prayer beads in his hand paused for a moment, and his gaze locked onto a Dao Platform suffused with a bloody, baleful aura.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her grace was peerless.

The faint wisp of Demon Qi about her was something Wu Dao had never encountered before. Coupled with a perfect face that made the starry sky itself pale in comparison, she was utterly delicious and tempting.

’The Demon Race?’

Wu Dao clicked his tongue, averted his gaze, and made a mental note.

’They’ll all be fish in my net anyway.’

’No need to rush.’

’I can savor her properly later.’

’When Yaya is all grown up, she should be every bit as stunning as this woman.’

The sight made him think of her.

Wu Dao recalled the adorable Yaya sleeping soundly in his arms like a little kitten, sucking her fingers. A look of fond nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.

「On Huanwu Mountain.」

SHING!

On an Enlightenment Platform, Yaya seemed to sense her old man’s heavy gaze. An inexplicable chill ran down her spine, and she snapped her eyes open, frowning as she scanned the surrounding space.

She was, after all, of the Mountain and Sea Supreme Bloodline.