Essence Devouring Art

The Three Secret Techniques of Essence Devouring.

Divine Ghost Heaven, Godlessness Heaven, and Divine Image Heaven.

Each "Heaven" has its own exclusive purpose.

Divine Ghost Heaven allows one to enter a state of Unity of Heaven and Man, possess Divine Buddha Wisdom, and greatly unleash their Divine Soul’s calculation power. Wu Dao had used it the most, and it had helped him the most along his journey.

Godlessness Heaven allows the Innate self to replace the acquired self, turning one into a pure killing machine—a perfect combat state.

And finally, Divine Image Heaven.

It was also the most profound of the three "Heavens."

It assimilates the Great Dao’s Magnetic Field, enhances one’s Life Primordial Magnetism through self-destruction, and grants mastery over the magnetic field power of all forms and spirits.

Theoretically speaking, as long as he could continuously raise the threshold for destruction, he could grow endlessly stronger in this state.

However, this was very difficult.

The assimilation of the Great Dao’s Magnetic Field was irreversible and completely beyond his control.

The last time he activated Divine Image Heaven, he had stolen a sliver of the Great Dao’s authority to reconstruct himself. That was why he hadn’t been truly destroyed and had recovered quickly.

Without the support of that sliver of authority, unless he truly forged an infinite Primordial Magnetic body on par with the Great Dao, it would be fundamentally impossible to actively control the destruction threshold.

Since he couldn’t control the destruction threshold, he might as well settle for the next best thing: accelerating his recovery time after destruction.

In other words, he needed to create an anchor point during the process of self-destruction.

This would ensure that after self-destructing, his True Self could quickly revive and return.

Adaptability.

This presented no difficulty.

During nearly a year of arduous cultivation in the Star Ruins, he had experimented with Divine Image Heaven countless times, plunging again and again into the darkness that separated life and death by a single thought.

After emerging from his seclusion, the once-terrifying self-destruction of Divine Image Heaven could no longer even make him daze. His Incarnation could self-destruct independently, and his True Self’s consciousness could remain indestructible throughout.

So, how could he recover quickly?

After coming into contact with the faith system of Divine Spirits and developing the contaminating power of Primordial Magnetic resonance on a deeper level, Wu Dao found his answer.

...

Meng Zheng was indeed powerful. After using a Forbidden Technique, he had reached the Fourth Layer of the Emperor Grade Grotto Heaven. Without borrowing the might of the Divine Axe, the Incarnation would have had a hard time taking him down.

However...

’This is also a ready-made test subject.’

BUZZZZ!

Within the Giant Axe Ancestral Land.

As Wu Dao unleashed Divine Image Heaven, the chaos of all existence in the ten directions disintegrated, collapsing into fundamental magnetic field lines. Countless vibrant, colorful lines gathered and intertwined, forming an abstract, humanoid demonic shadow.

With the point of a single finger, the layers of brilliant starry skies that Meng Zheng had unleashed with his Forbidden Technique disintegrated, transforming into countless magnetic threads that wrapped around the twenty-four Magnetic Mother Star Beads.

The contamination of the Supreme Primordial Magnetic Dao.

As expected, the Magnetic Mother Stars were instantly turned against him. Meng Zheng’s spiritual magnetic field within them disintegrated, causing him to vomit a large mouthful of blood in unbearable agony.

But compared to this pain, a far greater terror had already enveloped him.

’If that writhing, star-colored tide of magnetism washes over me, I’ll definitely die! Nothing will be left!’

’No!’

’I am the Emperor’s Son of the Star God Hall!’

’A great and bright future awaits me!’

’Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare!’

BOOM!

The will to survive burned fiercely!

Meng Zheng erupted with all his strength. The Creation Qi within his Grotto Heaven was completely squeezed dry, and his two Emperor Grade Dragon Veins shriveled as he transformed it all into a world-shocking, dazzling Power of the Stars, hoping to block the attack.

SHHHH...

But the next moment, Meng Zheng’s entire perception of reality was brutally shattered.

The supreme power he had unleashed by burning everything had just left his body when it decomposed into countless star-colored lines. These lines then condensed into thousands of tentacles that burrowed into his every pore, assimilating and contaminating his entire being.

"No, get out!"

"What is this stuff... Ah!"

"Heh... hehehe..."

Screams of terror echoed throughout the Ancestral Land.

They did not come from Meng Zheng.

They came from the other Grotto Heaven Masters.

The Profound Yin Saint Child stared in horror at his own hand, which was sprouting colorful threads and becoming utterly unfamiliar, and tried to blast them away with his power.

But more threads just squirmed out from within his soul and body.

His sense of self was continuously weakening.

A complete magnetic mutation had begun.

"AHH!!"

A dozen or so Grotto Heaven Masters from the Star God Hall with weaker cultivation were completely contaminated, filled from the inside out with countless magnetic field lines.

Their Grotto Heaven Dragon Veins wailed, unable to escape, as their entire bodies mutated from a human form into twisted, indistinct, and indescribable things.

Their thoughts, which had been desperately resisting, were all converted into worshipful longing after their frequencies were synchronized, leaving only fanatical piety.

With Divine Image Heaven unleashed, his power surged in every aspect.

Not only could he rapidly assimilate living beings into Primordial Magnetic Contaminated Bodies, but he could also break the shackles of the Divine Format hierarchy, quickly establish Faith Channels, and convert them into believers.

"No, Heaven-Reaching, spare me!"

The Daylight Saint Child’s body was cracking apart as he lay collapsed in the void. His Grotto Heaven began to mutate, and star-colored threads drilled out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose as he howled in despair.

He wanted to beg for a sliver of mercy.

But the only response was the ever-increasing number of magnetic field lines inside him.

In his final moments, he recalled Heaven-Reaching’s words about "spilling one’s brains and giving one’s all."

He never imagined that it would be *he* who would have his brains spilled, serving until his death was complete.

"Get away from me!!"

The Profound Yin Saint Child writhed and struggled like a nest of colorful worms, his heart filled with regret. ’Why did I have to be so greedy?’ he lamented. One wrong step had led to his utter annihilation.

"I am the Emperor’s Son of the Star God Hall... How dare you... mmmph..."

Meng Zheng’s resistance was the most intense; he even dared to utter threats. Unfortunately, his mouth and soul were immediately filled, and he could no longer make a sound.

BOOM!

When everyone had been assimilated and contaminated, a massive explosion occurred.

The colossal, abstract demonic shadow reached its self-destruction threshold. It disintegrated, exploding into a sky full of brilliant specks of light that shook the entire Ancestral Land. In the void, only the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe remained, floating quietly.

「At the same time.」

Far away, in an unknown region of the forbidden zone.

In the Red Thunder Abyss, Wu Dao’s main body felt a sharp sting in his origin, but it vanished in an instant, having no effect on him whatsoever.

His consciousness, however, was observing the dozen or so new believers linked through the Faith Channel.

The contamination was thorough.

It had created Primordial Magnetic thralls, similar to fanatical believers. Each thrall had become a vessel for his Incarnation’s return.

VMMMM—

With a single thought, his consciousness randomly selected one to descend into.

Within the deathly silent Giant Axe Ancestral Land, post-explosion, the twisted thralls knelt and prayed, willing to offer everything to host the descent of their True God.

GURGLE GURGLE...

A short while later, a lucky one was born among them.

A blurry, abstract thrall, like a pixelated image, was sucked into a compressor. Its bloated form rapidly contracted, and all its magnetic field lines and starry vortexes spun and condensed into a single point.

In the end, after this Saint Grade Second Layer Grotto Heaven cultivator from the Star God Hall offered up everything, he was transformed into a single Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particle.

This was the anchor, the beacon, for Wu Dao’s return.

RUMBLE—

After the Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particle was born, it erupted with Black Hole Level magnetic gravity, devouring all the magnetic field power within the Ancestral Land. It rapidly propagated and regenerated, transforming into a splendid vortex of magnetic starlight.

WHOOSH—

The starry vortex converged.

Wu Dao stepped out from within it, his dark eyes sweeping over the pixelated masses around him.

VMM!

He raised his hand and pressed down.

The countless chaotic magnetic field lines that formed the pixelated masses began to "ascend in dimension" and rewind, reconstructing the figures of Meng Zheng and the others from the microscopic to the macroscopic.

Turning existence into nothingness, and creating something from nothing.

To give and take Creation with a single thought.

Once he had completely mastered the workings and essential nature of a target’s magnetic field, destruction and creation were simply natural extensions of his authority.

If, one day in the future, the mass of his Primordial Magnetism were to rise to a level comparable to the Hongyuan Great Dao, and he contaminated and assimilated that Dao, then within Hongyuan, Wu Dao would be omnipotent.

"All praise to the Infinite, Immeasurable, Eternal and Indestructible Primordial Divine Venerable..."

After Meng Zheng and the others were restored, all traces of their previous defiance were gone. They prostrated themselves fully, kowtowing to Wu Dao in pious worship and offering him their purest faith.

Wu Dao gazed down at his crowd of new believers.

After searching the memories he had acquired within his Divine Sea and finding no valuable Heaven-Opening Techniques, he absorbed them into his All Heaven to serve as reserve materials for his Dao Wheel.

VMMMM—

Starlight shimmered brightly.

The twenty-four Magnetic Mother Stars flew out from the Chaos, carrying a powerful magnetic pull. They circled Wu Dao, cheering and capering with extreme intimacy.

During the previous assimilation and contamination, this top-tier, Twenty-Four Celestial Levels Emperor Grade Celestial Soldier had been dyed Wu Dao’s colors from the inside out. It no longer had any connection to Meng Zheng.

A faint smile touched the corner of Wu Dao’s mouth as he beckoned with his hand.

As obedient as little puppies, the twenty-four Magnetic Mother Stars transformed into a string of star-colored Prayer Beads and fell into his hand.

After fiddling with them for a moment, Wu Dao turned his gaze to the three Magical Treasures floating in the shattered space—

The Golden Crow Treasure Wheel and the Netherworld Cauldron.

And...

...the greatest prize of this trip, the top-tier Saint Master Divine Weapon—the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe!

The only regret was that the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe required World Mother Qi as a power source to unleash its Mighty Power.

Currently, Wu Dao’s Primordial Magnetic Power was not yet on the level of World Mother Qi, so he could only revive a fraction of the power of the Great Divine Technique Forbidden Array within the axe.

If the might of the Divine Axe could be fully unleashed, he could act with absolute impunity within the forbidden zone.

But it didn’t matter.

His main goal had always been the Heaven and Earth Creation, a Great All Heavens Divine Technique. In comparison, the Divine Axe was just an unexpected bonus, and being unable to use it for now didn’t affect him.

After storing the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe in his All Heaven, Wu Dao looked at the two remaining Saint Grade Celestial Soldiers, the Golden Crow Treasure Wheel and the Netherworld Cauldron.

VMM!

Just as he was considering whether to devour these two Celestial Soldiers as Cultivation Resources, the twenty-four Magnetic Mother Star Beads in his hand released a greedy, longing thought.

’The assimilation was really thorough.’

Wu Dao sent his consciousness into the twenty-four Magnetic Mother Star Beads.

He discovered that within the twenty-four Mixed Caves inside the Star Beads, five Dragon Veins had completely transformed into Starlight Magnetic Dragons, and the remaining Dragon Veins were also slowly being assimilated.

The material of the Magnetic Mother Star Beads was Magnetic Mother Star Crystal, which was fundamentally an inanimate object created from a low-level magnetic field aggregate.

After coming into contact with Supreme Primordial Magnetism, it naturally felt an affinity for it and offered no resistance.

That was how Wu Dao was able to transcend levels and directly infect five Dragon Veins, which was equivalent to converting a Fifth Layer Emperor Grade Grotto Heaven cultivator.

The advancement of a weapon, much like the Cultivation of the Human Dao, also required resources. However, a weapon’s resources are various Heavenly and Earthly Treasures of a compatible attribute, refined with Taoist Magic and Divine Techniques.

Originally, the Magnetic Mother Star Bead’s advancement materials were extremely strict and limited, requiring large quantities of world-rare Magnetic Mother Star Crystals and materials with the same magnetic field attribute.

But after being assimilated by Primordial Magnetism, its restrictions were lifted.

No matter the magnetic field attribute of the material, even Life Magnetic Fields, were all fodder for its growth. That was why it showed such hunger for the Golden Crow Treasure Wheel and the Netherworld Cauldron.

’A Twenty-four Celestial Emperor-grade Heavenly Soldier whose Artifact Spirit is merely a wisp of Spirituality, and it only needs to eat to advance...’

Wu Dao fiddled with the Magnetic Mother Star Beads in his hand, sparks of insight flashing in his mind. His eyes flickered, and the smile on his lips grew increasingly wicked.

An idea was born in his mind.

If it succeeded, then in the future, he would no longer need to frequently replace the nodes of his Primordial Dao Wheel.

Of course, for now, it was just an idea.

Whether it could succeed would require a series of experiments.

However, Wu Dao estimated that it wouldn’t be a problem. After synchronizing their magnetic fields, there was no difference between anything; it was merely a process of pouring water from a cup into a bucket.

’Unfortunately, the Divine Axe’s grade is too high. I can’t contaminate it yet.’

His consciousness watched the Black Nether Heaven-Opening Divine Axe floating in his All Heaven, and Wu Dao clicked his tongue with a hint of regret.

If he could use the Divine Axe for the experiment, he could save a tremendous amount of cultivation resources and energy down the line.