Essence Devouring Art

The Faith Gods of the All Heavens.

Tracing their origins, they flourished during the Second Tribulation of Hongyuan.

They declined during the Third Tribulation.

However, even though Faith Gods were not as prominent as they once were, after countless years of development through the Fourth Tribulation, they had still become an inseparable part of the Primordial Extraordinary Civilization.

Worship of the Great Dao, worship of nature, worship of ancestors, worship of the unknown...

Across the All Heavens, the innumerable living beings placed their faith in all manner of things. Praise and fear were both forms of faith. With enough Faith and Willpower, even rocks, plants, and ordinary mortals could become gods.

The Supreme God of the Guangping Divine Sect was Saint Monarch Guangping.

Ten thousand years ago, he was a mortal healer who brought salvation to the world. After his death, his devout followers built temples and made offerings in his honor. Step by step, he grew into the Supreme God of a regional Divine Sect, revered with incense and worship throughout an entire Star Realm.

On the core continent of the Star Realm, the Guangping Divine Palace resided in the Nine Heavens Star Sea.

The brilliant Dharma Aspect of Saint Monarch Guangping was immense and majestic. Rings of divine light behind his head illuminated the Star Sea, while countless believers from thousands of Grotto Heaven Blessed Lands circled him, singing his praises.

When natural disasters and man-made calamities struck the lands of his followers, Saint Monarch Guangping would open his eyes in compassion. His true words would transform into Holy Lotuses, scattering across the Ten Directions World to quell the mortal world’s misfortunes.

Faith Gods, born from the Faith and Willpower of living beings, naturally could not just reap without sowing.

Fantastical wishes would not come true, but when the common people were plunged into dire straits, it was the duty of a Faith God to deliver them from suffering.

But when mortals suffer, the gods save them. So when a god is about to suffer, who will come to their rescue?

HUMMM—

The Star Sea around the Divine Palace in the Nine Heavens suddenly trembled.

Ripples spread across the starry sky as an indescribably heavy pressure swept through the Ten Directions World, interrupting the devout prayers of the Guangping Divine Sect’s followers.

"What is that?"

Inside the Divine Palace, Bishop Guangping looked up in horror.

A wisp of darkness was born at the edge of the divine light.

Like a drop of black ink on white paper, it expanded rapidly into a dark curtain, closing in like a jagged abyss to devour the Divine Aspect of Saint Monarch Guangping.

"What foul demon are you?!"

Bishop Guangping’s face was deathly pale. He roared at the Star Realm, his voice fierce in appearance but timid in heart.

He felt as if his soul and body were being crushed in the depths of the sea. He was prostrated on the ground, unable to move an inch.

It wasn’t just him. All the believers of the Guangping Divine Sect, the innumerable beings in the worlds of faith across the Ten Directions, were all forced to their knees, prostrating on the ground.

They felt demonic obstacles arise in their minds, an irrepressible urge for their Life Origin and souls to leave their bodies and plunge into the darkness’s embrace.

’This is...’

Inside the Divine Palace, the Bishop resisted the terrifying pressure and the indescribable corrupting power with all his might, straining to open his Dharma Eye and observe the source of the darkness.

When he saw the truth behind the darkness, his soul nearly leaped from his body!

A demonic aspect!

Its shadow blotted out the Divine Palace and the Ten Directions World!

A terrifying, humanoid demonic aspect that made moons and stars look like mere specks of dust!

The jagged, sky-like Abyss!

It was the gaping Taotie mouth of that dark demonic aspect, opening and closing!

’Oh, Saint Monarch... is this a nightmare?’

Endless darkness and despair enveloped him.

The Guangping Sect Master muttered in a daze. The horrifying demonic aspect shattered his worldview, leaving him without a shred of will to resist.

’A Celestial Demon! It’s that Primordial Celestial Demon!’

In his despair, the Guangping Sect Master recalled the Primordial Celestial Demon who had caused a huge stir in the Star Ruins a year ago, committing an earth-shattering crime.

’Just one year! How could it have grown to such an appalling degree?!’

After all, Saint Monarch Guangping was a perfected True God at the Ninth-Step of the Saint Grade. Someone on the level of the Mother of the Void wasn’t even fit to carry his shoes.

But now... Saint Monarch Guangping’s Divine Image Holy Light couldn’t resist the Celestial Demon’s dark corrosion in the slightest, dimming and extinguishing continuously.

’A Divine Tribulation! If this Celestial Demon is allowed to continue growing, it will absolutely become a calamity for all gods!’

Bishop Guangping gritted his teeth, resisting the pressure.

His thoughts crawled like worms through Divine Iron, inching toward his Communication Jade Talisman, trying to contact the higher-ups at the Jiaoxu Star Palace.

But the next moment, something even more despairing happened.

The message wouldn’t go through!

The Guangping Divine Palace and the surrounding Ten Directions Small World had been exiled to a forgotten corner of spacetime, losing all contact with the outside world!

Meanwhile, in the outside world, the Guangping Divine Palace remained peaceful and sacred, without a trace of gloom or darkness. Even if someone had noticed something was amiss and ascended to the Nine Heavens, it would have been too late.

Because the great abyssal mouth of the demonic aspect... had already closed completely!

CLANG CLANG CLANG—

The sound of snapping Divine Iron rang out continuously.

Bishop Guangping discovered in horror that the connection between Saint Monarch Guangping and the Faith and Willpower had been inexplicably severed, preventing even a final, desperate struggle.

The sacred radiance extinguished continuously.

Without a sound, the abyssal darkness completely corroded and devoured the Divine Aspect of the compassionate, closed-eyed Saint Monarch.

There were no heaven-shaking collisions or phenomenal signs.

It was like eating a piece of cake. All it had to do was open its mouth, close it, and swallow. The ease of it was suffocating and utterly despairing.

PFFT!!

He spat out a mouthful of resplendent, golden blood essence.

The despairing Bishop Guangping watched as the darkness, having finished its meal, receded like the tide. The last spark of light in his eyes turned to ash.

Because... the god was dead!

Just like the Mother of the Void before, that Celestial Demon possessed the ability to truly kill a Faith God.

There was no possibility of return!

RUMBLE—

After the darkness receded, the Primordial Magnetic Celestial Prison Cage that had enveloped the Guangping Divine Palace dissipated.

The magnificent Divine Halls, which had hung at the apex of the Star Realm for millennia, lost their divine support and fell like extinguished suns, turning into Celestial Fire Meteors that rained down upon the Ten Directions World.

BANG! BANG! BANG!—

Within the Star Realm, all the Golden Body statues of Saint Monarch Guangping simultaneously crumbled to dust. Countless believers cried out in grief, welcoming their darkest day.

In the dark, starry sky, Wu Dao did not look back at the Divine Halls falling like great suns in the center of the Star Realm, nor at the countless heartbroken living beings.

Within his body, circuits of his Magnetic Field operated like Immortal Furnaces, breaking down Saint Monarch Guangping’s Divine Fire and processing it into the purest Divine Grade Elixir, which was then transported to his Main Body through a Faith Channel.

The Life Magnetic Fields resonated, sharing the same origin. Coupled with the Faith Channel, even if they were separated by The Ends of the Earth and vast distances of space-time, Wu Dao could plunder everything from his Incarnation.

This was also the main reason he could "outsource" his Cultivation to his Incarnation.

WHOOSH—

Once the Divine Fire had been completely transferred, the Incarnation rapidly lost its Spirituality.

It shriveled, weathered, and disintegrated.

The origin of its Magnetic Field was transmitted back to the Main Body.

The remaining empty shell quickly dissipated into nothingness, vanishing into the dark, starry sky without a trace.

The same thing was happening simultaneously in and around the Star Realms on the periphery of the Jiao Su Star Realm, each of which possessed a True God.

One good trick was all he needed.

All the targets Wu Dao had chosen were Ninth-Step Saint Grade True Gods that he could kill in a single blow, so he encountered no surprises.

As for the Emperor Grade, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to target them. Rather, Emperor Grade True Gods were equivalent to the peerless Celestial Prides of the Human Race. They were almost all absorbed by the behemoth Divine Sects of the inner regions, leaving him no opportunity to exploit any loopholes.

But it didn’t matter. He could make up for a lack of quality with quantity.

Two prizes from one god: Divine Fire and Teleportation Points.

A hundred Ninth-Step Saint Grade True Gods. It would be enough for him to raise his Divine Format to a level that could barely match his other Cultivation paths.

A hundred True Gods falling at the same time. Such an earth-shattering event. As expected, once the news got out, it once again shook the entire Jiaoxiu Star Sea, creating monstrous waves.

At the center of power in the Jiaoxu Star Palace, the Palace Master’s Communication Jade Talisman hadn’t stopped buzzing. His face was incomparably dark, his anger uncontrollable.

The first time could be blamed on the fearlessness of ignorance. A second, more brazen time... meant that the culprit had no regard for the Jiaoxu Star Palace whatsoever!

The Cosmic Observation Mirror was activated once again.

All the Star Hubs in the Jiaoxiu Star Sea were completely locked down.

A large number of experts from the Star Palace, at the Cave Heavens Realm and even the Creation Realm, along with several Divine Monarchs and Divine Kings loyal to the palace, rushed to every afflicted Star Realm to investigate any and all clues.

Clearly, the Jiaoxu Star Palace was getting serious this time. It would not rest until that Celestial Demon was brought to justice!

For a time, the situation in the Jiaoxiu Star Sea became incredibly tense.

This time, it wasn’t just the countless Divine Sects on edge; every cultivator in the Star Sea felt a sense of personal danger.

Ninth-Step Saint Grade True Gods. Swallowed just like that. And a hundred of them at the same time. The terror of that Celestial Demon was plain to see.

If it targeted their Divine Sect next, or targeted Human Race cultivators, how were they supposed to defend themselves?

There was no way to defend themselves.

It came and went without a trace, and its power was terrifying. As long as it wasn’t eliminated, the demonic shadow hanging over the Jiaoxiu Star Sea would never dissipate.

Once the Overlord of the Star Sea was set in motion, its efficiency was something ordinary factions couldn’t even imagine.

Following the clues, the Star Palace quickly confirmed that this series of assassinations against True Gods was indeed the work of the Celestial Demon from the Star Ruins a year ago, the one who called itself Primordial.

It had mastered an Incarnation Technique. It possessed a Supreme Treasure for concealing its presence that even Sacred Artifacts could not penetrate. Although its strength was heaven-defying, it was still at the Dharma Aspect Level, classified as Emperor Grade.

Most importantly, the corrupting power of its divine nature was terrifying. The mere aura it exuded would cause living beings to be unable to suppress the demonic obstacles in their hearts, making them involuntarily convert and worship it.

After locking down these key characteristics, the Jiaoxiu Star Sea quickly issued a Star God kill order.

At the same time, the Jiaoxu Star Palace Master also reported up the chain of command, contacting the Azure Dragon Hall—one of the Four Symbols and Four Directions under the Star God Hall’s command—which controlled the Eastern Azure Dragon Path and its countless Star Seas.

The Azure Dragon Hall immediately gave the matter its full attention. It transmitted the information about the Celestial Demon to every Star Sea under the Azure Dragon Dao’s jurisdiction, ordering that it must be captured at all costs.

It wasn’t that the Star God Hall was overreacting. The extent of the danger posed by a Celestial Demon was best proven by the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon King, who had once enslaved the immeasurable beings of an entire Celestial Domain during the Third Tribulation.

After the Third Tribulation, let alone a True God Level Celestial Demon, even a Great God Level Celestial Demon had to be immediately suppressed and strangled the moment it appeared, given no chance to grow.

But now, without anyone noticing, the Border Wilderness had birthed a Celestial Demon at the Emperor Grade level!

How high was the upper limit of the Emperor Grade? If it were allowed to continue growing, no one could bear the price of a second Great Freedom Heavenly Demon King appearing.

But to the frustration of the Azure Dragon Dao, after committing its earth-shattering crime, the Celestial Demon had once again vanished into thin air, just like last time.

The biggest breakthrough was merely finding the Star Hub in the Star Ruins Forbidden Area that had been repaired and then completely, artificially destroyed.

Other than that, even when the Azure Dragon Hall deployed an Emperor’s Artifact, they couldn’t detect any other trace of the Celestial Demon. It was as if it had completely vanished from the Chaotic Star Heaven.

Helpless, the Azure Dragon Dao could only intensify its search based on the information it already had. At the same time, it consolidated some of the scattered, minor Divine Sects within the Azure Dragon Dao that it had previously looked down upon, determined not to give the Celestial Demon any loopholes to exploit for its growth.

But what no one expected was that the so-called Celestial Demon, which had caused such an uproar and commotion throughout the Azure Dragon Dao, was not actually an Evil God, nor had it left the Chaotic Star Heaven.

Instead, it had brazenly entered Juntian, within the Chaotic Star Heaven.