Essence Devouring Art

While Wu Dao occupied the Divine Monarch’s physical body, using his humanoid electromagnetic engine ability to recover from his injuries, news of the changes at the Primordial Sect reached the ears of certain interested parties within the Primordial Cave Heaven.

The Primordial Cave Heaven was not small.

In terms of sheer size, it was much larger than even the Divine Wilderness at the end of the Ten Tribulations.

Although it was located in the Border Wilderness of the Chaotic Star Heaven, its Extraordinary Cultivation environment was far superior to that of the Divine Wilderness, and it had naturally given rise to many regional Extraordinary Influences.

「Three thousand years ago.」

The Primordial Sect, led by its Divine Monarch, had once unified the Primordial Cave Heaven. Within the Divine Sect, True Gods, Great Gods, and Little Gods protected all regions, and the factions that depended on it for survival were as numerous as hairs on an ox.

In this corner of the Border Wilderness Star Realm, it was an absolute Overlord. No other power dared to cross it.

But after the Primordial Divine Monarch fell, the Primordial Sect rapidly declined. Its Pantheon crumbled, and the subordinate factions feasted on its colossal corpse, tearing off pieces of its flesh to establish their own independence.

The Jinxiao Sect, which now occupied the Primordial Cave Heaven’s only Blessed Land, the Pingguang Blessed Land, was one of the beneficiaries of that great fall.

「Three thousand years ago.」

The founder of the Jinxiao Sect, True Monarch Jin Xiao Zhao Yuanming, was merely a Guardian of the Primordial Sect with the power of the Divine Power Five Transformations.

Zhao Yuanming’s talent could only be considered that of a genius.

Other than his status as a Guardian, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about him within the sect. Everyone’s impression of him was that he was low-key and steady.

The first Sect Leader had once commented on him, "Sufficiently steady, but lacking in immortal grace."

Without a great opportunity, he would halt at the Nascent Soul Human Immortal attainment and be unable to advance a single inch.

(In the Immortal Dao, the Nascent Soul is also known as the Dharma Aspect.)

But it was this very "honest man" who suddenly bared his fangs during the struggle over the great fall.

He revealed a Cultivation base at the Divine Power Peak and seized a vast amount of the Divine Sect’s foundational resources.

With these resources, Zhao Yuanming established the Jinxiao Sect within the Primordial Cave Heaven, proclaimed himself its patriarch, occupied the Blessed Land, and became the new power in the Primordial Cave Heaven overnight.

For the next three thousand years, Zhao Yuanming sought opportunities to ascend to the Human Immortal realm while simultaneously gathering the various powers of the Primordial Cave Heaven under his control.

「Five hundred years ago.」

Zhao Yuanming obtained a stroke of Creation in the depths of the Chaotic Star Heaven and successfully ascended to the Human Immortal realm.

Although his Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect was of the lowest, unranked grade, it was enough to solidify the Jinxiao Sect’s status as the absolute Overlord of the Primordial Cave Heaven.

However, Zhao Yuanming’s ambition was immense. He did not stop just because he had become the Overlord of a barren Grotto Heaven.

He was not content.

He was not content to remain a mere Human Immortal for the rest of his life.

But heaven is impartial. After one’s life potential is exhausted, the heavens won’t open their eyes just because you are unwilling to accept your fate.

For five hundred years, Zhao Yuanming tried every method he could think of, but he couldn’t take a single step forward.

Just as he was about to give in to despair and accept his fate, hope finally arrived.

「Several years ago.」

At an Immortal Dao conference in the Primordial Star Domain that gathered Overlords from all sides, the upper echelons of the leading Divine Sect, the Vacuum Sect, revealed their desire for a Divine Monarch-level Divine Fire.

They stated that if anyone could provide a wisp of it, the Vacuum Sect would pray to their Supreme God, the Mother of the Void, to bestow Divine Grace upon the one who offered the Divine Fire, cleansing their spirit and flesh and elevating their cultivation.

After receiving this news, the first thing that came to Zhao Yuanming’s mind was the Primordial Divine Monarch’s Divine Fire.

The Primordial Divine Monarch’s Divine Country had shattered, his Divine Fire was extinguished, and he had completely fallen. This was a fact known to all.

But Zhao Yuanming didn’t think so.

As a neighbor of the Primordial Divine Sect, he knew very well that the successive Sect Leaders of the Primordial Divine Sect had always been trying to reignite the Divine Monarch’s Divine Fire.

Through bribery and temptation, he learned from a confidant of a Primordial Divine Sect’s Sect Leader that the Primordial Divine Monarch’s Divine Country had not actually been destroyed. Its essence was simply too profound for anyone to know its location.

’The Divine Country still exists!’

’Then the Divine Fire can definitely be reignited!’

Thus, starting several years ago, Zhao Yuanming set his sights on the Primordial Divine Sect. He planted many spies and turned many of its members. Once the Divine Fire was reignited, the Primordial Divine Sect would lose its last reason to exist.

Today was the Primordial Divine Sect’s once-a-century god-worshipping ceremony, and for this rare occasion, Zhao Yuanming had emerged from his seclusion.

He was waiting for his spies to give him a surprise.

The Jinxiao Sect was located deep within a sea of clouds, more than a hundred thousand li from the Primordial Divine Sect, inside the Pingguang Blessed Land, which resembled a smooth, polished mirror.

A Blessed Land was the core of a Grotto Heaven’s fortune.

A Little Grotto Heaven within a Grotto Heaven.

The concentration of Extraordinary Factors was far higher than in the outside world, and it was more attuned to the Great Dao, making it conducive to Cultivation and enlightenment.

Within the ’mirror’ of the sea of clouds, immortal light shone, cloud cranes flew, and palaces rested on floating peaks.

In the Sect Leader’s palace, which sat at the highest point of the Blessed Land like a great, golden sun, beneath a Bodhi Tree brimming with Spirituality, sat Zhao Yuanming in the full lotus position. He wore a golden Dharma Robe, had the plain face of a middle-aged man, and two strands of a black handlebar mustache hung down to his chest. While meditating to comprehend the Dao and nourish his soul, he was also paying attention to the Communication Jade Talisman in his Purple Mansion.

"Reporting to the Sect Leader, the Primordial Divine Sect’s god-worshipping ceremony has officially begun."

"Report again."

"True Monarch Guangming has entered the hall."

"Report... again."

"True Monarch Guangming has taken out the Wish Power Gourd."

"...There’s no need for such detail."

"Yes, Sect Leader."

...

...

...

?

’Why is it so quiet?’

Zhao Yuanming opened his eyes. The long silence without a report made him frown slightly, and he couldn’t help but press for an update:

"Tell me the result. Did the Primordial Divine Monarch return this time or not?"

"..."

There was still no response.

The other end was completely silent, as if it had gone deaf.

After contacting several other spies, he received no reply from them either.

Zhao Yuanming’s frown deepened.

’When things are this abnormal, something is definitely wrong!’

At this thought, Zhao Yuanming contacted several subordinate factions within ten thousand li of the Primordial Divine Sect, ordering them to head to the sect at once and investigate what had happened.

’I hope it’s good news!’

After withdrawing his thoughts, Zhao Yuanming stroked his long handlebar mustache and gazed in the direction of the Primordial Divine Sect, a look of greedy anticipation in his eyes.

The Nascent Soul Human Immortal realm.

Although it granted a lifespan of a hundred thousand years and allowed one to witness the world change without aging, lifespan was merely a byproduct.

For all Extraordinaries, the ultimate goal was basically to achieve Attainment Dao and transcendence.

The path of Cultivation was one of struggle.

A struggle for resources, for Cultivation Techniques, for fortune, for fate...

As long as there was even a sliver of a chance to climb higher, one had to seize it.

’My fate ends at the Human Immortal realm?’

’Heh.’

’I, Zhao Yuanming, will defy the heavens and change my fate!’

’Even if it meant stepping on the corpse of the Divine Being I once worshipped as a ladder to climb higher, even if it was a despicable act, I will climb to the very top, one step at a time!’

...

More than a hundred thousand li away.

At the gates of the Primordial Sect.

WHOOSH—

A ripple appeared in the void ten thousand li away.

Four Treasure Ships broke through the astral winds from different directions, crossing hundreds of li in an instant. They soon arrived just outside the thousand-li radius of the Primordial Divine Sect.

The Treasure Ships halted.

They hung high in the sky, looking down from a thousand li away at the Primordial Divine Sect, which was nestled atop the mountains and shrouded in rising mist.

Aboard the Treasure Ships, stood three men and one woman, all of them extraordinary and otherworldly.

They were all Immortal Dao Minor True Monarchs of the Divine Power Three Transformations Domain. Standing on their respective Treasure Ships, they exchanged confused looks and began to talk:

"The Golden Cloud Sect Master gave a sudden order. Is he planning to move against the Primordial Divine Sect?"

"This dilapidated sect is dirt poor. What’s there to even move against?"

"I heard today is the Primordial Divine Sect’s god-worshipping ceremony. Don’t tell me he’s after the Divine Monarch’s Divine Fire?"

"The Primordial Divine Monarch is long dead... Alright, let’s just go see for ourselves. The Primordial Divine Sect only has Guangming, who’s at the Third Transformation. I doubt they’ll dare to put up a fuss."

After a brief exchange, the four Immortal Dao True Monarchs put away their Crossing Sky Treasure Ships. With sleeves fluttering, they made no attempt to conceal themselves and flew openly toward the Primordial Divine Sect.

BUZZZZZZ!

As they entered the thousand-li radius of the Primordial Divine Sect, they unknowingly triggered Wu Dao’s magnetic field sense.

The appearances, forms, and Life Magnetic Fields of the four individuals instantly appeared in the mind of Wu Dao, who was in his Divine Country, voraciously devouring the magnetic field. The details were as clear as the lines on his palm.

’Lingyuan Valley, Changfeng Sect, Juxia Mountain, Observing Cave Sect... The Jinxiao Sect?’

Using the information he had obtained from the Polluted Bodies, Wu Dao compared their magnetic fields and confirmed the origins of the three men and one woman, as well as the power backing them.

Among the three thousand Polluted Bodies, there were quite a few turncoats.

During the god-worshipping ceremony, they had all been contacting that Human Immortal Sect Leader from the Jinxiao Sect. Wu Dao already knew exactly what they were plotting.

’A Human Immortal? Heh, a decent power generator.’

Wu Dao’s eyes were dark and profound. After retracting his senses, he temporarily stopped absorbing the magnetic field.

He quickly charged up the three thousand "power generators," then, using the Faith Channel, he unleashed a terrifying, demonic magnetic field of pollution that covered a five-hundred-li radius.

These four little kalami who had just arrived were too weak.

He didn’t even need to lift a finger.

As soon as they entered the magnetic field of faith pollution, he could directly convert them into hardworking slave labor to expand his Primordial Magnetism computer array.

"Hiss... Why do I feel like someone is plotting against me?"

Four hundred li from the Primordial Divine Sect.

The leader, the old True Monarch from Lingyuan Valley with a gray beard and white hair, suddenly shivered and slowed down.

Deep within the misty mountain peaks ahead, it felt as though an Evil Beast from the Abyss was lurking.

It made him feel wisps of an ominous aura, and a chill ran through his body. If he continued forward, he might fall into Hell!

"Do you guys feel that?"

The old True Monarch asked uncertainly, sending a message to the other three True Monarchs with a hint of apprehension in his tone.

""The myriad beings of the Ganges are all Primordial... Primordial... Primordial...""

But the response he received was nothing but a series of increasingly fanatical, demonic ramblings. The three other True Monarchs had dazed expressions and vacant eyes. They kowtowed with every step, flying like pilgrims toward the Primordial Divine Sect in the depths of the cloudy sea.

Their pious posture was like that of fanatics who had just witnessed a Divine Descent and couldn’t wait to offer their lives and souls to please the True God.

"A Mao God... Ugh."

It was a terrifying scene.

It made the old True Monarch’s blood run cold.

He was reminded of the same bizarre scene he had once witnessed during a lewd and heretical ritual for an Evil God, where believers were forcibly infected.

’It can infect even a True Monarch without a sound!’

’This Mao God...’

But before the old True Monarch could even think of fleeing, an indescribable and overwhelming pull, a sense of final destination, reached out with its omnipresent tentacles, burrowed into his body, and corroded his spirit and flesh.

"The Primordial manifests All Heaven, all beings return to the Primordial... Father God! Oh, Father God!!"

His eyes quickly became vacant, only to be filled with fanatical piety.

Tears streamed down the old True Monarch’s face. His dazed expression transformed into one of enraptured longing as he kowtowed with every step, flying with utmost piety toward the True God atop the Divine Mountain like a pilgrim.

"Speak! What the hell happened? Have you gone mute?"

From his Communication Jade Talisman, came Zhao Yuanming’s impatient, cold, and demanding voice.

More than a hundred thousand li away.

Inside the Pingguang Blessed Land.

Beneath the Bodhi Tree, Zhao Yuanming sensed the once again deathly silent Communication Jade Talisman. He nearly tore out his handlebar mustache, and his frown deepened even further.

"Heh, I’d like to see just what kind of dragon’s lair or tiger’s den you really are!"

With a cold snort, Zhao Yuanming swiftly left his Cultivation grounds, gathered a large number of sect members, and piloted a massive Crossing Sky Treasure Ship, crushing the astral winds of the cloud sea as he sped toward the Primordial Divine Sect.