Essence Devouring Art

Burial Realm.

Nirvana City.

RUMBLE—

Above the vast city.

A Creation Realm expert took action, turning the void into a mirror.

It projected an image from across the vast expanse of spacetime, showing the colossal ocean of a Celestial Tribulation deep within Nirvana Valley, one that nearly enveloped the entire Five-Colored Thunderfire region.

Half a month had passed since the divine retribution first appeared.

But the scale of this tribulation, and the destructive Energy of the Great Dao accumulating within it, seemed to have no limit, growing stronger with each passing day!

By now, even Creation Realm experts at the peak of the Saint Grade could, from an unknown distance across spacetime, still clearly feel that increasingly suffocating and despair-inducing apocalyptic aura in Nirvana City. It made their scalps tingle and their hearts tremble with fear.

The level of this divine retribution was beyond anyone’s expectations.

King Grade, Saint Grade, Emperor Grade, a monster?

Its grade was completely impossible to determine.

Within that ocean of Celestial Tribulation, vast enough to swallow the star rivers of a Grand Cosmos, the tribulation no longer even took the form of Celestial Thunder!

Vaguely, some Creation Realm experts observed projections of ancient immortal mountains, the Strongest Grand Arrays, Celestial Prides from across the ages, ultimate killing weapons, and Gods and Demons and Fierce Monsters... Projections of all the strongest beings from past and present manifested within, roaring with fury!

Divine retribution!

True divine retribution!

The Great Dao had sensed something and grown furious, giving birth to the phantoms of all the supreme passersby in the river of time, intending to utterly annihilate the heaven-defying existence in Nirvana Valley!

"We absolutely cannot let the True Lord fall! A Demon Cultivator’s path is already one of defying the heavens, so what’s one more defiance?!"

In Nirvana City, the magnates of the Soul Coin industry were going mad!

By now, the Demon Path Influences involved in this enormous Soul Coin pie were no longer limited to just third-rate, low-life factions.

In the Great Thousand Worlds surrounding Nirvana Valley, the core industries of one Overlord Force of the Burial Realm after another, each possessing a peak Creation Realm expert, had all shifted to the Nirvana Valley Soul Coin industry!

The price of a single Dharma Soul Coin had at one point been driven up to a hundred Grotto Heaven Creation Stones!

Once it crashed, no one could bear the consequences!

To ensure the safety of their ’God of Wealth’ and ’Money Tree,’ the various major Demon Path Influences went completely insane!

While stabilizing the turbulent Soul Coin market, they frantically hunted to acquire more Soul Coins!

Every day, a massive number of Soul Coins were minted and then sacrificed into Nirvana Valley, so much so that Wu Dao was starting to feel a little embarrassed about consuming them all.

However, he wasn’t worried about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

It was as he’d said before: the Burial Realm was simply too vast!

The number of Demonic Cultivators was incalculable. With his current appetite, no matter how many he harvested, it wouldn’t even count as a drop in the ocean.

And so, the frenzied Soul Coin market, under the efforts of the various major powers, not only did not crash, but its price continued to soar. Droves of people were raking it in, and the entire Nirvana City had become a holy land for countless cultivators to make their fortunes.

A Gold and Silver Mountain is worth less than a single Soul Coin.

This had become the common understanding of nearly every cultivator here.

Those titans, the major powers, naturally got the biggest piece of the cake. Whoever controlled the market rules controlled the Treasure Basin.

That saying was true everywhere.

After giving the True Lord his due, even if only ten percent was left, it was enough for them to eat until they were stuffed. As long as the True Lord existed for even a day, their money-printing machines would never stop.

Because droves of low-level cultivators were locked in. They were willing to pay for the madness, joining the major powers in this frenzied feast!

"Weren’t Soul Coins created to let people cross tribulations unharmed? How did it become like this..."

Amidst the frenzy, some people began to realize.

They discovered that, without them noticing, Soul Coins had permeated every aspect of their Cultivation, almost becoming a universal currency.

If this continued to develop, and the mysterious existence in Nirvana Valley failed to cross the tribulation, Soul Coins would turn from pearls to dust...

Hiss!

They dared not imagine the storm it would unleash, or how many people’s dreams would be shattered, their hearts broken.

In the dog-eat-dog Extraordinary Realm—and the Demon Realm, no less!

When the time came, those well-fed titans would just walk away without a care, while those left eating the scraps would have no choice but to swallow their broken teeth and suffer in silence.

Of course, while some worried needlessly, there were also many who felt a golden age had arrived and seized the opportunity to make a killing.

Before Soul Coins appeared, all kinds of Cultivation Resources were monopolized by the major powers. One often had to risk bankruptcy just to buy a single share.

But now, hunting a few Dharma Aspects was enough to buy the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures they had always yearned for. It was much more comfortable than venturing into those death-filled forbidden zones to ’mine’.

Most importantly, the existence of Nirvana City provided them a place of shelter from the storm.

The Land of Zige.

No matter how great your grudge, you had to keep your head down once you entered Nirvana City.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t even need the titans to act.

The frenzied ’Soul Slaves’ would swarm you and teach you a lesson for free.

This situation didn’t subvert the Burial Realm’s inherent rules of the strong preying on the weak and survival of the fittest. After all, the order of Nirvana City was built upon countless bloody crimes.

Phew...

At the largest exchange in Nirvana City, outside the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower,

a travel-worn Jiang Han, his Daoist Robe stained with blood and a breath-concealing mask on his face, let out a soft breath. He touched the emerald Storage Ring on his finger, the impatience and ruthlessness in his eyes receding as he calmly stepped into the main hall of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

Before a counter, Jiang Han knocked on the tabletop and spoke calmly to the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower employee behind it:

"What’s the price for a Taiyin Firefly Gu?"

The Exquisite Method had compensated for Jiang Han’s various deficiencies. He was feeling flush now and prepared to develop along the Soul, Body, and God Three Paths.

Not long ago, his luck had turned.

He had obtained a Taiyin Body Casting Technique that led directly to a Sacred Body, and the Taiyin Firefly Gu was a type of Alien Gu Insect that could rapidly gather the Essence of Heaven and Earth’s Yin.

But the price was steep.

In the past, a single Taiyin Firefly Gu sold for ten Creation Mother Stones condensed from Creation Mother Qi. Only those in the Creation Realm had the capital to purchase one.

Ten were needed to satisfy his Cultivation requirements.

One could imagine just how expensive it was.

However, things were different now.

"Fifty Saint Grade full Grotto Heaven Soul Coins."

The old man behind the counter glanced at Jiang Han, chuckled, and held up two fingers.

’Yesterday, it was only thirty,’ Jiang Han frowned slightly under his mask.

But he didn’t argue, because there was no point.

Then, amidst the envious gazes of those around him, he laid out twenty purple Grotto Heaven Soul Coins that seemed to contain compressed Dragon Veins.

He had entered the Grotto Heaven with an Emperor Grade foundation.

Now, with his Fourteenth Cave Heaven Cultivation, a peak Saint Grade cultivator was merely at the Emperor Grade Fourth Layer. Hunting them posed no difficulty for him.

After the transaction was complete,

Jiang Han carefully put away the Gu Insects, each shaped like a full moon. He didn’t leave immediately, instead lingering in the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower to inquire about the latest Soul Coin market trends.

For Jiang Han, Nirvana City was truly a Holy Land.

And Soul Coins were the greatest aid on his grand path to the Great Dao.

In just two short months, he had purchased a vast amount of Cultivation Resources with Soul Coins, and his cultivation base advanced by a thousand miles a day.

Within Nirvana City, it was said that Soul Coins could buy anything.

As long as one had enough Soul Coins, one could post a bounty for the origin source of a Celestial Pride, and plenty of Demon Cultivators would eagerly do the work, eliminating the need to take risks oneself.

He only needed to go out of the city to hunt once a day, and his Cultivation path was smooth and unobstructed. Before, he wouldn’t have even dared to dream of such good days.

"The tribulation in Nirvana Valley has been gathering power for almost a month, right? I heard it’s so intense now that even peak Saint Grade Creation Realm experts are terrified!"

As he walked, a conversation among a group of Demon Cultivators caught Jiang Han’s attention. He subconsciously looked up toward the deep, vast Nirvana Valley outside the city, a shadow of gloom passing over his heart.

The root of the Soul Coin System lay with that ’Nirvana True Lord,’ the God of Wealth whom everyone in Nirvana City revered and worshipped.

Although no one had ever seen his true face, that wasn’t important.

What was important was that if this tribulation couldn’t be overcome and the Soul Coin System collapsed, his good days would be over.

Unfortunately, he was just one man, and a weak one at that.

Even the great titans of Nirvana City could only burn Soul Coins to pray for peace of mind. A mere Cave Heavens Realm cultivator like him, Jiang Han, certainly couldn’t change anything.

In fact, it wasn’t as if no one had tried to defy the heavens with human power. Among the titans of Nirvana City were experts at the Tenth Layer of the Creation Realm and above.

But when those experts used Magical Treasures to enter the depths of Nirvana Valley, they found nothing but the obstructing Five-Colored Thunderfire. They wanted to help but had no way to exert their strength.

As for Array Formation, the core region of Nirvana Valley was filled with endless thunderfire that incinerated all the rules and order of the Heaven and Earth. Even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice.

’An unstoppable force versus an immovable object. I hope the Nirvana True Lord’s shield is hard enough,’

For once, the ever-selfish and self-serving Jiang Han silently offered a prayer for the Nirvana True Lord in his heart.

If he knew that the so-called Nirvana True Lord was his mysterious master, one wonders what he would think.

"Fellow Daoist, we’re one short of a full group. Interested in joining us?"

As his thoughts churned, a Demon Cultivator who had just noticed Jiang Han’s lavish spending approached with a grin, flanked by two others. They surrounded him and invited him to go hunting outside the city.

Soul Coin Hunters.

They were everywhere in Nirvana City.

Jiang Han glanced at the three of them, his eyes narrowing slightly. He nodded with a smile. "Alright. After all, one person can only do so much."

"Ah, that’s right. There’s strength in numbers," the three Demon Cultivators said, exchanging a look.

They could all see the greed in each other’s eyes.

The lust for wealth clouds the mind.

Behind the seemingly calm surface of today’s Nirvana City lay countless unknown acts of madness and bloodshed.

...

While Nirvana City was in a frenzy over Soul Coins,

deep within Nirvana Valley,

in the Five-Colored Thunderfire region,

Wu Dao, the source of all this supposed sin, sat quietly atop the Infinite Golden Stele. Behind his head, the Primordial Star Mother continuously burned an endless stream of Soul Coins, and so did the three hundred and sixty-five Sub-wheels.

Even the Primordial Demon’s Dao Wheel had been requisitioned.

The computing power of all the Dao Wheels was being supplied to Wu Dao alone.

This situation had already lasted for a month.

A month ago, when the Celestial Tribulation was just beginning to brew, Wu Dao’s second stage had already reached its absolute Limit of perfection. But he did not choose to break through immediately. Instead, he began to sort through and synthesize everything he had learned, preparing to forge the perfect Dao Foundation Dragon Vein.

As the progress of this synthesis continued to increase, the intensity of the Celestial Tribulation also grew in tandem, as if Wu Dao was creating some kind of Forbidden Technique that the Great Dao could not tolerate.

A body like the Great Dao, to replace it.

It was indeed a forbidden path.

The third stage of the Essence Devouring Art, in theory, was to steal the very roots of the Great Dao!

The Dao gives birth to the Three, and All Things Arise from the Three.

Man follows the myriad things, the myriad things follow the heavens, the Heaven and Earth Dao, and the Dao arises from emptiness.

The Extraordinaries of the world, no matter their path, were all swimming against the current of the Great Dao’s creation of all things. They ultimately reduced themselves to emptiness, seeking Attainment Dao and transcendence.

But Wu Dao’s path was different.

From its very inception, the Essence Devouring Art was a process of continuously stealing the authority of heaven and earth, unlocking the shackles the Great Dao placed upon life itself.

In the second stage, he had gone against the current of the Great Dao’s creation process, shaping the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body. His very self-concept had become a new Dao.

The method of the Primordial Creatures, reducing themselves to emptiness, was naturally no longer suitable for him.

Because he *was* the Dao!

For the Dao to reduce itself to emptiness!

Following the old path of the Hongyuan from the bottom up was merely seeking the Dao, not cultivating the Dao. It would be a complete waste of the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body’s infinite potential.

Then what was *his* Dao?