Essence Devouring Art

’Emperor Level Cultivation Techniques?’

’Five of them, at that?’

’A gourd of Grand Thousand World Mother Liquid?’

This "gourd" he mentioned.

It definitely had to be a large Space Gourd.

’Why don’t you just go rob someone?!’

Noticing the change in Sikong Xuan’s expression, Zhao Jianji added, "Our True Lord has returned from his tribulation with his sights set on the Emperor Dao. All he seeks are the world’s various Emperor Scriptures and Saint Realm World Mother Liquid to restore his cultivation.

Your lord is known as the God of Wealth of the Burial Realm, a collector of ancient and modern Daoist canons. We each have something the other wants. This won’t be a one-time deal."

’We each have something the other wants?’

Sikong Xuan suppressed the anger in his heart.

He read between the lines.

’This means...’

’Nirvana True Lord can help my lord seize the position of Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Burying Alliance?’

If that were truly the case...

With a peak Saint Realm expert backing them!

And with Su Xiuqi half-dead and his whereabouts unknown, who in the Heaven-Burying Alliance could possibly stop the rise of the Business Realm?

But...

this was a deal with the devil!

Nirvana True Lord was at the peak of the Saint Realm.

Furthermore, he was very likely a Great Saint, or even a Saint Master, who had returned from a tribulation. His power and methods were unfathomable!

’If he has other plans...’

"You’re overthinking things."

Zhao Jianji looked at the conflicted Sikong Xuan. How could he not know what he was thinking? He shook his head slightly and said,

"The True Lord’s ambition lies in the Great Dao. He is focused on secluded cultivation and has no interest in the endless fighting and struggles for fame and fortune within your Heaven-Burying Alliance.

The transaction I’m referring to is..."

At this, Zhao Jianji patted the Heaven-Burying Stele beside him.

"Of the ninety-nine Heaven-Burying Steles you’re all fighting for, besides the ones held by your three factions, there are at least forty more whose owners are still on the fence. They won’t be easy to obtain, will they?

Nirvana Valley can take care of that for you.

This price is very fair."

’Fair...’

Sikong Xuan’s mouth twitched.

Emperor Scriptures.

Jia Baocai did indeed have them.

But five of them was just absurd.

The Method of Becoming Emperor.

Across the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, it was a Supreme Technique, the strongest foundation of any Imperial Influence. It was something one could only hope to encounter by chance, not seek out, and countless people would kill to get their hands on it.

Although the Jia Family’s wealth could rival an entire World,

even if they sold off the entire family, they couldn’t possibly come up with five Emperor Scriptures, the very Method of Becoming Emperor.

As for the Grand Thousand Creation Mother Liquid...

they did have some of that in stock.

The Jia Family didn’t possess a Saint Master Divine Weapon, but they often engaged in shady business dealings with major powers in the Daluo Celestial Domain.

Often,

the currency those major powers used for settlement was Saint Realm World Mother Liquid.

However,

the amount contained in a whole Space Gourd...

would probably be a severe blow even to the Jia Family.

Sikong Xuan was deeply conflicted.

His lord seemed dead set on obtaining the Heaven-Burying Steles, as if they were part of some crucial plan.

He couldn’t make the decision himself.

"My apologies, but this matter is too important. I must ask for my lord’s instructions."

Sikong Xuan could only offer an awkward smile.

He took out a Communication Jade Talisman and contacted Jia Baocai to discuss the matter.

Zhao Jianji didn’t rush him.

Before he came, Wu Dao had instructed him.

He shouldn’t be absolutely rigid on the price, but he couldn’t sell cheap either. He just needed to push it right up to their bottom line.

「A moment later.」

Sikong Xuan lowered the Communication Jade Talisman and let out a slight breath. After some consideration, he said,

"My lord can offer two Emperor Scriptures at most. As for the Grand Thousand World Mother Liquid, it is too precious and hard to find. Could it be replaced with Middle Thousand Mother Liquid?"

"Heh heh..."

Zhao Jianji simply chuckled, giving a noncommittal response.

In the end,

after a war of attrition waged by Zhao Jianji,

and with Jia Baocai being dead set on getting the Heaven-Burying Steles, they finally bit the bullet.

Three Emperor Scriptures.

And one gourd of Grand Thousand World Mother Liquid.

Of course,

Jia Baocai was no fool.

He wasn’t going to pay before seeing the goods. One Emperor Scripture would serve as a deposit to take the Yang Realm Celestial Burial Stele.

Going forward,

the two parties would trade Heaven-Burying Steles for Grand Thousand World Mother Liquid. Only after all the goods were delivered would the final two Emperor Scriptures be handed over.

"Forgive my impudence for asking,"

Sikong Xuan asked cautiously after finalizing their cooperation,

"but when does Lord True Lord plan to make his move? Will you require our cooperation?"

Currently, the three major powers were in a stalemate.

Any move would be blocked by the other two factions, allowing the Realm Masters of the remaining forty Heaven-Burying Steles to play both sides and remain undecided.

If Nirvana True Lord acted personally,

then there was nothing more to say; he could simply sweep them all up in one fell swoop.

But this lord disliked conflict.

He would most likely send his Divine Envoys to act.

If so, they could coordinate with them to increase the chances of success.

"You don’t need to worry about that. Once we have the Heaven-Burying Steles, we will naturally contact you."

Zhao Jianji said faintly.

His voice carried a powerful, casual confidence, as if it were a trivial matter.

"Then we will await your good news."

Sikong Xuan placed a Communication Jade Talisman on the table, cupped his hands, and put away the Yang Realm Celestial Burial Stele after checking that it was correct. Then, he hurriedly left Nirvana Valley.

As for the Emperor Scripture serving as a deposit,

Jia Baocai had already sent it over via a High-Level Communication Jade Talisman.

It was a dark black Stone Plate shaped like a Talisman.

It looked utterly unremarkable.

But it emanated faint wisps of the majestic aura of the supreme Emperor Dao.

"The Celestial Talisman Emperor Scripture..."

「In the Infinite Holy Hall.」

Wu Dao caressed the disintegrating, weathered Stone Plate in his hand. A vast sea of ancient, sacred Talisman scriptures appeared in his mind, proving that this was a Talisman Dao Emperor Scripture.

"Star Mother, what’s the status of the replication?"

After tossing the Emperor Scripture to the Star Mother for comprehension,

Wu Dao casually asked.

"Please inspect them, Father God."

The Star Mother vibrated slightly.

Starlight enveloped dozens of replica Heaven-Burying Steles, which floated before Wu Dao.

The material of the Heaven-Burying Steles

was Immortal Red Crystal.

It was a precious mineral resource that could be used to forge Holy Soldiers, a rare find even throughout the All Heavens.

However,

among the resources the Primordial Demons of the Heaven-Stealing Alliance had gathered over the years from venturing into the forbidden zones of the All Heavens and the World-Slaying Emperor’s Treasure Vault was this very mineral—an entire vein of it, in fact.

It was most likely collected by the Slaughter Emperor back in the day.

With the materials secured,

the difficult part was replicating the unique Magnetic Field of time’s passage on the Heaven-Burying Steles so perfectly that the forgeries would be indistinguishable from the originals.

For this task,

even with the Star Mother’s current processing power, it had taken a full three days to create these replicas.

Yes.

The one given to Sikong Xuan was also a fake. He was basically a guinea pig for the experiment.

The results were excellent.

Sikong Xuan had clearly come prepared, using several special detection-type Magical Treasures, but in the end, he hadn’t found anything amiss.

This being the case,

Wu Dao could now proceed without restraint.

That’s right.

He was planning to get something for nothing!

The Emperor Scriptures were secondary. His main goal was the Grand Thousand World Creation Mother Liquid!

Of course, the Heaven-Burying Steles had to be collected as well.

But he couldn’t let anyone find out he was the one doing it.

In other words, he had to swap the Heaven-Burying Steles in the hands of those Realm Masters without anyone being the wiser.

A fake Saint Realm expert was, after all, fake.

Once he truly crossed the Heaven-Burying Alliance’s bottom line,

it would become very troublesome.

For now, it wasn’t time to abandon Nirvana City, this Treasure Basin.

However,

he also needed to increase his strength as soon as possible.

Without enough strength,

everything he did would be furtive and hesitant. That was no long-term solution.

"Now that forty-five of the Seventy-Two Primordial Demons have integrated their All Heavens into Grotto Heavens, and their combat power is comparable to the Creation Realm, it’s time for them to shine."

Wu Dao’s gaze fell upon the Primordial Demons on the seventy-two Demon Pillars. He raised his hand and pressed down, causing the lightning and fire Magnetic Field to retract, halting their Cultivation.

"I have a mission for you."

Wu Dao spoke indifferently, his majestic voice filling the Infinite Holy Hall.

"We are willing to die for the Alliance Leader!"

The Primordial Demons on the Demon Pillars were instantly roused, their blood pumping. They knelt on one knee, their thunderous voices shaking space and time.

While peacefully cultivating to improve their strength was good,

they were even more eager to lay down their lives for the Alliance Leader. To die in battle for their lord would be the ultimate honor.

It had been several months since they left Huanwu Mountain.

They were starting to get rusty.

"You will indeed die."

Wu Dao stated bluntly, his eyes narrowing as he revealed the plan.

"From this day forward, you will all scatter across the All Heavens with a single objective: collect Emperor Scripture Dharma Gates by any means necessary!"

The third stage of the Essence Devouring Art, Three Lives,

required the perfection of the Three Thousand Great Paths’ branches before he could advance to the fourth stage, the Myriad Things Domain.

Relying solely on luck

and the scraps he got from scamming people

would take an eternity to gather everything he needed. The only option was primitive plunder.

Throughout the All Heavens,

Emperor Level Cultivation Techniques

were mostly held by Emperor’s Lineages, All Heavens Emperor’s Lineages, Daoist Lineages, and Common Lord Powers. The number of Emperor Level Cultivation Techniques they possessed was linked to the number of Emperors they had nurtured.

And these Cultivation Techniques...

Grotto Heaven Daoist Children were qualified to cultivate them!

As long as one was bold enough

and capable enough,

it wouldn’t be difficult to gather the branches of the Three Thousand Great Paths in a short amount of time.

"Should we let the Dragon Hunting Tower take the fall again?"

Zhao Jianji wasn’t concerned at all about dying; instead, he was already thinking about who to frame.

The first choice,

naturally, was the infamous Dragon Hunting Tower.

"Third time’s the charm, but any more would be impolite."

Wu Dao shook his head slightly.

The Dragon Hunting Tower had become a public enemy in the All Heavens, an identity that had already gone sour. They needed a new one.

So, what power was as disliked and mysterious as the Dragon Hunting Tower?

And also hunted the Celestial Prides of the All Heavens?

Heh.

There really was one.

One that recognized money, not people.

The number one assassin organization in the All Heavens—

Human World!

According to rumors,

Human World had connections to the Netherworld, and its headquarters had never been discovered.

"Human World... that one should be relatively easy to imitate. It’s said that many Celestial Prides take missions from them to temper themselves."

After Wu Dao chose Human World as the scapegoat, Zhao Jianji’s eyes lit up as well.

The Dragon Hunting Tower identity

required them to imitate all sorts of exclusive Cultivation Techniques.

Human World was different.

Their only common trait

was that all of Human World’s high-level assassins had mastered the All Heaven Great Escape, one of the Ten Great Supreme Divine Techniques, also known as the Supreme All Heavens Concealment Technique.

What a coincidence.

The Heaven-Stealing Alliance happened to have this Divine Technique as well.

And during this time, the Primordial Demons had all mastered it. It was practically fate.

"Mm, be clean about it. If you’re exposed, don’t hesitate. Just self-destruct."

Wu Dao spoke these cruel words calmly, but the Primordial Demons didn’t find them cruel at all. On the contrary, their fighting spirit soared.

With the Star Mother around,

they couldn’t really die.

Their Primordial Magnetism demon bodies were creations of the Magnetic Field to begin with.

Before self-destructing, they could transmit their Divine Thought to the spring in the Star Mother Database. After their magnetic models were rebuilt, they would be as good as new. At most, it would just waste a bit of energy and time.

Infinite suicide attacks.

’Aren’t you scared?’

After finalizing the plan, the Primordial Demons didn’t linger. They collected their travel expenses and left Nirvana Valley one after another.

Travel expenses were necessary.

A single trip through a Super Star Hub that crossed Celestial Domains cost enough to bankrupt some smaller factions.

Fortunately,

Wu Dao was reasonably well-off; he wasn’t so poor that he couldn’t afford the travel fees for his Primordial Demons’ mission.

"Among all the Daos, Transverse Cultivation is the most difficult to collect. And Horizontal Refiners with Emperor Level lineages are the number one fighters in all the All Heavens."

After the Primordial Demons left,

Wu Dao’s consciousness swept over his attribute panel, noting the low progress of his Infinite Primordial Scripture. He let out a slight breath and created another batch of Incarnations.

The collection of Transverse Refining Techniques...

He planned to handle it personally using his Incarnations, and he had already locked onto a target—the Martial Arts Buzhou Heaven!