Essence Devouring Art

Burial Realm Jun Tian.

Red Dust Realm.

Brilliant light stretched for leagues, and auspicious colors heralded good fortune.

For hundreds of millions of years.

Countless Demon Path Influences had explored the burial grounds, one wave falling as another rose. At long last, they had found it: the Red Dust Realm, a Human Immortal Realm suspended high in the Nine Heavens amidst this Purgatory.

It possessed stable Heaven and Earth Rules and abundant Extraordinary Resources.

Once this bountiful Great Realm was discovered, it naturally became the absolute nexus of fortune within the Burial Realm’s Purgatory, drawing together over ninety percent of the Burial Realm’s top Demon Path Influences.

Ten thousand years ago, the Heaven-Burying Alliance rose to power, climbing to the apex of the Red Dust Realm over the corpses of established factions to become its Crowned King.

The current Alliance Leader, Su Xiuqi, possessed a Dao Cultivation at the Great Saint Realm. His power was unparalleled in the history of the Heaven-Burying Alliance, and his might suppressed the Overlords of the Ten Directions, firmly cementing the Alliance’s status as the Crowned King of the Burial Realm.

However, after serving ten consecutive terms as Alliance Leader, during this centennial rotation, Su Xiuqi, for some unknown reason, decided to relinquish his authority. No longer running a domineering one-man show, he returned the right to vote to the Ninety-nine Domain Lords and the Supreme Elders.

Whoever gained the most support would become the next Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Burying Alliance.

In an instant, the Red Dust Realm was thrown into turmoil. The Ninety-nine Realm Masters formed cliques and schemed against one another, and a storm of ever-increasing intensity began to take shape.

Three individuals had the most vocal support. They were the top three among the Ninety-nine Realm Masters.

Tao Chuan, the Battle Realm Master, was the Heaven-Burying Alliance’s number one ’enforcer’. He possessed a perfected Emperor Grade Undying Body, was known as the Undying Fighting God, and had once fought a Saint to a standstill without perishing.

Jia Baocai, the Business Realm Master. His name was tacky, but he was widely acknowledged in the Heaven-Burying Alliance as being rich enough to rival a realm. Known as the God of Wealth Jia, he had a Saint Realm cultivation.

Liang Chen, the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm Master. He was a rising star in the Heaven-Burying Alliance—daring, aggressive, and wildly arrogant. He had performed many great services for the Alliance, and his prestige and supporters were second only to Su Xiuqi’s. His cultivation was at the Martial Dao Saint Realm.

After Su Xiuqi relinquished his power and moved behind the scenes, the three Great Realm Masters stopped at nothing to seize the position of Alliance Leader. A series of open and hidden struggles unfolded, all centered on the Heaven-Burying Steles in the hands of the Ninety-nine Realm Masters.

「Ten Thousand Dragons Realm.」

Like a parasitic, blood-red sun latched onto the Red Dust Realm, its wild, tyrannical, and baleful aura could be felt rifting through space and time from a great distance.

The Ten Thousand Dragons City, the core city of the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm, did not have a fixed location. To display his supreme authority as Realm Master, Liang Chen had personally traveled to Heaven-Burning Fire to hunt a thousand Cave Heaven Flood Dragons. These dragons now pulled the colossal Ten Thousand Dragons City across space and time day after day, patrolling the territory of the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm.

Inside the grand hall of Ten Thousand Dragons City, Realm Master Liang Chen possessed the sharp gaze of a hawk and the predatory air of a wolf. With his magnificent build, short black hair, and Ten Thousand Dragons Martial Arts Robe, he sat in perfect stability. His eyes contained visions of the birth and death of the Three Thousand Realms as he looked down upon everyone in the hall, his presence thousands of times more imposing than that of an emperor.

The people in the hall, lined up on both sides—men and women, old and young—all trembled, cold sweat trickling down their backs. None dared to meet Liang Chen’s soul-stealing gaze.

They could all feel it. The Realm Master was furious right now.

"Elder Ji, where is the Yang Realm Heaven-Burying Stele?"

After his gaze swept across the hall, Liang Chen looked toward a group of old fossils who had been granted seats, a cold smile playing on his lips. His eyes finally landed on the white-haired old man at the head of the group.

The Heaven-Burying Alliance had endured for ten thousand years without decline. As new generations rose, older generations naturally stepped down. These retired elders became members of the Elder Council, a force within the Heaven-Burying Alliance that could not be taken lightly. They were especially important during elections.

Therefore, whenever an election was held, all the strong contenders would try to win over some of the old-timers from the Elder Council to add legitimate weight to their claim.

Elder Ji, the one Liang Chen was questioning, had served as one of the Heaven-Burying Alliance’s Vice Alliance Leaders before Su Xiuqi’s rise. He held considerable prestige within the Alliance and had been the one to personally promote Liang Chen.

However, there was no room for sentiment in the Burial Realm. Whoever had the biggest fist had the right to speak from on high. Now that Liang Chen looked down on him, even Elder Ji, with his perfected Creation Realm cultivation, dared not use his seniority to pressure him.

"Chen..."

Elder Ji’s face twitched under Liang Chen’s aggressive gaze. Noticing Liang Chen’s expression turn colder by a fraction, he immediately changed his tone and sighed.

"Realm Master Liang, stop this.

You should know that Su Xiuqi only stepped down to seek peace and quiet, to make a final attempt at reaching the Saint Master Realm. It’s impossible that he would truly relinquish his power.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sided with his adopted son, Tao Chuan, who hasn’t even reached the Saint Realm. He just wants to groom a puppet. In the future, the Heaven-Burying Alliance will still be under his control.

This life-or-death struggle between you and God of Wealth Jia is exactly what he wants. It’s a way for him to eliminate dissenters.

Your potential is far greater than that of Su Xiuqi, who has already reached his limit. What does it matter if you endure for a few more centuries? Once you break through to the Great Saint Realm, you’ll be in your prime while he is in decline. How could he possibly fight you then?"

"Are you finished?" Liang Chen’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He simply repeated, "So, where is the Yang Realm Heaven-Burying Stele? Why is there still no news?"

Within the Heaven-Burying Alliance, the number of Saint Realm Great Powers was public knowledge. During the election, they were watched closely by their rivals, making it impossible for them to personally go out and seize the Heaven-Burying Steles. So, at times like this, it all came down to a contest of resources and minions.

Liang Chen had entrusted the matter of the Yang Realm’s Heaven-Burying Stele to Elder Ji. With the Elder’s strength at the perfected Creation Realm of the Twenty-four Heavens, although his vitality was fading and he was no longer in his prime, he should have had no problem dealing with a mere Emperor Grade, Fifth Layer Creation Realm cultivator.

But the reality was, half a month had passed, and the Heaven-Burying Stele from the Yang Realm—and the position of its Realm Master—had yet to be brought into the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm’s territory!

It wouldn’t even take this long to cross a Celestial Domain!

"Sigh." Seeing that Liang Chen’s mind was made up, Elder Ji sighed and said, "I’m old. After a lifetime of struggle, all I want is to live out my remaining years in peace. I entrusted the task to a junior."

All the fighting in his youth had left Elder Ji riddled with Dao injuries. He should have surpassed the Twenty-four Heavens, but he was stuck there, his lifespan greatly reduced. He could only rely on Longevity Medicines to stay alive.

Therefore, he cherished his life dearly now. He didn’t want to get involved in this life-or-death struggle. He didn’t know what gave Liang Chen his confidence, but he couldn’t afford to bet on whether Su Xiuqi would settle accounts with him afterward.

That was why, for the Yang Realm’s Heaven-Burying Stele, he had assigned the task to a trusted subordinate who was not part of the Heaven-Burying Alliance—Yan Shuo—promising him a Realm Master position afterward.

However...

"Where is he?" Liang Chen tapped his fingers on the dragon-head armrest, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"He..." Elder Ji took a deep breath and said, "He’s dead. His last known location was in the Nirvana Valley region. The cause is still under investigation."

ROAR—

CRACK!!

The moment his words fell, a roar like that of an Evil Dragon seemed to echo through the void. Elder Ji was struck as if by the tail of a Barbaric Dragon, sent flying into a pillar of the great hall. He was left in a wretched state.

"Realm Master Liang, calm your anger!"

The eyelids of the other senior elders twitched. They quickly stood up to plead with him, their hearts chilled by Liang Chen’s ruthlessness and disloyalty.

One had to remember, not only had Elder Ji been the one to promote Liang Chen, but they had also shared a master-disciple bond in his youth. The elder had always helped him immensely. But now, not only was he forcing Elder Ji to pick a side, he had struck him without a second thought. Calling him an ungrateful wolf was an understatement!

While there were no good people in the Burial Realm, a great power like the Heaven-Burying Alliance still had rules. No one truly dared to be lawless, utterly heartless and disloyal.

"Live out your remaining years in peace?" Liang Chen ignored the elders’ pleas. His gaze Sen Leng, he stared at the incredulous Elder Ji and said, "If I hadn’t been supplying you with Longevity Medicine all this time, you, a damned Elder Ji, would have been in your grave long ago!

Now I have a use for you, and you’re talking about living out your years in peace? Why don’t you go eat shit!

I’ll give you five days. If you can’t secure the Yang Realm Heaven-Burying Stele, don’t blame me for disregarding our master-disciple bond! Oh, right."

At this point, Liang Chen said faintly, "You can also run. But I can’t guarantee your old injuries won’t act up, causing your body to perish and your Dao to dissipate."

"You tampered with the Longevity Medicine?" Elder Ji’s pupils shrank. He trembled with rage, pointing at Liang Chen, unable to contain his fury.

"Haha, as long as you know. Now, get lost!" Liang Chen let out a wild, arrogant laugh. With a wave of his hand, he stirred up a storm in spacetime. Like a leaf swirling in the wind, Elder Ji was swept up and flung out of the Ten Thousand Dragons Realm.

"What, you want to stay for dinner?" After dealing with Elder Ji, Liang Chen’s terrifying gaze turned to the other elders and his minions in the hall.

""We swear to serve the Realm Master to the death!""

With this warning before them, his followers hurriedly pledged their loyalty, promising they would deliver all the Heaven-Burying Steles into Liang Chen’s hands.

After everyone had left, Liang Chen, seated on his dragon throne, sneered with disdain. ’Su Xiuqi, don’t think I don’t know you were seriously injured when you forced your way into the Emperor’s Tomb! You’re only hiding because your strength has plummeted!’ He knew perfectly well why Su Xiuqi had suddenly relinquished his power and retreated behind the scenes.

’Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to make a move for power.

After all, the gap between a Great Saint and a Saint is like a chasm.

But things are different now.

Su Xiuqi overestimated himself and forced his way into the forbidden Emperor’s Tomb. He suffered grievous Dao injuries, and his realm might have even fallen.

He’s no longer an invincible existence!’

As for why Liang Chen was so obsessed with collecting the Heaven-Burying Steles, it certainly wasn’t because of some bullshit formalities or rules.

It was because he was the descendant of an Emperor who had followed the Slaughter Emperor during the era of the Five Tribulations. The one buried in that Emperor’s Tomb was his ancestor!

He had always known. The ninety-nine Heaven-Burying Steles were the keys to opening the Imperial Tomb Vault!

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t unravel the secrets of the Heaven-Burying Steles. His Great Emperor ancestor had left a backdoor for his descendants. As long as he gathered all the Heaven-Burying Steles and brought them to the core of the Emperor’s Tomb, the ultimate vault would naturally open for him.

「At the same time.」

Within the Business Realm, another Great Realm attached to the Red Dust Realm, the Business Realm Master, Jia Baocai, was dressed in a long white robe and a tall crown. He appeared as gentle and refined as jade. Putting down the High-Level Communication Jade Talisman in his hand, he beckoned a subordinate over to give his instructions.

"Nirvana City, a Devouring Tribulation Alien Species, the Nirvana True Lord? A bit interesting. Go and make contact. Remember, harmony is key. We are businessmen; we can’t be as crude and ill-mannered as that cannon, Liang Chen."

Within the Burial Realm, Alien Species factions were not uncommon. Among the Heaven-Burying Alliance’s Ninety-nine Realm Masters, there were quite a few Alien Species Demon Cultivators, so this was nothing surprising.

The only thing that surprised Jia Baocai was perhaps the Nirvana True Lord’s bizarre ability to devour Celestial Tribulations. However, the creations of heaven and earth were endlessly wondrous, so it wasn’t something that was hard to comprehend.

’If it has intelligence and can be communicated with, then we can cooperate.’

All the world’s hustle and bustle is for personal gain. Whether human or Alien Species, no one could escape this law; it was just a matter of the price being different.

Evidently, compared to Liang Chen’s tyranny and stubbornness, Jia Baocai was more like a calculating businessman. Their methods for solving problems were completely different.

’Liang Chen, descendant of the Heaven-Burying Emperor who once followed the Slaughter Emperor, heh.’ After his subordinate departed, Jia Baocai twirled the Treasure Bead that contained a World within its core and gave a playful smile. He was already calculating how much benefit a Great Emperor’s vault could bring him.