Essence Devouring Art

”Juntian Sacred Armor...”

He put away the attribute panel.

Wu Dao thought of the new Holy Spirit Divine Technique he had acquired. With a mere thought, he activated it.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

His body swelled, bone and flesh grinding together.

In an instant.

His physique grew from nine feet tall to the size of a mountain, his entire body covered in layer upon layer of prismatic, crystal-like armor of flesh and blood. It shimmered with light, looking indestructible.

”Worthless...”

After briefly experiencing the wonders of the Divine Technique,

Wu Dao shook his head, offering a bored assessment before deactivating the Divine Technique and returning to his normal size.

He already possessed Immune to All Laws, a Great All Heavens Divine Technique.

Compared to that, the Juntian Sacred Armor’s power-dispersing abilities were simply too crude, too childish.

Redirecting an opponent’s force to strike back, taking no damage in the process—

—that was the true pinnacle of physical defense.

Simply turning beet-red while taking a hit head-on?

It was just too clumsy.

Not to mention...

If an attack was so powerful that even Immune to All Laws couldn’t block it,

the Juntian Sacred Armor would be even more useless.

”The Dao Calamity is getting worse. This is troublesome.”

Standing within the Celestial Thunder and Gang Wind Sea Eye,

Wu Dao activated his Magnetic Field to sense the world. It had grown even more barren and desolate, a world that suppressed the Extraordinary. His brow furrowed slightly.

The Dao Calamity of the Divine Wilderness...

...didn’t just target the Three Paths of Martial, Military, and Immortal.

It was a comprehensive suppression of the very concept of the Extraordinary.

It was almost like a conceptual attack.

Any Extraordinary being would find their Path of Transcendence suppressed.

Although his own path of the Magnetic Field was not heavily affected, he could still feel invisible shackles binding his body and soul, tightening with every passing moment.

The most obvious example was this:

It had only taken him half a month to integrate the Karma Fire Qiongqi Scripture, yet the Holy Elephant Heaven-Equalizing Force had taken a month and a half.

While it was true that integrating Holy Spirit Techniques became more difficult with each one, even so, with his world-shocking intellect, it shouldn’t have taken so much extra time.

Before he had entered seclusion, he estimated...

...it would take a month at most.

He should have been able to fully integrate the Holy Elephant Heaven-Equalizing Force, but in reality, it had cost him an extra half a month.

During the process of integrating the Holy Elephant Heaven-Equalizing Force,

Wu Dao could clearly feel it.

It was as if he had ’gotten dumber.’ His mind’s deductive and computational abilities were suppressed, unable to operate at their full, unfettered capacity.

This situation would only grow more severe as time went on.

If even he was affected like this,

it was needless to say what the other Cultivators of this world were going through. Their situation was likely even more miserable.

Before his seclusion,

Wu Dao had heard...

...that in the Extraordinary Realm, not only was the Celestial Human Path severed,

but Cultivators of all realms found that comprehending their Cultivation Techniques yielded half the results for twice the effort. Profound principles they would have normally understood with ease had become abnormally obscure and difficult to grasp.

”Absolute Spirit Break, the true End of the Dharma.”

Wu Dao let out a slow breath, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at the pure white ocean of Celestial Thunder Gang Wind. It was less than a hundred meters away, yet it emanated a sense of infinite, mortal danger.

The daily worsening of the Dao Calamity...

...proved that the theories of the world’s peak experts were correct.

After the Ten Tribulations,

the Extraordinary in the Divine Wilderness would vanish completely.

In other words,

in this tribulation,

regardless of whether the Divine Wilderness won or lost,

the outcome was already set in stone.

The world was a cage.

Unless one could escape this cage, the only path awaiting all Extraordinaries was extinction.

Including Wu Dao!

”Are we just fish on the chopping block?”

Wu Dao’s voice was frigid, and a violent, murderous glint flashed through his eyes before vanishing.

To escape one cage,

to finally see the light,

only to find oneself in an even larger, darker cage.

That feeling...

...was truly, utterly infuriating!!

”However, it’s not as if there’s no chance at all.”

Suppressing the violence in his heart,

Wu Dao’s eyes gleamed.

He thought back to after the Mud Hell Sea.

He recalled the method the old monster had revealed for escaping the Divine Wilderness’s cage, as well as another method he himself had conceived long ago.

There were two methods.

The old monster’s method required the right timing, a subsequent waiting period, and most importantly, absolute loyalty.

His own method required being tough enough.

A physique on the level of the Horizontal Refining Ten Sects, at the very least.

These two methods...

...were completely impossible for anyone else, but for Wu Dao, they were within the realm of possibility.

He did not lack absolute loyalty.

As for the Horizontal Refining Tenth Dao Gate,

although he was suppressed by the Great Dao,

with the strength of his physique, even if he could only take half a step into it, his resilience would be absolutely comparable to a Yang God.

Furthermore,

he also had the uniquely advantageous Primordial Magnetic Dao, which allowed him to control the magnetic fields of all things. He had a real chance of using the second method to escape the cage of the Divine Wilderness.

The opening of the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven...

...was the opportune moment to implement the old monster’s method.

He knew what the old monster was plotting.

It was nothing more than valuing his potential and wanting to bind their fates together completely.

Therefore,

the first method was also usable.

But it could only be used as a preliminary move, a way to lay down pieces on the board outside the Divine Wilderness.

Otherwise,

even if he managed to escape later,

he would find the entire world turned against him, which would attract endless, meaningless trouble.

WHOOSH—

As his various thoughts settled,

Wu Dao centered his mind. Images of endless war and chaos appeared in his thoughts, forming the profound mysteries of the Vermilion Annoyance World Burning Scripture. He prepared to divide his focus five ways.

His incarnation would roam the world, searching for Holy Spirit Techniques and Alien Species.

His Main Body would use Transverse Cultivation to ascend the Sea of Celestial Punishment.

His Soul Cultivation would train the Three-Phase Divine Punishment Fist Stance, using the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind as an opponent.

He would deduce and integrate the Vermilion Annoyance World Burning Scripture.

He would deduce and integrate the Ninth Transformation of Reversed Celestial Spirit and Immune to All Laws.

Five great cultivation efforts would advance side-by-side,

all ultimately feeding back into his Essence Devouring Art.

This would advance the progress of his Human Potential Release.

This was the path Wu Dao now walked.

”Teleportation Points +500 +150...”

Just as Wu Dao was about to resume his Cultivation,

a series of notifications from the attribute panel sounded in his mind.

He wasn’t surprised by this.

Before his seclusion,

he had condensed a new incarnation to roam the world, searching for Holy Spirit Techniques while also hunting down Alien Species.

In the past month and a half,

although it hadn’t found any new Holy Spirit Techniques,

it had occasionally run into one or two nice little ”snacks.”

This was why his Teleportation Points had increased by over thirty thousand, reaching four hundred thousand.

As for...

...the current concentrated influx of Teleportation Points,

that was from his incarnation returning to the Southern Border Ranch to reap the harvest from the Overlord Whale Alliance and the Bai Ze Bureau.

It was worth mentioning...

...that after Prince Nanyang ascended the throne,

the role of the Bai Ze Bureau had largely shifted to suppressing the dark underbelly of the Great Xu Martial World, which was just beginning to stabilize after the recent turmoil.

However, its duty of hunting down Alien Species...

...had not been removed.

Moreover,

Wu Dao was still the nominal Commander of the Bai Ze Bureau, and all the Alien Species they captured were saved for him.

Wu Dao was also aware...

...that this was Prince Nanyang’s investment in him.

The prince wanted him, a fellow traveler on this path, to grow as quickly as possible so they could face the outside world and resist the Great Tribulation together in the future.

On this point,

Wu Dao truly admired Prince Nanyang’s broad-mindedness.

If it had been some purely righteous and noble person,

faced with the enemy who had killed their father, their grandfather, and even their ancestors...

...the Demon spoken of by most of the world...

...there’d be no ”fellow traveler” nonsense.

The moment they met, blades would be drawn, and they would fight to the death.

”Teleportation Points +500.”

The final notification from the attribute panel sounded, and then his mind fell silent.

He opened the attribute panel again—

[Physique: Peak of Human Extremes]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (98% Potential Release) +

Three-Phase Divine Punishment Fist: 25,000 Years (Eight Fist Transformations) +

Pseudo-Sacred Spirit Transformation 3/5: 25,000 Years (Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate, Eighteen Extreme Yang Heavens, Great Success) +]

[Great Divine Techniques:

Primordial Magnetic Celestial Saber, Ten Directions Divine Slaughter, Primordial Magnetic Tribulation Finger, Celestial Essence Magnetic Burst Fist, Primordial Magnetic Celestial Prison Cage, Primordial Magnetic Demon Embryo, Black Tortoise Incarnation, Qiongqi’s Karmic Fire, Juntian Sacred Armor.]

[Great All Heavens Divine Technique: Immune to All Laws (Eighth Transformation) +]

[Teleportation Points: 453,150]

A month and a half in the Southern Border Ranch.

Fifty thousand Teleportation Points...

It’s too little!

The last time he harvested,

four months had provided two hundred thousand.

Now, a month and a half only yielded fifty thousand.

’Looks like I’ve really eaten the Alien Species of the Southern Border into extinction.’

As for the original Three Great Demon Races of the Southern Border,

after the Saint King’s last disappearance,

they seemed to have followed him, hiding away in some godforsaken corner of the world.

But Wu Dao wasn’t in a hurry.

The Great Tribulation was coming, and all living beings were struggling for a chance to survive.

Unless the Saint King was content to be ground to dust by the Great Tribulation,

otherwise,

he would inevitably leap out and stir up trouble again.

There was a simple reason for this.

He was a Celestial Treasure Master.

In the current environment,

normal Cultivation no longer allowed for any growth. Only Celestial Treasure Masters had a sliver of a chance at survival.

And with the Saint King’s Celestial Treasure,

completing its ritual would inevitably unleash a monstrous storm upon the mortal world. He wouldn’t be able to hide even if he wanted to.

...

As Wu Dao was thinking about the Saint King,

he had no idea...

...that during his days of absence, the Saint King...

...was spending every single day imitating his path of cultivation.

「In a no-man’s-land of the Western Desert.」

In the sky above the boundless, sea-like desert.

Seventeen thousand meters up.

RUMBLE—

A sea of grayish-red Celestial Thunder Gang Wind churned, its destructive Celestial Punishment Power annihilating any living being that dared to enter the forbidden zone.

”AHH!! The pain is killing me!!”

Within the Celestial Thunder and Gang Wind Sea Eye,

an unbearable scream of agony shook the heavens and the earth.

A sea of blood churned and roiled.

It constantly shrank, surging toward the thousands of fragments of flesh and bone at its center, devouring them to sustain the flicker of life within.

”Useless trash! Shut your damn mouth!”

After the shriek of pain,

another cold, grit-toothed snort rang out. ”If you can’t even endure this little bit of suffering, how do you expect to catch up to that monster, Wu Dao?

”Divine Techniques, Transverse Cultivation, and Soul Cultivation!

”Of the three paths of battle,

the top experts in the world today...

...which one of them hasn’t reached the Ninth Transformation in at least two paths?

”But you, you piece of trash, the only thing you have going for you is your Divine Techniques! Without your Celestial Treasure, you’re absolutely nothing!”

”Shut up!”

The tone suddenly shifted.

Lu Hongye had regained control. ”So I’m trash? Then what are you? You’re less than trash! And another thing, don’t you dare mention that monster Wu Dao!”

”Heh, of course you don’t want to talk about him. Your spirit was broken long ago... AH, DAMMIT!!!”

The Celestial King was mocking him, but he was also seething with hatred. Just then, a bolt of Celestial Thunder struck, making him let out a squeal like a pig being slaughtered.

But he endured it and said through gritted teeth,

”You may be trash, but your Demon Body, enhanced by a Celestial Treasure, has a foundation far stronger than any Human Race cultivator.

”Even without ever having practiced a Transverse Refining Technique, after achieving Great Divine Techniques, your physical body is comparable to an Eight Gates Horizontal Refiner.

”If you can also master the Wind and Thunder Qilin Scripture, a Nine Gates Holy Spirit Technique,

your physical body can absolutely enter the Ninth Daoist Sect, erasing the gap between you and the other top experts!

”Only by stepping into the realm of the Five Emperors and One King

will you have the right to contend with the Great Tribulation! Otherwise, when it arrives, all your schemes and plots will be as useless as clay chickens and pottery dogs!”

”Get back inside! I don’t need your damn lectures!”

Lu Hongye seized back control of his consciousness. He took a great gulp of the essence from the sea of blood, stubbornly resisting the Celestial Punishment Power that threatened to tear him to ashes.

He didn’t need the Celestial King to tell him.

He was well aware of his own strengths and weaknesses, and he knew just how vast the gap was between him and the current Five Emperors and One King.

That was why he was undertaking such a dangerous task.

He was using the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind to practice the Cultivation of the Wind and Thunder Qilin Scripture, hoping to use the Creation that comes from the great terror between life and death to rapidly increase his strength and catch up to Wu Dao and the others.

But the dream was beautiful,

and reality was cruel.

The destructive power of the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind was terrifying.

With the suppression of the Dao Calamity,

he was completely unable to absorb Spiritual Qi through normal means to sustain himself and prevent the Celestial Thunder Gang Wind from tearing him to ash.

But to make up for his shortcomings,

Lu Hongye had gone all-in.

If he couldn’t absorb enough Spiritual Qi to sustain himself,

he would kill the chicken to get the egg!

After each period of Cultivation,

he would slaughter one of the Great Demons under his command.

He used them as a resource to restore himself during his Cultivation.

That was why his Cultivation was accompanied by a surging sea of blood, from which he would periodically gulp down mouthfuls of Demon King’s Treasure Blood, thick with Demon Qi.

To ensure he had enough resources,

ample time for Cultivation,

and that the ritual to elevate his Celestial Treasure’s Main Path was not interrupted,

Lu Hongye also used his Celestial Treasure to create a Beast God Avatar. Guided by the Celestial Treasure, it traveled the lands, subjugating Demon Beasts and turning them into believers and rations.

It was also just his dumb luck...

...that he hadn’t run into Wu Dao’s incarnation, which was also out searching for Alien Species.

Otherwise,

his enterprise would have likely ended in failure before it even got halfway.

”AHH!!”

Screams echoed endlessly across the sky,

only to be drowned out by the crackling roar of the gray Thunderbolt and Thunder Gang winds.

In this unknown land,

the Saint King and the Celestial King, those two brothers in misfortune,

clung to the belief that one must embrace madness to survive.

They crudely imitated Wu Dao’s extreme Cultivation methods,

once again beginning their non-stop, hellish training.