Essence Devouring Art

RUMBLE—

The heavens and the earth shook, and the starry sky blurred.

The continuous slaughter and strife in the hunting ground rocked the tens of millions of li of ruins. Lost Star City, like a small boat in a tempestuous sea, could not stop swaying.

BUZZ...

After numerous Dharma Aspects entered the battlefield.

The Celestial Observation Mirror on the dome of Lost Star City went black, like a screen that had lost its signal. It had encountered intense Magnetic Field interference and lost its projected image.

At the most critical and exciting moment...

...it all came to an abrupt halt.

The Cultivators in the city felt an itch they couldn’t scratch, and a clamor immediately broke out:

”What’s happening?”

”Yeah, who got the Desolate God in the end?”

”They both suffered heavy losses. Don’t tell me those country bumpkins actually got the better of them?”

The last image they had seen...

...was of the Yong Bird. Though it had fought for its life and grievously wounded the hunters, it had clearly paid a terrible price and was now a spent force. Any Dharma Phase Practitioner could have suppressed it.

They were desperate to see...

...who the lucky one would be.

Or at least to get accurate intelligence so the factions backing them could plan their next move.

”Everyone, do not panic. Allow me to open my Dharma Eye and take a look.”

A Dharma Aspect practitioner in Lost Star City, one who had retreated earlier upon seeing things go south, flew into the starry sky. After channeling his Dharma Eye to gaze into the distance, he frowned and said:

”How strange. The field in that region is in complete chaos. Even my Dharma Eye can’t penetrate it. And not only that...”

As he spoke, he took out a Communication Jade Talisman to contact a fellow Daoist, a Dharma Aspect practitioner participating in the hunt, but his Divine Thought message was blocked, vanishing without a trace.

’Has a major power intervened and sealed off the area?’

Some major powers...

...have Celestial Master Level Array Dao experts in their service. With enough preparation, it would be a simple matter for them to mobilize the field of order and seal off a region tens of millions of li wide.

But in the surrounding Star Realms...

...including the nearby periphery, he had never heard of any faction having a Celestial Master.

Deep suspicion...

...and a faint, ominous premonition caused the Dharma Strongman’s brow to furrow.

’It should be fine, right?’

’After all, that hunting ground had gathered three Overlords, over a hundred Dharma Aspects, and an unknown number of top-tier Great Divine Power Users.’

’If something were to happen...’

’...it would likely attract the attention of the major figures from the inner regions. Not even an eighth-grade Celestial Master would dare to act recklessly.’

Although the Chaotic Star Celestial Domain had no single Common Lord...

...various powerful Overlords had established their own rules and governed their own territories.

Minor skirmishes were one thing.

But to go too far...

...was to challenge their authority and break a taboo.

...

「While the Cultivators of Lost Star City were filled with shock and uncertainty.」

Inside the hunting ground, sealed by the Magnetic Field.

”You have seen the Primordial. Why do you not bow?”

As Wu Dao’s words fell...

...an indescribable contamination from his Life Magnetic Field spread through the countless lines of the Magnetic Field on his body, reaching every inch of the hunting ground.

”Primordial... Primordial...”

Everyone below the King Grade Dharma Aspect...

...all the Cultivators’ pupils glazed over. Muttering deliriously, they involuntarily bent their knees and began to worship Wu Dao at the zenith of the starry sky.

In a corner of the hunting ground...

...Heavenly Dragon barely resisted the Magnetic Field’s contamination, relying on the protection of the Boundary-Breaking Shuttle within his body. Still, he felt countless voices whispering and eroding his soul, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

’Damn it, I didn’t expect him to be an Evil God!’

Heavenly Dragon’s heart pounded, and he was overcome with lingering dread.

Because...

...on Wu Dao, he sensed a trace of the same aura as the Human Immortal who had asked him for directions on the forbidden route not long ago.

’So...’

’...I’m the one who led this Evil God to the forbidden zone?’

After this realization dawned on him...

...Heavenly Dragon wanted to slap himself. Why did he have to be such a meddlesome busybody, needlessly bringing this disaster upon them?

An Evil God...

...is also a type of Divine Spirit.

But unlike normal Divine Spirits, Evil Gods originate from various wicked sacrifices. They are tainted by countless karmic obstacles and malicious desires, their divinity utterly filled with sinister, demonic thoughts.

Sacred Divine Spirits rely on believers to survive.

Pious followers can also use Faith and Willpower to influence a Divine Spirit’s actions.

Evil Gods are the complete opposite.

They control their followers. And much like a Celestial Demon Chaotic Heart, they can actively contaminate a creature’s body and soul, forcibly converting them into believers.

Obviously...

...the being they now faced, the one calling himself Primordial who was ceaselessly polluting their souls, was without a doubt an Evil God!

But what Heavenly Dragon couldn’t understand was...

...Divine Spirits are limited by the Power of Faith. Before establishing a Divine Country, their Divine Power is simply that—Divine Power.

But this Evil God before him...

...was highly abnormal.

He controlled the prevailing power of the entire field, sealing off tens of millions of li of spacetime—a feat comparable to an eighth-grade Celestial Master!

’How on earth did he do it?’

”Hm?”

As everyone frowned in apprehension...

...Fang Tong, Sect Leader of the Vacuum Sect, had just dispelled the contaminating Magnetic Field that had infested his Black Lotus when he received a divine oracle from the Mother of the Void. He frowned and asked Wu Dao uncertainly:

”Are you the Primordial Divine Monarch?”

With his divinity actively released...

...there was naturally no hiding it.

The Mother of the Void had sensed wisps of divinity on Wu Dao that were similar, yet not identical, to that of the Primordial Divine Monarch.

”The Primordial Divine Monarch?”

”Didn’t he... three thousand years ago...?”

”Damn it, how did the Primordial Sect revive and raise such an Evil God?”

Hearing the divine name ”Primordial Divine Monarch”...

...all the Dharma Phase Practitioners felt their hearts jolt in shock.

The Primordial Divine Monarch from three thousand years ago was a Grotto Heaven Level Divine Spirit who had forged a Divine Country.

If he had returned in the form of an Evil God...

...then weren’t they doomed today?

”Hah! What a load of superstitious nonsense!”

While the various parties were filled with shocked suspicion...

...a deep, cold snort boomed out.

Lie Huang’s gaze burned like a torch as he stared at Wu Dao. He sneered, ”Bullshit Evil God. What kind of Evil God has Yang God Sacred Spirit Blood?”

As a fellow Yang God...

...one who had already taken four steps at that...

...he could easily sense the vast Holy Spirit Bloodline within Wu Dao’s physique.

Furthermore...

...as the Dharma Aspect with the highest level of life essence present...

...he could also perceive that...

...although Wu Dao’s inner being was as deep as a heavenly abyss and impossible to fully perceive, his cultivation had yet to formally step into the Dharma Aspect realm.

’He must have used some trick...’

’...to mobilize the prevailing order of the hunting ground and put on this charade.’

At this thought...

...Lie Huang’s gaze turned slightly sinister. In a booming voice, he declared, ”I, the Star Lord, don’t know where you get the audacity to trap us all.”

”But with your meager cultivation, having just entered the Dharma Aspect and Yang God realms, how long can you control the power of this forbidden zone? Are you sure you aren’t overestimating yourself?”

Just entered the Dharma Aspect realm?

Just became a Yang God?

After hearing this information...

...the Dharma Phase Practitioners in the hunting ground breathed a collective sigh of relief. Some, feeling they had been deceived, grew furious from the humiliation.

For example...

”You little bastard!”

The White Bone Old Daoist, who was closest to Wu Dao, wore a savage and sinister expression on his withered cheeks. He said coldly:

”I was almost fooled by your little trick. Open this seal at once, or I’ll make you regret it.”

The three Overlords had already recovered.

He no longer dared to vie for the Yong Bird and only wanted to escape immediately.

After all, his ”reputation” was well-known.

Countless factions had put a bounty on his head, and plenty of people wanted to be the one to claim it.

This life-or-death crisis...

...had caused him to lose his wits for a moment. He didn’t even realize he was being used as a pawn.

He didn’t even stop to think.

Could an ordinary Dharma Aspect control the prevailing order across tens of millions of li?

However, the others had no intention of reminding him.

They also wanted to see...

...whether this ”Primordial Divine Monarch” was just putting on a show or truly had the power to back his words.

”Your mouth stinks.”

Wu Dao stood at the zenith of the stellar dome. He turned indifferently, his abyss-like eyes gazing down upon the White Bone Daoist.

Just as everyone thought he was about to fly into a rage...

...he simply extended his right hand toward the White Bone Daoist in a plain, unremarkable gesture, then suddenly clenched his fist.

In the next instant...

...as everyone’s pupils suddenly contracted...

HUM—

...an almost imperceptible ripple spread out from Wu Dao as its origin point, propagating through countless colorful threads within the hunting ground and triggering a violent chain reaction.

It was clearly visible.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Under the crushing pressure of the overwhelming power of the field, the void around the terrified White Bone Daoist shattered layer by layer like glass, collapsing into a continuously shrinking vacuum black hole.

Within the endless darkness...

...the White Bone Daoist resisted with all his might.

His Divine Power Dharma Aspect burned incandescently, and he even detonated his sea of bones, but he was still like a bug being crushed in a giant hand, its juices squeezed out as it was relentlessly broken and disintegrated.

BANG!

With a thunderous explosion...

...the vacuum black hole completely closed.

The White Bone Daoist—a five-step Dharma Aspect practitioner who had stirred up trouble in the Border Wilderness for a thousand years—was blown into a cloud of white mist without so much as a whimper.

WHOOSH...

Wu Dao opened his mouth and inhaled...

...drawing the faintly struggling white mist into his All Heaven to be sealed away.

He wasn’t a devil, after all.

Of course, he wouldn’t kill the White Bone Daoist over a simple disagreement. On the contrary, he was going to be merciful and repay injury with kindness by granting the White Bone Daoist a great Creation.

HISS!

An instant kill!

It was an utterly terrifying scene.

Everyone present grew incredibly solemn, a chill crawling up their spines.

The White Bone Daoist had been famous for a thousand years.

At the fifth step of the King Grade Dharma Aspect, with his numerous trump cards, even an ordinary Six-Step Practitioner would have found it difficult to finish him.

But before this ”Primordial Divine Monarch”...

...with just a casual squeeze...

...the White Bone Daoist had been crushed into a cloud of primordial mist, completely powerless to resist!

Just entered the Dharma Aspect realm?

What a joke!

’He’s at least at the seventh step of the King Grade!’

WHOOSH...

After dealing with the troublemaker, the White Bone Daoist...

...Wu Dao didn’t pause. He reached out, formed a fist, and threw another plain, unremarkable punch—one without any spectacular phenomena—at Lie Huang.

The seventh step of the King Grade Dharma Aspect.

He naturally had not reached it.

Lie Huang had guessed correctly. Wu Dao had indeed just entered the Dharma Aspect realm and had not yet taken a single step.

But with an Emperor Grade Dharma Aspect in all Daos...

...and his seven Minor Circulations opened...

...even without having formally begun to take his steps...

...he now possessed combat power no weaker than any fifth-step King Grade practitioner, relying solely on his 550-revolution Primordial Magnetic Power.

With God, Ghost, and Godless All Open...

...and adding the Primordial Dao Wheel, he could advance another step, reaching the combat power of a sixth-step King Grade practitioner.

To possess sixth-step combat power just after entering the Dharma Aspect realm...

...was already completely heaven-defying.

But if he relied on this strength alone, he still wouldn’t be qualified to scheme for the entire hunting ground and have his cake and eat it too.

Not to mention the eighth-step King Grade Yong Bird...

...he couldn’t have touched any of the three Overlords, who were equivalent to the seventh-step King Grade, or the god.

So what method could he use to erase that gap?

Borrowing power, of course!

The Star Ruins as a whole was a forbidden zone built from countless destructive Magnetic Field domains. The Magnetic Fields were all interlinked; to touch one was to affect them all.

As long as one found the first domino...

...or, in other words, grasped the core...

...a chain reaction would naturally follow. A single force would move ten thousand, truly unleashing all the Magnetic Field Energy in this region.

Before the second stage of Heaven Opening...

...if he wanted to borrow the Energy of the Earth and Heaven Magnetic Field, he had to endure a backlash to maintain a certain degree of balance.

But after the second stage...

...Wu Dao had achieved the Innate Dao Body.

His Primordial Magnetic Power had truly transformed from Technique to Dao, skipping the Human Law of Heaven and Earth to enter the ranks of the Human Dao. To a certain extent, he could now command all manner of Magnetic Fields.

At this stage...

...his use of the Magnetic Field was no longer as brutish and crude as before. Instead, he had mastered the skillful knack of ”using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.”

Yes, one could say...

...that in a forbidden zone like the Star Ruins, which was saturated with destructive Magnetic Fields, Wu Dao’s combat power was just like Uncle Long’s in a furniture store.

The only limitation...

...was that his strength was determined by the range of the field influenced by his Primordial Magnetism.