Essence Devouring Art

Taiyi Emperor Star.

The outskirts of the Tribulation Qi Forbidden Area.

Within a certain Grotto Heaven.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—

The sound of Divine Gold Chains being undone echoed.

”Another good deed done.”

Wu Dao’s imposing figure strode out of the Grotto Heaven. His consciousness swept over his Divine Country, observing the many lost souls who had seen the error of their ways and were now prostrating themselves before the Primordial Celestial Demon. His face took on a benevolent expression.

This new group of converted believers were all filthy souls, steeped in evil.

Now, they had repented and turned over a new leaf.

They had reduced the world’s evil karma by an unknowable amount.

In a sense,

he really had done a good deed.

’But it’s still not enough,’

Wu Dao’s gaze shifted toward the cultivator gathering place outside the forbidden area. With a shake, he transformed, altering his aura and appearance, revealing a cultivation level of Saint Grade, Nine Steps.

Then,

he adorned himself with a trove of Storage Rings and necklaces he had plundered from his believers, making himself gleam with divine light.

He also chose the most lavish and precious Treasure Clothing. Looking like a nouveau riche country bumpkin, he vanished into the Magnetic Field and sped toward the gathering place.

This time,

he planned to forge a Primordial Dao Wheel with three thousand nodes, all constructed from Saint Grade, Nine Steps, or Emperor Grade cultivators.

He had currently collected about fifty sets of ”materials.”

He was still far from his goal.

The gathering place in this forbidden area was quite large, having attracted at least several hundred thousand All Heavens Dharma Aspect Cultivators.

He only needed to take three thousand.

Wu Dao felt that wasn’t asking for much.

As expected,

when Wu Dao appeared in the city of the gathering place, draped in a brilliant aura of treasures, he immediately caused a stir.

”Whoa, where did this nouveau riche clown come from?”

”You don’t flash your wealth. Strutting around like that... isn’t he just asking to be killed?”

”Probably has some backing and is used to throwing his weight around. Thinks everyone will just put up with him.”

”Keep an eye on him. I’m going to inform the boss right now.”

The sight of wealth stirred greedy hearts.

After strutting around for a while, Wu Dao sensed a large pack of Evil Dogs and jackals from various factions tailing him, calling their friends. If they weren’t in the gathering place, they probably would have attacked him already.

After wandering through a few more areas,

the number of people targeting Wu Dao had already reached nearly a thousand.

There were Loose Cultivators from minor factions, notorious bandit organizations that roamed the Star Sea, and even followers of heretical paths.

Some of them were after him directly.

But the vast majority were like before, planning to be the ”oriole” in the back, or even the hunter preying on the oriole, in a nesting-doll scenario.

After another few laps,

Wu Dao saw that he wasn’t attracting any more ”fish,” so he pretended to take out a Communication Jade Talisman, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

He then cast a ”wary” glance around, crudely concealed his figure, and hurried back toward the Tribulation Qi Forbidden Area.

Unsurprisingly,

the moment the ”fat sheep” made his move,

some of the more impatient hunters immediately gave chase, while the more cautious ones followed from a distance.

This time,

to ensure all the fish entered the net,

Wu Dao selected a slightly larger Grotto Heaven—one that wasn’t beyond his ability to seal—and plunged inside.

Once inside the Grotto Heaven,

he left a faint trail of his aura for the fish to follow while he himself hid within the Magnetic Field, watching with satisfaction like a fisherman with a bountiful harvest as school after school of fish swam into his cage.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—

Once all the fish were in the cage,

the Primordial Magnetic Celestial Prison Cage sealed the Grotto Heaven once more.

Humming a little tune, Wu Dao emerged from the void. He looked at the panicking crowd with a kindly expression, spread his arms, and said with a gentle smile,

”Everyone, your good fortune has arrived.”

...

「A moment later.」

Wu Dao stepped out of the Grotto Heaven again.

The materials for his Dao Wheel within his Divine Country had reached the halfway mark.

As for the other half,

he didn’t plan on fishing anymore. Using the same method too many times would eventually arouse suspicion, and its effectiveness would greatly diminish.

Sure enough,

when he returned to the gathering place,

the city was already buzzing with wary discussion.

”Liu San Dao and his group followed that fat sheep out so long ago. Why aren’t they back yet?”

”Don’t tell me someone else played the fisherman and got them?”

”Fisherman my ass! None of them came back. They fell into a trap.”

”Hiss... That’s way too bold. At least a thousand people just left the city.”

”Keep your eyes peeled. I knew something was off from the start. How could there be such a stupid person?”

”Hindsight is 20/20! Who would’ve thought a Saint Grade, Nine Steps cultivator could trap and kill so many people? If I hadn’t held you back just now, you greedy bastard would’ve gone after him too.”

Over a thousand Dharma Aspect practitioners had vanished into thin air.

News of this quickly spread throughout the gathering place. Many now knew that a ruthless, black-hearted ”fisherman” who preyed on others while pretending to be weak had arrived.

It cast a psychological shadow over everyone.

For a time,

the city, once filled with chaos and violence, became unbelievably peaceful.

Even when people ventured outside the safe zone,

they moved in large groups, paranoid and suspicious, no longer daring to attack others carelessly.

However,

Wu Dao knew more than just how to fish.

For the prey he targeted, he could not only bait them but also dive into the water and hunt them down.

Thus,

over the next period of time,

an inexplicable shadow of fear enveloped the gathering place.

Anyone at Saint Grade, Nine Steps, or above...

...who dared to leave the city...

...would never return.

It didn’t matter how large their group was.

The gathering place even launched a ”demon-slaying” campaign, led by several cultivators at Emperor Grade, Fifth Heaven, or higher. They gathered a large number of Saint Grade, Nine Steps cultivators to lie in ambush.

But the result...

...was that they, too, vanished into thin air.

Not a single person escaped to report back.

Within the forbidden area, where colorful Tribulation Qi billowed, it was as if an Ancient Fierce Beast had taken up residence, opening its massive Taotie maw to devour anyone who dared to enter.

「Five days later, with the shadow of fear still looming,」

no one in the gathering place dared to leave the city. Some people’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point. One cultivator broke down and roared, ”Dammit, I’m out of here!”

That roar

was like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, causing the fear that had accumulated throughout the gathering place to erupt completely.

”A True Demon has come! If we stay any longer, our lives are forfeit.”

”Forget it. I’ve earned enough from that mine I discovered this time.”

”Dammit, I can’t accept this! Is anyone else heading to the Chaotic Star Heavenly Lord City?”

The gathering place was in a constant uproar.

Gripped by the fear of death,

most people chose to take the Teleportation Altar back to the All Heavens Dojo. Others, who had gained nothing and were unwilling to leave empty-handed, teleported to other regions.

In less than half a day,

the massive gathering place was completely deserted, empty and silent.

What happened at the gathering place...

...also quickly spread to the dojos in the outside world.

Rumors spread of a deranged Demon Cultivator outside the gathering place who was after both wealth and lives. He specialized in abducting cultivators, killing without batting an eye, and had plunged everyone into a state of panic.

Some righteous and upright factions,

unable to stand by and watch a demon run rampant, entered the gathering place to search for the fiend, intending to slay the evil and uphold justice.

Unfortunately,

Wu Dao had already gathered enough materials for his Dao Wheel. He had long since vanished into the depths of the forbidden area to search for a place for secluded cultivation.

As for killing without batting an eye,

that was pure slander.

Heaven and Earth were his witnesses:

he hadn’t killed a single person.

He couldn’t even bear to strike them. He had used only verbal education to convert them. How could someone with such great compassion be called a demon?

WHOOSH—

Deep within the outer forbidden area.

Wu Dao’s Magnetic Field perception was fully extended. Amidst the chirping ”orioles and swallows,” he quickly found a ”flower queen” even more alluring and enchanting than the Eye of Hell.

RUMBLE—

Colorful Tribulation Qi churned like a chaotic tide. Amidst the endless surging, an abyss could be seen, within which countless world-destroying, scarlet thunderbolts converged into a sea, constantly twisting and shattering spacetime.

After leaving the Divine Wilderness,

Wu Dao was seeing a Thunder Sea once again.

But this time,

the Thunder Sea was located within an abyss.

It was fundamentally born from the fusion and friction of the killing intent, hostile energy, and resentment of the countless beings from the Four Tribulations battlefield, combined with the Earth Evil Miasma.

Its intensity was terrifying.

A single strand of scarlet thunderbolt

carried more Energy than the entire pure white Thunder Sea from the end of the Divine Wilderness era combined.

Anyone below Emperor Grade, Twenty Layers of Heaven...

...wouldn’t even be able to get close,

let alone go deeper. A single thunderbolt lashing out from the top of the Red Thunder Abyss could obliterate their soul.

’Hmm? A Thunder Pool?’

Deep within the Red Thunder Abyss,

Wu Dao’s Magnetic Field sense allowed him to perceive something.

He vaguely detected a vast aggregate of a high-level Magnetic Field, filled to the brim with a jade-like, ambrosial Thunder Dao Essence.

As tiny drops of Thunder Liquid seeped out,

they diluted and exploded into the scarlet, destructive thunderbolts that ravaged the abyss.

Wu Dao knew

that he had stumbled upon a great Creation.

The primordial liquid of a Thunder Pool.

It was one of the All Heavens’ finest Supreme Treasures for Body Refinement and Soul Refining, a first-choice resource for scouring away the impurities from one’s Taoist Magic and Divine Techniques, as well as one’s body and soul, to forge an immaculate physique.

Although after achieving the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body,

he already possessed an immaculate physique,

with a body, soul, and even Energy completely free of impurities.

the primordial Thunder Liquid was, for him,

still a top-tier Primordial Magnetic Nutritional Supplement. A single mouthful would allow him to focus on his Cultivation for a very long time without needing his clone to absorb Magnetic Field energy.

Wu Dao estimated

that if he could completely devour this Thunder Pool,

his forty Minor Circulations would be able to advance by at least one step quickly.

However,

this was all predicated on him being able to reach the bottom of the Red Thunder Abyss. Otherwise, it was just empty talk.

’I should refine the Primordial Dao Wheel first,’

Wu Dao took a deep breath, mobilized the Magnetic Field of the Ten Directions of heaven and earth to conceal the Red Thunder Abyss, and sank his consciousness into the All Heaven system within his Divine Country.

Within his Divine Domain,

three thousand believers sat beneath the Primordial Celestial Demon’s throne.

The weakest among them was at Saint Grade, Nine Steps.

Dozens of them

were even at Emperor Grade, Ten Steps or higher.

All of them were prodigal sons who had lost their way, converted by Wu Dao at the gathering place. Now, it was time for them to offer up their faith.

’Hmm? Finally made contact?’

While refining the Primordial Dao Wheel,

Wu Dao’s mind stirred.

His main consciousness descended upon his clone, Tongtian, who had joined the Ten Thousand Laws Alliance in the Chaotic Star Heaven.

...

Within the Taiyi Emperor Star Forbidden Area.

Although there were no absolute safe zones,

over tens of millions of years, successive generations of explorers, one falling as another stepped up, had managed to find some relatively stable areas deep within the forbidden zone.

In these areas,

explorers were guaranteed to be safe from the corrosion of Tribulation Qi storms or the phenomenon of spacetime shifts until the Emperor Star closed.

After nine generations of development,

within the safe zones deep in the forbidden area,

magnificent sanctuary cities had been established. Each time the Emperor Star opened, the number of people they accommodated was astronomical.

Of course,

these great cities in the forbidden area all had owners.

They had been built brick by brick by the Overlord Forces of the various Celestial Domains over tens of millions of years, paid for with the lives of those who explored the forbidden area. Naturally, not just anyone was qualified to enter.

Only those recognized by an Overlord Force

could enter the cities for protection.

If one’s strength was insufficient,

they could only go to the dilapidated gathering places on the outskirts, where there was no order and chaos and crime ran rampant, to risk their lives picking up scraps.

Deep within the Taiyi Emperor Star.

Ten Thousand Laws City.

Inside the palace of the Ten Thousand Laws Alliance’s Daylight Saint Child.

Lining both sides stood the top Dharma Phase Practitioners of the Daylight Saint Child’s faction within the Ten Thousand Laws Alliance.

Upon the palace throne,

the Daylight Saint Child sat, resplendent in golden robes. His body shone like a divine sun, and his face was gentle and serene. Yet, within his eyes were the terrifying visions of suns setting, moons glowing, and the cosmos collapsing into a mixed cave.

He rested his chin on one hand, staring with great interest at Wu Dao below. His voice was like the warm spring sun as he spoke,

”Fellow Daoist Tongtian, have you truly discovered the ruins of a Holy Land?”

”In response to the Saint Child, I dare not speak a single false word.”

Wu Dao’s expression was solemn. He immediately cupped his hands and replied with a humble posture, though his heart was filled with indifference.

Even though

the Daylight Saint Child before him

was a Celestial Pride of the Cave Heavens Realm.

The Cave Heavens Realm,

also known as the Mixed Cave Realm.

One has completely refined Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.

The Dao Foundation matures into a Spine Dragon Vein.

The Elixir Field Space explodes and transforms into an even more massive Primordial Chaos Cave. The Dragon Vein then breathes Great Dao Creation Qi, beginning its evolution and growth toward a true World.

An existence at this level

can, with a casual strike, open up a Grotto Heaven spacetime capable of containing suns, moons, stars, and countless living beings.

If they were to advance one step further

and completely transform their Magical Power into Creation Qi,

entering the Realm of Creation,

they would possess Mighty Divine Power, capable of easily creating and destroying a complete World.

Grotto Heavens also have different grades.

In the many paths of Hongyuan Dao Cultivation,

regardless of which path one walks,

once the Dao Foundation is forged in the Dharma Realm,

how high one can climb in the future

is essentially set in stone, clear at a glance. Without some great, world-changing opportunity, it will not change in the slightest.