Essence Devouring Art

PAT.

Before the Nether Spring Daoist could erupt in fury, a great hand, as if guided by fate, rested on his shoulder—neither light nor heavy.

”Cool your temper. All that rage is bad for you.”

A demonic voice from beyond the heavens echoed faintly.

”You...”

The Nether Spring Daoist was utterly horrified. He struggled with all his might to break free from the hand’s grasp but found he couldn’t even summon a shred of his power or use his Divine Techniques.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

At the same time, the sound of locking chains echoed ceaselessly from within the Nether Spring Daoist’s body. His world-shattering, star-destroying power vanished in an instant, like air from a punctured ball.

His spiritual consciousness also plunged into a sea of sacred light. At the end of that light, however, he could faintly make out the towering figure of a Divine Being with a Demon Nature, surrounded by countless life forms praising and worshiping it.

His consciousness grew dim and weak. He could only vaguely perceive his attendants in the great hall kneeling and kowtowing with dazed, bewitched expressions as the space-time around them shifted rapidly, the entire hall being transported to some unknown location.

As space-time warped around him in teleportation, Wu Dao sent out his perception.

’Let them see. Let them see a little more.’

He glanced at the terrified members of the Senluo Sect in the city, who were frantically activating a Treasure Mirror to breach the Space-Time Channel. A slight smile touched his lips as he altered the Magnetic Field, deliberately leaking some characteristics of the Dragon Hunting Tower.

At the same moment, his other Incarnations, having locked onto their own prey, also began to act. They met no resistance; he could get right next to those Daoist Children without them even noticing.

The difference in strength was simply too vast.

His Main Body could now contend with a First Layer Emperor Grade expert of the Creation Realm who possessed a complete Inner World.

Even his Incarnations, which were a tier lower, could treat monsters who had reached Grotto Heaven Perfection with three Grotto Heavens as mere ants.

If he weren’t trying to avoid going too far, he wouldn’t be hunting just one Daoist Child. He would have captured all of the Celestial Prides and the entire massive population of the dojo in one fell swoop!

But he couldn’t be that arrogant just yet.

These were the dojos deep within the restricted zone.

Every member in these cities was a Celestial Pride from a major Emperor’s Lineage. Their status was far beyond that of the common rabble in the outer regions, whose disappearance would barely raise an eyebrow.

If he truly devoured them all, he would definitely be crossing a line.

He would only take a single scoop from the vast waters.

The major powers might be furious, but they wouldn’t lose all reason.

While Wu Dao was making his move, in the large gathering places of the outer regions, the Primordial Demons also began to haul in their nets.

VMMMMMM—

Within one of the gathering places, a large-scale auction was in full swing. Just as it reached its climax, ripples suddenly spread through space-time.

Starting from eight points in all directions, a divine light of world rules and order spread out rapidly like a spiderweb, completely enveloping the magnificent city.

”What’s that?”

”A World Heavy Artifact!”

”This is lawless! We’re in the outer region of the Emperor Star! News of this can be sent out at any moment!”

The instant the Heavy Artifact sealed the city, the cultivators inside were both shocked and enraged. A great riot erupted, and a large number of people fled desperately towards a gap.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!!

But just as they were about to reach the gap, torrents of white, dragon-shaped energy, powerful enough to sunder the heavens and shatter great stars, surged through, instantly refining them into tribulation ash.

”The Dragon-breaking Skill?”

”Oh no, it’s people from the Dragon Hunting Tower!”

”Those motherfucking bastards! Why aren’t they going after the Celestial Prides? What are they doing targeting us third-rate cultivators?”

As Zhao Jianji and his group of Primordial Demons—all clad in black robes and wreathed in an ominous, bloody aura—made their entrance and used the Dragon-breaking Skill to refine a group of escapees to death on the spot, the cultivators in the city fell into despair.

The Dragon Hunting Tower.

Ancient, mysterious, and unfathomably powerful.

They had rampaged across the All Heavens for one era after another without ever being brought to justice.

And now, they were targeting them!

They had even used a World Heavy Artifact—a Supreme Treasure from their perspective—to seal off space-time.

How could they possibly resist?

There was no way to resist at all!

’That should be about enough.’

Standing at the apex of the world, Zhao Jianji noticed that some people had already managed to send out messages. He grinned, and the World Heavy Artifact sealing the city fully activated.

VMMMM—BOOM!

Boundless, brilliant divine light shone for hundreds of millions of miles across the restricted zone. The void at the center twisted into a vortex, and the Power of World Rules began to shift space-time, initiating a grand teleportation.

After the light dissipated, it was as if a plague of locusts had passed through.

The city, a gathering place that could hold a million people, was gone. Not just the people—not even a needle or a thread was left behind. Only a vast Abyss remained where the city had once stood, completely wiped from the map.

A World Heavy Artifact naturally possessed more than just offensive and defensive capabilities.

It could manipulate the rules of space-time to teleport.

In an instant, it could cross the distance of an entire world. In the starry sky, its speed was comparable to some of the Star Hubs that traversed great Star Realms.

RUMBLE!!

In the direction of Senluo City, one after another, World Heavy Artifacts activated, shaking the Nine Heavens. They blasted the space-time of the vast restricted zone into nothingness, but they still failed to intercept Wu Dao.

After ”carelessly” leaving behind some information on purpose, Wu Dao pushed his Magnetic Field manipulation to its limit. His teleportation speed was so fast that not even the Heavy Artifacts could catch him. In the blink of an eye, he and his prey vanished without a trace.

”Aaargh! You vile spawn! How dare you bully our Senluo Sect like this!!”

In Senluo City, the group of Top Cave Heaven experts from the Senluo Sect who wielded the Heavy Artifacts looked on, their eyes splitting with rage. Their Daoist Child had been brazenly abducted right under their noses, and they had been powerless to stop it.

The suppressed rage and frustration were almost enough to burn down the heavens and earth.

”Dragon Hunting Tower, you’re courting death! The Senluo Sect will not rest until one of us is destroyed!”

The Grotto Heaven experts, who had ’confirmed the target,’ roared, their voices shattering the cosmos. Stars fell from the sky as their immense killing intent and fury crushed the vast expanse of space-time. They were enraged to the extreme.

”Dragon Hunting Tower, the Hengyu Emperor Sect will slaughter your entire clan!!”

The same scene played out again and again across the depths of the restricted zone.

Wu Dao had hunted over a hundred Daoist Level figures. He approached them all silently, like King Yama come to claim their souls.

A pat on the shoulder was all it took to steal their souls and take their bodies.

He gave them no time to react. It was a hit-and-run, and there was no catching him.

”What? The Qiankun Sect’s Daoist Child was hunted down too?”

”Yes! And it’s not just us. The Senluo Sect, the Hengyu Emperor Sect...”

”The Dragon Hunting Tower must be insane!”

The All Heavens Dojo was not subject to the Emperor Star’s information blockade, so news of the abductions of the various Imperial Influences’ Daoist Children spread with incredible speed, causing shock and fury throughout the All Heavens.

But immediately after, another sensational piece of news broke—

”Latest intelligence: it’s not just the Daoist Children of the Imperial Influences. Many large gathering places in the outer regions have also been hit.”

”The culprits are also the Dragon Hunting Tower. They used Heavy Artifacts to seal the areas, then packed up and moved entire cities. It’s utterly deranged!”

”What is the Dragon Hunting Tower trying to do? The Boundless Sacred Land incident just happened, and now they’re at it again. Are they trying to stand against the Human Race and declare war on the All Heavens?!”

”Hmph! They’re courting death. They no longer have a reason to exist. The moment we find their lair will be the moment of their annihilation!”

The All Heavens were in a constant uproar of shock and clamor!

A great storm was brewing!

The incident was too big. A tempest raged in every dojo and gathering place on the Emperor Star.

The outside world was also affected.

One after another, the great sects and Emperor’s Lineages that had stood for tens of millions of years felt their dignity had been provoked. They alerted some of their top figures, who ordered a thorough investigation.

A group of peak powers, led by the Chaos Dao City, even jointly pressured the Star God Hall!

They wanted an explanation.

Why had the Dragon Hunting Tower, which sat at the top of the All Heavens’ most-wanted list, managed to sneak into the Emperor Star—the core of the Star Divine Domain—to stir up trouble?

And why were they still at large after committing a series of crimes?!

Had the Star God Hall become this incompetent? Or were they suggesting that these other powers should intervene in the Chaotic Star Heaven themselves?

As the host, the Star God Hall was not afraid of the threats. But ultimately, this had happened in the core of their territory.

It was the equivalent of someone taking a shit on their necks.

With such a massive public outcry from the All Heavens, if they didn’t handle it well, the prestige the Star God Hall had accumulated over tens of millions of years would suffer a blow.

For all these reasons, the Star God Hall treated the matter with utmost importance from the very day it happened, dispatching team after team of powerful Star God Guards to the Emperor Star to investigate.

The All Heavens Dojos that led to the outside world were also heavily guarded by troops and Supreme Treasures, forming a Heaven and Earth Net. Anyone leaving the Emperor Star would be thoroughly interrogated and have their origins revealed.

At the same time, the Star God Hall also issued the highest-level bounty to the All Heavens, offering a huge reward for information on the Dragon Hunting Tower’s lair.

The other powers of the All Heavens did the same!

And so, one giant black pot after another was continuously dumped on the Dragon Hunting Tower. For a time, they became public enemy number one.

As for whether the Dragon Hunting Tower had actually done it, it didn’t matter.

The Taiyi Emperor Star was too special.

It was a top-tier Primordial Emperor Artifact that had sealed the battlefield of the Chaotic Star Heaven during the Four Tribulations and had even contended with a Dao Artifact from Mountain and Sea.

Not even the people of the Star God Hall could control it.

Coupled with the blitzkrieg tactics of Wu Dao and the Primordial Demons, which left no clues behind, there was no way for them to uncover the truth in a short amount of time.

Before the truth came to light, any intelligent leader would first guide public opinion, shift the blame, and find a reasonable outlet for the fury and dissatisfaction of the powers of the All Heavens.

The storm stirred up on the Taiyi Emperor Star was second only to the Divine Desolate Tribulation Demon incident from twenty years ago. It spread rapidly throughout the Nine Heavens of Primordial Chaos and also reached the ears of the ”culprits.”

「In an unknown region of Hongyuan.」

An ancient Nine-Layered Black Tower, resembling both a furnace and a pagoda, stood at the peak of a mysterious world of Chaos that both existed and did not.

At a certain moment, a frenzied tide of Chaos surged, submerging the universe.

Deep within the tower, an old codger gnashed his teeth and roared with suppressed fury:

”Bastards! How dare you sling mud at the Dragon Hunting Tower! You’ve got a death wish!”

Just then, a portly man in a black robe entered the elder’s palace, unable to contain his joy as he reported the newly discovered prey.

”Elder, we’ve locked onto a batch of high-quality Horizontal Refiners. They all have the Divine Demon Body. Should we...”

”Should we, my ass! The All Heavens are going crazy hunting for the Dragon Hunting Tower right now! You stupid pig, are you trying to get the Dragon Hunting Tower annihilated?!”

The Dragon Hunting Tower elder, who was in the middle of a fit of rage, immediately grabbed the Dragon Hunter and gave him a harsh dressing-down.

”Yes, yes, this subordinate is indeed a pig-head. Elder, please calm your anger.”

After communicating with a Communication Jade Talisman to understand the situation, the Dragon Hunter broke out in a cold sweat. He repeatedly apologized and retreated.

Phew...

Outside the elder’s palace, the Dragon Hunter who had made the report let out a long breath. He exchanged a look with a few other Dragon Hunters outside the hall, then they all acted like strangers and went their separate ways to attend to their business.

’Laying low until you strike, and when you do, it shakes the heavens. Overbearing, ruthless, yet watertight.’

As the portly Dragon Hunter walked down a quiet, wide corridor, information about the group on the Taiyi Emperor Star who had impersonated the Dragon Hunting Tower swirled in his mind.

The familiar style caused a hidden, long-buried grief to surface uncontrollably within his heart.

Sigh...

He let out a soft breath.

After suppressing his hatred, a look of reminiscent hope appeared in the depths of his eyes:

’Wu Dao...’