Essence Devouring Art

”Blood is the key to opening the Emperor’s Tomb!”

Su Xiuqi’s breath came in ragged gasps. He pulled a group of men and women from his Inner World and instantly crushed them into a fine, pure blood mist, which he sprayed upon the Emperor Stele!

After his last failed attempt to explore the Emperor’s Tomb.

He had secretly investigated the tomb.

Not only did he learn who was buried inside, but he also discovered the method to open it and even found a surviving bloodline of the Heaven-Burying Emperor!

VMMMM—

When all the Heaven-Burying Steles were gathered!

As the blood of the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s descendants was absorbed by the Emperor Stele, it felt as though some unknown, magnificent existence was awakening from the void.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

From within the Chaotic Qi Flow at the far end of the Emperor’s Temple...

...a saber that could bury the very Dao was being unsheathed!

The floating Heaven-Burying Saber, one of the All Heavens Emperor’s Soldiers, began to hum and tremble. It shone with a light too brilliant to behold, unleashing a killing intent that pierced through all of time, shattering the rules and order of the universe. Everything was thrown into utter destruction!

The ultimate, bone-chilling saber light.

It filled every inch of the Emperor’s Temple. The grand Emperor’s Tomb shuddered violently as the deadly, ominous aura of the Heaven-Burying Path raged like a storm, its fluctuations rippling across the starry sky of the Grand Cosmos!

”Hahaha, die!”

Standing beneath the Emperor Stele, Su Xiuqi felt a connection form with the Heaven-Burying Saber. He laughed with unbridled madness, awakening the saber’s mighty power with the intent to slaughter Jia Baocai and the others!

”Bastard!”

The Heart Lake Alarm Bells of Jia Baocai and the other two nearly shattered. They no longer dared to think about any fortuitous Creation, instead bolting for the temple entrance in a desperate flight for their lives!

VMMMM—CLANG!

But in that instant!

The sound of the great saber being unleashed rang throughout the All Heavens!

The very fabric of the Emperor’s Temple, and even the Grand Cosmos, transformed. The atmosphere became immensely oppressive, flickering between light and dark, as if the entire space had turned into a primeval slaughterhouse. The only light remaining was the crimson killing blade at the center of the Chaos!

It was awakening on its own!

It unleashed the incomparably ferocious aura it once used to slaughter countless beings across the All Heavens and Universe. It was as if an eternal Fierce God was opening its eyes!

BOOM!

With a deafening roar!

Something happened that no one expected!

The crack in the grand doors of the Emperor’s Temple abruptly slammed shut! A tsunami of death and slaughter erupted from the Heaven-Burying Saber, drowning everyone!

Including...

Su Xiuqi!

”No! Why...”

Su Xiuqi’s soul nearly left his body in terror. Pinned by the pressure of the Heaven-Burying Saber, he couldn’t move an inch. He couldn’t understand why this was happening!

’I gathered all the keys!’

’Why can’t I control the Heaven-Burying Saber and open the Emperor’s Tomb? Why have I become a lamb to be slaughtered instead?!’

”Hahaha, it’s a death trap! This has been a slaughterhouse from the very beginning! We were never going to get anything!”

Jia Baocai seemed to understand everything.

He was laughing and crying at once, completely unhinged.

”Ancestor, I am of your bloodline!!”

Liang Chen, on the other hand, dropped to his knees and kowtowed relentlessly toward the awakening Heaven-Burying Saber, bashing his head until it bled. He could truly feel death’s approach—a death without a shred of mercy!

”Ah! I refuse to accept this!”

The Bixia Demon Saint, now just a mangled pile of flesh, frantically pounded on the temple doors. But space-time was completely sealed. The slaughterhouse was complete; there was no escape!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The Great Saints were not given much time to regret their choices!

The Heaven-Burying Saber, floating in the Chaos Qi at the far end of the temple, trembled slightly, like a Demon God opening its eyes. A crimson slash of saber light, capable of annihilating the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, pulsed outward!

Like a hot knife through butter...

...everyone in the Emperor’s Temple, including Liang Chen with his Heaven-Burying Emperor bloodline, was sliced into countless pieces!

Even with the protection of a Great Saint Weapon!

It was like rotten wood!

They exploded into a torrent of blood essence, which was then voraciously absorbed by the Emperor’s Temple, intensifying the shaking of the Emperor’s Tomb. It was as if an eternal Fierce Beast inside had drunk its fill of blood and was about to reawaken!

Bloodline?

Utterly laughable!

During the Five Tribulations, the Heaven-Burying Emperor had followed a madman like the Slaughter Emperor—a renowned Slaughter Emperor across the All Heavens and Myriad Realms!

The so-called bloodline!

Was most likely nothing more than a contingency he had deliberately left behind for his return!

The Sacrificial Altars along the path...

...including the Emperor’s Temple itself!

It was hard to say whether this was the Slaughter Emperor’s handiwork or the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s own arrangement. Both were madmen; an ordinary person could never guess their intentions.

But one thing was certain!

Within the Emperor’s Tomb!

A being was indeed reviving!

And the Heaven-Burying Saber hummed and vibrated ceaselessly, as if cheering for its master’s return!

VMMMM...

Suddenly, all the phenomena returned to calm!

The universe stopped shaking, the Dao Rules ceased to crumble, and the Emperor’s Tomb fell deathly still, as if a pause button had been pressed.

In the nirvanic, silent void,

only the Heaven-Burying Saber continued to hum!

VMMM!

But as a bloody hand reached out from the void and rested on the hilt, the eternal killing blade, the Heaven-Burying Saber, also grew calm and docile!

GLUG GLUG GLUG...

Golden blood bubbled and surged.

The rules and order of the universe intertwined to form a network of veins. It seemed as though all the Demon Saints who had died in the Emperor’s Tomb were gathering together, constantly assembling a human form.

WHOOSH...

A long, ancient, and decaying breath was exhaled.

In the center of the churning sea of blood,

dense patterns of the Great Dao appeared, wreathed by a Star River!

There existed a Heavenly Dao Embryo!

A Cosmic Seed!

It sprouted countless veins that connected to the Holy Blood, constructing a physical body. Within it sat a tall, blood-robed figure of indescribable majesty, around whom entire universes from the All Heavens revolved!

’Confirming Magnetic Field. Second-generation body of the Heaven-Burying Emperor. Divine Soul and will regenerating, returning via a Cosmic Seed. The physical body is being shaped by the sacrifices. Divine Soul is recovering its Great Venerable Cultivation!’

In an unknown location.

The Star Mother finished deconstructing the Magnetic Field.

Her voice delivered the information, cold and solemn.

”Get him!”

”Father God, it is not advisable—”

”I said, get him!”

”As you command!”

Inside the Emperor’s Temple.

FWAP!

His blood-red robes fluttered, and his ink-black hair whipped wildly.

The tall figure, with a spine that could prop up the heavens, caressed the killing blade in his hand. His majestic eyes were filled with the vicissitudes of time. He glanced around the desolate Emperor’s Temple with a hint of sorrow.

”World Emperor... did you not leave a single successor behind?”

The Emperor’s Tomb was a setup, with a Great Emperor guarding the pass!

The Heaven-Burying Emperor’s return was not just due to the Cosmic Seed, but also a sliver of his will that the Slaughter Emperor had preserved for him back then.

That was the most crucial part.

Preserving him...

...was not because of any deep affection between the Slaughter Emperor and his servant.

Besides being part of the Slaughter Emperor’s own plan for his return, the main purpose was to test his successor.

If the Heaven-Burying Emperor won,

he was free to take everything that had been prepared for the successor.

The Slaughter Emperor never had any use for weaklings.

If he lost...

Unfortunately.

The best-laid plans often go awry.

Among the lucky few who had entered the Emperor’s Tomb, the anticipated successor had not appeared.

Just a group of Saint Realm cultivators, as weak as ants.

’It would be boring to take anything from them.’

”The Extreme Dao Bell...”

A hoarse whisper echoed.

The Heaven-Burying Emperor’s gaze turned toward the heart of the Emperor’s Tomb, at the supremely majestic Black Bell Fragment that carried the Slaughter Emperor’s Taoist Technique. His heart was filled with reverence.

The Ultimate Path Emperor, first among the Five Tribulations!

Among the countless emperors of the Heaven Opening’s All Tribulations, only the Slaughter Emperor reigned supreme over Hongyuan!

He alone initiated a Tribulation!

Based on that audacity alone!

Even after hundreds of millions of years,

any Great Emperor Celestial Venerable in the world would have to speak of that man with awe and admiration!

As a former follower,

even after hundreds of thousands of years, and even after being used as a pawn in a grand scheme,

the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s reverence for the Slaughter Emperor...

...remained as devout as that of a zealot, utterly unshakable.

To see the bell was to see the Emperor!

The Heaven-Burying Emperor felt no desire in his heart, only a sense of sacred inviolability. He would give his all to reassemble the Extreme Dao Bell!

VMMMM...

With a single thought!

The ninety-nine Heaven-Burying Steles on the Emperor Stele detached and peeled open, layer by layer, like a blooming flower.

The Celestial Steles contained keys.

They were originally prepared for the Slaughter Emperor’s successor.

Now that the successor hadn’t appeared, the Heaven-Burying Emperor naturally took on the mission of collecting the Extreme Dao Bell himself.

But...

When the ninety-nine Heaven-Burying Steles opened,

a ripple of admiration, not the slightest hint of anger, appeared in the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s eyes.

Because—

among the ninety-nine Heaven-Burying Steles,

there were only nine fragments of the Qiankun Bell. The other ninety had vanished into thin air!

He had just been revived.

He didn’t know the full story behind it.

He simply assumed it was the work of the Slaughter Emperor’s successor.

In other words...

His competitor and rival!

’Is he worthy, or not?’

VMMM!!

CREAK—

Suddenly!

A slight smile touched the corner of the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s mouth. His gaze shot toward the area outside the Emperor’s Temple. Wherever his Emperor’s Might passed, the Ten Thousand Techniques and all of existence submitted. The grand doors at the far end of the temple swung wide open!

In the desolate, silent space, a kaleidoscope of dreamlike colors appeared!

A Hundred-Grade Evil Lotus swayed gently!

At the base of the Evil Lotus!

A figure like a Heaven-Opening God Demon, seemingly constructed from countless Worlds, stood silently at the center of the universe. His domain pulled at the endless web of the Grand Cosmos’s laws, which swirled around him as he held a Giant Axe!

Like a colossal Chaos beast about to hunt!

The moment the Emperor’s Temple doors opened!

He abruptly looked up!

His eyes snapped open!

His Abyss-like eyes, swirling like two immeasurable electromagnetic turbines, blazed like two undying demonic suns, unleashing a world-ending light. The Evil Ghost smile on his face was twisted to the extreme—

”Hello!”

BOOM—

The sound waves exploded before they could even travel!

A universe-shattering sound, Transcendent of the limits of mortal perception, became the only tone in the space of the Ten Directions!

He raised his hand, the axe fell, and it was Heaven and Earth Creation!

Outside the Emperor’s Temple!

All of existence, the space-time of the Star Sea!

The moment this axe fell!

Everything exploded into primordial Chaos, which was then split in two by the lightless, black axe blade!

From a distance!

It was as if a Chaos God-Demon was swinging its axe to split a mountain!

The majestic black Divine Mountain, which towered over the Star Sea, trembled and shuddered under the axe light, looking as if it would explode even before the blade landed!

”Hahaha, good, very good! You are truly worthy of being the one the World Emperor chose!”

Beneath the light of the Heaven-Opening Axe!

The Heaven-Burying Emperor showed no signs of panic.

Instead, he let out a hearty, booming laugh that shook the entire Little Cosmos, causing it to tremble, shatter, and rip open with massive cracks!

’A Creation Realm cultivator!’

’Daring to swing his axe at a Great Emperor!’

’Not even the Slaughter Emperor was this crazy back in his day!’

CLANG!!

Amidst his laughter!

The Heaven-Burying Saber was abruptly unleashed!

A crimson saber light pierced through all of space and time!

It unleashed a peerless, murderous light that had been sealed for hundreds of thousands of years—a light that had once slaughtered its way across the All Heavens and Universe. It sundered the vast Grand Cosmos, divided the Chaos, and struck first despite being launched second!

CLANG!!

The light of the Heaven-Opening Axe was annihilated in an instant!

Billions of miles of Chaos were parted and destroyed by the saber’s edge. The crimson saber light, vertically bisecting the Grand Cosmos, continued on its unstoppable path, slashing toward the peerless madman who still wore that Evil Ghost smile!