Essence Devouring Art

Qingyun Manor on Yuhua Mountain.

Guests come for the flavor, not for the Immortals.

Qingyun Restaurant, located outside Qingyuan County, was extremely famous among the upper echelons of southern Guangqing Prefecture.

This wasn’t just because its cuisine was exquisite and left a lasting impression. The main reason was that the restaurant’s owner was a descendant of a former Imperial Chef.

The food was good, the service was excellent, and the establishment was high-class.

It had always been the top choice for the Gourmets of Qingyuan County to entertain friends and guests, satisfying their culinary desires.

Lv Yutao, the renowned Master of the Four Seas Gang, was one of Qingyun Restaurant’s regular patrons.

He was getting old. With no hope of advancing further in the Martial Dao, and no desire to suffer by taking risky paths, he had no taste for wine or women. Fine food had become Lv Yutao’s only hobby.

He had a private courtyard at Qingyun Restaurant that he rented year-round, complete with servants, maids, and a personal chef. He would come to relax and enjoy himself every few days.

Recently, the Overlord Whale Alliance had risen to prominence, eyeing its territory like a hungry tiger, and morale within the Four Seas Gang was low.

He was swamped with work every day, so Lv Yutao began coming here even more frequently, as if trying to convert his anxieties into appetite.

Night had fallen, and the festive lanterns were just being lit.

On this cold autumn night, Qingyun Restaurant was shrouded in a hazy mist. Amidst the red lights and green wine, silhouettes blurred, lending the scene an illusory, ethereal quality.

The troubles of the day still lingered in his mind. The gloom on Lv Yutao’s face had not lifted, and those who wished to flatter him along the way knew better than to approach. Followed by a group of guards, he soon arrived outside the small courtyard where the sound of a mountain spring trickled.

"Wait out here."

He waved his hand, ordering the guards to halt.

Lv Yutao, who preferred peace and quiet, sniffed the familiar aroma of cooking in the air. His perpetually gloomy expression finally softened.

But this good mood didn’t last long.

The moment he saw the imposing figure feasting heartily behind the gauze screen of the covered bridge pavilion, his good mood vanished, replaced by rage.

’Where did this barbarian come from?!’

’He’s really asking to die!’

’How dare he compete with me for a place to eat!’

Lv Yutao was furious. Everyone knew this was his exclusive dining courtyard, which never accepted other guests.

’It seems Qingyun Restaurant has had it easy for too long and forgotten my moniker, Lv Bapi!’

He was about to step forward and reprimand them.

But in the next moment, he paused, sensing that something was wrong.

’It’s too quiet!’

Inside the entire dining courtyard...

Aside from the gruesome sound of loud chewing coming from behind the gauze screen, there wasn’t a single peep from the servants, the maids, or the kitchen.

Even stranger...

"Master, the distinguished guest has been waiting for you for a long time. Please, take a seat."

A maid with a dazed expression walked down from the covered bridge, her mouth opening and closing like a puppet on a string. It was incredibly bizarre.

’This is bad!’

’Someone’s trying to harm me!’

Lv Yutao’s expression changed, and he instinctively opened his mouth to shout for the guards outside the courtyard.

He was the Master of the Four Seas Gang.

He was also Menghuai Mountain’s number one confidant. His guards were all at the Divine Power Realm, with one even at the Breaking the Cocoon stage. Not even Menghuai Mountain’s adopted sons enjoyed such treatment.

He also knew his status was special and held many secrets in his mind, which was why he took this squad of guards everywhere as a precaution.

But just as he was about to speak...

"Master, don’t keep the distinguished guest waiting."

...his usually loyal guards blocked all his escape routes like a solid wall. Their mechanical and cold words sent a chill down to his very bones.

Their eyes were empty and lifeless.

It was obvious this wasn’t betrayal; they were being controlled.

’Silently and without a trace.’

’Controlling Divine Power cultivators, and even a Breaking the Cocoon expert, from a distance?’

’This level of power...’

HUUU...

He let out a long, heavy breath.

Lv Yutao’s expression shifted several times before he finally gritted his teeth and walked toward the covered bridge pavilion—a place that was once familiar and welcoming, but tonight felt like a Demon Cave.

This visitor had come with ill intentions, and his power was unfathomable. Crushing him would be all too easy.

Resisting would only get him killed faster. His only option was to adapt to the situation.

At the same time, faces flashed through his mind. The Four Seas Gang had offended too many people, and he had no idea who this person was.

However, as he approached the pavilion...

...the figure behind the gauze screen grew more imposing and more familiar. The color drained from Lv Yutao’s face, leaving it deathly pale.

’The Overlord Whale King...’

WHOOSH...

A gust of night wind swept through, causing the gauze screen to flutter.

It revealed Wu Dao seated at the table, his physique like that of an ancient Fierce Demon. His dark eyes, deeper than the night itself, watched dispassionately as Lv Yutao stepped onto the covered bridge with trembling legs.

"Tsk, they say with age comes cunning."

Suddenly, Wu Dao scoffed. With a single thought, the Snake-shaped Jade Pendant in Lv Yutao’s robe was pulled into his palm by his Magnetic Field Power.

Lv Yutao’s fingers, which had been subtly reaching into his robe, froze. The light in his old eyes died, turning to ash. His last chance was gone.

...

「A dozen or so minutes later.」

Lv Yutao reappeared outside the dining courtyard, completely unharmed. A cold autumn gust snapped him out of his daze, as if waking from a dream.

"Let’s go back. I have no appetite today."

Calling out to his guards, who also shivered, Lv Yutao sighed and strode out of Qingyun Manor.

As for what happened inside the dining courtyard...

...he had already "forgotten."

He only believed that he had been feeling distressed, and with the Autumn Assembly imminent and so much weighing on him, he had lost his appetite upon entering the courtyard and seeing the table full of delicacies.

Thus, he had come and gone in a hurry.

After Lv Yutao left...

...inside the courtyard’s covered bridge pavilion...

...Wu Dao finished the last dish. He savored the aftertaste for a moment. ’The food is actually quite good,’ he thought, ’and the portions are generous.’

"Have you written it all down?"

He wiped his mouth with a silk cloth.

Wu Dao asked casually.

Zhao Jianji, who had been standing respectfully by his side, put away a sheet of parchment and nodded. "The Alliance’s experts are traveling through the night and should be at the border by now. Tomorrow, I will call a meeting to discuss how to take these territories with minimal cost."

"Good. Focus your manpower arrangements on those three Demon Breeding Lands," Wu Dao added with emphasis.

He had extracted a great deal of useful information from Lv Yutao.

Menghuai Mountain’s true strength.

The "garrisons" stationed at each hall.

How many roving experts the gang had.

The Great Demon of the Snake Race hidden in Qingyuan City.

Three Demon Breeding Lands, scattered in different locations, similar to the old Red Fire Mine.

And...

...the exact date of the Four Seas Gang’s Autumn Assembly.

With this information...

...he could seize the initiative and make his arrangements. He would not move until he was ready, but when he did, it would be with the force of a thunderbolt, catching them by surprise and swallowing the entire Four Seas Gang in one gulp.

Beyond that...

...there was one more piece of crucial information.

"A Land Immortal Level Great Demon has reawakened..."

Wu Dao stood leaning against the railing, gazing down at the faint lights of Qingyuan City below. He gave a savage grin and slowly opened his mouth, as if to swallow the entire city whole.

’Trying to advance by retreating?’

’I won’t let you get your wish!’

’My advance will never halt for a single moment!’

WHOOSH...

A mountain breeze swept past.

Wu Dao and Zhao Jianji were no longer on the covered bridge.

The maids and servants in the courtyard awoke as if from a dream. They shivered, feeling that something was wrong, but unable to say what.

「As the night wind passed.」

「In the study of the Four Seas Gang headquarters in Qingyuan City.」

The candlelight flickered.

Menghuai Mountain set down the income and expense ledgers from the various halls. He frowned slightly, looking out the window at the drizzling autumn rain in the deep night, an inexplicable sense of unease rising in his heart.

"The Autumn Assembly is the day after tomorrow. I hope nothing goes wrong..."

He reached out to shield the flickering candlelight.

The unease in his heart gradually faded.

Menghuai Mountain picked up another ledger detailing personnel merits and demerits, his mind entirely focused on the upcoming Autumn Assembly.

The autumn rain drizzled on, and the night was like a curtain.

In a place Menghuai Mountain could not see...

...at the border between the territories of the Overlord Whale Alliance and the Four Seas Gang...

...amidst the desolate mountains and wilderness...

...the rain poured down in sheets, accompanied by thunder and lightning.

In the flashes of lightning...

...countless dark figures could be seen along the long border line. Through the mountains, they sprinted through the heavy rain like a pack of wolves and tigers, the clash of their weapons ringing out.

...

DONG! DONG! DONG!

「On the third day.」

Within Qingyuan County, at the first light of dawn, the tolling of a great bell echoed from the Inner City, resounding throughout the entire city. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The hearts of a thousand households trembled.

Calculating the date, they instantly understood. Some felt respect, others cursed, a hundred different reactions from a hundred different people.

Today...

...was the annual Autumn Assembly of the Four Seas Gang, the Overlord of southern Guangqing Prefecture.

The halls from all eight directions...

...and high-ranking members from every region would gather in Qingyuan City.

Even before the sky had brightened, streams of men and horses poured into Qingyuan City. Their scale and presence were in no way inferior to that of the former White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

The only difference...

...was the lack of crowds gathering on the streets and alleys to watch and gossip.

For one, the Four Seas Gang had a terrible reputation.

They were a purely villainous force—ruthless, tyrannical, and thoroughly evil. They left no room for retreat, having driven countless families to ruin and death.

Under these circumstances...

...the common people naturally hid whenever possible. Who would dare to voluntarily get close?

What’s more...

...today’s weather was not good.

The rain was pouring down, and the sky was dark and gloomy.

The air was thick with a heavy, oppressive sense of unease. Following their instinct to seek fortune and avoid disaster, very few people were willing to venture out onto the streets.

RUMBLE RUMBLE—

Squad after squad of men on horseback galloped through the streets, their hooves thundering through countless puddles.

Compared to the rule-abiding White Whale Martial Arts Hall of the past, the Four Seas Gang was more like an oversized Black Wind Stronghold.

The gang’s members...

...were mostly crude and boorish. They believed in eating heartily, drinking deeply, and the unrestrained bravado of the Jianghu. Menghuai Mountain had never placed many restrictions on them.

Such "impressive feats" as galloping horses through the streets...

...were naturally condoned from the top down, resulting in reckless, uninhibited rampages.

CREAK~

On the third floor of an inn overlooking the street...

...an open window was slowly closed as a troop of riders galloped past and disappeared at the end of the road.

"Truly a swarm of pests!"

Ding Bai, who had met Wu Dao on two previous occasions, shut the window and cursed with a resentful expression.

Inside the room...

...besides him, four other people sat at a table.

Three men and one woman.

They had extraordinary appearances and profound auras.

One glance was enough to tell they were not simple characters.

This was especially true of the middle-aged man seated at the head of the table.

He wore a simple cyan robe and carried an air of incorruptible righteousness.

Although his physique was thin and scholarly...

...his back and limbs were as straight as a steel spear. He had a magnificent and unflappable temperament, and an irrepressible, righteous Fist Intent radiated from him, like a cyan pine tree standing tall on a mountain peak in the dead of winter.

Unyielding to wind, frost, rain, or snow.

It seemed that no matter how great the storm, he could shield against it with a single punch.

If any old-timers of the Jianghu were present...

...they would have recognized the identity of the middle-aged man in the cyan robe—

The number one expert on the Guangqing Prefecture Martial Rankings.

Cyan Pine Fist, Xu Sheng!

Peak of Grandmaster, a Half-Step Land Immortal!

However, compared to his rank as number one on the martial rankings...

...his other identity was even more significant—

The Xiaoman Commander of the Jingzhe Bureau’s Twenty-Four Solar Terms Commanders, the Stabilizing Needle of the Guangqing Prefecture Jingzhe Bureau branch!

The other few people...

...aside from Ding Bai, were no small figures either. They were all regional leaders from the Guangqing Prefecture Jingzhe Bureau branch, each with Innate Grandmaster Cultivation.

One could say...

...that if these four so wished, they could join forces and sweep across the entire Jianghu of Guangqing Prefecture, facing practically no rivals aside from a select few.

Such a magnificent lineup...

...was now gathered in Qingyuan City.

Considering the duties of the Jingzhe Bureau...

...it was obvious they were preparing to make a move on the Four Seas Gang.