Essence Devouring Art

The computational power of his Brain Domain at the Overlord Limit was already formidable.

In terms of Comprehension, he was on par with a peerless genius.

This was even more so while in his Divine Ghost Heaven State.

With almost every passing second, the fusion "progress bar" for his Dragon Whale Transformation and Kunpeng Body Casting Technique continued to rise.

Wu Dao was confident.

In five days at most, he would be able to completely fuse the two Cultivation Techniques, allowing him to continue his path without needing to destroy his current foundation.

While Wu Dao was fusing the two Cultivation Techniques, on the second day after the Celestial Empress’ Tomb had been breached, a group of mysterious figures in Blood Armor descended from the sky, their bodies radiating an overwhelming aura of death.

"This... Who did this?!"

The leader, a cold-faced old man with red hair and a matching beard, stood atop the shattered altar. He stared at the Celestial Empress’ Tomb, now just an empty ruin. His eyes looked ready to split from sheer fury, and he nearly ground his teeth to dust as his roar shook the surrounding forest!

Their ancestor’s tomb had been desecrated!

This humiliation!

A stain that not even all the water in the world could wash clean!

"Investigate! Find me who had the divine nerve to dig up the ancestral tomb of my Corpse God Palace!"

The red-haired old man, like an enraged old lion, ground his teeth. His voice was so cold it could leave icicles in the air.

The matter wasn’t difficult to investigate at all.

After all, the Overlord Whale Alliance hadn’t made any effort to hide their actions.

Soon, a middle-aged man in Blood Armor returned, carrying a lifeless villager in his hand. He tossed the body aside and said:

"Reporting to Elder Qi, I’ve found out what happened. Last night, a large force from the Overlord Whale Alliance entered Ganyin Mountain, and a battle that shook the heavens and earth followed. It had to be them!"

"The Overlord Whale Alliance?"

Elder Qi frowned in confusion upon hearing this.

"You’ve been in seclusion for many years, Elder, so you might not be aware..."

The man in Blood Armor said respectfully, "The Overlord Whale Alliance is the local bully in Wanshan and Guangqing Prefectures, affiliated with the Nanyang Prince’s Mansion.

Although they’re only considered a second-rate power, their Alliance Leader, Wu Dao, is a mysterious and unfathomable Body Treasure Master.

Some time ago, he single-handedly breached Pingliang City and killed Sikong Lie, the Governor of Two Mansions who was at the peak of the Celestial Human First Floor, with a single punch.

According to rumors in the Jianghu, his combat strength has already reached the realm of the Celestial Human Second Floor.

Most importantly, this Alliance Leader of the Overlord Whale Alliance has always been very interested in Alien Species. He most likely discovered the Celestial Empress, so..."

"A Body Treasure Master at the Celestial Human Second Floor?!"

After listening, a profound greed flickered deep within Elder Qi’s inhuman, grayish-white eyes, which then morphed into cold killing intent:

"It doesn’t matter who he is. Offending the Corpse God Palace leads to only one path: death. Since the Celestial Empress is gone, we’ll have him pay the price with his physical body!"

"But..."

The man in Blood Armor hesitated. "The Southern Border is currently under Prince Nanyang’s control, and the Overlord Whale Alliance is one of his key subordinates.

If we make a move on Wu Dao, the Nanyang Prince’s Mansion will investigate thoroughly, and if the Celestial King is exposed..."

"If a direct approach won’t work, can’t we act from the shadows?"

Elder Qi sneered.

"Isn’t he interested in Alien Species? As it happens, I’ve recently found a good place. Who knows, we might just kill two birds with one stone!"

"Elder, are you referring to *that* place?"

The eyes of the man in Blood Armor lit up.

The prospect of refining a Celestial Treasure Master into an enslaved Corpse Slave...

The benefits would be simply unimaginable!

"As for Prince Nanyang, heh heh."

Elder Qi sneered, his gaze as sinister as a man-eating viper’s:

"The Demon Suppression Emperor’s debts must be borne by his descendants. If he wants to unify the Southern Border, he’ll have to ask if the Celestial King agrees!"

...

「On the fourth day.」

Lancang County City.

High in the sky above the Overlord Whale Alliance headquarters.

’The information was erased?’

Wu Dao put away the Communication Jade Talisman, his brow furrowed slightly.

A few days ago, he had tasked Zhao Jianji with investigating the Celestial King’s burial site through the Black Dragon Commerce Association.

Today, he had received a response.

But the result was somewhat disappointing.

The Celestial King had indeed been defeated by the Demon Suppression Emperor back then, but he wasn’t killed on the spot. Instead, his lingering will had dragged his mangled body away to escape.

Where his body finally fell has become an unsolved mystery.

It wasn’t that there were no records at all. Rather, all information about the Celestial King had been deliberately buried and erased from history.

As a result, by today, the Celestial King was considered a figure of apocryphal legend by everyone except, perhaps, a few old monsters.

’Who did this? The Celestial King’s descendants, or his remaining followers?’

Wu Dao’s thoughts raced.

Considering the incident at the Celestial Empress’ Tomb, it wasn’t hard to deduce.

The mastermind behind this likely erased the Celestial King’s records to conceal the fact that he hadn’t been completely killed.

After all, a few hundred years ago, the Dali dynasty was at its zenith. Had they discovered the Celestial King was still alive, they would have undoubtedly hunted him down and annihilated any trace of him.

To be able to take a person who truly existed and turn them into a figure of myth...

’That level of power and influence...’

As this thought crossed his mind, Wu Dao’s eyes turned cold. He paused the fusion of his Cultivation Techniques, activated his Magnetic Field, and streaked across the sky at his supersonic limit, heading toward Ganyin Mountain.

RUMBLE—

In a mere moment, the sky thundered with sonic booms.

Wu Dao had already arrived at Ganyin Mountain. Standing high in the sky and looking down, his eyes narrowed.

Dawan Manor was gone!

The entire village had been obliterated, leaving nothing but a deep crater. There were no survivors.

’They killed them to silence them after getting the information?’

With another thought, Wu Dao flew toward the Celestial Empress’ Tomb.

The tomb itself hadn’t changed much since he’d left, but the underground palace had been completely emptied.

"Let’s see just what kind of ’divine beings’ you are!"

Wu Dao landed on the altar, his expression frigid. He activated his body’s Magnetic Field, coarse currents of Crimson Gold electricity erupting from him as he slammed a palm onto the center of the shattered altar.

CRACKLE—

In an instant, Wu Dao became like a power station as a majestic magnetic current surged from him like a torrent of wild serpents, spreading to cover the entire underground palace.

Certain special Magnetic Fields were capable of recording sounds and images of past events.

The stronger a being was, the greater the influence their personal Life Magnetic Field exerted on the ambient Earth and Heaven Magnetic Field, making it more likely for their image and sound to be recorded.

This was especially true in a place like the Celestial Empress’ Tomb, where the natural magnetic fields of the land converged!

If too much time had passed, Wu Dao wouldn’t be confident in his ability to extract the images recorded in the Celestial Empress’ Tomb’s Magnetic Field.

But something this recent...

HUMMM—

The Primordial Magnetic current covering the entire Celestial Empress’ Tomb quickly merged with the various chaotic magnetic fields within the underground palace.

Wu Dao quickly found the residual traces left by the magnetic field fluctuations of the past few days. Using his Primordial Magnetic Power, he drew them out and activated them!

HUM!

The instant he triggered the Magnetic Field, its power around the altar interwove to construct a series of audio-visual images.

A group of illusory, mysterious figures in standard-issue Blood Armor descended from the sky, landing on the altar. They were completely lifeless, like walking corpses.

A moment later.

CRACKLE—

The Primordial Magnetic current covering the Celestial Empress’ Tomb dissipated. The restored image vanished without a trace, like a black-and-white television being switched off, and the magnetic field returned to its chaotic state.

"Corpse God Palace... Celestial King... Scheming against me, heh heh!!"

Wu Dao stood up and rolled his neck, which made a series of loud cracks. His smile was exceptionally ferocious and brutal.

’Whatever their reason, the fact that they’re resorting to schemes means the Corpse God Palace isn’t confident they can just crush me quietly and effortlessly!’

’In that case, I can exploit the information gap. We’ll see who’s really scheming against whom!’

...

「One day later.」

The unpopulated region of Guangqing Prefecture.

High in the sky above the Black Stone Desert.

HUUU...

He exhaled a long, turbid breath.

The godlike, saintly light in Wu Dao’s eyes gradually gave way to humanity. He exited the Divine Ghost Heaven State and, with a thought, opened his attribute panel—

[Physique: Overlord (Limit)]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring Art (83% Potential Release)+

Overlord Whale Fist 1500 years (True Intent First Floor Great Success)+

Divine Desolate Transformation 1500 years (Fifth-Layer Great Success)+]

[Teleportation Points: 26115]

After five days of deductions in his Divine Ghost Heaven State, the Dragon Whale Transformation and the Kunpeng Body Casting Technique had finally fused, creating an entirely new Transverse Refining Technique—

The Divine Desolate Transformation!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

His muscles and bones grated against each other like Divine Iron.

With a thought, Wu Dao unleashed his Divine Desolate Dominating Body—the evolution of the Dragon Whale Dominating Body—and transformed into a ferocious beast nearly fifty-five feet tall.

WHOOSH—

In an instant, the ground was swallowed by an immense shadow.

A terrifying, baleful aura from the primordial Wilderness permeated the world, crushing the very void. It was as if an Ancient Giant Beast, one that stood at the apex of all Fierce Beasts, had descended upon the mortal world!

Resplendent with golden light, its ferocious might was immeasurable!

The nearly fifty-five-foot-tall Divine Desolate Dominating Body.

From head to toe, its mountainous, rippling muscles seemed woven from thick, golden Barbaric Dragons, containing infinite power. It was covered in thick, golden fish-scale armor as hard as Divine Iron.

Its massive, ferocious golden head was like that of a Dragon and a Kun. Its shark-toothed maw was like an Abyss, leading directly to a stomach roiling with wind, thunder, lightning, and fire, as if it could swallow the heavens and the earth in a single gulp.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG~

The muscles and bones on its back swelled, sprouting a pair of divine Peng wings, each one nearly one hundred and ten feet long. They were iridescent, with feathers like Divine Swords that sliced through the void. It seemed a single flap could cross the entire world!

The might of the Dragon!

The vastness of the Kun!

The speed of the Peng!

When these three combine, what is the result?

Naturally, it is—

To dominate the Divine Wilderness, invincible and unopposed!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With a sudden clench of his fist, the Barbaric Dragon muscles rippled and swelled, bringing forth a boundless, immense power. The very air in his grasp was crushed into oblivion, twisting and distorting.