Essence Devouring Art

Celestial Treasure.

Literally, a treasure of the heavens.

Their essence is the source of the rules that govern the heavens and the earth. To put it in broader, more profound terms, they are the source of the Great Dao itself.

Ever since Extraordinary Power appeared in the World, the Martial Power of individuals could shatter mountains, split rivers, incinerate the heavens, and boil the seas. Great Divine Power Users could even directly grasp the rules, wielding the Power of Heaven and Earth in their attacks.

After countless years of conflict, the heavens and earth have shattered and reformed an unknown number of times. The source of the Great Dao has been shaken during these great wars, causing some of its Dao Source to spill out.

These scattered fragments of Dao Source, after eons of independent growth, formed into the myriad, bizarre Celestial Treasures, each possessing all sorts of incredible and illogical Mighty Powers.

Helping a mortal continue on the Path of Transcendence is a piece of cake for a Celestial Treasure. Many legendary Celestial Treasures possess this ability, though they manifest it in different ways.

Some allow a person to control natural energies like Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, earth, wind, and thunder. Others allow one to transform into a Fierce Beast or a giant, control all living things, or simply make one’s Physique continuously stronger. The varieties are endless, with no specific limitations.

Most importantly, Celestial Treasures cannot be stolen. Once a Treasure Master dies, the Celestial Treasure will dissipate and return to the Great Dao.

Moreover, some top-tier Celestial Treasures even possess Mighty Powers that can be described as "conceptual" in nature.

For example, the immortality so many dream of.

According to legend, there is a Celestial Treasure called the "Immortal Fire." Whoever obtains this fire can live as long as the heavens and the earth. Even if they are killed, they will be endlessly resurrected.

This is because from the moment they obtain the Immortal Fire, the Treasure Master’s life and death are linked to the Great Dao itself, making them nigh invincible.

Outrageous, isn’t it?

Wu Dao thought so too.

But what was even more outrageous was a Celestial Treasure he later heard of—one that was absurd on a whole other level.

The Nine-Colored Flower!

Ancient legends say this flower has nine petals of nine different colors. Obtaining it allows you to make one wish!

That’s right!

A wish!

The kind that is guaranteed to come true, so long as it is within the bounds of the Great Dao!

Can you even imagine?

Wu Dao, for one, didn’t dare to.

After all, the potential for exploitation with something like a wish is just too great. Someone with a sharp mind could distill countless desires into a single sentence.

If such a monstrous treasure truly existed, what would the World become? It would be turned into the private plaything of a single living being.

However, this also illustrated just how illogically powerful the Mighty Power of Celestial Treasures was.

When he first heard of them, Wu Dao even suspected that his attribute panel might be a Celestial Treasure.

’But on second thought, that’s impossible.’

There was a fundamental difference between the attribute panel and a Celestial Treasure—

active versus passive.

The attribute panel required one to kill and devour anomalies to evolve and grow. Furthermore, there was a prerequisite: the owner had to learn an Extraordinary Technique before they could evolve.

’Too many restrictions.’ 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But even though Wu Dao didn’t have a Celestial Treasure, he could invent one to cover up the illogical aspects of his own abilities and hide his trump cards.

The Essence Devouring Art was the perfect material for this fabrication—

a Celestial Treasure that allowed one to grow stronger just by training!

Wu Dao wasn’t afraid of being exposed. After all, Celestial Treasures were inherently absurd. Their essence pointed directly to the source of the Great Dao, and they couldn’t be stolen. Unless someone could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Great Dao itself, no one could expose his lie.

The reason Wu Dao wanted to hide the existence of the Essence Devouring Art was not because he was narrow-minded and feared someone would learn it and surpass him. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have made the Essence Devouring Art public in his previous life.

It was because of a very practical problem—

a battle of Daos!

This World was not like the End of Dharma World of his past life, where everyone yearned for the extraordinary but had no path to follow, making those at the top of the pyramid desperate for the Essence Devouring Art.

The history of the extraordinary in this world was exceedingly long. Since primordial times, a vested-interest community had formed around the three great innate organs, and the class structure had long since solidified, becoming unshakable.

Under these circumstances, if an extraordinary system suddenly appeared—one outside the three major systems, that even mortals could cultivate, capable of shaking the foundations of the solidified class structure... what do you think the Great Divine Power Users who control the World would do?

Ignore it and let you spread your teachings?

Regard you as a Celestial Being and rush to take on disciples?

No!

They would absolutely crush you without a second thought!

And they would erase every last trace of the Essence Devouring Art from this World!

’Where you stand depends on where you sit.’

Wu Dao was no street punk. In his past life, he had stood at the Peak of Human Extremes. With his wealth of experience, he knew exactly what went through the minds of those in power.

When you have the potential to threaten the interests of those at the top of the class pyramid, you’d better have the actual power to back it up.

If you don’t, and still act all high and mighty, running around and causing trouble, then you might as well wash your neck and wait for death.

Without absolute Power, do not delude yourself into thinking you can change a solidified class system. Otherwise, what awaits you is not acceptance, but hatred.

「Five days after the battle at Canyun Mountain.」

Wu Dao quickened his pace toward the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

He had heard from some Jianghu Travelers that for some reason, the White Whale Martial Arts Hall had recently been posting recruitment notices all over the Jianghu, holding a grand tournament and offering huge rewards to recruit heroes and masters.

Their basic standards for accepting disciples had been lowered again and again, reminiscent of the Giant Whale Sect’s old philosophy of teaching all without discrimination.

And it wasn’t just the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

Within the borders of Guangqing Prefecture, besides the northern White Whale Martial Arts Hall, the southern Four Seas Gang and the Fangcun Sword Hall in the Prefecture City of Pingliang City were also making their own moves.

Each was using every means at their disposal to aggressively expand their influence, causing a huge stir.

For a time, the Jianghu of Guangqing Prefecture was in an uproar, buzzing with discussion. Everyone sensed that something big was about to happen. Sword- and saber-wielding Jianghu Travelers were everywhere, painting a picture of a storm brewing on the horizon.

This made an already unstable world even more precarious.

The common people were terrified and uneasy.

Because when the Jianghu fell into chaos, their already difficult lives at the bottom of the food chain became even harder.

A Jianghu of chivalrous heroes who righted wrongs... only existed in storybooks, after all.

The real Jianghu was full of vicious hostility. People would slaughter entire families at the slightest provocation.

When one carries a sharp weapon, the thought of killing arises on its own.

When one’s Martial Power is superior, one bullies the weak.

Few could control their desires and refrain from wrongdoing after obtaining power that surpassed that of ordinary mortals.

Not to mention, this was a chaotic era where the law was nothing but a suggestion.

Killing someone over a disagreement, robbing travelers on the road, stealing wealth, women, or people...

’What’s the big deal?’

It was all just par for the course.

Most importantly, as the world grew more chaotic, terrifying rumors of mountain sprites and ghosts became more and more common—tales of them taking lives and devouring flesh and bone at will.

In such a dark world, if an ordinary person didn’t have some martial skill to protect themselves, they wouldn’t even dare leave their homes after dark, let alone travel far. They were terrified that some villain or ghost would leap from the shadows and needlessly claim their life.

But in truth, the common folk who still had a home were the lucky ones.

In a feudal society, food is heaven to the people, and grain comes from the land.

With land, there is a home; without fields, there are no people.

But now, without the constraints of the imperial court’s laws, local parasites, gangs, powerful families, and landed gentry were unscrupulously annexing land. They seized what they wanted, grew fat by feeding on the populace, and bullied the people into servitude. Those who could not be enslaved had no choice but to leave their homes and wander.

In his recent travels, Wu Dao had passed through many places. What he saw most were large groups of displaced refugees, living hand-to-mouth.

Starvation, freezing, disease, being plundered by bandits and gangs...

These refugees, whom no one cared for, usually met a miserable end.

Every day on the road, Wu Dao saw skeletal remains gnawed on by wild beasts. Occasionally, he would even see people who had bloated to death from eating dirt, or those who had resorted to swapping children to eat...

It was a scene of utter helplessness, where their cries to heaven and earth went unanswered.

A true Human World Purgatory.

So why not rise up and rebel, you ask?

What a joke.

This is an Extraordinary World.

The ones who control the rules are, and always will be, the Extraordinaries.

As for these refugees, living hand-to-mouth and armed with nothing, if they dared to storm a city to seize grain or money, forget the imperial court—the local gangs wouldn’t spare them, if only to protect their own interests.

To say nothing of the stronger ones, a single Martial Artist at the Great Success stage of Divine Power, facing down refugees with barely any flesh on their bones—it wouldn’t matter if you brought a thousand or even ten thousand of them.

He could slaughter a hundred of them in moments!

Whose courage wouldn’t break?

Who would still have the guts to cry for war and slaughter?

This was an injustice born from the disparity in life’s very hierarchy. It wasn’t something you could change just because you had a heart full of righteous fury, shouted "Are kings and nobles born to their station?", and gathered a mob.

Towards all this darkness and chaos, Wu Dao remained a cold observer.

The more chaotic the world, the bigger the waves.

The rules of society would then lean more toward the primitive, brutal competition of the jungle, and the opportunities for a Heaven Stealer would only increase.

In a prosperous and peaceful era, he would be bound by iron-clad rules and laws, constrained at every turn, making it difficult to grow strong.

Therefore... Wu Dao quite liked this current chaotic age. The air, thick with madness, cruelty, and barbarism, was a scent that put his entire body at ease.

’Though fierce winds may rise from the calmest plains, I shall ride them to break through ten thousand miles!’

However, there were times when he still got quite annoyed.

Because there were always some suicidal fools who wanted to make his life difficult!