Essence Devouring Art

CLANG—

Below the Celestial Court's Supreme Profound Heaven.

In the depths of their conscious minds, the Celestial Venerables suddenly heard the resonant clang of a great bell, like a torrent crashing against Divine Iron, its vibrations shaking the Nine Heavens.

"Great Celestial Venerable..."

Cyan Yu Celestial Venerable gazed toward the zenith of the Profound Celestial.

A blurry, majestic figure could be seen swaying almost imperceptibly before returning to stillness.

But it was this minute movement.

And it sent a great shock through Cyan Yu Celestial Venerable's heart.

The Great Celestial Venerable of the Supreme Profound Heaven.

Though it was only a Divine Thought body manifested from Dao Essence—a single thought—its status was still supreme within Hongyuan!

The Great Tribulation had not yet begun.

'What Power could possibly shake him?'

'Could it be...'

Cyan Yu Celestial Venerable thought of the few beings in Hongyuan whose status was not far beneath the Great Celestial Venerable's, and a guess formed in his mind.

Within the Dao, Primordial Chaos was the extreme.

Near Dao was supreme.

Every tribulation has its Daoists.

Therefore, the Near Dao bodies left behind by Daoists were not unique; there were still powers that could challenge them.

'Was it Mountain and Sea, or that Dao-thief?'

'Why are they clashing?'

The answer...

...was perhaps known only to the Great Celestial Venerable.

"Sea of Suffering, Nirvana..."

At the zenith of the Profound Celestial.

The Great Celestial Venerable reached out a hand, extinguishing a drop of bitter water and a wisp of nether-qi that had traced the Dao back to him. He then raised his eyes to gaze out over the vast Sea of Chaos.

In an instant.

He retracted his peculiar gaze.

"There cannot be two suns in the sky. The Six Tribulations await you."

The corners of the Great Celestial Venerable's mouth lifted slightly. Amidst his eternally indifferent expression that had remained unchanged through All Tribulations, a hint of profound anticipation finally appeared.

...

Within the Extreme Dao Bell.

The final tribulation dissipated.

Wu Dao, with all the gains from the Primordial Magnetic Dao Tribulation, finally returned just before the primordial magnetic particles could completely assimilate the Primordial Path.

BUZZ!!

The moment Wu Dao returned.

The last remaining primordial magnetic particle, like a withered seed injected with new life, or an egg about to hatch, developed a dense network of cracks.

An infinitely small existence...

...erupted with an endless gravitational pull. Like a great attractor, it indiscriminately devoured all Magnetic Field Energy.

"Star Mother, infuse the Dao Source."

At this critical juncture of transformation...

Wu Dao would not allow malnutrition to cause any deformities in its development, so he immediately contacted Star Mother and gave his command.

"As you command, Father God!"

Brimming with fighting spirit and renewed vigor, Star Mother immediately opened her treasury of origin, from which flew clusters of Supreme Dao Source, each as brilliant as a small sun and radiating a sense of immense fortune.

This Supreme Dao Source...

...naturally came from the battlefields of Shanhai Pass.

The Seventy-Two Primordial Demons.

Although they had not grown to the level of Great Saint in the past three years...

...and had not become Sealed Marquises on the battlefield...

...their unrivaled combat prowess at their level still allowed them to earn outstanding merits. In just half a year, they had received a massive amount of Dao Source rewards from the Dao Celestial Stele.

A long time ago.

Wu Dao had anticipated that the transition from stage three to stage four would be a brush with death, and the "Breaking the Cocoon" phase after the breakthrough would also require a large amount of Dao Source.

Therefore.

The Dao Source obtained by the Primordial Demons...

...he had sealed it all away, reserving it as nourishment for the future cocoon-breaking.

As it turned out.

His concerns had been justified.

For the ascension and transformation of a primordial particle into a Dao Particle, normal Magnetic Field Energy was simply not enough.

It had nothing to do with quantity.

A Daoist grows fat by consuming the Dao!

What he needed was the Supreme Dao Source that truly flowed from the Essence of the Great Dao of Hongyuan!

CRACKLE CRACKLE—

After being irrigated with ample Dao Source.

The speed at which that one primordial particle broke its cocoon quickened.

Wu Dao's will became the new life breaking out of the shell, constantly absorbing nourishment and tearing apart the cocoon, transforming toward the true Dao.

Shattering everything that was.

Fundamentally shaping a brand-new Particle!

'Dao Particles, God particles, Creator particles, omnipotent particles...'

'The name isn't important.'

'What's important...'

'...is that a macroscopic lifeform constructed from these new Primordial Magnetic Particles would possess the same authority as the Great Dao—the infinite potential to create all things and all existence!'

CRACK!

The final sound of the cocoon breaking rang out!

Immeasurable divine light, immeasurable profound mystery!

A particle, small to the extreme!

Indescribable by words.

It was as if all tangible and intangible matter, energy, wisdom, existence, and potential existence... had an incredible Dao Particle born from its very origin point!

Hongyuan Calendar, Year 480,000 of the Five Tribulations!

A new Great Dao is born!

In the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, among the endless living beings...

...all felt it—

The end of the Great Dao would no longer be singular!

"All praise to the Primordial Daoist Venerable!"

Star Mother, basking in the baptism of the Creator's radiance, found that even her near-infinite computational power could not express the sacredness of this moment. All she could do was offer praise with pious devotion.

At the same time.

The Primordial Demons, the Polluted Bodies, the believers across All Heavens...

All beings connected to Wu Dao offered their devout praise, understanding the meaning of their existence and the object of their ultimate pursuit.

The new Dao Particles were born.

The cocoon's restraints were torn asunder.

Everything that followed was a matter of course.

There were no more obstacles.

After their birth, the Primordial Magnetism Dao Particles continuously absorbed Dao Source to proliferate and grow. They no longer captured normal Magnetic Field Energy, but rather the diluted Dao Source energy of the same status scattered within the Dao.

The Tree Diagram was constructed once more.

The Primordial Magnetism Dao Particles rapidly proliferated from a seed, giving rise to the Tree Diagram's Supreme Dao Source, the three fundamental Dao Sources of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Further down...

...the eliminated contenders from the Initial Tribulation...

...became the reserves for the Supreme Magnetic Dao Source to create the branches of all things!

Three thousand was no longer the limit!

Once the authority of Creation was activated, various Dao Veins were born from nothing. Categorized by the three fundamental Extraordinary Powers, they branched out and sprouted, growing into new veins!

These new veins...

...in turn gave birth to countless more at their ends.

Brand new.

Relatively macroscopic Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles, formed by building layers of microscopic magnetic field structures based on Dao Particles.

Cultivation of a Dao is measured in tribulations.

The Initial Tribulation Path was just born.

Naturally, the changes could not be endless.

BUZZ~

After reaching a certain critical point.

The speed at which the Primordial Magnetic Dao Source created the All Things Dao Vein began to decrease rapidly.

The depletion of the Hongyuan Dao Source was one reason.

The second and most important reason...

...was that the Cultivation for a single tribulation of a Great Dao could take hundreds of millions of years, and the birth of any Dao Vein was linked to the prosperity of a civilization.

The current Wu Dao...

...was merely a Dao that had just stepped into the Initial Tribulation.

Whether in terms of cultivation years...

...or the scale of his civilization...

...they were far too few and far too small.

BUZZ—

The light of the Great Dao converged.

Wu Dao withdrew from the Creator Domain, cutting down the swelling delusion of omnipotence and experiencing his own changes with a heart as calm as still water.

The attribute panel was clear at a glance—

[Physique: Primordial Magnetism Path]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring: All Things, Initial Tribulation+]

[Transverse Cultivation: Infinite Primordial Scripture: Holy Body Great Success+]

[Divine Cultivation: Juntian Creation Scripture·Saint Master Three Realms+]

[Soul Cultivation: All Phenomena God Luo Scripture·Saint Lord Three Realms+]

[Divine Format: Lower-Rank Primordial Main God]

[Celestial Treasure: Bitter Dust Robe (Emperor's Artifact 100%)]

...

[Teleportation Points: ...]

'The Cultivation of a Great Dao is measured in tribulations. The Primordial Magnetic Tribulation requires 129,600 Dao Veins for completion. I have already created...'

Wu Dao's thoughts turned to the Tree Diagram.

Beneath the three fundamental Extraordinary Dao Sources...

...were a total of 10,800 All Things Dao Vein branches.

New branches were slowly being created, transitioning from illusory to real.

If he cultivated normally...

...creating all the branches...

...that is, the number 129,600...

...the time required to complete the Primordial Magnetism Dao's Initial Tribulation would be measured in hundreds of millions of years.

WHOOSH~

He closed the attribute panel.

Wu Dao's sacred and majestic eyes swept over the new space-time. Everything was a product built from Dao Particles, and it seemed he could change it all with a single thought.

However.

Wu Dao knew clearly...

...that this was just a false sense of power caused by his Life Transition. His scale was not yet at the level of omnipotence within Hongyuan.

'But within a certain scale...'

Thinking of this.

Wu Dao opened his palm.

The Dao Particles converted mass into energy.

From nothing...

...an unremarkable stone appeared.

With a flicker of his thought.

"CHIRP~"

The microscopic arrangement of the Dao Particles changed, and the ordinary stone transformed into a divine eagle soaring with outstretched wings.

The divine eagle flew with its wings spread.

Then it transformed into a sun.

After the sun vanished, it was replaced by a complete world with a sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and living creatures.

"Extraordinary, time, Reincarnation..."

Wu Dao muttered to himself.

The transformation of the Dao Particles accelerated.

In the small world, seas turned to mulberry fields as the river of time rushed forward. Civilizations flourished and evolved, giving birth to the Extraordinary, a Celestial Realm, a Hell, and Immortals, Demons, and Monsters...

The cycle of life and death, ever-flowing.

BUZZ~

Then, in the next instant.

Everything converged, and what remained in his palm was once again that unremarkable stone.

Dao Particles.

Within the changes of their arrangement...

...lay all possibilities.

The foundation stone from which the Great Dao creates all things.

An existence constructed from them.

Even if it was just an ordinary stone...

...the possibilities it held were incredible.

By changing the most microscopic magnetic particle structure...

...the released Energy...

...could be compared to the terrifying destructive power Wu Dao unleashed when he tore apart the basic Primordial Magnetic Particles, a power sufficient to destroy a Great Thousand World.

All the changes the stone just went through...

...Wu Dao had not expended the slightest bit of Power.

He had merely used the authority of the Primordial Magnetism Path to control the Dao Particles of the Primordial Path, turning the destructive energy released by tearing apart the microscopic magnetic field's force into creation.

There was no expenditure.

Unless the Dao Particles themselves were annihilated.

Otherwise.

So-called destruction and disappearance in the macroscopic domain were merely another form of Dao Particle existence within controllable limits.

Extrapolating this to himself...

...he could also be considered Immortal and Undying to a certain extent.

Unless Wu Dao left no countermeasures and acted as a living target, encountering a power beyond specifications that could instantly tear apart and annihilate all of his Primordial Magnetism Dao Particles.

Otherwise.

It would be fundamentally impossible to kill him!

"When creation becomes destruction, it is indeed a terrifying thing."

Wu Dao's profound gaze fell upon the stone in his hand. If such an ordinary stone were to undergo uncontrollable, pure destruction...

...before it disintegrated down to Dao Particles,

...the energy released would be enough to destroy a Great Thousand World!

And this...

...was merely from Initial Tribulation Dao Particles!

One Tribulation, Second Tribulation, Three Tribulations...

If the Primordial Magnetism Dao Particles grew to the status of the Hongyuan Five Tribulations...

'Perhaps...'

'...a flicked grain of sand...'

'...could instantly obliterate a Venerable Primordial Giant!'

The theory was feasible.

The future was also bright.

But it was all still just a future prospect.

On this path of the Great Dao...

...Wu Dao had only just taken his first step.

"I must go to Shanhai Pass, but I can't rely on it alone. The acceleration from the Primordial Dao Wheel is also very important."

Wu Dao looked at the Primordial Star Mother standing obediently at the foot of his throne and patted her small head.

The true Primordial Dao Wheel 3.0.

It was time for an upgrade.

The Cultivation of a Great Dao was linked to the prosperity of a civilization, often taking hundreds of millions of years to advance by a single tribulation.

The Hongyuan Dao Source...

...could only accelerate the birth rate of the Primordial Magnetism Path's All Things Dao Vein branches. If Wu Dao relied solely on his own cultivation to complete the Initial-Tribulation Dao Vein and advance to One Tribulation, it would take a very long time.

Yes.

In Wu Dao's philosophy of cultivation...

...even a hundred years was a very long time.