Essence Devouring Art

"The battle report is out!"

Suddenly, someone shouted in excitement, "Before the Three Lives King advanced to Quasi-Emperor, he slew five Emperor’s Sons of the True Dragon Emperor Clan of the same realm in successive battles and forced back the True Dragon Race’s grand army!"

Emperor’s Sons of the True Dragon Emperor Clan!

And he slew five of them in a row!

At these words, all the soldiers and generals present gasped in shock.

The True Dragon Emperor Clan.

A Desolate God Race whose Life Ancestor bloodline purity was second only to the Four Great Primordial Clans of Mountain and Sea. Their combat prowess surpassed that of Hongyuan’s Celestial Prides of the same realm by an unknowable margin.

Every single Emperor’s Son in the clan!

It was no exaggeration to say that each one could be compared to a Son of Revival from a Common Lord Power!

The only ones stronger than them were the Little Ancestors of the Four Great Primordial Races!

Slaying five Emperor’s Sons one after another!

And even forcing back the True Dragon Race’s grand army!

With such monumental achievements, he truly deserved to be made a Military Lord and become a Quasi-Emperor!

’Three-Life Dantian, Long Chen...’

As Glory Square buzzed with fervent discussion, Wu Dao mulled over the information about Long Chen, a faint ripple stirring in his eyes.

By now, he was perfectly clear on what his former self had lost and how much karma it had left behind for him.

That Three Lives Army Master, Long Chen, was the lucky one who had received the transplant of his former self’s Immortal Dao Dantian.

Among the many who had partaken of him...

The Celestial Destiny and Fortune, the Three Dantians, the Celestial Treasure.

Five lucky individuals were bound to him by the greatest karma.

Su Chen of the Martial Dao Chaos Dantian, Ye Xuan of the Military Dao Innate Sword Body, Mo Chen of the Celestial Destiny and Fortune, Long Xuan of the Immortal Dao Three-Life Dantian, and the Celestial Treasure...

’The Celestial Punishment Sword?’

An image surfaced in Wu Dao’s memory: the moon goddess-like woman he had met back in Dragon Gate Town.

His former self’s childhood sweetheart.

’Two of the five accounted for, with three remaining.’

’I’ve just arrived at Shanhai Pass, and Long Chen has already made his appearance. A coincidence? No, it’s inevitable!’

’A Quasi-Emperor, is he?’

Wu Dao glanced at the brilliantly shining name of the Three Lives Army Master, listed in the second sequence of the Dao Celestial Stele that symbolized the glory of the Seven Days Pass. He smiled gently and calmly looked away.

...

"Primordial? Going to the Sea of Death?"

「Inside the main hall of the United Front Department.」

The military administrator from the Nether Heaven Battlefield, responsible for registration, glanced up at Wu Dao.

After recording his military information, the man showed no enthusiasm whatsoever. He handed over a palm-sized Dao Stele and said coldly,

"This is a Battle Merit Order. It records your achievements on the battlefield. When you return to Fengdu City, you can connect with the Dao Celestial Stele to redeem your rewards."

And that was it.

His attitude was perfunctory and dismissive, as if he were dealing with a walking plague.

"Thank you."

Wu Dao was neither annoyed nor angered. Instead, he politely put away the Battle Merit Order, on which the word ’Primordial’ was displayed.

Under the strange stares of those around him, he calmly left the main hall of the United Front Department.

’Fly into a rage and attack? There’s no need for that. The Great Dao manifests throughout Shanhai Pass. Aside from the front lines, anyone who engages in infighting within the rear garrison cities will be obliterated by Celestial Punishment! To kill some minor character for a moment’s satisfaction and go against the will of Heaven? I’d have to be out of my mind.’

As for why the administrator’s attitude had changed the moment he heard "Sea of Death," and why the people around them were faintly hostile... the reason was simple.

The current Domain Master of the Dead Sea Territory—

The Demon Awakening Emperor.

—was a member of the World-Slaughtering Army, founded back then in Shanhai Pass by the Slaughter Emperor.

Come to think of it, the Demon Awakening Emperor was practically from Wu Dao’s hometown—a "Sinner" from the Divine Wilderness who had been stationed at the Shanhai Pass battlefield and thus avoided the purge.

His cultivation was no match for the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s.

He had only become a Great Emperor in the last thousand years, and it was hard to say whether the discriminatory treatment and suppression from the Commander Elder Council played a part.

Within Shanhai Pass, although battle merits were said to decide everything, you can’t have order without rules.

The Commander Elder Council was the power center of the Hongyuan Nine Heavens Military Department, responsible for commanding, dispatching, and overseeing the armies.

It managed all affairs on the front lines and in the rear, wielding immense authority—a far cry from some powerless logistics division in a secular dynasty’s Ministry of War.

The remnants left behind by the Slaughter Emperor were destined never to be accepted by any faction.

There were plenty of ways to suppress and marginalize them.

Want to earn military honors and get ahead?

They’d put you on the back burner.

Or transfer you to a treacherous battlefield far beyond your capabilities.

And if you disobeyed the orders?

Even better.

In Shanhai Pass, such insubordination was dealt with by either imprisonment in the Buzhou Celestial Prison or being used as cannon fodder for the suicide squads.

Of course, the ultimate decision-maker in the Elder Council was still that elusive Second Tribulation Prover, the Grand Elder of Buzhou Heaven, Panwu Emperor.

Without Panwu Emperor’s permission, the eight elders from the other eight Celestial Domains didn’t dare to act too unscrupulously.

During the time of the Five Tribulations, Panwu Emperor had always guarded Shanhai Pass, maintaining a neutral stance and showing no particular prejudice against the Slaughter Emperor.

Therefore, while the remnants of the Slaughter Emperor’s forces at Shanhai Pass did face some suppression, it was mostly limited to being sidelined—assigned to guard territories in various Celestial Gates that saw little action.

The Sea of Death was one such backwater assignment in the Six Celestial Passes.

But that was in the past. Three years ago, when Mountain and Sea launched a massive invasion of Hongyuan, the fighting in the Sea of Death grew frequent, and even the Commander Elder Council didn’t dare pull any petty tricks at such a critical time.

As for why Wu Dao had arranged for the Primordial Demons to be sent to the Sea of Death, it certainly wasn’t to play the family card and rely on the Demon Awakening Emperor for support.

In fact, he had never intended for the Primordial Demons to reveal their connection to the Slaughter Emperor. He chose the Sea of Death simply because its military discipline was far more lax than other battlefields, with fewer rules and regulations to constrain them.

An even more important reason was that the Sea of Death was an excellent forbidden zone.

It could serve as a substitute for the Sea of Chaos, becoming his personal cultivation ground.

After receiving the Battle Merit Order, Wu Dao didn’t linger in Fengdu City. He selected Zhao Jianji as his arrival anchor and vanished on the spot.

「Sea of Death.」

This region, located in a remote corner of the Nether Heaven’s Six Celestial Passes, was considered a backwater. For tens of millions of years, the deathly and evil qi of the Nether Heaven had accumulated here, liquefying into a boundless sea.

To put it bluntly, the Sea of Death was less a battlefield and more a dumping ground where the Six Celestial Passes disposed of their Deadly Evil Qi.

Extraordinary Energy and the laws of the Great Dao were sparse here. Furthermore, a Death Killing Tribulation Qi constantly eroded one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Under normal circumstances, the forces of Mountain and Sea would never choose the Sea of Death as a point of attack.

The potential gains were too small. Even after a successful conquest, they would have to worry about the Hongyuan side sealing off the Sea of Death and detonating it, causing a backlash against Mountain and Sea. The gains simply weren’t worth the losses.

Of course, these were concerns for times of minor skirmishes. Now that the two realms were in an all-out war, such minor costs could be completely disregarded.

Thus, for the past three years, the flames of war had burned ceaselessly across the Sea of Death battlefield. Great waves churned, and from the other side of the sea, the grand armies of Mountain and Sea frequently pressed their assault, launching fierce crossings. The brutality of the fighting was in no way inferior to the other battlefields of the Six Celestial Passes.

"KILL!!"

"CRUSH THESE MINNOWS!"

「A corner of the Sea of Death, outside Primordial Pass.」

Black waters flooded the cosmos as earth-shattering war cries shook the heavens!

With their backs to the Garrison City, the Seventy-Two Primordial Demons, led by Zhao Jianji, charged into an army of hundreds of millions. They slaughtered their way through the enemy ranks until the Black Sea was stained crimson, the Nine Heavens crumbled, and the enemy forces wailed in terror!

Though they numbered only seventy-two, their power and presence crushed the billion-strong army, forcing them to bow their heads. They were like a legion of Purgatory Demon Gods; any military formation collapsed at their touch as soldiers were brutally torn to shreds and blown apart!

Their opponents were far from weak! They were the Luo Fish Race, an Imperial Race from West Mountain in the Mountain and Sea Realm. They had human torsos, fish scales, and the wings of a great bird. Their bodies were a deep azure, and they were as majestic as humanoid blue whales!

Not only was their innate strength boundless, but their Lifebound Divine Techniques allowed them to command all the waters of the world and roam through space and time. A single sweep of their tail could unleash a calamitous tsunami of a billion waves, while a flap of their wings allowed them to vanish into spacetime, becoming formless and intangible.

Even in the unique environment of the Sea of Death, the Luo Fish Race were still in their element. The combat power of every soldier was massively boosted, giving them an innate advantage the Human Race lacked.

Mountain and Sea’s total assault on Hongyuan wasn’t some disorganized slaughter. They deployed their forces strategically according to the environment, and the Luo Fish Race had been dispatched specifically to counter Hongyuan’s defensive armies in the Sea of Death.

Bolstered by their innate advantages, the Luo Fish Race had achieved remarkable success in the Sea of Death. They had the upper hand in most battlefields and had conquered numerous garrison cities.

But Primordial Pass, the one before them now, had become a tough nut they just couldn’t crack!

It sounded absurd.

Primordial Pass wasn’t defended by an army of billions; it was held by a mere seventy-two men!

But these seventy-two men!

Every single one of them possessed a Sacred Body!

A single one of them could hold off an army of ten million!

And as Fighting Generals, each one was peerless!

Princes of the Luo Fish Race of the same realm were like paper dolls before them, either torn to pieces or swallowed whole. Their savagery was beyond extreme!

"Whose fierce generals are these?"

Beneath the Central Army Banner of the Luo Fish Race, the commanding general, Prince Luo Kun, stared at the seventy-two demonic figures wreaking havoc across the battlefield. His blue, fish-like face was as black as thunder as he turned to the trembling old military advisor beside him.

’He’d thought this garrison city would be a pushover. He never expected to kick a hornet’s nest of Demon Gods!’

Previous intelligence reports had described Primordial Pass as a tiny, remote garrison city. It was believed that once the grand army arrived, the defenders within would flee in terror without a fight.

But now... it was being guarded by seventy-two Demon Gods! Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was some vital military fortress!

"Your Highness, this old servant does not know!"

The old advisor’s wrinkled, fish-like face was a mask of misery as he trembled and said, "I’ve never heard of such a group of Fierce Gods in the Sea of Death before."

Of course it hadn’t.

Primordial Pass was in such a remote corner that the Mountain and Sea forces that came by were usually just Little Kalamis. The Primordial Demons had to disperse to other garrison cities to find enemies to kill and earn merits.

But now that a grand army had arrived, the Seventy-Two Primordial Demons had reunited. Forget an Imperial Race army—they could even take on the Di Race!

"Enough! Useless trash!"

Seeing that his advisor knew nothing, Luo Kun sent him flying with a single slap. He hefted his trident, his Demon Mountain-like physique clad in Holy Armor, and shook the vast Black Sea with a furious roar that shattered spacetime itself:

"Seventy-two men think they can halt my advance? How arrogant! DIE!"

BOOM!

The moment the words left his lips, Luo Kun took a single step, causing the vast Black Sea to erupt. The blue wings on his back vibrated, slicing open spacetime as he charged toward Zhao Jianji and his men, ready to slaughter them all!