Essence Devouring Art

After deciding to have a showdown with the Heaven-Burying Alliance, Wu Dao immediately used the high-ranking members of the Heaven-Burying Alliance under his control to conduct an on-site inspection of the entrance to the Heaven-Burying Great Emperor's Tomb.

Perhaps Su Xiuqi's failed attempt to enter the tomb last time had caused its structure to shift. The entrance was now shrouded in all sorts of treacherous field formations.

It would take some time for the fields to shift and become safe again.

Once he had determined the timing of this shift, Wu Dao, acting in the name of the Nirvana True Lord, sent a decree to the various Soul Coin tycoons of the Nirvana Alliance—

In three days, the Nirvana Treasure Assembly would be held to share a great Creation.

All experts in the Mortal Saint Realm within the Burial Realm were eligible to attend!

It wasn't that he was feeling particularly charitable.

Su Xiuqi's miserable fate had been a stark reminder: the Heaven-Burying Great Emperor's Tomb was likely fraught with peril!

With his current strength, even if he broke through to the Saint Realm in terms of combat power, it wouldn't be a sure thing. He certainly couldn't take on the Heaven-Burying Alliance's host of Saint Realm experts alone. His only chance was to muddy the waters.

Ordinarily, there would be no need to rush.

He held ninety percent of the Heaven-Burying Steles in his hands.

As long as he forced a showdown with the Heaven-Burying Alliance, he could decide when to open the Emperor's Tomb, giving him plenty of time to grow stronger.

But plans change.

The matter of the Great Purge forced Wu Dao to open the Emperor's Tomb ahead of schedule. He had to seize every possible advantage in the Burial Realm before it was too late.

Otherwise, once the Daluo Celestial Domain established its presence in the Burial Realm, forget about Saint Realm experts—even those with Saint Master Level combat power wouldn't be able to make a single ripple!

"The Nirvana Treasure Assembly?"

After receiving the Divine Envoy's message, the Demon Saint leaders of the various Soul Coin consortiums within the Nirvana Alliance were all rather perplexed.

Of course, they knew of the Nirvana True Lord.

He was a legendary ancient Saint Master, a Great Power, the very source of the Soul Coin System, and the acknowledged master of the Nirvana Valley forbidden area—their God of Wealth.

Now, this God of Wealth was communicating with the outside world for the first time, and even planned to hold a Nirvana Treasure Assembly to share a great Creation. What could his intentions be?

Surely he wasn't... actually going to share his treasures with them?

That was absurd.

However, regardless of the reason, no one dared to refuse the God of Wealth's summons. Otherwise, with a single thought from him, their entire enterprises could suffer a devastating blow.

"The Nirvana Treasure Assembly?"

Within the Heaven-Burying Alliance, Su Xiuqi, who was busy with preparations for the Emperor's Tomb, also received an invitation sent from Nirvana City.

For some reason, his eyelid suddenly began to twitch.

His intuition told him this was not a good sign.

Nevertheless, he prepared to attend.

He was well aware of Nirvana City's rise. In fact, as he prepared to flee, he had invested most of his assets there, planning to launder them into more useful resources.

So he had to show up.

It wasn't just him.

Jia Baocai, Liang Chen, and the Bixia Demon Saint—these old-timers, along with every Saint Realm Great Power in the Heaven-Burying Alliance, had also received an invitation.

Among them, the ones with the most complicated feelings were undoubtedly Jia Baocai and Liang Chen.

In their fight for the Alliance Leader's throne, the Emperor Scripture, and the Grand Thousand World Mother Liquid, they had nearly been fleeced of their entire fortunes by the Nirvana True Lord.

But Su Xiuqi's sudden return had rendered all their efforts meaningless, making them look like fools.

They certainly didn't dare to resent the Nirvana True Lord, nor would they dream of asking for their losses back.

They could only direct all their hatred toward Su Xiuqi, vowing to settle the score with him once their cultivation was high enough.

"Damn it, I'm not invited again!"

In the Battle Realm, Tao Chuan had also heard about the Nirvana Treasure Assembly, but he wasn't on the invitation list, which left him feeling utterly indignant.

'An existence like the Nirvana True Lord... if he's really sharing some great Creation, it's bound to be extraordinary!'

'But I'm not qualified to attend...'

"Fine, fine, fine! So that's how we're playing it, is it!"

This string of humiliations was more than Tao Chuan could bear. He was done pretending. He would use this gathering of the Burial Realm's Saint Realm experts to reveal his Half-Saint Body cultivation!

He still had a few Heaven-Burying Steles in his possession.

He hadn't handed them over to Su Xiuqi.

He had his own backing and trump cards; he had more than enough to claim his share of the inheritance.

...

News of the Nirvana Treasure Assembly was restricted to the Saint Realm level, so it didn't cause a major stir. Nirvana City continued to operate as usual, though in secret, Demon Saints from all over the Burial Realm were arriving one after another to attend.

「Three days later.」

At the entrance of the Nirvana Valley gorge, black and gold Nirvana Thunder Fire billowed as a host of Burial Realm Demon Saints—some ancient, others in their prime—sat cross-legged in the fabric of spacetime, awaiting a message from the Divine Envoy.

'Even a Great Saint must halt before the core of Nirvana Valley. I wonder what kind of Divine Technique that Nirvana True Lord used to transform this forbidden zone into his personal domain.'

Su Xiuqi gazed into the depths of Nirvana Valley. Though his realm had fallen, his senses were still sharper than those of an ordinary Saint Realm expert.

Prying into the core region, he found no trace of the Nirvana True Lord's aura. He guessed the man must be within the nine-colored thunder-fire, and a fresh wave of reverence washed over him.

When he had first advanced to the Great Saint realm, he had charged into Nirvana Valley, attempting to refine its Nirvana Thunder Fire into one of his Divine Techniques.

Unfortunately, he had been forced to stop before reaching the nine-colored thunder-fire, so he knew exactly how dangerous the valley's core truly was.

According to rumor, the Nirvana True Lord was a Saint Master recultivating after returning from a great tribulation. The last time he made a move, he had revealed cultivation at the peak of the Saint Realm.

But Su Xiuqi felt that was an underestimation.

'It's impossible for someone at the peak of the Saint Realm to survive in the core of Nirvana Valley,' he thought. 'It's far more likely that the Nirvana True Lord has already recovered his Great Saint cultivation!'

HUFF.

After retracting his probing senses, Su Xiuqi scanned the other Burial Realm Demon Saints in attendance. He noticed several old-timers who were rumored to have died long ago but were clearly still alive.

For example, opposite him sat an old demon completely shrouded in black mist. Within the mist, four Small Thousand Worlds were visible, each containing a looming, dark mountain.

The Black Mountain Demon Saint.

A contemporary of the Bixia Demon Saint.

He was rumored to have died in the Great Purge five thousand years ago, but his reappearance now made it obvious that he had faked his death to escape that calamity.

Fourth Layer of the Saint Realm.

He and the Bixia Demon Saint were the two strongest individuals present, roughly on par with each other.

'A dragon stranded in shallow waters...'

Su Xiuqi withdrew his gaze and sighed to himself.

Back when he had his Great Saint cultivation, he was the guest of honor no matter where he went in the Burial Realm. Even Demon Saints had to treat him with the utmost respect.

But now... his realm had fallen. He was truly a phoenix in distress, less regarded than a common chicken.

Even though this wasn't his true body, the assembled Demon Saints could see through him at a glance. Their gazes held surprise, sneers, and ridicule—everything but the reverence he once commanded.

It would be a lie to say he felt no sting from the fall.

However, it only strengthened his resolve to restore his cultivation by any means necessary.

'After this assembly,' he vowed silently, 'once I get the Heaven-Burying Steles from my adopted son, Tao Chuan, and wait for the entrance to the Emperor's Tomb to become safe again... that will be the day I reclaim my title as the strongest in the Burial Realm!'

SWOOSH~

The Demon Saints did not have to wait long.

Once everyone had arrived, the black and gold thunder-fire surged.

Dressed in an Evil Lotus Black Robe, Wu Dao emerged from a spatial passage. He appeared completely unremarkable, revealing none of his true power, yet his presence compelled all the Demon Saints to rise and bow in unison:

"We respectfully greet the Divine Envoy!"

Reputations, after all, cast long shadows.

In their eyes, the Nirvana True Lord was an unfathomable Saint Master, and his Divine Envoy was not someone they could afford to offend. It was only natural to greet him with courtesy.

"Mm," Wu Dao nodded indifferently, his gaze sweeping over the assembled Demon Saints. It lingered for a moment on Su Xiuqi, the Bixia Demon Saint, and the Black Mountain Demon Saint.

Of the nearly twenty Demon Saints present, only these three were the strongest.

Su Xiuqi was a prime example of the saying, "a starved camel is still bigger than a horse." It would be a grave mistake to treat him as an ordinary First Layer Saint.

If pushed, he could likely unleash power on par with the Bixia and Black Mountain Demon Saints. If that weren't the case, Su Xiuqi wouldn't have invited the Ten Great Demon Saints to share in the Emperor's Tomb.

As for Jia Baocai and Liang Chen, each of them was backed by an old demon on the same level as the Bixia Demon Saint. However, those old monsters likely had one foot in the grave and hadn't come in person.

"Since everyone has arrived..."

After sweeping his gaze over the Demon Saints, Wu Dao decided to dispense with the pleasantries. He was about to announce the start of the Nirvana Treasure Assembly—in other words, to upend the Heaven-Burying Alliance's plans.

But just then,

"Apologies, everyone. I'm a step late."

Ripples spread through the space at the valley entrance, and a powerful, resonant voice echoed from the other side.

Before the voice had even faded, Tao Chuan's brawny, wild, red-haired figure appeared before them all.

Wu Dao's eyes narrowed.

He didn't reprimand the newcomer.

Tao Chuan had hidden his power well, but it was impossible to hide from Wu Dao's magnetic field perception.

'A Transcendent Refining Semi-Saint...'

'Did he just break through, or did he reach this level long ago?'

At this thought, Wu Dao couldn't help but shoot a strange glance at the displeased-looking Su Xiuqi.

A Transcendent Refining Semi-Saint could fight someone in the Saint Realm!

But it was important to note: Tao Chuan's Horizontal Refining Mastery was the real deal. He had mastered the three most difficult paths, achieving the highest possible quality, and was now only a thin membrane away from becoming a true Saint!

This wasn't like Wu Dao, who had simply stacked his combat power to reach the Semi-Saint level.

The two were worlds apart.

His physical body's very essence had undergone a saintly transformation. Strictly speaking, Tao Chuan, with his Half-Step Saint Body, was already no different in combat power from a normal Saint at the First Heaven who had cultivated a single path.

He had deliberately hidden his cultivation. Wu Dao guessed he had been planning something rather... patricidal.

"Chuan, get back!"

Su Xiuqi was clearly unaware of Tao Chuan's true strength and merely rebuked him sternly. If Tao Chuan were to displease the Nirvana True Lord, he might lose his son today!

Su Xiuqi was actually quite satisfied with his adopted son, Tao Chuan.

He had pinned his own unfulfilled ambitions on the boy, who had the potential to achieve a full Sacred Body and a limitless future. Naturally, he didn't want to see him get into trouble by acting foolishly.

"Hmph. How presumptuous."

Liang Chen, clad in his Ten Thousand Dragons Robe, also had red hair. His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's and as predatory as a wolf's. Seeing Tao Chuan, one of his enemies, he let out a derisive sneer.

'A step late?' he scoffed. 'Everyone here is in the Saint Realm, all are renowned titans of the Demon Dao.'

'And you, Tao Chuan, are nothing but a two-faced servant.'

'A mere Creation Realm cultivator. What right do you have to attend this gathering!'

"Hehe. Alliance Leader Su, why so angry? If I had a son with such grand ambitions, I'd be laughing in my sleep," the Black Mountain Demon Saint said, his demonic mist churning. He was being deliberately sarcastic, kicking both Su Xiuqi and Tao Chuan while they were down.

"Whether I'm qualified is not for you to decide," Tao Chuan said, sweeping a cold gaze over the jeering Demon Saints before giving Su Xiuqi an indifferent look.

RUMBLE—

Then, a sound like a billion thunderclaps rolled from within his body, an apocalyptic roar. Wisps of indestructible, golden Holy Blood became visible as a sacred might instantly flooded the entire gorge!

'His body achieved sainthood?'

The Black Mountain Demon Saint's pupils constricted.

However, he quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

'The purity isn't high enough. He's only a Semi-Saint!'

'He's qualified to attend, but he's not a threat to me.'

'That bastard, he hid his strength so well!'

Liang Chen and Jia Baocai shot a wary glance at Tao Chuan, whose body now radiated a sacred might. They never imagined that the servant they had always looked down upon had silently become a Semi-Saint.

"You... Good, good, good!"

Su Xiuqi was utterly astonished. When he thought back on how Tao Chuan had always acted obediently and hidden his true abilities, a chill of belated fear ran down his spine. He gritted his teeth and spat out the three words!

'This treacherous son has revealed his cultivation now because he clearly has the confidence to defy me. I'll likely never get those Heaven-Burying Steles back.'

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