Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 436 - Sun-Moon Essence

"You can cultivate here and return once your time is up," the elder instructed, making every arrangement before letting the trio step onto the platform.

When the three stood on the platform, they sat with their legs crossed. The grey-robed elder glanced at them before leaving.

"There’s nothing special about this place. The spiritual energy\'s density isn’t even comparable to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion." Hong Li felt disappointed, wondering if they had come to a fake Celestial Spirit Cave. He ranted, unable to believe that this was the reward the sect had given them, unaware of the cave\'s hidden secrets.

"What a marvelous place. Look above. The crack seems to have split heaven and earth," Chen Lin remarked, gazing upward. The Celestial Spirit Cave was towering, likely several hundred meters high.

A crack, resembling either a blade\'s cut or a natural marvel, stretched across the ceiling. The platform was vast, spanning roughly a few thousand square meters, with light seeping through the crack and enveloping the entire area.

The three spread out to avoid disturbing each other during cultivation. It became clear why the Celestial Spirit Cave\'s reward took so long and required a queue—only three people could cultivate there at a time.

Liu Wuxie was equally curious about the crack, knowing it couldn\'t have been created by an ordinary weapon.

Without exchanging further words, they began their cultivation, isolating themselves from the outside world. As time passed, sunlight streamed through the crack, bathing the platform in a warm glow. The light felt soothing, as though it was purging impurities from their bodies.

"It feels comfortable!" Chen Lin and Hong Li emerged from their cultivation. They didn\'t dare to relax and quickly circulated their cultivation technique, increasing the flow of their true essence.

Sun-moon essence that can only be found in the Celestial Realm. Liu Wuxie thought. This wasn\'t ordinary light but the sun-moon essence, which was rare.

Places bathed in this light would promote growth in life, rejuvenation, and healing of diseases.

Chen Lin and Hong Li were absorbed in their worlds, forgetting their surroundings.

Liu Wuxie used Ghost Eye to infinitely magnify and observe the intricacies within the crack. It seemed connected to a mysterious world, and the sun-moon essence came from there.

"Could the crack be connected to the Celestial Realm?" Liu Wuxie fell into deep thoughts because sun-moon essence was rare in the True Martial Continent, and there was only one possibility.

Ghost Eye continued to extend through the universe; he saw a small crack from which the sun-moon essence was projected.

I got it now. There must have been a fight between two experts, shattering the plane and causing the world\'s aura to leak out, Liu Wuxie thought. This meant the plane\'s crystal wall had cracked, allowing law and energy to leak out from that world.

As time passed, there would only be two outcomes: the cracks would either repair themselves or grow larger.

He was still uncertain whether the sun-moon essence came from the Celestial Realm.

The cultivation of all three began to rise under the influence of the sun-moon essence.

Chen Lin was the first to make a breakthrough, reaching the seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Realm. The next was Hong Li, who smoothly made it to the fifth-level Heavenly Dipper Realm.

Liu Wuxie wasn\'t in a hurry and brought out the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron to devour the sun-moon essence. The surrounding light began to gather towards him.

This left Chen Lin and Hong Li speechless because cultivating with Liu Wuxie was a huge disadvantage for them. But they could do nothing about it because they relied on their abilities.

After the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron devoured the sun-moon essence, it was condensed into laws, not liquified energy.

"They\'re not laws belonging to the Celestial Realm." Liu Wuxie\'s eyes flashed with a hint of shock as he held onto that strand of law.

"Can there be other places similar to the Celestial Realm?" Liu Wuxie didn\'t dare to carry on thinking. Before his rebirth, he used to believe that there was only one Celestial Realm.

However, when he stepped into the True Martial Continent, Liu Wuxie realized the world and universe were far vaster than he had imagined. The appearance of the Spirit Clan made him aware of the many races that existed in the vast universe.

Although the laws didn’t belong to the Celestial Realm, they were several times stronger than the True Martial Continent. These laws could benefit him greatly if he absorbed them.

As Liu Wuxie gathered more laws, Chen Lin and Hong Li could do nothing; they couldn\'t capture the sun-moon essence, highlighting the disparity in their abilities.

Six hours passed, and the Celestial Realm plunged into darkness as all the sun-moon essence vanished. Thousands of laws hovered above the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, and Liu Wuxie believed his cultivation could rise significantly if he refined them.

"It\'s the sun essence in the day, and there should be moon essence at night. It should appear soon,” Liu Wuxie murmured as he calculated the time.

After a short while, faint moonlight began to shine, gentler than sunlight. It felt like small hands caressing their bodies, cleansing impurities and purifying their souls.

If the sun essence could strengthen their physiques, the moon essence would enhance their primordial spirits and expand their soul seas.

The Heavenly Dao Book unfurled and absorbed large amounts of moon essence.

The characters in the Heavenly Dao Book became clearer with many strange patterns that looked like inscriptions of heaven and earth imprinted on the book.

As the Heavenly Dao Book absorbed more moon essence, Liu Wuxie\'s soul energy grew stronger, making it easier for him to form the Soul Spear.

Liu Wuxie\'s soul energy could barely perform the Soul Spear once, and it took a long time for him to recover his soul energy after that.

However, if he could absorb enough moon essence and expand his soul sea, he might be able to use the Soul Spear two or three times. Each additional use could provide him with an extra chance at survival.

The moonlight lasted for two hours before gradually shifting away. This meant they would have to wait till the next day.

Hong Li departed a day later, having achieved a breakthrough to the next level. His talent had surged significantly, particularly with the expansion of his soul sea.

While his natural talent might have peaked at the low level of the Heavenly Phase Realm, the sun-moon essence enabled him to potentially reach the Astral River Realm within thirty years.

This was the benefit of the sun-moon essence, and it was no wonder why so many people wanted to enter the Celestial Spirit Cave.

According to the schedule, the Celestial Spirit Cave was accessible for only ten days each month, and despite the hundreds of thousands of people in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, it could only host three people at a time. Consequently, many had to wait a hundred years for their chance.

Hong Li left and returned to the house, waiting for Liu Wuxie and Chen Lin to finish before going back together.

The second day was the same as the first. Liu Wuxie\'s cultivation remained the same; he absorbed sun essence during the day with Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and moon essence with the Heavenly Dao Book at night.

On the third morning, Chen Lin left after making two subsequent breakthroughs in her cultivation, and she was already satisfied.

Liu Wuxie was the only one left on the platform and could absorb as much as he wanted now. He brought out the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron to absorb the sun-moon essence, devouring everything in the surroundings.

For the first two days, Liu Wuxie had restrained himself to avoid attracting attention, but now that he was alone, he felt free to absorb the sun-moon essence without limit. This essence, a gift from heaven and earth, was too precious to let go to waste, as it would otherwise dissipate into the universe.

Tens of thousands of laws accumulated above the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. After being transformed by the cauldron, the sun-moon essence became purer and was over a dozen times stronger than absorbed normally.

It wasn\'t night yet, and Liu Wuxie was prepared to make a breakthrough to strengthen his physique.

"Prepare to make a breakthrough!" Liu Wuxie took out millions of spirit stones and placed them on the platform. Each of his breakthroughs required an astronomical sum of resources.

He didn\'t dare to absorb all the laws condensed from sun-moon essence at once but started with a portion first.

Over three thousand strands of laws poured into the world in his dantian and nearly blew him apart. His bottleneck in the fourth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm broke through and reached the pinnacle of the fifth level, with powerful spirituality growing within Liu Wuxie\'s body.

Liu Wuxie\'s spiritual root began to reveal itself. Though initially weak, it had visibly improved after the sun-moon essence\'s cleansing.

"Excellent! My spiritual root has made significant progress. While it may not rival an immortal root, it is still quite exceptional." Immortal roots were extremely rare, with most people possessing only ordinary ones.

Liu Wuxie\'s spiritual root was different because it could grow along with his cultivation. After reaching the fifth-level Heavenly Dipper Realm, Liu Wuxie wasn\'t in a hurry and consumed some pills, further accumulating his foundation.

Half a day was left, and his goal was to reach the seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Realm. After reaching the seventh level, he still had a chance of winning against those in the low levels of the Heavenly Phase Realm.

The effects of the sun-moon essence were more remarkable than just making a few breakthroughs. The Heavenly Dao Book unfurled at night and enveloped in boundless radiance.

The Heavenly Dao Book slowly unfolded, its pages filled with mysterious characters. While Liu Wuxie couldn\'t decipher them, their presence didn’t hinder his cultivation. He was confident that understanding would come in time.

Two hours later, the sun-moon essence had disappeared entirely. Liu Wuxie had to leave the following day, so he wanted to use the remaining time to make a breakthrough.

The Heavenly Dao Book returned to Liu Wuxie’s soul sea with boundless power surging into his golden soul sea. It expanded from a mere pond into a vast, inexhaustible ocean.

According to Liu Wuxie\'s estimation, he could now use the Soul Spear three times with his soul energy. This was terrifying because his soul energy was comparable to the average low-level Heavenly Phase Realm.