Chapter Fifteen: The Sacred Vessel of the Great Path, The Dragon of Vital Essence

On the Emperor’s Path of White Bones, countless lingering consciousnesses observed Wang Fan fiercely battling the young Emperor Wu Shi. When they realized that Wang Fan was also an heir to the Supreme Emperor Sutra—indeed, the successor of the peerless Female Emperor, the most talented woman of antiquity, inheritor of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art—they did not hesitate. The defeated ones on this imperial road immediately ignited the last vestiges of essence within their bones, hoping to aid the successor of the Female Emperor in passing this trial and continuing the legacy.

Endless essence permeated the trial space, thick and saturating every corner. As Wang Fan activated the Devouring Heaven Demon Art, countless streams of essence rushed into his body through the Baihui acupoint, sustaining him despite his grievous injuries.

Once, he was beaten back, but Wang Fan refused to admit defeat. Ten times he was repelled, yet he still would not concede. By the twelfth retreat, the arena was drenched in his blood, a crimson sheen covering more than half its surface—all coughed up by Wang Fan. Now, he was critically wounded and shattered; without the miraculous properties of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art, he would have perished outright.

Though battered, Wang Fan’s resolve remained unbroken. The belief that he could defeat the emperor, utterly and completely, persisted. With every devastating blow from the young Wu Shi’s Supreme Fist of the Western Emperor, Wang Fan grew calmer, contemplating his own inheritance. He pondered whether he could employ the cultivation and killing technique of the so-called Great Dao Bottle.

During these repeated confrontations, Wang Fan attempted, more than once, to form the seal of the Great Dao Bottle, striving to manifest it and oppose the young Wu Shi; he believed that only then would he stand a chance of victory.

Perhaps Wang Fan truly possessed extraordinary talent in combat; after twelve defeats, his understanding of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art deepened. With this new insight, he was finally able to wield the supreme killing technique recorded in the art—the most basic version of the Great Dao Bottle.

The divine art described in the Devouring Heaven Demon Art held unfathomable power at its ultimate level. According to its records, the Great Dao Bottle: upon reaching a certain realm of comprehension, one could forge this vessel as a carrier of the Dao, gathering boundless power and possessing immense might. The Great Dao Bottle was simple and natural, its form unadorned, invoking the sense of the Dao’s utmost simplicity. It could suppress all worlds, mysterious and unfathomable. The practitioner formed the “Great Dao Bottle Seal,” with the bottle mouth at the joining of both hands, swallowing the essence of sun and moon, the primordial energy of heaven and earth. The bottle flashed with dark light, suppressing all worlds, holding immortal power, devouring the very source of great worlds—mysterious and unpredictable, capable of consuming all creation.

The ultimate version could devour the source of worlds, but Wang Fan now could only form the most basic bottle, able merely to swallow essence, incapable of bearing supreme Dao arts, unable to consume the world’s source or annihilate mountains and rivers with a breath.

Yet, even the ability to swallow mere essence was enough.

Standing on the arena, Wang Fan’s thoughts cleared. He formed the seal of the Great Dao Bottle; as the seal took shape, the essence in his Sea of Bitterness underwent its greatest upheaval—every drop surged into his arms, condensing into a radiant bottle of pure essence.

The appearance of this bottle rendered Wang Fan extremely pale, but a trace of excitement bloomed on his wan face. The condensation of the bottle thrilled him; once formed, it immediately unleashed its greatest power: swallowing essence.

What was most abundant in this trial space? Essence, limitless and unclaimed.

All the boundless essence in the trial space was drawn into the Great Dao Bottle, transformed, and poured back into Wang Fan’s body, restoring color to his cheeks, nourishing him, and fueling his growth.

Then, with a sweeping gesture, Wang Fan released the vast essence from the bottle, directing it to form a dragon of pure essence.

The essence dragon, with its vicious claws and razor-sharp fangs, charged straight at Emperor Wu Shi.

Facing the essence dragon, the young Wu Shi’s handsome face remained unchanged—calm and composed.

The Supreme Fist of the Western Emperor!

The young Wu Shi unleashed this punch, imbued with the mysteries of the Western Emperor’s Dao, smashing down like a colossal millstone, shattering the very air. Nearly invincible, the ferocious essence dragon was pierced through by this unstoppable fist.

Even at his youthful stage, Wu Shi was extraordinary; such an essence dragon was easily destroyed with a single blow.

The Supreme Fist of the Western Emperor embodied the Dao and law of the Western Emperor.

The essence dragon was merely a manifestation derived from Wang Fan’s Great Dao Bottle; his understanding of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art was still rudimentary, so while the bottle was a supreme technique, his shallow comprehension meant the essence dragon it produced was naturally weak.

After one essence dragon was destroyed, Wang Fan’s expression remained unchanged. He continued to wield the Great Dao Bottle, unleashing more dragons of pure essence.

Wang Fan intended to employ a delaying tactic, using the dragons spawned from the bottle to buy time and search for Wu Shi’s vulnerabilities.

Had this battle taken place elsewhere, Wang Fan’s strategy would have failed; essence was not something easily obtained, especially during combat when it was rapidly depleted. In other places, forming even one essence dragon would be the limit.

But this trial space was different. Thanks to the last remnants of power from the failed human cultivators and heroic spirits, endless essence flooded the realm—enough to let a practitioner of emperor-level arts progress from the Sea of Bitterness to the pinnacle of the Wheel Sea.

So much essence, and all unclaimed. Seizing another’s essence in battle was extremely difficult; even as a successor of the demon-laden Devouring Heaven Demon Art, Wang Fan would find it hard. But with unclaimed essence, he could easily harness it, using his basic Great Dao Bottle to transform the essence into dragons for combat.

Dozens of essence dragons swirled around Emperor Wu Shi.

Meanwhile, Wang Fan clutched the Great Dao Bottle, channeling the essence in his Wheel Sea to heal his wounds—tending to himself while watching Wu Shi for weaknesses.

He observed… several minutes passed, and Wang Fan discovered a terrifying truth: even as a youth, Emperor Wu Shi was utterly defiant of the heavens. In these minutes of combat, he revealed no flaws whatsoever; instead, all the essence dragons were annihilated.

At this point, Wang Fan had only partially recovered from his injuries and remained gravely wounded. Under such circumstances, to directly clash with Wu Shi was nearly impossible. He could not create more essence dragons either, as all the surrounding essence had been formed into dragons and subsequently destroyed by Wu Shi—no essence remained for forging new ones.

Was defeat inevitable? Would he fail the emperor-level trial?

Just then, the young Wu Shi, approaching Wang Fan, abruptly stopped. His apparition began to fade, and from the void came a voice—mechanical, yet somehow intimate to Wang Fan, the trial taker.

“The time of one incense stick has elapsed. The trial taker has not been slain. Judgment: emperor-level trial passed.”

The voice resounded through the trial space like a mighty bell. Upon hearing it, Wang Fan exhaled in relief, collapsing onto the arena, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Even a young emperor is still an emperor, far beyond my current ability to handle. I must become stronger—my constitution, my arts, my foundation must all be strengthened. Only then, when next I challenge the emperor-level trial, will I pass not by enduring time, but by true strength!