Desolate Devouring Art

The crushing power behind Liu Wuxie's blade ray tore through the surrounding meridians, rupturing them one after another as countless cracks raced across their surfaces.

A thunderous explosion shook the passage when blade ray and sword ray collided. The impact unleashed a violent shockwave in both directions, collapsing the nearby meridians and sealing the passages beneath the rubble.

Liu Wuxie seized the opening without hesitation. He summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and devoured all five Metalline Stones in a single sweep.

At that moment, three cultivators appeared only twenty meters away.

"It's Liu Wuxie," the man leading them exclaimed in astonishment. He clearly had not expected to encounter Liu Wuxie there.

Liu Wuxie frowned and studied the three newcomers. He did not recognize any of them, so how had they identified him?

"Liu Wuxie, I never imagined we'd run into you here."

The three men immediately closed in, releasing powerful sword rays that ripped through the neighboring meridians. The collapsing passages twisted together into a tangled web, sealing every possible escape route around Liu Wuxie.

Although Liu Wuxie did not know who they were, their hatred could not have been more obvious. They most likely belonged to either the Shen Clan or the Zhu Clan.

No other explanation came to mind. The Wen Clan had already been destroyed, leaving only the Shen Clan, Zhu Clan, and Eastern Emperor Pavilion stalking him like starving wolves circling their prey.

Liu Wuxie had no desire to waste time fighting them. All three possessed cultivation at the lower levels of the Profound Immortal Realm. Against one, he had a thirty percent chance of victory. Against all three at once, his chances dropped below ten percent.

Once he broke through to the Spirit Immortal Realm, cultivators at the lower levels of the Profound Immortal Realm would no longer pose much of a challenge.

"Liu Wuxie, where do you think you're going?!" the leader roared when he saw Liu Wuxie preparing to flee. Unfortunately for the trio, the narrow meridian prevented them from charging forward side by side.

Liu Wuxie executed the Divine Ninefold Step and vanished through the passage within a few leaps, leaving all three men far behind.

They could only glare at his disappearing figure with bloodshot eyes.

"Notify the Shen Clan immediately. Tell them Liu Wuxie has entered the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm," the leader commanded.

Just as Liu Wuxie had suspected, the three cultivators belonged to the Zhu Clan.

After learning that the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm had opened, the Zhu Clan had dispatched numerous experts inside. Those three represented only a small part of their force, with many more scattered throughout the surrounding regions.

Once safely away, Liu Wuxie resumed refining the Metalline Stones. He dissolved them one after another into metal-attribute energy and merged their power with the Desolate World.

As the Heavenly Crest Divine Blade Art absorbed the metal-attribute energy, its strength continued to rise. Before long, the blade technique's raw destructive power had doubled.

With Ghost Pupil guiding him, Liu Wuxie repeatedly detoured through the winding meridians and minimized his chances of encountering other cultivators. No matter how many Metalline Stones he collected, their combined value still could not compare to the divine metal force.

The deeper Liu Wuxie ventured into the meridian network, the dimmer the surrounding light became. Eventually, only the faint glow radiating from the walls allowed him to distinguish the passage ahead.

By his estimation, he had already descended nearly a thousand meters. The divine metal force grew denser with every step, while the meridians became thicker and more resilient. The passages had also widened enough for four or five people to walk side by side.

Liu Wuxie had most likely reached the deepest region of the lungs, where their true essence resided. It was none other than the lung palace.

Beyond Liu Wuxie's own lung palace existed a boundless expanse of celestial bodies. That realization made him wonder what manner of gate awaited beyond the lung palace of this primordial giant.

The five elements corresponded to the lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and spleen. Behind every organ lay a profound and unfathomable power.

Liu Wuxie's priority was to locate the gateway into the lung palace. Once he crossed it, he would finally reach the divine metal force.

Before long, a golden gate emerged at the edge of Liu Wuxie's vision. That was the entrance to the Lung Palace.

Cultivators began to emerge from the surrounding meridians and converge within an enormous open region. The area resembled a vast plain forged entirely from gold. At its distant edge stood a mysterious golden gate, silent yet imposing.

That was the gateway to the Lung Palace, and waves of divine metal force poured from behind it.

"Quick. Get inside the Lung Palace," the cultivators spread across the golden plain shouted, unable to restrain their impatience as they charged toward the gate.

Liu Wuxie remained exactly where he stood, showing no intention of joining them. How could the lung palace of a primordial giant possibly allow intruders to enter so easily?

Nearly a hundred cultivators rushed to within a hundred meters of the gate.

A deafening rumble rolled across the golden plain as the gateway to the lung palace trembled. A terrifying golden aura erupted from behind it and condensed into countless golden arrows, which shot toward the approaching cultivators in a deadly barrage, catching them completely off guard.

The cultivators at the front went deathly pale. With no time to retreat, they threw themselves flat against the ground and prayed that the arrows would pass overhead.

They reacted far too late. Golden arrows pierced several Spirit Immortals and reduced their bodies to blood-drenched sieves. Only those at the higher levels of the Spirit Immortal Realm and the Profound Immortal Realm survived the volley, yet even they remained sprawled across the ground, too frightened to rise.

"What terrifying golden arrows!"

Those who had held back stared at the carnage in horror. They silently thanked their fortune for arriving later, knowing they would've otherwise joined the dead scattered across the golden plain.

That first volley alone killed seventeen cultivators.

Every arrow had condensed from divine metal force. Even ordinary cultivators at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm would struggle to withstand one head-on, revealing just how terrifying their destructive force was.

More cultivators streamed from the surrounding meridians like tributaries flowing into a river. Liu Wuxie used the swelling crowd to conceal himself among them. With many True Immortals present, no one spared him a second glance.

"The divine metal force is behind that gate. How are we supposed to reach it?" someone asked.

Discussion broke through the gathered cultivators as everyone searched for a way to open the Lung Palace's gateway. They all understood that reaching the next region required passing through the gate.

Even after a long debate, none of the cultivators at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm could devise a solution.

"Young Master Shen, do you know how to break through the gate to the Lung Palace?"

Roughly a thousand meters from Liu Wuxie, a young man stood at the center of everyone's attention, surrounded by dozens of cultivators.

"Young Master Shen is the Shen Clan’s greatest prodigy in a century. He's also a first-grade mentor of the Skymoon Dao Hall and an expert in astronomy and celestial signs. A mere gate could never pose a challenge, Young Master Shen."

The nearby cultivators flattered Shen Can, clearly hoping he would open the gateway and share the bounties with them.

Anyone could see that Shen Can was no ordinary cultivator. His cultivation ran so deep that no one could fathom its limits. Yet the constant flattery failed to stir him. He had heard such praise throughout his life and had long since become numb to it.

"Young Master, the Zhu Clan has sent word that they've discovered Liu Wuxie," a Shen Clan disciple whispered after hurrying to Shen Can's side.

The moment he heard Liu Wuxie's name, murderous intent flickered through Shen Can's eyes. Following an investigation, the Shen Clan had nearly confirmed that Liu Wuxie had killed Shen Shan.

Shen Shan was Shen Can's uncle, and they shared the same bloodline. News of his uncle's death had naturally enraged Shen Can. That was precisely why he had returned to Eastern Emperor City half a month earlier.

"Is the report reliable?" Shen Can asked in a lowered voice.

Even from afar, the surrounding cultivators sensed terrifying power gathering within his body.

"It's confirmed," the Shen Clan disciple replied with a firm nod.

The Zhu Clan had already begun contacting its remaining experts and preparing to encircle Liu Wuxie from every direction. Regardless of the price, they intended to kill him.

The Heavenly Divination Gate had received public credit for destroying the Shadow Divination Gate, but secrets never remained buried forever. Rumors had already begun spreading that Liu Wuxie was the true architect behind the Shadow Divination Gate's downfall.

Combined with the Wen Clan's destruction, those rumors only hardened the Shen Clan's and Zhu Clan's determination to eliminate him.

Liu Wuxie's cultivation might not have been particularly high, but his schemes inspired genuine fear in them. Through his wits alone, he had engineered the destruction of both the Wen Clan and the Shadow Divination Gate. To the two clans, that intelligence posed a far greater threat than overwhelming cultivation.

"This place has no exit. As long as Liu Wuxie remains inside, he has nowhere to run," the middle-aged man beside Shen Can said.

This middle-aged man had also reached the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm. The immense pressure radiating from him alone caused the surrounding atmosphere to stagnate.

Ever since the Zhu Clan had discovered his presence, Liu Wuxie had maintained a subtle disguise. As long as he avoided fighting and did not expose his aura, he felt confident that the Shen Clan would fail to recognize him.

Despite being nearly a thousand meters away, Liu Wuxie’s formidable mental energy allowed him to hear their entire conversation with remarkable clarity.

A faint frown appeared on Liu Wuxie's face. The Shen Clan had sent far more experts into the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm than expected. If he wanted to deal with them, he would need to eliminate them one by one.

Liu Wuxie's thoughts raced as he weighed every possibility. Confronting them was inevitable, so he needed to secure a means of protecting himself before that moment arrived. He could not evade them forever. The most effective solution remained the simplest one. He needed to kill them all.

With his present cultivation, however, Liu Wuxie could not defeat anyone at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm. Worse still, the Zhu Clan and Shen Clan had each dispatched several cultivators at that level.

Liu Wuxie rubbed his temples as he considered his predicament. He could not inscribe talismans within this place, leaving him no choice but to find another solution.

"If I gather all five divine elemental forces, I can forge the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt. Its power should be sufficient to kill cultivators at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm," Liu Wuxie murmured.

One divine elemental force would never be enough. He needed all five before the resulting power could surpass the talismans he had used to kill Wen Qiong and the others in Moon Reverence City.

Forging the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt would be exceedingly dangerous. The smallest error could trigger a premature detonation and claim Liu Wuxie's life.

I must obtain the divine metal force, no matter the cost. Liu Wuxie thought.

Madness flashed through his eyes. He knew this was the only path that might allow him to leave the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm alive.

Meanwhile, several experts at the higher levels of the Profound Immortal Realm began advancing toward the gateway to the Lung Palace. Layers of powerful defensive barriers wrapped around them, ready to endure the golden arrows when the critical moment arrived.

"Young Master, should we advance as well?"

The Shen Clan disciples gathered around Shen Can grew restless, each eager to charge toward the gate.

"All of you stay here. Third Uncle, come with me," Shen Can ordered.

The middle-aged man nodded and immediately stepped forward behind Shen Can.

Shen Can left the ordinary disciples behind while he and the middle-aged man advanced toward the gate. The two possessed the highest cultivation in their group and therefore stood the greatest chance of surviving the golden arrows.

In the next moment, more than a thousand experts began moving toward the gate.

As if sensing the approaching threat, the gateway shuddered and released another barrage of golden arrows. Every arrow carried an indestructible force.

Liu Wuxie's figure blurred as he surged forward and disappeared into the advancing crowd.

The surrounding cultivators erupted into mocking laughter when they saw Liu Wuxie advance.

"Has that brat gone insane? A mere True Immortal dares join them?" they taunted. None had ever encountered someone so eager to court death.

Liu Wuxie ignored them. He needed the divine metal force regardless of the danger, for his survival depended upon it. If he failed to forge the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt, the Shen Clan and Zhu Clan would eventually kill him.

Rather than stand by helplessly and wait for death, Liu Wuxie chose to seize the opportunity and move first.

Mocking laughter continued echoing behind him. The disturbance caught Shen Can's attention, drawing a brief frown as he glanced toward Liu Wuxie. He soon looked away without concern. In his eyes, an insignificant True Immortal would shortly be riddled with golden arrows and was not worth another thought.

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