Desolate Devouring Art

A short while later, a big crowd of cultivators streamed through the entrance behind Shen Can.

"The weight of this world is crushing. This should be the spleen, and this time, we take the treasure before Liu Wuxie can," someone said.

What had unfolded inside the lung and heart palaces had turned everyone against Liu Wuxie, placing him at the top of their list of enemies. He had seized both the Divine Metal Core and the Divine Fire Core, and they would not allow him to claim this region's treasure as well.

The surrounding cultivators scattered at once, launching a widespread search for the Spleen Palace gate. The spleen didn't rival the lungs in size, but it still extended across thousands of miles.

Since the region prohibited flight, everyone had to travel on foot and scour every inch of the land. Completing such a search would consume a tremendous amount of time.

Shen Can lingered at the entrance instead of departing immediately. The Shen Clan disciples stood silently around him, none willing to speak a single word.

"Young Master, you search for the Spleen Palace gate. I'll continue hunting Liu Wuxie," Shen San said.

The hatred smoldering inside Shen San refused to fade. He would find no rest until he tracked down Liu Wuxie. The Shen Clan had suffered devastating losses within only a few days, and Shen San had already sworn to avenge every one of them.

"Watch yourself, Third Uncle," Shen Can replied with a nod.

Few people inside the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm possessed enough strength to threaten Shen San, so Shen Can felt little concern for his safety. He sent every elite disciple of the Shen Clan with Shen San, keeping only two people at his side.

"Move out," Shen San ordered, leading the remaining twenty-odd elites deeper into the region.

......

Within the wind cave's deepest reaches, the Desolate Devouring Art revolved through Liu Wuxie with mounting speed. Immortal energy gathered from the surrounding area, hardened into solid crystals, and hovered before him.

Liu Wuxie extended a hand and plucked one crystal from the air. It looked nearly identical to an immortal stone, yet the energy sealed inside possessed incomparably greater purity.

"The Desolate Devouring Art is condensing immortal energy into crystals... It must have advanced again," Liu Wuxie murmured, tossing the crystal into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

As he had done before, Liu Wuxie set aside a portion of the Divine Fire Core for crafting the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt. Demonic flame and heartfire coiled around what remained, intertwining as they released a suffocating torrent of scorching heat through his body.

The horrifying temperature turned his clothes to ash in an instant, leaving him seated naked upon the ground.

A deafening roar shook the Desolate World as vast torrents of fire-attribute energy flooded into it. The Fire Realm expanded with terrifying speed, and towering volcanoes erupted from the earth one after another. In the blink of an eye, their number soared from one to more than a dozen, with every new volcano surpassing the original in power.

Boundless fire-attributed energy sent the temperature of the Desolate World soaring. Unable to endure the oppressive heat, Ariel fled into a cave.

Throughout the Desolate World, lakes shrank and streams dried away. Liu Wuxie needed to find the Divine Water Core soon, or the five elements within the Desolate World would lose their balance. The five elements complemented one another even as they held one another in restraint. Only a stable balance among them would allow the Desolate World to continue evolving toward perfection.

The gateway to the ninth-level True Immortal Realm slowly took shape before Liu Wuxie. Unwilling to waste any time, he summoned the mysterious axe imprint at once. Through repeated invocations, he discovered that a faint connection had formed between them.

That tenuous connection allowed Liu Wuxie only to summon the mysterious axe imprint and draw upon its power. Truly controlling it remained far beyond his reach. The mysterious axe imprint had existed for too long, and its primordial aura resembled nothing Liu Wuxie had ever encountered within the celestial realm.

In the distance, several cultivators hurried toward the same area. The enormous wind cave contained countless passages, and the air currents racing through them produced cries eerily similar to wailing infants.

"The immortal energy here is unusually dense. Something is definitely happening inside."

Three men and one woman stood together at the wind cave's entrance. They were clearly members of the same traveling group.

"Could someone be breaking through in there?"

The disturbance surrounding the wind cave clearly defied the ordinary. Yet none of the four suspected Liu Wuxie because the scale of the phenomenon rivaled a breakthrough in the Profound Immortal Realm. They could not imagine a mere True Immortal producing anything so astonishing.

"There's only one way to find out. Let's go inside."

After exchanging glances, the four cultivators crossed into the wind cave.

The cavern burrowed deep into the mountain, where countless interconnected passages twisted together into a sprawling labyrinth. Tracking down anyone hidden within that maze would prove extraordinarily difficult.

The mysterious axe imprint plummeted from the sky and smashed the gateway to the ninth-level True Immortal Realm into countless fragments. At the same moment, the Desolate World drew in thousands of immortal energy crystals, which displayed even greater effectiveness than immortal stones.

The crystals swiftly melted into pure immortal energy permeated with earth laws. As that power entered the Desolate World, thunderous rumbling rolled through every corner. The earth compacted and grew heavier, as though an enormous quilt had descended over the entire world.

Nothing restrained the rise of Liu Wuxie's aura. Violent ripples radiated through the surrounding space, and his breakthrough carried him another step closer to the Spirit Immortal Realm.

Within only a few short months, Liu Wuxie had climbed from the Heavenly Immortal Realm to the pinnacle of the True Immortal Realm. Even he found the speed of that journey almost impossible to believe, as though he were moving through a dream.

In his previous life, he had needed an entire century to reach the Immortal Emperor Realm. At his current rate of advancement, returning to that height would not take long.

More immortal energy condensed throughout the surrounding air, forming triangular crystals that Liu Wuxie collected until not a single one remained.

Ordinary cultivators could neither gather the immortal energy drifting through the atmosphere nor rely on artifacts to accomplish the task. For that reason, most forces established their headquarters upon exceptional geomantic structures where abundant immortal energy naturally converged.

By compressing immortal energy into crystals, the Desolate Devouring Art had achieved what should have been impossible, allowing Liu Wuxie to store that power for future use.

The discovery delighted Liu Wuxie. Whenever he lacked immortal stones in the future, these crystals could take their place.

Over the span of only fifteen minutes, Liu Wuxie condensed more than ten thousand crystals from immortal energy and swept them into his interspatial ring. He continued until no trace of immortal energy remained in the surrounding atmosphere.

Stabilizing his cultivation came next. His unity with heaven and earth had begun falling behind, while the expansion of his soul sea no longer matched its former pace. He therefore needed to obtain a soul cultivation technique as quickly as possible.

Sharp cracks echoed through the wind cave. Deprived of such an enormous quantity of earth-attribute energy, the surrounding cavern had begun collapsing.

Liu Wuxie hastened the final stage of his breakthrough. The violent tremors shaking the Desolate World gradually faded as time passed, and his cultivation settled firmly at the pinnacle of the ninth-level True Immortal Realm.

Upon rising, Liu Wuxie called forth the Bloodthirst Blade. A single swing sent ripples coursing through the surrounding space and hastened the collapse of the ground beneath him.

"What incredible speed! If I catch a low-level Profound Immortal unprepared, one strike will be enough to kill them," Liu Wuxie said. A faint smile touched his lips as he returned the Bloodthirst Blade to storage.

Once he reached the Spirit Immortal Realm, Liu Wuxie would even dare confront cultivators at the high levels of the Profound Immortal Realm head-on.

The advantages produced by the Desolate World's consumption of two elements had grown increasingly obvious. Battling opponents above his cultivation had become considerably easier than before.

As Liu Wuxie finished gathering the array flags, nearby footsteps reached his ears. He reacted without hesitation, slipping behind a massive boulder and concealing himself.

"Something doesn't add up. The disturbance definitely came from this direction."

Four figures approached Liu Wuxie's hiding place, following the phenomenon his breakthrough had caused.

"Someone placed a spiritual array here," the oldest of the four said, crouching to examine the ground.

The lingering traces told him that a spiritual array had occupied the area only moments ago and that someone had dismantled it very recently.

"Whoever it was has probably gone. Let's keep moving," the man continued. After exchanging meaningful glances with his companions, he led them toward another wind cave.

Before they had covered even a hundred meters, the oldest man retrieved a cloak from his interspatial ring and spread it over all four of them. A strange transformation followed at once. Their auras disappeared entirely, and even mental energy could no longer sense them. The cloak was unmistakably an artifact designed to conceal aura.

Only after the four had left did Liu Wuxie emerge from behind the massive boulder. He had no interest in attracting needless trouble and saw no benefit in confronting them. Fear had nothing to do with his decision; he simply wished to avoid unnecessary complications.

The instant Liu Wuxie revealed himself, four figures hurtled back toward him and blocked every possible escape route.

"Liu Wuxie, it really is you," all four cultivators exclaimed together.

Refining the Divine Fire Core had burned away Liu Wuxie's disguise along with his clothes. At that moment, nothing but a thin robe covered his body.

A frown tightened Liu Wuxie's expression as he studied the four cultivators, and murderous intent flickered within his eyes.

"Senior Brother's Concealment Cloak is incredible. It fooled even someone like you," the woman said, breaking into a delighted giggle.

She had never imagined that a man as vigilant and cunning as Liu Wuxie would walk directly into the trap they had prepared.

"Liu Wuxie, are you going to surrender willingly, or must we force you to your knees?"

The way the four addressed one another as fellow martial brothers and sisters made their shared allegiance obvious. All of them belonged to the same sect.

Numerous sects surrounded Eastern Emperor City, and some wielded strength no weaker than the Shadow Divination Gate.

Their threat failed to disturb Liu Wuxie. His icy gaze moved over the four cultivators, each of whom possessed formidable cultivation at the Profound Immortal Realm. The oldest man had even reached the fifth level, making him an exceptionally difficult opponent to kill.

"Enough talk. The longer we delay, the greater the chance that something will go wrong. Kill him now and take the Divine Metal Core and the Divine Fire Core," the youngest man urged, unable to contain himself any longer. A longsword materialized in his grasp, its edge glistening with venomous light.

All four had personally watched Liu Wuxie slaughter numerous Spirit Immortals at the Heart Bridge, so none dared treat him lightly. The instant they moved, overwhelming force erupted from them.

Even with four enemies closing around him, Liu Wuxie appeared calm. Although he had dismantled the spiritual array, its cores still remained in place.

"Trifold Origin Sword!"

The youngest cultivator struck first, sweeping his longsword through the air and sending a torrent of sword rays crashing toward Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie had no intention of meeting an attack from a fourth-level Profound Immortal head-on. He executed the Divine Ninefold Step and disappeared from his position, leaving the sword rays to carve through empty air.

Now that the Divine Ninefold Step had reached lesser mastery, ordinary Profound Immortals could do little more than follow helplessly in Liu Wuxie's wake. The instant he reappeared farther away, array flags flew from his hand.

Constructing spiritual arrays had long since become instinctive at Liu Wuxie's current level. He needed only a short time to establish a lethal spiritual array. The array did not require overwhelming power as his goal was to only trap his opponents.

The crystals condensed through the Desolate Devouring Art finally revealed their value as Liu Wuxie sent them flying into the spiritual array's cores.

Powerful earth-attribute energy saturated every crystal. Liu Wuxie had constructed a simple spiritual array called the Earth Prison Array. Just as its name suggested, it harnessed earth-attribute energy to forge an immense prison around everything within its reach.

As soon as the array flags and crystals locked into position, colossal stone pillars erupted from the earth. They closed around the area with breathtaking speed, forming a gigantic prison that confined all four cultivators.

The sudden reversal blindsided the entire group. They had known that Liu Wuxie possessed heaven-defying fortune and astonishing immortal arts, but they had never imagined that his mastery of spiritual arrays could be equally monstrous.

Before even one of them could respond, the spiritual array completed its formation.

"Senior Brother, we are trapped," the youngest man exclaimed in panic.

"Stay calm. He's still only a True Immortal. Profound Immortals like us can't possibly be imprisoned by a spiritual array someone at his cultivation level created," the oldest man said calmly.

To the four cultivators, escaping the spiritual array appeared effortless. Tearing open a single gap would grant them their freedom.

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