Desolate Devouring Art

Their senior brother's reassurance restored everyone's composure. The four separated at once and advanced in different directions, carefully studying the spiritual array's circulation.

"Second Brother, Fourth Brother, break through from the left. Third Sister, we'll go to the right. Once we're clear of the spiritual array, everyone returns to the entrance and regroups there," the eldest man commanded without hesitation.

All four launched themselves forward, becoming streaks of light as they raced toward opposite sides of the spiritual array.

"No one has ever broken free from a spiritual array I've created," Liu Wuxie said with a cold sneer. His voice rolled in from every direction at once, denying the four any chance of locating him.

The disembodied voice sent a chill through the group, and their hearts began hammering inside their chests.

Explosions thundered from both sides of the spiritual array, but the colossal pillars refused to budge. Their attacks could not even make the array tremble, much less tear open a path to freedom.

Then something even more terrifying occurred. The moment their attacks struck the towering pillars, an overwhelming force rebounded against them. The woman and the fourth brother possessed the weakest cultivation among the four, and the fourth brother immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

The eldest brother and the second brother did not escape unscathed. Although the rebounding force didn't make them cough up blood, their violently heaving chests exposed the considerable internal injuries they had sustained.

"You call yourself a hero, Liu Wuxie? Stop hiding behind a spiritual array and come fight me face-to-face!" the second brother roared.

He had never imagined Liu Wuxie would choose such a method, imprisoning them within a spiritual array instead of meeting them directly in battle.

Of course, Liu Wuxie could never have trapped them so perfectly if they had not ventured into the wind cave of their own accord.

"You certainly enjoy hearing yourself talk. Try surviving my spiritual array before you challenge me," Liu Wuxie answered coldly.

He had no intention of wasting time arguing with them. He planned to finish the battle swiftly, then resume his search for the Spleen Palace gate. No number of treasures would matter if he failed to collect all five elemental divine cores and preserve his own life.

Liu Wuxie knew that more cultivators would join the hunt for him as time passed. Every moment he delayed sharpened the danger closing around him.

From outside the spiritual array, Liu Wuxie formed a rapid succession of seals with both hands. He summoned the power of the five elements and poured it directly into the array.

The five elements reinforced and restrained one another in perfect balance. With the remaining elements empowering it, the Earth Prison Array gained incomparable weight and bore down upon the four cultivators like a towering mountain.

A deafening rumble convulsed the wind cave. The immense pressure struck the four like a gigantic hammer, forcing blood from their mouths.

"Combine everything you have and strike one point," the eldest man roared as he fought his way back onto his feet.

Concentrating their strength offered a sound strategy, but they had gravely underestimated Liu Wuxie's mastery of spiritual arrays.

Four sword rays merged upon a single point and detonated with violent force, hurling clouds of dust through the air. Yet their combined assault managed only to punch a small hole through the spiritual array, nowhere near enough to destroy it.

Torrents of earth-attribute energy rushed into the opening almost immediately. The hole vanished within moments, and the repaired section became even more formidable than before.

"How is this possible?" the eldest man murmured, despair hollowing out his expression.

They were dignified Profound Immortals, yet a mere True Immortal had suppressed all four of them completely. Accepting such a reality felt impossible.

"Senior Brother... are we really going to die trapped here?" the woman asked. All color had drained from her face, and none of her earlier arrogance remained.

Death frightened everyone, and these four proved no exception.

"We are not dying here. Take out every artifact you possess. If we have no other choice, we'll detonate all of them. No spiritual array can withstand explosions that powerful," the eldest man declared, a ruthless gleam cutting across his eyes.

He immediately took out dozens of artifacts from his interspatial ring. Each possessed exceptional value, and two had even reached the level of the Profound Immortal Realm. If every artifact self-detonated at once, the resulting destructive force would surpass imagination.

The other three followed without hesitation, stripping their interspatial rings of every artifact they owned.

"Now!"

A longsword soared into the air, swelling rapidly as it approached one of the towering pillars. Its detonation would undoubtedly unleash enough power to rip through the spiritual array.

A short distance beyond the Earth Prison Array, Liu Wuxie observed their efforts with a faint smile of mockery resting on his lips.

Just before the longsword could detonate, a pitch-black vortex opened in the sky and swallowed the weapon whole.

The longsword vanished before the four cultivators' eyes without causing so much as a ripple.

"What just happened? Where did the longsword go?"

None of them realized that Liu Wuxie was controlling the black hole. An ability capable of devouring artifacts was so exceedingly rare that the possibility never entered their thoughts.

"Try it again."

The second brother summoned a spear and hurled it at the pillar with twice the speed of the longsword.

The instant the spear left his grip, the laws sealed inside awakened. Runes blazed brilliantly across its surface as the weapon hovered at the brink of detonation. Before it could explode, however, the black hole returned and consumed the spear in its entirety.

"What is happening?" the woman murmured. Her legs gave way beneath her as she dropped helplessly to the ground.

The disappearance of the first artifact might have been a coincidence, but when the second one vanished in precisely the same fashion, none of them could call it an accident.

Liu Wuxie refined the spear and longsword, then channeled every trace of energy extracted from them into the Desolate World.

"I don't believe he can keep doing this. All four of us attack together," the eldest man roared.

The woman forced herself to stand up, and each cultivator produced another artifact. They flung the four artifacts in separate sections of the spiritual array, planning to detonate them simultaneously.

As they waited for the artifacts to explode, four pitch-black vortices opened in midair and devoured them.

Horror froze the four cultivators in place. The appearance of those four black vortices crushed the final scraps of confidence they still possessed.

"Liu Wuxie, we're disciples of the Stormcloud Sect. If we've offended you, please forgive us. Show us some magnanimity and spare our lives," the eldest man pleaded, lowering himself until only one step separated him from kneeling.

Liu Wuxie had yet to strike them directly, but the spiritual array alone had already consumed most of their immortal energy. The four understood that continuing the battle would only bring them greater suffering. Before the situation became irreversible, they chose to bow their heads.

"It's too late," Liu Wuxie's icy voice resounded throughout the wind cave.

Liu Wuxie naturally knew about the Stormwind Sect, a prominent sect situated several thousand miles from Eastern Emperor City. Its sect master was an expert at the pinnacle of the Divine Immortal Realm. Yet Liu Wuxie had never feared the Shadow Divination Gate, much less the Stormwind Sect.

"You are being too arrogant, Liu Wuxie," all four shouted in unison.

They had already swallowed their pride and expected Liu Wuxie to accept their apology. Never had they imagined that he intended to leave none of them alive.

"I've heard enough from you," Liu Wuxie replied, pressing both hands downward.

Spiritual runes erupted from every direction as he forced the Earth Prison Array to contract, steadily stripping away the space in which the four could move.

"Senior Brother, what should we do now?" the fourth brother asked, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

All four were Profound Immortals, yet a mere True Immortal had driven them into absolute desperation. They had never endured such crushing humiliation in their lives.

"Don't stop attacking. We have to fight our way out," the eldest man shouted.

Their plea for mercy had failed, leaving brute force as their sole remaining option. The four gathered their strength once more and unleashed another furious assault upon the spiritual array.

The Earth Prison Array possessed no illusions and wielded no offensive power, yet it had still left four Profound Immortals utterly helpless. More importantly, Liu Wuxie continuously drew earth-attribute energy from the surroundings. Fed by that power, the pillars expanded rapidly from the width of buckets to the size of water vats.

Watching the spiritual array grow increasingly formidable destroyed the last hope within the four cultivators. Even their attacks began losing their earlier ferocity.

"Now it's my turn," Liu Wuxie said.

His sole purpose in constructing the Earth Prison Array had been to exhaust their immortal energy. The long-awaited opportunity had finally arrived. In one fluid motion, Liu Wuxie unleashed the Divine Mystic Yin Needle, and summoned the crossbow into his grasp by activating the Divine Tribulation Pupil.

Combining those three methods gave him more than enough power to dispose of all four cultivators.

A white arrow tore free from the crossbow and streaked toward the youngest member of the group. The crushing pressure had already shattered his mental state, robbing him of any meaningful combat strength. The arrow punched effortlessly through his body and dragged a spray of blood across the air.

"No, Fourth Brother!" the eldest man roared hysterically, grief twisting his features. He rushed forward and caught the youngest man's lifeless body before it struck the ground.

Meanwhile, the wind cave collapsed with mounting speed because nearly all the surrounding earth-attribute energy had been drained away.

The Divine Mystic Yin Needle pierced the woman's defenses, and an immense crushing force descended upon her from above. Countless cracks spread through her internal organs beneath the impact.

"Then I'll take you down with me," the woman roared, charging forward as she prepared to self-destruct.

"Third Sister, don't," the remaining two men shouted. They tried to intercept her, but she had already reached the boundary of the spiritual array.

A black hole awaited her there and swallowed her whole.

After watching their two companions die, the two survivors exchanged a glance and found the same bitter self-mockery in each other's eyes. They had entered the wind cave believing themselves to be the hunters, only to become the hunted. Only now did they grasp the full extent of their mistake.

At last, they understood why the Shen Clan had suffered one setback after another. The Shen Clan did not lack strength; Liu Wuxie was simply far too cunning. His methods struck without the faintest warning, making them almost impossible to guard against.

The Divine Mystic Yin Needle continued its relentless assault, forcing both men into a desperate struggle. At the same time, the contracting Earth Prison Array stole away more of their room to maneuver, leaving them almost incapable of threatening Liu Wuxie.

Under the unceasing barrage of the Divine Mystic Yin Needle and the crossbow, bloody holes soon riddled their bodies.

Liu Wuxie's figure blurred before materializing inside the Earth Prison Array.

"Cut them down," he roared.

The Bloodthirst Blade descended from the sky and split the air, leaving a crimson arc in its wake. A curtain of blood rose behind the blade as two severed heads flew into the air.

Through the power of the spiritual array, Liu Wuxie had eliminated four Profound Immortals. He gathered their belongings, retrieved the array flags, and departed from the wind cave without delay.

The moment Liu Wuxie emerged, the wind cave collapsed behind him and buried every trace of the battle. After stepping out on the yellow sand, he activated Ghost Pupil and directed his vision toward the distant horizon.

The spleen widened at the top and narrowed toward the bottom. If Liu Wuxie's reasoning proved correct, the Spleen Palace gate would stand at its lowest point.

From the distance, the mountain range looked like an immense staircase descending toward the horizon. Liu Wuxie occupied its highest point, while the mountains ahead steadily leveled out into the lowlands. Their orderly formation lent further weight to his theory.

Without wasting another moment, he executed the Divine Ninefold Step and streaked toward the mountain ahead.

The other cultivators had evidently reached the same conclusion, for all of them were racing toward the lowlands as well.

Liu Wuxie encountered few people during his journey, suggesting that most cultivators had already passed through the area.

......

Every member of Shen Shan's group remained in the surrounding region, their bodies coated in dust and their mouths clogged with sand.

"How long do we have to keep doing this? Are we ever going to find Liu Wuxie?" the disciples complained in mounting frustration.

They had entered the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm to seek treasures, yet they had obtained nothing and lost many companions along the way.

"Stop complaining and keep looking," Shen San barked, spitting sand from his mouth. His own mood had already fallen to its lowest point.

......

Elsewhere, Liu Wuxie abruptly stopped atop a mountain ridge and scanned the surrounding landscape. The Heavenly Dao Book had pulsed only moments earlier, making him wonder whether another hidden treasure lay somewhere within this region.

Had the treasure been the Divine Earth Core, the Desolate World should have warned him. The Heavenly Dao Book had no apparent reason to react in its place.

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