Desolate Devouring Art

A storm of sword rays exploded outward in every direction, their reach spanning a thousand miles.

Shen San opened the battle with his strongest attack, refusing to underestimate Blackie. Once the creature lay dead, he could settle his blood debt with Liu Wuxie. His mind already teemed with cruel methods of torture, for simply killing Liu Wuxie would be far too merciful.

Blackie showed no response to Shen San's assault. It merely stood there with a blank expression and watched the attack descend.

Concern briefly flickered through Liu Wuxie's eyes. For one uneasy moment, he wondered whether Blackie possessed nothing beyond an intimidating appearance. Their earlier exchange, however, had already demonstrated the terrifying depth of its combat strength.

Shen San's sword struck Blackie's shoulder with a sharp metallic clang. Not even the faintest scratch appeared upon Blackie's skin. Instead, the impact chipped Shen San's blade.

"This can't be," Shen San muttered, stumbling backward as fear flooded his eyes.

Shen San knew that even a low-level Origin Immortal would have avoided that strike rather than withstand it head-on. Yet the black creature had absorbed its full power without suffering so much as a superficial wound.

"What kind of monstrous physique is that?" Shen San exclaimed, his face going pale with fear.

The urge to flee seized him immediately. Pressure rolled from Blackie with increasing force, deepening the unease in Shen San's heart with every passing moment.

A faint smile formed across Liu Wuxie's lips. Only now did he understand that he had still underestimated Blackie's true combat strength.

Blackie bared its teeth and slowly raised the black staff above its head. Dim radiance descended from the heavens, spreading across the surrounding area and locking Shen San firmly in place. The crushing pressure sent uncontrollable tremors through his body, as though the fabric of space itself had become his prison.

A suffocating force swept through the surroundings and pressed against Shen San from every side. Space seemed to harden around him, leaving him trapped and trembling violently.

Even then, Shen San refused to yield. He released a furious roar and slashed his longsword to release sword rays. This time, however, he abandoned all thoughts of clashing with Blackie head-on. He constantly shifted his position and adopted a guerrilla-style approach, searching desperately for an opening or weakness in the creature's defenses.

Blackie's staff came crashing from the sky before Shen San's longsword could reach its target.

A thunderous detonation shook the battlefield as the staff smashed Shen San into the ground. His body spasmed helplessly beneath the impact, and there was no telling how many bones the blow had shattered.

"That's all it took?" Liu Wuxie asked.

He stared in disbelief at Shen San's motionless body. He had anticipated a fierce battle that would shake heaven and earth, yet Blackie had ended the fight with one strike.

The moment Shen San fell, Blackie turned toward Liu Wuxie and extended its hand, demanding more crystals.

Liu Wuxie responded without hesitation, placing one hundred crystals into Blackie's palm. Delighted, Blackie began devouring them one after another.

Shen San still lived, but he lay helplessly sprawled across the ground without enough strength to move. Blackie's strike had shattered every bone in his body and crushed his internal organs into fragments. Though severely injured, he wouldn't die immediately.

"What's the matter? Disappointed?" Liu Wuxie asked with an innocent smile as he crouched beside Shen San.

That faint mockery drove Shen San's rage to new heights and made him cough up another mouthful of blood. If he could stand, he would have torn Liu Wuxie to pieces without a second thought.

"You shameless bastard, Liu Wuxie. You had a monster ambush me," Shen San roared, utterly incapable of accepting his defeat.

In Shen San's mind, a fair one-on-one battle would have allowed him to kill Liu Wuxie with a single strike.

Liu Wuxie ignored every curse. He summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and used it to extract every trace of energy and law from Shen San's body.

Before half a breath had passed, nothing remained of Shen San except a shriveled heap of skin.

The feud between Liu Wuxie and the Shen Clan had long crossed the point of reconciliation. Only one side could survive, leaving Liu Wuxie no reason to spare Shen San. He had already decided that after leaving the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm, he would turn his attention toward the Shen Clan and the Zhu Clan.

Inside Shen San's interspatial ring, Liu Wuxie discovered several hundred thousand immortal stones and promptly stored them away. The drifting yellow sand soon covered and swallowed the shriveled skin left behind.

Stillness reclaimed the battlefield. Who could have foreseen that someone at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm would ultimately lose his life to Liu Wuxie?

Liu Wuxie resumed his journey at once. With Blackie beside him, encounters with other cultivators no longer concerned him.

"Blackie, are there any others like you?" Liu Wuxie asked.

If Liu Wuxie could recruit several more creatures with Blackie's terrifying strength, he could roam Eastern Emperor City without fearing anyone.

Blackie answered with a simple shake of its head.

The pair continued onward without urgency. Blackie could neither fly nor use the movement techniques cultivated by humans. At their current pace, Liu Wuxie couldn't predict how long it would take them to reach the Spleen Palace gate.

With no better solution, Liu Wuxie sent Blackie into the Desolate World. Tremendous changes had transformed the desolate world beyond all resemblance to its former state, and its various realms could now develop independently.

Blackie offered no resistance, for it cared little about where it stayed. The instant it entered the Desolate World, however, the lush flowers, plants, and trees made its eyes shine. Delighted by the scenery, it immediately raced around in excitement.

No longer needing to keep a slow pace, Liu Wuxie executed the Divine Ninefold Step again and drove it to its limit. Each leap easily carried him across several thousand meters.

The mountains ahead steadily diminished in height, confirming that the Spleen Palace gate was drawing near. Even so, Liu Wuxie understood that entering it would be challenging.

Countless arrows forged from metal-attribute energy had guarded the Lung Palace, while the treacherous Heart Bridge had protected the Heart Palace.

A vast crowd of cultivators had already assembled outside the Spleen Palace gate. Every one of them had traveled without rest, desperate to arrive before their rivals.

"Shen Mo, why are you back? Where is Elder Shen San?" one of the two disciples beside Shen Can asked as he approached the distant Shen Clan group.

Those Shen Clan disciples had originally accompanied Shen San in Liu Wuxie's pursuit. When Shen San had raced ahead, leaving them behind, they could only abandon the chase and return to Shen Can.

"Elder Shen San continued pursuing Liu Wuxie," the returning Shen Clan disciples replied before recounting everything that had occurred.

"Excellent! Elder Shen San stands at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm. Let's see how Liu Wuxie escapes him this time," the two Shen Clan disciples exclaimed, clenching their fists with excitement.

"Shen Mu, why haven't you entered the Spleen Palace yet?" Shen Mo asked.

Only a few hundred meters separated them from the Spleen Palace gate. It rose like a colossal mountain planted vertically into the earth and dominated the entire landscape. A vast stretch of uneven ground sprawled before it. Countless cultivators crowded along the boundary, yet none dared take another step closer.

More than a dozen corpses lay scattered across the rugged terrain, each belonging to a cultivator who was once a pinnacle Profound Immortal.

"It's a long story," Shen Shui said, releasing a weary sigh.

Had entering the gate been possible, they would have done so long ago instead of remaining stranded outside.

"Is it dangerous even to approach the Spleen Palace gate?" Shen Mo asked.

He saw nothing remotely threatening beyond the uneven terrain that extended before the gate.

Without explaining further, Shen Shui merely shook his head and led the returning Shen Clan disciples toward Shen Can to offer their greetings.

"We've already wasted half a day waiting here. Someone needs to find a solution because we can't stay trapped outside forever."

The cultivators gathered around the field grew increasingly impatient as time dragged on.

"Golem formation is the greatest obstacle. Anyone who advances will die unless we find a way through it."

The cultivators formed groups and debated possible strategies. By then, they had realized that nature had not created the uneven terrain. Instead, it consisted of particles released by the Spleen Palace that could transform into golems.

"All the peak Profound Immortals, let's work together. With this many people, there's no way we still can't force a path through!"

Several peak Profound Immortals began assembling teams and drawing more experts into their ranks. They believed that overwhelming numbers offered them the best chance of breaking through.

After fifteen minutes, the group had grown to more than a hundred cultivators. Gong Shangming, a native of Moonveil City, stood at their head. His Gong Clan held immense influence throughout the city and occupied equal standing with the Qin Clan.

"We move in a fan-shaped formation. That will let us attack and retreat together as one. Stay close and follow my lead!" Gong Shangming said while explaining his strategy.

The cultivators nodded in quick agreement. They arranged themselves into a fan-shaped formation and advanced toward the uneven ground.

"Young Master, what are we supposed to do?" Shen Mo and the other Shen Clan disciples asked anxiously.

More than fifty members of the Shen Clan had entered the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm, but only seventeen remained alive. With their numbers so greatly reduced, they could no longer assemble a truly formidable team.

The Zhu Clan, by comparison, had sustained far fewer losses inside the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm.

"Every one of you stays here," Shen Can ordered before turning into a streak of light and shooting forward.

Shen Can's pride would never allow him to lower himself by cooperating with anyone else.

The Zhu Clan had also recruited numerous cultivators to its side. Wei Wenbin, Jiang Hongran, and their companions strengthened the group further after joining them. Once the team had fully assembled, Zhu Li immediately led everyone onto the uneven ground.

The battle had already raged across the field when Liu Wuxie arrived, allowing him to approach without attracting anyone's attention.

As soon as Gong Shangming stepped onto the uneven terrain, stone golems erupted from beneath the surface one after another. They moved with perfect unity and formed a thick wall across the path ahead.

Gong Shangming brought down his sword, releasing a powerful sword ray that ripped a gap through the golem formation. He immediately led his team through the opening.

A thunderous explosion followed when one cultivator failed to dodge in time. A stone golem's fist smashed into him and burst him apart in midair.

These stone golems could both move and attack. Within only a few moments, they struck down more than a dozen cultivators and left them sprawled across the ground in agony.

Shen Can moved with terrifying speed, slipping effortlessly between the approaching stone golems.

"Shen Can, you shameless bastard! We opened that gap, and you charged through it to steal the lead?!" someone shouted.

Condemnation erupted from countless cultivators. They had torn the opening through the stone wall, only for Shen Can to exploit their efforts and rush ahead.

Shen Can paid no attention to their accusations and continued accelerating. At that moment, a colossal stone golem burst from the earth. It towered dozens of meters into the air before sending an enormous fist crashing toward him.

"Shit!" Shen Can exclaimed.

The stone golem's attack carried power comparable to the Origin Immortal Realm. Shen Can immediately twisted backward through the air and retreated.

"Everyone, get back," Gong Shangming roared, swiftly ordering the cultivators behind him.

His warning came too late. The sudden retreat shattered the formation and triggered a stampede, throwing several cultivators backward before they crashed heavily against the ground.

As the colossal stone golem's fist continued its descent, a powerful shockwave exploded outward and drove the surrounding stone golems toward the crowd.

"Aaargh!"

"No, my leg!"

"My arm!"

Screams tore through the battlefield from every direction.

In the blink of an eye, more than thirty cultivators had been struck down and rendered immobile. They could only stare helplessly as the remaining stone golems continued charging toward them.

The assault ended in complete failure. They had not broken through the stone golems' formation and had instead lost more than thirty cultivators, casting a pall of despair over the survivors.

"Damn it! One of those stone golems crushed my arm!" a cultivator who had escaped roared in frustration, staring at the mangled ruin that remained of one arm.

The ordinary Profound Immortals and Spirit Immortals watched with lingering terror, secretly relieved that they had not joined the charge.

The colossal stone golem rose even higher than the Spleen Palace gate. Without the ability to fly, forcing a path through its overwhelming defenses was virtually impossible.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!