Desolate Devouring Art

The twin spears merged into a complete scorpion tail and swept outward with crushing force. Poisonous needles erupted alongside the strike and pierced five or six Celestial Moon Dao Hall students. The poison swiftly overwhelmed them one after another, as they dropped to the ground, unable to fight.

With so many participants incapacitated, the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's spiritual array collapsed without assistance. Liang Han's team completed the encirclement immediately and subdued everyone who remained, bringing the team event to an abrupt conclusion. Within only a few moments, the Celestial Moon Dao Hall had suffered a complete defeat.

"How the hell did this happen?!" Zhu Gaoyang roared, clawing furiously at his hair. Victory had been within his grasp, only for the Azure Flame Dao Hall to overturn the entire battle in an instant.

"How would you judge that battle?" the Kang Clan's patriarch asked those seated around him.

"They remained steady and firm," the Yue Clan's patriarch replied.

Overall, the Azure Flame Dao Hall had little advantage.

"The Azure Flame Dao Hall prevailed because its students remained steady and firm," Xiang Zicheng added. "Their maturity played a critical role. Enduring such relentless pressure without losing their composure was no simple achievement, especially after several of them suffered grave injuries. Sheer willpower alone kept them standing."

The surrounding spectators nodded, finding no fault with Xiang Zicheng's assessment.

With the victor decided, Liang Han led his team down from the arena.

Countless gazes shifted immediately toward the Celestial Moon Dao Hall. Another defeat meant another mentor had to die.

Many Celestial Moon Dao Hall mentors began trembling, terrified of being on the chopping block next. Only now did they truly regret accepting Liu Wuxie's wager.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall had held every advantage, yet it still hadn't won a single match. One victory was all it needed to reverse the situation and crush the Azure Flame Dao Hall, but that lone victory continued slipping beyond its reach.

"Which one of you is coming forward to die?" Yi Zhong asked, stepping out and pointing directly at the Celestial Moon Dao Hall.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's mentors retreated one after another. No one was courageous enough to step forward. Their lives were the stakes of this wager, and fear spread rapidly among them.

"You've gone too far. What exactly can you do if I refuse to send anyone to their death?" Zhu Gaoyang asked, throwing Liu Wuxie's earlier words back at him.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall had abandoned all shame and openly refused to honor its side of the wager.

Jeers erupted across the venue. The Celestial Moon Dao Hall had clearly lost but refused to accept the outcome, despite every mentor having sworn the wager upon their souls.

"Killing any one of you couldn't be easier," Liu Wuxie replied.

He raised one hand and curled his fingers in a beckoning motion. A Heavenly Dao shackle descended abruptly from the sky and bound a Profound Immortal Realm mentor in place.

"What is happening to me? Why has something bound my primordial spirit?!" the mentor screamed in terror.

The spectacle stunned everyone, including both hall masters and the other experts. Every mentor who had sworn upon their soul had allowed Liu Wuxie to record their oath in the Heavenly Dao Book and lock it into place through the Heavenly Derivation Codex.

With Liu Wuxie's present strength, defeating a peak Profound Immortal in a frontal confrontation was difficult. Once he borrowed the power of the Heavenly Dao, however, the situation changed completely.

Had the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's mentors never sworn upon their souls, Liu Wuxie couldn't have done anything to them. That was precisely why he insisted that everyone take the oath from the beginning.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie commanded.

The Heavenly Dao shackle contracted without warning. The bound mentor convulsed violently before collapsing dead upon the ground. Liu Wuxie had not committed any physical attack. One raised hand had been enough to kill a Profound Immortal.

Fear instantly spread among the crowd. The ordinary cultivators felt it most keenly, as though an icy abyss had swallowed them whole. Watching Liu Wuxie kill someone with a casual motion was far too terrifying.

"What did you do to Mentor Geng, Liu Wuxie?!" Zhu Gaoyang roared furiously.

The dead mentor had been one of Zhu Gaoyang's friends, and witnessing his sudden death sent rage blazing through him.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's mentors finally lost their composure. None knew when the reaper's scythe might descend upon them, and waiting helplessly for death terrified them far more than confronting an enemy directly. Who could have imagined that Liu Wuxie could take their lives without launching a physical attack?

"That was the power of the Heavenly Dao. Liu Wuxie must have refined the Heavenly Derivation Codex and used the Heavenly Dao itself to kill Mentor Geng," Zhu Chaoyang roared, jumping to his feet with an expression bordering on madness.

Everyone knew Liu Wuxie had visited the Shadow Divination Gate, but no one knew what had happened to the Heavenly Derivation Codex afterward. Now, however, it became apparent that it had most likely fallen into Liu Wuxie's hands.

When everyone swore the oath, Liu Wuxie had recorded their souls and their connection to the Heavenly Dao within the Heavenly Derivation Codex. That explained how he could borrow the Heavenly Dao's power to kill them.

Countless people's expressions changed at the revelation. News that Liu Wuxie possessed the Heavenly Derivation Codex was explosive. He had already grasped a trace of the Heavenly Dao's power, and opposing him now seemed almost akin to defying the Heavenly Dao itself.

"No wonder the Celestial Moon Dao Hall keeps losing. Every one of those victories came from the Heavenly Derivation Codex," someone muttered.

Many people credited the Azure Flame Dao Hall's victories to the Heavenly Derivation Codex rather than Liu Wuxie. That explanation seemed far more believable than accepting that he had forged an almost invincible team in only three days.

"The Heavenly Derivation Codex possesses only the power of deduction. It cannot command the Heavenly Dao," the teenage sect master of the Heavenly Divination Gate said calmly.

No one present held greater authority to speak on the matter. The Heavenly Derivation Codex had originally belonged to the Heavenly Divination Gate before Hei Shan had stolen it and used its power to establish the Shadow Divination Gate.

"Sect Master, if the Heavenly Derivation Codex cannot command the Heavenly Dao, how did Liu Wuxie kill Mentor Geng?" the owner of the Skyhalberd Auction House asked respectfully. Despite the Heavenly Divination Gate's sect master appearing so young, the man showed him no contempt.

Ordinary people might not have known the truth, but every major expert present understood that the Heavenly Divination Gate's sect master was a spiritual child reincarnated into the world. It was even rumored that no womb had given birth to him and that heaven and earth had nurtured him instead.

Years ago, a Heavenly Divination Gate disciple had discovered an embryo nestled within a lotus while cleaning a pond. Ten months later, the lotus had finally bloomed, revealing the sect master of the Heavenly Divination Gate.

"The Heavenly Dao obeys laws of its own, and certain matters cannot be spoken aloud," the Heavenly Divination Gate's sect master replied. His youthful appearance contrasted sharply with the elder's composure in his voice, and he deliberately avoided answering the owner of the Skyhalberd Auction House directly.

Since the Heavenly Divination Gate's sect master clearly refused to reveal more, no one dared question him further.

Liu Wuxie kept his gaze fixed upon the Heavenly Divination Gate's sect master throughout the exchange, concerned that the youth might expose the Heavenly Dao Book's secrets.

Since merging with the Heavenly Derivation Codex, the Heavenly Dao Book had transcended the five elements. Even the sect master of the Heavenly Divination Gate could no longer calculate its existence.

After Liu Wuxie killed the Celestial Moon Dao Hall mentor, the competition continued. Zhang Hua had already entered the arena, yet no opponent emerged from the Celestial Moon Dao Hall.

The surrounding crowd gradually grew impatient and urged the Celestial Moon Dao Hall to act. Even after Zhang Hua waited inside the arena for fifteen minutes, no one stepped forward to face him.

The student originally selected to represent the Celestial Moon Dao Hall wet his pants at the critical moment and withdrew. The Celestial Moon Dao Hall had to search for a replacement.

Most of its students refused to enter the arena. Although they knew they wouldn't die during the match, defeat would cost a mentor's life, and they couldn't withstand the psychological burden.

The result of their battle would directly determine whether a mentor lived or died. That pressure alone left many Celestial Moon Dao Hall students struggling to breathe.

After a great deal of persuasion, one student finally agreed to compete and stepped forward.

"Go ahead and display everything you've learned. Clear your mind of every unnecessary thought," the spiritual array mentor instructed. He knew the student had no hope of displaying his full strength or defeating Zhang Hua unless he overcame every hesitation.

Nodding, the student leaped onto the arena and landed ten meters from Zhang Hua.

"You may begin," Zhang Hua said, gesturing toward him. He held no grudge against the student and therefore had no intention of killing him.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall student immediately produced four array compasses and hurled them around Zhang Hua. The moment they struck the ground, four spiritual arrays rose together and imprisoned him.

"How shameless! Zhang Hua showed him courtesy, and he repaid it with a sneak attack," a student from Azure Flame Dao Hall said.

Curses erupted from the Azure Flame Dao Hall's other students. In a confrontation of this nature, whoever attacked first naturally seized the initiative.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's conduct drew widespread contempt from the spectators, but those involved no longer cared how their actions appeared. Only the battle's result mattered now.

Zhang Hua maintained perfect composure. He beckoned with both hands, causing runes to materialize throughout the air. From the outset, he had never planned to use array compasses. Instead, he intended to dismantle his opponent's spiritual arrays with runes alone.

The newly created runes intertwined rapidly, forming even more intricate patterns before infiltrating all four array compasses.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall might have stood a chance in the team event, but victory in the individual competition was all but impossible. Zhang Hua had exceptional talent for spiritual arrays, and Liu Wuxie had spent considerable effort nurturing him over the past few months.

"What is Zhang Hua attempting? Does he intend to seize control of his opponent's spiritual arrays with runes?"

Many spectators couldn't understand his strategy. Most spiritual array battles involved both parties deploying formations before confronting each other directly, yet Zhang Hua hadn't done anything of the sort.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall student manipulated the four array compasses as he roared, "Heavenly Prison Array, Long Serpent Array, Thunder Dragon Array, and Great Deluge Array, activate!" All four spiritual arrays began circulating simultaneously, and each possessed enough power to kill Zhang Hua.

Attacks converged upon him from every direction, but Zhang Hua moved with graceful, weightless steps. He wove effortlessly through the spiritual arrays while their attacks repeatedly brushed past him.

Everyone's attention immediately shifted toward Zhang Hua's feet. "What an extraordinary footwork technique! It must have been designed specifically to dismantle spiritual arrays!" people commented. Those unusual movements allowed him to navigate and counter every spiritual array he encountered.

"That is the Meteor Step, a footwork technique Mentor Liu created," the surrounding Azure Flame Dao Hall students said proudly. They had also learned the technique, but none comprehended it as deeply as Zhang Hua.

Once the spectators learned that Liu Wuxie had created the technique, countless admiring gazes turned toward him. Experts filled the venue, and many had cultivation far beyond his level, yet no one could truly see through him.

Only a few months earlier, Liu Wuxie had stood in the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Yet after such a short span of time, countless cultivators could only raise their heads and look up to him.

"What magnificent footwork!" numerous spiritual array grandmasters praised. Zhang Hua's movements alone enabled them to perceive many hidden depths.

They had already resolved to study the technique carefully upon their return, hoping to draw valuable insights from it.

By relying on the Meteor Step, Zhang Hua moved through all four spiritual arrays without suffering the slightest effect. Whenever the arrays collided, their violent fluctuations created even more openings for him to traverse.

In spiritual arrays, quality mattered far more than quantity. Deploying too many formations simultaneously only caused them to interfere with one another.

Meanwhile, the runes suspended above the arena continued pouring into the four spiritual arrays.

"Reverse and transform!" Zhang Hua roared.

The four array compasses suddenly began spinning under Zhang Hua's control. Reversing their direction, they transformed into streaks of light and imprisoned the Celestial Moon Dao Hall student instead.

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