Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 176 - Fourth-Level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm

Liu Wuxie, having gathered the necessary materials, established a spiritual array to ward off any disturbances. Once everything was in place, he sat on the bed, retrieved the Earth Origin Pill, and ingested it.

A powerful energy surged through Liu Wuxie’s body. Consuming this pill would provide a fifty percent probability of achieving a breakthrough for an individual in the Marrow Cleansing Realm. However, the likelihood of a breakthrough was virtually certain for someone like Liu Wuxie, who was in the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

Liu Wuxie’s cultivation had advanced to the second level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm by refining the energies absorbed from Lu Huangzhong.

Upon consuming the Earth Origin Pill, his cultivation further progressed to the third level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

Experiencing two consecutive breakthroughs in his cultivation was an unprecedented event for Liu Wuxie. It was no surprise that many students preferred venturing out; the limited resources provided by the academy were insufficient for their cultivation needs.

To prevent the Desolate Devouring Art from devouring spiritual energy from the surroundings and causing an unwanted commotion, Liu Wuxie used over 100 spirit stones to fuel the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Liquid flowed out from the cauldron and merged into his dantian.

Liu Wuxie’s cultivation began to rise, swiftly reaching the pinnacle of the third-level Spirit Cleansing Realm. He then proceeded to consume over thirty fourth-grade pills. Thanks to the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, he didn’t have to worry about any adverse effects from consuming such a large quantity of pills.

As the pills entered his body, they were consumed by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, transforming into fresh energy that nourished him without causing any side effects.

While these were just ordinary fourth-grade pills, their sheer quantity was significant. After consuming more than thirty of them, Liu Wuxie’s cultivation level continued to rise, nearing the fourth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

As time passed, an unexpected group of black-clothed men appeared on Dragon Head Mountain.

“Third Princess, are you alright?” They were the third princess's personal guards, who had somehow lost their way halfway.

“I’m fine. Handle the matters here quickly. I have to look for someone.” Chen Ruoyan had stayed on Dragon Head Mountain to wait for the arrival of her guards. The scarcity of food and weapons in the Great Yan Dynasty made them invaluable assets, which was why Chen Ruoyan was determined to guard this place and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

After giving instructions to her guards, Chen Ruoyan set off alone, likely in search of Liu Wuxie. “Princess, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone. Allow me to accompany you,” a man in his thirties offered, stepping forward to ensure her safety.

“There’s no need. I’ll be in Mulberry Town. You can come find me after you’ve taken care of everything here,” Chen Ruoyan responded, leaving an afterimage as she headed towards Mulberry Town before the guard could finish his sentence.

Mulberry Town wasn’t exceptionally huge. After inquiring briefly, Chen Ruoyan found Liu Wuxie’s whereabouts and settled in the room beside him. She wanted to barge into his room several times, but the spiritual array forced her back. Ultimately, she had no choice but to wait outside for him.

Inside the room, Liu Wuxie smoothly reached the fourth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm, with powerful true essence brewing around him. The entire inn would’ve been leveled to the ground without the spiritual array.

Each breakthrough transformed Liu Wuxie, and it was astounding that he had reached the fourth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm in just a few days.

The next step was to stabilize his cultivation. He had already consumed all the pills that could aid him, and the third-grade pills were of little use to him. When he had some free time, he planned to sort through the herbs and refine some fourth-grade pills for himself.

Liu Wuxie stayed in seclusion all day and night, exhausting over 200 spirit stones before stabilizing his cultivation. When he opened his eyes, a powerful chill froze the entire room. The tables and chairs were turned into ice sculptures, a powerful shockwave reducing them to ice powder on the ground.

There was nothing left in the room except for the walls.

When Lui Wuxie stood up, crackling sounds came from his bones. The runes adorning his skeleton multiplied, each bone appearing as though it had been tempered a thousand times over, their strength rivaling that of top-grade profound artifacts.

In essence, ordinary weapons stood no chance of breaking his bones. His soul had also undergone a transformation, with his soul sea expanding and steadily filling up. His divine sense spread out like liquid mercury.

When his divine sense penetrated the wall, Liu Wuxie frowned, “What is she doing here?”

Recollecting his divine sense, Liu Wuxie changed his clothes and restored his true appearance. He was planning to head to the Western Breeze Mountain Range. Ten days had passed, and he had two tasks left.

When he opened the door to leave, a figure suddenly appeared and blocked his path.

“Where are you going?” Chen Ruoyan stood before Liu Wuxie, tilting her head. She had peerless beauty that wasn’t inferior to Xu Lingxue's.

Xu Lingxue was like an orchid in a secluded valley, cold and noble, while Chen Ruoyan was like a rose covered with thorns.

“I’m not obliged to tell you!” Liu Wuxie couldn’t be bothered to waste time with her. He pushed her aside and went down the stairs.

“I’ll stick to you if you don’t tell me your name and identity.” Chen Ruoyan waved her tiny fist around. It was unimaginable that the third princess of the Great Yan Dynasty would be so shameless.

When Liu Wuxie went downstairs, a black-clothed man brushed past him.

“Princess, we have settled everything, and the things have been successfully delivered. After being out for so long, isn’t it time for us to return to the palace?” The black-clothed man reported with a bow.

“I have matters to attend to. You all return first!” As the words left her lips, Liu Wuxie had already vanished. Chen Ruoyan, frustrated, stomped her foot and quickly used her movement technique to catch up with him.

In less than fifteen minutes, Liu Wuxie had left Mulberry City. Reaching the Western Breeze Mountain Range would take two days if he traveled at full speed.

The Western Breeze Mountain Range remained in its pristine state, untouched by human habitation. This area was teeming with demonic beasts, making it a popular training ground for cultivators who honed their martial techniques against these creatures.

The entire body of demonic beasts was a treasure. The beast cores could be refined into pills, and bones could be forged into weapons.

Most importantly, various spiritual herbs could be found in the mountain range. A hundred-year-old spiritual herb was precious.

“Wait for me!” Chen Ruoyan swiftly caught up as she was in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

This made Liu Wuxie feel a headache and could only perform the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance, turning into a comet and disappearing from her sight.

“Third Princess, who are you chasing after?” The black-clothed man asked, gasping for his breath. It took all his effort to barely catch up with Chen Ruoyan.

“Commander Zhao, I don’t need your protection. Go back and report to my father, tell him that I’ll be back by the end of this month, and don’t worry about my safety,” Chen Ruoyan said, leaving behind the stumped Commander Zhao.

After successfully shaking off Chen Ruoyan, Liu Wuxie deliberately took a roundabout route to ensure he had completely lost her before slowing down. He then pulled out the information regarding the disappearances in the Western Breeze Mountain Range, which included details about the ten or so students who had gone there for training.

The disappearance of these missing students had instantly caught many people’s attention training in the mountain range.

Initially, it was believed that the missing students had been devoured by demonic beasts. However, investigations revealed no presence of any powerful beasts in the vicinity. The strongest among them were fourth-grade demonic beasts, equivalent to human cultivators at the low-level Marrow Cleansing Realm. The majority of the beasts were of the first and second grade.

After traveling for an entire day and night, Liu Wuxie finally reached the outskirts of the Western Breeze Mountain Range. From there, it would take another hour to reach the inner region.

He planned to rest for two hours before resuming his journey. He found a large tree to sit on and meditate. The dense spiritual energy in the surroundings started to flow into his body, rapidly enhancing his true essence. Even without active cultivation, his true essence continued to grow daily.

Suddenly, he sensed a faint murderous intent slowly drawing near. It was so subtle that he wouldn’t have noticed it prior to his breakthrough. He had previously encountered a similar intent on a ten-mile-long street.

“Assassin!” Liu Wuxie pretended to carry on his meditation as the murderous intent continued to approach.

“The Assassin Pavilion’s assassin? I was found quickly.”

A few days ago, it was difficult for the Assassin Pavilion to make a move as there were too many people around in Mulberry Town. But it was different this time because Liu Wuxie was alone, making it a great opportunity to assassinate him.

Liu Wuxie’s divine sense spread like mercury, enveloping the surroundings to search for the assassin’s hiding spot. But roughly fifteen minutes later, the murderous intent disappeared.

“Weird, why did the assassin from the Assassin Pavilion retreat?” Liu Wuxie opened his eyes with a hint of surprise. Could it be that the assassin was afraid?

The Assassin Pavilion had a success rate of one hundred percent. From the moment they took on the task, they wouldn’t stop until the target was killed.

The rustling sounds from a distance indicated that someone was approaching. No wonder the assassin from the Assassin Pavilion had retreated.

A group of people, covered in blood, emerged from the depths of the mountain range. “Senior Brother, when did so many bat demonic beasts start appearing in the Western Breeze Mountain Range?” one of them asked.

Liu Wuxie, sitting on a tree trunk fifty meters away, observed the group of five. They were supporting each other, and one of them seemed to be seriously injured.

“We’ve left the depth of the mountain range and are about to reach the exit. We can take a break now that we’re near the exit. Third Junior Brother’s injuries are serious, and we shouldn’t continue.”

Instead of answering, the Senior Brother told everyone to rest. They had lost several people during their training in the mountain range. The third jenior brother’s injuries were serious, and he could die at any moment.

“Senior Brother, there’s a large tree there. It’s relatively clean around the tree, so let’s go there to rest!”

The area around the tree where Liu Wuxie rested was the cleanest with soft grass surrounding it. With the tree blocking the sunlight, this was a good place to rest.

The group of five quickly approached the tree. The one they referred to as the third Junior Brother was barely clinging to life, a strange claw mark visible on his chest that resembled an animal’s scratch.

Liu Wuxie could roughly see the situation through the leaves, and it was a claw mark that he had never seen before. It didn’t seem like the work of a demonic beast.

“Third Senior Brother, have some water,” a woman in the group said, taking a water bag from her waist. She placed it near the unconscious man’s lips and slowly poured water into his mouth.

The others dispersed to the surroundings and were on high alert. They were strong, all in the high levels of the Spirit Cleansing Realm, and they seemed to be the disciples of a nearby sect.

Remaining silent, Liu Wuxie continued to observe from his perch in the tree. He had no intention of revealing himself or getting involved. However, he was intrigued by the mention of bat demonic beasts. These creatures were social animals, typically preferring dark, damp environments, which didn’t align with the characteristics of the Western Breeze Mountain Range. Their presence could potentially be linked to the mysterious disappearances in the area.

When he retracted his arm, his arm brushed past the leaves, producing a rustling sound that alarmed the senior brother in the group.

The senior brother looked up towards the treetop and called out, “Who’s up there hiding?”