Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 182 - Blood Crystals

An entire day passed, and Liu Wuxie could move around now. Aside from the fact that his soul sea hadn’t been repaired, the true essence in his dantian had more or less recovered.

He stood up and planned to leave as he had another mission. Half a month was left to the deadline, and he didn’t expect things to go so smoothly.

“Hey, where are you going?”

After waking up, Liu Wuxie ventured deeper into the cave to rescue those who had been captured. He also wanted to maintain a certain distance from Chen Ruoyan.

“Go back. You and I aren’t from the same world,” Liu Wuxie said. He was speaking the truth and wasn’t looking down on Chen Ruoyan. He would leave the Great Yan Dynasty sooner or later to return to the Celestial Realm.

“You’ve not told me your name yet!” Chen Ruoyan wasn’t angry and continued to follow Liu Wuxie, seemingly having forgotten the danger she was in just the day before.

“If I tell you my name, will you stop following me?” Liu Wuxie halted, expressing his desire to be left alone. He didn’t necessarily dislike Chen Ruoyan, but he wasn’t particularly fond of her either. Mostly, he was accustomed to solitude.

Chen Ruoyan, the third princess of the Great Yan Dynasty and the most beautiful woman in the Imperial City, had many suitors over the years. However, no one managed to pique her interest until Liu Wuxie came along.

“Yeah. I won’t follow you as long as you tell me your name,” Chen Ruoyan said. After being out for so long, she was starting to miss home. As long as she learned Liu Wuxie’s name, she could quickly investigate everything about him using her resources.

“Liu Wuxie!” he revealed, eager to get rid of Chen Ruoyan as soon as possible. After all, it was unlikely that their paths would cross again in the future.

“What an unusual name,” Chen Ruoyan mused, etching the name into her memory. Upon returning to the Imperial City, she planned to investigate Liu Wuxie’s identity. With his portrait and name, it should be easy for her to learn more about him.

“Alright. You can leave now!” Liu Wuxie waved his hand and disappeared. Chen Ruoyan couldn’t even discover how he had left.

Returning to the cave's depths, Liu Wuxie found that the bats guarding the cage had left, and those imprisoned were anxious to know what was happening.

“You all are safe now. When you all go out, tell everyone that there was a Blood Bat in the Western Breeze Mountain Range that fed on human blood, but it’s dead now.” Liu Wuxie covered his face with a black cloth, unwilling to reveal his identity to avoid unnecessary trouble.

He had already explained things to Chen Ruoyan, and she had agreed to keep the things that had transpired a secret.

“Thank you for your help, and we’re deeply grateful!” The group of over twenty people, including two students from the Imperial Academy, all knelt down to express their gratitude to Liu Wuxie. Without him, they would have met a grim fate at the hands of the Blood Bat.

When dawn broke, peace returned to the valley. The group of survivors left the Western Breeze Mountain Range and contacted their relatives to come and get them. Chen Ruoyan kept her promise and stopped following Liu Wuxie, returning to the Imperial City instead.

“This is weird. There's been an unknown aura lurking around me for the past fifteen days. Who has been secretly tracking me?” Liu Wuxie’s divine sense was powerful; he could sense someone following him since he left the Imperial City. Can it be someone from the Assassin Pavilion?

The aura was faint and hard to detect, but Liu Wuxie was sure this was an expert. This person should be at the pinnacle of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

The other party didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, or this person would’ve attacked him. Since he couldn’t identify the person, he decided not to dwell on it.

Liu Wuxie stayed in an uninhabited cave for three days to treat his injuries. If he didn’t recover to his prime, it would be impossible for him to complete the third mission. The ground was piled high with resources, all plundered from the Blood Bat. All of Blood Bat’s fortune that he had amassed over the years ended up benefiting him.

“What’s this?”

Luxie Wuxie spent half a day sorting out the resources. Over a hundred blood crystals caught his attention. Blood Bat had managed to amass these blood crystals due to his unique identity. Each crystal was transparent, with what seemed like blood flowing inside it. Under the sunlight, the flow seemed to accelerate.

As Liu Wuxie held the crystal in his hand, a stream of pure energy flowed into his body through his palm, creating an odd sensation.

“The blood energies cultivated by Blood Bat must be related to these blood crystals,” Liu Wuxie speculated. Initially, he thought it might be the demonic core of the demon clan, but he quickly dismissed this idea. The demonic core of the demon clan would have a bloody stench, whereas these crystals appeared pure.

He concluded that it must have been purified from somewhere. But Blood Bat was dead, and Liu Wuxie couldn’t ask him about it.

Suddenly, the blood crystals in his hand turned into liquid and were devoured by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Three crimson liquid drops hovered above the cauldron shortly after, releasing a powerful aura and a surge of demonic beasts’ power.

“Could it be that Blood Bat purified this energy from those bats?” Liu Wuxie was astonished. His speculation was nearly accurate, as these crystals did originate from those bats. When the bats went hunting, they would store blood in their bodies, which eventually crystallized into tiny formations.

Blood Bat would gather and process them into these blood crystals after purifying. The crystals contained powerful blood energy, which was similar to spirit stones.

While cultivators typically absorbed the spiritual energies in spirit stones to replenish their dantian, Blood Bat would use these blood crystals to restore his blood energy.

However, Liu Wuxie was puzzled by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron’s ability to consume everything. He was unsure whether he should absorb the blood energy from the blood crystals.

Despite his uncertainty, he reasoned that there shouldn’t be any adverse effects since the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron could devour them. Without hesitation, he absorbed the crimson liquids into his dantian.

The moment he did, violent energy erupted in his dantian, setting it ablaze like a flame. As the blood energy flowed through Liu Wuxie’s meridians, his blood started to boil, and he could feel his body heating up. His blood ignited, leading to its purification.

Through the transformation of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, the impurities and demonic beasts’ aura in the blood crystals were erased and converted into pure blood energy.

Blood energy could transform Liu Wuxie’s blood, making it more noble. The burning sensation lasted for fifteen minutes before it began to settle down. When Liu Wuxie tried circulating his true essence, he discovered that the flow had become smoother.

“Even though my cultivation level hasn’t increased, my body’s coordination has improved,” Liu Wuxie marveled. He hadn’t expected the blood crystals to be so beneficial. Seeing over a hundred blood crystals scattered on the ground, he swiftly gathered them up.

Blood Bat’s accumulation over the past few decades had benefited Liu Wuxie. After absorbing over fifty blood crystals, the effects began to diminish. He had likely reached his peak and could only continue absorbing after making a breakthrough in his cultivation.

Besides his soul sea, the true essence in his dantian had practically recovered, and he began to sort out the herbs. He had scavenged over ten thousand spirit stones and over ten thousand herbs. All of Blood Bat’s accumulation over the past few decades was inside the interspatial pouch.

“Fantastic! There’s a fifth-grade herb, the Azure Soul Grass!” While sorting out his harvest, Liu Wuxie discovered a fifth-grade herb. This rare Azure Soul Grass had the primary effect of transforming soul energy, meaning it could also be used to repair the soul sea.

Liu Wuxie took out the alchemy cauldron and started preparing himself to refine pills. After half a month of consumption, he didn’t have many pills left on him. Time was pressing, and he didn’t dare to delay much because he still had a final mission waiting for him.

After setting up the cauldron, terrifying flames enveloped the entire cauldron. He had purchased the cauldron from the Treasure Pill Pavilion.

“It’s a pity I can’t refine it in the Treasure Pill Pavilion’s chamber. The effectiveness of ordinary flames is far inferior to that of the flame in the alchemy chamber.”

Liu Wuxie could do nothing about it. He had to refine a few pills to repair his soul sea. As for the rest, he could wait until he returned to the Imperial Academy and use their alchemy chamber to refine more pills.

Since the flame wasn’t strong enough, he could only rely on seals to compensate and began throwing herbs into the cauldron.

“Fourth-grade pill, the Soul Forging Pill. The difficulty is five stars, and I can only rely on this to see if I can succeed.” Liu Wuxie was planning to refine the Soul Forging Pill. With the help of the Azure Soul Grass, there was a high chance he could succeed. If his refining were to succeed, the damage to his soul sea would be swiftly repaired.

After hundreds of herbs were thrown into the cauldron, a dense fragrance spread out in the cave, making Liu Wuxie’s soul sea feel comfortable. Pills that could repair the soul sea were rare, and most people could only rely on time to repair, but Liu Wuxie couldn’t afford to wait.

The more he delayed, the higher the risk of incurring residual side effects.

Two hours later, Liu Wuxie tossed the Azure Soul Grass into the cauldron. As he added the final batch of firewood, he formed seals with his hands, infusing numerous seals into the cauldron.

Liu Wuxie had only ten days left and couldn’t afford any delay. A rumble sounded in the cauldron, and after continuously refining for a few hours, he was barely holding on.

Refining pills required strong soul energy to support. Liu Wuxie’s soul sea was already damaged, and he could hear cracks coming from it when he forcibly refined the Soul Forging Pill. This was a sign that his soul sea might collapse at any moment. If his soul sea were to collapse, he would lose his cognitive abilities.

After injecting the final seal into the cauldron, Liu Wuxie collapsed, clutching his head. He took a deep breath and circulated the Desolate Devouring Art, gradually replenishing his soul sea with a faint soul energy.

“That was a close call!” Liu Wuxie murmured to himself. He was lucky that the damage to his soul sea wasn’t severe. If he had continued for a bit longer, his soul sea would have been on the brink of collapse.

After resting for an hour, Liu Wuxie finally got up and walked towards the cauldron. When he opened the cauldron, a powerful fragrance filled his nostrils.

He retrieved the scorching Soul Forging Pill from the cauldron, feeling a wave of emotion. This pill was vital for his continued cultivation. If his soul sea couldn’t be repaired, it would signify the end of his journey as a cultivator.

As he swallowed the Soul Forging Pill, a powerful surge of soul energy rushed to his soul sea like a tidal wave. This was the power of the Soul Forging Pill, and not even Master Mao could refine it. Only a five-star alchemist had the qualification to refine it.

Despite the five-star difficulty of refining this pill, Liu Wuxie succeeded. He quickly composed himself and began to circulate the Desolate Devouring Art. His aura started to elevate as his soul energy became more potent. Assisted by the Soul Forging Pill, the fissures in his soul sea rapidly healed.

Liu Wuxie’s soul sea began to expand, and the golden threads also increased. His soul energy was gradually recovering, and his aura soon reached the pinnacle of the fourth-level Spirit Cleansing Realm. The pill had facilitated Liu Wuxie’s growth, both in terms of his heart and cultivation.

Indeed, experience was the best teacher. While Liu Wuxie was well-versed in fighting techniques and had a wealth of cultivation experience, understanding the world was of paramount importance. Had someone else been in his shoes, they might have fallen prey to Blood Bat.

To avoid similar situations in the future, Liu Wuxie knew he had to acclimate to the world as quickly as possible. The restoration of his soul sea took a full day and night. Not only did his soul sea fully recover, but it also became twice as robust as before. His soul sea was now filled with the sound of whistling roars, and his soul energy rumbled like clouds.

His divine sense was like arrows spreading out, and he could already release his soul energy outside his body.