Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 188 - Xue Clan’s Ambush

The cultivators with low strength had already left to unite with the other experts. As time passed, it didn’t take long before only Liu Wuxie, Chen Yusheng, and Qin Biyu were left.

“Young Master Liu, thank you for the pill. We will take this favor to heart and bid our farewell here.” Chen Yusheng cupped his fists at Liu Wuxie. They still had official duties to attend to and couldn’t linger.

“Until we meet again!” Liu Wuxie cupped his fists together, and they soon parted ways.

Before leaving, Qin Biyu gave Liu Wuxie a jade pendant. If he needed help, he could use the jade pendant to look for the Qin Clan. After all, Liu Wuxie, who typically resided in the Imperial City, might face danger.

Liu Wuxie hadn’t anticipated completing the three tasks ahead of schedule. With a few days remaining until the month’s deadline, he planned to spend the extra time honing his skills.

Five days later, Liu Wuxie appeared on the official path leading to the Imperial Academy. His cultivation had stabilized in the sixth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm. However, he restrained the aura he gave off to the second level.

When he left, he was at the first level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm, and advancing a level in a month was reasonable. However, he preferred to maintain a low profile because disclosing his actual cultivation level might cause a commotion in the academy.

Liu Wuxie muttered to himself, “I’ll be back at the academy in a day. Lady Mu must think I’ve gone missing, given that I promised her monthly visits to the Treasure Pill Pavilion.” As the chief alchemist of the Treasure Pill Pavilion, he felt a bit negligent for not visiting even once a month. After finishing his rations, he prepared to set off.

Suddenly, several vultures flew overhead, emitting strange caws. Shortly after, more bird demonic beasts took flight. Typically, these creatures would only take to the skies if they sensed danger nearby.

Using the Ghost Eye technique, Liu Wuxie’s gaze penetrated the trees, revealing a group of people stealthily approaching from a hundred meters away.

“An ambush!” Liu Wuxie didn’t expect an ambush when he returned to the Imperial Academy. A hundred experts wielded bows and encircled him from both sides, leaving no room for escape. When he recollected his gaze, he already knew who they were.

“Xue Clan, you all didn’t expect me to come back alive, right?” Liu Wuxie said, and the Heretic Blade appeared in his hand. It was no wonder the Xue Clan’s experts were nowhere to be seen. They have been guarding here to prevent him from returning.

In the eyes of the Xue Clan, Liu Wuxie was doomed either way. If he was determined to complete the tasks, he would meet his end at the hands of the Scarlet Dragon Association. If he chose to return, they were ready and waiting for him. Either way, his fate seemed sealed.

The Xue Clan’s experts had been camping here for a month, and they were surprised that Liu Wuxie hadn’t returned. However, as the month-long deadline approached, they finally spotted Liu Wuxie on the last day.

Over a hundred experts surrounded Liu Wuxie, blocking his escape routes. Among them were several Marrow Cleansing Realm experts, indicating the Xue Clan’s determination to eliminate him.

“Indeed, we didn’t expect you to drag it out until the last day to return,” Xue Changnian said as he stepped out. Back in Azure Billow City, he had failed to kill Liu Wuxie and was slapped by Mu Yueying. Since then, he had harbored a deep hatred for Liu Wuxie.

Upon learning about Liu Wuxie’s tasks, Xue Changnian immediately sought approval from his clan and led the Xue Clan’s troops to ambush Liu Wuxie. He assumed that Liu Wuxie had been hiding nearby for the past month, considering the three tasks were seemingly impossible even for him.

“Cut the crap and make your move!” Liu Wuxie didn’t want to waste time with these people. He had spent the past month wandering around to complete the three tasks and was eager to return to the academy for some rest.

Over a hundred bows and crossbows were aimed at Liu Wuxie. If they were to release their arrows, Liu Wuxie would turn into a porcupine.

“Kill him!” Xue Changnian commanded, waving his hand as hundreds of arrows were launched towards Liu Wuxie. He would be doomed even if Liu Wuxie had three heads and six arms. After all, no one could evade over a hundred arrows at once.

The arrows were densely packed and covered the sky. Liu Wuxie had no space to dodge, so he could only watch the arrows aimed at him.

Xue Changnian sneered as the Xue Clan’s disciples roared before charging at Liu Wuxie. The two were less than ten meters away, and the arrows appeared before Liu Wuxie in the blink of an eye.

Just as the arrows were on the verge of striking Liu Wuxie, a layer of ice materialized around him, forming a robust barrier that securely shielded him. The arrows that hit the ice layer merely left faint marks and failed to penetrate it.

Liu Wuxie stood there calmly. He had recently comprehended this ice-attribute technique, inspired by magic. Having interacted with the Magic Clan during his time as an Immortal Emperor, he had some understanding of their magic. This was the result of integrating magic and Taoism.

The Xue Clan’s experts stared in disbelief as the ice layer blocked their arrows, which snapped upon hitting the ground. The arrows, forged from the toughest meteorite iron, could easily pierce through someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm. However, they failed to penetrate the ice layer.

“Keep firing!” Xue Changnian commanded frantically, initiating a second round of arrows. This time, each arrow was more potent than before. To prevent the arrows from bouncing off, they even maintained a range within five meters, where the arrows’ lethality was at its peak.

Rounds of arrows were fired, and the accumulated arrows on the ground began to pile up. After ten rounds, they exhausted all the arrows in their quivers and could only retreat to the side, sheathing their arrows and switching to melee weapons.

Waving his hand to dismiss the layer of ice, Liu Wuxie smiled at the Xue Clan’s experts.

“Kill him!” Xue Changnian gave the order as all the Xue Clan’s experts charged forward, pouncing at Liu Wuxie. They were an elite troop nurtured by the Xue Clan and were only loyal to them.

They were all in the Spirit Cleansing Realm, and this was because Liu Wuxie’s act of killing Xue Rui had caused an uproar in the Xue Clan.

When Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down, the ground began to crack as the blade aura enveloped a few hundred meters of radius.

In just one exchange, the elite troops from the Xue Clan were sent flying away under the shockwave produced by the blade aura. They were all covered in tiny wounds and killed by the blade aura.

Witnessing how Liu Wuxie killed over a hundred people with one move scared Xue Changnian into taking a big step back. Aside from Xue Changnian, the Xue Clan had also dispatched three experts who had been guarding the side quietly.

The three experts appeared quite aged, likely elders of the Xue Clan. They were far from weak, each possessing cultivation at the fifth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

“Y-You... How are you so powerful?!” Xue Changnian stammered, pointing at Liu Wuxie with a look of horror. Over a hundred corpses were strewn about, some even falling into the bushes, filling the entire area with the heavy scent of blood.

A dead silence swept through the surroundings, and only five people were left standing.

Blood dripped from the Heretic Blade’s tip and fell onto the ground.

The hearts of the three Xue Clan’s elders twitched. The Xue Clan spent countless resources to nurture them, but they were all killed by Liu Wuxie. Their hearts were bleeding as their murderous intent locked onto Liu Wuxie.

“I want you dead!” Xue Changnian lost his rationale. The outside world only knew that Liu Wuxie could challenge those with higher cultivation than him, and the highest he had killed was in the high levels of the Spirit Cleansing Realm. But they didn’t know that Liu Wuxie could also kill cultivators in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Only Liu Wuxie knew that he had defeated Elder Gu. Elder Gu had been terrified back then and naturally wouldn’t share such an embarrassing experience. As for killing Fan Yeping, it was done without anyone knowing.

Xue Changnian swung his sword at Liu Wuxie, wanting to tear him into pieces.

“Die!” Liu Wuxie nearly died at Xue Changnian’s hands in Azure Billow City, and it was time for them to resolve their old and new feud. The latter was only in the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and he could easily kill someone like that.

Liu Wuxie vanished as he raised the Heretic Blade. Before the three Xue Clan experts could react, a blade ray had already ripped through Xue Changnian. The powerful blade aura from Liu Wuxie’s attack formed a powerful gust that enveloped Xue Changnian in it.

Blood splashed from the gust of wind, and Xue Changnian was covered in his blood when he flew out, falling onto the ground with multiple wounds on his body.

Just like that, Liu Wuxie killed a cultivator in the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm with a single strike.

The remaining three experts from the Xue Clan exchanged a look and could see the horror in each other’s eyes. They were finally afraid because none of them could kill someone in the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm with one strike, but Liu Wuxie could achieve it.

“Your turn!” Liu Wuxie showed no mercy to anyone from the Xue Clan. One-third of the one-year agreement had passed, and he didn’t have much time left; he had to resolve this feud as soon as possible.

The tables had turned, and it was Liu Wuxie’s turn to press towards them.

“You killed so many people of our Xue Clan. You will die today!” The three elders formed a triangular formation, trapping Liu Wuxie within. They were determined to kill Liu Wuxie even if they had to risk their lives. The insignificant fly had grown into a threat to the Xue Clan in a matter of a few months.

“You three old farts think you can kill me? What a joke!” Liu Wuxie dashed forward. He had to end the battle quickly in case someone else passed by.

The three elders weren’t weak. They might not have high cultivation, but they were well-experienced, and their cooperation was flawless. As a result, Liu Wuxie couldn’t find any solution to deal with them quickly.

If Liu Wuxie faced them individually, he could easily take their lives with one move, but facing three was somewhat challenging.

Their battle caused the nearby forest to disintegrate, transforming the mountain trail into a slope and leaving a barren landscape in their wake.

A terrifying aura swept out, forming ripples that destroyed everything in the surroundings. As they fought, the three elders grew increasingly shocked, realizing that Liu Wuxie’s combat prowess was stronger than theirs.

Even after exchanging a few hundred moves, they couldn’t find flaws in Liu Wuxie’s blade technique.

“You all are too weak. Take my blade!” Liu Wuxie had detected the flaws in the three elders’ attacks with Ghost Eye, and he jumped out from the encirclement, pointing the Heretic Blade to the sky.

Upon reaching the sixth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm, Liu Wuxie had access to a wider array of techniques. The moment Liu Wuxie lifted his Heretic Blade, the elders’ expressions shifted, and they felt the chilling sweep of impending doom.