Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 219 - Despicable

The entire arena was enveloped in stars that resembled descending meteors. Liu Wuxie found himself in the midst of this star storm, where any meteor could potentially be lethal.

The logical course of action would have been to escape the range of the meteors, but Liu Wuxie chose the most extreme path. He charged forward with the Heretic Blade, deciding to confront Qin Shi directly.

This unexpected move naturally stirred the spectators, many of whom believed he had lost his mind. “He must’ve gone mad!” Thousands of people from the Profound Grade region stood up, craning their necks to not miss a single moment.

Qin Shi, too, hadn’t anticipated a head-on clash with Liu Wuxie. The element of surprise was precisely what Liu Wuxie was aiming for, hoping to catch his opponent off guard in this death match. Whoever seized the initiative would have the upper hand, and Liu Wuxie had no intention of handing over this advantage to Qin Shi.

As Liu Wuxie approached, he executed the Blood Gleam Blade Art, as it wasn’t the right time to perform the Fatality Blade Art. He tore through the meteors, creating a long passage in the arena.

“Look, he has reached the ninth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm!” When Liu Wuxie attacked, his aura in the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm swept out, shocking everyone.

Just twenty days ago, Liu Wuxie was only in the seventh level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm. Even the Heaven Grade students hadn’t reached the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm so quickly in the past.

A series of explosions echoed in the arena, which was specially fortified by ten elders for this battle.

As sword aura wreaked havoc on the arena, Liu Wuxie and Qin Shi stepped back. Liu Wuxie was forced to perform a somersault and dragged his feet on the ground before reaching the arena's edge. His clothes were ripped apart, proving how powerful Qin Shi’s sword aura was.

The outcome of the clash was determined with one move, and Qin Shi truly deserved his position as the Vice-Headmaster based on his combat prowess.

Qin Shi’s sword released a brilliance, and he shot toward Liu Wuxie, not wanting to give him time to catch his breath. Since it was a death match, there was no room for mercy. Only one of them could leave this place alive.

Xu Lingxue clenched her fists tightly, looking nervous. Her master, Baili Qing, was not far away and cast several glances in her direction, but she acted as if she hadn’t noticed.

Li Shengsheng and the other students of Advanced Class Seven sat far away, secretly cheering for Liu Wuxie.

“Liu Wuxie, stop struggling. Kneel and accept your fate!” the Earth Grade students, Advanced Class Six students, and Xue Clan’s disciples demanded. Their mockery filled the surroundings. An ordinary person would’ve lost their composure long ago, facing the condemnation of over ten thousand people.

Yet, Liu Wuxie remained unfazed. His face was devoid of emotion, his entire focus on the battle at hand, unaffected by their words.

They were over ten-odd meters away, and Qin Shi’s sword reached him in the blink of an eye. Sword aura tore apart the air current and arrived before Liu Wuxie, drawing countless flowers that bloomed in the air with his sword.

However, Liu Wuxie stood his ground, not charging forward this time. Instead, he was gathering his strength for an attack. The surrounding mockery faded into the background, replaced by his heavy breathing. The fact that he could withstand an attack from someone at the pinnacle of the Marrow Cleansing Realm was nothing short of miraculous.

“What is he doing? Dodge it quickly!”

Standing there and waiting for Qin Shi’s attack wasn’t different from courting death. No one knew what Liu Wuxie was trying to do because standard cultivators couldn’t gauge Qin Shi’s combat prowess.

Xiao Yanlong, seated among the Heaven Grade students, watched Liu Wuxie with eyes filled with unending fury. The memory of his past defeat at the hands of Liu Wuxie, who was then at a similar level in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, still stung.

He had been one of the ten core disciples, but that incident had caused his status to plummet. His ranking fell from the fifth-ranking core disciple to the eighth. All his hard work seemed to have been in vain because of Liu Wuxie, and his hopes of contending for the next headmaster’s position seemed to be fading away.

In a split second, Liu Wuxie moved with a lightning bolt's speed, disappearing and reappearing with the Heretic Blade raised. As he raised his blade, the sky transformed, and a violent gust of wind swept across the arena, signaling the execution of the Fatality Blade Art. This attack practically drained all the spiritual energy in the vicinity.

Qin Shi’s Astral Sword Art was shocking enough. But when Liu Wuxie performed the Fatality Blade Art, the sky changed, and the ground began to tremble. This blade technique had far exceeded their comprehension and wasn’t a mere profound-grade martial technique.

Blade aura rampaged as all the incoming sword aura was ruthlessly ripped apart. Aside from his cultivation, Liu Wuxie’s martial and movement techniques far exceeded Qin Shi's.

Many teachers were shocked as they watched. They didn’t expect a new student to be so powerful, and he had far surpassed the strength of most teachers present. They might have a higher cultivation than Liu Wuxie, but it was just a matter of time before Liu Wuxie surpassed them.

The students who had previously mocked Liu Wuxie now wore expressions of deep hatred. Yu Yifan’s face was particularly grim, haunted by the memory of witnessing Liu Wuxie kill Bai Yu. Recalling his past threats against Liu Wuxie, a flicker of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Qi Ningyun was hidden among the crowd. She had already received a message from her father, instructing her to kill Liu Wuxie at all costs.

Qin Shi was the most taken aback. He couldn’t believe that his attack had been thwarted by Liu Wuxie, an Earth Grade student. The fact that he had been pushed to this extent was beyond his comprehension.

Liu Wuxue’s true essence coursed through his arm into the Heretic Blade. The blade ray he created was massive, and it wasn’t something someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm could achieve.

“Astral Sea!” Qin Shi’s attack changed. Liu Wuxie had resolved his sword aura, forcing him to change his tactic. A massive stellar sea descended, trapping Liu Wuxie like quicksand.

Everyone watched with fascination because they could learn many things from their attacks.

Liu Wuxie’s words were filled with scorn. “Is this the best a Vice-Headmaster has?” he sneered, before launching himself into the sky. Performing the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance, he resembled a celestial crane soaring high. His true essence propelled him off the ground, and his mastery over his true essence had reached perfection.

The Heaven Grade students watched in awe. Despite being Marrow Cleansing Realm experts capable of manifesting their true essence outside their bodies, their control over true essence paled in comparison to Liu Wuxie’s.

Qin Shi was also shocked when he realized he had underestimated Liu Wuxie.

“Liu Wuxie, no matter what you do, it won’t change anything!” Qin Shi retorted. Stars began to surge around him, forming a towering mountain that lifted him towards Liu Wuxie.

Qin Shi’s and Liu Wuxie’s manifestation of their true essence had reached the pinnacle.

Liu Wuxie was over thirty meters in the sky, swinging the Heretic Blade down, executing the Fatality Blade Art. This unleashed a surging heatwave towards the ground, covering a radius of tens of thousands of meters.

Everyone knew that Liu Wuxie had comprehended the fire attribute, and a black rift appeared in the sky.

“This is impossible! Only earth-grade martial techniques can tear apart space!” Ten-odd teachers stood up in disbelief as they looked at the sky. Even if the black rift was small, it wasn’t something achievable in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Liu Wuxie’s blade aura transformed into a golden dragon, its fangs bared menacingly. He intended to use the pressure exerted by Qin Shi as a catalyst to push his own limits. Being at the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm, he needed this pressure to further refine his abilities.

Qin Shi’s expression shifted as he noticed signs of space collapsing. This caused the stars he had released to hurtle back towards him.

With a firm resolve, a trace of murderous intent appeared on Qin Shi’s face as he swung his sword to face the Fatality Blade Art, not daring to be careless. When the stellar sea disappeared, it was replaced by meteors descending towards Liu Wuxie, manifested with true essence.

The golden dragon let out a roar in the sky, releasing a powerful soundwave to the surroundings. The students with lower cultivation were forced to cover their ears because they couldn’t withstand the roar. Even so, the soundwave still penetrated their ears, instantly causing hundreds of students to faint as they bled from their orifices.

Liu Wuxie looked like a war god at this moment, stepping on the clouds with golden radiance shining behind him. This instantly left everyone dumbfounded, and they wondered if he was still human.

“What a powerful martial technique. He’s not simple!” Luo Zhaojun stood up excitedly.

At the same time, a trace of a smile could be seen on Fan Zhen’s face as he observed the scene.

Rumbling sounds could be heard as two different heatwaves clashed together like the collision of two planets, producing a powerful shockwave.

True essence exploded, rumbling towards the surroundings like a massive vortex with the two at the center.

“Liu Wuxie, so what if your martial technique is powerful? It still can’t make up for the difference in our cultivation! You can die now!”

Using this opportunity, Qin Shi left behind an afterimage and dashed towards Liu Wuxie.

The clash was intense. The meteor shattered the golden dragon, highlighting the difference between the two. Despite possessing a powerful martial technique and a higher purity of true essence than Qin Shi, Liu Wuxie was at a disadvantage due to his cultivation level. This only made Qin Shi more determined to kill him, as he would be trouble if allowed to grow.

Qin Biyu couldn’t stand to watch any longer. She exclaimed, “How despicable! Not only is Qin Shi bullying Liu Wuxie with his cultivation, but he even resorted to a sneak attack!” She hadn’t expected the Vice-Headmaster of the Imperial Academy to stoop so low.

Several star teachers turned their heads away, unable to continue watching. Even if Qin Shi won this battle, his victory wasn’t honorable, and this would make the Imperial Academy a laughingstock.

Liu Wuxie, retreating, let his voice echo in every corner, “Qin Shi, you’re despicable and colluded with outsiders to harm the Imperial Academy’s students. Heaven will punish you for that!”

In this world of cultivators, the concept of heavenly retribution was met with skepticism. After all, those with high cultivation could even attract thunder and lightning for their cultivation.

Qin Shi’s sword approached Liu Wuxie, and there was no room for retreat.

Liu Wuxie roared, “Overlord Fist!” With Qin Shi too close for comfort, Liu Wuxie resorted to the Overlord Fist. He also brought out the Pentabolt Talisman, hoping to catch Qin Shi off guard.