Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 236 - Poisonous True Essence

This matter wasn’t over yet, even with the death of the four killing machines. Their corpses were so highly poisonous that even Liu Wuxie didn’t dare to come in contact with them carelessly.

This was why Liu Wuxie was dumbfounded when the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron flew above the four corpses and devoured them. Given the extreme toxicity of the bodies, Liu Wuxie’s shock was understandable.

He was worried that there would be a backlash refining the energy. If what was refined contained poison, wouldn’t he poison himself to death? But there was nothing he could do to stop as the four corpses vanished when demonic flames surged.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron returned to the world in his dantian, and four black liquid droplets hovered above it. These droplets were incompatible with the liquified spiritual energy, and they rejected each other.

After refining the energies devoured from Jiang Yue's and others' corpses, over a hundred liquid droplets of spiritual energy were left. Liu Wuxie planned to keep them and waited until he would make a breakthrough to the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

But what were the four liquid droplets that suddenly appeared?

“Did the cauldron refine them or give up?” Liu Wuxie was bewildered. He didn’t know if the four liquid droplets were poisonous and harmful if he fused them into his dantian.

“Since the cauldron devoured it, it should be fine!” Over the past six months, the cauldron had devoured many things besides spiritual energy, but there wasn’t any backlash by far.

“Out!” Liu Wuxie no longer hesitated to fuse the four liquid droplets into his dantian.

Liu Wuxie began to tremble violently, and he felt like he had fallen into ice. He was paralyzed and could only use his mind to think.

“What’s going on? Why can’t I move?” Liu Wuxie cursed and prayed that the cauldron would not mess with him.

Once the black liquid droplets were dispensed, they transformed into a black mist, vanishing within the realm of his dantian. Subsequently, Liu Wuxie gradually regained command over his body.

Liu Wuxie began examining his body. He couldn’t find anything wrong, and his cultivation remained unchanged.

“There’s no effect?” Liu Wuxie was puzzled because there was no reaction after refining the four liquid droplets, like pebbles thrown into the ocean.

However, Liu Wuxie was relieved to find that his body was unaffected. He decided to set aside the question of the whereabouts of the four liquid droplets for the time being.

It was already night, and he left behind an afterimage, hurrying back to the Imperial Academy without cleaning up the battlefield.

After an exhaustive search for the four liquid droplets within his dwelling, Liu Wuxie came up empty-handed, leaving him with lingering concerns about a potential hidden threat. Despite his efforts, he found no clues throughout the night.

Left with no other options, he emerged from his abode and commenced practicing the Fatality Blade Art on the platform. The Fatality Blade Art was straightforward, emphasizing the speed of unsheathing the blade. He aimed to become a hundred times faster in drawing his blade compared to the Blood Gleam Blade Art.

The second requirement was explosive power, meaning he had to focus on the unity of his waist to unleash more power when releasing his true essence.

In a nutshell, it required the combination of form, power, and spirit to unleash a perfect blade strike. The form was the Heretic Blade; power was his true essence; and the spirit was his soul energy. Otherwise, the power of the Fatality Blade Art would significantly decrease.

As for spirit, he wouldn’t be able to hit the target if his soul energy couldn’t keep up.

Liu Wuxie wasn’t just practicing the form but also the combination of form, power, and spirit.

After practicing for an entire day, Liu Wuxie was covered in sweat as he came to the corner of the platform. He hadn’t used true essence in his earlier practice, and he planned on trying the combination between the three for the first time.

When he raised the Heretic Blade to the sky, a powerful blade intent enveloped the sky above his abode. The birds flying over, cried and fell from the sky under the pressure of his blade aura.

His target was a small hill fifty meters away to test his blade technique.

When he swung his sword, his seemingly ordinary move contained the profundity of dao. There was no trajectory or flaw in this attack. The sky was filled with blade intent, enveloping a few hundred meters of radius.

When his blade aura descended, a long ravine was created on the small hill, causing the entire mountain to tremble.

Most of the caves were linked to the mountain. When Liu Wuxie swung his blade, several caves nearly collapsed. Even the caves far away could feel the tremor caused by the blade.

Liu Wuxie sheathed his blade and lifted his gaze to the hill. A black mist was emanating from the ravine, which took Liu Wuxie by surprise. He vanished and reappeared at the ravine.

Several of the exposed rocks were corroded, bearing a striking resemblance to the damage inflicted by the poison the previous night.

“This is...” Liu Wuxie was shocked because his true essence contained poison. But how was that possible? Didn’t that mean that his opponents would die if his attack struck them, and there was no possibility of treatment?

This discovery naturally made Liu Wuxie rejoice. He had seen many types of true essence; this was the first time he saw true essence containing high toxicity.

Liu Wuxie immediately focused his consciousness on his dantian to sense the changes in his true essence.

“My true essence contains a wisp of poison!” It was weak, and he wouldn’t notice it if he didn’t look at it closely.

The poison is weak, and I can only poison ordinary cultivators. But as long as I accumulate enough poison, I can even poison powerful experts to death. Liu Wuxie thought to himself.

The four black liquid droplets enabled his true essence to carry poison, but it wasn’t strong nor was it useful to him.

He began to circulate his true essence, trying to extract the poison. It didn’t take long before a wisp of black mist gathered on his finger, and this was thanks to the four black liquid droplets.

Liu Wuxie felt relieved after finding out the reason. The world in his dantian could contain everything, regardless of the various elements or poison.

Just when Liu Wuxie wanted to return to the platform, he noticed a man and woman approaching him. He didn’t recognize the man, but he immediately identified the woman. She was Qi Ningyun, the daughter of Qi Enshi.

However, it was unusual to see her in the Heaven Grade region. Moreover, who was that man?

He wasn’t concerned as they might have just been passing by, and he didn’t give them much thought. However, when he returned to the platform and was about to enter his cave, the sound of footsteps echoed behind him.

This left Liu Wuxie with no choice but to halt and turn around, only to see Qi Ningyun approaching the platform with the man in tow.

Liu Wuxie frowned as the pair exuded an air of hostility.

He had few friends in the Imperial Academy, and no one would seek him out for a social gathering. Those who came looking for him were likely to be his adversaries.

Upon seeing Liu Wuxie, Qi Ningyun’s face twisted with hatred.

“How can I help you?” Liu Wuxie inquired, unsure of why the two had sought him out.

“You’re Liu Wuxie?” the man beside Qi Ningyun asked. He donned a white robe and was a Heaven Grade student, but Liu Wuxie didn’t recall seeing this person before.

This person was highly cultivated in the eighth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm. Since when did Qi Ningyun have a connection with a Heaven Grade student?

“Indeed, I am,” Liu Wuxie confirmed, seeing no reason to deny it with Qi Ningyun present.

“Kneel and apologize to my woman. Perhaps, I might consider sparing your life if you do so!” The man said without a hint of emotion in his tone, straightforwardly demanding Liu Wuxie to apologize to Qi Ningyun, which left the latter dumbfounded.

Liu Wuxie’s face turned grim as he had killed cultivators in the ninth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm last night. However, was someone in the eighth level flaunting in front of him? Did this person take him as a pushover who could be ordered around?

The commotion naturally attracted many people’s attention as several flew over from their caves. They stood in a corner of the platform and had no intention of interfering, and were only there to watch

“It’s Wang Xinming. Why is he causing trouble here?” The man who demanded Liu Wuxie to kneel was called Wang Xinming, a veteran Heaven Grade student.

He might not be a core disciple, but he couldn’t be underestimated, considering his cultivation. To become a core disciple, the test wasn’t just in cultivation but also in potential.

Wang Xinming had reached his limit after reaching the eighth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

“What’s the reason?” Liu Wuxie looked at Wang Xinming, hoping for an explanation.

“No reason, other than my woman wants you dead!” Wang Xinming’s response was domineering, expressing a desire to kill Liu Wuxie simply because his woman wished it so.

Qi Ningyun, who had been standing silently by the side since her arrival, didn’t utter a word. However, her gaze alone conveyed to Liu Wuxie that she wanted him dead.

Liu Wuxie suddenly wore a harmless smile as he had a rough speculation.

“Qi Ningyun, your father must have told you that he met his end because of me, right? That’s why you’re willing to use your body in exchange for my life,” Liu Wuxie surmised.

When Liu Wuxie had left Azure Billow City, he had sent a letter to Qi Enshi. At that time, Qi Enshi probably sensed that something was amiss and that he would eventually fall at Liu Wuxie’s hands. This was likely why he had sent Qi Ningyun a letter before his death, hoping his daughter would seek revenge on his behalf.

However, there was no way Qi Ningyun could kill Liu Wuxie with her ability, and she wanted to avenge her father. Hence, her only option was to offer herself as a bargaining chip to a Heaven Grade student in exchange for avenging her father.

“Liu Wuxie, you are the reason my father is dead! I want to drink your blood and consume your flesh today!” Qi Ningyun declared, her voice filled with hatred. Over the years, her charm had attracted many suitors at the academy. None had ever stirred her heart, but she was willing to sacrifice her dignity and offer her body in exchange for revenge for her father.

“Like father, like daughter!” Liu Wuxie shook his head. He had already taken vengeance by killing Qi Enshi and had no intention of wiping out Qi Enshi’s family. After all, Qi Ningyun didn’t have much feud with him, and he wasn’t a bloodthirsty person who would kill indiscriminately.

However, once someone crossed his bottom line, Liu Wuxie would do anything to drag that person down, even if he was the Emperor himself.

“Senior Brother Wang, kill him for me, and I’ll serve you for the rest of my life!” Qi Ningyun said viciously, wanting Wang Xinming to kill Liu Wuxie quickly.

Qi Ningyun felt that her life would lose its purpose once she avenged her father. However, as the partner of a Heaven Grade student, she would still hold some status. In her quest for revenge, she had approached many Heaven Grade students, all of whom had turned her down, except for Wang Xinming.

This was because Wang Xinming was known to be swayed by his desires, and Qi Ningyun was undeniably attractive. As such, they quickly came to an agreement.

“Liu Wuxie, did you hear that? My woman wants you dead. Do you want to take your own life, or do you want me to help you with it?” Wang Xinming caressed Qi Ningyun’s cheek. He had never once considered Liu Wuxie to be a threat.

“Neither. I choose the third option instead, which is to kill you two and throw your corpses down the mountain,” Liu Wuxie said with his murderous intent permeating the air.