Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 247 - Fourth-level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm

Over the course of seven days, Liu Wuxie managed to elevate his state to its peak. His true essence transformed into a liquid state after depleting over ten thousand spirit stones, indicating its transition towards the True Core Realm.

He retrieved the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and threw the rock into it. As demonic flames gushed from the cauldron, the stone's surface began to melt, and it didn’t take long before the Spirit Bamboo Shoot appeared above the cauldron.

Liu Wuxie was taken aback by the speed at which the demonic flames dissolved the rock, a feat even weapons couldn’t achieve.

“Prepare to make a breakthrough!” Liu Wuxie circulated the Desolate Devouring Art, controlling his true essence to course in his meridians. All three hundred and sixty-five meridians in his body let out a roar and began to devour the surrounding spiritual energy.

As the Spirit Bamboo Shoot dissolved, the spirituality fused into the world in his dantian.

“What pure spirituality!” Liu Wuxie marveled. He had already awakened some of his spirituality, but there was still a considerable gap in reaching the level of an immortal spiritual root.

Approximately ten breaths later, the Spirit Bamboo Shoot transformed into over a thousand droplets of liquid and flowed into his dantian. This influx of violent energy made Liu Wuxie feel as if his body was on the verge of disintegration.

In a mere fraction of a second, numerous hidden acupoints were unblocked. As more acupoints were cleared, Liu Wuxie’s chances of reaching the True Core Realm increased.

The aura Liu Wuxie gave off became even more powerful; it formed into a powerful storm mixed with lightning, devouring all the spiritual energy within a radius of tens of thousands of meters.

“Here’s Liu Wuxie again! He’s devouring all the spiritual energy once more!” Angry roars echoed from hundreds of nearby caves. Yang Shuotian had previously sought out Liu Wuxie due to this issue but had ended up being crippled by him.

The academy was already aware of the events that transpired at the palace banquet. It was no secret that Liu Wuxie had the ability to eliminate cultivators at the ninth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

As Liu Wuxie’s speed of devouring the surrounding spiritual energy increased, he started to devour spiritual energy beneath the Flame Sun Cave.

However, no one dared to say a word about it because Liu Wuxie was incredibly strong.

As the days passed, the absorption of spiritual energy continued unabated for three days, to the point where everyone had grown accustomed to it.

A cataclysmic battle erupted on the tenth day of Liu Wuxie’s seclusion in the Great Yan Dynasty. Prince Yongxian finally instigated a rebellion, leading an army of ten thousand soldiers, nurtured with Black Shell Pills and numerous experts to usurp the throne. He even covertly enlisted the aid of three True Core Realm experts.

However, at the crucial juncture, Chen Yusheng led an army of ten thousand from the Terrabreak Army and clashed with Prince Yongxian’s forces in the southwest of the Imperial City.

The battle raged on for five days and nights, resulting in countless casualties and a fierce confrontation among the True Core Realm experts.

However, before Prince Yongxian’s army could unleash their power, they were wiped out by the Terrabreak Army led by Chen Yusheng, and this was the final blow that shattered Prince Yongxian’s ambition.

Seven True Core Realm experts participated in the battle, which ended inconclusively. Prince Yongxian’s whereabouts remained unknown.

After losing Prince Yongxian’s support, students began to leave the Heavenly Govern Academy, and the Great Yan Dynasty regained stability after this battle.

A massacre also took place in the Imperial City against Prince Yongxian’s faction, littering the ground with corpses. This was a heated topic in the Imperial City, but there was one person who remained oblivious. It was Liu Wuxie who was focused on cultivating.

Twenty days later, Liu Wuxie’s cultivation stopped after reaching the pinnacle of the fourth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

When he opened his eyes, lightning shot out from them and left two deep marks on the wall.

There was a highly destructive power brewing around Liu Wuxie. Twenty days had passed in the blink of an eye when he came out of the cave, and he still didn’t know what was happening in the outside world.

Stepping out in the sunlight, Liu Wuxie was filled with positivity. His spiritual energy surged, becoming more potent than before. The refinement of the Spirit Bamboo Shoot had brought him more advantages than just enabling his breakthrough.

He drew out the Heretic Blade and began performing the Fatality Blade Art on the platform. He did this because his skills would become rusty if he didn’t practice.

Gong Ao arrived less than an hour after Liu Wuxie ended his seclusion. When he saw Liu Wuxie, he spoke respectfully, “Wuxie, the Headmaster is requesting your presence.”

“Hold up. Let me go and clean myself up!” After cultivating for so long, Liu Wuxie was drenched in sweat.

When he came out, he had changed into a set of blue robes. The robe looked ordinary, and he didn’t look like a Heaven Grade student.

“Wuxie, you’ve become famous now!” Gong Ao said with awe and a hint of envy on his face.

“What do you mean?” Liu Wuxie asked with a smile.

“Many things happened in the past twenty days and are all related to you.” Gong Ao said with excitement. Liu Wuxie was the first person to change the fate of a nation by himself.

The Great Yan Dynasty would’ve fallen into Prince Yongxian’s hands without his appearance.

“Oh? Enlighten me!” After twenty days of seclusion, Liu Wuxie also wanted to know what was happening outside.

The Xu Clan had an array protecting them, and he wasn’t too worried about it. As long as they were alive, they could quickly recover asset losses.

“Prince Yongxian waged a war, and the Heaven Govern Academy was dismissed,” Gong Ao stated, not elaborating further. These events were significant and had some relation to him. After all, Liu Wuxie had eliminated over fifty of Prince Yongxian’s close allies, prompting his premature rebellion.

“So...Prince Yongxian failed?” Liu Wuxie muttered. Dismissing the Heavenly Govern Academy meant that Prince Yongxian had lost thoroughly.

As they conversed, they arrived at the headmaster’s courtyard. Fan Zhen was already there, having instructed Gong Ao to summon Liu Wuxie upon learning that he had concluded his seclusion.

There was only one month left till the Battle of the Hundred Nations.

“Headmaster!” Liu Wuxie cupped his fists when he came in.

“Please, have a seat!” Fan Zhen gestured for Liu Wuxie to sit down. Like the last time, an elderly attendant came to serve tea before backing down.

“Wuxie, Gong Ao must have told you about Prince Yongxian’s defeat and disappearance, right?” Fan Zhen asked, his brow furrowed. If Prince Yongxian was still alive, it was only a matter of time before he attempted a comeback.

Liu Wuxie nodded in acknowledgment. Although Gong Ao hadn’t provided the specifics, he could infer them. He queried, “Headmaster, are you concerned that he might strike me from the shadows?”

After all, one was concealed in darkness while the other was exposed in the light. He was the primary target of Prince Yongxian’s wrath, which was difficult to defend against, given Prince Yongxian’s clandestine position.

“With his defeat, Prince Yongxian no longer has the opportunity to reverse his fortunes. I’m concerned that he might be lurking somewhere in the Imperial City, waiting for a chance to ambush you when you least expect it,” Fan Zhen confirmed. It was only natural that Prince Yongxian would find it hard to swallow his defeat, given that Liu Wuxie had thwarted all his plans.

“Thank you for your concern. I will be careful,” Liu Wuxie said gratefully. Now that he had reached the fourth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, his strength had drastically transformed. Prince Yongxian would be courting death if he dared appear before Liu Wuxie.

“I called you here this time regarding the Battle of the Hundred Nations. There’s only one month left. How are your preparations?” Fan Zhen gave Liu Wuxie a deep look, and he was shocked to see how calm Liu Wuxie was upon hearing Prince Yongxian’s news.

“I’m almost ready!” Liu Wuxie said. He didn’t even have to make any preparations as he was already prepared from the start.

“The Python Mountain Battlefield will open three days from now, and all the geniuses in the dynasty will head there. Consider it a rehearsal before the Battle of the Hundred Nations.”

The Battle of Hundred Nations was a high-stakes event, with the destiny of the Great Yan Dynasty and its prodigies hanging in the balance.

Python Mountain, an ancient battlefield, was steeped in legend. It was said that a cataclysmic battle took place there thousands of years ago, leaving behind numerous treasures.

Before each Battle of the Hundred Nations began, geniuses would head to the Python Mountain Battlefield to train. The Python Mountain Battlefield was weird as it was shrouded in fog throughout the year, and the fog would only dissipate once every decade, each lasting about twenty days.

“When do we depart?” Liu Wuxie asked. Now that he had reached the fourth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, he needed training to digest his gains over the past month.

“We leave tomorrow!” came the reply. Liu Wuxie had concluded his seclusion just in time; had he emerged a day later, he would have missed the departure.

“I’ll take my leave then!” With plans to depart the next day, Liu Wuxie excused himself. He intended to visit the Treasure Pill Pavilion, suspecting that Mu Yueying might have information about Prince Yongxian’s whereabouts.

Fan Zhen didn’t hold Liu Wuxie around and watched him leave.

Performing the Seven Dipper Steps, Liu Wuxie only took an hour to reach the Treasure Pill Pavilion, and there wasn’t any ambush along the way.

Upon arrival, he greeted Master Mao and the other alchemists before heading to the level where Mu Yueying stayed.

Mu Yueying wasn’t surprised by Liu Wuxie’s arrival and had recovered from her injuries.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking right now.” Mu Yueying looked at Liu Wuxie with a smile. “There should be two things, the Python Mountain Battlefield and Prince Yongxian’s whereabouts. Am I right?”

Liu Wuxie, sitting across from Mu Yueying, was not taken aback by her accurate guess.

“Since Big Sister Mu knows the reason for my visit, I hope you can enlighten me!” He felt that there was more to the Python Mountain Battlefield than met the eye, and that Fan Zhen had withheld information from him. He needed to understand it better to avoid potential pitfalls.

“You must be careful when going to the Python Mountain Battlefield. I received word that Xue Clan will set up a trap for you there.” Mu Yueying furrowed her brows lightly with a hint of solemnness.

As Liu Wuxie became stronger, the Xue Clan also felt increasingly pressured. The one-year agreement was approaching, and they had to kill Liu Wuxie as soon as possible.

Liu Wuxie acknowledged the potential threat from the Xue Clan with a nod, having anticipated their attempt to eliminate him.

“Where’s Prince Yongxian?” Liu Wuxie voiced his doubts after a brief pondering.

“He suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle ten days ago and fled to the Cloud Xing Pavilion with heavy injuries. He left together with the Azure Crimson Gate’s envoy. If I’m not mistaken, Lu Fei must’ve left the Great Yan Dynasty with him, returning to the Azure Crimson Gate.” Mu Yueying briefly recounted the events of that day.

“He entered the cultivation world?” Liu Wuxie frowned as that wasn’t good news. With Prince Yongxian’s ambitions, he wouldn’t give up easily after entering the cultivation world.

“Most likely. The Great Yan Dynasty has lost its appeal to the Azure Crimson Gate. All their alchemists are deceased, and there’s no reason for their envoy to remain,” Liu Wuxie speculated. After all, the reputation of the Cloud Xing Pavilion was tarnished, and they couldn’t even sell a pill now due to their infamy.