Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 293 - Immortal

Everyone beneath the stage looked curious, wanting to know what Lu Hongzhu wanted to ask.

“Brother Liu, may I ask what an immortal is?” The moment Lu Hongzhi asked his question, the surroundings fell silent. They were mere mortals, but Lu Hongzhi asked what an immortal was.

Even the ten envoys were stumped by Lu Hongzhi’s question. As they were born in the cultivation world, they had been exposed to vast knowledge since they were young. Even so, they didn’t have an answer to Lu Hongzhi’s question.

Even the ten major sects’ sect masters couldn’t answer that question. Everyone cultivated to become immortal, but what was the purpose? Or were they simply seeking immortality?

Lu Hongzhi’s question stumped everyone, and he asked it to embarrass Liu Wuxie. He naturally wouldn’t concede the battle easily. If Liu Wuxie couldn’t answer that question, wouldn’t it be like a slap to his face?

The Spirit Tiger Dynasty was a vassal of the Dark Tide Empire. The Dark Tide Empire wanted to kill Liu Wuxie, and they naturally wouldn’t miss such a great opportunity.

Since Lu Hongzhi couldn’t kill Liu Wuxie, he could only use this method to embarrass him.

“Lu Hongzhi, how despicable! Who the hell here can answer that question?” The other empires, such as the Blue Wind Empire, couldn't bear it anymore. They had no enmity with Liu Wuxie and even showed a friendly expression instead.

The Black Chu Empire and the Blue Wind Empire had a hostile relationship. Thus, the enemy of the enemy was naturally a friend.

“Brother Liu is talented, and I believe he can answer this question!” Lu Hongzhi smiled at Liu Wuxie and waited for his answer.

Everyone looked at Liu Wuxie anxiously, wondering how he would respond to this question. If Liu Wuxie refused to answer, he would fall into Lu Hongzhi’s trap. Since Liu Wuxie didn’t know what an immortal was, why was he seeking to become immortal?

If Liu Wuxie made a random guess, he would draw mockery from the surroundings.

Liu Wuxie’s eyes became cold. Lu Hongzhi’s scheme was well-planned, and he would fall for Lu Hongzhi’s trap if he killed the latter now. Lu Hongzhi had admitted he wasn’t Liu Wuxie’s match right from the beginning.

“Humans, immortals, and gods can be summarized into two sentences!” Liu Wuxie said with a smile. No one understood immortals better than him, and he did not need to explain too much because he could summarize it into a sentence.

“What? He wants to summarize humans, immortals, and gods into three sentences. Is he insane?” A discussion broke out from the surroundings, feeling that Liu Wuxie was too arrogant. However, few held anticipation, wanting to know what the two sentences were.

“Brother Liu, please enlighten me!” Lu Hongzhi smiled, inviting Liu Wuxie to answer.

Thousands of eyes fell on Liu Wuxie. There was disdain and mockery because no one believed he could answer that question.

“Humans can be defined with humanity and wisdom while being benevolent to an extreme makes one a god.” Liu Wuxie paused after mentioning mortals and gods.

“This is a brilliant answer!” the crowd exclaimed. Liu Wuxie’s reply was brilliant, and the more they thought about it, the more they contemplated.

After all, not many people could embody humanity and wisdom. From a certain sense, many people couldn’t be considered humans. How many people could accomplish being benevolent to an extreme? Gods only existed in legends.

Doing a good deed was easy, but doing it throughout one’s life was difficult. Moreover, one must possess a saintly heart; not many present could achieve that.

“Brother Liu, you haven’t answered my question.” Lu Hongzhi was surprised because those words had a significant impact on him.

All eyes turned to Liu Wuxie once more. This time, all the mockery had disappeared, replaced with anticipation.

"When desires fade, and peace is sought, one becomes immortal!" As Liu Wuxie concluded, heaven and earth quaked as if resonating with his words. Infinite golden radiance descended upon him, enveloping him like a deity. It was a divine blessing from the heavens.

“Hahaha! I finally understand it now! We’re all wrong!” Shui Huan suddenly laughed like a madman because what Liu Wuxie had said earlier significantly impacted him.

“What a brilliant answer! I didn’t expect cultivators like us to be enlightened by someone from the mundane world!” Xi Jian glanced at Yu Tianyi, noticing the solemnity and surprise in his eyes.

None of the ten envoys were stupid, and Liu Wuxie’s words were profound.

“We always believed that cultivation was everything, so we mainly focused on our cultivation. But we don’t know if we can break free from the constraints and enter a higher realm only by having no desires and seeking peace. In the end, we’re no different from the mundane world!” Luo Chudie smiled bitterly, realizing they were trapped by worldly constraints and neglected the fundamentals.

Everyone was without desire and grew up happily when they were born. They were carefree when they were young, and they were no different from immortals in the eyes of others.

But as they grew older, their hearts became darker, filled with hatred and violence. What Liu Wuxie said earlier was a wake-up call that enlightened them.

This time, everyone looked at Liu Wuxie with respect. However, they didn’t know Liu Wuxie had shared only half of the knowledge.

Having no desires and seeking peace makes one immortal, and not defying your heart is the way to achieve immortality.

The path to becoming an immortal was filled with thorns, to begin with. It was fine to seek peace and have no desires, but one would never be able to find the path to becoming immortal if one only emphasized happiness. Then again, the prerequisite was not to defy their heart.

To recognize one's shortcomings, one must introspect deeply into one's heart in all matters.

Less than ten people could comprehend what Liu Wuxie said, and Yu Tianyi was one of them. His eyes shone, and he deciphered the second half from the first.

The other envoys were pondering, but they wouldn't have difficulty comprehending if they were given some time.

“Brother Liu is truly talented, and I concede defeat. You have won. Congratulations on making it into the top twenty!” Lu Hongzhi couldn’t stay in the arena any longer because of the surroundings. He quickly cupped his fists together, wanting to leave to avoid any further embarrassment.

“Hold up!” Liu Wuxie called out to Lu Hongzhi, and the latter’s face became ugly.

“You want to leave like that?” Liu Wuxie asked, murderous intent flashing through his eyes. It was fine if it was an ordinary question; he wouldn’t pursue it. But Lu Hongzhi had asked that question intending to embarrass him, which was a different story.

“Brother Liu, what can I do for you?” Lu Hongzhi asked cautiously. He could sense Liu Wuxie's murderous intent. He had asked the question under the instructions of the Dark Tide Empire, not his own will.

“Since you asked me a question, I’ll also ask you a question. If you fail to answer it...you’ll have to face the consequences!” Liu Wuxie snorted to signal his anger. How would he let Lu Hongzhi leave so easily?

Lu Hongzhi’s face became grim as he looked toward the Dark Tide Empire, and Liu Wuxie naturally observed this.

The Dark Tide Empire’s Ji Xinghe nodded, indicating that Lu Hongzhi would agree.

Lu Hongzhi had already admitted defeat, and Liu Wuxie could only embarrass him in the worst case. So he didn’t need to fear losing his life.

“Brother Liu, what question do you have?” Lu Hongzhi gestured for Liu Wuxie to ask his question.

“What is Dao?” Liu Wuxie also asked Lu Hongzhi a tricky question. After all, immortal and dao might seem unrelated, but they were closely related.

Everyone was baffled because what question was that? It was a thousand times tougher than Lu Hongzhi’s question. After all, dao existed but was invisible.

Lu Hongzhi was stumped with his mouth open.

“Brother Lu, answer the question!” Liu Wuxie asked, and his piercing gaze fell onto Lu Hongzhi. This made the latter uncomfortable, and he avoided Liu Wuxie’s eyes.

Time passed, and Lu Hongzhi was soon covered in sweat. He kept turning to look in the Dark Tide Empire’s direction. They were also baffled and didn’t know the answer to this question.

“What’s the matter? You can’t answer it?” Liu Wuxie sneered. The surrounding atmosphere suddenly became tense, and murderous intent enveloped the arena.

“I don’t have an answer!” Lu Hongzhi was direct. He had already conceded defeat and knew that Liu Wuxie wouldn’t kill him.

Liu Wuxie left an afterimage and vanished, sending Lu Hongzhi flying out of the arena with a slap, leaving behind a red mark on his cheek.

“This is to teach you a lesson. Since you want to be a dog, you should be prepared to be treated like one.” Liu Wuxie was straightforward with his action and left the arena after slapping Lu Hongzhi.

No one expected Liu Wuxie to be so decisive. Lu Hongzhi was already sent flying out before anyone could react.

“Liu Wuxie, you asked a random question with no answer! Why did you slap him?!” The Spirit Tiger Dynasty’s prodigies couldn’t stand it and questioned Liu Wuxie.

“That’s right. It’s a question no one can answer, and you’re doing it purposefully. I didn’t expect you to be so petty. Brother Lu merely asked you for guidance, and you sent him flying out of the arena?” Those from the Dark Tide Empire echoed along in support.

“You all aren’t convinced by it?” Liu Wuxie stopped with murderous intent surging towards those from the Spirit Tiger Dynasty, scaring them into taking a step back. Everyone knew that Liu Wuxie was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill, as he had killed so many people in the past few days.

“We’re not unconvinced. We’re just unhappy that he fell for the trickery of a scum like you!” The other prodigies of the Spirit Tiger Dynasty sneered. They knew they couldn’t beat Liu Wuxie and could only resort to verbal insults.

However, little did they know that insults did not affect Liu Wuxie. He had already achieved the state of no desire, and the difference between him and an immortal wasn’t his mentality but cultivation.

“What do you all want then?” Liu Wuxie asked, wanting to know what these people were planning.

“That’s simple. We’ll admit defeat if you can answer your own question!” A genius from the Spirit Tiger Dynasty stepped forward, wanting Liu Wuxie to answer his own question so they would stop bothering him.

“Who do you all think you are?” Liu Wuxie waved his hand, sending the Spirit Tiger Dynasty’s prodigies flying away. Who did they treat him as? If he did whatever they said, it would be no different from being manipulated by them.