Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 304 - Bully

Everyone looked excited.

A hint of a smile rose on Liu Wuxie’s lips because entering the cultivation world meant getting one step closer to the celestial realm. He had been cultivating tirelessly for six months, hoping to return for revenge.

The speed of the flying carpet slowed significantly. They made detours when they passed through large cities because many cities in the cultivation world prohibited flying. Everyone could only travel on foot, with no exceptions.

After another five days of traveling on the flying carpet, they entered a paradise filled with spiritual energy. Just taking a deep breath made everyone feel comfortable throughout their bodies.

“The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion is up ahead. Prepare to land!” It was prohibited to fly in any sects, and some would even set up offensive spiritual arrays. If one flew recklessly into a sect, there was a possibility the spiritual array might kill them.

The flying carpet slowed down at the foot of a mountain. When everyone raised their heads, they saw birds chirping, fragrant flowers, towering ancient trees that reached the sky, and several towering mountains that made this place look like a paradise.

In the mountain range's depths was a massive waterfall resembling the Milky Way. Profound beasts played around in the mountains, showing no fear for humans.

After reaching the True Core Realm, beasts could no longer be called demonic but profound beasts. This was because they possessed a certain level of intelligence.

This was a paradise for cultivators; only the ten major sects could have such a place as their base. Weng Li and everyone looked around, looking excited before they even entered the sect.

“Wuxie, what do you think of this place?” Fan Lin couldn’t see any fluctuation in Liu Wuxie’s eyes, as if nothing could stir his heart. He had been paying attention to Liu Wuxie since they entered the cultivation world.

Liu Wuxie maintained his composure when hearing what Fan Lin said, which was surprising given the former’s age.

“Not bad!” Liu Wuxie nodded. Compared to the mundane world, the cultivation world was undoubtedly a paradise.

“Senior Brother Fan, when will we ascend the mountain?” Lu Xinde and everyone looked impatient. They had been waiting at the foot of the mountain for a long time.

That was the same for others. But they weren’t bothered initially, thinking that it was to let them familiarize themselves with the environment.

However, even after fifteen minutes, Fan Lin still showed no intention of bringing them into the sect, which surprised Liu Wuxie.

“Well, in addition to recruiting disciples from the mundane world every decade, we also recruit disciples from the cultivation world annually. The test should start today, and many people will join the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion like you guys,” Fan Lin explained.

A powerful sect naturally had a tiered ranking system, and they would enroll new recruits into the sect. Every decade, just ten-odd people from the mundane world weren’t enough to support the sect's development.

After all, the population of a small clan would skyrocket in ten years of development. Putting it bluntly, the Battle of the Hundred Nations was a way to take care of the mundane world, picking some good seedlings every decade.

The core of the ten major sects was still the cultivation world. The cultivators from a decade ago had long been forgotten from the mundane world. Most disappeared, and only a few established footing in the cultivation world.

Fan Lin naturally wouldn’t tell them that, but he couldn’t hide it from Liu Wuxie. From when they stepped into the cultivation world, the density of the population was higher than in the mundane world. Fan Lin said that even a nation in the mundane world couldn’t be compared to a large city in the cultivation world.

The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had over a hundred thousand disciples, with fifty to sixty thousand as outer disciples. There were also inner, core, and many other disciples.

Only disciples would be recorded in books, and there were also miscellaneous disciples and others who weren’t in the record.

Thus, twelve weren’t even a fraction of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s population. Only true dragons could cause waves while many would be engulfed.

Everyone understood the meaning of Fan Lin’s words and waited for the other disciples’ assessment to conclude before entering the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion together.

“So, do we just wait here?” Lu Xinde asked, eager to enter the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

“No. We will go up the mountain now!” Fan Lin led everyone up the stairs. Over ten thousand steps reached into the clouds because the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was deep in the mountain range.

After roughly an hour of walking, a massive gate appeared before everyone. Towering over a hundred feet tall, it looked majestic.

“The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion!” Three words appeared before everyone, emanating a solemn and majestic presence.

It had been ten thousand years since the founding of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Their inheritance was never broken, and they had thousands of sect masters.

Two youths donned the uniform of miscellaneous disciples outside the stone gate, holding brooms to clean the dried leaves on the ground. When they saw someone approaching, they put the brooms down and looked at the ten-odd people.

“Who are they? Why did they come to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?” The youth on the left frowned. He had strength in the pinnacle Marrow Cleansing Realm, but he could only be a janitor in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

Weng Li and others were inwardly shocked because cultivators in the pinnacle Marrow Cleansing Realm could be an overlord in the mundane world. But they couldn’t even become an official disciple in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Only those who reached the True Core Realm could be promoted as outer disciples.

“It has been ten years, so they must be trash from the mundane world.” The youth on the right sneered. They came from the cultivation world and were only unfortunate for now. They were confident in reaching the True Core Realm as long as they were given the opportunity.

“You can’t put it that way. They must be talented to reach their current cultivation in the mundane world.” The youth on the left didn’t share the same thought. Even if they themselves were born in the cultivation world, not everyone born there was a genius. Trashy talent existed everywhere.

The twelve people heard their conversation, and Weng Li’s expression became ugly. However, he quickly suppressed his anger after seeing no fluctuation on Liu Wuxie’s face. They had just arrived and should keep a low profile for the time being.

It was best for them not to offend anyone because who knew if a miscellaneous disciple might have someone backing them up, and this was only a transition to them.

They appeared before a massive field when they passed through the stone gate. The Imperial Academy’s field was nothing compared to this; just calling it significant wasn’t enough to describe this place.

As they passed through the field, they could see buildings in the depths of the mountain. Those buildings should be the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s residence area.

“You’re all free to look around. But don’t leave this field because we won’t be responsible if anything happens to you. Before obtaining the disciple medal, no one will stand up for you if you all are killed here. Keep that in mind!” Fan Lin had to go back to report and reminded everyone repeatedly not to cause any trouble.

Strictly speaking, they still couldn’t be considered disciples of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion without obtaining the medal representing their identity.

“Yes!” Everyone bowed carefully.

Everyone knew that the cultivation world followed the law of the jungle and was aware of this logic very well.

After Fan Lin left, he signaled Liu Wuxie to suppress himself if anything happened and not act rashly.

Liu Wuxie naturally understood the look and wouldn’t cause any trouble as long as he wasn’t provoked.

After Fan Lin left, everyone’s nerves loosened. Some sat on the ground to rest while others looked around, curious about this place.

Liu Wuxie found a clean place to sit and didn’t look to be in a hurry.

The two youths cleaning the gate walked over with a mocking smile hanging on their lips.

“Get up and clean this place!” The youth on the right was roughly older, in his mid-twenties. He had a somewhat eerie face with deep eyes that made him look sinister.

The youth on the left merely smiled and said nothing. The two were responsible for cleaning up the gate and the leaves on the field.

After speaking, they threw the brooms before Liu Wuxie’s group, instructing them to clean up the leaves.

“Why should we sweep the floor?” Lu Xinde was the first to object. He was in the True Core Realm, while these two were miscellaneous disciples.

“Because of this!” The youth on the right said, and a golden ray shot out of his hand, striking Lu Xinde in the chest like a comet.

Lu Xinde was sent flying out and threw up a mouthful of blood. He was in the fourth level of the True Core Realm, but he couldn’t even take an attack from someone in the pinnacle of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Everyone instantly became nervous at this scene.

“Spiritual treasure!” Weng Li recognized the golden ray in the hands of the youth. It was a spiritual treasure that only someone in the Heavenly Dipper Realm could refine.

But how could someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm possibly control a spiritual treasure?

Spiritual treasures were divided into two types: ordinary spiritual treasures corresponding with the Heavenly Dipper Realm and inherent spiritual treasures corresponding with the Heavenly Phase Realm.

Even an ordinary spiritual treasure wasn’t something someone in the True Core Realm could withstand.

Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes as these two youths had cleared their divine bridge at the pinnacle of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, proving that the cultivation world differed.

Lu Xinde lay on the ground, coughing up blood. His chest was dyed red, and this scene made everyone else take a huge step back.

“Now, do we qualify to make you all sweep the floor?” the youth on the right asked with disdain in his eyes, then kicked the broom over to Liu Wuxie. After all, Liu Wuxie was the weakest among the twelve and naturally stood out the most.

Weng Li and others looked at Liu Wuxie, wanting to see how he would deal with this situation.

“I don’t want trouble. You two shouldn’t provoke me.” Liu Wuxie stood up. He didn’t care about the life and death of others as long as no one troubled him.

But as he took a few steps, the two youths stepped forward to stand in Liu Wuxie’s path.

“What arrogance. You’re the first to talk to me, Mei Zizheng, in this manner. I’ll knock your teeth out.” The youth on the right was called Mei Zizheng, and the youth on the left was called Zhai Gaofang. They had joined the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion half a year ago and could only sweep the floor as they had yet to reach the True Core Realm. Thus, it was natural for them to have resentment pent up in their chests.

When they saw Liu Wuxie, the idea of using spiritual treasure to bully them came to their minds. After all, trash like them wouldn’t even take a few months to die.

Even if they had joined the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, they would die if they didn’t have any background or pledge their allegiance to an expert.

“This spiritual treasure doesn’t belong to you, right?” Liu Wuxie gazed at the spiritual treasure in Mei Zizheng’s hand. It was an unusual medal that emanated a powerful spiritual treasure aura.

Mei Zizheng narrowed his eyes because this medal didn’t belong to him, and he was holding it temporarily for someone. This was why he dared to use the spiritual treasure to bully Liu Wuxie’s group.

However, Liu Wuxie saw through him at a glance. He noticed that Mei Zizheng had to exert a lot of force when controlling the medal with his divine power. After all, the spiritual treasure would have been deeply linked to Mei Zizheng if it belonged to him.