Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 331 - Collective Breakthrough

Just when Bai Lin and Tang Tian were about to lose their lives, a powerful aura bursting out of the cave abruptly changed the situation.

The captain's blade was knocked away and embedded into a tree a hundred meters away. It was buried so deep that only the hilt was exposed. This caught everyone off guard.

Bai Lin and Tang Tian looked cheerful.

"It's Junior Brother Liu!" Tang Tian's eyes gleamed with joy. They had already resigned to death, but Liu Wuxie had saved them.

"Who is it?!" The captain was somewhat afraid because the outburst of aura was enough to knock his blade away. This indicated that the other party was at least in the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

The captain slowly retreated. The three mercenaries he had sent into the cave also did not respond, and they were probably dead.

"You dare hurt my brothers? You all deserve to die!" Liu Wuxie's voice was devoid of emotion.

Liu Wuxie stood outside the cave, emitting a terrifying murderous intent that locked onto the five remaining mercenaries.

His chilling, murderous intent swept over the remaining mercenaries like a cold wind, causing them to shudder involuntarily and nearly lose control. They took a frightened step back from Liu Wuxie's piercing gaze.

"Who the hell are you? Stop playing tricks with me!" The captain took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Liu Wuxie was only in the sixth-level True Core Realm, and the captain naturally wouldn't fear him.

The captain retrieved a blade from his interspatial pouch and pointed it at Liu Wuxie.

"Junior Brother Liu, you find a way to leave while we hold him back!" Bai Lin thought Liu Wuxie had forcibly stopped his seclusion because they would die if he didn't act.

Liu Wuxie naturally saw how they tried to protect him, and this incident brought their relationship closer than before.

"Take these two pills and rest to recover while I avenge you two." Liu Wuxie threw out two pills, which landed in Bai Lin’s and Tang Tian’s hands.

The two swallowed the pills without any hesitation and felt refreshed, especially since their injuries were healing rapidly. During the life-and-death battle, their bottleneck had shaken, and they could reach the ninth level of the True Core Realm at any moment.

Many people were fond of training outside, walking on the edge of life and death to seek an opportunity to make a breakthrough. They didn't expect to benefit from this misfortune. They finally touched the ninth-level True Core Realm threshold when they put their lives on the line and exhausted their true essence.

Liu Wuxie was happy for them. He noticed they had been cultivating in a comfortable environment and hadn't experienced any life-and-death battles. Their cultivation was stuck in the eighth level of the True Core Realm.

He had planned their breakthrough. He didn't come out earlier on purpose because he wanted to see how strong they were and help them make a breakthrough in their cultivation.

He would remember how they were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect him.

He appeared before the captain, releasing a tremendous aura that made him feel suffocated. The captain hadn't realized how terrifying Liu Wuxie was, as they had been far away.

"Do you want to end your life yourself, or do you need me to help you with it?" Liu Wuxie announced the death sentence of the mercenary group, giving them two choices.

"What arrogance! You're only in the sixth level of the True Core Realm!" Furious, the captain swung his blade down at Liu Wuxie with unmatched momentum. He attacked to kill Liu Wuxie in one strike.

He saw a demonic trait in Liu Wuxie and knew that the latter wasn't simple, but he couldn't describe it with words.

"You're courting death!" The Heretic Blade appeared in Liu Wuxie's hand. He hardly moved, and the captain was decapitated with a cold flash.

He could kill someone in the ninth level of the True Core Realm in one strike because of his breakthrough. He was over a dozen times stronger than before, and he could kill Qian Zhou in one strike if they fought again.

The remaining four mercenaries were scared out of their wits and fled in various directions. They knew it was a dead-end for them with their captain's death.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade out horizontally, killing the four mercenaries and extracting the energies in their bodies, including the captain.

However, Liu Wuxie didn't absorb the energies this time and injected the refined energies into Bai Lin and Tang Tian. After they absorbed the energy, their cultivation soared, and they stepped into the ninth level of the True Core Realm.

The surrounding spiritual energy was rich, and they smoothly made a breakthrough without needing any spirit stones. After all, they didn't have a terrifying dantian like Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie sat by the side after cleaning up the battlefield. It was his turn to guard them this time, and the spiritual cloud in the sky hadn't dissipated yet.

An hour had passed since the mercenary group's death, with Bai Lin and Tang Tian still in seclusion. Because they didn't have a powerful cultivation technique or a unique dantian, their breakthrough had to proceed step by step, and they would need at least three days to stabilize their cultivation.

Right then, a green-clothed youth landed before Liu Wuxie and looked around with murderous intent emanating from him. This person was a disciple of the Profound Inscription Peak.

"You guys are disciples of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?" After the man landed, his gaze fell on Liu Wuxie. Bai Lin and Tang Tian were immersed in their world because they were reassured that Liu Wuxie was protecting them.

For safety reasons, Liu Wuxie had set up a spiritual array around them.

"That's right," Liu Wuxie replied indifferently. He remained seated, continuously absorbing the spiritual energy from the spiritual cloud hovering in the sky.

The youth squinted with a light flashing through his eyes. He was shocked by Liu Wuxie's devouring speed of spiritual energy, and he hadn't heard of such a powerful cultivation technique in the sect.

"Did you create the spiritual cloud?" the youth asked, a hint of greed flashing through his eyes.

"What are you trying to say?" Liu Wuxie looked displeased. He naturally noticed this youth's greed. It was normal for people to covet his cultivation technique, which was capable of causing such a terrifying phenomenon.

"I wonder if junior brother can let me look at your cultivation technique? I mean no harm, and I just want to look." The youth smiled. He was in the ninth level of the True Core Realm, looking prideful.

Bai Lin and Tang Tian were in the crucial moment of their breakthrough and couldn't afford to be distracted. As for Liu Wuxie, the youth didn't take him seriously.

"No." Liu Wuxie's reply was cold and direct. Let's not mention that the Desolate Devouring Art was a heaven-defying cultivation technique, and he wouldn't fulfill such a request even if it weren't. After all, the cultivation technique was everyone's secret, and no one would show it to someone else.

"Do you know who I am?" The youth's face turned cold. He didn't expect Liu Wuxie to refuse him so bluntly.

"I have no interest in knowing who you are. I advise you to leave immediately; this isn't where you should be." Liu Wuxie closed his eyes after speaking. He had just made a breakthrough in his cultivation and still needed to temper it to adapt.

Each rise in the cultivation would bring new changes, which Liu Wuxie needed to explore.

"I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm one of the top ten outer disciples of the Profound Inscription Peak, known as the Jade-Faced Gentleman Zhuo Bufan. I can consider sparing your life if you hand over your cultivation technique."

If other outer disciples had heard what he said, they would have handed over their cultivation techniques by now. After all, each peak's top ten outer disciples possessed extraordinary strength.

"Get lost!" Liu Wuxie roared, unleashing a powerful aura that caused the surrounding trees to explode and forced Zhuo Bufan to take a few steps back. He was already tired of listening to such useless threats.

"You dare tell me to get lost? You're dead!" Zhuo Bufan laughed instead of getting angry. He stepped forward and released his powerful aura in the ninth level of the True Core Realm.

Earlier, he had been collecting spiritual herbs on a cliff, only to find their medicinal properties had vanished the moment he harvested them. This led him to follow the direction of the spiritual cloud to this place.

He was initially under the impression that a treasure had appeared like the Red Tiger Mercenary Group. But it had turned out that the commotion was caused by someone making a breakthrough.

Zhuo Bufan soared to the sky with his palm striking at Liu Wuxie. The cultivation world was crueler than Liu Wuxie had imagined, and the slightest mistake could result in death.

"I already gave you a chance to leave. Don't blame me since you're courting death!" A powerful outburst of aura swept out of Liu Wuxie, which felt like an awakening tiger.

Zhuo Bufan was shocked because he hadn't expected Liu Wuxie to be so powerful. But there was no turning back now because he already made his move. His only option was to kill Liu Wuxie and seize his cultivation technique.

His palm manifested into a gigantic palm descending and clashed with Liu Wuxie. With an outburst, the shockwave sent Liu Wuxie and Zhuo Bufan flying backward, causing countless trees to shatter.

It was a tie, with neither gaining an upper hand. This made Liu Wuxie narrow his eyes because Zhuo Bufan was stronger than the Red Tiger Mercenary Group's captain.

It was as expected of someone who was ranked in the Profound Inscription Peak's top ten.

Zhuo Bufan looked at Liu Wuxie with disbelief. He couldn't believe someone in the sixth level of the True Core Realm had blocked his strike.

As the two stared at each other, murderous intent began to brew in their eyes.

Zhuo Bufan drew his sword and was determined to kill Liu Wuxie. To eliminate potential threats, he needed to kill all three, no matter what.

He soared to the sky and stabbed his sword at Liu Wuxie's neck with extreme precision. As an experienced outer disciple, he had encountered many martial techniques, which meant he had rich fighting experience.

Liu Wuxie drew the Heretic Blade and swung it horizontally with no fancy moves, efficiently resolving Zhuo Bufan's attack. The two fought back and forth ferociously.

Even after exchanging blows for over a dozen moves, Zhuo Bufan couldn't gain any advantage over Liu Wuxie. This left Zhuo Bufan increasingly shocked and even more curious about Liu Wuxie's cultivation technique.

The two exchanged over fifty moves and were still evenly matched. Liu Wuxie controlled his strength at about seventy percent. He had just made his breakthrough and still needed time to adapt, and this was an excellent opportunity for him to temper himself.

The pace of the battle quickened as they fought. Zhuo Bufan practiced the Great Solar Sword Art, which consisted of bold moves like the blazing sun.

Many outer disciples had practiced this sword technique, but only a few could reach Zhuo Bufan's level of mastery. The latter's attacks were like a blazing sun enveloping Liu Wuxie.

The most significant advantage of this sword technique was its ability to release a blinding light that affected the opponent's vision.

Liu Wuxie resorted to using Ghost Eye because nothing could hide from this eye technique, and the blinding light posed no threat to him.