Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 333 - Triangular Darts

A distance of hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

When the Azurethunder Ape realized it couldn't shake off Liu Wuxie, it turned around and swung its palm down at him.

The incoming palm was fast, but Liu Wuxie had already anticipated it. He had read tens of thousands of books in the Book Collection Hall, and many of them introduced profound beasts, spiritual herbs, and their gradings.

The formidable aspect of the Azurethunder Apes, which also gave them their name, was their ability to release lightning. They could nurture lightning in their beast core to release in times of danger, paralyzing and rendering their opponents unconscious.

However, lightning was ineffective against Liu Wuxie, so he dared to attack confidently. The massive palm descended, and Liu Wuxie could only receive this attack head-on.

Astral energy surged out, and Liu Wuxie threw a punch at the incoming palm. When the palm and fist collided, the impact caused a powerful shockwave that caused the surrounding walls on both sides to collapse.

When large rocks hit the ground, they produced a deafening sound, creating dozens of craters that scared the smaller demonic beasts into fleeing.

A numbing sensation spread throughout Liu Wuxie's body from the lightning released by the Azurethunder Ape. He shook his arm to dissipate the numbness while he shot toward the top of the Azurethunder Ape with great agility.

The Azurethunder Ape failed to knock Liu Wuxie away in one strike, and its eyes showed a trace of astonishment. After all, the Azurethunder Ape was confident it could kill ordinary cultivators in the eighth-level True Core Realm with that strike, but Liu Wuxie came out unharmed. Without hesitation, the Azurethunder Ape quickly fled, not daring to linger around.

Liu Wuxie locked onto the Azurethunder Ape's path with Ghost Eye, precisely calculating each leap and next landing spot. He performed the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance, anticipating that the Azurethunder Ape would soon descend.

The vines decreased on the cliff ahead, forcing the Azurethunder Ape to descend after having no place to land. Just as Liu Wuxie had predicted, the Azurethunder Ape descended two breaths later.

“Primordial Astral Fist!” Liu Wuxie didn't want to drag the battle because he could sense potential danger lurking in the surroundings, but he couldn't find anyone despite looking around with Ghost Eye for so long.

He would need to stay vigilant if he couldn't eliminate the threat. Thus, Liu Wuxie wanted to kill the Azurethunder Ape quickly and leave.

Liu Wuxie's fist technique enveloped the sky, which caused fear to flash in the Azurethunder Ape's eyes. It descended as it didn't dare to confront Liu Wuxie head-on.

Terrifying astral energy swept out, sealing off all the Azurethunder Ape's escape routes. Through the past few days of honing the Primordial Astral Fist, it was much stronger than before.

Rocks continued to fall from the cliff, forming a high pile of rubble at the bottom. This left the Azurethunder Ape no choice but to fight.

As blood flowed from the Azurethunder Ape's lower abdomen, Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye penetrated through the fur and saw the wound.

"This is an old wound, and it was cut open repeatedly." Liu Wuxie was shocked. This wound had never healed because it was cut open each time it was about to heal. This made him wonder who could be so cruel.

Even if humans and demonic beasts were in a hostile relationship, Liu Wuxie couldn't bring himself to do something so cruel.

As blood gushed from the Azurethunder Ape's wound, it let out a roar in pain, and its strength diminished significantly.

The Primordial Astral Fist struck the Azurethunder Ape's chest, and it was sent flying away, falling down the canyon.

Liu Wuxie also lost his balance and began to fall. The cliff was already a mess, with rocks falling. He didn't dare land recklessly due to the falling rocks and could only move to a somewhat safer spot.

After all, it could be dangerous if he lost his footing at this moment, and it would be difficult to defend if someone ambushed him.

As Liu Wuxie descended, he found himself landing on a heap of debris. The Azurethunder Ape, already wounded, seemed unlikely to pull through.

Right then, a cold ray shot toward Liu Wuxie's neck without warning and appeared out of nowhere.

Liu Wuxie had scanned his surroundings multiple times, covering a radius of a few thousand meters. But he couldn't find anyone hidden, making him curious about how the other party hid from his Ghost Eye.

When the cold ray was ten meters away from Liu Wuxie, he finally noticed that it was a triangular dart that whistled through the air. But it was already ten meters away, and there was no time left for Liu Wuxie to dodge.

The triangular dart contained divine power, and the user must be an expert. To be capable of controlling a dart to kill, this person was at least in the pinnacle True Core Realm. The other party may even be in the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

There was no way to evade mid-air, and his mind processed rapidly. Even though he was an Immortal Emperor in his past life, he couldn't find a solution to deal with this situation because the other party chose a perfect moment to attack when he was falling.

As the triangular dart was two meters away, Liu Wuxie knew he had to act, or he would be killed. He swung the Heretic Blade down too late because the dart had reached his neck.

In the critical moment, Liu Wuxie made a bold move to lean backward, allowing the dart to brush past his face and cause blood to splash.

He felt a cooling sensation on his forehead, and blood flowed out. Unprecedented anger surged within him, and he had never allowed himself to lose control in the past six months, regardless of his hardships. But Liu Wuxie was filled with overwhelming anger to kill right now.

His forehead had a few-inches-long wound, and the dart had only grazed the skin. With his special topical ointment, this wound wouldn't leave behind any scar after it was healed.

The Desolate Devouring Art was tyrannical with immense regenerative abilities, and combined with the mysterious tree, there wouldn’t be any scar left on him. This was likely the first injury he had sustained in the past six months.

A gray-clothed figure emerged from behind a large rock just as Liu Wuxie continued to fall. This allowed the gray figure to camouflage perfectly and conceal himself from Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye.

The Ghost Eye had penetrating ability, but Liu Wuxie seldom used it. After all, the canyon was too vast for him to scan every spot.

The grey-clothed figure was shocked because his fatal strike had failed to kill Liu Wuxie. He shot more darts aimed at Liu Wuxie's upper, middle, and lower body.

Liu Wuxie had already anticipated this attack and performed the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance to dodge the incoming darts.

But the gray-clothed man didn't give up and shot out more darts as he descended, forming a triangular formation. This time, the darts flew at an even more significant speed.

When Liu Wuxie neared the ground, he performed a somersault and landed firmly on the ground after dodging the darts. As for the Azurethunder Ape, it was lying nearby, pleading for a quick death with its eyes.

It had suffered too much in the past year because of the gray-clothed man, who had wounded its lower abdomen repeatedly to lure cultivators in for an ambush.

In the past six months, more than fifty cultivators had fallen at the hands of the gray-clothed man, who had used the Azurethunder Ape as bait. He would cut the ape's abdomen to keep it under control.

In order to survive, the Azurethunder Ape has endured hardship for the past year. It has been forced to kill weaker cultivators, while the man in gray would lay in wait to ambush the more powerful ones with his darts. Most importantly, he never missed his darts.

Liu Wuxie instantly figured everything out through the Azurethunder Ape's eyes. He ended the ape's suffering with a swing of the Heretic Blade, causing its eyes to shine with relief.

He stored the Azurethunder Ape's corpse in the interspatial pouch because he needed its beast core. By the time he was done, the gray-clothed man landed on the ground.

Liu Wuxie finally had a good look at this man and observed that this person was in his thirties with a gloomy appearance. He wasn't a disciple from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and was likely a rogue cultivator. He was strong, with a cultivation in the Quasi-Heavenly Dipper Realm.

"Interesting... you're the first person who survived my dart," The gray-clothed man said with a glint of curiosity shining in his eyes. Liu Wuxie didn't have high cultivation, but it was an impressive feat he could dodge the darts.

"Who are you, and why did you attack me?" Liu Wuxie asked despite having some speculations.

"I will tell you since you're going to die. I'm Yu Huai, a rogue cultivator from a nearby city. I've been hiding here, using the Azurethunder Ape to lure cultivators before ambushing them and seizing their resources." The gray-clothed man revealed this because he was confident in his strength.

As a Quasi-Heavenly Dipper Realm cultivator, killing Liu Wuxie was no different from crushing an ant for him.

The truth was as Liu Wuxie had speculated. This man used the Azurethunder Ape as bait to kill other cultivators. This was also what rogue cultivators loved to do because they didn't have a powerful sect behind them. Thus, their channel to obtain resources were limited, and robbing others was the easiest method.

The cultivators who fell into his trap were a diverse group, including disciples from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and the Azure Crimson Gate, cultivators from the neighboring city, members of various mercenary groups, and even disciples from the Dugu Clan. Tragically, all of them had met their end at the hands of Yu Huai, without a single exception.

After plundering their resources, he took refuge in that place to cultivate. His plan was to remain there until he had amassed enough resources to ascend to the Heavenly Dipper Realm. However, he was just a bit short of his goal when he crossed paths with Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie took out his special topical ointment and applied it to his forehead. The pain disappeared, and the scar would vanish in two days.

This medicine was highly precious. He had used the same one in the Great Yan Dynasty's imperial court and even gifted one to Physician Yan.

“Applying medicine is futile when death is inevitable,” Yu Huai taunted with a sneer. Despite Liu Wuxie only being at the sixth level of the True Core Realm, the fist technique he demonstrated earlier had stirred a sense of envy in Yu Huai.

This was why he loved hunting disciples from major sects. Not only were they wealthy, but they also carried martial technique manuals.

"You're the one who will end up dead!" Liu Wuxie raised his head and looked at Yu Huai coldly. Wielding the Heretic Blade, he unleashed a cold ray directed at the latter with his murderous intent enveloping the entire canyon.

"What arrogance. You're merely in the sixth-level True Core Realm and want to kill me? I forgot to tell you I killed someone in the ninth-level True Core Realm yesterday!" Yu Huai mocked.