Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 441 - Eighth-Level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm

“You have no chance!” Liu Wuxie had predicted Hou San would try to escape if he was no match. This meant Liu Wuxie had to kill Hou San to prevent him from joining forces with his companion.

With only one left, Liu Wuxie had nothing to worry about. He was confident of reaching the eighth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm after refining Hou San.

By then, even cultivators in the third level of the Heavenly Phase Realm wouldn’t be his match.

The Heavenly Dao Book unfurled before Hou San could escape, unleashing a Soul Spear that pierced through space and appeared before the latter, stabbing into his soul sea before he could respond.

“ARGH!” Hou San screamed. He fell and landed directly at Liu Wuxie’s feet. He clutched his head and let out a howl.

When the Heretic Blade descended, Hou San was decapitated, and his blood dyed the beach red.

The ancient star disappeared, and the surroundings returned to normal. After killing Hou San, Liu Wuxie brought out the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and refined his corpse, converting it into a spiritual liquid above the cauldron.

“I should find a safe place to make a breakthrough first.” Cleaning up the battlefield was unnecessary because all traces of their fight would disappear as seawater washed over the beach several times.

A person arrived on the beach shortly after Liu Wuxie left and looked around. This person was the other Heavenly Phase Realm cultivator from the Hou Clan. He muttered, “Where’s Hou San? The message was sent from here.”

When Hou San's message abruptly cut off halfway, his companion could only follow the lingering signal to the beach where it originated. Upon arrival, he found the beach unchanged but devoid of any clues.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie had already moved on, heading in a different direction. He discovered a secluded canyon, bordered by reefs and the sea on three sides, leaving the only access through the reef.

He sat on a stone roughly ten-odd meters from the sea. The sea produced rumbling sounds when the waves crashed against the rocks.

Liu Wuxie could have advanced to the eighth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm while in the Celestial Spirit Cave, but he chose to delay this progression to build a stronger foundation. Over the past few days, he had diligently worked on tempering his cultivation, successfully stabilizing his current level and preparing for the next.

The spiritual liquid poured out from the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. It contained terrifying energy belonging to a cultivator in the Heavenly Phase Realm. The world in his dantian began to rumble when the spiritual liquid poured in.

“What pure energy!” Liu Wuxie was amazed because he could reach the Heavenly Phase Realm swiftly if he refined enough cultivators.

He took out a handful of pills and swallowed them before taking out a pile of spirit stones and throwing them into the cauldron. His true essence surged like a sea through his meridians, with a gate beckoning him.

“Let’s prepare to make a breakthrough!” Time was pressing, and he had to leave for the Blood Sea Abyssal Island in three days. Thus, Liu Wuxie wanted to do everything he could to increase his cultivation.

If he went to the Blood Sea Abyssal Island with his cultivation at the Heavenly Dipper Realm, he wouldn’t even be able to serve as cannon fodder and would likely lose his life.

The true essence in Liu Wuxie’s dantian began to compress, becoming purer over time. Without him knowing, his true essence already contained a wisp of the heavenly phase power. This was a good sign because he could kill opponents like Hou San with one move the next time.

The Desolate Devour Art circulated, and the spiritual energy above the sea formed into a fog, drawn to Liu Wuxie.

This phenomenon alarmed the sea demons patrolling nearby, who turned to look in Liu Wuxie’s direction, unsure of what was going on. This was the first time they had witnessed such concentrated spiritual energy gatherings in one place.

The mist grew thicker and enveloped the reef Liu Wuxie was on, leaving behind a fog over the sea.

Liu Wuxie was already used to the commotion caused by the Desolate Devour Art, and due to the dense spiritual energy there, he managed to save many spirit stones.

A thunderous rumble echoed in Liu Wuxie’s ears. He had successfully reached the eighth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm. His true essence surged powerfully, and revelations about the Heavenly Phase Realm began to dawn upon him.

This laid a solid foundation for his future breakthrough into the Heavenly Phase Realm. The next step was to consolidate his cultivation. When his true essence rumbled, it was being cleansed and purified.

The rhythm was like waves crashing onto the shore from the surroundings. One day passed in the blink of an eye, and his cultivation had practically stabilized. But the dense fog in the surroundings showed no signs of dissipating, creating a mirage.

On the second day, a creature with a human head and a fish body appeared on the sea’s surface to investigate the mirage. But he dared not get close because Liu Wuxie gave off a powerful aura. The shockwave killed the low-level sea demons before they could even get close.

On the third day, a small team of sea demons appeared, wielding strange forks, and swam over, slowly approaching the reef.

Liu Wuxie suddenly opened his eyes, sensing the approaching danger. He stood up and saw ten sea demons coming through the fog.

“Sea demons!” Liu Wuxie didn’t expect his breakthrough to attract sea demons. This area was the coast, and no powerful sea demons would appear. Those patrolling were generally low-level demon clan species.

When they got close, the sea demons approached Liu Wuxie. After fighting for thousands of years, humans and sea demons were considered enemies.

Sea demons lived in the sea, while humans lived on the land. They were supposed to have no contact, but the conflict had originated from the seabed. There were various ores and treasures on the seabed.

The sea demons initially traded them with humans for human goods. But they were often lowballed because they weren’t versed in the market prices, often trading precious treasures for ordinary items.

They were naturally enraged when they discovered the truth and cut off all trade with humans.

Once humans experienced the immense benefits of the sea demons, they became unwilling to relinquish the vast treasures hidden beneath the sea. This led to a brutal cycle of violence, with human cultivators diving into the depths to hunt sea demons and seek riches, sparking a massacre that fueled generations of unending feuds.

These racial conflicts and massacres, rooted in ancient times, not only sparked enmity between humans and sea demons but also ignited internal strife among human factions.

After his breakthrough, Liu Wuxie made no rash moves to look at the sea demons. The sea demons gathered over weren’t strong. But human cultivators couldn’t do anything to them, given their advantage in the water, unless they could comprehend the water element, which would allow them to travel underwater.

“Human, do you have a Spirit Convergence Pearl on you?”

During Liu Wuxie's breakthrough on the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's back mountain, many had similarly speculated that he possessed a Spirit Convergence Pearl, which explained the dense spiritual energy he gathered.

Over the years, the sea demons had become well acquainted with the human world.

“No!” Liu Wuxie waved his hand and turned around to leave, not wanting to stay around. After all, the warship was scheduled to set off for the Blood Sea Abyssal Island the next day.

As Liu Wuxie prepared to leave, the sea demons were determined not to let him go. Although they hadn’t reached the Heavenly Phase Realm, their advantage in the water made them formidable opponents capable of easily dispatching ordinary cultivators in the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

“Hold it right there!” Ten sea demons leaped out of the sea and stood upright on the reef, using their webbed feet. One of the sea demons was powerful with evolved legs. Apart from retaining their fish waist, they had many parts similar to humans.

Despite their evolution, they retained two gills on their faces, a feature that couldn’t be shed.

The other sea demons showed respect for this individual, who, due to his yaksha bloodline, held a higher status within their strict hierarchical society.

Liu Wuxie frowned and looked displeased. He didn’t want to get involved with sea demons, but that didn’t mean he was afraid. He asked, “What’s the matter?”

He looked at the ten sea demons disdainfully because he could easily kill them with one palm strike.

“This is the sea demon’s territory, but a human like you dares to step foot here?! Hand over everything on you, and I will consider sparing your life,” the strongest sea demon roared.

To claim anywhere near the sea was their territory; they were truly arrogant.

Liu Wuxie began laughing with a cold glint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

“Hear that? Hand everything over, or don’t blame me for being ruthless!” sea demons were fond of collecting useless human items. They could present the items to their emperor and receive a reward.

“Get lost before I decide to kill you all!” Liu Wuxie waved his hand dismissively, causing the ten sea demons to stagger. Their pitiful strength was no match for him, and their attempt at robbery was nothing short of foolish.

“You’re courting death!” The strongest sea demon roared, took out an item shaped like a shell, and blew on it. The sound produced was low and could reach far away.

“You’re courting death!” The strongest sea demon roared, producing a shell-shaped item and blowing into it. The sound was low but carried far, signaling for reinforcements.

In a flash, Liu Wuxie summoned the Heretic Blade and swung it down, unleashing a powerful blade aura that locked onto the ten sea demons.

Blood splashed around, and the ten sea demons were ripped into pieces before they could even scream.

After killing the sea demons, Liu Wuxie turned around to leave, not wanting to stay for another moment because more sea demons would gather shortly. He performed his movement technique and vanished, returning to the city.

Shortly after Liu Wuxie left, huge waves surged. A robust yaksha slowly emerged from the sea, supported by seawater, acting as his footing.

A group of sea demons followed behind him, stronger than the ones Liu Wuxie had killed. They were probably patrolling the area and had rushed over upon hearing the commotion.

“Boss, they died not long ago!” A few sea demons came over to inspect the fresh corpses.

“Who dares kill people belonging to our sea demon clan!” The yaksha standing on the water’s surface roared, causing waves to rumble in the surroundings.

“Boss, their spirits are still around!” A sea demon extracted a dark green bead about the size of a pea from a deceased sea demon’s corpse.

“Awaken the spirit’s memory!” the yaksha gave an order coldly.