Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 508 - Day Before Departure

Yi Nan turned to Liu Wuxie in surprise. After all, only Liu Wuxie could afford to pay someone five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones every month.

However, Liu Wuxie was not just wasting his wealth. He knew that significant investments reaped substantial returns.

Unlike Yi Nan, Elder Yi Xuan didn’t look shocked. He probably wouldn’t have believed Liu Wuxie had he made this offer in the past, but Liu Wuxie had since started producing Spirit Restoration Pills, which changed things. Liu Wuxie could easily make millions of spirit stones through that gold mine every month.

In addition to their spiritual talismans business, Liu Wuxie estimated their monthly income to be around five to eight million spirit stones. Even after supporting everyone in the Heavenly Dao Society, they would still have huge monthly profits.

Elder Yi Xuan couldn’t care less, though. Mid-grade spirit stones had little value to his cultivation.

"I don't need mid-grade spirit stones,” he said. “Can you give me five high-grade spirit stones each month instead?"

"You’ve got yourself a deal!" Liu Wuxie immediately replied.

Mid-grade and high-grade spirit stones meant the same for Liu Wuxie, who had signed an agreement with the sect master that allowed him to exchange the profits for other resources.

The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had a spirit stone mine that produced many high-grade spirit stones yearly, and Liu Wuxie was already planning to exchange all his mid-grade spirit stones for them.

Elder Yi Xuan found it surprising that Liu Wuxie agreed readily. After all, the market used mid-grade spirit stones as the primary currency. Moreover, where would Liu Wuxie even get high-grade spirit stones from?

Despite the questions in his mind, though, Elder Yi Xuan believed that Liu Wuxie would follow through since he had given his word.

The two discussed a few other details, including Elder Yi Xuan's fundamental responsibility of preventing anyone from secretly targeting the Heavenly Dao Society. In his free time, he could stroll through the cities and observe the spiritual talismans sold in the shops. Liu Wuxie believed they would give up whatever underhanded tactics they had in mind upon seeing the elder.

After their meeting, Liu Wuxie saw Elder Yi Xuan off. He then let out a sigh of relief. Achieving his goal had put him in a good mood.

Soon, Lan Yu stepped out from the side with an excited smile. "Congratulations, Master! You found us a powerful ally!"

Lan Yu’s enthusiasm was well warranted. After all, Elder Yi Xuan's support meant they would no longer need to worry about the Heavenly Dao Society's safety.

"This is just the beginning. We still have a long way to go."

Smiling, Liu Wuxie gazed into the distance. Having had enough of fighting alone in his past life, he now wanted to complement that weakness in this lifetime.

With the Heavenly Dao Society set to bring in a constant supply of resources each month, he had finally resolved his problem with resources. Even if he did leave the sect, he would still receive a vast amount of materials.

Lan Yu leaned over to Liu Wuxie. Softly, he asked, "Master, don't you feel that Lady Jian has been acting strange these days?"

"What do you mean?" Liu Wuxie asked.

At that moment, he realized that it had been three days since he had last seen Jian Xing'er, which wasn’t like her. She normally came over to look for him every day. After all, it was no secret that she had fallen hard for him.

Unfortunately, he had been focusing on his cultivation and the Heavenly Dao Society so much the past few days that he never got the chance to go see her either.

On the other hand, he had met Chen Ruoyan twice in the past few days.

"Lady Jian left the sect three days ago, and when she returned, she immediately locked herself in seclusion. When I checked on her, she looked like she had just cried."

Lan Yu was a disciple, which meant he had to take care not only of Liu Wuxie but also of others.

"I'll go check on her!" Liu Wuxie said. He immediately left his abode and headed to Jian Xing'er's courtyard.

Jian Xing'er was still an inner disciple. Hence, she stayed in the inner sect instead of living with Liu Wuxie.

An hour later, after passing through a series of stone steps, he arrived outside Jian Xing'er's courtyard. He walked right in without knocking.

Jian Xing'er was sitting alone in her courtyard with her back facing Liu Wuxie. She looked somewhat lonely. Hearing her enter, she stood up and turned around. Liu Wuxie immediately noticed that her eyes were red.

"What's going on? Who bullied you?" Liu Wuxie asked as anger surged within his heart.

Jian Xing'er forced all the sorrow on her face to fade and replace it with a smile. "What brings you here? Aren’t you busy?”

She knew that Liu Wuxie had been busy the past few days, so she didn't want to bother him.

Liu Wuxie gently held Jian Xing'er by the shoulders. Although he was younger than her, he often took on the big brother role.

"Tell me what happened!"

"It's nothing!" Jian Xing'er replied. She then bit her lips and held her tears back.

"There’s no reason for us to keep things from each other, is there?"

When their gazes met, Jian Xing'er threw herself into his embrace and let her tears roll down her cheeks. Whatever happened had to have hurt her deeply for her to be so upset.

Jian Xing'er buried her head into Liu Wuxie's chest. "H-He's dying."

"Who?" Liu Wuxie asked in confusion. He tried his best to find the answer, but he didn't know most people acquainted with Jian Xing'er.

As he wondered if he was forgetting someone, a person suddenly crossed his mind.

"Your father?"

Jian Xing'er nodded. Despite how unfair her father had treated her, he was still her father. Learning that he was dying naturally made her heart ache.

"What happened?"

She had helped him greatly. He wouldn't just stand around and watch while she was in trouble.

Jian Xing'er wiped her tears and looked up at Liu Wuxie. "Do you remember the day we went down the mountain?"

Liu Wuxie nodded. He had accompanied her down the mountain a few months ago, where they encountered Jian Botong, her father. They also met a youth named Teng Zijun, who had been pursuing her.

Jian Xing'er recounted the events that took place in the past few months.

Upon learning that Jian Xing'er was carrying Liu Wuxie's child, Teng Zijun immediately left in frustration. He also discovered that Jian Xing'er had a step-brother who was a complete garbage and a compulsive gambler with a huge debt.

Her step-brother owed the Teng Clan most of his debt. To repay it, Jian Botong agreed to the Teng Clan's marriage proposal between Jian Xing'er and Teng Zijun.

However, the news of Jian Xing'er's pregnancy completely disrupted Jian Botong's plans, causing her brother's debts to remain unpaid.

The Teng Clan didn't initially pressure the Jian Clan to repay their debts, but they eventually received news that Jian Xing'er had lied to them about her pregnancy.

By then, if she were truly pregnant, she would have already been close to labor. Taking that into consideration, it became clear that they had been deceived.

Enraged by the incident, the Teng Clan accused Jian Botong of conspiring with his daughter to deceive them and demanded his son’s debts be paid in full.

Since they had already sold off most of their properties, they couldn’t accumulate enough money to pay the Teng Clan. As a result, the Jian Clan was thrown into poverty.

The Teng Clan ultimately issued a final notice that they would kill everyone in the Jian Clan if they didn't repay their debts or honor their agreement to marry Jian Xing'er to Teng Zijun.

"Who came to look for you?" Liu Wuxie asked. Jian Xing'er could have only learned about this three days ago when she left the sect.

Though feeling conflicted, Jian Xing’er replie, "A servant from the Jian Clan.”

She knew she should just stand by and watch, especially after how her father and clan had treated her. However, she couldn't bear to see her father die at the hands of the Teng Clan.

"Even if the Teng Clan is demanding payment, it makes no sense for them to harm your father!" Liu Wuxie frowned.

"He ran into the Teng Clan's casino and got caught cheating, so they beat him half to death,"

She remembered feeling infuriated upon hearing the news.

The Teng Clan made their fortune through their casinos, which ruined her garbage of a brother. Not only did he squander the clan's wealth, but he also dragged the Jian Clan down with him.

Now aware of the situation, Liu Wuxie asked, "What do you plan to do next?"

No matter her decision, he would give her his unconditional help and support.

Feeling overwhelmed, Jian Xing’er shouted, "I don't know!"

She hadn't experienced this before. Moreover, this would also affect her uncles, who had been kind to her. She couldn't bear to see them all dead.

"I'll go back and take a look with you."

Refusing to let her have any regrets, Liu Wuxie stood up to accompany Jian Xing'er back to her clan.

Jian Xing'er’s eyes widened. "You'll come with me?"

Where would he even find the time to accompany her? He was too busy with cultivation and the Heavenly Dao Society. Perhaps that was why she couldn't help feeling a hint of sweetness in her heart. After all, this showed that Liu Wuxie kept her in his heart.

"The Heavenly Dao Society is on track, and I plan to see the world anyway. Considering I haven’t visited most of the vast Southern Province, going there for experience wouldn't hurt."

Although Liu Wuxie had been planning to go out and train, he didn't really have a clear objective. Still, since staying in the sect would get him nowhere, he decided to just take one step at a time.

With Elder Yi Xuan and Tian Xing around, he did not need to worry about the Heavenly Dao Society's safety anyway.

Moreover, the sect master wouldn't just sit by if something happened to the Heavenly Dao Society. After all, that would indirectly affect the pills' production. In the first place, one of the reasons Liu Wuxie agreed to cooperate with the sect master was that it would tie the Heavenly Dao Society into the sect.

Jian Xing’er smiled. As long as Liu Wuxie was with her, she felt as though they could solve anything.

"When are we leaving?" she asked.

"Tomorrow!" Liu Wuxie replied. He didn't want to delay this matter lest something happen to Jian Xing'er's father.

Although Liu Wuxie didn't like Jian Botong, he was still Jian Xing'er's father. He could end up finding a use for him in the future.

That evening, Liu Wuxie gathered everyone and informed them of his plans.

"You're planning to leave the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion again?" one of his people asked.

Everyone couldn’t help but worry whenever Liu Wuxie left the sect. The sect was their only haven, and Liu Wuxie could become a true disciple sooner or later for as long as he stayed in it.

"I know you're all worried, but the path I'm taking differs from yours. I leave the Heavenly Dao Society in your capable hands."

Unlike their path, his was destined to be anything but peaceful.

The Heavenly Dao Book had to absorb various things in the world, which meant he had to travel out for it to grow.

Since Liu Wuxie had already made up his mind, they no longer needed to say anything else. Everyone just hoped that Liu Wuxie would pay attention to his safety while he was outside the sect.

Chen Ruoyan, who had been silent during the entire meeting, suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "I want to come with you!"

Everyone gave Liu Wuxie a strange look, and Lan Yu covered his mouth to suppress his laughter. Since this was Liu Wuxie's personal matter, they had no right to intervene.