Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 569 - Spirit-Devouring Worm

After hearing Liu Wuxie's words, everyone from the Ling Clan felt sweat trickling down their foreheads. They couldn't figure out how Liu Wuxie had discovered their most guarded secret.

"That's impossible! There was no stone betting on the boat, so how do you know?" The Ling Clan's young master asked in disbelief, thinking that Liu Wuxie was trying to bluff them into his trap.

"Well, I must thank you, Young Master Ling, for coming so close to me that day for no reason. I noticed the scent pouch that you've been carrying. Do you dare to open it for everyone to see?" Liu Wuxie said.

The Ling Clan's young master's face flushed angrily; his fists clenched. That day, he had only approached Liu Wuxie to request calligraphy, which had resulted in his enmity against Liu Wuxie. It was also rare for such a small matter to escalate into such deep hatred.

The Ling Clan's upper echelons began to panic. The ordinary disciples looked puzzled because only the upper echelons knew the clan's true secrets. As the chosen heir, the Ling Clan's young master could naturally access the clan's secrets.

Thousands of eyes fell on the scent pouch hanging at the waist of the Ling Clan's young master.

"Hurry up and open it!" someone yelled from the crowd, with everyone's curiosity piqued. After all, they would become rich if they could access the secret of how the Ling Clan appraised stones.

The Ling Clan's young master hesitated. He turned to look at his father nervously because he hadn't expected things to spiral out of control.

"Young Master Ling, why are you hesitating? Hurry up and open it!" Qiu Yuan said, despite having a close relationship with the Ling Clan's young master.

More people joined in to pressure the Ling Clan's young master, who was on the verge of collapse. He knew the consequences would be dire if he opened the scent pouch.

"Run! Break through the crowd!" Ling Feichi wanted to break through the crowd and leave this place. This was the only way for the Ling Clan to survive.

"Stop them from escaping if you don't want to die in ignorance!" Liu Wuxie roared, his voice booming through the hall. His command reverberated across the room, urging everyone to block the Ling Clan’s escape.

There weren't many of the Ling Clan present—just over a dozen people. No one could stop them if they wanted to flee, and they were already desperate to do anything to survive.

The Azure Crimson Gate wouldn't stop them from leaving, and those from the Demonic Heart Palace enjoyed the show.

"Ling Feichi, don't be in such a hurry to leave. The Ling Clan accused us, the Sky Rift Valley, of cheating. You still haven't given us an explanation for this matter."

The ones who intervened to stop the Ling Clan were those from the Sky Rift Valley. If the Ling Clan managed to escape, there would be no one to prove their innocence.

Madam Li injured the Ling Clan's three elders, and Ling Feichi couldn't break free from the barrier set up by the two elders from the Sky Rift Valley.

Suddenly, an expert in the Astral River Realm charged at the Ling Clan's young master, swiftly reaching for the scent pouch that looked like a sachet hanging by his waist. He knew that the pouch contained the Ling Clan’s secret for appraising stones, and he didn't hesitate to open it immediately after snatching it.

"Don't open it!" Liu Wuxie's goal was to force the Ling Clan's young master to open it himself, and it was already too late for him to stop. The Azure Crimson Gate disciples were overwhelmed with greed, and they naturally would pay no heed to Liu Wuxie's warning.

When the pouch was opened, a thin black thread flew out, burrowed into this Azure Crimson Gate disciple's hand, and disappeared. What followed after was a gruesome scene as the youth let out a heart-wrenching scream.

His screams echoed as his body began to wither, as if something was devouring his flesh and blood.

In the blink of an eye, blood streamed from his five orifices, leaving behind a tragic appearance. This scared the surrounding Azure Crimson Gate disciples to retreat, with fear etched on their faces quickly.

"It's the Spirit-Devouring Worm!" one of the Demonic Heart Palace's elders cried out, his reaction akin to someone who had been struck by lightning. His sudden outburst drew everyone's attention, and curiosity spread among the crowd. If a cultivator in the Nascent Transformation Realm could react with such fear, the creature must be truly dangerous.

But when everyone heard the words' Spirit-Devouring Worm,' panic erupted among the crowd, with everyone trying to flee. The Spirit-Devouring Worms were enemies of all cultivators with no exception.

A slender black worm appeared before everyone when the Azure Crimson Gate disciple lay on the ground lifelessly and was reduced to nothing more than a puddle of blood.

"Quick, kill it!" The worm had grown larger than before, and if it wasn't killed soon, it would burrow into the next person's body to consume their flesh.

At present, the cultivation world had no way to deal with the Spirit-Devouring Worms, so they were also called the undying worms. Even if cut into ten thousand pieces, they could regenerate and turn into ten thousand worms.

Not only do these worms feed on humans, but they also devour anything that contains spirituality.

Years ago, a Spirit-Devouring Worm had appeared in a mighty sect and devoured the entire sect in just a few days, including the spiritual vein. Countless disciples of the sect were killed, and even experts in the True Profound Realm couldn't expel the worm from their bodies.

However, the Spirit-Devouring Worm's horror didn't end there. Their ability to reproduce was also terrifying, and a worm could easily wipe out an entire sect quickly. If there were ten or hundreds of them, didn't that mean they could wipe out the whole Southern Province?

Several people launched various attacks on the Spirit-Devouring Worm. Despite the powerful assaults, the Spirit-Devouring Worm remained unfazed. There was a reason they were known as undying worms, and no attacks caused them significant harm.

The Spirit-Devouring Worm disappeared with a sudden whoosh, burrowing itself into the body of a Ling Clan's disciple, whose body rapidly shriveled with the energy devoured and only left behind a hollow shell.

Panic spread among the crowd as everyone attempted to flee, not daring to linger for another moment. Who would've thought that the Ling Clan would secretly raise Spirit-Devouring Worms behind everyone's back?

Back at the gathering on the boat, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had sent a signal, expressing its hunger to devour the Spirit-Devouring Worm. Using his Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie had uncovered the Ling Clan's secret.

"Ling Feichi, how dare your Ling Clan secretly raise the Spirit-Devouring Worm!" People went wild that the Ling Clan had committed taboo of the cultivation world to raise Spirit-Devouring Worm.

The Spirit-Devouring Worm was the nemesis of all cultivators, and anyone who raised them would be hunted by everyone if found.

"I understand now! The Spirit-Devouring Worms attract themselves to anything that contains spirituality! The Ling Clan's three elders must've carried them, and they could identify if the stone contained any spirituality," someone exclaimed after figuring everything out.

The Ling Clan's appraisal method was the Spirit-Devouring Worm. The Spirit-Devouring Worm's trait was its acute ability to detect spirituality. By keeping the worms in a pouch, the Ling Clan could judge the spirituality of the stones based on the worms' reactions.

The worms, relying on their acute sensitivity against spirituality, could detect the spirituality in a stone, something the human's divine sense couldn't penetrate. The energy enveloping the stones that could prevent the penetration of human's divine senses had little effect on them.

As everyone spoke, the Ling Clan's disciple had shriveled down to a pile of skin, and the black worm had grown larger. If this continued, the stone betting event might become a disaster for everyone, and no one present could escape its hunger.

Once all the humans were devoured, the Spirit-Devouring Worms would turn their hunger toward the spiritual essences hidden within the stones. These creatures could grow rapidly, and according to ancient records, a single worm had been known to reach several feet in length, capable of consuming one million spirit stones in a single gulp.

"What should we do? The consequences would be dire if we allowed the worm to escape," someone exclaimed in panic. If the worm escaped, it would be a disaster for all cultivators in Serene Sea City, and the city would soon become a ghost city.

Everyone cursed at the Ling Clan, their hatred so intense that they wished they could tear it apart.

"The ten major sects had signed a pact years ago to hunt anyone caught secretly raising the Spirit-Devouring Worm. Everyone, listen up! Kill the Ling Clan's disciples!" Wei Qisheng yelled. All the Sky Rift Valley disciples sprang into action upon the order. They knew they had to kill everyone from the Ling Clan to prevent more Spirit-Devouring Worms from escaping.

If the worms' numbers grew beyond control, it would be an all-out disaster. Serene Sea City was under the three major clans' jurisdiction, and they couldn't afford such a loss. If the city fell, the Spirit-Devouring Worms would soon burrow into the spiritual veins buried beneath the three major sects, delivering a crippling blow to them.

In an unexpected show of unity during this incident, the Azure Crimson Gate and Demonic Heart Palace joined forces with the Sky Rift Valley to launch a massacre against the Ling Clan. The Ling Feichi and the elders had no way out because their exit was blocked.

Even if they managed to kill everyone from Ling Clan, the Spirit-Devouring Worms would be a disaster if they weren't eradicated.

The Spirit-Devouring Worm's hunger couldn't be satisfied even after devouring another Ling Clan's disciple, and it cast its cold and sinister gaze on the rest of the crowd.

Everyone eyed by the worm felt a chill down their spines because the Spirit-Devouring Worm was indestructible regardless of fire or ice.

Anguished screams echoed from the distance. The Ling Clan had gone insane with Ling Feichi and the three elders unfurling their pouch to release four more Spirit-Devouring Worms.

The worms charged into the crowd without warning, and four more people fell victim to their attacks.

"Ling Feichi, you coward!"

Rage filled the hearts of everyone for the Ling Clan's action, which fanned the fire and intensified the slaughter. Aside from Ling Feichi and the Ling Clan's three elders, the other members were brutally slain.

Even the Ling Clan's young master was slain without a chance to resist—he was beheaded in one swift strike.

"Find a way to kill the worms! The consequences would be disastrous if they escape!" the cultivators of Serene Sea City screamed in despair. The city was their home, and if the worms escaped, it would be destroyed.

"There's no use! The Spirit Devouring Spirit has no weaknesses!" someone yelled in defeat. They had tried everything they could, but nothing seemed to work.

As the worms devoured more people, they grew in size, becoming an unstoppable force. The scene fell into pure chaos.

"Liu Wuxie, this is all your fault! If it weren't for you, how would our Ling Clan's secret of raising the Spirit-Devouring Worm ever have been exposed?" Ling Feichi bellowed in fury as he charged at Liu Wuxie, having just thrown Wei Qisheng aside. His eyes burned with desperation, fully intent on taking Liu Wuxie down with him, even if it meant his own death.

"You still don't understand, do you? Why do you think your Ling Clan has declined in numbers over the years? They're all devoured by the Spirit-Devouring Worms," Liu Wuxie said, standing calmly in a corner with his voice echoing throughout the hall.

Everyone finally understood the reason behind the Ling Clan's dwindling numbers—the Spirit-Devouring Worms had devoured their members.

"You're right. The Spirit-Devouring Worms have devoured many of our clansmen, and we don't even know where those worms fled. But if you kill us now, all of Serene Sea City will be buried along with us," Ling Feichi said, his voice laced with madness as he had utterly lost his mind.

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