Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 614 - Crippled, Crippled, and Crippled

Everyone standing on the platform felt intense tension, fearing they might be Liu Wuxie’s next target—the disciples who came to watch also backed away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

“Time’s up again!” Liu Wuxie vanished once again, sending the nearest youth flying into the air, his dantian shattered by another powerful kick.

This made the other members of the Lesser Blade Association restless in their surroundings. They had only joined the Lesser Blade Association for the benefits, not to put their lives at risk.

With two people crippled by Liu Wuxie, this planted the seeds of fear in the hearts of everyone. Many people wanted to flee because who would want to sacrifice their future?

Another five breaths had passed, and it had been fifteen seconds now. Yet, Song Guang was still nowhere to be seen. Yet, the surrounding disciples didn’t dare to leave.

“Time’s up again!” Liu Wuxie vanished once more, and a disciple was sent flying out again with his cultivation crippled.

“Liu Wuxie, we have no grudge against you, so why are you doing this to us?!” cried a young disciple. What he said wasn’t wrong; not everyone in the Lesser Blade Association was evil. But there were consequences they had to bear since they had chosen to take sides.

There was no clear distinction between good and evil in the cultivation world—only the strong and weak. The strong set the rules; the weak could only follow them.

“You’re not convinced?” Liu Wuxie said mockingly, his gaze falling on this youth. He had decided on this youth as his next target, and his fierce gaze made the latter back away in fear.

“Liu Wuxie, kill us all if you have the guts!” More disciples stepped forward. They didn’t believe Liu Wuxie would dare to disable everyone present.

“Everyone, don’t be afraid! It’s one against so many of us,” someone yelled, trying to rally the crowd to kill Liu Wuxie. After all, they numbered in the hundreds, while Liu Wuxie stood as the only real threat among his group of three.

“That’s right! Let’s take him on together!” another disciple called out to rally the crowd.

However, most remained silent, their faces tense as they weighed their options—risk their lives by continuing to oppose Liu Wuxie or abandon the Lesser Blade Association and retreat.

“Time’s up!” Liu Wuxie vanished again, sending the youth who spoke earlier flying into the air with a kick. When the latter fell into the bush, he had lost consciousness.

At this moment, only Liu Wuxie’s dominance was on everyone’s mind. He said he would disable a person every five breaths, and he meant what he said.

In the distance, several disciples at the high levels of the Astral River Realm gathered, including a few at the pinnacle of the realm. Yet, none dared step forward. Tales of Liu Wuxie’s feats had spread far and wide, filling them with hesitation. The legends surrounding him were enough to keep even the boldest at bay.

“He’s Liu Wuxie?!” a handsome youth asked, standing on the summit of another mountain, looking in his direction. A group stood around him, and they were all elites among the younger generation.

“That’s right, he’s Liu Wuxie,” one of the youths in the surroundings said.

“This is interesting. After so many years, someone has finally stepped forward to challenge the Lesser Blade Association,” the handsome youth smiled.

"Lan Ling, do you really think so highly of him?" another youth asked, addressing the handsome figure by name. This youth, too, was at the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm.

The handsome youth was none other than Lan Ling, the founder of the Lan Ling Gang. There were rumors that Lan Ling seldom got himself involved with the Lan Ling Gang, and the Lan Ling Gang also rarely got involved with the outside world. They preferred quiet growth over conflict and didn’t have many ambitions.

Compared to the Lan Ling Gang, the Lesser Blade Association chose an aggressive approach, offending many people throughout the years. However, no one dared to say a word due to Qin Dao’s formidable strength.

“He’s more than he appears. Just watch!” Lan Ling replied with a mysterious smile.

After that, they would all be acquainted as they were about to attend the Ten Grand Ceremony together, representing the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Only disciples in the high levels of the Astral River Realm could attend the Ten Grand Ceremony.

As for those in the low levels of the Astral River Realm, they weren’t even qualified to represent the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

Back at the Lesser Blade Association’s headquarters, Liu Wuxie had disabled several more people. This was Liu Wuxie’s strategy to shatter their unity.

After all, he could wipe out everyone with a single strike if he wanted, but he chose such a brutal method intending to stir an internal discord among the Lesser Blade Association.

He had already destroyed all of the Lesser Blade Association’s income. If the unity among the Lesser Blade Association shattered, the entire faction would collapse on its own.

“I quit the Lesser Blade Association!” Someone finally couldn’t bear the psychological pressure and chose to leave the Lesser Blade Association, fleeing from the platform.

With the first person taking the initiative, others quickly followed like a snowball rolling down the hill, growing larger. After all, no one wanted to become a sacrificial pawn between the Lesser Blade Association and Liu Wuxie.

Forty to fifty people fled the platform in the blink of an eye. Only the most loyal members of the Lesser Blade Association remained, but their bond had already been shattered, leaving cracks that would never heal—things could never go back to how they were.

Although many people had rallied to attack Liu Wuxie, no one actually followed through, as it was clear that they weren’t united. With that, Liu Wuxie had achieved his goal.

“Liu Wuxie, stop it right there!” A roar echoed just when Liu Wuxie disabled another disciple, and a youth was sped over in this direction.

“It’s Song Guang!” Bai Lin quickly warned Liu Wuxie. This person was Song Guang, the culprit who had injured Song Ling.

If Song Guang hadn’t appeared sooner, all the remaining members of the Lesser Blade Association would’ve been impaired by Liu Wuxie. This had left him with no choice but to step forward.

When Song Guang came to the platform, he kept a distance of about ten meters from Liu Wuxie, not daring to get too close in case of a sneak attack from the latter.

Looking at the disciples crippled by Liu Wuxie, Song Guang’s face became terrifyingly grim, and his cold gaze fixated on Liu Wuxie.

“At last! You finally dare to show yourself!” Liu Wuxie’s gaze fell on Song Guang.

While Song Guang’s cultivation wasn’t exceptionally high, only at the seventh level of the Astral River Realm, Liu Wuxie could see countless schemes lurking in his eyes. It was no wonder Qin Dao favored Song Guang as his aide.

“Liu Wuxie, how dare you intrude here! You will die today!” Song Guang prepared a throwing knife between his fingers and aimed at Liu Wuxie.

Qin Dao had taught him his throwing knife technique and mentored him throughout the years. Song Ling’s injury was also his doing.

A few days prior, Song Guang had found Song Ling and tried to recruit the latter to join the Lesser Blade Association to craft spiritual talismans for them. However, Song Ling had turned down his offer, and they even had an argument because of that, causing Song Guang to lose his temper and injure Song Ling with his throwing knife.

The Lesser Blade Association had lost all of its income channels in alchemy, spiritual talismans, and human trafficking. The last channel remaining was the brothel, which had poor revenue as it could only exist in the shadows and couldn’t sustain the Lesser Blade Association’s development.

With access to the pill market, Song Guang could put his hope on spiritual talismans, and the ones crafted by Song Ling were in high demand. Today’s incident had resulted from the Lesser Blade Association attempting to use a scheme on Song Ling.

“Draw your knife. Remember, you only have one chance!” Liu Wuxie said. He didn’t want to waste time with Song Guang and was curious to see how lethal the famous throwing knife technique was.

Boundless blade intent permeated the entire mountain, yet Qin Dao was nowhere to be seen. The latter was likely in seclusion, attempting a breakthrough in the Nascent Transformation Realm during the last few days.

“Big brother, be careful of his throwing knife!” Song Ling said, recalling his encounter with Song Ling.

Liu Wuxie nodded firmly because even a lion would exert all its strength to catch a rabbit, and he had treated every opponent with his utmost power, never underestimating anyone.

Around them, the Lesser Blade Association members began to cheer for Song Guang, especially the disciples who were disabled by Liu Wuxie. They all looked at him with hatred.

The conflict unfolding had already drawn the attention of the sect’s upper echelons, and the elders were rushing to the scene to prevent the situation from escalating further.

While Liu Wuxie wasn’t a true disciple, none of the upper echelons regarded him as ordinary.

There were rumors that the sect master was nurturing Liu Wuxie as the next sect master. After all, Liu Wuxie fully controlled the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, and even Elder He obeyed his directives. These hints suggested that the sect master was likely to nurture Liu Wuxie as the next sect master.

Yet, Qin Dao was also a strong competitor for the position of the next sect master, and many people supported him.

A boundless murderous intent swept across the platform, drawing everyone’s gaze. All eyes were fixed on Liu Wuxie as the Heretic Blade appeared in his hand. This marked the blade’s first official appearance since its advancement to a monarch artifact.

When the blade was unsheathed, the clouds darkened—a sign that a thunder tribulation was looming.

“What a terrifying weapon!” countless disciples exclaimed, their voices tinged with awe and fear. The oppressive aura radiating from the blade was suffocating, pressing down on everyone present. It was clear to all that this was no ordinary monarch artifact—it was a weapon whose power rivaled that of an origin artifact.

The suffocating blade aura intensified the already oppressive atmosphere. The swords held by other disciples trembled violently, seemingly yearning to leave their masters’ hands and submit to the Heretic Blade.

The Heretic Blade was like a sovereign, causing all the other weapons to emit a faint buzz, unable to withstand it.

“How did Liu Wuxie get his hands on such a heaven-defying weapon? It must’ve been forged by the sect master for him, right?”

Everyone had witnessed Liu Wuxie’s exceptional skills in alchemy and talismans, but only those close to him were aware of his talent in blacksmithing. Since his victory over Elder Wu Yang, Liu Wuxie had also gained recognition as the sect’s foremost authority on spiritual arrays.

“Song Guang is in the seventh level of the Astral River Realm, and with his throwing knives technique, Liu Wuxie will die today,” many people muttered. No one was optimistic about Liu Wuxie.

Although it was widely recognized that Liu Wuxie possessed the ability to challenge opponents at higher levels, the gap between him and Song Guang seemed insurmountable with skill alone.

Moreover, Song Guang’s throwing knife technique was still deadly, though less advanced than Qin Dao’s.

Song Guang lifted his blade and assumed a stance with a throwing knife hidden behind his wrist. This was to ensure that Liu Wuxie couldn’t detect the trajectory of his throwing knife to ensure a fatal strike.

However, he didn’t know that Liu Wuxie’s Ghost Eye could see through any technique.

“Liu Wuxie, die!” Song Guang’s throwing knife flew like a comet, streaking across the sky. No one could deject the trajectory because the knife vanished and drew an elusive arc in the air.

The blade was too fast for the naked eye to track, and the throwing knife was already before Liu Wuxie when he came to his senses. Furthermore, it wasn’t just one knife—several throwing knives flew toward him at once.

Song Guang unleashed his strongest technique right from the start—a triple strike. It was a calculated move, designed to leave no room for escape. Even if Liu Wuxie managed to evade the first two attacks, the final strike was certain to land.

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