Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 77 - Fight

As Liu Wuxie leaped down from the tree, he was surrounded by twenty-four men dressed in black clothes. “Boy, do you want to take your life yourself, or do you need us to help you?”

Lei Tao had lost the ability to fight, and he barely stopped his right arm from bleeding. If he fought rashly, his wounds would tear open. Despite this, he held his blade with his left hand, ready to join the fight.

“Are you Shangguan Cai’s men?” Liu Wuxie asked coldly. They were masked, and he couldn’t see their facial features.

“Talking so much even when death is imminent? Die!” The black-clothed men dashed over, drawing their blades and unleashing a powerful blade aura. As faint moonlight shone down from the sky, the darkness didn’t affect everyone’s sight, although it wasn’t as bright as the day.

The twenty-four men ranged from the fifth to eighth level of the Xiantian Realm. Even someone in the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm would have difficulty putting on defenses facing the barrage of attacks from them.

Lei Tao held onto his blade, prepared to join the battle. But right then, Liu Wuxie’s stern voice sounded, “You stand guard and prevent anyone from escaping.

After Liu Wuxie finished speaking, he left an afterimage, dodging the incoming attack that left a huge crater in the ground with gravel flying around.

Yun Lan and Nangong Qi had not yet acted, and they surrounded Bi Gongyu, blocking his escape route. They intended to act after Liu Wuxie’s death, but they were shocked by the battle, as Liu Wuxie managed to dodge the lethal attack.

A bizarre afterimage appeared outside the encirclement, and no one noticed how Liu Wuxie managed to do it.

“Garbage like you guys want to kill me?” Liu Wuxie drew his blade and unleashed a flash of light with his blade. The Blood Gleam Blade Art was famed for being unfathomable, with each attack directed at his enemies’ weak spots. In a nutshell, this blade technique focused on pushing the speed to the limit.

Even someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm couldn’t compete with Liu Wuxie in terms of speed, let alone the fact that Liu Wuxie had achieved greater mastery with the Seven Dipper Steps. Combined with Ghost Eye, the movements of the twenty-odd men appeared slowed down in his vision.

“Shit!” The leader of the black-clothed men yelled, feeling frustrated with the outcome. They had missed their target, and Liu Wuxie’s attack made them feel threatened.

“Die!” Liu Wuxie’s blade intent enveloped the entire road. The black-clothed men didn’t know that Liu Wuxie had comprehended the blade intent. They trembled in fright when they saw it, realizing that Liu Wuxie had locked onto them with his blade intent.

As blood splashed, it formed into a stream, and the force of the blood gushing out pierced through the trees by the side. There was no way the human body could resist the corrosion of blade intent as multiple heads flew to the sky and exploded. As for their bodies, they shivered into a pile of skin with their essence devoured by Liu Wuxie. Ten black-clothed men had disappeared with one exchange.

The surroundings fell into a dead silence as the remaining fourteen black-clothed men froze and were at a loss.

Yun Lan and Nangong Qi exchanged a glance and saw the terror reflected in each other’s eyes. They knew that Liu Wuxie was capable of defeating opponents with higher cultivation levels, having seen him kill someone in the fifth level of the Xiantian Realm with a single blow. However, they did not expect him to be able to easily slaughter cultivators in the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

“Let’s kill Bi Gongyu first before killing that brat!” Yun Lan yelled. He didn’t want to wait any longer. They drew out their weapons, releasing their aura in the Marrow Cleansing Realm and charging at Bi Gongyu.

“Wuxie, find an opportunity to escape if you can. You don’t have to worry about me!” Bi Gongyu roared.

Liu Wuxie was touched by this. After all, they had gone from using each other to forming a friendship. So how could he just leave them to die while he escaped? Bi Gongyu had come to regard Liu Wuxie as a friend after their experiences in Zen City, and Liu Wuxie could sense it.

“No one can leave today!” Yun Lan increased his speed, releasing his aura to the surroundings. But the odds of winning weren’t high for Bi Gongyu because he had to face two opponents alone.

Simultaneously, the remaining fourteen black-clothed men moved. As their footsteps changed, they resorted to using a formation. Their leader roared, “Set up the formation!”

They formed an unknown formation in the blink of an eye. But a mocking smile rose on Liu Wuxie’s lips, and he said, “You guys have the cheek to bring out such a garbage formation?!”

As Liu Wuxie moved, he weaved through the formation as he wished, and this scene left the fourteen black-clothed men in great shock. Not only was Liu Wuxie talented in martial cultivation and alchemy, but he was also knowledgeable in formations. How could there be such a perfect person in the world?

“Let me show you guys the real power of formations!” Liu Wuxie was like a butterfly, and the black-clothed men had no idea where he would appear next. Even his voice echoed from the surroundings.

As Liu Wuxie’s blade turned into a white flash, it swept towards the ground. The weakness of the formation formed by the black-clothed men was their legs. Others might not be able to notice it, but Liu Wuxie noticed it at a glance.

Two black-clothed men were severed from their legs as they fell to the ground, wailing out in pain. The leader of the black-clothed men was shocked, with a hint of fear reflected in his eyes, and he took a step back involuntarily. “What fast speed!”

The twelve black-clothed men who remained standing grew fearful in the face of Liu Wuxie's blade. The chill it released felt like it could pierce their hearts as Liu Wuxie walked towards them with an indifferent expression.

The battle between Bi Gongyu, Yun Lan, and Nangong Qi had climaxed, with Bi Gongyu retreating to the woods. Liu Wuxie knew that he had to end the battle quickly, and he dashed forth, unleashing his attacks before the black-clothed men could come to their senses.

“Retreat and report this to the pavilion master!” the leader of the black-clothed men ordered, bolting towards the woods in the distance followed by his companions.

They were not in the same group as Yun Lan, and they chose to escape at such a critical moment. But who was the ‘pavilion master’ they were talking about?

“Want to leave? Did anyone ask me for permission to leave?” Liu Wuxie chuckled as he appeared before the remaining black-clothed men, stopping them from leaving. When he raised his blade, his blade intent swept out as a light screen, enveloping and immobilizing them. At this moment, the true essence released by Liu Wuxie was even stronger than someone in the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

As the mysterious sapling in Liu Wuxie’s dantian released a terrifying amount of wood essence, it poured into Liu Wuxie’s arm, transforming his true essence. His attack was like a barrage of tree branches lashing at his opponents.

“We can’t escape! Let’s go all out!” exclaimed the twelve men, determined to take Liu Wuxie down alongside them.

“Futile resistance!” Just as the twelve men prepared to advance, a blade aura enclosed them, intensifying the oppression they felt. Their cultivation proved insignificant in the face of overwhelming power.

As explosions sounded out, they began to blow up one after another, with their blood and flesh flying around.

Lei Tao was seated not far away, shocked by the fight he witnessed. Liu Wuxie’s strength stumped him, and he couldn’t describe his feelings.

But Liu Wuxie didn’t stop there as he descended from the sky like an agile leopard, swinging three blades that formed into a cross-shaped sword ray that took the lives of the remaining five black-clothed men, turning them into a pile of skin in a pool of blood.

“It has already come to an end?!” Lei Tao rubbed his eyes. He initially thought it would be a tough battle and a miserable victory even if Liu Wuxie managed to win. But in reality, it was a one-sided massacre with the twenty-four black-clothed men butchered before they could actually do anything.

As Liu Wuxie tapped his foot on the ground, he dove into the woods and swung his sword down. This forced Yun Lan to stop attacking Bi Gongyu and duck to the side. This was because Liu Wuxie’s attack made him feel threatened.

As the battle was abruptly halted, the four stood in four areas, looking at each other.

“H-How did you manage to kill them?!” Nangong Qi was incoherent as he pointed at Liu Wuxie. After all, those twenty-four men in the Spirit Cleansing Realm were all butchered by Liu Wuxie so quickly.

Bi Gongyu was also surprised and shocked as he looked at Liu Wuxie. They had all underestimated Liu Wuxie’s strength, which was beyond their comprehension. After all, fighting someone with a higher cultivation wasn't easy.

“Is there any problem?” Liu Wuxie asked with a mocking smile.

Yun Lan gritted his teeth and looked at Liu Wuxie. “Brother Nangong, you hold down Bi Gonyu, and I’ll personally kill him,” he said pointing at Liu Wuxie.

He dashed toward Liu Wuxie, seeking vengeance for his disciple, Xiao Mingyi.

“Okay!” Nangong Qi turned back to Bi Gongyu, and a fight started again.

“Wuxie, you have to be cautious!” Bi Gongyu exclaimed as Nangong Qi held him down, preventing him from getting close to Liu Wuxie.

“The Marrow Cleansing Realm?” Liu Wuxie smiled.

Yun Lan unleashed a series of strange sword techniques, assaulting with his sword and causing Liu Wuxie to be momentarily confused by the incoming attacks.

Liu Wuxie could easily kill cultivators in the Spirit Cleansing Realm. However, the Marrow Cleansing Realm was different because the marrow was further tempered by true essence, causing the cultivator’s true essence to be like blazing flames.

This was Liu Wuxie’s first fight with someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and he had to be careful. He needed time to adapt to Yun Lan’s pace before he could find his weakness.

As the golden soul energy in Liu Wuxie’s golden soul sea rumbled, he slowly analyzed Yun Lan’s movements. In the blink of an eye, Yun Lan unleashed twenty-seven sword strikes. When Yun Lan executed the twenty-eighth sword strike, his sword technique changed and he returned to the first strike. The sword technique used by Yun Lan consisted of twenty-seven moves that could be linked together like torrential rain.

Everyone had their unique martial technique, similar to Liu Wuxie. Liu Wuxie could counter Yun Lan’s attacks as long as he could find the flaw in his martial technique.

As the twenty-seven attacks appeared in Liu Wuxie’s mind, he repeatedly analyzed each move with the Ghost Eye in his golden soul sea. He had already discovered eight weaknesses in Yun Lan’s sword technique in just a few breaths.

How magical! The Ghost Eye can detect the weakness in my opponent’s attacks! Liu Wuxie ducked to the side, landing on a tree branch to avoid the incoming attack. Yun Lan followed closely behind him as they fought on the tree—the sword aura crushing its branches into fragments.

“Let me see how long you can keep dodging!” Yun Lan said with his murderous intent boiling.

But Liu Wuxie could easily dodge Yun Lan’s attacks with the Seven Dipper Steps, nearly driving Yun Lan insane as he roared.