Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 29 - Xiantian Realm

Hu Shi left the Xu Clan happily. At the same time, orders were being issued, and Hu Shi’s father was promoted to Xu Clan’s Head Instructor. His father was tasked with personally picking a batch of trustable people to learn the new forging method from Hu Shi.

In just one day, word of the Xu Clan’s ability to forge weapons imbued with spirituality had spread throughout Azure Billow City, bringing them a deluge of orders from martial dojos, small clans, and the like. The Xu Clan’s Weaponry Workshops were inundated with orders and teeming with people.

News of these weapons had even reached nearby cities, and the Xu Clan’s workshops in these cities hung several weapons imbued with spirituality on the walls for display, not for sale.

The five weaponry workshops were operating at full force. Hu Shi gave it his all and forged weapons day and night. As more weapons were sold from the Xu Clan’s Weaponry Workshops, their fame gradually spread throughout the Great Yan Dynasty.

The Tian Clan’s Patriarch, Tian Qisha, fumed with rage, looking terrifyingly ugly in the Tian Clan. Despite spending a fortune to poach master blacksmiths from the Xu Clan, the Tian Clan had yet to release their first batch of weapons for sale. Meanwhile, the Xu Clan had already introduced weapons imbued with a hint of spirituality, causing the Tian Clan’s business to come to a standstill.

But most importantly, the Xu Clan didn’t increase the prices of their weapons despite the rise in quality. Thus, no one would buy weapons from the Tian Clan when they had a better option. The Tian Clan’s weapons couldn’t even hold a candle to the Xu Clan’s, not to mention any competitiveness. As a result, the Tian Clan failed terribly.

“Damn it!” Tian Qisha furiously hurled the cup in his hand to the ground and gnashed his teeth in anger.

“Patriarch, what should we do? Many customers came to cancel their orders even if they had to relinquish the deposit.” The Tian Clan was in a mess now. They spent a huge sum of resources to build several weaponry workshops, and their workshops had to close down now before they even opened up. This was like a hammer slamming down on the Tian Clan’s head, catching them by surprise.

This was why Liu Wuxie asked Hu Shi to research the new forging technique within three days. He didn’t want the Tian Clan to catch their breath. It had only been five to six days since the Tian Clan poached the Xu Clan’s master blacksmiths, and it would take some time to build the workshops and forge weapons. By the time the Tian Clan finished all that, they would realize that they were nothing but a joke all this time.

After Xu Yilin finished his matters, he walked towards Liu Wuxie’s courtyard. The Xu Clan’s Weaponry Workshops were running smoothly, and Lingxue had gone to cultivate at the Imperial Academy. His only concern was Liu Wuxie, who had not left his courtyard for the past three days and had not touched the food left by the butler.

This was because Liu Wuxie was focused on treating his injuries and couldn’t afford any mistakes. After spending three days, he relied on his powerful soul to treat the last vein, and a powerful force surged from within his body, forming a shockwave that swept out.

The shockwave sent everything in the room crashing to the ground as Liu Wuxie’s cultivation reached the pinnacle of the ninth level of the Houtian Realm. Yet, he showed no signs of stopping. Forming a profound seal with his hands, he drew the spiritual energy from the courtyard into the room.

A colossal vortex appeared above the room. It was like a funnel with spiritual energy pouring into the room.

Before Xu Yilin got close to the courtyard, a hint of shock appeared on his face because the spiritual energy around the Xu Clan flowed rapidly, making him wonder what had happened. In the past few days, the servants reported that the spiritual energy in the Xu Clan had been disappearing inexplicably.

“This is...” Xu Yilin was shocked with disbelief when he pushed open the doors and was enveloped in dense spiritual energy. He seldom came to this courtyard because Liu Wuxie was prodigal in the past, and even the servants detested him. So Liu Wuxie was the only one living in this region, which was pretty quiet.

“What the hell is he doing? Is he trying to drain all of the Xu Clan’s spiritual energy?” Xu Yilin was knowledgeable in arrays, and he noticed that something was amiss about this courtyard. He guessed that a spiritual array was set up there to draw the surrounding spiritual energy. Even the Song Clan, known for their spiritual arrays, couldn’t accomplish this feat.

Shortly after, something more shocking appeared as the spiritual energy in Azure Billow City was drawn over, forming into spiritual rain pouring down on the Xu Clan. This commotion naturally alarmed the entire Azure Billow City.

“Who’s making a breakthrough to create such a shocking phenomenon?!” Many people appeared on the streets as they looked in Xu Clan’s direction. They were curious about what the Xu Clan was doing to plunder so much spiritual energy.

A terrifying Xiantian Spirit shot out from Liu Wuxie’s room, shocking Xu Yilin into staggering. If the Xiantian Spirit were likened to rain, then the breakthrough of an ordinary person would be akin to a light drizzle, while that of a genius would be a torrential downpour. But Liu Wuxie’s Xiantian Spirit was like a stampede of beasts, so powerful that it even shocked Xu Yilin, who was in the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

“This is all caused by Wuxie?” Xu Yilin was on the verge of going insane, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He wanted to go in and look, but he stopped when he saw the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign hanging outside the door. This was why he didn’t dare to step in carelessly, as Liu Wuxie was likely in the critical moment of making a breakthrough.

Even if someone were to intrude into the room, Liu Wuxie had already made preparations. He had set up an Illusory Spiritual Array within the room, causing anyone who entered to lose all their senses.

Liu Wuxie’s Xiantian Spirit was like a heavy downpour, which sounded like jade beads falling on the ground. So one could imagine how powerful Liu Wuxie would become when he reached the Xiantian Realm.

Xu Yilin immediately left the courtyard and issued an order to prevent any information from leaking. Liu Wuxie’s breakthrough into the Xiantian Realm had to be kept a secret. But before leaving the courtyard, Xu Yilin glanced around and noticed the scattered herbs, confirming his suspicions. An incident had occurred at the weaponry workshop a few days prior, and Liu Wuxie had been there by chance. Or was it really just a coincidence? After some analysis, Xu Yilin arrived at his answer.

As for Liu Wuxie, he was feeling aggrieved at this moment. The Desolate Devouring Art began to circulate on its own, and the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron was devouring the surrounding spiritual energy. This spiritual energy was transformed into a mysterious liquid that coursed through his body.

Liu Wuxie’s dantian continued to undergo transformation, filling with desolate energy. Its structure was altered; while the dantians of others were shrouded in mist, his was like a world of mountains and rivers. But what shocked him even more were not the changes to his dantian. The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had grown in size, its patterns becoming more distinct, and an even stronger suction force emanated from it, devouring the surrounding spiritual energy.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron was upgraded. Or rather, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron could be upgraded along with his cultivation, gradually becoming stronger. Since it could devour spiritual energy, this made Liu Wuxie wonder if it could devour anything else. This was a question that he would need to explore further.

“With such a powerful dantian, my true essence is ten or even a hundred times greater than that of others, allowing me to easily fight those with higher cultivation levels. But the downside is that I will require more resources to make a breakthrough, ten or even a hundred times more than others.” Liu Wuxie gazed at the world with mixed emotions.

He spent a day stabilizing his cultivation in the first level of the Xiantian Realm, and he didn’t have many spirit stones left. He consumed over 60 spirit stones to reach the Xiantian Realm, but they still couldn’t fill up his dantian.

“I can finally begin practicing some of the techniques of an immortal.” A smile tugged at the corner of Liu Wuxie’s lips. Now that he had reached the Xiantian Realm, he could finally employ some of the techniques of an immortal, which could save his life in critical moments.

He could forgo other martial techniques, as the Blood Gleam Blade Art was sufficient for him at present. After all, his current strength limited his ability to use more advanced blade techniques. But there was a solution: by strengthening his soul, he could overcome the restrictions imposed by his cultivation level.

“Let’s go with Ghost Eye!” Ghost Eye was a formidable eye technique that utilized the soul to attack. As such, one had to first temper their soul before practicing it, as only those with powerful souls could use the technique. This was a bizarre eye technique that even Liu Wuxie couldn’t reach the highest state as he was yet to uncover many of its functions.

Liu Wuxie closed his eyes and followed the instructions for practicing Ghost Eye. His consciousness sank into his brain, and he could see his nerves. His consciousness entered his soul sea, which was the center of the human brain. Only someone like Liu Wuxie dared to enter his soul sea with his consciousness because the soul sea was considered a forbidden region before reaching the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

After all, the soul would crumble apart if there was the slightest mistake. The soul sea was similar to the dantian. The bigger it was, the more powerful the soul energy would be, leading to a higher level of comprehension. This way, one could control their soul energy to attack.

The Ghost Eye had to be cultivated in the soul sea. As Liu Wuxie followed the instructions, the foggy liquified gas began to rumble in his soul sea, and he gritted his teeth to endure the pain. This was because one would feel uncomfortable practicing the Ghost Eye, with common symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, and vertigo.

Liu Wuxie established a route, allowing his soul energy to channel to his eyes and to be unleashed through Ghost Eye. The entire process was dangerous, and his soul sea would be damaged if he wasn’t careful. All his effort could go down the drain at that time, and even his future cultivation would be affected.

Since he had experience from his past life, the challenge was not too great as he only needed to follow his previous path. However, the process was slowed down by the thinness of the brain’s veins, making it difficult for him to clear them.

As time passed, Liu Wuxie’s soul energy was like mercury, coursing through the tiny veins. He would rest briefly whenever he was tired and use Heavenly Spirit Pills to replenish his energy. As the spirit origin in the pills could be used to maintain the body condition, it was fine even if Liu Wuxie didn’t eat anything for ten days and ten nights.

Two days passed, and Liu Wuxie made slow progress in Ghost Eye. He was only an inch away from establishing a route to his right eye.

Upon successfully creating a pathway to his right eye, he experienced a brief but intense pain. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a subtle change that was difficult to articulate. His vision seemed brighter and somewhat unusual.

As he circulated his soul energy, his right eye emitted an unusual glow, altering the appearance of his surroundings. Mysterious lines, representing the laws of heaven and earth, materialized before Liu Wuxie, within his grasp. At that moment, an insect flew into the room and wandered aimlessly within the Illusory Spiritual Array.

“This...” Liu Wuxie was taken aback. The Ghost Eye seemed different, more powerful than in his past life. The insect’s movements appeared slower, and he could even see its wings flapping distinctly.

“This is too insane! This means I’ll be able to see through every change in my opponent’s martial techniques during combat. Doesn’t that mean I’ll be able to react in advance?!” Liu Wuxie still hadn’t recovered from his shock. The Ghost Eye was not just a means of attack but also could slow down his perception of time.

In reality, time had not slowed down. With the Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie could perceive every detail with greater clarity, making the world more transparent to him.

He was suddenly overcome with dizziness, a result of the significant drain on his soul energy caused by using the Ghost Eye.