Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 33 - Crisis of the Mines

“Go on. What news do you have?” Liu Wuxie stopped and looked at Song Tianhao. If the news were helpful to the Xu Clan, he wouldn’t mind helping the Song Clan. But if it had no value, he would just leave directly.

“I received news that the Wan and Tian Clans are working together, plotting to seize the Iris Gold Mine of your Xu Clan to cut off the supply of ores. By then, even if you were able to forge weapons imbued with a trace of spirituality, it would be of no use.”

It was no longer a secret in Azure Billow City that the Xu Clan could forge weapons containing a hint of spirituality. The main ingredients used by the Xu Clan in forging their weapons came from the Iris Gold Mine. The Xu Clan had just recovered from a blow to their weaponry workshops, and they would fall into trouble again if they lost the Iris Gold Mine.

“Is the news reliable?” A chilling wave of murderous intent radiated from Liu Wuxie, terrifying the ten elders of the Song Clan who were nearby. Its intensity was particularly overwhelming for the Second Elder, who trembled as he remembered the earlier attack that had nearly cost him his life.

“It’s trustable, and they should make their moves in the next few days. They hired people from other big cities to seize the Xu Clan’s Iris Gold Mine. You guys can prepare in advance, and there might still be a chance.” Song Tianhao replied firmly. He wouldn’t dare tell Liu Wuxie if it wasn’t true. Even if Liu Wuxie managed to stop the central control system from collapsing, they would still need his help repairing it in the future.

“I’ll trust you with this once. Prepare the materials immediately.” Regardless of whether it was true or not, Liu Wuxie decided to trust him. He would be able to know if Song Tianhao was telling the truth by visiting the Iris Gold Mine personally after this incident. If Song Tianhao deceived him, he wouldn’t mind destroying the Spiritual Array Hall.

Song Tianhao removed an interspatial pouch from his waist and tossed it to Liu Wuxie. “This pouch contains all the materials you might need,” he said. The pouch was a low-grade one, worth 5,000,000 gold coins. It was clear that the Song Clan was wealthy, and it was no wonder they were the strongest clan in Azure Billow City.

Liu Wuxie’s consciousness entered the interspatial pouch, where he found a space of about ten square meters filled with materials for constructing spiritual arrays. After inspecting the contents of the interspatial pouch, he turned into a streak of light and entered a collapsed building.

“You all stay here to maintain order. I’ll go in with Young Master Liu,” Song Tianhao said, and the elders immediately moved out to maintain order, preventing the chaos from expanding.

More buildings continued to collapse, and the underground was densely packed with spiritual arrays. A beam as thick as a human’s thigh suddenly fell, and Liu Wuxie executed the Seven Dipper Steps to avoid it easily.

Like that, Liu Wuxie and Song Tianhao entered the central control system. Liu Wuxie stopped, and a large-scale spiritual array appeared before him. Many gears were rotating to maintain the operation of the Spiritual Array Hall.

Liu Wuxie took out materials from the interspatial pouch, including fifty spirit stones, which began to orbit around him.

Song Tianhao was nearly dumbfounded by the sight, unable to identify the technique being used. But there was no time to ponder as Liu Wuxie rushed towards the central control system, forming seals with his hands and injecting them into the system. The large-scale spiritual array emitted a series of clicking sounds.

Song Tianhao was at a loss for words. “T-These are spiritual runes meant for spiritual arrays!” he exclaimed. In the entire Song Clan, there were fewer than five people capable of drawing such runes.

The runes that Liu Wuxie was engraving were complex and mysterious, beyond Song Tianhao’s understanding. He had never encountered such advanced spiritual runes and could only try to commit them to memory as best he could.

The collapsing central control system suddenly stabilized, and the buildings on the ground ceased their descent. Liu Wuxie had injected many spiritual runes into the central control system to stabilize it. After all, repairing it couldn’t be achieved overnight.

Liu Wuxie returned the interspatial pouch to Song Tianhao. “I’ve managed to stabilize the central control system for the time being, but I’ll need a lot of materials to repair it. I’ll give you a list. Gather them as quickly as possible because the spiritual runes I’ve injected will only last for ten days at most. If you fail to gather the required materials within that time, there’s nothing more I can do.” The expenditure of fifty spirit stones and several hundred materials had only bought them ten days.

“Thank you, Young Master Liu. I’ll have my people start preparing right away!” Song Tianhao was thoroughly convinced by Liu Wuxie’s performance. Had he not been there, the Song Clan would have lost the Spiritual Array Hall entirely.

“This is merely a transaction between us. I have some matters to attend to. Get Song Ling to collect the list of materials from the Xu Clan later. As for what happened today, I hope the Song Clan can keep it a secret for me.” Liu Wuxie was like a comet and disappeared, causing Song Tianhao to fall silent.

As Liu Wuxie emerged from the Spiritual Array Hall, he found a large crowd gathered outside. The elders of the Song Clan spoke to the injured, assuring them that they would be compensated for their losses in an effort to minimize the damage.

When Liu Wuxie returned to the Xu Clan, he found Xu Yilin and Deacon Lan in the main hall, discussing the establishment of a weaponry workshop. This would require a large quantity of Iris Gold Ores, but the Xu Clan’s transportation teams had been repeatedly attacked, resulting in heavy losses.

“Father-in-law!” Liu Wuxie stepped into the main hall and bowed. After hearing what they were discussing, Liu Wuxie immediately realized that there was really a problem with Xu Clan’s Iris Gold Mine. The Iris Gold Mine was located deep in the Sunset Mountain Range. It was three days away from Azure Billow City, and they had to travel through a canyon. Ambushes were rare and easily dealt with, so the Xu Clan had not suffered significant losses in the past.

But in just the past two days, ten-odd people were heavily injured, and the Iris Gold Ores were robbed. This was why the Xu Clan had been suffering a headache recently.

Xu Yilin nodded as a form of acknowledgment. He had visited Liu Wuxie’s courtyard a few days ago and was certain that the breakthrough Liu Wuxie had achieved was responsible for the phenomenon that had occurred. As a result, his expectations for Liu Wuxie were growing.

“Father-in-law, is there a problem with the Iris Gold Mine?” Liu Wuxie asked in an uncertain tone. Based on the earlier conversation between Xu Yilin and Deacon Lan, the news from Song Tianhao was probably accurate.

“Yeah. Someone has been targeting us and robbing our ores. As a result, the weaponry workshops have run out of raw materials and have had to shut down,” Xu Yilin explained, not holding anything back. The news would soon spread throughout Azure Billow City, causing panic among the buyers who had placed orders. They had already paid their deposits and would not want to see their orders go unfulfilled.

“Are the Tian and Wan Clans involved?” Liu Wuxie asked. Aside from those two clans, no one would have a reason to target the Xu Clan. The smaller clans wouldn’t dare to wage war against them. On the other hand, the Tian Clan would suffer a tremendous loss if Xu Clan’s weaponry workshops were reopened for business.

After all, the Tian Clan had poached over a dozen master blacksmiths from the Xu Clan and invested heavily in the construction of five weaponry workshops. They were preparing to open for business, but the Xu Clan had caught them off guard. The Wan Clan’s colosseum didn’t fare any better, either. Their business plummeted significantly when news of them rigging the match spread out.

“We’re not too sure about it yet. According to the guards who managed to escape, a group of black-clothed men appeared to rob the ores, and they didn’t seem to be from Azure Billow City.”

Azure Billow City was small, and its inhabitants were well-acquainted with one another. It was strange that someone would repeatedly target the Xu Clan’s transportation teams, as they hadn’t recently offended anyone.

Liu Wuxie rubbed his chin. This further verified the information he got from Song Tianhao. The two clans had hired people to strike a blow at the Xu Clan secretly.

“Father-in-law, when will our next transportation team arrive?” Liu Wuxie inquired. He knew that the buyers were likely to demand refunds if the ores weren’t delivered on time, given that the weaponry workshops had already run out of raw materials.

“They will pass through the canyon tomorrow. The past few robberies occurred there, and I plan to personally make a trip there to see who has been secretly intercepting our Xu Clan’s goods,” Xu Yilin said with a powerful murderous intent leaking out from him. It had been over a decade since he had last taken a life, but did they really believe that an old lion could be easily subdued?

“You can’t do that!” Liu Wuxie interrupted. If Xu Yilin were to leave the Xu Clan, they would be playing right into the hands of the Tian and Wan Clans. Without Xu Yilin’s protection, the Tian Clan could easily seize control of the weaponry workshops and other assets belonging to the Xu Clan.

“Wuxie, tell me what you’re thinking,” Deacon Lan said, turning to Liu Wuxie. His opinion of Liu Wuxie had changed after witnessing the incident with Scarred Tiger in the weaponry workshop, and he was eager to hear Liu Wuxie’s thoughts.

“It’s highly likely that the Wan and Tian Clans are behind this, and the black-clothed men could be mercenaries they hired. Their goal is to bring down the Xu Clan, and if Father-in-law leaves, we’ll be falling right into their trap. They’ll probably try to seize our assets by force,” Liu Wuxie said, sharing his thoughts. The Wan Clan and Tian Clans may have promised Master Huo not to harm him for a month, but they had said nothing about not taking the Xu Clan’s assets. If they were to occupy the Xu Clan’s base forcibly, it would be pointless even if the Xu Clan saved their mine.

Xu Yilin frowned, realizing that he hadn’t considered this possibility. Even if they could protect their assets, what would be the point if they lost the mine? Eventually, they would collapse.

Deacon Lan looked comforted by Liu Wuxie’s words before sighing. “Wuxie, I’m glad you’re thinking about this. But things have come so far. Do you have any other solution?” The Xu Clan was at a critical moment of life and death.

“I’ll go there myself. Father-in-law, you must stay and guard the Xu Clan in case the Tian Clan attacks our weapons workshop.” Liu Wuxie said, stepping forward to express his intention to visit the Iris Gold Mine and investigate.

“Wuxie, you want to go there?” Xu Yilin was astonished. Liu Wuxie usually didn’t step out of the Xu Clan, let alone the Sunset Mountain Range, which was dangerous for him to go there alone.

“Deacon Lan, can you leave first? Close the door on your way out!” Liu Wuxie knew what Xu Yilin was worried about—that it was too dangerous for him to go to the Iris Gold Mine alone. If Xu Lingxue were here, Xu Yilin would send her, but there weren’t many people the Xu Clan could mobilize now.

Deacon Lan stood up and turned to look at Xu Yilin, who nodded. After receiving Xu Yilin’s acknowledgment, Deacon Lan left the main hall and closed the door behind him.

Liu Wuxie didn’t want to waste time with words. “Father-in-law, I know you’re worried about my safety. You can attack me with full force, but limit your strength in the low levels of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.” He knew Xu Yilin wouldn’t let him take the risk if he had a choice, but Xu Yilin had raised him, and he couldn’t sit idly while the Xu Clan was in danger.

Xu Yilin narrowed his eyes and stood up. He asked, “Wuxie, are you sure about that?”

Even someone in the low levels of the Spirit Cleansing Realm could easily kill a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Xiantian Realm. Xu Yilin wanted to test Liu Wuxie, even though he didn’t know his strength. After all, it was rumored that Liu Wuxie had beheaded twelve members of the Wan Clan in the colosseum, but he hadn’t seen it.

“I’m sure!” Liu Wuxie held his blade, his aura permeating the entire main hall.

Xu Yilin’s body trembled as he sensed the aura, feeling a little pressure. He didn’t dare to underestimate Liu Wuxie and raised his right hand, limiting his strength to the low levels of the Spirit Cleansing Realm. If things became dangerous, he could withdraw his power to ensure that Liu Wuxie wouldn’t be hurt.

“Father-in-law, be careful!” Liu Wuxie unsheathed his sword, drawing a cold arc in the air. The blade aura shredded the tables and chairs around them. As the blade aura approached, Xu Yilin felt his pores on the verge of exploding and could sense death emanating from Liu Wuxie’s blade.