Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 356 - Profound Yin Butterfly

Devoured by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, the white fruit was swiftly converted into thirty-odd droplets of liquid, which were then infused into Liu Wuxie’s dantian. When the liquid from refining the white fruits was infused, it caused the snow mountain to grow, and his ice energy strengthened.

“It works!” Liu Wuxie rejoiced. The ice energy in the white fruit was much stronger and purer. It was a pleasant surprise because the white fruits didn’t contain a wisp of abyssal energy but pure ice energy. There was no flesh in the fruit but a layer of white skin encapsulating the ice energy.

Liu Wuxie began slashing with the Heretic Blade, severing dozens of white fruits from the tree. The fruits were swiftly converted into liquified energy and infused into his dantian.

He had refined over a thousand white fruits without realizing it, and his body began to release waves of chill. This was a sign he was reaching his limit, so he didn’t dare to refine anymore. Even the air he exhaled turned into ice shards falling to the ground.

“Hahaha! If I attack with ice energy now, I can even freeze someone in the fourth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm to death,” Liu Wuxie laughed. Although he hadn’t found a Profound Yin Butterfly yet, he had managed to hunt a Frost Demon Ape and obtained so much ice energy, which was a great harvest.

He went deeper into the canyon with the Heretic Blade to search for a Profound Yin Butterly. The Profound Yin Butterflies thrived in cold places, and he could only give up on this mission if he couldn’t find any here. He increased his speed since the cold air couldn’t affect him.

The Profound Yin Canyon was not particularly vast, stretching only a few thousand meters. It would take just fifteen minutes to circle the entire canyon.

“There’s no Profound Yin Butterfly?!” After walking through most of the Profound Yin Canyon, Liu Wuxie encountered no Profound Yin Butterfly.

“I’ll search for another hour. If I still can’t find any, I can only give up to avoid putting senior sister in danger.”

It was dangerous for Jian Xing’er to stay outside alone, and she would die if any high-grade abyssal devil passed by.

Liu Wuxie activated Ghost Eye and scanned a few thousand meters of radius, planning to investigate thoroughly. He decided to leave immediately if he still couldn’t find any Profound Yin Butterly.

Suddenly, a series of strange rhythms sounded in Liu Wuxie’s ears.

“This is weird. Where did the sound come from?” Liu Wuxie scanned his surroundings with Ghost Eye and found nothing besides black trees and white fruits. Where did the flapping sounds come from?

He shut his eyes and tried to track the sound. It seemed to be coming from about fifty meters to the left, and the flapping sound was faint, almost undetectable.

After locking onto that area with his divine sense, Liu Wuxie opened his eyes and walked over. He soon saw a butterfly the size of an infant’s palm resting on a tree branch. This butterfly was black, so it blended perfectly with the tree.

If the butterfly hadn't been flapping its wings, Liu Wuxie wouldn't have noticed it. After all, who could have guessed that the Profound Yin Butterfly resembled a leaf so perfectly that it was impossible to spot with the naked eye alone?

The Profound Yin Butterfly flapped its wings infrequently, only a few times every few minutes. Like the Blood Jade Beast, the Profound Yin Butterfly was weak, but its body contained a type of poison that was the primary ingredient for refining the Poison Pill.

Aside from being highly poisonous, the Profound Yin Butterfly’s blood could also be used to detoxify. Perhaps someone was deeply poisoned and needed the Profound Yin Butterfly’s blood to detoxify.

Liu Wuxie slowly approached the tree, fearing that he might alarm the Profound Yin Butterfly. When he was five meters away, the Profound Yin Butterfly stopped flapping its wings and had probably sensed his presence.

The canyon wasn’t big, but the Profound Yin Butterfly could perfectly blend with the tree. This meant it would be hard for Liu Wuxie to find another if it flew away.

Thus, Liu Wuxie didn’t dare to act rashly and tried to conceal his aura.

Even so, the Profound Yin Butterfly still detected his presence and flapped its wings to fly away.

“Not good!” Liu Wuxie knew if he allowed this Profound Yin Butterfly to escape, he would miss this opportunity and have to return.

He lunged forward like a shooting star. Though the Profound Yin Butterfly was swift, he was even swifter. He realized he couldn't employ the same tactics he had used against the Blood Jade Beast, as the Profound Yin Butterfly was a different type of demonic beast altogether.

The Profound Yin Butterfly was fragile, and it was easy to injure it if he set up a spiritual array in the surroundings. If the Profound Yin Butterfly crashed onto the spiritual array, it would shatter and lose its medicinal value.

He retrieved the net he had prepared, reminiscent of the one he used in his youth to catch small insects. He hadn't anticipated it would come in handy today. Before they had departed, Bai Lin had even questioned why he had bothered to acquire something seemingly useless.

Liu Wuxie soared like a celestial crane performing the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance. The surrounding ice energy couldn’t affect him, so he increased his speed.

The Ghost Eye had firmly locked onto the Profound Yin Butterfly, which meant Liu Wuxie could easily find it no matter how far it flew or camouflaged with the surrounding trees. Once locked on with Ghost Eye, there was no escape for the Profound Yin Butterfly.

Liu Wuxie rapidly closed in on the Profound Yin Butterfly, now only three meters away. The Profound Yin Butterfly was larger than ordinary butterflies, entirely black, with strange patterns on its wings that resembled demonic runes.

Suddenly, ten-odd Profound Yin Butterflies flapped their wings, concealed in the surroundings.

"So many of them?" Liu Wuxie exclaimed as he looked around, seeing numerous Profound Yin Butterflies flying towards him. Their wings released a black mist laced with potent poison, a deadly toxin capable of killing cultivators in the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

Upon sensing danger, the first Profound Yin Butterfly called for its companions to deal with Liu Wuxie.

“This poison can’t do anything to me!” Liu Wuxie snorted and allowed the black mist to approach him. The moment the black mist came in contact with him, it was converted into black liquid and infused into his dantian.

If anyone else were in Liu Wuxie’s position, they would be poisoned to death by now. None of the five missions Liu Wuxie took were simple other than the first one.

Pouncing forth like a meteorite, Liu Wuxie dropped the net and captured the closest Profound Yin Butterfly. He swiftly retrieved the prepared bag and placed the Profound Yin Butterfly inside.

But he didn’t stop after capturing one and went for the other Profound Yin Butterflies. After all, they were treasures essential for refining many sixth-grade pills.

The remaining Profound Yin Butterflies fled, not daring to stay and fight.

Right then, a tremor came from the ground, accompanied by the roars of the abyssal devils.

“This is bad! Senior sister must be under the attack of abyssal devils!” Liu Wuxie immediately gave up capturing more Profound Yin Butterflies and flew towards the exit after catching three.

When he emerged from the Profound Yin Canyon, Liu Wuxie took a deep breath, seeing numerous abyssal devils surrounding the area with Jian Xing'er trapped among them. Fortunately, she was safe for the moment, protected by the spiritual array.

“What should I do? I can’t possibly leave senior sister here!” Liu Wuxie paced around anxiously. There were too many abyssal devils, and it was dangerous for him to charge out like that.

Most importantly, many humans had been transformed into abyssal devils, yet they retained their intelligence and knew how to set up formations.

Many human cultivators who had absorbed excessive abyssal energy and turned increasingly demonic chose to remain here and convert to practicing abyssal arts.

As humans, they could lure other humans in to help the abyssal devils to kill human cultivators.

Liu Wuxie scanned the surroundings and saw a few humans standing outside the spiritual array. They had disabled a few array flags.

Jian Xing’er stood in the spiritual array, and her heart sank into despair, looking at the abyssal devils in the surroundings. Even someone in the high level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm couldn’t save her from this situation.

All of a sudden, a smile crossed Liu Wuxie's face.

“Since there’s an abyssal realm in my dantian, I can pretend to be one of them to get close and find an opportunity to save senior sister.” A bold idea sprouted in Liu Wuxie’s mind.

After absorbing so much abyssal energy and the abyssal realm in his dantian, he could conceal his true essence by masking himself with abyssal energy. It should be enough to deceive the abyssal devils.

Liu Wuxie acted swiftly, releasing the abyssal energy from his dantian to cloak himself. This transformed his appearance, making him resemble the abyssal devil more closely than even the fallen humans among them.

“This should be good enough.” Liu Wuxie cautiously approached the abyssal devils as he wasn’t too sure. He communicated with the Heretic Blade through his consciousness, ready to strike if necessary.

But strangely enough, the surrounding abyssal devils ignored him, and they even made way for him. This made Liu Wuxie feel relieved, and he made his way towards the center.

The further he went, the more nervous he became because there were abyssal devils in the seventh grade, equivalent to the Heavenly Phase Realm for human cultivators. There was no doubt he would die if he tried to save Jian Xing’er forcibly.

As they saw another human approaching, the few seventh-grade abyssal devils showed disdain on their faces. They were already used to seeing fallen humans joining their ranks.

“Emperors, I’m versed in spiritual arrays. Let me handle it!” Liu Wuxie walked over to the three seventh-grade abyssal devils. Emperors were the highest honorific for the abyssal devils.

Only tenth-grade abyssal devils could be called kings, and emperors were akin to immortals.

The three abyssal devils were flattered by Liu Wuxie’s title, and flattery also worked on the abyssal devils.

“Go ahead!” Seventh-grade abyssal devils were highly intelligent, not inferior to humans. They learned human language, knowledge, and martial techniques from the humans they hunted. Apart from their appearance, their knowledge matched that of humans.

When Liu Wuxie approached the spiritual array, Jian Xing’er also turned to look at him.

“Senior sister, don’t speak!” Liu Wuxie transmitted his voice to Jian Xing’er, asking her not to reveal his disguise. If the abyssal devils realized he wasn’t one of them, they both would die here.

Jian Xing’er was nervous, and she had considered committing suicide to avoid becoming a burden to Liu Wuxie.

"Get lost!" Liu Wuxie roared as he approached the spiritual array, forcefully driving away the other humans to clear his path. The more aggressive he appeared, the more fittingly he resembled an abyssal devil.