Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 246 - Spirit Bamboo Shoot

As Liu Wuxie’s cultivation began to rise, it didn’t take long before he reached the pinnacle of the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm. He was only one step away from reaching the fourth level.

“This doesn’t look good. Quick, kill him!” Xue Chunyu roared and charged first, wanting to kill Liu Wuxie before he could finish with his breakthrough.

They morphed into a formidable wave, surging towards Liu Wuxie. Even an individual at the pinnacle of the Marrow Cleansing Realm might struggle to fend off such a large number of experts.

“Fatality Blade Art!” Liu Wuxie’s blade transformed into a curtain that enveloped all fifty-odd experts. This was the first form of the Fatality Blade Art, a technique he had mastered to a greater degree. As his blade aura darted out, it passed through all fifty-odd individuals.

In the next second, blood splashed on the two pillars.

The spectacle startled the three True Core Realm experts who were engaged in combat, causing them to divert their attention. The energy fluctuations they sensed were on par with those of the True Core Realm.

The terrifying shockwave sent everything in the surroundings flying away with a loud rumble. The maids and eunuchs were frightened to the point that they quickly retreated. As for the guards, they could only hide under the table as there was nowhere to hide.

The power of the blade attack defied their understanding. It was inconceivable to them that someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm could unleash such a formidable move.

Blood and internal organs soon covered the ground as the fifty-odd corpses exploded with the energies in their bodies devoured by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. In less than a breath’s time, all fifty-odd corpses had vanished.

The two princes stood far away with deep shock in their eyes. Chen Yusheng and everyone else from the Emperor’s faction could only retreat out of the hall as they couldn’t interfere in a fight of this level. However, seeing all the familiar faces vanishing set off huge waves in their hearts.

Witnessing this scene, Prince Yongxian felt as if his heart was bleeding. He had devoted half of his life to earning the loyalty of so many people, only for them to be slain by Liu Wuxie in a matter of hours.

He realized that his plan for that day had failed, and he had lost everything in the process. His animosity towards Liu Wuxie escalated to unprecedented levels, but he was powerless to act with the Yin and Yang Elders restraining him. He could only watch helplessly as his allies were slaughtered.

Liu Wuxie had used just a single blade strike to eliminate the majority of his faction, leaving only a few standing.

Everyone present gasped at the sight, witnessing the disappearance of so many people and the ensuing chaos in the hall.

After dispatching the fifty-odd individuals, Liu Wuxie remained expressionless. Fifty-odd interspatial pouches fell into his possession, the wealth within sufficient for him to cultivate to the fifth level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

“Liu Wuxie, I want to kill you!” Prince Yongxian said, gritting his teeth as he gave off terrifying murderous intent directed at Liu Wuxie. Who could stop the wrath of a True Core Realm expert?

“Prince Yongxian, do you still have no remorse after this?!” Chen Yusheng roared.

Prince Yongxian’s plan had indeed failed, with the majority of the officials he had bribed now dead.

The hall fell into a deadlock, and Xu Lingxue looked at Liu Wuxie with a concerned expression. She was worried that Prince Yongxian would try to kill Liu Wuxie, disregarding everything.

“No one can stop me from killing him!” Prince Yongxian declared, advancing towards Liu Wuxie. With each step he took, the murderous intent he radiated intensified.

The tiles on the roof exploded as sunlight shone into the hall. The Divine Martial Hall was already heavily damaged.

“Yin and Yang Elders, stop him!” The Emperor commanded as the two elders moved and stood before Prince Yongxian, stopping him from approaching Liu Wuxie any further.

“Prince Yongxian, we don’t want to kill you. Leave this place immediately!” The Yin and Yang Elders spoke. The one who spoke was the Yang Elder. It wasn’t easy for them to kill Prince Yongxian, but it wasn’t easy for Prince Yongxian to break through their blockade either.

Thus, it was better for Prince Yongxian to retreat than continue this stalemate.

Liu Wuxie sheathed his blade with a hint of disdain in his eyes. He had already raised his right hand and would engrave immortal runes if Prince Yongxian dared to make a move.

Then again, he wouldn’t engrave an immortal rune unless the situation was dangerous because he would also suffer the backlash.

“Liu Wuxie, I’ll make you wish you were dead and live in fear!” Prince Yongxian took a deep breath to calm his anger. He knew that continuing to fight would only result in mutual destruction, and it was best to withdraw and make further plans.

When he finished, he turned into a meteor and left the Divine Martial Hall. With Prince Yongxian\'s departure, everything became calm again as everyone entered the hall.

“Your Majesty, a battle will be inevitable with Prince Yongxian’s departure, and we must be prepared!” The Minister of Rites stepped forward. Prince Yongxian had suffered a significant loss today and would try to counterattack. Thus, they had to be fully prepared in case they were caught off guard.

“Senior Yang, I’ll have to trouble you to send Young Master Liu back to the Imperial Academy.” What were to happen next would be for the imperial court to handle, and the Emperor didn’t want to drag Liu Wuxie into this matter. After all, Liu Wuxie had already helped him too much.

One of the True Core Realm experts stepped forward to escort Liu Wuxie back to the Imperial Academy.

“Senior Chen, this might be of help to you!” Liu Wuxie shoved something into Chen Yusheng’s hand before leaving with Xu Lingxue.

After they left, Chen Yusheng opened the paper that Liu Wuxie had shoved into his hand. Seeing what was on the paper, he became emotional because it stated the weakness of the killing machines nurtured with the Black Shell Pills.

Two hours later, Liu Wuxie returned to the Imperial Academy. This was the safest place because even Prince Yongxian wouldn’t dare to intrude on the Imperial Academy to kill someone.

After all, there were headmasters of three generations here, and Prince Yongxian would be courting death if he dared to come.

“What are your plans moving forward?” Xu Lingxue inquired, stopping Liu Wuxie. While the day’s events might have bolstered Liu Wuxie’s reputation, they had also earned him the ire of Prince Yongxian.

“No idea. I’ll plan as I go!” Liu Wuxie replied. He didn’t feel much pressure about this matter and left after seeing Xu Lingxue enter her courtyard.

Upon returning to his dwelling, Liu Wuxie began by opening the fifty-odd interspatial pouches and emptying their contents. The room quickly filled with an assortment of items, ranging from weapons and spiritual herbs to spirit stones. It took him a considerable amount of time to sort through everything, and by the time he finished, it was already late into the night.

Liu Wuxie set the weapons aside, as he didn’t use them often and planned to trade them for spirit stones. The herbs available to him were limited, mostly consisting of third and fourth-grade herbs, with not a single fifth-grade herb among them. He had only found a handful of herbs in the royal vault, which had been accumulating for centuries.

There were 5 million spirit stones, which was a hefty harvest. There were also countless third and fourth-grade pills.

“What’s this?” Liu Wuxie wondered, examining an oval stone he had found in the Minister of Justice’s interspatial pouch. The stone appeared ordinary, with small craters on its surface. It seemed strange for the Minister of Justice to carry such a large rock.

He investigated for half a day and couldn’t find any clues. He eventually took a sword and hacked it into the rock, but he only managed to cleave a few inches into it with sparks flying around and failed to break it open.

“What a tough stone!” Liu Wuxie exclaimed. An ordinary rock would have shattered under the force of the sword, but this one merely bore a faint mark.

“This is weird. This isn’t a meteorite, so how can it be so tough?” Liu Wuxie couldn’t figure out the origin of this rock, even considering how knowledgeable he was. He circled the rock and couldn’t find any clues about it.

Left with no other alternatives, Liu Wuxie resorted to using the Ghost Eye. His divine sense spread out, permeating the rock like liquid mercury. As he peered into the interior, it appeared different, resembling the meridians of a human body.

A few minutes later, the Ghost Eye finally penetrated through the rock’s core.

“What is this...” Liu Wuxie stared in disbelief at an object resembling a bamboo shoot, over a foot in length and as thick as an infant’s arm. The bamboo shoot was white and emitted a potent spiritual energy fluctuation.

“This is a Spirit Bamboo Shoot, a herb found within a rock. It’s extremely valuable and can be consumed directly,” Liu Wuxie exclaimed excitedly. In terms of grade, the Spirit Bamboo Shoot far exceeded fifth-grade herbs.

Fifth-grade herbs had to be refined to bring the medicinal effect, but the Spirit Bamboo Shoot was different. It was a treasure that could be consumed directly, enabling one’s cultivation to advance unconditionally by one level within the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

The Minister of Justice had somehow obtained it but was unable to break through it and had kept it until now, inadvertently benefiting Liu Wuxie.

A smile rose on Liu Wuxie’s lips as he dismissed the Ghost Eye. He could reach the fourth-level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm with the Spirit Bamboo Shoot. At that time, he would have more confidence in facing opponents in the True Core Realm.

But one problem was before him: to break open the rock. The Spirit Bamboo Shoot was inside, and breaking it forcibly might damage it, causing it to lose its spirituality.

“I wonder if the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron can refine it directly!” The Heretic Blade was sharp, but there was still some difficulty in trying to break open the rock. The best method was to refine the Spirit Bamboo Shoot with the rock as a whole.

But he wasn’t hurrying to refine the rock and planned to rest for a few days. He had just reached the third level of the Marrow Cleansing Realm that day and needed time to stabilize his cultivation.

As time passed, several large-scale fights erupted in the Imperial City as Prince Yongxian mobilized his army, planning to revolt.

However, all these matters were unrelated to Liu Wuxie as he had already informed Chen Yusheng about how to counteract Prince Yongxian’s secret weapon - the troops nurtured with Black Shell Pills.

If these troops were eradicated, it would be equivalent to disabling Prince Yongxian’s power.

Liu Wuxie then retreated into seclusion for seven days, after which he emerged and retrieved the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron....