Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1368 - Returning to the Heavenly Dragon Sect

Chapter 1368 - Returning to the Heavenly Dragon Sect
The four astral domains lay clustered within the same region of the cosmos.
The Laman Astral Domain sat far from the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, while the Spirit Martial Astral Domain floated deep in the universe, home to many bizarre races that rarely interacted with either the Indigo Bamboo or the Laman Astral Domains.
The strangest relationship, however, existed between the Indigo Bamboo and the Blood Fiend Astral Domains. These two astral domains almost touched, separated only by several massive planets and the different races that ruled them.
Blood fiends and abyssal devils differed completely. The blood fiends descended from the Asura God and shared the same root as the rakshasa clan. In contrast, abyssal devils descended from the Primordial Demon Emperor and held a faint connection to the nether clan and the ghost clan.
Both could be labeled devils or demons, yet the gap between them was immense. Blood fiends were far more cruel, their entire bodies crimson, while ordinary abyssal devils were ink-black.
Blood fiends were savage by nature and reproduced at a terrifying rate, to the point that the Blood Fiend Astral Domain could no longer contain their numbers.
Rumor said the Asura God was a battle maniac who had expanded his territory from a single small planet into a vast astral domain in just a few million years. Over the ages, no one knew how many planets near the Blood Fiend Astral Domain the blood fiends had seized and turned into their own territory.
Since the two astral domains sat so close and no Astral Domain Sandstorm lay between them, the Indigo Bamboo and Blood Fiend Astral Domains almost connected directly.
By contrast, a heavenly river known as the Astral Domain Sandstorm divided the Laman and Indigo Bamboo Astral Domains.
That heavenly "river" consisted of countless asteroids colliding with one another, and the slightest carelessness there would see a traveler smashed into pieces. Anyone wishing to journey from the Laman Astral Domain to another astral domain could only rely on an interstellar teleportation array.
However, reaching the Blood Fiend Astral Domain required no interstellar teleportation array so long as one did not venture too deep into the central region. As long as one traveled on the edge of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, they would be able to see the Blood Fiend Astral Domain with their own eyes.
Blood fiends reproduced at a terrifying rate, and, combined with the battle-craving etched into their bloodlines, humanity suffered a myriad of casualties over the years.
Emperor Haoyuan once invited the significant forces of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain to discuss a solution. In the end, the various forces agreed to form a joint army to resist the blood fiends, and the Heavenly Dragon Sect naturally took part.
Based on the ranking of each sect and planet, those with a higher ranking had to send more cultivators to join this army. Over the years, the Heavenly Dragon Sect had been maintaining a quota of around fifty members. Though the number was not high, every single one of them was an elite of the sect.
Representatives from other sects usually numbered between thirty and fifty cultivators, while minor planets only needed to send a dozen or so.
The army's primary purpose was to shield the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain from the blood fiends' attempts to invade their territory.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, humanity launched an unprecedented war against the blood fiends. Earth Immortals entered the fray in that battle, and several of them fell in the conflict. The blood fiends paid a heavy price as well, and the war destroyed dozens of planets.
Among the destroyed planets, some belonged to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain and some to the Blood Fiend Astral Domain. Both races suffered immense losses in that ancient war.
Afterward, the Blood Fiend Astral Lord proposed a restriction—Earth Immortals could no longer enter the battlefield. As long as humanity refrained from sending their Earth Immortals, the blood fiends would likewise keep theirs out of the war, creating a seemingly fair battleground.
The Blood Fiend Astral Lord showed his cunningness with that proposal. Once the rules barred Earth Immortals from fighting, the blood fiends naturally gained the advantage through their sheer numbers.
To prevent further catastrophic losses, humanity could only accept the condition that Earth Immortals would not take part in the war against the blood fiends.
Between the two astral domains, a massive battlefield gradually formed. This so-called battlefield was, in fact, a vast planet fiercely contested by both humans and blood fiends.
Whoever controlled it would gain an immense strategic advantage. Beneath that planet's surface, vast mines sprawled out in all directions, producing large quantities of astral crystals. Astral crystals were of a higher grade than astral stones. While they meant little to the blood fiends, they were fatally tempting to human cultivators.
However, the blood fiends had been occupying those astral crystal mines over the years. Each year, waves of human cultivators flocked there, hoping to mine astral crystals for themselves.
Countless planets surrounded the Blood Fiend Battlefield, all brimming with resources. Aside from the joint army, countless rogue cultivators swarmed the battlefield as well.
Rumors claimed that a decade ago, someone discovered an immortal fruit on that battlefield. After consuming it, they rose from the Void Realm to the Heaven Gaze Realm. News of it spread like wildfire, drawing even more cultivators to the Blood Fiend Battlefield.
For months, human cultivators pervaded the Blood Fiend Battlefield, and Liu Wuxie naturally understood the situation. After all, thorns paved the path to becoming an immortal, and resources remained scarce whether on the True Martial Star, across the Astral Domains, or even in the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm.
Now that the universe had entered a flourishing age, various races rose to prominence, and the average human lifespan was extended. Humanity's population exploded, driving resources to the brink of scarcity and making competition even more brutal.
The same held for other races as well, but the resources they needed differed.
When Liu Wuxie stepped into the Astral Domain Path, he let the suction force drag him along as he slowly drifted toward the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.
For the past three days, the three elders and Hua Feiyu had been taking turns guarding the forbidden ground. Now that the appointed time had arrived and the day of Liu Wuxie's return had finally come, everyone grew tense, worried that some unexpected accident had occurred.
On the morning of the third day, Elder Han arrived first. Today, he would finally meet the other descendants of the Han Clan, and he had even changed into a brand-new robe for the occasion.
Han Yue and several elders of the Han Clan also arrived, but they stayed at a distance to guard the forbidden ground rather than approach it.
Just then, spatial ripples spread outward as the sky split open into a giant vortex, and a lone figure tumbled out.
Hua Feiyu quickly formed seals to cushion Liu Wuxie's fall onto the platform. In that instant, the spiritual runes Elder Han had drawn earlier exhausted the last of their energy.
"Disciple Liu Wuxie greets master and all the elders," Liu Wuxie said as he bowed the moment his feet touched the ground. Without their help, he would never have been able to return to the True Martial Continent.
"Have you dealt with anything?" Hua Feiyu asked, his tone making it clear that he sensed something had happened while Liu Wuxie was gone.
"Everything has been handled," Liu Wuxie replied with a firm nod.
"You have two days to arrange everyone. Come and look for me once you're done, and people from the sect will contact you about how to arrange the descendants from the True Martial Continent," Hua Feiyu said before turning to leave with the three Quasi-Immortal Realm elders.
Upon sacrificing a thousand years of cultivation to open the Astral Domain Path, Hua Feiyu needed to enter seclusion for a few days.
Following Elder Han out of the forbidden ground, Liu Wuxie and the others returned to the Heavenly Dragon Sect.
Instead of going back to his own residence, Liu Wuxie walked straight to the Spirit Sealing Institute, and three elders appeared in front of him before he could even take out the Treasure Soul Pouch.
"Liu Wuxie, we've come by the order of the sect master to make arrangements for the Heavenly Dragon Sect descendants," the three elders said, with Elder Long standing among them.
The upper echelons of the Spirit Sealing Institute also gathered, barely able to contain their eagerness to meet the younger generation of their distant lineage.
Liu Wuxie produced the Treasure Soul Pouch, opened it, and released the people inside. When they stepped into the unfamiliar environment, excitement lit their faces.
After a brief scan of their surroundings, however, they all moved to stand behind Liu Wuxie, leaving the three elders and the Han Clan's upper echelons dumbfounded.
They could not understand what sort of charisma Liu Wuxie possessed to make these people place such unconditional trust in him, yet their eyes brimmed with respect toward Liu Wuxie.
"Elder Han, these are the descendants of the Han Clan," Liu Wuxie said.
Though everyone stood behind him, they had already separated themselves into distinct groups. The Han Clan's disciples clustered together, members of the Heavenly Dao Society and the Liu Clan formed another cluster, and the rest were descendants of those who had taken part in that ancient war.
When Elder Han slowly walked toward the three hundred disciples, his eyes grew damp. Each of these three hundred represented an elite of the Han Clan's younger generation, and only a small portion of their peers had remained behind on the True Martial Star.
"You've all suffered!" Elder Han suddenly bowed, startling the three hundred disciples.
"Ancestor, we haven't suffered at all," Han Feizi said as he quickly stepped forward to support Elder Han. The moment they touched, their bloodlines resonated violently, and halos flared out of Han Feizi, instantly shocking every upper echelon of the Spirit Sealing Institute.
"The Spirit-Sealing Physique!" Elder Han's hands trembled with excitement. Aside from the Han Clan's first ancestor, this physique had long been extinct, and it was the very origin of the Spirit Guardian's title.
"Heaven has truly blessed our Han Clan! The Spirit-Sealing Physique has actually reappeared!" Han Yue and the others cried out joyfully.
Even Elder Long and the other elders could not hide their excitement, while Han Feizi himself stood there completely bewildered, not yet understanding what the Spirit-Sealing Physique truly meant.
"Child, what's your name?" Elder Han asked, his gaze soft as he looked at Han Feizi.
"Ancestor, my name is Han Feizi," Han Feizi answered without the slightest concealment.
"From today on, you are a disciple of the Spirit Sealing Institute, and I will be personally responsible for guiding your cultivation. Will you be willing?" Elder Han asked.
It was essentially the same as taking Han Feizi as his personal disciple, though as a descendant of the Han Clan, Han Feizi naturally could not address Elder Han as "Master."
Han Feizi turned to glance at Liu Wuxie, silently seeking his opinion.
"Brother Han, agree to it!" Liu Wuxie urged Han Feizi anxiously on.
With Elder Han's guidance, it would not take long for Han Feizi to grow into a pillar of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, with his name echoing throughout the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.
"Ancestor, thank you for your favor," Han Feizi said with a nod.
Afterward, the other Han Clan disciples were introduced. When they traced their bloodlines, they found that Han Feizi shared an especially close bloodline with Elder Han; ten generations back, they shared the same ancestor and thus the exact origin.
The three elders then recorded the names of every descendant of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Some of their ancestors had already fallen, while a small number still had living ancestors within the sect.
The remains of those ancestors were carried to a designated area of the Heavenly Dragon Sect and buried with the highest honors. As for the disciples themselves, they were assigned to the three leading institutions and granted the best treatment available.
Liu Wuxie felt satisfied with these arrangements, and the disciples who had ascended from the True Martial Star were overjoyed, as joining the Heavenly Dragon Sect felt like finally returning to their roots.
Elder Long directly took Qiao Bian in as his disciple, and Liu Wuxie finally discovered that Qiao Bian carried the divine dragon's bloodline. He was a descendant of Ancestor Long Xiao.
Elder Long could barely contain his joy upon recognizing him.