Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1381 - Ancient Loulan City

Chapter 1381 - Ancient Loulan City
Liu Wuxie's sudden murmur left Shangguan Xue and the other two staring at him in confusion.
"Who's coming?" Shangguan Xue stepped forward and asked.
"Thank you for traveling with me these past few days," Liu Wuxie said. "We'll part ways here. The Blood Fiend Battlefield won't stay safe for long. You three should return to the city."
He offered no further explanation. His figure blurred and vanished.
Moments after Liu Wuxie disappeared, more than a hundred figures tore across the distant sky, their combined auras surging like a raging storm as they rushed toward the direction Liu Wuxie had fled.
"So many experts at the high levels of the Void Realm... are they all here for Young Master Liu?" Shangguan Xue whispered. Her face turned pale as the pressure from afar pressed down on her chest.
Even at that distance, the three clearly felt the terrifying might those auras carried.
In the Blood Fiend Battlefield, a single expert at the pinnacle of the Void Realm could sweep across an entire region unchallenged unless an Earth Immortal appeared.
Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie had just burned through almost all his trump cards to kill a rogue cultivator like Chen Shan. Compared to independent experts, cultivators from a superpower like the Grand Unity Sect possessed stronger combat strength and life-saving treasures.
Against a fourth-level Void Realm elder of the Grand Unity Sect, Liu Wuxie would struggle to secure a clean kill in a direct clash.
"Brother Liu probably doesn't want to drag us into this mess," Ye Feng said, sighing. With that many experts hunting him, the four of them wouldn't last even a single exchange; their enemies would wipe them out the instant the battle started.
"Let's head back," Ye Yuwen muttered. He turned away and led Shangguan Xue and Ye Feng along the original path toward the city.
Just as Liu Wuxie had predicted, the number of blood fiends roaming the battlefield had increased significantly over the past few days.
The three red suns had caused catastrophic losses to both humans and blood fiends, but the Blood Fiend Astral Domain quickly sent a fresh wave of blood fiends into the battlefield to replenish their ranks.
"Liu Wuxie, you can't escape!"
The Grand Unity Sect's experts soon locked onto Liu Wuxie's trail. Several elders at the pinnacle of the Void Realm unleashed terrifying speed, streaking through the sky like falling stars as they closed in on him.
The elders behind them weren't slow either. Every step they took twisted space and left rippling distortions in their wake.
Mo Hong flew among them with a grim expression. He clung to one thought—by killing Liu Wuxie. Otherwise, he would never be able to mend his fractured dao heart.
Thanks to Liu Wuxie, the Grand Unity Sect suffered disastrous losses, and cracks formed in his dao heart, especially after his crushing defeat during the alchemy event.
Liu Wuxie's speed soared as he drew entirely upon the Great Spatial Mythical Art. With his current comprehension of spatial laws, he didn't fear that anyone could catch him anytime soon.
He tore open space and slipped inside, reappearing far ahead. Even so, he couldn't shake off the Grand Unity Sect's pursuit. They clung to him like a shadow, using the Thousand Divination Art to lock onto his location each time he changed direction.
The pursuit dragged on for two hours, yet the distance between them refused to widen. Several times, Liu Wuxie almost collided with packs of blood fiends, only to tear open space and vanish before they could react.
The enraged blood fiends threw themselves at the newcomers, but the Grand Unity Sect experts casually shredded them to pieces and sped past without slowing.
"This won't work. I've recovered some true essence, but at this rate, I can only hold out for another half day at most," Liu Wuxie muttered under his breath.
Summoning the Gate of Darkness to kill Chen Shan had drained nearly all of his true essence, and he still hadn't fully recovered. Continuing this kind of prolonged chase clearly favored his pursuers.
Liu Wuxie's mind raced as he looped around several rugged mountain ranges, even activating the Ancient Breath-Concealing Art to hide his aura. The effort proved useless. Each time he vanished, the Grand Unity Sect elders would quickly pinpoint his position again through the Thousand Divination Art.
Six hours slipped by just like that. The weaker Grand Unity Sect disciples began to falter, panting heavily, and even Mo Hong had to pull out pills to replenish his strength while he flew.
"Elder Wang, lead the disciples and follow our trail. Elder Li and I will go on ahead," the leading elder said coldly.
"Understood," Elder Wang replied. He slowed his pace, allowing the disciples behind him to regroup and catch their breath.
Once they finalized the arrangement, the other two elders surged forward again. Their speed climbed to an even more terrifying level as they burned their strength.
Up ahead, Liu Wuxie tore through space again and again, burning through several Bloodking Bamboo Shoots to maintain his speed. He even gripped an astral crystal tightly in his hand, drawing its energy into his body like a thirsty man drinking water.
The repeated spatial leaps tore at his body. Fine cracks spread across his skin, and pain pulsed through his limbs, as if his mortal shell could rip apart at any moment.
"Damn it!" Liu Wuxie cursed, thrusting a fist into the empty air in frustration when he sensed the gap behind him shrinking despite his efforts.
He darted past a chain of broken peaks and plunged deeper into the Blood Fiend Battlefield, where blood fiends grew more numerous and far more vicious.
"Liu Wuxie, you can't escape! Surrender obediently!" The elder at the helm let out a sinister laugh. He swallowed another pill and suddenly vanished.
Teleportation,
Liu Wuxie thought grimly.
The elder shifted directly from one point in space to another, moving even faster than Liu Wuxie's spatial shuttling. After half a day of relentless pursuit, both elders lost patience and began burning their blood essence, forcing their speed to surge once more.
Liu Wuxie, on the other hand, had almost exhausted his divine force after repeatedly casting the Great Spatial Mythical Art. At best, he could use it three more times. Once his divine force ran dry, his speed would drop sharply, and the elders would catch him in no time.
The terrain ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a barren expanse where mountain peaks once stood. Many ridges looked as though some enormous hand had ripped them out of the ground and tossed them aside.
"Black holes had appeared here before," Liu Wuxie murmured, his gaze sweeping across the scarred land.
All across the Blood Fiend Battlefield, black holes had swallowed human cultivators and blood fiends alike. The missing mountains ahead left the land wide open and exposed, which meant the Grand Unity Sect elders could track him with a single glance, no matter where he ran.
His true essence burned away faster than he liked. He circulated the Desolate Devouring Art at full force, dragging the surrounding spiritual energy into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron like a flood.
"There are a lot of people ahead," Liu Wuxie sensed as countless auras gathered in the distance around a yawning opening in the earth.
A large crowd had assembled at the entrance of a mysterious passage, and streams of cultivators continued to pour inside.
"Is that the mysterious passage that bypasses the blood fiends and leads into the underground world?" Liu Wuxie's eyes flashed.
Back in the tavern, he had heard rumors about a passage that allowed cultivators to bypass blood fiend territory and enter the underground veins directly.
The route carried enormous risk—its unstable structure frequently birthed strange black holes that swallowed entire squads—but the lure of astral crystals drew people in like moths to flame.
For the sake of that wealth, crowds of cultivators had chosen to gamble their lives. Within a few short days, thousands had gathered here. Liu Wuxie hadn't expected his evasive maneuvers to bring him to this very place.
"Screw it," Liu Wuxie muttered. Then, he made up his mind. The land around him offered no cover, and if he continued running in the open, he would eventually run out of true essence and fall into the Grand Unity Sect's hands.
If he slipped into the crowd and hid inside the passage, he could find a chance to shake off his pursuers in the underground world. He only needed to alter his appearance slightly to make tracking him far more difficult.
Without any hesitation, Liu Wuxie activated the Great Spatial Mythical Art one last time and flickered into existence at the mouth of the mysterious passage.
Cultivators streamed past him in an unending flow. Over the past few days, thousands of people had entered, and not a single black hole had appeared. Encouraged by that apparent safety, even more cultivators now rushed inside.
No one paid Liu Wuxie any attention. They filed in groups into the depths of the passage. None of them was weak. Most stood at the fourth-level Void Realm or higher, and several radiated the crushing pressure of the pinnacle Void Realm—elites from various planets across the astral domain.
When the two Grand Unity Sect elders saw Liu Wuxie slip into the mysterious passage, they could only grit their teeth in fury. They slowed at the entrance, staring at the cavernous throat of the tunnel with hard eyes.
"Elder Shi, do we go in?" Elder Li asked, uncertainty flickering in his gaze.
Back at the Myriad Race Ceremony, he had lent the Heavenly Primal Wheel to Mo Hong to kill Liu Wuxie, only to watch Liu Wuxie destroy the artifact instead.
"We're going in," Elder Shi said without the slightest hesitation as he stepped into the passage.
He had already contacted Elder Wang beforehand. When Elder Wang and the disciples arrived, a portion of their forces would guard the entrance to prevent Liu Wuxie's escape, while the rest would follow them into the underground world.
After entering the mysterious passage, Liu Wuxie quickly realized that the environment far surpassed his expectations. The tunnel stretched wide and deep, and a piercing cold wind howled past him, carrying sharp, grating sounds that scraped against his ears.
Before long, the passage split into three separate tunnels. Liu Wuxie paused for only a heartbeat and then dashed into the left one. No one knew where each fork led, and every step depended on luck.
The two Grand Unity Sect elders reached the fork shortly afterward and halted, staring at the three paths.
"I'll take the left; you take the right. Liu Wuxie is alone, and he has nowhere to run," Elder Shi said.
Once Elder Wang was here, he could enter the center tunnel, and the three of them would complete an encirclement.
Liu Wuxie sped through the left tunnel without letting up. The underground world stretched on and on; it felt even vaster than the surface.
The desolate world in his dantian began to stir and hum, responding to the aura of astral crystals ahead.
A squad advanced cautiously, not far in front of him. When Liu Wuxie flashed past them, they stiffened in alarm.
"Brat, you're courting death!" the squad leader roared, lunging after Liu Wuxie with a palm strike.
Ever since the appearance of the three red suns, cultivators who entered the underground world had been moving with extreme caution. No one dared lower their guard here.
"Get lost!" Liu Wuxie barked. He had no interest in wasting time. He met the oncoming palm head-on and used the rebound to fling himself several hundred meters farther down the tunnel.
The passage suddenly widened, and an ancient underground world unfolded before his eyes. The cavernous expanse stretched endlessly, with scattered cultivators exploring its depths.
Rows of towering stone pillars lined the area ahead.
"This really is an underground world," Liu Wuxie murmured, his gaze sweeping across the scene. He hadn't expected to find an entire hidden city beneath the Blood Fiend Battlefield. The layout and construction here differed entirely from those of human cities.
"This is Ancient Loulan City, the former home of the loulan race," Liu Wuxie said softly as he recognized the city from the distinctive architectural style.
The loulan race flourished a million years ago, yet their brilliance flashed through history like a meteor. No one knew what calamity had befallen them, only that they had vanished overnight. Now, the ruins of their civilization slumbered beneath the Blood Fiend Battlefield.
Every stone pillar radiated a dense ancient aura, as if it carried countless years of history on its surface.
Liu Wuxie didn't have the luxury to linger here. He took out several astral crystals on the spot, ready to refine them and restore his depleted true essence as quickly as possible.