Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1386 - Massive Harvest

Chapter 1386 - Massive Harvest
Liu Wuxie stood in the canyon, surveying the surroundings. Even without the Ancestral Tree's warning, a terrifying surge of energy rumbled around him. If any plants had grown in the canyon, they would have thrived in such an environment.
He executed Ghost Eye, and his gaze locked onto a withered tree. When he peered into the dead trunk, he saw three large metal boxes hidden inside. He didn't hesitate—he dashed over, appeared before the tree, and tore through the trunk, revealing the three boxes within.
"Astraal crystals!" exclaimed Liu Wuxie. Those three boxes represented one thousand five hundred astral crystals. Taken outside, they would count as an astonishing fortune. Even ordinary cultivators at the Void Realm would struggle to produce that many astral crystals at once.
With a wave of his hand, Liu Wuxie sent the three boxes into his interspatial ring. The instant he collected them, five blood fiends appeared in the blink of an eye.
"You think I don't know that you people have been tailing me?" sneered Liu Wuxie. He had noticed the five blood fiends long ago and had pretended not to see them. He wouldn't have bothered with them if they hadn't provoked him. But since they dared to come after him, he intended to show them no mercy.
Once he fought, his aura would inevitably leak, and the Grand Unity Sect's experts would be able to locate him. The environment here couldn't compare to the Blood Fiend Battlefield, and it would be troublesome if the Grand Unity Sect discovered him.
The Dragon-Grasping Hand manifested and descended on the five blood fiends. None of them was weak, and their leader possessed strength comparable to the third-level Void Realm, drawn by the energy Liu Wuxie radiated; his vital essence was so abundant that even most Void Realm cultivators couldn't match it.
The five blood fiends' expressions shifted drastically. Liu Wuxie's attack instantly shredded the four weaker ones.
Liu Wuxie had to end the battle quickly. The Grand Unity Sect had likely locked onto his aura and was probably rushing over already, so he needed to finish the fight and leave this place before their experts arrived.
With a loud crack, blood rained from the sky as the four blood fiends burst apart, the energy and laws in their bodies devoured by Liu Wuxie. Terror flooded the remaining blood fiend's eyes. He clearly hadn't expected this seemingly unremarkable human to possess such terrifying strength, and his first instinct was to run, not daring to linger for another moment.
"Great Frost Mythical Art!" Liu Wuxie tapped with his finger—ice-attribute energy condensed into countless arrows that shot forth.
The blood fiend managed to flee only ten meters before countless arrows punctured his body and turned him into a sieve.
The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron appeared next and devoured all the energy and laws of the last blood fiend before Liu Wuxie vanished. The entire fight had lasted less than three breaths.
......
By the time the Grand Unity Sect's experts arrived, Liu Wuxie was already long gone.
"It's the aura Liu Wuxie left behind in his fight with the blood fiends," said Elder Shi as he arrived. He could sense Liu Wuxie's aura lingering in the air, mixed with the scent of blood fiends.
"He shouldn't have gone far," said Elder Li, stepping forward with a grim look. They were always one step too late, and more Grand Unity Sect experts continued to gather from the surroundings.
"Keep searching for him!" ordered Elder Shi. Everyone scattered once more to continue searching for Liu Wuxie.
......
Two hours later, Liu Wuxie arrived at a lake where cultivators stood around the shore, staring blankly at the water. They had spent an entire day on the first level, and no one had managed to find the entrance to the second level. The failure made them wonder if they were going to be trapped here until they died.
"Martial soul!" the surrounding cultivators exclaimed as a terrifying soul emerged from the lake, revealing a flood python with strength comparable to the first-level Void Realm.
By now, Liu Wuxie had mainly figured out the pattern. Since the martial souls they encountered on the first level were at the first-level Void Realm, he wondered if they would face martial souls equivalent to the second-level Void Realm on the second level.
Then again, that was only his speculation, and he didn't know the exact situation. The sevenfold heaven corresponded to seven different worlds, and he didn't know what purpose they served. Only the loulan race knew the true purpose of the sevenfold heaven.
The moment the flood python appeared, the surrounding cultivators' eyes turned bloodshot. News had long spread that one could strengthen their soul sea by refining martial souls. Even weakened, these martial souls were remnants of souls at the Void Realm.
If these martial souls were at their prime, even a cultivator at the high levels of the Void Realm would struggle to subdue a martial soul at the first-level Void Realm.
After so many years, the martial souls had worn down significantly and now possessed less than one-tenth of their original strength.
The area immediately descended into chaos as everyone lunged at the flood python at once, each wanting to claim the martial soul for themselves.
Although the flood python had lost consciousness, it still retained its instincts, driving it to search for weaker cultivators and seize their soul seas.
In the span of a thousandth of a breath, the flood python's soul burst out of the lake and shot toward Liu Wuxie. Among everyone present, Liu Wuxie appeared to have the lowest cultivation, and if the flood python could seize his soul sea, it might be able to leave this place.
However, the sight almost made Liu Wuxie laugh. He had just been debating whether he should join the fight for the martial soul, since his aura would leak if he fought openly, and there might be Grand Unity Sect experts lurking nearby.
The flood python martial soul was stronger than the octopus-faced martial soul Liu Wuxie had absorbed earlier. He swiped his finger through the air, and a soul rune appeared and merged into the flood python martial soul.
A bizarre scene unfolded as the flood python's martial soul froze in mid-air. As before, Liu Wuxie sent his divine sense into it to search for soul runes.
"Three soul runes again, but they're more exquisite than the octopus-faced martial soul," murmured Liu Wuxie to himself. The fact that the loulan race could control a flood python martial soul with only three soul runes was anything but simple.
The surrounding cultivators all stared in disbelief, unable to figure out what Liu Wuxie had done to the flood python martial soul or why it had suddenly gone still.
Liu Wuxie swiftly recorded the three soul runes into the Heavenly Dao Book for analysis. He believed that if he continued like this, he would one day grasp the art of martial souls of the loulan race.
With a wave of his hand, he drew the flood python martial soul into his soul sea and refined it with ease. After absorbing it, Liu Wuxie discovered that his soul sea had grown stronger than before. The stronger his soul sea became, the easier it would be for him to inscribe soul runes in the future.
The cultivators gathered around the lake, all glared furiously at Liu Wuxie. They had waited here for fifteen minutes before finally encountering a martial soul, only for him to snatch it right before their eyes. But just as they were about to attack him to seize the martial soul, several more martial souls emerged from the lake's depths.
Martial souls of various astral beasts surfaced. Liu Wuxie recognized some of them, while others were unfamiliar.
The surrounding cultivators tensed when they saw so many martial souls and released their soul energy, each trying to seize one for themselves.
On the other hand, a faint smile curled onto Liu Wuxie's lips. These martial souls were incredibly important to him. Not only could he comprehend the soul runes within them, but he could also use them to strengthen his soul sea.
Breaking free from the Grand Unity Sect's pursuit wouldn't be easy, and his only real option was to kill every last one of them. But slaying so many experts would be difficult, especially since the Grand Unity Sect had dispatched multiple experts at the pinnacle of the Void Realm. Any single one of them could easily crush him.
He knew he was no match for them directly, but the martial souls were another matter entirely. The stronger his soul energy grew, the higher the level of martial soul he could tame. If he could subdue several martial souls at the pinnacle of the Void Realm, it would be effortless for him to wipe out the Grand Unity Sect's experts.
The martial souls on the first level were too weak and served only as material for him to study soul runes. He needed to absorb more of them so the Heavenly Dao Book could analyze them. His current mastery only allowed him to subdue martial souls at the third-level Void Realm, and that was nowhere near enough to kill the Grand Unity Sect's experts.
And so, Liu Wuxie made his move. He planned to claim the martial souls for himself before anyone else could. His hands danced through the air as he inscribed soul runes and sent them into the martial souls.
The martial souls emerging from the lake all froze in mid-air, bound and controlled by his soul runes.
"Kid, you're courting death!"
Liu Wuxie had disguised himself as a youth in his mid-twenties, wearing a roguish smile. He executed Ghost Eye and began studying the soul runes, recording each in the Heavenly Dao Book.
The instant he finished collecting them, he unleashed Soul Spears that pierced through the martial souls, converting them into soul energy to strengthen his soul sea.
Once he finished, Liu Wuxie vanished and did not dare linger for even a moment.
The surrounding cultivators could only stomp their feet in frustration as they watched Liu Wuxie disappear. Only several damaged martial souls drifted on the lake, and they had no choice but to wait for the next opportunity.
Liu Wuxie began a full-scale sweep of all the martial souls he encountered along the way. Hundreds of soul runes appeared in the Heavenly Dao Book, pulsing as it continued its analysis.
"That should be enough," Liu Wuxie said, his eyes lighting up. He stopped and no longer continued sweeping for more martial souls.
There weren't many martial souls at the first-level Void Realm left, and Liu Wuxie had already refined over forty of them. His soul sea now brimmed with terrifying soul energy, spreading outward like mercury.
As his soul sea grew stronger, his Soul Forge Art also advanced rapidly. He could now wield Soul Fire and Soul Spear effortlessly.
Right then, a Divine Heavenly Stairway suddenly appeared in the distant sky.
"The stairway to the second level has appeared," murmured Liu Wuxie.
Everyone else saw it as well, and they guessed it might be because someone had slaughtered all the martial souls on this level, or perhaps because Liu Wuxie had successfully comprehended the art of martial souls. No one could say for sure what the actual reason was.
Everyone began to rush toward the stairs, and Liu Wuxie moved with them. He had to reach the second level before the Grand Unity Sect arrived. If they reached it first and guarded the entrance, they might demand that everyone release a wisp of their aura to pass, and that would expose his identity on the spot. Knowing the Grand Unity Sect, he believed they were more than capable of such a move.
Using the Great Spatial Mythical Art, Liu Wuxie appeared at the base of the stairs in less than three breaths. The staircase was illusory, seemingly formed from some strange substance yet not truly real.
Someone had already gone up to the second level ahead of him. Liu Wuxie didn't hesitate to step onto the staircase; it felt like walking on soft cotton, and he could barely feel any weight beneath his feet as he slowly climbed.
Right then, the Grand Unity Sect's experts arrived and blocked the entrance to the staircase, demanding that everyone release a strand of their aura for confirmation while claiming they harbored no ill intentions.
Most cultivators cooperated, and very few refused. With so many Grand Unity Sect experts present, and given their status as a superpower, no one wished to offend them.
Liu Wuxie was fortunate to have reached the staircase ahead of the Grand Unity Sect. By the time everyone finished ascending, the Grand Unity Sect still hadn't found any trace of him.
The Grand Unity Sect could only grind their teeth in frustration, knowing they had arrived too late.