Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1389 - Twin Fiends

Chapter 1389 - Twin Fiends
Liu Wuxie drew in a deep breath despite himself when he saw the countless martial souls. Roars from astral beast martial souls, sinister laughter from human martial souls, and piercing howls from monster martial souls all crashed into his ears, each carrying its own distinct trait.
The martial souls on the fourth level were several times more numerous than those on the third level. Liu Wuxie clearly sensed several martial souls whose strength matched human cultivators at the fifth- or even sixth-level Void Realm.
If he managed to gain control of them, he could even elevate their combat power to the seventh-level Void Realm. Once unleashed, they would be terrifying, and only experts at the eighth-level Void Realm would be able to suppress them.
"They're all wealthy!" Liu Wuxie's eyes gleamed. If he could brand these martial souls with his soul runes, he would have nothing to fear on the fourth level.
Even if he ran into experts at the pinnacle of the Void Realm, he could hurl a tide of martial souls at them, and even cultivators at the ninth-level Void Realm would suffer.
A small number of people had also grasped some elementary soul runes, but their attainments were far inferior to Liu Wuxie's. They could only forcefully inscribe runes and had no way to subdue martial souls as he genuinely did.
The martial souls around him finally surged forward, roaring as they charged at Liu Wuxie like a tidal wave, eager to devour him whole.
"Fight!" Liu Wuxie roared. With no room to retreat, he raised his hands and rapidly began inscribing soul runes.
The martial souls at the very front froze in mid-air, and a suppressive force subdued them on the spot. However, there were simply too many of them, and more martial souls slipped past Liu Wuxie's assault, burrowing into his soul sea.
A Soul Shield instantly formed around his soul sea, blocking the martial souls from forcing their way in. After absorbing so many martial souls on the previous levels, his soul sea had long since become comparable to the eighth-level Void Realm, and these martial souls couldn't break through his defenses.
He even unleashed Soul Spears to erase the weaker ones. The martial souls here were too mixed, and there was no way for him to refine every single one.
Thus, he divided them into two categories—those he would control and those he would absorb to strengthen his soul sea, aiming to push his soul sea to the ninth-level Void Realm.
There was no blood, no gore, and not even a sound in that silent clash. Liu Wuxie soon lost count of how many soul runes he had inscribed and could only feel his soul energy draining away at a frightening speed.
If anyone else had been in his place, they would have already exhausted all of their soul energy.
The consequences of running out of soul energy in this situation were obvious, as the surrounding martial souls would immediately rush into his soul sea and seize his body.
The number of martial souls in the area dwindled until only roughly half of them remained.
After subduing the stronger martial souls, he refused to let them idle and drove them to attack the remaining martial souls to save time. No one would probably believe him if he claimed he used martial souls to subdue other martial souls.
A similar hunt for martial souls played out in the other regions as well, with everyone slaughtering martial souls like madmen. They all stood to gain by refining martial souls, and with soul energy being notoriously difficult to increase, no one was willing to let such a golden opportunity slip away.
The Grand Unity Sect's experts scattered in all directions to search for Liu Wuxie's tracks, killing anyone at the Primal Origin Realm on sight without asking questions.
Their overbearing behavior quickly provoked resentment among the others, leading to several large-scale battles.
The Grand Unity Sect held the advantage in overall strength, as most of the cultivators who came to the Blood Fiend Battlefield were rogue cultivators, and they were no match for a superpower.
At the foot of the mountain where Liu Wuxie stood, two middle-aged men looked at the summit.
"Isn't that Liu Wuxie?" asked the man on the right.
News of Liu Wuxie had already spread throughout the fourth level, especially the fact that he knew the art of martial souls. Thus, many people besides the Grand Unity Sect had joined the hunt for Liu Wuxie.
Light spheres appeared in Liu Wuxie's palm one after another before sinking into his interspatial ring. He could summon them to fight whenever he needed.
By the time the two men arrived, the battle was nearly over, and more than two-thirds of the martial souls had already entered Liu Wuxie's soul sea. Only one-third remained, each one branded by Liu Wuxie with soul runes.
He had no intention of keeping the weaker martial souls, and it was better to refine them to strengthen his soul sea. As for the remaining one-third, they all possessed ferocious combat strength, consisting of three powerful astral beasts, over a dozen humans, and several gigantic monsters.
After branding them with his soul runes, their combat strength reached the sixth-level Void Realm.
"It should be him. There's no one else with the cultivation of the fifth-level Primal Origin Realm," said the man on the left with a nod. After all, all the Primal Origin Realm cultivators who came in had already died, and those who remained were at the Void Realm.
Even cultivators at the low levels of the Void Realm were rare on the fourth level, as most were at the fourth or the fifth level of the Void Realm.
"Should we act?" asked the man on the right. This was a golden opportunity, and if they missed it, they wouldn't have another chance to kill Liu Wuxie.
The man on the left hesitated as well. If they could kill Liu Wuxie, they could seize everything from him and could even become rulers of this world, making a name for themselves with the art of martial souls.
Greed clouded their judgment, and the temptation grew so strong that their reason began to crumble.
"What are our chances?" asked the man on the right, licking his lips as he mentally calculated their odds and weighed whether the risk was worth it.
"He's at the fifth-level Primal Origin Realm, and his combat strength is only comparable to the low levels of the Void Realm. We're both at the fifth-level Void Realm.
"One of us can focus on holding back the martial souls while the other can focus on killing him. Our chances of success should be around seventy percent," the man on the left replied.
Though they had never actually seen Liu Wuxie slaying cultivators at the Void Realm, it didn't stop them from making assumptions. By their calculations, they believed they had a promising chance against him.
"Very well. Let's go!" The two quickly reached an agreement and vanished as they raced up the mountain.
Liu Wuxie naturally noticed their movements, but he pretended not to do so. His soul energy's density had already surpassed that of ordinary cultivators at the same realm.
After all, the Heavenly Dao Book reinforced his soul sea, and he had also cultivated the Soul Forge Art. The two men reached the summit in a few leaps just as Liu Wuxie put away the last martial soul.
"I know that you're Liu Wuxie, and we mean no harm. As long as you're willing to hand over the Martial Soul Art, we won't make things difficult for you," said the man on the right, choosing a polite tone and hoping that Liu Wuxie would yield without a fight, as it would be best if they could avoid mutual destruction.
"No harm?" Liu Wuxie's lips curled into a cold sneer. "If you truly meant no harm, you wouldn't have climbed this mountain. Come and make your move now."
They had already left the four astral domains, and the rule here was survival of the fittest, with strength reigning supreme. Morality meant nothing in this place.
There was no way Liu Wuxie would hand over the Martial Soul Art, as it had become the very foundation upon which the Heavenly Dao Society would gain its footing in the astral domain.
The Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain had developed for millions of years and formed its own independent system. Shaking that system wouldn't be easy and would require hundreds, or even thousands, of years of careful planning.
However, Liu Wuxie didn't have the luxury of time. The Heavenly Dragon Sect had been developing for tens of thousands of years to rise to the level of a superpower and survive countless hardships along the way.
Compared to it, the Heavenly Dao Society's foundation was flimsy, and it could only gain a foothold quickly in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain by taking an unconventional path.
Various forces and planets had already monopolized all traditional industries, and trying to seize a share of the market from them was more difficult than climbing to the heavens. It was no wonder Old Blindie felt so pessimistic about the Heavenly Dao Society's future.
Liu Wuxie's refusal naturally infuriated the two men.
"Liu Wuxie, don't push it. Do you know who we are? We're the Twin Fiends of the Red Meteor Star!" the man on the right barked.
Liu Wuxie had heard of the Red Meteor Star before, but it was nothing more than a declining second-rate planet without a planet lord. Years of war had gripped that star, and most cultivators had already fled. As for those who remained, they slaughtered each other endlessly for land and resources.
Due to the scarcity of resources, even cultivators at the Earth Immortal Realm couldn't be bothered to go there. As a result, cultivators at the Void Realm could already reign over that planet.
People called the man on the right Zi Sha, and they called the man on the left Xiong Sha. Rumor had it that they shared a twisted relationship and were never apart.
"You two talk a lot," Liu Wuxie said with open disgust, his skin crawling just from imagining two grown men embracing each other.
"Attack!" Zi Sha barked and lunged straight at Liu Wuxie.
Xiong Sha stood guard to the side, ready to intercept any martial souls that Liu Wuxie would summon.
"Since that's the case, I'll let you two experience the martial souls I've just finished inscribing," Liu Wuxie said. He didn't attack personally, as that would expose his aura, not to mention that these two were both at the fifth-level Void Realm.
In a direct fight, even he was no match for them.
With his current strength, facing a cultivator at the fourth-level Void Realm would already push him to his limits, and he could even be forced to resort to his trump card—the Gate of Darkness.
Thus, borrowing the power of martial souls was his best option.
Zi Sha's mythical art shot out in the blink of an eye, enveloping Liu Wuxie and denying him any chance to catch his breath.
"It's a pity to kill someone with such a pretty face," Zi Sha teased with a light chuckle as he attacked.
"Flying centipede martial soul, fight!" Liu Wuxie summoned a light sphere in his hand that burst open.
A flying centipede martial soul emerged from the light sphere and lunged at Zi Sha. The instant it appeared, its countless feelers whipped toward Zi Sha. The sudden appearance of the flying centipede martial soul naturally made Zi Sha shudder in fear.
Liu Wuxie had collected this martial soul before they arrived, and the martial souls they had seen earlier were all unremarkable. Those were the martial souls Liu Wuxie intended to use to strengthen his soul sea.
As for the stronger martial souls, he had long since branded them with his soul runes and stored them away.
"I'll hold back the flying centipede!" Xiong Sha shouted, stepping in with his sword as he moved to intercept the flying centipede and buy an opening for his companion.
"Darkwing Tiger, come out!" Liu Wuxie said as he summoned another light sphere in his hand, sending it flying toward Xiong Sha.
The two martial souls were comparable to the sixth-level Void Realm and instantly crashed down on the pair. With a whole level of difference between them and the martial souls, turning the tide around wasn't so simple, and not everyone possessed the ability to fight enemies at a higher cultivation level.
"How is this possible?!" The two men's faces twisted with shock, realizing that they had severely underestimated Liu Wuxie.
To end the fight as soon as possible, Liu Wuxie summoned two more human martial souls onto the battlefield. Faced with the two human martial souls, the pair's odds of victory plummeted even further, and they couldn't even put up a decent fight against the four martial souls.
Only today did Liu Wuxie truly grasp how terrifying the art of martial souls could be. Of course, he had no intention of spreading these techniques, and any martial souls he would sell in the future would contain only two soul runes at most.
The more soul runes a martial soul carried, the more powerful it was.