Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1393 - Underground Palace

Chapter 1393 - Underground Palace
The twelve divine avatars had never stood united; instead, they remained scattered throughout the universe. Among them, Zhu Rong and Gong Gong were notorious bitter enemies while they were still alive.
The other divine avatars were no better; each divine avatar represented a separate lineage, even though people collectively referred to them as the witcher clan. If Gong Gong really lay buried beneath these waters, it meant a tremendous opportunity for Liu Wuxie.
If he could refine Gong Gong, he could make a breakthrough into the seventh-level Primal Origin Realm. His soul sea would also expand, making it far easier for him to inscribe soul runes in the future.
He could even reach the point where he could inscribe a soul rune with a casual gesture on his end.
The divine avatar Gong Gong was said to have a serpent's head and a humanoid body, capable of riding the clouds and commanding all waters. Some even claimed that certain dragon clans were inferior to Gong Gong in this aspect.
Liu Wuxie's figure flashed as he appeared atop a massive boulder. He dared not use the Dragon-Grasping Hand here and relied solely on his physical strength to shift the boulder aside.
The boulder struck the ground and cracked open, revealing a narrow fissure. The crack was just wide enough to allow a person through, and Liu Wuxie slipped inside without hesitation.
The Ghost Eye had its limits, and the underground space stretched too deep, reaching toward the ocean's depths.
As for the exact situation down below, Liu Wuxie would only know once he went down to investigate. After entering the crack, he pushed the boulder back into place, making sure no one would notice anything unusual on the surface.
Not long after Liu Wuxie entered the underground world, several silhouettes flew in from the distance. The sea was vast, and the island sat conspicuously alone in the ocean, so it was impossible for it not to attract attention.
However, none of them possessed Ghost Eye, so they naturally couldn't perceive the underground world hidden beneath the island. They decided to land and rest on the island.
Within just a few short minutes, more and more cultivators arrived. They couldn't continue flying endlessly above the ocean with no other land in sight, so this island naturally became the ideal resting place.
In less than an hour, thousands of human cultivators and blood fiends had gathered on the island as news of its existence spread.
"This is strange. We've searched the entire island, but where's Liu Wuxie?" one cultivator asked in confusion.
If Liu Wuxie had been wandering over the ocean, their earlier sweeps should have revealed at least some trace of him.
"I also find it strange. The gateway to the seventh level has yet to open, and he must be here somewhere," said another cultivator. The cultivators on the island clustered into groups, discussing where Liu Wuxie could be hiding.
The dozen survivors from the Grand Unity Sect also huddled together, each of them revealing grim faces.
"Elder Shi, I can sense that your aura has started to become restless. Are you on the verge of making your breakthrough to the Earth Immortal Realm?" Elder Wang asked softly at his side.
Everyone at the low levels of the Void Realm had already died, and those who remained were at least at the seventh-level Void Realm.
"Most likely in a day or two," Elder Shi replied with a nod.
According to his earlier estimates, he would have needed at least fifty years to break through to the Earth Immortal Realm.
However, in the course of pursuing Liu Wuxie, his state of mind had undergone a drastic transformation, pushing him to the threshold of the Earth Immortal Realm.
This served as a faint psychological consolation for the losses they had suffered so far.
"Once Elder Shi makes his breakthrough to the Earth Immortal Realm, I'd like to see where Liu Wuxie can run. We can seal off the entire space at that time, rendering his Great Spatial Mythical Art useless," Elder Li said, grinding his teeth.
Back on the fifth level, Elder Li had been closest to Liu Wuxie and had borne the full brunt of the explosions. Even now, a gaping wound still marred his chest and had yet to heal fully.
Liu Wuxie could still escape experts at the Void Realm, but he stood no chance at all against Earth Immortals.
"Do you think he might be hidden among us since there's nowhere to hide in the surroundings?"
With nothing better to do, everyone's conversation drifted back to Liu Wuxie.
Only a small number of people remained fully immersed in comprehending soul runes. With so many cultivators gathered, some prodigies had inevitably already comprehended fragments of the Martial Soul Art.
Once they returned to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, they could easily make a living with it. Of course, it would only prove true if they survived this ordeal and left this place alive.
Even Liu Wuxie dared not say with certainty that he could return to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain alive.
The casual remark struck everyone like a bucket of cold water. Elder Shi and the others all turned their heads to stare at the cultivator who had spoken.
"That might be it! Liu Wuxie is proficient at concealment and possesses terrifying disguise skills. He might actually be hiding among us!"
Many people sprang to their feet and began interrogating their companions, questioning them to verify their identities. Anyone who failed to answer correctly would be immediately surrounded and attacked.
Even after a long search, they still found no trace of Liu Wuxie. No one could fake cultivation realms, and not a single person among either the humans or the blood fiends stood in the Primal Origin Realm.
"Since they're not hiding among us, do you think he might be hidden beneath the boulders here?" another person suggested, speculating on every possible hiding place.
"We can't rule that possibility out!" Anyone who had survived to this point was no fool.
"Go and flip any boulders that can be moved," Elder Shi instructed, and the remaining members of the Grand Unity Sect immediately scattered to carry out his order.
Everyone else sprang into motion as well. The island wasn't large, and with over a thousand people spreading out, they could cover every corner. Three cultivators climbed to the highest point of the mountain and shifted the massive boulder before them, revealing a gaping hole beneath it.
"Look! There's a hole here!" one of them yelled, immediately drawing everyone in the vicinity over to crowd around the opening and argue about whether they should go in.
"There's a footprint!" A cultivator crouched at the edge and discovered a clear footprint beside the hole, left by Liu Wuxie when he slipped down with mud still clinging to his sole.
"It must be Liu Wuxie's footprint! He must've gone into the hole!" Elder Li exclaimed.
"After him!" Everyone present had already witnessed Liu Wuxie's incredible fortune. He had been refusing to die and was even thriving, using the environment to make repeated breakthroughs in his cultivation.
Although everyone had gained something since they entered the sevenfold heaven, their harvests were utterly insignificant compared to Liu Wuxie's.
One after another, cultivators jumped into the hole. The interior was pitch-black, and they could only make out the rough terrain with their divine senses.
When their feet hit the ground, they found the earth damp, and the sound of flowing water echoed around them.
"Look at these footprints!" A cultivator in his thirties crouched down after lighting a torch and discovered a line of footprints leading deeper inside.
"Liu Wuxie is really here!" someone exclaimed.
These footprints were made recently, an hour ago at the latest. This meant that when they first arrived on the island, Liu Wuxie had just gone down the hole, and they missed the best chance to catch him.
"Hurry up and chase after him! There must be some secret up ahead," someone urged.
The passage was narrow and couldn't accommodate over a thousand people at once. Those with higher cultivation naturally took the lead and walked at the front.
......
When Liu Wuxie's vision cleared, he finally emerged from the pitch-black passage. A shimmering water screen blocked his path, and witch energy emanated from beyond it.
He didn't rush in recklessly, as the Heavenly Dao Book warned him of an approaching danger. Moments later, the watery curtain rippled, and a giant fish swam toward him.
"A martial soul!" Liu Wuxie quickly realized it wasn't a real fish but a martial soul stationed here to guard the place.
As more martial souls surfaced, Liu Wuxie swiped his finger through the air, sending soul runes into them. A strange scene followed as countless fish-shaped martial souls leapt from the water curtain and hovered silently around him.
The largest stretched over thirty meters long.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Wuxie had gained control of more than a hundred martial souls. Even so, the Heavenly Dao Book continued to warn him of lurking danger.
"The danger didn't come from these martial souls?" Liu Wuxie frowned. He activated Ghost Eye and looked back toward the passage.
"They came as well?" he mused. He hadn't expected them to find this place so quickly. Unfortunately, he no longer had any way out, and his only option was to refine the divine avatar first.
Once he broke through to the seventh-level Primal Origin Realm, he would have more confidence in facing them.
He didn't hesitate to step through the water curtain, and he immediately felt as if he had entered a completely different world. Ahead lay a magnificent hall like an underground palace, supported by towering pillars. Above the hall, seawater flowed overhead, blocked by an invisible barrier that kept it from crashing down.
Liu Wuxie had no time to admire the surroundings.
The hall teemed with martial souls—more than a thousand of them. The most terrifying presence was an enormous jiao-serpent coiled at the center, its head wrapped around the rightmost pillar and its tail stretching deep into the hall.
The instant Liu Wuxie stepped inside, the jiao-serpent stirred.
"A martial soul at the ninth-level Void Realm!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed in shock. Even he wasn't confident he could subdue such a powerful martial soul.
The jiao-serpent let out a thunderous roar that carried far into the distance. The cultivators still walking through the passage all heard it clearly.
"This is bad! Liu Wuxie has reached the central region!" someone yelled. No further explanation was necessary; there had to be unimaginable treasures inside.
The passage instantly descended into chaos as everyone shoved and squeezed, desperate to rush ahead.
The jiao-serpent also struck, its massive jaws snapping forward as it released a pressure at the pinnacle of the Void Realm that crashed down on Liu Wuxie.
"Screw it!" Liu Wuxie knew he had no path of retreat, and the surrounding martial souls didn't pose any real threat to him. He immediately brought any martial soul that lunged at him under his control.
Only the jiao-serpent stood out as truly formidable, and Liu Wuxie's primordial spirit couldn't penetrate its core at all.
"Freeze!" Liu Wuxie began inscribing soul runes with both hands, carving a series of powerful soul runes that burrowed into the jiao-dragon's body and forced it to a halt.
However, the effect only lasted for a single breath before it charged at him again. The soul runes couldn't restrain the jiao-serpent, and whoever had created this martial soul had at least been an Earth Immortal.
Liu Wuxie's expression turned grim. If he failed to control this martial soul, the outcome would be disastrous. His pursuers would likely arrive within fifteen minutes.
He mobilized the mysterious soul rune within his desolate world and unleashed a terrifying torrent of soul energy. His gaze hardened with resolve, knowing this moment would decide his fate.
As the jiao-serpent drew closer, the immense aura it released felt strong enough to tear open the restriction around the hall. Once that restriction was shattered, seawater would pour in from every direction and sweep everyone away.
Facing the jiao-serpent lunging at him, Liu Wuxie planted his feet and continued inscribing soul runes. With the Heavenly Dao Book's help, he had already thoroughly analyzed that thick soul rune, and it was etched clearly in his memory, ready to be carved.
When the jiao-serpent closed in, a thick and massive soul rune appeared before it. The instant it appeared, the jiao-serpent faltered, sensing a dangerous threat emanating from the rune.