Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1396 - Gong Gongs Awakening

Chapter 1396 - Gong Gong's Awakening
Everyone sat down to rest, some seizing the chance to attempt a breakthrough while others focused on treating their injuries. For the time being, they pushed all thoughts of Liu Wuxie to the back of their minds.
The place was vast, and the environment differed significantly from that of the sixth level. If they blindly rushed after Liu Wuxie now, they might blunder into danger instead.
Aside from the Grand Unity Sect, which still insisted on killing Liu Wuxie, the others had already given up on that pursuit.
Their priority had shifted to finding a way back to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain. Whether Liu Wuxie lived or died no longer mattered to them. After all, they had no real feud with him and had only targeted him out of jealousy.
......
Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie had already crossed thousands of miles before finally sitting down atop a mountain. The mountains floating in the sky drifted slowly, never fixed in place.
Each floating mountain varied in size, with the largest towering over three thousand meters and the smallest no bigger than a small house. Liu Wuxie sat on one of them, letting it carry him through the sky.
When his cultivation stabilized, Liu Wuxie opened the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and brought Gong Gong out. He faced a divine avatar in person for the first time.
Though the divine race was ancient, their inheritance had passed down unbroken, so they did not seem particularly mysterious to him. The witcher clan, however, was different, as they had vanished from history long ago.
When the two faced each other, Liu Wuxie's gaze held a wary edge, while curiosity lit up Gong Gong's eyes.
"Who are you?" Gong Gong asked.
"My name is Liu Wuxie. Are you the divine avatar, Gong Gong?" Liu Wuxie asked cautiously after introducing himself. He wanted to confirm whether this being truly was the divine avatar.
"Gong Gong?" The divine avatar frowned, a trace of hesitation flashing across his face as fragmented memories surfaced.
"You could say that," he answered.
The divine avatar had managed to pull out only a thin thread of memory about who he had once been. The original Gong Gong had already died; the one standing here was someone reborn, inheriting Gong Gong's memories.
The atmosphere turned awkward at once. Liu Wuxie knew too little about the witcher clan, while Gong Gong—curious about the outside world—let his gaze wander over their surroundings.
"What do you plan to do now?" Liu Wuxie asked. He could tell Gong Gong's aura remained unstable; his memories and body had not yet fully merged.
"You carry a lot of witch energy in your body, and I need it to recover," Gong Gong said, clearly intending to return to the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and continue absorbing witch energy.
Liu Wuxie's brows furrowed at once. Although the desolate world had given rise to the Witcher Realm, the witch energy it produced each day was extremely limited. If Gong Gong were to absorb all of it, wouldn't that drain the Witcher Realm dry?
His thoughts spun rapidly until a bold idea took shape.
"I can provide you with a portion of witch energy every day, but I have one condition. If I run into danger, you must help me without hesitation," he said.
He could clearly sense that Gong Gong's power was gradually awakening, and once fully restored, stepping into the Immortal Realm in one move would not be a surprise.
He had already tried using the Great Conversion Mythical Art on Gong Gong, but it had no effect whatsoever. The mythical art did not work on the members of the witcher clan.
Gong Gong sank into deep thought at Liu Wuxie's proposal, clearly weighing his choices. Without the nourishment of witch energy, returning to his peak would be incomparably difficult.
"I can agree to it as long as it's within my power," Gong Gong replied. Even he could not accurately gauge his current cultivation.
A faint smile tugged at Liu Wuxie's lips. He had used Ghost Eye to examine Gong Gong earlier and had seen a terrifying power slumbering deep within.
With constant nourishment from witch energy, that power would awaken sooner or later. Once the two reached an agreement, Gong Gong returned to the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.
Liu Wuxie drew out a portion of witch energy from the Witcher Realm and guided it into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. He had no intention of pouring in everything at once; keeping such a powerful ally by his side for as long as possible was the wiser choice here.
Moreover, Gong Gong bore no malice toward him. Liu Wuxie had asked him about it earlier, and though Gong Gong could not give a specific explanation, he felt it was natural to remain near Liu Wuxie.
After handling the issue with Gong Gong, Liu Wuxie activated Ghost Eye to survey his surroundings. Through Ghost Eye, every inch of space unfolded in his vision, and he could clearly see that the very flow of space here differed significantly from that of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.
The farther his gaze traveled, the more the scene changed. Up ahead, he saw strange buildings and faint signs of life within them. He could not tell whether they belonged to humans or some other race; the only way to know was to go there himself.
Now that he had reached the seventh-level Primal Origin Realm, even ordinary opponents at the sixth-level Void Realm might not be his match. However, his chances remained slim against experts at the seventh-level Void Realm, especially since he had exhausted all of his martial souls.
If he could engrave a few martial souls comparable to the pinnacle of the Void Realm, they would become perfect hidden trump cards. His figure blurred as he sped toward the distant structures.
Days slipped by, and Liu Wuxie did not rush. He cultivated as he traveled, making use of every moment.
Three days later, Elder Shi finally broke through to the Earth Immortal Realm. A terrifying wave of aura exploded from his body, filling the sky as his presence swept across thousands of miles, radiating the full might of an Earth Immortal.
However, he was not alone. Two other human cultivators also made their breakthroughs to the Earth Immortal Realm, and shortly afterward, a blood fiend ascended as well. Even in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, such a lineup would be enough to shake the heavens.
"Elder Shi, congratulations on your breakthrough to the Earth Immortal Realm," Elder Li and the others said as they stepped forward. This meant the Grand Unity Sect had gained yet another elder at the Earth Immortal Realm. The other cultivators who had broken through also stepped up to offer their congratulations.
"Shi Yuan, your Grand Unity Sect has the most people here. What do you suggest we do next?" the two Earth Immortals asked Elder Shi.
The remaining three hundred or so cultivators were mostly rogue, lacking unity among themselves. At a time like this, they needed a leader to guide them out of this world.
"The environment here clearly shows that humans once lived here. We'll hold a vote to decide which direction we should travel next," Shi Yuan said. He did not attempt to act like a tyrant, knowing full well that these people followed him only because they needed someone to rely on.
He still needed everyone's input before making any decisions. As for hunting Liu Wuxie, he did not mention it at all. That matter concerned the Grand Unity Sect alone, and he had no intention of borrowing other people's hands to deal with Liu Wuxie.
In the end, the direction they chose almost matched Liu Wuxie's route, with only a slight deviation.
......
Five days later, Liu Wuxie finally arrived at his destination, but he did not move in too close. The buildings ahead looked strange, nothing like usual human dwellings. Instead, they resembled a circular wall enclosing an inner area where people would presumably live. The overall layout was similar to an arena.
Unlike ordinary arenas, the surrounding walls were made of strange stone, with openings evenly spaced along their length. There was only one actual entrance, and the gate was not made of ordinary wood but crafted from rare tree fern, making it unbelievably sturdy.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered past one of the openings, and Liu Wuxie caught it with Ghost Eye. From that glimpse alone, he could tell it was human.
"There are other people here?" Liu Wuxie wondered. He was certain no one else had come in together with him.
He approached cautiously. He had to uncover the truth about this place, so he vaulted over the stone wall in a single leap and looked down from above. The entire complex spread out under him, far larger than he had anticipated.
The construction style resembled a classical architectural layout, with a well in the center and rows of houses lining the inner side of the walls, enough to accommodate countless people. When his gaze shifted to the area where the shadow had appeared before, the figure had already vanished.
"It's not here. We have to leave this place quickly!" Three figures entered Liu Wuxie's line of sight—human cultivators.
Liu Wuxie rejoiced when he saw that they were humans. Just as he was about to call out to them, a strange shadow lunged at him from the right, less than ten meters away. The shadow moved at a shocking speed, far too fast for the naked eye to follow. When he finally caught a clear glimpse, the creature resembled a black civet cat.
The shadow pounced straight at him. Liu Wuxie had no time to dodge and could only spring to his feet as the black cat's claws swept toward his face.
"The Blackwind Beast!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed. He rapidly formed seals with his hands and grabbed toward the beast.
It was no ordinary animal; it was a Blackwind Beast with terrifying combat strength. If its claws were to touch him, he would instantly become the beast's puppet.
The three humans were likely being chased by the Blackwind Beast and were desperately searching for a way out. Liu Wuxie's sudden appearance had only diverted the beast's attention onto him.
The Blackwind Beast's greatest weapon lay in its soul. It could seize control of human consciousness, and even the faceless clan feared it. Liu Wuxie had never expected to encounter one here. The three men in the distance were all at the ninth-level Void Realm, yet even they were no match for this beast.
Liu Wuxie's mind raced, but a stabbing pain suddenly tore through his soul sea. The Blackwind Beast's assault had already reached his primordial spirit.
"Soul rune!" He had no choice but to inscribe a soul rune and drive it into the Blackwind Beast's body.
The Blackwind Beast let out a shrill scream before retreating at high speed, clearly repelled by the soul rune.
The three humans who had been preparing to flee halted and turned to look at Liu Wuxie. The Blackwind Beast had already vanished, unwilling to linger for even a moment longer.
Liu Wuxie had acted purely on instinct, relying on a soul rune. Even the Heavenly Dao Book had been unable to block the Blackwind Beast's soul attack.
The Blackwind Beast specialized in soul attacks and could be considered a kind of martial spirit, except far more dangerous and real.
The soul rune had worked precisely as Liu Wuxie had speculated, and the three humans hesitated only briefly before walking toward him.
Liu Wuxie remained on high alert as they approached, his divine sense already reaching out to contact Gong Gong. He knew he was no match for ninth-level Void Realm cultivators and might have to rely on Gong Gong if things turned hostile.
The trio, however, showed no signs of hostility. The man in the middle looked at Liu Wuxie and asked, "Did the black hole also drag you in?"
They had assumed Liu Wuxie, like them, had been pulled into this place by a black hole.
Liu Wuxie's eyes lit up at once. That meant a black hole had swallowed them as well. If so, this world might also have dragged his senior brother in.
"That's right. How can I address you three?" Liu Wuxie asked evenly. He did not mention the Ancient Loulan City or the sevenfold heaven.
"My name is Xiao Yuesheng. These two are Xia Yifan and Wu Chang. How can we address you?" asked the man in the middle, introducing himself and his companions.
They were rogue cultivators who had been training on the Blood Fiend Battlefield when the three red suns appeared. After that, a black hole suddenly formed out of nowhere and swallowed them whole.
"Wu Xie," Liu Wuxie replied, using the same alias as before. He pretended to be a disciple from a small clan.