Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1399 - Senior Brother

Chapter 1399 - Senior Brother
The two black-clad figures shot forward like arrows and closed in on the triangular building. They quickly swept their gazes over the area until they located a hidden mechanism. The instant they pressed it, the triangular structure split open along its seams, exposing a bottomless, yawning hole beneath it.
"The Tata Prison?" Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes at the sight, though uncertainty lingered in his mind. He doubted these three had risked sneaking here just for treasure; most likely, they were also searching for the imprisoned cultivators.
A low hum rolled through the surroundings the moment the triangular building opened. In the next heartbeat, countless flames flared to life in the darkness as members of the loulan race flooded in from every direction. Over a hundred Blackwind Beasts also shot out, surging straight toward the three black-clad figures.
"This is a trap! We fell for it!" The two who had been about to leap into the hole halted abruptly, bracing themselves for the oncoming assault.
"Fall back!" the leader bellowed, moving to guard the rear as he covered their retreat.
All three shot into the sky, fully exposing their silhouettes, yet even that was safer than remaining surrounded on the ground.
With a thunderous boom, a colossal palm descended from above. The three were swatted out of the air and slammed back down onto the street before they could gain height. The power behind that strike was monstrous, carrying force on par with an Earth Immortal Realm expert.
The three black-clad figures possessed terrifying cultivation, all at the Quasi-Earth Immortal Realm, yet even they failed to withstand that blow.
By the time they crashed back onto the ground, the attacks from the encircling loulan race had already reached them. The Blackwind Beasts were the first to unleash their offensive, sending a tidal wave of soul energy crashing down that battered the trio's primordial spirits.
The leader drew a longsword in one smooth motion and slashed upward at the sky, cutting down several charging Blackwind Beasts in a single swing. However, the other two black-clad figures, whose cultivation was slightly lower, felt a rending agony tear through their soul seas. They could barely muster the strength to guard themselves, let alone mount a proper counterattack.
The instant the leader displayed his sword art, Liu Wuxie's pupils suddenly contracted.
"That's one of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's ten supreme arts, the Divine Nine Yang Sword!" he exclaimed.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect possessed ten supreme arts. Although he hadn't cultivated them all, Liu Wuxie knew their names and basic forms by heart. Anyone capable of practicing one of those ten was far from ordinary. The Divine Nine Yang Sword ranked even higher than the Great Asura Sword, and only the complete Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms could stand on equal footing with it.
Even so, the swordsman could only hold out for a short time. More Blackwind Beasts charged in from all sides, their soul energy merging into an even greater wave that surged forward.
The leader's sword strikes gradually slowed as the tearing pain in his soul sea intensified, and the loss of control over his body quickly became apparent.
"Brother Wu, let's go!" Xiao Yuesheng urged, warning him to withdraw while they still had a chance, before the loulan race noticed them.
"You three leave first. Wait for me in the woods outside the city," Liu Wuxie replied. He needed to stay a little longer to confirm the identities of the three black-clad figures.
"No! If we're leaving, we're going together!" the trio protested. After the days spent together, their bond had grown deep, and they refused to abandon Liu Wuxie to face danger alone.
"Do as I say. Go! I have a way to leave safely," Liu Wuxie said in a firm, commanding tone, pressing them to retreat ahead of him.
"Okay. We'll wait for you in the woods outside the city," Xiao Yuesheng answered after a brief moment of hesitation, ultimately accepting Liu Wuxie's arrangement.
The soul energy radiating from the Blackwind Beasts was already starting to affect them. If they stayed any longer, they would end up dying here as well. They felt less worried about Liu Wuxie, who showed no fear toward the Blackwind Beasts at all.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Xiao Yuesheng and his companions slipped away and escaped from Loulan City.
Once they were gone, Liu Wuxie raised his hands and began inscribing soul runes. Thick, powerful runes formed in the air, then streaked outward like shooting stars.
On the battlefield, their foes steadily pushed the three black-clad figures into an increasingly disadvantageous situation. The leader's sword speed had slowed to a crawl compared to earlier, and the soul pressure released by the Blackwind Beasts only grew stronger with each passing breath.
Just as the trio was about to succumb to the Blackwind Beasts' assault, soul runes appeared out of nowhere and drilled into the beasts' soul seas. The charging Blackwind Beasts came to an abrupt halt, their eyes turning vacant as they stared blankly into space.
"Come with me!" Liu Wuxie transmitted his voice toward them, and the three immediately turned in his direction when they heard it.
With the Blackwind Beasts' threat neutralized, the three black-clad figures unleashed their martial techniques freely, blasting the surrounding loulan clansmen aside and tearing open a gap in the encirclement. They seized the opening and broke out at once.
Liu Wuxie disappeared from his previous position at the same time, and the three men quickly followed behind him.
A chorus of enraged roars echoed from behind as the loulan race realized that the humans they had almost captured had slipped through their fingers.
The chase continued for dozens of streets before the four finally shook off their pursuers.
Liu Wuxie kept his speed steady as he left Loulan City behind, breaking through its boundaries fifteen minutes later and heading straight for the nearby woods.
"Who are you? And why did you help us?" the leader among the three asked, pushing himself to move faster so he could draw level with Liu Wuxie.
"This isn't the place to talk," Liu Wuxie answered without slowing. He transformed into a streak of light and vanished from view.
The three black-clad figures hesitated for a heartbeat, then chose to give chase. If Liu Wuxie had harbored ill intentions, he would never have saved them in the first place.
In the woods, Xiao Yuesheng and the others waited anxiously, worry written all over their faces. Only when they saw Liu Wuxie return did the tension in their shoulders finally ease.
The three black-clad figures, however, stopped at a distance of ten meters from Liu Wuxie's group, keeping a cautious distance.
"We can talk now. Can I know why you saved us?" the leader asked, pulling off his mask and revealing a man in his mid-thirties with thick brows and bright, steady eyes.
"Senior brother!" Liu Wuxie surged forward and clamped his hands around the man's arms.
"Who are you?" Sun Xiao asked, clearly not recognizing him.
"My name is Liu Wuxie, a fellow disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Our master sent us to find you," Liu Wuxie said, his voice thick with emotion. He had memorized the portraits of his three senior brothers long ago and recognized Sun Xiao the instant the mask came off.
"Our master?" Sun Xiao repeated, confusion flickering across his eyes as he wondered if his master had accepted a new disciple.
"That's right!" Liu Wuxie replied. He then briefly recounted the recent events in the Heavenly Dragon Sect and how Hua Feiyu had accepted him as a disciple.
Once he understood that Liu Wuxie was his junior, Sun Xiao immediately pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Hahaha! Junior brother, the three of us might have died at the hands of the loulan race if not for you," Sun Xiao said, his voice choked with emotion, before he finally released Liu Wuxie.
Xiao Yuesheng and the others stood rooted to the spot, utterly stunned. They were left speechless from the moment Sun Xiao removed his mask.
They were very familiar with Sun Xiao's name. Although they had never spoken to him personally, they had watched him lead the Heavenly Dragon Sect's forces across the Blood Fiend Battlefield, slaughtering countless blood fiends in just a few short months. Now that they realized Liu Wuxie was Sun Xiao's junior brother, the three could only smile wryly at their own earlier assumptions.
After a round of introductions, Sun Xiao cupped his fists toward Xiao Yuesheng's group of three in greeting.
Xiao Yuesheng, Xia Yifan, and Wu Chang were excited to finally meet the legendary chief disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect face-to-face.
Because of the oath he had sworn, Sun Xiao had repeatedly suppressed his cultivation, holding himself back from breaking through to the Earth Immortal Realm.
The two men behind Sun Xiao were also disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect—Bu Wenxing and Guan Jinpeng. Their cultivations were nothing to scoff at, and once they finished introducing themselves, they quickly focused their gazes on Liu Wuxie.
"Junior brother, how did you enter the Celestial Jade Star?" Sun Xiao asked.
Since their master had sent Liu Wuxie here, that meant he, too, must have traveled through the black hole to reach this planet.
"The black hole had already vanished by the time I arrived at the Blood Fiend Battlefield. I stumbled into the underground world by chance and discovered Ancient Loulan City..." Liu Wuxie said, briefly recounting his own journey.
Based on that description, his senior brother should be able to infer some clues.
After listening to Liu Wuxie, everyone sank into deep thought, realizing the situation was far more complicated than they had believed.
"I have also heard about the loulan race before. But according to what you said, the sevenfold heaven should be a passage connecting the Blood Fiend Battlefield and the Celestial Immortal Star. Back then, the loulan race must've used that path to return to this planet," Sun Xiao said after pondering for a moment.
"That's what I was thinking as well. That's why I scouted Loulan City at night to find a way back home," Liu Wuxie replied with a nod. The prospect of a route home immediately sparked excitement among Xiao Yuesheng's three-person group.
"Junior brother, why did the Blackwind Beasts attack us back in the city?" Sun Xiao asked, curiosity glinting in his eyes.
"Soul runes!" Liu Wuxie answered. He held nothing back and summoned the three Blackwind Beasts that had been lurking nearby, making Bu Wenxing and Guan Jinpeng jump in fright.
"It's fine. They're under my control now," Liu Wuxie said, gesturing for them to relax, since these Blackwind Beasts now obeyed his command.
"That's great! With your help, we might actually have a hope to rescue the imprisoned humans," Sun Xiao exclaimed, slapping his thigh in excitement. At the same time, his curiosity about Liu Wuxie only deepened.
From his senior brother and the other disciples, Liu Wuxie learned that they had infiltrated Loulan City several times in the past and had already confirmed the location of Tata Prison. Among the captives were disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, and Sun Xiao could not sit by and ignore their plight. He had resolved to rescue them, no matter the cost.
Ten days earlier, the Loulan race had ambushed their group and captured all the other junior brothers, leaving only the three of them free.
Since then, they had been attempting to rescue their comrades again and again, but every attempt failed. On this night, they had almost died at the hands of the loulan race as well, and only survived because Liu Wuxie intervened.
"Tata Prison is heavily guarded, and it won't be easy for us to save them with just a few of us," Liu Wuxie said with a wry smile. For the seven of them, merely staying alive in this place was already a challenge; talking about saving others bordered on wishful thinking. The last thing he wanted was to dampen everyone's spirits, but he had to spell out the grim reality.
Especially after what had happened tonight, the loulan race would surely bolster their defenses. Now that Liu Wuxie had revealed his mastery of soul runes, alarm bells would be ringing across the city. In the distance, they could already see countless shadows flitting about as loulan warriors scoured the area outside the city in search of them.
"What should we do then? Are we going to watch them die in Tata Prison?" Guan Jinpeng demanded, swinging his fist through the air in anger.
Those captured disciples had fought side by side with them on the Blood Fiend Battlefield, and the bond they shared had long surpassed that of blood-related brothers.
"We have to save them for sure, but we need to strengthen our own forces first," Liu Wuxie said. He understood how anxious the three were, but they could not afford to move recklessly. If they charged in the way they had tonight, they might not even manage to escape with their own lives, let alone rescue anyone.
Sun Xiao remained silent, simply studying his junior brother. He hadn't expected Liu Wuxie to remain so calm under such pressure.
"Junior brother, go on. Tell us what you have in mind," Sun Xiao said at last. He showed none of the arrogance of a senior disciple, especially since all of their previous rescue attempts had failed. Now, he could only hope Liu Wuxie could devise a plan to save their companions.