Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1401 - Second-Level Earth Immortal Realm

Chapter 1401 - Second-Level Earth Immortal Realm
The aura that radiated from Sun Xiao was in no way inferior to that of the burly old man; in fact, it felt even stronger. Most importantly, Sun Xiao was still only at the Quasi-Earth Immortal Realm and had yet to step into the Earth Immortal Realm truly. Then again, that was only natural, given that he was the chief disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's sect master.
A grim look flashed across the burly old man's eyes, and he slowly lowered his right hand. He didn't dare to take the gamble. Even if he managed to defeat Sun Xiao, he would definitely pay a heavy price, giving others the perfect chance to replace him in the camp. The camp he had built with such difficulty would end up in someone else's hands.
"My name is Mo Shanhe, and you two are welcome to join us anytime," the old man said, changing his attitude as he introduced himself, making it clear that the two could come to him if they couldn't survive outside.
As for leaving the Celestial Immortal Star, many people kept that hope buried deep in their hearts like a distant dream. They had already accepted their fate of being trapped on this planet and might as well put down roots here.
Sun Xiao gave a slight nod, then left with Liu Wuxie. They traveled through a dense forest, but neither of them said a word.
Mo Shanhe had built a camp to resist the loulan race and had recruited hundreds of people to his side. Liu Wuxie knew he had to move faster than Mo Shanhe if he wanted to unite more cultivators under his own banner.
"Junior brother, we're going to speed up. Mo Shanhe has also sent out experts to gather the human cultivators scattered across the planet," Sun Xiao said when he noticed several experts leaving the stronghold.
Those experts most likely shared their objective and were searching for the scattered human cultivators. Only by uniting everyone they could find would they be able to forge a force powerful enough to be reckoned with.
When the black hole swallowed them, it scattered them all across the Celestial Immortal Star, and the loulan race hunted them down as easy prey.
Suddenly, two Blackwind Beasts sent word back to Liu Wuxie through the soul runes that they had discovered another group of humans strong enough to injure them.
"Let's move out!" Liu Wuxie said. He knew that trying to save the prisoners in Loulan City right now would be no different from suicide. They had to recruit as many people as possible to their side first.
The two of them shot forth like thunderbolts, slipped through space, and appeared above a valley where two Blackwind Beasts were locked in an intense standoff with a crowd. The group below was a mix of human cultivators and blood fiends.
When Liu Wuxie stepped out of the void and saw the group before him, he was momentarily stunned.
"Liu Wuxie, it's you!" Elder Li shouted as he jumped forward at the sight of Liu Wuxie. The loulan race ambushed them a few days ago, and they lost more than a dozen companions. As a result, they had set up camp in this area, not daring to move. Not long ago, the appearance of the two Blackwind Beasts had already triggered a fierce battle between them.
Shi Yuan's face instantly twisted with anger, and the same fury appeared on the faces of the other human cultivators and blood fiends as they glared at Liu Wuxie. In addition to the blood fiends, their party had four experts at the Earth Immortal Realm, giving them terrifying combined strength.
Sun Xiao immediately shifted into a battle stance. He could clearly sense that these people had a feud with his junior brother.
"Senior brother, they're elders from the Grand Unity Sect, and they've come to hunt me," Liu Wuxie said, secretly transmitting his voice to Sun Xiao.
His mind raced. The Blackwind Beasts had only told him that they had found humans; they hadn't known who those humans actually were.
Upon hearing that the Grand Unity Sect was involved, Sun Xiao immediately went on high alert as he looked toward the hundred-odd blood fiends standing among the group.
"Junior brother, I'm only ten kills short of my one million vow, and I have already killed all the blood fiends I ran into on the Celestial Immortal Star. As long as I kill ten more, I can finally make my breakthrough to the Earth Immortal Realm. Can you hold them off for three breaths?" Sun Xiao asked with a grave expression. His vow had been holding him back from making his breakthrough to the Earth Immortal Realm, and he had to fulfill it to advance.
"I can," Liu Wuxie replied without the slightest hesitation. He knew that the Grand Unity Sect wouldn't let him go, no matter what he said. At best, he could sway some of the independent cultivators.
Sun Xiao turned to look at Liu Wuxie strangely. He didn't know where his junior brother's confidence came from, but when he recalled that their master had personally sent Liu Wuxie here, he immediately concluded that their master must've given him a life-saving trump card.
As long as Liu Wuxie used that trump card, it would be enough to buy Sun Xiao the time he needed to fulfil his vow.
Liu Wuxie, however, had no idea what his senior brother was thinking. He had already contacted Gong Gong in secret. As for the life-saving trump card his master had given him, he planned to save it for the most critical moment, and that time had clearly yet to come.
"Liu Wuxie, let's see where you can run this time!" Elder Wang yelled, striking out with his palm and unleashing his power at the pinnacle of the Void Realm.
The others also attacked, including an expert at the Earth Immortal Realm. They were determined to capture Liu Wuxie alive and search his soul for all his secrets.
Since their arrival, they had captured several members of the loulan race and tried searching their memories in an attempt to learn the art of martial souls. But they soon realized that the soul runes they engraved were flawed and failed to form.
If searching memories alone were enough to cultivate mythical arts, these experts would have long since mastered countless techniques just by rifling through other people's minds. However, memories contained only records, and cultivators couldn't fully grasp the detailed laws from them alone.
Liu Wuxie had also searched the memories of experts who had mastered numerous mythical arts, but even he couldn't directly cultivate them. First of all, the memories were far too chaotic, and only cultivators who personally walked that path could understand many of the profundities.
The reason Liu Wuxie could engrave martial souls was mainly due to the mysterious soul rune he had obtained on the fifth level. The Martial Soul Art he had mastered in the past was merely the superficial layer.
"Gong Gong, now!" Liu Wuxie called out.
A black hole appeared at once, and Gong Gong shot out from it, slamming a palm down at the Earth Immortal on the other side.
The incoming attack made the Earth Immortal's expression change drastically. He could clearly sense the threat coming from Gong Gong. Judging from the aura alone, Gong Gong's cultivation was at least equivalent to human cultivators at the second-level Earth Immortal Realm. The problem lay in the way his cultivation kept flickering because of his unstable condition.
With a loud explosion, Gong Gong's palm sent the attacking Earth Immortal Realm experts flying, including Elder Wang.
A flicker of shock flashed across Sun Xiao's eyes. He hadn't expected his junior brother to be carrying something so terrifying on him. Gong Gong didn't resemble humans at all, and the mythical arts he unleashed were utterly alien to human techniques, but his strength was monstrous.
Shi Yuan's expression changed, and he was about to attack, but Sun Xiao struck first. He executed the Divine Nine Yang Sword and caught the blood fiends completely by surprise. No one had expected Sun Xiao to attack them instead of rushing to help Liu Wuxie.
The blood fiends hadn't even taken proper battle stances, as they had been standing at a distance, planning to watch the humans tear each other apart. Even Shi Yuan was dumbfounded when he saw Sun Xiao charging into the ranks of the blood fiends.
Everyone was stunned and couldn't comprehend the strategy. Then again, not many of them knew that Sun Xiao had bound his own cultivation with an oath.
Gong Gong's body flickered as boundless witch energy erupted from him, condensing into a Witch Wheel Blade.
After Liu Wuxie had refined the Witch Wheel Blade, its will had remained inside the desolate world, and Gong Gong now drew upon that will.
In Gong Gong's hands, the same Witch Wheel Blade unleashed power so devastating that even Shi Yuan didn't dare meet it head-on and instinctively took a step back.
Seizing this opportunity, Sun Xiao had already swung his sword down from the sky, unleashing unstoppable momentum before the blood fiend's leader could react.
With a loud rumble, the entire valley shuddered as it split into two. The destructive might of that sword alone wasn't inferior to the attack of cultivators at the Earth Immortal Realm.
One after another, the blood fiends' bodies exploded as their blood sprayed into the air. It was a shocking sight, as these blood fiends were at the pinnacle of the Void Realm, yet they couldn't even withstand a single attack from Sun Xiao.
Then again, Sun Xiao had poured everything he had into that strike without holding anything back. He knew his junior brother was risking his life to buy him time, and how could he possibly drag his junior brother down?
When the tenth blood fiend died, the vow binding Sun Xiao shattered. However, the sword ray continued to rage on, slaying over twenty blood fiends in total.
"Break!" Sun Xiao roared without any hesitation the moment his vow shattered. His true essence surged out, sweeping across the battlefield like a hurricane and sending Shi Yuan and the others flying away.
"Junior brother, fall back!" Sun Xiao yelled as he returned to Liu Wuxie's side.
"Gong Gong, retreat!" Liu Wuxie yelled without any hesitation, pulling back to Sun Xiao's side with Gong Gong.
The aura that Sun Xiao released formed a vacuum zone around him, preventing Shi Xiao and the others from even getting within ten meters of them. His aura didn't stop there; it kept rising.
Sun Xiao had successfully stepped into the first-level Earth Immortal Realm and was gradually edging toward the second level. He had remained stuck in the Void Realm for far too long. If he hadn't bound himself with that vow, he would've already reached the Earth Immortal Realm years ago.
Many people had mocked him for coming to the Blood Fiend Battlefield to hunt blood fiends as the chief disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's sect master. In their eyes, he had been wasting his life.
The blood fiend's leader struck out with his palm at Sun Xiao, attempting to interrupt his breakthrough. His heart bled as he watched Sun Xiao slaughter more than twenty of his own kind.
"Get lost!" Sun Xiao roared, striking out with his palm.
The blood fiend's leader, who was at the first-level Earth Immortal Realm, was sent flying by a single blow from Sun Xiao. The sight instantly intimidated the other human cultivators, who didn't dare to move a muscle after witnessing this scene. The strength Sun Xiao displayed was too terrifying.
"Damn it! Damn it all!" the Grand Unity Sect's experts roared in frustration. They had been on the verge of killing Liu Wuxie, only for Sun Xiao to make a breakthrough in his cultivation right before their eyes.
Judging from the aura Sun Xiao now gave off, his cultivation would surely surpass theirs and reach the second-level Earth Immortal Realm. They might have four Earth Immortals with the blood fiends included, and therefore weren't afraid of Sun Xiao alone, but Liu Wuxie had another Earth Immortal standing by his side.
A full-scale clash would only result in a stalemate, with neither side able to gain any real benefit. If they kept fighting like this, the commotion would draw the loulan race over, and the consequences would be dire.
Gong Gong had already vanished, returning to the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. The earlier fight had exhausted all his witch energy, and he could no longer continue to battle. After all, Gong Gong was still in a recovery phase, and his cultivation flickered inconsistently—a problem Liu Wuxie couldn't ignore.
On the other hand, Sun Xiao's accumulation was intense, and his cultivation quickly rose to the pinnacle of the second-level Earth Immortal Realm in just a few minutes. He could have attempted a breakthrough to the third level, but he chose not to.
If he forced another breakthrough with so many enemies around, his cultivation would become unstable. If they were back in the sect, he might not hesitate to keep pushing forward, but here on the Celestial Immortal Star, the Grand Unity Sect's experts were watching them like hungry wolves. If he revealed the slightest weakness, they would rip him to pieces.
Once Sun Xiao's cultivation stabilized, he exuded a towering presence. His powerful aura swept across the surroundings, making Shi Yuan and the others' faces turn ugly.
"Bastards of the Grand Unity Sect, today will be your death!" Sun Xiao said coldly.
Now that he had reached the second-level Earth Immortal Realm and had the mysterious powerhouse by his junior brother's side, they had a reasonable chance of wiping out all the experts from the Grand Unity Sect.
When the Grand Unity Sect experts saw that Sun Xiao was about to attack, they immediately went on their guard.
"You're Sun Xiao, Hua Feiyu's chief disciple!" Shi Yuan exclaimed, finally recognizing Sun Xiao's identity.