Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 337 - Story

Yu Jiayin invited Liu Wuxie's group of three to stay for the night to thank them for delivering the letter.

"Junior Brother Liu, what do you think?" Bai Lin asked, seeking Liu Wuxie's opinion. After all, staying in the Yu Clan was safer as Hou Chi hadn't gone far away, and they could find a way to leave the next day.

After all, there was a possibility that Hou Chi would attack them if they stayed at an inn, and Yu Jiayin had suggested out of goodwill.

If Liu Wuxie's group of three were killed for delivering a letter in Fan City, no one would dare to deliver any letters to the Yu Clan in the future.

"We will trouble Lady Yu then." Liu Wuxie agreed after a brief pondering. He decided to stay in the Yu Clan for the night before getting Bai Lin and Tang Tian to leave the next morning while he stayed behind to reforge the Heretic Blade.

If he could reforge the Heretic Blade into a spiritual treasure, he would be able to fly with it, making it difficult for Hou Chi to catch up with him.

The group entered the Yu Clan, passing through the front courtyard and entering a side hall meant for receiving less important guests. As for important guests, they were usually received at the main entrance.

However, the trio didn't mind that because they had no favorable opinion of the Yu Clan. They were just staying for the night.

When they sat down, Yu Jiayin instructed her maid to prepare tea for the guests.

"Aren't you three curious about Hou Chi's sudden hostility?" Yu Jiayin broke the silence, feeling the need to explain the situation when Liu Wuxie's group of three had narrowly escaped death.

"Lady Yu, go on!" Bai Lin prompted her to carry on. Liu Wuxie maintained his silence and only used Ghost Eye to scan most of the Yu Clan.

He was surprised because the Yu Clan's foundation was deeper than he had imagined. They had multiple ancestors in the Nascent Transformation Realm and even more experts in the Astral River, Heavenly Phase, and Heavenly Dipper Realms.

This further intensified Liu Wuxie's intention to become stronger. He knew his current strength couldn't even deal with a third-rate clan.

"The story begins five years ago." Yu Jiayin began her story. Bai Lin didn't interrupt and allowed her to continue.

"Five years ago, I met Big Brother Qin You at an outing. He joined the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion three years ago and is now an inner disciple. The letter you three delivered came from him," Yu Jiayin explained.

Liu Wuxie's group of three only knew that an inner disciple had issued this mission, but they were unaware of his identity.

"We fell in love at first sight and promised to marry. But three years ago, the Hou Clan proposed an alliance through marriage."

The story was clear now. Yu Jiayin and Qin You fell in love and promised to marry, but the Hou Clan came and promised an alliance through marriage.

Qin You was merely a member of a small clan in Fan City, and there was no way his status could compete with Hou Chi, the grandson of Hou Clan's grand elder.

In every clan, the status of a grand elder was secondary to the patriarch, which proved Hou Chi's high status. At that time, Yu Jiayin's father hadn't known that his daughter loved someone. Thus, he had agreed to the marriage proposal.

By the time Yu Jiayin's father learned of it, it was too late. All he could do was delay the marriage.

The Hou Clan learned of it and located Qin You, threatening him to leave Yu Jiayin and even killing several Qin Clan members in the process.

Coincidentally, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion recruited disciples, and Qin You was selected three years ago. He now had some status in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion as an inner disciple, and it was harder for Hou Chi to kill him.

That was the story. The Hou Clan wanted to form an alliance through marriage with the Yu Clan to strengthen their power, but Yu Jiayin had someone she loved, so she found various reasons to refuse.

They had communicated through letters for the past few years, and Bai Lin had received the mission this time. This was why Liu Wuxie's group of three was dragged into this matter.

The three were innocent, and Hou Chi's anger came from Qin You sending letters to Yu Jiayin, which humiliated him. Before their engagement was dissolved, Yu Jiayin held the title of Hou Chi's fiancée. Thus, the fact that she had an unclear relationship with another man naturally enraged him.

Bai Lin sighed because they had offended the Hou Clan for a mission. He wouldn't have accepted this mission if he had known beforehand, but things had already happened, and there was nothing they could do now.

This mission was placed in the red region, signaling that it was slightly dangerous. But he didn't expect it to be so dangerous.

After understanding the story completely, Bai Lin was left with mixed emotions. Ultimately, it was because Hou Chi was too oppressive to attack them for no reason, and he even disregarded them.

This was a matter between the Yu and Hou Clans, yet Hou Chi had lashed out at an outsider because of his family affair, which was an act of cowardice. Hou Chi only knew how to rely on his status to do whatever he wanted in Fan City.

"I have arranged guest rooms for you three. Someone will take you there later. I have other matters to attend to and must leave now." Yu Jiayin stood up, excusing herself, and left the side hall with the letter in her hand.

The three were left alone in the side hall. When Liu Wuxie recalled Ghost Eye, he noticed Bai Lin and Tang Tian looking at him.

"Junior Brother Liu, I am to blame for this unnecessary trouble." Bai Lin said with guilt, blaming himself for inviting Liu Wuxie and dragging the latter into trouble.

"Things have already happened, so there's no need for apologies. Rest early tonight and leave Fan City at dawn. I will lure the Hou Clan's attention away from you two." Liu Wuxie waved his hand, as Bai Lin couldn't be blamed for something he wasn’t aware of.

Furthermore, given their close relationship, this incident couldn’t create a barrier between them.

Bai Lin and Tang Tian had nothing to say after listening to what Liu Wuxie said.

A maid came in and led the three to their guest rooms. This was only the outer region of the Yu Clan, far from the core region.

Liu Wuxie sat on a meditation mat and took out an array of flags to place them in the room's four corners, which isolated the room from the outside world.

This was because Liu Wuxie sensed several powerful presences scanning him with their divine senses, and they were likely the Yu Clan's experts.

Liu Wuxie took out all the interspacial pouches and began to organize them, placing the materials meant for blacksmithing aside and noting any shortages.

With Fan City's scale, he believed he should be able to gather the materials he needed.

At nightfall, Liu Wuxie sorted over three hundred materials that could be used for forging spiritual treasures.

Yu Huai had prepared these because he had reached the Quasi-Heavenly Dipper Realm, which was only one step away. He planned to use these materials to forge his spiritual treasure.

However, everything now belonged to Liu Wuxie. To acquire them otherwise, he would have had to visit many places, which would have consumed a lot of time.

"These materials are enough to forge an ordinary spiritual treasure, but it would be better with Earth Essence. With it, the spiritual treasure I forge would have a greater growth potential," Liu Wuxie muttered.

His ambition wasn't just to upgrade the Heretic Blade to a spiritual treasure but a dao or celestial artifact.

"I'll look around Fan City tomorrow and see if I can find Earth Essence." Liu Wuxie stored the materials. Ordinary spiritual treasures were powerful, but that wasn't Liu Wuxie's objective. Since he wanted to forge a spiritual treasure, he naturally had to forge the best one.

Liu Wuxie shut his eyes and circulated the Desolate Devouring Art. But he held back because he didn't want to alarm the Nascent Transformation Realm ancestors in the Yu Clan.

Astral energy began pouring into Liu Wuxie's soul sea when the astral bridge opened up, further enhancing the Primordial Astral Fist.

Meanwhile, in a grand study room in the Yu Clan...

"Master, here's the report for today's events. The three are still staying in the guest rooms." An old man stood at the side of the room. This was the Yu Clan's steward who had served the Yu Clan for over thirty years. The person he was reporting to was Yu Jiayin's father, the current Yu Clan's patriarch.

"Are you certain he's only in the sixth level of the True Core Realm?" The patriarch said with disbelief. He was skeptical of someone in the sixth level of the True Core Realm being capable of injuring someone in the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

"I also doubted it initially, but I have verified it with many people. He practiced a weird fist technique, which enabled him to face Hou Chi," the steward confirmed. He would report the daily affairs to the patriarch at night, which was part of his job.

"I got it. You can leave now!" The middle-aged man waved his hand to dismiss the steward from the study room. He soon unleashed his divine sense, passing through multiple buildings and reaching Liu Wuxie's room.

"Mhm?" The patriarch exclaimed because he was in the Quasi-Nascent Transformation Realm. He could step into the Nascent Transformation Realm in fifty years at most, but he was surprised when his divine sense couldn't penetrate Liu Wuxie's room.

Liu Wuxie sensed a powerful divine sense scanning through his room. With a wave of his hand, the array flag on the left collapsed, dismissing the spiritual array and allowing that divine sense to enter.

He quickly masked his aura and the Desolate Devouring Art, making it seem like he was meditating. He did it on purpose because it would alarm the Yu Clan's experts if the divine sense of someone in the Quasi-Nascent Transformation Realm couldn't penetrate through the spiritual array he had set up, and it would draw unwanted attention.

Liu Wuxie was a cautious person who kept a low profile when necessary. He understood the importance of staying inconspicuous without absolute strength.

When the divine sense scanned through the room, Liu Wuxie felt naked standing before it.

The Heavenly Dao Book unfolded to shield his secrets. There was also a mysterious crystal wall around the world in his dantian, blocking any divine sense from penetrating. Liu Wuxie even simulated a fake dantian and only made his true essence appear stronger than ordinary people.

The divine sense departed after scanning the room for fifteen minutes. As it left, beads of sweat trickled down Liu Wuxie's forehead. If the divine sense had continued to scrutinize him, his secrets might have been uncovered, as he was still too weak to conceal them fully.

With a cautious expression, he stored the array flags. He hadn't anticipated that the afternoon's events would alarm the Yu Clan's higher-ups.

The night passed, and it was relatively peaceful. Aside from that powerful divine sense, no one else examined him.

The group of three left the Yu Clan at dawn, and someone was waiting outside their rooms as if their departure was anticipated.

When the trio left the Yu Clan, they mobilized their movement technique to leave.

A figure appeared shortly after they left; they had been keeping a watch throughout the night.

The trio came to a stop as a fork in the road appeared before them.

"Brother Bai, Brother Tang, you two leave first. I will head back to the sect as soon as possible." Liu Wuxie didn't waste any words because it was too dangerous for Bai Lin and Tang Tian to stay around. He had plenty of ways to leave if he was on his own.

"Junior Brother Liu, let us stay behind. We're not afraid of death," Bai Lin insisted because it was too dangerous to let Liu Wuxie stay alone in Fan City.

"I know you're not afraid, but the two of you are only a burden to me. Leave immediately!" Liu Wuxie's tone was a little heavy, but that was true. Bai Lin and Tang Tian also knew they would only become a burden if they stayed behind.

"Alright, we'll leave. But we won't be able to forgive ourselves if anything happens to you!" Tang Tian cupped his fists together, and they headed out of the city using their movement technique.