Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 394 - Final Battle

Chen Lin unleashed her strongest trump card, one she had only used three times since cultivating it. This was the fourth time, and she had defeated all her opponents in the past without exception.

But it was unknown whether it could create a miracle this time.

A powerful gust swept up a cloud of dust, obscuring the two figures and leaving everyone to wait until the end to discover the victor. However, this didn't prevent the inner disciples from attempting to see through the dust cloud.

The sky darkened, and the ground trembled. Disciples near the arena quickly retreated, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire. Even seasoned inner disciples hesitated to get too close.

Liu Wuxie used Ghost Eye to see through the cloud of dust. Shao Wendong didn’t dare to be careless when facing Chen Lin’s strongest attack and used both hands to control the Suppression Stele.

Two completely different forces clashed together with stone fragments flying around. Fortunately, several Astral River Realm elders had already set up defenses to stop the fragments from shooting out of the arena.

Shao Wendong and Chen Lin were sent flying away when a powerful outburst, like a meteorite, hit the ground.

The Suppression Stele landed in Shao Wendong’s hands, while Chen Lin, unable to control her fall, hit the edge of the arena with blood dripping from her lips.

It was evident she was slightly inferior in the earlier collision. Resisting the pressure of the Suppression Stele with just her physique was too difficult. She would have had better odds of winning if she possessed a powerful spiritual treasure.

When the dust cloud settled, Shao Wendong and Chen Lin emerged before everyone. Shao Wendong wore a faint smile, the Suppression Stele in his hand, clearly indicating who had won the battle.

"Senior Brother Shao is truly formidable, and I have no complaints about losing this battle. You've won!" Chen Lin wiped the blood from her mouth and cupped her fists. She accepted her defeat gracefully, without lamenting her lack of a powerful spiritual treasure.

After all, a victory was a victory, and there were no excuses. In a life-and-death battle, one would use any means necessary to kill their opponent, and possessing a powerful spiritual treasure was within the rules.

Thus, Chen Lin’s words earned her much respect from the spectators.

Applause erupted from the surroundings as the fight between Shao Wendong and Chen Lin concluded, deemed more intense and spectacular than Liu Wuxie's battle with Wen Haoran..

Their objectives had naturally led to different results. Liu Wuxie fought with lethal intent, favoring efficiency over showmanship. If he could defeat his opponent with a single strike, he wouldn't waste energy on a second.

“Thanks for the battle!” Shao Wendong cupped his fists together. He acknowledged that without the Suppression Stele, their fight would have ended in mutual destruction, with both suffering severe injuries.

Chen Lin left the arena and returned to the rest area. Logically speaking, she was supposed to fight Wen Haoran to compete for third place. However, with Wen Haoran’s death, Chen Lin naturally didn’t have to fight again and easily secured third place in advance.

This made Chen Lin feel better because the third place was acceptable to her.

“You have to be careful of Shao Wendong’s Suppression Stele,” Chen Lin said as she sat beside Liu Wuxie.

“Thank you for the reminder!” Regardless of her motive, Liu Wuxie still expressed his gratitude.

The emergence of the Suppression Stele made Liu Wuxie approach the upcoming fight with a newfound seriousness. Without the stele, killing Shao Wendong would be a straightforward task, but its presence complicated matters.

However, this challenge also excited Liu Wuxie, as he could only improve by facing formidable opponents. Fighting weaklings would only tarnish his status.

"Prepare for the championship battle!" Elder Tian Xing announced, urging them to determine the champion as soon as possible. This was advantageous for Liu Wuxie, who had rested for nearly an hour after his last battle.

Shao Wendong had just finished his battle and was low on true essence. Thus, it would be unfavorable to him to fight under this condition.

Then again, this had always been the rule to determine the champion because the resting time was fifteen minutes at best.

“Liu Wuxie, come on up!” Shao Wendong moved to another arena and waved at Liu Wuxie, signaling him to come up and fight.

“I won’t take advantage of you. We can fight after you recover your true essence.”

Everyone thought Liu Wuxie would agree readily, taking advantage of Shao Wendong’s depleted true essence for a slim chance of victory. But his words stunned everyone, who realized they had underestimated Liu Wuxie.

Even Elder Tian Xing was baffled, as he had tried to help Liu Wuxie win the fight.

"He's either insane or truly magnanimous," remarked those who had previously mocked Liu Wuxie, their voices subdued as his actions garnered praise from the spectators.

“Liu Wuxie, well done! You’ve become the role model for our generation!” The disciples, who were neutral, stood up to support Liu Wuxie. More people began to support Liu Wuxie, which considerably elevated his status in everyone’s hearts.

“Liu Wuxie, have you considered it well? This might be your sole opportunity to defeat Shao Wendong.” Many people felt that Liu Wuxie shouldn’t miss this excellent opportunity to defeat Shao Wendong.

After all, no one was optimistic about Liu Wuxie defeating Shao Wendong when he recovered to his prime with the Suppression Stele.

Liu Wuxie ignored the surrounding voices and remained seated, waiting for Shao Wendong to recover his true essence.

“Liu Wuxie, do you think I’ll be grateful to you? I won’t hesitate to kill you in our fight.” Shao Wendong looked at Liu Wuxie viciously. He didn’t want to owe Liu Wuxie any favor and took out a handful of pills to swallow.

“I won’t kill weaklings. If I want to kill you, I will do it when you’re at your prime.” Liu Wuxie sneered. He didn’t want to leave any room for criticism for the final battle.

Even in the event of Shao Wendong's defeat, people would attribute Liu Wuxie's victory to Shao Wendong's depleted state from battling Chen Lin, tarnishing the perceived honor of his win.

This was Liu Wuxie’s true intention, and murderous intent spread silently throughout the martial field.

“Lunatics! They’ve secured the first and second spots, and they still want to fight to the death?” Many people felt that Liu Wuxie and Shao Wendong were lunatics. They had already secured the first and second place, so why fight to the death?

No one understood their mindset. The rewards were tempering, but their dao heart was also important. Their dao heart wouldn’t be complete if they couldn’t kill each other.

Time passed, and no one rushed them. Everyone was waiting for Shao Wendong to recover his true essence fully.

Dense spiritual energy enveloped Shao Wendong. He had significantly benefited from the earlier battle, and he was even stronger than before.

“Liu Wuxie, come!”

Two hours later, Shao Wendong’s true essence recovered to its peak. He had depleted only his true essence without sustaining any injuries, relying heavily on the Suppression Stele for most of his strength.

Liu Wuxie opened his eyes with his fighting spirits roaring like a vast ocean. He slowly walked toward the arena, and his murderous intent grew stronger with each step.

When Liu Wuxie stepped into the arena, the collision between two forces created a powerful shockwave that spread out in all directions.

“What terrifying power!” The spectating disciples stood up, knowing the most climactic battle had finally begun. Boundless power began to clash, and neither was willing to back down.

"Liu Wuxie, our fates are intertwined in conflict. This battle ends with your death," Shao Wendong declared, his murderous intent undisguised. Having failed to recruit Liu Wuxie and compounded by past grievances related to the black cultivation chamber incident, reconciliation was out of the question.

“Make your move!” Liu Wuxie didn’t waste any words and summoned the Heretic Blade. Everything would be decided between them by strength.

The ground began to shatter under their power.

Shao Wendong stowed away the Suppression Stele, convinced that his cultivation at the fifth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm provided ample strength without its aid.

He was much stronger than Wen Haoran. A longsword appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at Liu Wuxie, unleashing a powerful sword aura gushing out.

The fight had officially begun. Liu Wuxie pointed the Heretic Blade to the sky, and a crimson energy shot out from the blade, with the Fatality Blade Art ready to strike.

Liu Wuxie and Shao Wendong vanished as blade aura and sword aura clashed, enveloping a radius of tens of thousands of meters.

Afterimages blurred in a relentless pursuit, indistinguishable from one another. Sparks danced through the air, and Shao Wendong wielded a spiritual treasure comparable to Liu Wuxie’s Heretic Blade.

The powerful shockwaves formed by the collision of two powerful spiritual treasures were enough to send the entire arena flying away. The battle went from the ground to the sky and back down.

The ripples caused by the shockwave of their collision began to spread out, and the battle required four deacons to guard the arena. This was to ensure the commotion caused by their fight wouldn’t destroy the martial field.

Despite reinforcing the arena with spiritual arrays, they still couldn’t stop the shockwave created by the two. With no choice, they could only dispatch Astral River Realm experts to fortify the spiritual array.

Various intricate blade techniques, executed with tricky trajectories, threw Shao Wendong off Liu Wuxie's rhythm.

Despite Shao Wendong's superior cultivation, Liu Wuxie matched him in purity of true essence and surpassed him in combat talent.

The only advantage Shao Wendong had was his cultivation. But the cultivation couldn’t represent everything.

“This is unbelievable! Liu Wuxie is holding his front against Shao Wendong!” Many people were shocked because Liu Wuxie’s performance had exceeded everyone’s expectations.

It was becoming clear that Liu Wuxie had not yet unleashed his full strength, surprising those who had assumed he had given his all in the fight against Wen Haoran.

But it was evident everyone had underestimated Liu Wuxie.