Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 411 - Frost Finger

Liu Wuxie’s next task was to create the finger technique’s forms and channeling route of the true essence. As the finger technique wasn’t confined to forms, this considerably shortened his time.

This meant there was only one arduous task: finding the fastest channeling route to unleash ice-attribute energy from his finger. Moreover, not all ten fingers were capable of attacking.

True essence began coursing through Liu Wuxie’s meridians and each of his fingers. He soon discovered a strange phenomenon. It was the fastest way to release his ice-attribute energy through his index finger, but the power was inferior to that of the middle finger.

The ring finger suppressed the sound, making it suitable for sneak attacks. As for the little finger, it was neither as fast as the index finger, as powerful as the middle finger, or as stealthy as the ring finger. But it could take different forms, such as shaping ice-attribute energy into a shield, a spear, etc.

Liu Wuxie even tried the thumb, but he could only give up to focus on the other four fingers because the performance wasn’t satisfactory.

Three days had passed outside, and it had been a month inside the cultivation chamber. The ice-attribute energy coursed through Liu Wuxie’s meridians tens of thousands of times before he finally found a balance.

It could allow his true essence to course through his meridians the fastest and enable him to attack at the fastest speed.

“What should I call it?” He had created this finger technique, but it had no name. He had developed it using the Way of Ice and the essence of other martial techniques.

“Let’s just call it Frost Finger, then!” The name was simple and direct because it was just a formality. Even a garbage name would be resounding if it was powerful enough.

The cultivation chamber was too small to practice Frost Finger. He sat down and entered his soul sea with two words suddenly appearing in the Heavenly Dao Book: Frost Finger.

Liu Wuxie had created the technique himself, which was recorded in the Heavenly Dao Book even though it had just been made.

A loud rumble sounded in Liu Wuxie’s ears, and the Heavenly Dao Book connected to some mysterious power in heaven and earth that poured into Liu Wuxie’s body. This made his cultivation shake, and he was on the verge of reaching the third-level Heavenly Dipper Realm anytime.

“The Energy Purifying Pill!” Liu Wuxie didn’t hesitate to swallow the Energy Purifying Pill to help him make a breakthrough. He had initially planned on further consolidating himself before making a breakthrough, but there was no time.

After grinding for the past month, his cultivation had become flawless, and consolidation was unnecessary. When he consumed the Energy Purifying Pill, it instantly dissolved and traversed through his meridians.

His true essence began to compress with the increase in purity. Many spirit stones disappeared, converted into tens of thousands of droplets, which poured into the world in his dantian.

This was because the world in his dantian became empty as true essence was being compressed, and the only way was to replenish it with more true essence.

The effect of the Energy Purifying Pill was evident. Although the quantity of his true essence seemed unchanged, its purity was three times greater than before.

If two people used the same martial technique, the one with the higher true essence would naturally result in greater power.

Liu Wuxie’s true essence, already more substantial than that of ordinary practitioners, reached new heights after further compression. This enhancement made him even more formidable, and he effortlessly shattered his previous bottleneck.

The aura he gave off began to rise, reaching the pinnacle of the third-level Heavenly Dipper Realm in just three breaths. This breakthrough consumed five hundred thousand spirit stones, and he had almost exhausted all his mid-grade spirit stones.

Liu Wuxie had no intentions of using the high-grade spirit stones unless it was crucial because he planned to save them for when he made a breakthrough into the Heavenly Phase Realm.

When another day passed, Liu Wuxie had stayed in the cultivation chamber for forty days.

The stone gate opened, and Liu Wuxie exited the cultivation chamber. Four days had passed outside, which equated to forty days inside. This seclusion had yielded tremendous gains because he had created the Frost Finger and even made a breakthrough in his cultivation.

Sweeping his gaze around, Liu Wuxie found the surroundings quiet. At this time, this area was usually the busiest place in the sect, with many disciples going into seclusion the moment they earned points.

However, more than half of the cultivation chambers were empty, which puzzled Liu Wuxie. He wondered if most of the disciples had left the sect.

“Let’s go quickly, or it’ll be too late!” Two disciples dashed past Liu Wuxie, heading towards the gate.

“Senior brothers, where are you two going?” Liu Wuxie asked curiously because he had two options after reaching the third level.

The first was to take on missions in the Mission Hall to earn points, but today wasn’t the beginning nor the middle of the month. There were ten days until new missions were posted, but he couldn’t possibly stay in the courtyard for the next ten days.

The second option was to go out and explore the True Martial Continent, taking this opportunity to temper his martial techniques. He still had to perfect the Frost Finger, and actual combat was the best way to determine the weaknesses of a martial technique.

“You don’t know? A treasure has emerged from the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range with seven-colored light illuminating the sky for days!” the two explained before hurrying off.

Liu Wuxie’s eyes shone. He naturally knew the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range, having completed his fist mission there. He had also encountered the Azure Crimson Gate’s disciples there and nearly died at Yu Huai’s hands in the canyon.

Back then, he was still an outer disciple with weak cultivation and could only operate in the outer regions.

“Let’s go take a look!” Liu Wuxie didn’t return to his courtyard but followed the two disciples down the mountain. He didn’t care much about the treasure but mainly wanted to meet fellow geniuses.

It wasn’t hard to tell from the two disciples’ tone that the other sects’ disciples would also be present there. With so many people gathered, this was an excellent opportunity to expand his horizons and make friends.

Leaving through the main gate, Liu Wuxie summoned the Heretic Blade, stepped on it, and shot into the sky like a meteor.

The Heretic Blade far surpassed ordinary spiritual treasures, quickly leaving the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s boundaries in just a few blinks.

One day later, the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was in Liu Wuxie’s sight. He descended from the Heretic Blade because it was best to travel on foot in the mountain range. After all, flying in the air would make him too conspicuous and attract the attention of aerial profound beasts and others who liked hiding in trees, waiting for prey to ambush.

There were many rare profound beasts in the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range, with countless people killed by them every year. Even so, this didn’t deter cultivators from entering the mountain range.

The Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was a treasure trove for humans, filled with relics left behind by those who had perished there.

The range boasted an abundance of rare herbs and the cores of powerful profound beasts, which could be sold for substantial sums. These valuable resources, despite the inherent dangers, drew cultivators to the region.

The Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was at the border of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, Azure Crimson Gate, and Divine Sun Palace. Aside from the three major sects, large numbers of cultivators and mercenaries could be found in the nearby city. Their activity in the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was more frequent compared to the three major sects.

Just the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range alone supported billions of people living nearby.

If one looked from the sky, the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was a triangle, stretching several thousand miles in radius. The width was even greater, extending to the horizon and estimated to be several hundred thousand miles.

Even flying would take seven to eight days to reach the end of the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range. Valleys, peaks, lakes, and swamps combined to form a complete mountain range.

Based on statistics, millions of known profound beasts were discovered in the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range, and many were unrecorded. After all, the humans who found them were all dead.

A thousand miles away, a seven-colored ray shot into the sky from the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range’s depth like a rainbow. That ray attracted all the cultivators in the mountain range.

Countless treasures had emerged from the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range in the past, and the phenomenon would attract countless experts over.

Judging from the distance, it’s likely ordinary, even if it’s a treasure. The best treasures are at the depth, but it requires strength to venture there. Liu Wuxie pondered.

It wasn’t advisable to venture deep into the mountain range without reaching the Heavenly Phase Realm. Rumors suggested that even more formidable profound beasts could be found there, with cultivation comparable to that of experts in the True Profound Realm.

Over countless years of exploration, certain conclusions about the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range had emerged. Disciples in the True Core Realm could safely explore up to five hundred miles but faced significant danger beyond that distance.

Those in the Heavenly Dipper Realm could venture about three thousand miles in, as the deeper regions were home to seventh-grade profound beasts, which posed a threat comparable to Heavenly Phase Realm experts.

Heavenly Phase Realm cultivators could explore approximately ten thousand miles into the range, while experts at the Astral River Realm could navigate up to thirty thousand miles.

Even Nascent Transformation Realm experts had to be careful when venturing deeper into the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range.

The seven-colored ray was a thousand miles away, a suitable range for Heavenly Dipper Realm disciples. Liu Wuxie could head there without any problem, but any deeper would become dangerous.

Performing the Seven Dipper Steps, Liu Wuxie left behind after-images and vanished.

A distance of two thousand miles required two to three days of travel time.

Along the way, Liu Wuxie encountered other cultivators, though he was usually alone. Most were in the Heavenly Dipper Realm, as True Core Realm cultivators dared not venture so deep, and Heavenly Phase Realm experts had little interest in the area. The vast majority exploring this region were Heavenly Dipper Realm disciples.

Liu Wuxie took his time and wasn’t in a hurry. His goal wasn’t the treasure but to train himself. He specifically took routes with fewer people, which resulted in encountering many profound beasts.

With a flick of his index finger, a chilling ray shot out, instantly freezing the massive profound beast blocking his path into an ice sculpture. Curiously, the beast did not die immediately; its eyes remained alert. This demonstrated the true power of ice-attribute energy.

After extracting the essence from the profound beasts, Liu Wuxie continued his journey, turning every new beast into an ice sculpture along the way.

In just one day, over thirty profound beasts were killed by Liu Wuxie with Frost Finger.

As he went deeper into the range, he became more proficient in Frost Finger. Each attack was extremely concealed, and the profound beasts were turned into ice sculptures before they could react.

That was especially true for the ring finger, which attacked with no sound and hit the mark each time.