Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 455 - Trouble

Xiao Yanlong didn't seem to be lying because he finally realized strength was everything after coming to the cultivation world. Without strength, he could only be at the mercy of others, and there were no eternal enemies in the cultivation world, only interest.

When the interest outweighed everything, even enemies could become friends.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be disappointed because I have no secrets," Liu Wuxie shrugged.

"Liu Wuxie, are you going to be stubborn to the end? You'll die if you can't hand over Blood Abyssal Stones for a day. Don't you want to leave this place alive?" Xiao Yanlong was furious that Liu Wuxie didn't buy it.

"Life and death are fated. Captain Wang, you should hurry back, or those outside will get anxious waiting." Liu Wuxie sneered and continued to mine.

Xiao Yanlong glared at Liu Wuxie with hatred before leaving.

When the mine returned to silence, Liu Wuxie put down the mining tools with a sharp gleam shining in his eyes. Only Xiao Yanlong knew he had secrets on him, and the consequences would be unimaginable if this information was leaked.

He was confident Xiao Yanlong wouldn't leak this information yet, as he wanted to monopolize the secrets on Liu Wuxie. However, it was inevitable that his resentment would grow as time passed and that he might sell Liu Wuxie’s secrets to Kuang Shi for credit.

With Kuang Shi's cultivation, he could excavate all of Liu Wuxie's secrets within his soul sea by searching his soul.

"Big Brother Liu, why didn't you just kill him?" Gu Yu was baffled because they had dug more than twenty Blood Abyssal Stones in the past three days, and it was enough for them to cultivate for a while. Thus, Liu Wuxie could kill Xiao Yanlong before escaping.

"The time hasn't come. It will be his death when the battle breaks out above ground!" Liu Wuxie took a deep breath because he was still waiting. Since he would act, he had to do it thoroughly and leave no trace behind.

Killing Xiao Yanlong was easy, but the consequences would be provoking the Wild Lion Gate, and they could only flee during their time in the Blood Sea Abyssal Island. The Blood Abyssal Sea Island might seem vast, but the places one could truly hide were pitifully small. This differed from the result Liu Wuxie wanted, so he had to wait.

Gu Yu didn't know what Liu Wuxie was planning, but he fully supported him since he had decided to follow him.

"Big Brother Liu, my bottleneck has loosened. I might make a breakthrough in a day or two." After three days of grinding, Gu Yu's bottleneck was loosening and could reach the Heavenly Phase Realm anytime.

"I noticed that too. You focus on your breakthrough!" Liu Wuxie had been closely observing Gu Yu, and he noticed his aura was a little chaotic, which was a sign of an impending breakthrough.

He set up a spiritual array for Gu Yu, who sat in it and held onto the Blood Abyssal Stone. Although he didn't have the Desolate Devouring Art, he still had the cultivation technique passed down by the Gu Clan, which couldn't be underestimated.

The surrounding spiritual energy continued to gather. The rate might not be comparable to the Desolate Devouring Art, but it was stronger than the Divine Phaseless Art by a notch.

This was Gu Yu's first time comprehending the Heavenly Phase Realm, but it was twice as effective with half the effort because his grandfather had guided him in the past.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead when he encountered the first difficulty.

Liu Wuxie stood by the side, constantly correcting Gu Yu's mistakes. He had seen the general outline of Gu Yu's cultivation technique through Ghost Eye, and Gu Yu progressed swiftly under his guidance. He had already touched the threshold of the Heavenly Phase Realm in just two hours.

He had powerful accumulation because Senior Gu had spent a lot of resources on him. This meant his foundation would erupt once he reached the Heavenly Phase Realm.

Most importantly, his Sky Dragon's bloodline seemed to have awakened and released a ferocious roar that echoed from his body.

"Big Brother Liu, I can sense a force resonating with me underground!" Gu Yu suddenly opened his eyes with a strange look. This force accelerated the awakening of his Sky Dragon's bloodline.

"I also sensed it. There must be something hidden beneath the mine," Liu Wuxie nodded. He wasn't sure, but since Gu Yu could sense it, could there be a Dragon Palace underground?

After all, Gu Yu possessed the Sky Dragon's bloodline. Since it was something that could resonate with him, this meant it must be related to the Dragon Clan.

No one knew the exact location, and what was hidden beneath the Blood Sea Abyssal Island had always been a mystery.

A powerful barrier surrounding the Blood Sea Abyssal Island would activate if anyone at the Nascent Transformation Realm approached, indicating that the island had been inhabited in the past.

Since there were no signs of life on the island, the only remaining possibility was that something significant lay hidden beneath it. However, Liu Wuxie was uninterested in the island's secrets and continued to focus on guiding Gu Yu through his breakthrough.

After half a day, Gu Yu finally consolidated his cultivation and was at the first level of the Heavenly Phase Realm like Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie even taught Gu Yu the Breath Concealing Art to conceal his cultivation.

On the fourth day, Xiao Yanlong's expression was slightly off when he arrived, and Liu Wuxie tossed him two Blood Abyssal Stones as usual.

When Xiao Yanlong reached out to take the two Blood Abyssal Stones, his red eyes gleamed with a menacing light, making him appear like a wild beast.

"Has something happened at the Wild Lion Gate?" Liu Wuxie sat on a clean rock and smiled at Xiao Yanlong.

Four days had passed, and it should have been time for the Netherspirit Flower's poison to take effect.

Liu Wuxie anticipated that once Kuang Shi fell, the Wild Lion Gate would collapse, and the Wolf Fang Regiment and Ding Feng Hall would scramble to seize control, taking advantage of the chaos.

"How do you know?" Xiao Yanlong's eyes gradually recovered to normal. Having been isolated on the Blood Sea Abyssal Island for so long, he found himself talking to Liu Wuxie out of a shared sense of connection from the mundane world.

"Your expression gave you away. Logically speaking, you should be rising in power. But to show such expression, this could only mean one thing—the Wild Lion Gate has encountered trouble." Liu Wuxie's explanation was perfectly reasonable.

Xiao Yanlong had submitted the most Blood Abyssal Stones, earning him significant favor. However, during this crucial period, news of a critical issue within the Wild Lion Gate emerged. Kuang Shi, the leader of the Wild Lion Gate, was reported to be in failing health.

The news leaked, prompting the Ding Feng Hall and the Wolf Fang Regiment to investigate. When they confronted Kuang Shi, it became clear that his combat strength had diminished considerably, a sign of his deteriorating health and imminent death.

“Liu Wuxie, is this your doing?” Xiao Yanlong roared in anger. He had been on the verge of a promotion to hall master, which would have brought him increased resources and status.

His natural talent, combined with those resources, could have propelled him to the higher levels of the Heavenly Phase Realm. But now, with the Wild Lion Gate on the brink of collapse, his future was in jeopardy.

Since Liu Wuxie arrived at the Blood Sea Abyssal Island, the situation had deteriorated. What was once a relatively peaceful environment had turned chaotic, with escalating battles and daily casualties. The mysterious illness afflicting Kuang Shi had cast a dark cloud over the entire Wild Lion Gate.

"You think too highly of me. I'm only in the Heavenly Dipper Realm and trapped here in the mines. There's nothing I can do even if I have the intentions." Liu Wuxie spoke the truth. Xiao Yanlong had been closely monitoring his actions, and he hadn't had the opportunity to leave the mine.

He had been diligently mining and had dug more than thirty meters in four days. Putting away the Blood Abyssal Stones, Xiao Yanlong gave Liu Wuxie a deep look before leaving.

“Big Brother Liu, Xiao Yanlong seems to suspect you,” Gu Yu remarked, noting the suspicion in Xiao Yanlong’s gaze. Although Liu Wuxie had been confined to the mines and hadn’t left, it didn’t rule out his involvement in the ongoing chaos.

Others didn't understand Liu Wuxie, but Xiao Yanlong knew because his master had mysteriously died at Liu Wuxie's hands. Judging from that, it shouldn't be a problem for Liu Wuxie to kill a cultivator in the Astral River Realm.

However, Xiao Yanlong couldn't find evidence to prove that the leader's condition was related to Liu Wuxie.

"It's normal for him to be suspicious. He knows my past well, and we must speed things up." Liu Wuxie nodded because Xiao Yanlong's suspicion wasn't without a reason. After all, everything Liu Wuxie had done in the Great Yan Dynasty was beyond the achievement of ordinary people.

"Will the battle you mentioned take place?" Gu Yu didn't know what was happening outside but trusted Liu Wuxie. Even so, he couldn't help wondering if the battle Liu Wuxie spoke of would take place.

"Three days at most. We need to endure for the next three days," Liu Wuxie calculated, knowing that the Netherspirit Flower's poison would reach its peak effect on Kuang Shi within that timeframe.

In three days, there were two possible outcomes: Kuang Shi might take decisive action before his condition deteriorated further, potentially annihilating the other two forces. Alternatively, his failing health might lead to the Wild Lion Gate’s downfall, leaving them vulnerable to attack from the Ding Feng Hall and the Wolf Fang Regiment.

The Wild Lion Gate would surely send their slaves to the frontline before their destruction, and they were all cannon fodders.

Xiao Yanlong, however, was not prepared to wait that long. A new group of powerful cultivators had arrived in the mine, replacing those who had failed to submit any Blood Abyssal Stones for the past two days.

He was unwilling to take any chances and had spared their lives on the condition that they would kill Liu Wuxie. He was determined to end Liu Wuxie’s threat, even if he couldn’t prove his involvement in the chaos.

What’s meant to happen would eventually happen. Even if Xiao Yanlong couldn't find any evidence, this didn't stop him from trying to kill Liu Wuxie and end it for all.

His prospects had been ruined by Liu Wuxie once, and he didn't want it ruined the second time. He had endured for so long, and his status would be higher than the Imperial Academy's headmaster if he could be promoted to the Wild Lion Gate's hall master.

He planned to stay in the Blood Sea Abyssal Island to increase his cultivation before entering the cultivation world and becoming a powerhouse.

Xiao Yanlong imagined his future as he sat on a stone bench in the courtyard because Liu Wuxie should have been a dead man by now.

Thirty-odd people entered and filled the tunnel, sealing Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu's escape path.

Che Yong wasn't around because he was pretty lucky and could find Blood Abyssal Stones daily.

“Liu Wuxie, prepare to die!” The thirty-odd people were all ruthless individuals, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill to survive.

"Don't you all want to leave this place alive?" Liu Wuxie's sudden speech stunned everyone. They had been trapped in the mine for a few days and had lost all hope.

All that remained was boundless resentment and murderous intent because that was the only channel to vent out their emotions, and they could achieve that by killing Liu Wuxie.

"Liu Wuxie, stop putting up futile struggles. You shouldn't have offended Captain Wang!" A man let out a sneer and struck Liu Wuxie with his palm.