Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 692 - Life and Death Crisis

Yu Lin had anticipated Liu Wuxie’s tactics right from the start. He noticed how powerful the Earth-Binding Chains were, and it would’ve killed the ten-thousand-year deathguard if the deathguard hadn’t dislodged its bones. This was why he had purposely concealed a corpse to use it on the Earth-Binding Chains.

By the time Liu Wuxie manipulated the Earth-Binding Chains to pursue Yu Lin, a spatial rift had opened, and he had vanished. There was nothing he could do as he watched his enemy escape.

After all, Yu Lin had reached the Nascent Transformation Realm, and he would be transported out if he undid the seal. With that, Liu Wuxie, Yu Lin, and Tang Hong were the only ones left in the entire underground world.

Ji Qiu was heavily injured, and he could barely move, requiring Tang Hong to take care of him.

“Are you alright?” Liu Wuxie asked. He examined Ji Qiu’s body with divine sense and realized that the latter’s life was in no danger. He could make a swift recovery with proper care.

“I’ll survive!” Ji Qiu chuckled. He hadn’t expected this outcome. So many people had entered the underground world, and only the three had survived while Yu Lin had escaped.

But strictly speaking, they still weren’t safe from the danger. The embryo continued to evolve with the creation deity’s will descending on this underground world.

She Bishi’s will and memories, lingering in a distant plane, had been fully summoned through the altar. The blood curses engraved on its surface dimmed and vanished as the massive altar exploded, revealing She Bishi’s newly formed body.

“This is bad! The poison is about to spread!” Liu Wuxie’s face darkened, his tone edged with urgency. The dense, poisonous miasma emanating from She Bishi was far beyond their ability to resist. Even the surrounding thousand-year deathguards, sensing the danger, retreated swiftly, vanishing into the tunnels.

“Young Master Liu, what should we do?” Tang Hong asked. She was at a loss in this overwhelming situation.

“We have to destroy the altar along with this place!” Liu Wuxie said, as that was the only solution. But even he wasn’t certain if they could succeed, and their fates now rested in the hands of destiny.

“Fall back!” Liu Wuxie commanded. The thousand-year deathguards had long left through the tunnels, clearing space for the trio.

Tang Hong quickly retreated with Ji Qiu while Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down. He had already found the patterns of the blood curses, and the Heavenly Dao Book had gotten even stronger when the Soul Forge Art advanced. Though he couldn’t find any solution against the blood curses, he had found some weaknesses to exploit.

A thunderous explosion reverberated when Liu Wuxie unleashed a terrifying blade aura, causing the altar to collapse. The blood curses disintegrated into chaos, shaking the entire stone chamber with massive rocks tumbling down.

The blood curses disintegrated entirely, releasing a surge of faint yellow witchy energy that poured out from the spot where the embryo rested.

Hundreds of Witcher Clan members sat in a distant dimension, chanting in unison, their voices reverberating like a summon—or perhaps a blessing. The Witcher Clan, lost to the universe for countless eons, had retreated to an unknown plane, vanishing from the world without a trace.

Liu Wuxie didn’t hesitate and swung the Heretic Blade down at She Bishi. No one knew if it would be good or bad if the Twelve Divine Avatars were resurrected, but Liu Wuxie was not in the mood to pay attention to that. His main goal was to destroy the embryo and leave this accursed place.

A powerful blade aura hurled toward the embryo. Ji Qiu and Tang Hong watched with bated breaths, and the Twin-Eared Serpents closed in fast, leaving them little time.

When the blade aura was about to strike, the embryo lying on the ground vanished. The blade aura left behind a vast ravine on the ground that extended out.

Liu Wuxie froze, bewildered. He hadn’t seen how the embryo vanished, and his heart pounded with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. This was the first time Liu Wuxie had encountered something so terrifying. The Witcher Clan was too ancient, and he had never encountered them. Thus, he did not know their abilities or powers.

“Brother Liu, behind you!” Ji Qiu called out.

The void split apart behind Liu Wuxie as the embryo emerged. It had a human face and a serpentine body nearly three meters long as it lunged at Liu Wuxie, aiming to coil around him.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the embryo struck with incredible speed, leaving Liu Wuxie with no time to react. The human face wore a sinister expression as its eyes opened slowly.

Although the embryo had yet to awaken, it already possessed a hint of She Bishi’s strength.

After all, the Twelve Divine Avatars existence was only second to the great Pangu, possessing strength beyond imagination. Against such an opponent, Liu Wuxie had no chance, even though She Bishi had only recovered a fraction of its strength.

Like a python, the embryo wrapped itself around Liu Wuxie, immobilizing him. The situation was unfavorable to him as the embryo intended to kill. Most importantly, the embryo absorbed Liu Wuxie’s energy to accelerate its awakening.

Tang Hong tried to help out several times, but she couldn’t get close due to the poisonous miasma released by the embryo. The poison was enough to kill an ordinary person if they got close.

Oddly enough, Liu Wuxie was still alive in the poisonous miasma. This was because the poisonous miasma was all being absorbed by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

Cracking sounds echoed as Liu Wuxie’s bones groaned under the pressure. He possessed the True Dragon Physique, but he couldn’t even put up any resistance against the embryo. The sheer strength She Bishi displayed hinted at the unimaginable power of Divine Avatars in their prime. Perhaps they could destroy the entire True Martial Continent with one finger.

The massive serpentine body coiled around Liu Wuxie, leaving only his head exposed. She Bishi’s sinister face slowly moved closer to Liu Wuxie, filling the air with an unbearable, nauseating stench.

The embryo released an aura of pure malevolence as She Bishi was the most evil out of the Twelve Divine Avatars.

Fine cracks began appearing in the desolate world, and Liu Wuxie lost the strength to resist. He was overwhelmed with suffocating pressure, and he wondered if he would die in this manner. He smiled wryly, “Am I going to die?”

He didn’t even have the chance to summon the Heavenly Dao Book, and using the Earth-Binding Chains would only accelerate his death. If he bound the embryo with the chains, he would be trapped alongside it. As for the Heavenly Dragon Seal, he would be crushed to death if he used it.

As death loomed, Liu Wuxie closed his eyes, surrendering to fate despite the countless unfinished tasks that weighed on his heart. Vengeance remained unclaimed, his family unprotected, and the search for his birth parents incomplete.

......

He had to finish those tasks, but that was just the beginning. He also longed to explore the realms beyond the Immortal Emperor and uncover the secrets of ancient times. But at this moment, everything was fading into mere dreams.

As Liu Wuxie’s consciousness began to blur, he knew he was about to die, and this wasn’t the first time he had experienced something like this. It felt like he was drifting on clouds, his soul gradually rising.

Suddenly, Liu Wuxie saw a dark swirling vortex materializing before him, wanting to devour his soul. The suction force grew stronger, devouring everything in the surroundings along with his soul.

“That’s the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron!” Liu Wuxie’s consciousness flickered between clarity and oblivion.

In the distance, Ji Qiu and Tang Hong stood paralyzed in disbelief as a dark vortex engulfed Liu Wuxie, swallowing She Bishi along with it, the monstrous entity still coiled tightly around him.

When Liu Wuxie’s consciousness returned to his body, he finally grasped what had happened—the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had acted on its own to protect him by devouring the embryo.

When it entered the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, the embryo let out a deafening roar, trying to break free. It unleashed a powerful aura that made Liu Wuxie cough out blood, and his body was wracked with pain.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had only reached the second stage of evolution, and it wasn’t strong enough. Demonic flame and chains emerged from the depth and wrapped around the embryo.

The embryo continued to struggle, snapping the Demonic Purgatory Chains and converting them into boundless laws that returned to the depths of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

Fine cracks began to appear on the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, and it was reaching its limit. Violent energy gushed out from the cauldron and swept at Liu Wuxie’s desolate world, increasing the cracks within.

If the desolate world shattered, Liu Wuxie would lose all his cultivation and become a mortal. That was the ancient divine avatar he was dealing with, and even just a hint of his will was enough to rip Liu Wuxie into pieces.

The odds weighed heavily against Liu Wuxie. If this continued, not only would his physique explode, but also his primordial spirit.

Terrifying witchy energy filled the entire Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, seeping out and burrowing into Liu Wuxie’s body. The witchy energy was poisonous. While it wasn’t fatal, it would slowly corrode his body.

After the witchy energy burrowed into Liu Wuxie’s meridians, his muscles began to shrink rapidly, his strength ebbing away. To his horror, She Bishi was devouring his blood essence and flesh to fuel its resurrection.

Ji Qiu and Tang Hong could only panic as they watched from a distance. But there was nothing they could do but retreat, facing the witchy energy.

Right then, the true dragon’s bloodline awakened as Liu Wuxie released a series of dragon roars. Having refined dragon bones and a drop of dragon blood, his body carried a fragment of the divine dragon's will, allowing him to confront the embryo head-on.

Two forces collided and became entangled, but Liu Wuxie had paid the price. It didn’t matter which side prevailed because his body would be heavily injured as a result.

The flesh on his arms burst open with a gaping wound, with blood gushing out like a fountain. It was soon followed by his abdomen and back, riddled with horrific injuries. It wasn’t long before Liu Wuxie’s body was covered in blood.

The demonic flame spewed from the Sky Devouring Cauldron to accelerate the embryo’s refinement. New Demonic Purgatory Chains began to form after they snapped, binding the embryo and holding it in place.

When the embryo vanished, the underground world collapsed, and the entire stone chamber rose instead.

Liu Wuxie’s face contorted with agony, but his senses were numb to the pain. The Heavenly Dao Book unfolded, emitting golden brilliance that guarded his primordial spirit from succumbing to the torment.

There wasn’t a piece of flesh intact on Liu Wuxie’s body, and he was on the edge of collapsing. He hadn’t reached the Nascent Transformation Realm, which meant he couldn’t achieve rebirth through possessing another body. If his body were destroyed, he would perish along with it.

“Screw it!” Liu Wuxie muttered as a black pill appeared in his palm.