Chapter 1714 - Bloodthirst Blade
Ye Linghan had already made her intention clear that she planned to travel to Moon Reverence City herself.
"Han'er, there are no signs that they have any connection with the Wen Clan. Why do you still want to keep investigating?" Ye Guhai asked.
"I'm only curious how a mere heavenly immortal can treat the poison of a Nine-Tailed Heptabane Serpent," Ye Linghan replied. Beyond that, she also wanted to know why Liu Wuxie had appeared deep inside the Dragon Burial Mountain Range and how he had broken through her ice-attribute energy.
She could dismiss one incident as a coincidence, but Liu Wuxie had also defeated her two maids with ease. If she failed to unravel these mysteries, they would form a knot in her dao heart. After all, an ordinary person could never accomplish those feats.
"Very well. Be careful then," Ye Guhai said after pondering briefly, finally agreeing.
......
The group of seven moved through the mountains. This wasn't Chen An's first time taking this route, so he naturally knew where danger appeared.
"There's a small stream up ahead, and we can camp there tonight," Chen An said, pointing toward a mountain basin. Every time they took this route, they stopped there to rest.
When the group reached the stream, they began washing up, while Liu Wuxie walked toward a large tree.
Some guards went to gather firewood, while others set up the tents. Chen An busied himself with lighting a fire, leaving Liu Wuxie with nothing to do. Everyone knew that although Liu Wuxie was only an eighth-level Heavenly Immortal, his combat strength allowed him to slay even ninth-level High Immortals.
Liu Wuxie took out the broken blade and examined it carefully. He circulated his immortal energy and channeled it into the blade.
"This is strange. This blade has swallowed all of my immortal energy," Liu Wuxie murmured, shocked as a bone-piercing chill soon surged out from the blade.
He continued channeling immortal energy into the broken blade. If an ordinary cultivator were to exhaust this much immortal energy, their dantian would dry up. No wonder someone had abandoned the broken blade among the scrap metal.
Even if others knew this broken blade was a treasure, they wouldn't dare to use it lightly. After all, they would exhaust their immortal energy before they even managed to slay their enemies.
The immortal energy inside the desolate world decreased rapidly. But Liu Wuxie still didn't stop pouring energy into the blade. He wanted to see how much the broken blade could devour and whether it could rival the terrifying capacity of his desolate world.
The broken blade absorbed immortal energy for a full fifteen minutes before its devouring speed finally slowed. Liu Wuxie also let out a breath of relief because he had nearly depleted all his immortal energy.
After absorbing such a massive amount of immortal energy, the rust covering the blade began peeling off piece by piece, revealing its true form. A crimson light flashed across the blade, and a streak of blood marked its snow-white surface.
The bloodstain looked strange, unlike anything Liu Wuxie had ever seen before. It flowed along the blade's body and released a terrifying aura. The rusty blade now looked brand new, radiating a frightening chill.
"What a fine blade!" Liu Wuxie said as he gently caressed it.
The Heretic Blade had already been an excellent weapon, but it still fell short compared to this broken blade. Once the rust fully peeled away, a few small characters appeared, etched into the blade.
"The Bloodthirst Blade!"
A special method had been used to brand those characters onto the broken blade's handle.
When Liu Wuxie tried swinging the Bloodthirst Blade, it released a terrifying wisp of blade ray that struck a large tree across the stream. The blade ray pierced the tree with ease, making no sound.
However, the tree remained standing, leaving Liu Wuxie puzzled. He wondered whether the broken blade only looked impressive but lacked substance. Without hesitation, he activated Ghost Pupil to examine the tree.
Soon, Liu Wuxie drew in a deep breath, unable to believe what he saw. The tree struck by the blade ray had been destroyed from within, leaving only an empty outer shell. When a breeze swept past, the tree collapsed to the ground and turned into a pile of dust.
Chen An and the other guards hadn't noticed what had happened. Since the tree made no loud noise when it disintegrated, they only realized that it had somehow vanished.
"As expected of its name, the Bloodthirst Blade," Liu Wuxie murmured before putting the weapon away. Only half of the blade remained, and if he had the chance in the future, he planned to restore it. He knew the complete Bloodthirst Blade would be even more powerful than its broken form.
According to Liu Wuxie's estimation, this broken blade had likely been comparable to at least the Immortal King Realm at its peak. It was unimaginable for a mere heavenly immortal to possess a weapon at the level of the Immortal King Realm. This blade had passed through countless hands before finally ending up in Fourfold City and falling into Liu Wuxie's possession.
"Brother Wu, come and eat!" Chen An called from afar. He and the other guards had already prepared the food.
Liu Wuxie walked away from the large tree and headed over. Since the sky had already darkened, no one had noticed the crimson ray released by the Bloodthirst Blade earlier.
The group of seven sat together harmoniously as they ate. None of them asked about Liu Wuxie's reward from the City Lord Mansion. After all, they would have all died if not for him.
After the meal, everyone took turns resting. They split into pairs and kept watch through the night.
Liu Wuxie entered his tent. Nearly five days had passed since he had arrived in the celestial realm, yet he still hadn't enjoyed a proper night's rest. He sat cross-legged inside the tent, took out five hundred immortal stones, and threw them into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.
As liquid energy poured into the desolate world, Liu Wuxie felt about seventy percent confident that he could reach the ninth-level Heavenly Immortal Realm with the help of two immortal pills. However, he didn't attempt a breakthrough here. They were in the wilderness with no one nearby, and he wasn't certain whether Chen An and the other guards could handle any danger that might appear. Thus, he planned to break through after returning to Moon Reverence City.
As night deepened, the chirping of insects echoed beside Liu Wuxie's ears. Glowing insects drifted above the tents, while the stream flowed with a gentle, rhythmic sound. Everything seemed peaceful and harmonious.
Right then, hundreds of shadows rapidly approached from a distance, shattering that harmony. Even from afar, the sound of grinding teeth carried clearly through the night, sending a chilling sensation through the air.
Liu Wuxie snapped open his eyes as a cold gleam flashed in them. He quickly stepped out of the tent, where Chen An and the other guards had already gathered with heightened vigilance.
For heavenly immortals traveling through the world, survival didn't depend solely on cultivation but on caution. Even the slightest disturbance would make them react immediately.
Chen An added more firewood to the bonfire, making the flames burn brighter and illuminate everything within several dozen meters.
In the distance, green glowing eyes surrounded them from all sides.
"It's the Infernal Flame Wolves!" one guard cried out. None of them knew why a species like the Infernal Flame Wolves would appear on the official road.
Chen An's eyes narrowed as an ominous feeling rose in his heart. He knew the Infernal Flame Wolves wouldn't appear here without a reason.
Liu Wuxie used Ghost Pupil to scan a radius of several hundred meters and saw nearly three hundred Infernal Flame Wolves forming an encirclement, trapping them in place.
The five guards looked nervous. "Young Master, this is the Dragon Burial Mountain Range's outer edge. This isn't within the Infernal Flame Wolves' territory, so what are they doing here?"
The Infernal Flame Wolves possessed high cultivation, each comparable to the pinnacle of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Then again, Infernal Flame Wolves were only first-grade immortal beasts, so their rank in the celestial realm wasn't high.
However, several stronger Infernal Flame Wolves stood among the pack. Those pack leaders had reached the second-grade immortal beast level, making them comparable to the High Immortal Realm.
"Prepare to break out," Chen An said after taking a deep breath to calm himself. He knew this wasn't the time to search for answers, and escaping took priority.
Liu Wuxie continued scanning the surroundings with Ghost Pupil. He knew these Infernal Flame Wolves had appeared there for a reason, but he didn't know that reason for the time being. He sensed a faint lingering aura in the air, yet he struggled to capture it clearly.
"Could someone have driven the Infernal Flame Wolves here?" he murmured. However, he didn't voice the speculation aloud because he wasn't certain yet.
A thousand meters away, a black-clad woman stood atop a large tree and watched everything unfold before her.
"Let me see how capable you are," the woman said. She was Ye Linghan.
Not long after Liu Wuxie and the others left, she had secretly followed the group. She had even planned to use the Infernal Flame Wolves to test Liu Wuxie's true abilities. If Liu Wuxie were to fight, he would have to use martial techniques, and Ye Linghan wanted to determine his identity through them. After all, every martial technique in the world would trace its roots to the same source.
This was exactly why Liu Wuxie had chosen to abandon everything from his previous life, fearing that someone would identify him.
As a mentor at the Azure Flame Dao Hall, Ye Linghan possessed broad knowledge and a basic understanding of all martial techniques used by forces within a radius of 3,000 miles.
Besides that, Ye Linghan also wanted to determine whether Liu Wuxie belonged to the Wen Clan. She knew the Wen Clan's martial techniques like the back of her hand. If Liu Wuxie truly came from the Wen Clan, she would detect their techniques no matter how he tried to disguise them.
The Infernal Flame Wolves had already drawn near, and they showed no fear of fire because they were fire-attributed immortal beasts capable of breathing flames.
"Charge!" Chen An shouted, taking the lead. As a ninth-level High Immortal and the strongest among the group, he was naturally the best choice to spearhead the breakout.
"Brother Wu, cover us as we break out together!" Chen An called Liu Wuxie after charging forward.
"Very well," Liu Wuxie replied.
The Infernal Flame Wolves couldn't threaten him, and there was no need for him to display overly monstrous strength.
The slaughter began. Chen An sent the Infernal Flame Wolves flying one after another, splashing blood and flesh through the air. He could deal with one or two Infernal Flame Wolves without pressure, but as more surged forward, the pressure on him increased tremendously.
The five guards were in an even worse state. They could barely handle one Infernal Flame Wolf, and if more than two attacked at once, they would struggle to survive.
A large group of Infernal Flame Wolves also rushed from the rear, moving swiftly as they pounced toward Liu Wuxie. Their sharp claws and fangs alone sent chills down the spine, as they could easily rip through flesh.
Fighting the Infernal Flame Wolves barehanded would definitely put Liu Wuxie at a disadvantage, since the defense of heavenly immortals wasn't enough to resist the wolves' attacks.
At that critical moment, the Bloodthirst Blade appeared in Liu Wuxie's hand and unleashed a crimson blade ray that swept outward.
Ye Linghan's eyes narrowed. For some reason, the broken sword in Liu Wuxie's hand made her feel uncomfortable.
Liu Wuxie didn't use any fancy technique. He merely used a simple blade art he had obtained from other immortals. Although the blade art seemed average, it became exquisite and profound in his hands.
