Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 1791 - Devoured

Not a single surrounding cultivator intervened to end the farce. Believing the conflict to be an internal struggle between students of the Azure Flame Dao Hall, they concluded that outsiders had no right to interfere.

Wei Wenbin, Nangong Shan, Che Yangrong, and Tu Zhengbao advanced with their students, sealing Liu Wuxie within a tight encirclement. The combined momentum of their forces crushed every possible route of escape.

Immortal beasts pressed in from beyond the valley while four mentors besieged Liu Wuxie from within. Caught between those two deadly threats, he was instantly trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation.

The crushing pressure of the Profound Immortal Realm bore down upon Liu Wuxie until his bones produced a chorus of creaks. At any moment, that terrifying force could pulverize his entire body.

"Liu Wuxie, I bet you didn't anticipate this moment!" Nangong Shan snarled, his eyes burning blood-red. Ever since Yan Hu had lost to Shi Wa on the beach, Nangong Shan had been forced to greet Liu Wuxie as a fellow whenever they crossed paths.

That humiliation had transformed Nangong Shan into the greatest laughingstock in the Azure Flame Dao Hall. Whether students or mentors mentioned the incident, none could restrain their laughter. After all, who could have imagined that Yan Hu, a ninth-level High Immortal, would suffer defeat at Shi Wa's hands?

"Enough talk and kill him!" Tu Zhengbao urged impatiently. As the oldest mentor present, he understood the danger of allowing unforeseen complications to arise. They needed to kill Liu Wuxie immediately and extract his primordial spirit.

Ye Linghan had crossed barely a dozen meters when an enormous immortal beast blocked her path. A battle erupted the moment they collided, preventing her from reaching Liu Wuxie.

The surrounding roars completely swallowed Ye Linghan's voice. Even if she screamed until her throat tore apart, not a single word would reach Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie slipped his right hand inside his clothes. If every other path were closed, he could only activate the flag. Using the flag Ye Linghan had entrusted to him would undoubtedly slaughter his enemies, but the attack would drain every trace of his immortal energy and leave him unconscious.

With immortal beasts filling the surroundings, losing consciousness would mean being trampled to death. Since death already appeared inevitable, he might as well drag these people into the grave first.

The four experts surrounded Liu Wuxie from four directions, while their students remained nearby, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Cracks spread violently across the valley floor as enormous rocks broke loose from above and plunged into the abyss below. Several immortal beasts failed to evade in time and disappeared into the widening fissures.

The abyss swallowed several cultivators who could not fly. As the valley continued sinking, the surrounding immortal beasts finally began retreating, granting the surviving humans a moment to breathe.

"What's going on?" Fear seized everyone as the ravine widened without pause and a dense stench of blood saturated the air. A single breath was enough to fill their nostrils with its thick, nauseating odor.

"Kill him quickly!" Nangong Shan shouted, feeling anxious. He swung his longsword at Liu Wuxie. The attack moved with the terrifying speed, as expected of a profound immortal, carving out a sword ray that split the crimson mist apart.

Just as the sword ray descended from above, a flag appeared in Liu Wuxie's hand and began expanding.

"Quick, look at the sky!" Within one-thousandth of a second, thunderous rumbles shook the surroundings as a gigantic eyeball appeared above the valley, its size surpassing that of an ordinary vat.

Crimson radiance poured from the eyeball as its gaze swept across the valley. Everyone caught beneath that gaze felt every hair across their bodies rise. They experienced the horrifying sensation of standing stripped bare, with none of their secrets hidden from the eye.

Wei Wenbin, Nangong Shan, and the others froze and stared upward, only to discover that the eyeball was staring back at them. The instant its gaze settled upon them, violent shudders ran through them, and their legs began trembling uncontrollably.

Liu Wuxie also lifted his head toward the eyeball. The moment their gazes met, Ghost Pupil convulsed violently within him.

Then, something bizarre unfolded before everyone's eyes. Each time Ghost Pupil throbbed, the enormous eyeball answered with an identical pulse.

"What the hell is that thing?" Many cultivators had only heard rumors of a treasure appearing in the Dragon Burial Mountain Range, and none knew its true nature.

"That eye must be a powerful treasure! Seize it!" Numerous profound immortals summoned their artifacts and launched them toward the mysterious eyeball.

After hovering momentarily in mid-air, the Divine Immortals also joined the struggle for possession of the eyeball.

Every cultivator could sense the extraordinarily powerful aura contained within the mysterious eyeball. Whoever successfully refined it would undoubtedly obtain unfathomable powers.

Artifacts crowded the sky as they converged upon the eyeball from every direction. Just before they could make contact, the eyeball pulsed and slipped through the attacks, then teleported without warning and appeared before Liu Wuxie.

Suspended directly before him, the mysterious eyeball fixed its crimson pupil upon Liu Wuxie. Anyone else confronted by such a colossal staring eye might have fainted from terror. Liu Wuxie, however, forcibly steadied his mind, knowing that panic would only place him in greater danger.

Even Heavenly Daoist, Liu Wuxie's master from his previous life, had possessed little knowledge of the Eight Divine Pupils. With two of the pupils now appearing together, Liu Wuxie could not afford to treat the situation lightly.

Confusion swept through the surrounding cultivators. "What's going on? Why is that mysterious eyeball staring at him?" The eye circled Liu Wuxie once before returning to its original position and resuming its silent confrontation with him.

Neither Liu Wuxie nor the mysterious eyeball yielded an inch. He understood that retreating now would inevitably cost him Ghost Pupil.

The immortal beasts had already withdrawn to the valley's outskirts. After breaking free from her opponent, Ye Linghan hurried toward Liu Wuxie.

"Grandfather, do you know what's going on? Why is that eyeball staring at him?" the young woman asked the old man.

"Perhaps there's something on him that's attracting that mysterious eyeball," the old man replied, unable to offer a definite explanation despite his experience.

Nearly a thousand cultivators occupied the valley, yet the mysterious eyeball had chosen to appear before Liu Wuxie alone. There had to be a reason for its decision.

"Quick, seize that mysterious eyeball!" Che Yangrong shouted as he sent several talismans flying toward it.

Because the mentors and students of the Azure Flame Dao Hall stood closest to Liu Wuxie, they naturally possessed the greatest chance of capturing the eyeball.

Tu Zhengbao immediately produced several array flags and began constructing a spiritual array intended to imprison the mysterious eyeball.

The surrounding cultivators recovered from their shock and joined the frenzy to capture the mysterious eyeball. None of them intended to stand by while someone else claimed it.

Their actions enraged the mysterious eyeball. A terrifying wave of power erupted from it and hurled Tu Zhengbao and the others through the air.

The remaining cultivators halted so abruptly that their momentum nearly carried them forward. No one dared approach again, leaving them to observe from a safe distance.

Liu Wuxie attempted to raise the Bloodthirst Blade, only to discover that his arms refused to move. The mysterious eyeball had sealed every motion and pinned him firmly against the ground. No matter how desperately he struggled, he could not escape its control.

Ghost Pupil's throbbing gradually matched the mysterious eyeball's rhythm. That synchronization heralded disaster, for Liu Wuxie could sense the eyeball attempting to devour Ghost Pupil and complete its evolution.

Liu Wuxie couldn't even retrieve the flag. He could only watch helplessly as the mysterious eyeball began extracting Ghost Pupil from his body.

The Divine Immortals in the sky finally intervened. They employed various techniques, gathered their laws, and condensed them into a colossal palm that descended toward the mysterious eyeball. However, the moment the palm formed from Divine Immortal Realm laws approached, a peculiar wave of energy spread outward and shattered everything.

An invisible force field enveloped the mysterious eyeball, creating a barrier that even Divine Immortals could not penetrate.

"What an unusual eyeball..." a Divine Immortal commented, unable to conceal his astonishment.

"The key must lie in that brat! As long as we capture him, we'll be able to capture that mysterious eyeball!" another Divine Immortal declared as he flew closer, finally recognizing the crucial detail.

The mysterious eyeball's unwavering fixation upon Liu Wuxie proved that some hidden connection existed between them.

"That brat is mine!" The Divine Immortal who had spoken reached down with one hand, intending to seize Liu Wuxie.

"How dare you! I discovered him first!" a Divine Immortal, who had entered the valley earlier, roared and extended his arm toward Liu Wuxie's other side.

Dealing with the mysterious eyeball alone had already driven Liu Wuxie into a desperate situation, yet now several Divine Immortals were fighting over him as well. With his body completely immobilized, he could do nothing except watch their hands descend.

Ye Linghan was still some distance away. Even if she reached him in time, she could accomplish nothing against such opponents. The strength wielded by Divine Immortals existed on an entirely different level from that of Origin Immortals.

Just before the Divine Immortals could capture Liu Wuxie, the mysterious eyeball dissolved into crimson mist and completely enveloped his body in full view of the crowd. The mist then carried him underground via spatial teleportation, both he and the eyeball vanishing without a trace.

The Divine Immortals stared in disbelief. Success had been within their grasp, yet they could only watch as the mysterious eyeball escaped with Liu Wuxie.

"Wuxie!" Ye Linghan cried as her knees struck the ground. She could only watch helplessly while the mysterious eyeball dragged Liu Wuxie into the ravine.

No one knew what awaited beneath the ravine, and even Divine Immortals hesitated to descend recklessly. Ordinary cultivators could not fly and could not enter at all, leaving them stranded helplessly along the edge.

Discussions broke out. "The mysterious eyeball is down below. Should we follow it?"

The moon gradually recovered its natural color, and sanity returned to the surrounding immortals as they began withdrawing from the valley.

"There must be a treasure down below, but the walls are too steep. There might also be danger down there."

After journeying such an enormous distance, no one wished to leave empty-handed. Every cultivator wanted to uncover what lay beneath the ravine, especially after witnessing the ancient laws contained within the mysterious eyeball.

"We can use ropes!"

Some cultivators had brought ropes and could use them to descend slowly into the abyss. Several bolder individuals had already begun climbing down both sides of the ravine. Although the walls descended steeply, abundant footholds made the journey possible.

The Divine Immortals exchanged cautious glances before descending into the ravine.

"Mentor Tu, what should we do now?" Che Yangrong asked, turning toward Tu Zhengbao.

Tu Zhengbao was the oldest of the four mentors present, so they naturally sought his advice.

"I suspect that Liu Wuxie possesses a powerful treasure that attracted the mysterious eyeball's attention. If we can capture him, we'll be able to seize the treasure. I intend to go down to investigate as well," Tu Zhengbao replied, unwilling to give up on this opportunity.

His youth had long since passed, and unless he achieved another breakthrough soon, reaching the Origin Immortal Realm would become impossible. This might be his only opportunity.

"I agree with Mentor Tu. We should go down to investigate and leave behind a mentor to look after the students here," Nangong Shan said, offering his support. No one among them was more desperate to kill Liu Wuxie than he was.

The mentors quickly came up with a plan. Wei Wenbin was to remain aboveground with the students, while Che Yangrong, Tu Zhengbao, and Nangong Shan were to descend into the ravine.

......

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie felt as though he were drifting helplessly upon an ocean of magma. No matter how violently he struggled, he could not break free from the surrounding crimson substance.

"Where am I?" Liu Wuxie tried to tear apart the layer imprisoning him, but the crimson magma remained completely unmoved beneath every attempt.