Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 1796 - Trapped

Liu Wuxie drove his footwork to the limit, descending like a furious streak of lightning as the Bloodthirst Blade slashed down with ruthless force.

Nangong Shan's heart froze, and he snatched his right hand back in a flash. Had he reacted even a fraction slower, the blade ray would have severed his palm without mercy.

The blade ray cut through space before crashing into the ground, tearing open a long trench that raced all the way to the waterfall. The rocks above the waterfall exploded under the impact, sending countless streams of water spraying into the air.

"Liu Wuxie, you're actually alive?!" Che Yangrong and Nangong Shan cried in shock the instant they recognized him.

According to their speculation, Liu Wuxie had already been killed by the mysterious eyeball. And if Liu Wuxie stood before them now, where had that mysterious eyeball gone?

"Liu Wuxie, run! You're no match for them!" Ye Linghan yelled, urging him to flee. Even now, when danger pressed down on her from every side, she was still more worried about him than about her own safety.

"Hahaha! None of you will be getting away today!" Che Yangrong said, breaking into a sinister laugh the moment he saw Liu Wuxie. His hatred for Liu Wuxie had already sunk deep into his bones, and he had long dreamed of ripping him apart. Now, that chance had finally arrived.

Liu Wuxie ignored Nangong Shan and Che Yangrong's clamor as if their voices were nothing more than wind. His attention locked onto Ye Linghan, and when he saw the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans, a strange light flashed through his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected to encounter such talismans in a small place like Eastern Emperor City. Since Che Yangrong could refine them, he must have obtained some kind of inheritance.

"Liu Wuxie, prepare to die!" Che Yangrong said, striking at once to prevent any further complications as his palm shot toward Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie refused to meet them head-on. With his current cultivation, killing Profound Immortals would be difficult, so he pushed aside all other matters until he rescued Ye Linghan.

Although Ye Linghan had drained all her immortal energy, she remained an Origin Immortal, and Profound Immortals had no way to compare with her.

After evading Che Yangrong's attack, Liu Wuxie shifted to another position as boundless mental energy surged out and swept through the surroundings. Under the Eye of Insight, an unseen force stripped apart Nangong Shan and Che Yangrong's attacks layer by layer, as if drawing silk threads from a cocoon.

Liu Wuxie moved with bizarre footwork, repeatedly evading Che Yangrong and Nangong Shan's attacks, and their expressions changed dramatically. Even Ye Linghan broke into a cold sweat for Liu Wuxie. She could not understand how he kept slipping away from the attacks of two Profound Immortals.

Each time Nangong Shan's attacks descended, they brushed past Liu Wuxie by the width of a hair. Yet that hairline gap became an uncrossable distance, as though a thousand miles had opened between them.

"Liu Wuxie, let's see how long you can keep this up," Che Yangrong said, his fury swelling as his attacks grew faster and fiercer.

Liu Wuxie's mental energy had limits, and he could not maintain such consumption forever. As he continued dodging, he inscribed strange runes that appeared across the sky.

When Che Yangrong saw those runes, fear flickered in his eyes. Back during the class assessment, Shi Wa's talent in talisman art had already shocked him, but he had never thought Liu Wuxie's talent in talisman art would be even higher. Many of those runes were completely unfamiliar to him.

Within a few breaths, every rune in the air began to gather and fuse, condensing into a black scythe above the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans.

This is bad! Che Yangrong thought frantically. He recognized that black scythe, and it happened to restrain the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans perfectly.

"Brother Nangong, we can't let him succeed!" Che Yangrong roared. He charged at Liu Wuxie like a crazed dog, desperate to stop him at all costs.

Nangong Shan immediately realized how dangerous the situation had become. If they lost the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans and allowed Ye Linghan to regain her freedom, the matter would become a nightmare for both of them.

"Liu Wuxie, die," Nangong Shan roared, unleashing all his power as his longsword transformed into a vast galaxy. Boundless waves swept up the shattered stones scattered across the ground and surged toward Liu Wuxie like a hurricane.

The sight was terrifying, and fine cracks spread through the surrounding space, making it seem as if everything could shatter at any moment.

Che Yangrong did not hold back either, bringing out his strongest attack in the same instant.

Ye Linghan, however, could only watch helplessly from where she was trapped.

"I don't have any other choice!" Liu Wuxie said, forced to face the two attacks as he took out the flag Ye Linghan had given him from within his clothes.

The moment his immortal energy poured into it, the flag expanded in mid-air and covered Nangong Shan and Che Yangrong beneath its shadow.

It devoured Liu Wuxie's immortal energy without pause, draining every bit of it from the desolate world in only half a breath. After that, it began drawing away his physical strength as well.

Even so, Liu Wuxie still could not activate an immortal artifact comparable to the Divine Immortal Realm. Even a pinnacle Profound Immortal would find it difficult to use the flag once, let alone Liu Wuxie, who was only at the first-level True Immortal Realm.

Agonizing pain surged through Liu Wuxie's body, but he forced his mouth shut and endured it in silence. Then came his primordial spirit, as the flag drained away all his soul energy and mental energy.

When darkness swallowed Liu Wuxie's vision, he collapsed backward.

The instant the flag finally activated, boundless waves of energy erupted and pulled Nangong Shan and Che Yangrong inside it.

Liu Wuxie understood the flag's power. It would reduce anyone it caught to nothing.

At the same time, the black scythe shot out and locked onto the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans, causing the talismans to sizzle as cracks crawled across them.

"Open!" Ye Linghan said, tearing through the Six-Harmony Eight-Desolation Talismans and rushing out from within.

"Wuxie!" she cried, rushing over to catch Liu Wuxie in her arms just before he hit the ground.

When the flag dropped to the ground, the attack had already reduced Nangong Shan and Che Yangrong to mangled flesh, leaving no trace of their figures.

"Wuxie, I won't allow you to die!" Ye Linghan said, shaking Liu Wuxie with all her strength, but no matter how hard she tried, his eyes remained closed as though he had fallen into a deep slumber.

Tears blurred Ye Linghan's vision and spilled onto Liu Wuxie's face. She tried every method she could think of, yet Liu Wuxie still showed no sign of waking.

"Why are you so foolish? Why did you have to perish with them?" Ye Linghan asked. She gently lifted Liu Wuxie's head onto her lap and stroked his cheeks with trembling hands.

As time passed, more cultivators continued pouring into the Dragon Burial Mountain Range. To avoid danger, Ye Linghan carried Liu Wuxie into a cave.

Every dozen breaths, Ye Linghan reached out to check whether Liu Wuxie was still breathing. As long as his breath remained, there was still a chance to save him.

After an entire day had passed and Liu Wuxie still had not awakened, Ye Linghan gradually grew anxious. She carried him on her back and prepared to leave the Dragon Burial Mountain Range for Fourfold City. She believed her father could save Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie felt his consciousness drifting through endless darkness, as though someone had locked him inside a pitch-black cage. This was not the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Back in the Mortal Realm, he had experienced similar dangers several times after using heaven-defying dao techniques. Each time, he had escaped danger, but this time, even he did not know whether he could survive.

"I have to leave this place," Liu Wuxie roared. His consciousness slowly sharpened, and he knew he had to find a way out.

Even after several violent collisions, the black cage did not budge. The stronger the primordial spirit, the sturdier the cage became, and the backlash he endured would become even more severe.

Liu Wuxie's soul sea had already surpassed ordinary people, and even the soul sea of an ordinary Spirit Immortal couldn't match his.

Ye Linghan carried Liu Wuxie on her back, crossing mountains and ridges. They had gone too deep into the Dragon Burial Mountain Range this time, and leaving the mountain range would take three to five days.

"Stop it right there!" a group of people shouted, appearing to block Ye Linghan's path as she crossed a small stream.

"It's that brat!"

Liu Wuxie's head hung over Ye Linghan's shoulder, and someone had recognized him at once.

"I didn't expect this brat to be still alive. He must know about the mysterious eyeball's location!" Many people had survived the abyss, and they were still wandering through the Dragon Burial Mountain Range in search of the mysterious eyeball's whereabouts.

Ye Linghan swept her gaze across them as boundless murderous intent surged from her body. Liu Wuxie had fallen unconscious to save her, and even if she had to sacrifice her life, she would bring him out of the mountain range alive.

"Get lost!" Ye Linghan said as the Frostsword appeared in her hand, its edge pointing toward the group before her.

This group possessed formidable cultivation, with two first-level Origin Immortals, two pinnacle Profound Immortals, and the rest all Spirit Immortals. Against such a lineup, Ye Linghan's odds of victory were slim.

"What a pity. It would be a pity to kill such a beauty like her!" the Origin Immortal standing opposite her said, sweeping his gaze over Ye Linghan as a malicious look flashed in his eyes.

"Attack!" the other Origin Immortal said, unwilling to waste words because their goal was the mysterious eyeball.

The battle erupted in an instant. With Liu Wuxie on her back, Ye Linghan could not move freely, which kept her from unleashing her full strength.

These people were despicable to the extreme, constantly aiming at her back and forcing her into a disadvantage.

Liu Wuxie remained unaware of everything happening outside, still struggling to shatter the black cage around his consciousness.

"Heavenly Dao Book, lend me your power," Liu Wuxie said after slamming into the cage hundreds of times without moving it even slightly. The injuries he had suffered this time were far worse than those in the past. If he could not break through the cage, he would become an undying person, still able to breathe normally, yet showing no signs of life.

After calling out for a long time without receiving any response from the Heavenly Dao Book, Liu Wuxie realized that something had cut off his consciousness.

Meanwhile, Ye Linghan found herself badly outnumbered under the pincer attack of two Origin Immortals. Another wound opened across her arm, and blood streamed from it.

With no other option, Ye Linghan fought while retreating, intending to escape this place first. She relied on her footwork to avoid the incoming attacks and rushed toward the dense forest in the distance.

"After them! Don't let them escape," the cultivators shouted, immediately giving chase.

The pursuers chased while Ye Linghan fled, and she deliberately chose the most dangerous paths in an attempt to shake them off. She plunged into a poisonous miasma forest, ignoring the poison entering her body as she continued forward with Liu Wuxie.

The cultivators pursuing her all halted outside the poisonous miasma forest, none of them daring to step inside.

"Let's go around from another direction!" the pursuers said, deciding to bypass the forest through a detour. They split into two groups and moved to flank her from the left and right.

As Liu Wuxie controlled his consciousness and struck the cage hundreds of times, his awareness gradually blurred, which was a terrible sign. Once his consciousness sank completely, it would mark his death.

"I have to focus! I can't die here, and I still have too many things to do," Liu Wuxie murmured, forcing himself to steady his will.

Strangely, the moment Liu Wuxie tried to focus his mind, his will, which had nearly shattered, began to gather again.

"Wait, this is...!"