Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 1803 - Swarmed

Once an Origin Immortal locked onto someone, escaping was as difficult as slipping free from an iron net. No matter how Wen Qi twisted through the forest or changed his direction, Ye Linghan's senses clung to him and tracked every movement.

Before Wen Qi could burst out of the forest, Ye Linghan's fingers flashed through seals, and three array flags dropped from the sky like falling stakes. They formed a triangular formation and sealed Wen Qi within it. This was a simplified Triforce Array. Although it was not powerful, it was effective in imprisoning the target.

Ye Linghan seized that instant without hesitation. She descended from the sky and forced out the final trace of her immortal energy to kill Wen Qi. After ending his life, she collapsed to the ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Killing so many experts in a single night was something she would never have dared dream of in the past.

Liu Wuxie walked over slowly and scanned every inch of the battlefield. Only after confirming that no clues remained did the tension inside him finally ease.

The Wen Clan would not trace the team's deaths back to him for the time being. After all, who would suspect that he and Ye Linghan were capable of killing so many experts?

At daybreak, after both of them had fully recovered their immortal energy, Liu Wuxie went to a small stream, washed away the traces from his body, and changed into a clean set of clothes.

......

Meanwhile, a major incident had already shaken the Azure Flame Dao Hall.

Wei Wenbin had returned with the surviving students. The moment they came back, they began accusing Liu Wuxie of killing students from the Azure Flame Dao Hall.

When the upper echelons received the news, rage swept through them at once. Liu Wuxie was a mentor, yet he had dared to kill students. If this matter spread, who would still dare to join the Azure Flame Dao Hall in the future?

All of this unfolded while Liu Wuxie traveled back with Ye Linghan.

"Brother Xiang, what should we do now? The situation isn't favorable for Mentor Liu now," Zhang Dashan said, gathering with the other students.

Although Ye Linghan's class had grown to a thousand students, their small group remained tightly bound together, often exchanging pointers with one another. Strictly speaking, the seventeen of them who had first joined the class were more like Liu Wuxie's disciples.

"We'll wait for a little longer and mobilize your clans' forces. We have to protect Mentor Liu no matter what," Xiang Rulong said. He had already notified his second uncle, and the other students began sending word to their clans as well.

Still, they couldn't help but worry. Aside from Xiang Rulong, the other students held no lofty positions in their respective clans, and some were even marginal figures. Although they had performed well during the past month, they still lacked status compared to disciples from the main lineage.

This meant it would not be easy for them to ask their clans to negotiate with the Azure Flame Dao Hall, especially when Liu Wuxie was merely an assistant mentor. Worse still, they could all sense an invisible hand stirring the fire from the shadows.

"Brother Xiang, I received news that it was Mentor Wei and the other mentors who made the first move back in the mysterious valley. Assistant Liu was merely defending himself, and the upper echelons can't be unaware of that," Zhang Hua said. A good friend of his had also been in the basin that day and had personally witnessed everything.

"I've also received news that the students forced Assistant Liu to retaliate and kill them. He did nothing wrong, and if anyone bears guilt, it would be Wei Wenbin and the others," Wang Zhuang said, his indignation burning brightly on Liu Wuxie's behalf.

They had finally found a great teacher, so how could they willingly watch Liu Wuxie fall into danger?

"It's not as simple as you think. If Wei Wenbin's testimony alone supported the case, the upper echelons wouldn't make things difficult for Assistant Liu," Xiang Rulong replied.

He had just received news that someone was secretly pressuring the upper echelons of the Azure Flame Dao Hall to punish Liu Wuxie. However, Xiang Zicheng had not revealed any specific details.

Even the Xiang Manor could not easily handle this matter, much less the smaller clans.

A hidden undercurrent began churning through the Azure Flame Dao Hall. When many students passed by the Southern Lake, they deliberately took detours. Even some students who had previously joined Ye Linghan's class had chosen to switch classes.

After all, in everyone's eyes, Liu Wuxie was doomed this time.

The families of the deceased students had sent people to the Azure Flame Dao Hall to demand an explanation. They had sent their clansmen here to study, yet those students had died at the hands of a mentor. Over the past few days, they had been persistently pressuring the upper echelons, demanding that they execute Liu Wuxie as a warning to others.

Even Yi Zhong and the other students had been struggling to focus during classes in recent days. They had only moved into the Southern Lake for just over a dozen days, yet one wave of trouble after another had already crashed down on them. Many people even targeted them directly, causing their status to plummet rapidly.

"I wonder where Assistant Liu and Mentor Ye are," Xiang Rulong said with a sigh.

Shi Wa and Xiao Qian stayed silent and sat to the side.

......

After Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan killed every member of the Wen Clan, they returned to the Azure Flame Dao Hall at noon. Yet the moment they came back, the students they met along the way neither saluted them nor greeted them. Instead, they stared at them with strange expressions.

"What happened in the Azure Flame Dao Hall? Why are they all looking at us so strangely?" Ye Linghan asked, her brows tightening.

Liu Wuxie did not answer. The instant he stepped into the Azure Flame Dao Hall, he had already activated the Divine Tribulation Pupil and sensed a faint but powerful pressure pressing toward him.

Once cultivated to a high degree of mastery, the Divine Tribulation Pupil could even glimpse into the past and future.

News of Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan's return to the Azure Flame Dao Hall spread like a storm, reaching every corner.

In a single instant, countless divine senses swept toward them.

Before Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan could even step into the courtyard in the Southern Lake, heavy footsteps sounded from behind them.

"Liu Wuxie, stop it right there," someone roared, stopping Liu Wuxie in his tracks. He turned around and saw a large group approaching, filled with mentors, students, and many unfamiliar faces.

The one who had shouted at Liu Wuxie was a red-haired elder with a ferocious look. The moment Ye Linghan saw him, concern flickered through her eyes, as though she had already guessed something.

Aside from the red-haired elder, several middle-aged men strode forward aggressively, their eyes blazing with fury as if they wanted to tear Liu Wuxie into pieces.

"Shen Guang, come at me if you have anything to say," Ye Linghan demanded, stepping forward to shield Liu Wuxie. These people possessed high cultivation, and Shen Guang alone had reached the Divine Immortal Realm.

"Ye Linghan, get out of my way. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!" Shen Guang roared, releasing a powerful shockwave that snapped Ye Linghan's hairband and sent her hair scattering loose.

The wrath of a Divine Immortal could shake heaven and earth. In this region, Divine Immortals stood at the apex of the pyramid.

Liu Wuxie gently patted Ye Linghan's shoulder, signaling her to step aside. These people had come for him, and they had clearly prepared this confrontation in advance.

"Senior, what guidance do you have for me?" Liu Wuxie asked, choosing courtesy before force as he cupped his fists toward Shen Guang.

More students began to gather around them. When Xiang Rulong and the others heard that Liu Wuxie had returned, they immediately rushed out of the courtyard and stood behind the two of them.

"Liu Wuxie, you've killed disciples of my Shen Clan, and I will avenge their deaths today!" Shen Guang said, intending to attack Liu Wuxie immediately as he released his Divine Immortal aura.

If anyone else had faced the suppression of a Divine Immortal, they would have already trembled in terror.

The Heavenly Dao Book unfolded, and the Divine Tribulation Pupil activated, negating the pressure bearing down on him.

Liu Wuxie swept his gaze over the crowd and soon found Wei Wenbin hiding among them without stepping forward. It seemed that news of the events from the mysterious valley had already reached the Azure Flame Dao Hall. With Nangong Shan, Che Yangrong, and Tu Zhengbao dead, the only person who could report the matter was Wei Wenbin.

The others in the valley were not instructors of the Azure Flame Dao Hall, so they naturally would not meddle in this matter.

"Patriarch Shen, your ability to twist right and wrong is truly impressive. I personally witnessed what happened in the valley, and the students merely forced Assistant Liu to retaliate," Ye Linghan replied with a sneer. The moment these people appeared, she had already guessed what was happening.

What made the situation strange was that the upper echelons of the Azure Flame Dao Hall had yet to arrive. Logically speaking, Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan were both mentors here, and now that trouble had erupted, the upper echelons should have stepped forward to intervene.

"Ye Linghan, this has nothing to do with you. Get lost!" said the middle-aged man beside Shen Guang as he stepped forward and released his aura at the pinnacle of the Origin Immortal Realm. His cultivation stood only one step away from the Divine Immortal Realm.

This man was Zhu Chaoyang, the current acting patriarch of the Zhu Clan.

The dozens of students Liu Wuxie had slain had all come from various clans.

"This is the Azure Flame Dao Hall, and you're in no position to run wild here," Ye Linghan replied without fear. As Ye Guhai's daughter, even the upper echelons of the Azure Flame Dao Hall had to give her face.

These clans were powerful, but Fourfold City's City Lord Mansion was not weak either.

Liu Wuxie was different, however, because he had no background. Killing him would be no different from crushing an ant.

"It's simply a great humiliation for the Azure Flame Dao Hall to have disgraceful instructors like you. If you don't get out of my way, don't blame me for what happens next," Zhu Chaoyang warned. He was ready to act against Ye Linghan and force her aside.

Today, they would not rest until Liu Wuxie was dead.

Liu Wuxie looked into the distance and activated Ghost Pupil, scanning through the buildings until he spotted Zuo Yang standing not far away.

"Hall Master, are we going to stay out of this matter?" Zuo Yang asked.

An old man stood beside Zuo Yang, Gongye Zhang. He was the hall master of the Azure Flame Dao Hall, and his cultivation was at the pinnacle of the Divine Immortal Realm.

"Wait for a little longer. The real figure has yet to appear," Gongye Zhang replied with a meaningful smile.

Shen Guang and the others were only chess pieces. If they truly dared to attack, they would not have delayed until now.

This was the Azure Flame Dao Hall. If Shen Guang and the others dared to kill a mentor here, it would be the same as slapping the Azure Flame Dao Hall in the face.

"Someone still hasn't arrived?" Zuo Yang asked in confusion.

Liu Wuxie was merely an assistant mentor, yet he had already drawn half of Eastern Emperor City's experts into motion.

Gongye Zhang did not speak and merely smiled.

"Go interfere a little. This is the Azure Flame Dao Hall, not a place for them to act wildly," Gongye Zhang continued, anger glinting faintly in his eyes. Regardless of whether Liu Wuxie had killed anyone, outsiders had no right to point fingers in their territory.

If Liu Wuxie had truly made a mistake, the Azure Flame Dao Hall's upper echelons would naturally punish him.

Zuo Yang nodded and walked toward the Southern Lake.

The tension around the Southern Lake had already stretched to the point of snapping. Ye Linghan had summoned her sword and stood ready to strike at any moment.

At that moment, Xiang Zicheng, Lao Kaiyu, and several others appeared, standing behind Liu Wuxie.

"Patriarch Shen, aren't you going too far by making things difficult for these two mentors?" Xiang Zicheng asked with a smile, his tone carrying a trace of mockery. He also released his Divine Immortal aura, suppressing Shen Guang's momentum.

"Xiang Zicheng, this is a feud between us and has nothing to do with you. Are you sure that you want to interfere in this matter?" Shen Guang asked, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes when he saw Xiang Zicheng.

After all, the Xiang Manor was one of the top forces in Eastern Emperor City