Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1044 - Godly Weapon
Chapter 1044 – Godly Weapon
Liu Dashan stood before the puppet, raising the longsword in his hand. With a sharp swing, a streak of sword rays burst forth and slashed across the puppet’s arm.
The puppet’s creators forged it to uniform hardness, yet a loud, crisp crack echoed across the plaza as the blade struck.
“What?!” Gasps filled the air as the crowd jumped to their feet in disbelief. The slash had dug two-thirds of the way through the puppet’s arm, far deeper than any strike before it. It was a result that pushed the limits of what a dao artifact could achieve.
Though the puppet’s arm wasn’t completely severed, the depth of the cut was staggering, nearly double what others had managed.
“This is impossible! Since when has the Liu Clan’s blacksmithing technique become so advanced?” the Yuan Clan’s elder exclaimed, rising from his seat, eyes wide with shock.
Yet, despite their surprise, no one dared to accuse. Shi Yuan’s earlier disgrace had served as a cautionary tale, and no one would risk challenging the Liu Clan without concrete proof.
“This is getting interesting,” said a few elders from the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, stroking their beards with amusement. “This year’s commerce fair is full of surprises.”
In previous years, a few dominant powers always took the spotlight, but this year broke tradition. The Profound Cloud Sect and Wang Clan had failed to dominate the alchemy segment, and now, in the artifact segment, the Liu Clan had surpassed even the Scarlet Dragon Cult.
The crowd’s attention quickly shifted.
“Let’s see what the Yuan Clan does,” someone said. “They’re known for their blacksmithing.”
Aside from the Yuan Clan, few others could match what the Liu Clan had just demonstrated.
Yuan Zilong stepped forward, drawing a deep breath as he entered the spiritual array, his face taut with focus. As soon as he entered the array, it suppressed his cultivation to the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
He gripped his longsword tightly but didn’t strike right away. Instead, he took his time, focusing and building strength with each breath. The crowd waited in anticipation for him to make a move.
The Yuan Clan had taken first place at the previous commerce fair, and the pressure on Yuan Zilong was immense.
Then, his sword came down like a bolt of lightning.
A loud crack echoed as his blade struck the puppet’s left arm, creating a deep gash nearly identical to the one Liu Dashan had made.
When they measured the damage, they found that the two cuts matched in depth. The weapons were equal in terms of sheer output.
However, everyone understood the real implication: the Liu Clan’s artifact was superior.
Liu Dashan was only in the early stages of the Spirit Profound Realm. Yuan Zilong, on the other hand, was a cultivator of the Earth Profound Realm.
“I’m going to start sourcing weapons from the Liu Clan from now on,” whispered several shopkeepers gathered outside the plaza.
Compared to the Yuan Clan, the Liu Clan was more approachable, easier to deal with, and less overbearing in negotiations.
“I’ll be sourcing pills from the Heavenly Dao Society,” muttered a few others. These were the same shopkeepers who had canceled their orders earlier, swayed by rumors that the Society’s pills were of inferior quality. Now, regret filled their hearts.
If they could secure pills with purple pill runes, demand would flood their shops overnight. And at that point, who would still pay premium prices for pills from the Spirit Jade Pavilion?
As Yuan Zilong stepped out from the spiritual array, his face was dark and grim. It wasn’t that the Yuan Clan’s blacksmithing had declined, but the Liu Clan’s had improved at an alarming rate.
And all of it pointed back to one person: Liu Wuxie.
The thought made Yuan Zilong pause. He turned his gaze toward Liu Wuxie, unable to help himself.
As if expecting it, Liu Wuxie met his eyes with a cold, mocking smirk. His gaze was sharp and piercing, like thorns stabbing straight into Yuan Zilong’s pride.
Yuan Zilong quickly averted his gaze, unable to meet Liu Wuxie’s eyes. His dao heart had taken a deep and irreparable blow. Unless he could one day defeat or kill Liu Wuxie, he would forever live under that shadow.
The assessment moved on, but the results that followed were largely unimpressive. Many of the later contestants came from second-tier clans whose expertise didn’t lie in blacksmithing. Some struck the puppet but failed to leave even a visible mark.
Their attacks drew only sparks and hollow sounds, proving that their artifacts lacked the refinement and power of those crafted by the leading clans.
Just as Hu Shi was about to step into the spiritual array, a sharp shove threw him off balance.
“Get lost!” barked a voice.
A member of the Wang Clan had shoved Hu Shi aside without hesitation.
However, Hu Shi didn’t retaliate. He took a deep breath and held himself back. He knew this wasn’t the right moment to flare up.
All eyes shifted to the Wang Clan’s representative as he stepped into the spiritual array. Though the Wang Clan wasn’t renowned for its blacksmithing, they were still one of the Four Great Clans, balanced in development and never overly reliant on a single specialty.
Unlike the others before him, the Wang Clan cultivator drew a long saber. Without any buildup or warning, he swung it down in a blur, so fast that it landed even before most of the spectators could blink.
A deafening crack rang out as the blade struck the puppet’s right arm. A gash appeared, shallower than the ones left by the Liu and Yuan Clans but still deeper than most of the competitors who had gone before.
The result placed the Wang Clan behind the Liu and Yuan Clans, but ahead of the others.
Still, the result left the Wang Clan simmering with frustration. They had spent over a decade developing a new blacksmithing technique in secret, hoping to make a dramatic entrance and dominate the stage. Yet now, they couldn’t even secure a spot among the top three.
Meanwhile, Hu Shi, whom they had previously pushed aside, chose to remain silent and wait. Just as he had done in the first segment, he opted to go last.
The remaining assessments lacked energy. One by one, contestants took their turns, but the quality of the performances continued to decline.
Zhao Chao stepped forward to represent the Nine Profound Sect. His performance was solid, roughly on par with the Wang Clan’s, but nothing remarkable.
An hour passed, and finally, it was Hu Shi’s turn.
Tens of thousands of eyes locked onto him as he stepped forward with calm, measured steps.
He entered the spiritual array, and to everyone’s surprise, nothing changed.
The array’s suppression had no effect on Hu Shi.
After all, the Pavilion had designed the array to restrict Earth Profound Realm cultivators to avoid tipping the balance due to their higher strength. But Hu Shi, still at the first level of the Spirit Profound Realm, stood untouched. There was simply nothing to suppress.
With a clear, resonant ring, he drew the sword from its sheath. The sound echoed across the plaza like a chime from heaven.
“What a fine sword! There’s no impurity in its ring,” some whispered with admiration. Experts could judge a blade’s quality by its sound alone.
The guests began to rise from their seats, trying to get a clearer view of the proceedings. Even the cultivators hovering in the skies moved in closer, drifting to within just a few dozen meters of the plaza. There were so many of them now that the Spirit Jade Pavilion failed to push them back.
“The blade isn’t long, but it carries an ethereal aura. Whoever forged it must have been in a refined state of mind,” Qu Su observed quietly.
Though the exact material was unclear, the intent imbued in the blade was unmistakable. In his eyes, it deserved full marks, regardless of its physical form.
“What’s the use of intent?” scoffed an elder from the Profound Cloud Sect. “What matters is quality. Even if the intent is high, it’s meaningless unless it strengthens the weapon’s power.”
That mindset echoed those who dismissed poetic art, believing it to be worthless simply because it couldn’t fill the stomach.
Hu Shi said nothing in response.
He came from humble origins, a background marked by neither glory nor prestige. It was through Liu Wuxie’s guidance that he had found his path. Over the years, he had poured his entire heart into blacksmithing. The more devoted he became, the more his skills surged, honed through unwavering dedication and the pursuit of perfection.
Now, as he stepped forward and raised his longsword, few held out hope for a remarkable performance. Unlike the other representatives, Hu Shi didn’t gather all his strength or roar with exertion.
After all, a true godly weapon didn’t need brute force. It could slice through falling hair without resistance.
Faces across the plaza shifted with astonishment. The attack hadn’t used any true essence, yet it stirred the formation meant to neutralize power. How could such a force exist without sound, without spectacle?
There was no explosion, no cracking sound, just silence. Hu Shi’s blade slipped through the puppet like it was slicing beancurd effortlessly and unassumingly.
By the time the sword slid quietly back into its sheath, the strike had already ended. Most spectators failed to track the blade’s trajectory.
“See? Nothing special. Not even a scratch,” some scoffed, shaking their heads.
The puppet stood still, showing no visible damage. To the naked eye, the sword hadn’t even left a mark, let alone inflicted any real damage.
“Hahaha! He dared to present a weapon like that. What a joke!” the Wang Clan burst into laughter.
The members of the Profound Cloud Sect sneered openly. They had been genuinely concerned that the Heavenly Dao Society would outmatch them in the artifact segment as well. Losing the alchemy round had already stung, but being surpassed in blacksmithing would be unbearable. Some might as well leap off a cliff.
Hu Shi smiled, undisturbed by their ridicule.
The upper echelons of the Spirit Jade Pavilion were preparing to conclude the segment. From their view, the Liu and Yuan Clans had secured the top spots. The Nine Profound Sect, the Profound Cloud Sect, and the others were far behind in comparison.
However, just as they were about to finalize the results—
“Quick, look at the puppet!” a voice cried out from the crowd.
Someone who had refused to look away from the puppet, still watching with unwavering focus, had noticed something others had missed. They couldn’t believe the Heavenly Dao Society would fall short in blacksmithing without reason. And now, their patience was about to be rewarded.
“Wait, something’s moving where he struck!” A roar erupted from the crowd, cutting through the noise and drawing countless eyes back to the puppet.
In an instant, divine senses surged forward from all directions, converging on the spot where Hu Shi’s sword had landed.
“Yeah, something is moving! Am I seeing things?” Even seasoned experts from the Earth Profound Realm rubbed their eyes in disbelief, uncertain whether they were witnessing reality or an illusion.
Long Chen, already mid-sentence to declare the end of the second segment, froze in place.
“That’s impossible. If the puppet moved, that would mean he cut through the entire arm,” an elder from the Yuan Clan sneered in a dismissive tone.
The puppet’s arm had been chosen as the standard target because it was the thinnest point on its body. Anywhere else was considered impossible to breach.
However, before the elder could finish basking in his certainty, a crisp, sharp crack split the air, crushing the Yuan Clan’s pride in front of all.
All eyes turned as the puppet’s right arm came loose and dropped to the ground. The cut was impossibly clean with no ragged edges and signs of brute force. It was smooth and flawless, as if a divine blade had sliced through it.
This was the true meaning of a godly weapon, cutting through iron as though it were paper.
The arm dropped and struck the ground, sending sparks flying. The noise rang like thunder, but the silence that followed was even louder.
Hu Shi had severed the puppet’s arm cleanly. And he had done it without using a trace of true essence, with nothing but raw craftsmanship and a blade forged by his own hands. To top it all, he had wielded it at the first level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
When the arm fell, it didn’t just shatter metal.
That blow shattered the Yuan Clan’s pride.
It shattered the confidence of the Wang Clan.
“No!” a Yuan Clan elder cried in despair, his voice trembling.
The Yuan Clan had long been famed across the True Martial Continent for their blacksmithing prowess. It was their foundation, their pride, their legacy.
And today, a fledgling faction had humiliated their legacy, one they had never taken seriously.
The Wang Clan stood frozen, their faces growing pale. They couldn’t tell whether their decision to attend this year’s commerce fair had been a fortune or a disaster.
The Profound Cloud Sect could only force bitter smiles, while members of the Scarlet Dragon Cult wore grim expressions.
“I want to buy that sword!” a voice rang out from outside the plaza. A cultivator at the pinnacle of the Spirit Profound Realm shouted, his eyes blazing with desire. “With a few more years of nurturing, that weapon could become an earth-spirit artifact!”
