Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1104 - Development

Chapter 1104 – Development

The elder barked a command, stopping the clan disciples before they acted rashly and offended Liu Wuxie.

“Grand Elder, we have to kill this man. He dared to attack us!” one of the older males shouted, pointing his sword at Liu Wuxie, intent on killing him.

“Stand down! Now!” the old man snapped, glaring at them.

His authority drove the five disciples back; none dared defy the Grand Elder.

They turned away, but they cast resentful glances at Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie stayed calm, quietly satisfied with the old man’s restraint. If those arrogant youths were to attack him once again, he wouldn’t hesitate to take their lives as a warning.

“Young man, could you be Liu Wuxie?” the elder asked, his tone cautious.

Only Liu Wuxie had the ability to kill Earth Profound experts while still at the Spirit Profound level. The old man had already guessed his identity from the Great Five Elemental Palm.

“I am indeed,” Liu Wuxie said without reservation.

“I am Mo He, Grand Elder of the Mo Clan. It’s an honor to meet you, Young Master Liu,” the elder said, bowing slightly.

Gratitude and reverence filled his voice. He already sensed that someone had erased the soul-binding imprint. The Golden Cauldron Pavilion no longer controlled him.

“Greetings, Senior Mo,” Liu Wuxie replied with a polite cupped-fist salute.

“Young Master Liu, you’re being too courteous. If we’ve offended you earlier, I hope you won’t hold it against us,” Mo He said with sincerity. His tone lacked the pride typical of a senior addressing a junior. Instead, it was respectful, almost deferential.

“Elder Mo, may I ask about the mysterious imprint in your soul sea?” Liu Wuxie asked directly.

He wasn’t interested in small talk—he needed answers. The truth behind the imprint could reveal the Golden Cauldron Pavilion’s secrets and the reason behind his grandfather’s poisoning.

“That’s a long story,” Mo He said with a bitter smile.

Since it was already the middle of the night and there was no need to travel, they found a clean patch of ground and sat down.

The Mo Clan disciples spread out and guarded the perimeter. After learning Liu Wuxie’s identity, the five young men and women regarded him with awe. They dared not approach them too closely.

Liu Wuxie’s reputation had long spread throughout the Central Plains. Few could rival him, except for Heaven Profound experts. Even Miao Hanxuan—once the pinnacle of the Earth Profound Realm—had become a half-crippled mess after fighting him.

“A decade ago, while I was handling business outside, I passed through a mountain range and was ambushed by black-robed men,” Mo He said, sounding bitter. “I was at the eighth level of Earth Profound, but they took me down instantly.”

“So the black-robed men planted the imprint in your soul sea before you woke up?” Liu Wuxie asked.

He didn’t mock the elder. The Golden Cauldron Pavilion was terrifyingly mysterious. Even Black Plume Pavilion assassins had the same imprints branded in their soul seas. That alone proved the Pavilion had embedded its influence across the continent.

“That’s right,” Mo He nodded. “When I woke up, I thought I was dead. But then I saw a black-robed man standing before me. His face was hidden behind a mask. Only his eyes were visible, and they were smiling.”

He shivered at the memory. He had never told even the Mo Clan’s patriarch about the imprint in his soul sea.

“Did the black-robed man ask you to do anything after branding you?” Liu Wuxie pressed.

The Golden Cauldron Pavilion had also branded the Grand Elder of the Liu Clan, but he had never made a move. However, he chose to commit suicide when someone exposed the secret.

Liu Wuxie still didn’t understand why the Golden Cauldron Pavilion had marked so many experts, yet rarely used them.

“No,” Mo He replied, shaking his head. “He just said that when the time came and he needed me, he would contact me.”

The imprint didn’t interfere with his cultivation or daily life. By the time Mo He tried to ask more questions, the black-robed man had already disappeared, leaving only that one sentence behind.

For years, Mo He had been living in fear, terrified that someone would discover the secret mark in his body.

However, time passed, and no one came for him. Eventually, he almost forgot about the imprint. Five years ago, someone finally came looking for him. Only then did he realize he was still just a puppet in the hands of the black-robed man.

He thought of resisting, but it was futile. He had tried every method over the decade but remained helpless. He could only accept it.

“Who came to find you five years ago? And what did they ask you to do?” Liu Wuxie asked, a frown creasing his brow as his thoughts began to align. Someone had poisoned his grandfather a decade ago.

He was beginning to suspect that it wasn’t a mere coincidence.

“Jiao Ba,” Mo He said after a moment of hesitation.

Liu Wuxie sprang to his feet. It was exactly as he had suspected.

“You know Jiao Ba?” Mo He asked, standing as well. His eyes widened in surprise.

Now that the imprint had vanished, he no longer feared the Golden Cauldron Pavilion. If they visited him again, he would fight to the death rather than allow them to treat him like a pawn.

“What did Jiao Ba ask you to do five years ago?” Liu Wuxie asked, taking a deep breath to suppress the fury rising in his chest.

“He told me to gather information on the Liu Clan,” Mo He admitted, speaking with guilt. “I had no choice.”

“Do you still remember Jiao Ba’s appearance?” Liu Wuxie asked.

Very few people in the Liu Clan had glimpsed Jiao Ba’s face, and even they struggled to remember it. Liu Wuxie hoped that Mo He could provide a more accurate description.

“I do. He had a full beard and stood twice the height of an ordinary man. His voice thundered like a drum,” Mo He said, recounting everything he remembered. “He carried twin hammers and had terrifying combat strength.”

“Do you know anyone else branded with the same imprint?” Liu Wuxie asked. He hoped to uncover more secrets behind the Golden Cauldron Pavilion by identifying others with the same mark.

“I don’t know,” Mo He replied, shaking his head. “All contact was one-way. No one ever approached me aside from Jiao Ba in the past five years.”

That was all he knew.

“Thank you, Elder Mo. Please don’t speak of tonight’s events to anyone—not even them,” Liu Wuxie said, glancing briefly at the five Mo Clan disciples nearby.

If anyone revealed what had happened, the Golden Cauldron Pavilion would destroy the Mo Clan without hesitation.

“I understand. After tonight, we’re strangers,” Mo He replied solemnly. He had been living for centuries, so he understood the consequences if such matters ever came to light.

Not long after, Mo He departed with the Mo Clan disciples, disappearing deeper into Eternal Spirit Mountain.

The disciples, knowing their place, didn’t ask about the exchange between Liu Wuxie and their Grand Elder.

When Liu Wuxie returned to the campsite, his brows were still tightly furrowed. The Golden Cauldron Pavilion’s power ran deeper than he had imagined. With so many experts in the Central Plains, the Pavilion had likely used soul imprints to enslave countless cultivators.

Even worse, they could control and activate these puppets at will. Moreover, those weren’t nobodies but key figures in major factions.

“Brother Liu, what’s wrong? Why are you frowning?” Xu Lingxue asked gently, approaching him with concern.

“It’s nothing,” Liu Wuxie replied, reaching out to pat her head lightly. His frown relaxed, and he pushed thoughts of the Pavilion to the back of his mind.

He believed that he would expose the mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows one day.

At dawn, news arrived from Hei Kui. The intel was valuable. The heavenly coffin had cracked open.

“Let’s move out,” Liu Wuxie said, his voice calm but resolute.

After a month of excavation, a group of cultivators finally discovered a strange gate at the top of the coffin.

The group made their way through a stretch of mountain range until the heavenly coffin appeared before them. They heard the rumors, but seeing it with their own eyes still left them awestruck.

“What a massive coffin. Could there really be a deity inside?” Chen Ruoyan asked, mouth agape.

“If the coffin is that big, wouldn’t the body inside be even larger?” Jian Xing’er added with a frown.

“Not necessarily,” Liu Wuxie replied, shaking his head. “Just because the coffin is enormous doesn’t mean there’s a corpse inside.”

“Master!” Jian Nan and He Hai’an arrived in a hurry.

Everyone present already knew one another. They fought side by side during the ambush back in Astral Glory City when four assassins attacked the three clans.

“Any news?” Liu Wuxie asked.

“There’s a strange gate in the middle of the coffin. None of us has seen anything like it before,” Jian Nan explained. “Hei Kui is still there, gathering more information.”

Hei Kui had already regrouped with Jian Nan and He Hai’an using the contact information Liu Wuxie had given him.

“Let’s go take a look,” Liu Wuxie said, leading the group toward the top of the coffin.

A vast crowd of cultivators had gathered above, numbering in the tens of thousands, all staring at the center of the coffin in awe and apprehension.

Liu Wuxie’s arrival immediately drew attention. Nowadays, it would be difficult to find anyone unaware of Liu Wuxie’s name. Moreover, people had circulated his portrait far and wide.

“That’s Liu Wuxie! He’s here, too!” someone shouted.

A wave of murmurs and whispers swept through the area.

Anyone else would feel uneasy under the scrutiny of ten thousand eyes, but Liu Wuxie remained composed. His gaze locked on the center of the coffin.

Just as Jian Nan had described, there was a mysterious triangular gate at the top.

It was the first time Liu Wuxie had seen such a bizarrely shaped entrance.

“Brother Liu, long time no see!” A familiar voice called out.

“Brother Qiao!” Liu Wuxie turned with a smile.

He hadn’t expected to see Qiao Bian here.

Ever since they parted ways at the Sacred Ground, Liu Wuxie had been too preoccupied to visit the Dragon Emperor Academy and thank him for saving his life.

Nearly a year had passed since their last meeting, and Qiao Bian’s cultivation had advanced significantly. He was now nearing the pinnacle of the Earth Profound Realm.

Although Qiao Bian wasn’t a chosen one, his fortune was immense. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have progressed so quickly.

“I’m glad you made it out alive,” Qiao Bian said with a warm smile. “I visited the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, but they said you were away training. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

He visited the academy two months ago, but they still arrived at exactly the right time.

“I never got to thank you for what you did at the Sacred Ground,” Liu Wuxie said, stepping forward to embrace him. “This is a great opportunity for us to catch up.”

After returning to the Central Plains, Qiao Bian struggled emotionally and requested entry into the Dragon Emperor Academy’s forbidden zone. He went into seclusion for half a year, and upon emerging, he was already at the upper levels of the Earth Profound Realm.

The Dragon Emperor Academy’s forbidden ground wasn’t ordinary. It housed the remains of ancient elders.