Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1117 - Avici Hell
Chapter 1117 – Avici Hell
The crowd immediately grasped Bai Wensheng’s explanation.
“That explains it! I knew something was off when he disappeared and reappeared just a few breaths later. He must’ve tampered with the war blade back then,” exclaimed one of the cultivators who stood close to Liu Wuxie earlier. He slapped his thigh in realization.
Liu Wuxie told them that he had gone to relieve himself. No one doubted him at the time, but now, they found the excuse laughable. How could a cultivator at the Earth Profound Realm still need to relieve himself? Liu Wuxie had lied to them.
“So Liu Wuxie must still be nearby, hiding inside the spiritual array,” a Quasi-Heaven Profound Realm expert said with a frown.
If Bai Wensheng’s theory was true, Liu Wuxie hadn’t gone far. He had to be using the arrays to conceal his presence.
“Exactly! He has to be close!” Bai Wensheng agreed with a nod. “If we search carefully, we should be able to find him.”
Unbeknownst to them, Liu Wuxie heard their every word. He hadn’t expected them to uncover the heavenly coffin’s secrets so soon.
“Let’s start searching. I refuse to believe we can’t find him,” said one cultivator with excitement, and the others echoed in agreement.
Just like that, the search for Liu Wuxie began.
They believed they would uncover clues. After all, several grandmasters of spiritual arrays were present. Someone was bound to find something. More than a hundred cultivators scoured the area, creating a daunting scene.
They tore through the terrain without hesitation, and their weapons flashed as they destroyed everything in sight.
However, Liu Wuxie remained calm. He was confident they wouldn’t find him anytime soon.
Half a day passed before anyone realized it. They overturned kilometers of ground, but they failed to find any trace of Liu Wuxie.
Some suspected that he had already escaped, and that they were wasting their time. After all, treasures appeared daily within the coffin’s inner space. Remaining here could cost them dearly.
Even if they found Liu Wuxie, Ji Yuzhen would take the war blade; the war blade wouldn’t belong to them. That thought alone drove many cultivators to abandon their search and seek better opportunities.
In the blink of an eye, the hundred-strong crowd dwindled to only a handful. Aside from a few curious onlookers, most had moved on.
Bai Wensheng glanced at Ji Yuzhen, shook his head, and left as well.
“Liu Wuxie, I know you’re listening. Hand over the war blade, and I’ll spare your life. I, Ji Yuzhen, always keep my word,” Ji Yuzhen said aloud.
Silence greeted him. Liu Wuxie didn’t respond, as he was too busy studying the war blade.
“What a terrifying reservoir of faith energy,” Liu Wuxie murmured with a grin.
Ji Yuzhen no longer concerned him. Instead, he began devouring the blade’s stored faith energy. Though it didn’t push him to a breakthrough, the faith pool in his soul sea grew steadily. The energy grew purer and more refined.
The Conversion Art was formidable. If he developed it further, he could even convert Heaven Profound Realm experts into his devotees. If he converted a cultivator like that into a puppet, the True Martial Continent would fall before him.
Two days slipped by unnoticed. Every other cultivator had left, and only Ji Yuzhen remained.
Ji Yuzhen still bore the scar on his left cheek, and it was likely because he had chosen to keep it.
After reaching the Heaven Profound Realm, a cultivator could regrow limbs, so healing a mere scar would take no effort, but Ji Yuzhen had decided to keep it as a reminder of his deepest humiliation since his rise.
What followed was a silent stalemate. Liu Wuxie calmly absorbed the faith energy, while Ji Yuzhen stood outside.
The cold wind swept across his face as he muttered, “Liu Wuxie, I’ll remember you. You’ll pay dearly for this.”
He couldn’t wait any longer. There were other treasures within this space, and wasting time here would cost him his future cultivation.
When another treasure beam flared in the distant sky, Ji Yuzhen turned and walked away.
Watching him disappear into the distance, Liu Wuxie emerged from hiding and flew in the opposite direction.
He needed a safe place to refine the war blade and upgrade the Heretic Blade.
If he could absorb the laws within the heaven-spirit artifact, he could break through to the third level of the Earth Profound Realm.
He knew Ji Yuzhen hadn’t spoken in vain. Retaliation would come eventually, but Liu Wuxie didn’t care. Even without the war blade, fate had already bound them to conflict. The war blade merely ignited the flames early.
Fights erupted daily in this world. Nearly half of the cultivators who entered the heavenly coffin had already perished. At this rate, few would survive.
Just as Liu Wuxie had predicted, less than one-tenth would make it out alive.
After a long flight, Liu Wuxie finally found a safe location, a forest blanketed in poisonous miasma.
Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare set foot here, but the poison did not affect Liu Wuxie. It served as a natural barrier instead.
The miasma teemed with toxins. Liu Wuxie slipped into a hollow tree trunk and brought out the war blade.
Its aura radiated too powerfully, so he sealed part of its energy.
His plan was simple. He would absorb the faith energy, strip the laws, and then reforge the Heretic Blade.
Since time laws didn’t exist within the coffin, no time had likely passed outside, even though it had almost been a month since they entered.
The war blade had gathered centuries of faith energy, and it had condensed into a shimmering lake.
“Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron—absorb,” Liu Wuxie commanded.
Only after confirming that he was safe did he begin refining the energy.
His evolved Desolate Devouring Art doubled his refining speed. Faith energy wasn’t like droplets or tangible matter. It was invisible, an unseen force floating through space like air.
As he absorbed it, the faith pool within his soul sea expanded once more.
“If I meet Chen Shan again, I’ll convert him with ease,” Liu Wuxie thought.
But it was a pity—Chen Shan was already dead.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, several days went by.
The forest shrouded in poison miasma remained undisturbed.
Five days later, Liu Wuxie devoured every last drop of faith energy from the war blade. He closed his eyes and began to process the transformation within him. His soul sea felt clearer and more vivid than ever before.
When he looked up, an invisible fortune surged over him, deepening his bond with the world and the inner space of the heavenly coffin.
Sincere worship from the native cultivators had unleashed this powerful energy of devotion.
“No wonder cultivators build followings once they grow strong enough. It’s all to harvest faith and devotion,” Liu Wuxie murmured.
The war blade, now drained of faith energy, had lost its former brilliance and luster.
“Time to ascend to the third level of the Earth Profound Realm.”
The blade still contained powerful laws of the Heaven Profound Realm, and a single strand alone could push him to the next level.
“Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron—begin!” Liu Wuxie commanded as he activated the cauldron to strip the laws within the blade.
Massive chains of law coiled deep inside the blade like thick strands. However, no matter what he tried, he was unable to extract them.
“These laws are monstrous,” Liu Wuxie muttered, eyes locked on the war blade.
He had seen Heaven Profound Realm laws before, but never anything like this. It proved that this weapon wasn’t originally just a heaven-spirit artifact—it had fallen in rank only after being damaged.
After several attempts, Liu Wuxie discovered that even the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron couldn’t shake the laws loose.
At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to extract even a single strand in a year. Frustrated, he slumped to the ground. Without those laws, he couldn’t reforge the Heretic Blade.
“If nothing else works, I’ll have to wait until I’m stronger,” he said, sighing.
Danger filled the heavenly coffin’s internal space, and no one could locate the exit until someone found the altar.
Suddenly, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron trembled, leaking a dark demonic aura. A phantom of the Avici Hell surged from within, trying to break free.
“Could the Avici Hell tear away Heaven Profound Realm laws?” Liu Wuxie whispered, stunned.
He had yet to understand the effects of the Avici Hell sealed within the cauldron. Other than increasing devouring speed, it offered few benefits. Even the Demonic Purgatory Chains felt more practical.
Without hesitation, he tossed the war blade into the air.
“Avici Hell—suppress!” he roared.
A terrifying hellscape materialized before him. Darkness enveloped the forest as a boundless, demonic aura erupted, transforming everything into a living nightmare.
When the Avici Hell descended, the war blade trembled. The laws inside cracked and unraveled.
“What a terrifying crushing force… it’s reached the level of a domain,” Liu Wuxie exclaimed.
Even the experts of the Profound Heaven Realm struggled to comprehend the domains. Yet the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron manifested one.
The Avici Hell wasn’t just a world; it was a domain. The suppressive power of a domain could even shatter an actual heaven-spirit artifact.
The war blade fractured, and Liu Wuxie activated the Desolate Devouring Art. A strand of law rose into the air. The Avici Hell sucked the energy from the desolate world so fast that the sky paled to gray in a single breath.
“The consumption rate is monstrous,” Liu Wuxie gasped.
The first time he summoned the Avici Hell, it nearly killed him by draining almost all his true essence.
