Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1177 - Oppression
Chapter 1177 – Oppression
He Yingwu’s worry carried weight. Liu Wuxie’s bold and high-profile actions stirred jealousy, and if Li Shan returned with stronger allies, the situation could spiral out of control.
“It’s fine,” Liu Wuxie said, waving his hand casually. He knew He Yingwu meant well, but even if he explained his plans, He Yingwu would never truly grasp them. It was better to keep him in the dark than to add more worry.
By dusk, no one else dared provoke them. Other regions erupted into brutal battles where cultivators lost arms and legs.
Blood reeked through the valley, and its stench was so heavy that it made many feel nauseous. The cultivators fought until late at night before the battle finally subsided.
A cool breeze swept through the mountains, carrying distant beastly roars and shrouding the Dragon Expanse Mountain Range in eerie mystery.
Yet the valley blazed like day under countless bonfires, where groups of cultivators sat in hushed voices, speculating about this year’s Heavenly Dragon Sect assessment.
Unlike other sects, the Heavenly Dragon Sect ignored convention. While most forces tested only talent and aptitude, admitting those with high potential, the Heavenly Dragon Sect imposed further trials.
Only those who endured them would become disciples.
“Wuxie, what are you looking at?” He Yingwu asked, noticing him staring at the starry sky.
“Nothing,” Liu Wuxie replied, pulling his gaze back. He couldn’t reveal that he searched for the path to the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm. The universe was vast, and no one knew its true location.
“Wuxie,” He Yingwu pressed softly, “you carry heavy burdens. Is it more than opening the Astral Domain Path and saving your friend?”
Over the months, He Yingwu had tried many times to pry into Liu Wuxie’s secrets, but Liu Wuxie never revealed them.
“The path of an immortal stretches endlessly, and who knows where it ends?” Liu Wuxie sighed. Everyone carried a path in their hearts, and whoever reached the shore first claimed the title of immortal.
He Yingwu fell silent. The immortal path meant nothing to him. He was already content with the dream of escaping Anlu Star.
The night passed swiftly, and dawn broke over. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation. It was finally the day of the assessment.
Over the past three days, Liu Wuxie learned a lot about the sect. The Heavenly Dragon Sect comprised four great institutes—the War Dragon Institute, the Dharma Institute, the Spirit Sealing Institute, and the Heavenly Martial Institute.
The War Dragon Institute, the Dharma Institute, and the Heavenly Martial Institutes shared many similarities and accepted numerous disciples each year.
Only the Spirit Sealing Institute kept its recruitment methods mysterious and unpredictable. Some years, it admitted no one and instead chose disciples from other institutes or even from the outside world.
The Spirit Sealing Institute had the fewest disciples and shrouded itself in the most mysteries. Few in the outside world understood it, but Liu Wuxie knew that the Han Clan’s ancestor once came from the Spirit Sealing Institute.
The ancestor was dead, and people knew little else about him. Unlike the other three institutes, it had no rigid hierarchy of outer, inner, and true disciples.
People said only strength and qualifications mattered. This secrecy intrigued Liu Wuxie, and he resolved to uncover more about it if the chance came.
“Brother Li, are we just going to let the matter rest?” Ai Shan asked bitterly. Even after suffering ten strikes, he still clung to Li Shan, hoping for revenge against Liu Wuxie.
“Let it rest?” Li Shan’s laugh was cold, his grin venomous. “I’ll make him regret being born.”
His sinister expression spoke of a scheme already forming, and Ai Shan laughed beside him.
By late morning, silence fell over the valley. Based on the past years, the sect’s upper echelons would soon arrive to commence the assessment. Liu Wuxie ended his meditation, ensuring his body and spirit were at their peak.
He Yingwu, however, grew tense. He had searched the valley yesterday and realized that aside from the two of them, no one else was a Heaven Profound Realm expert.
“The weakest here stood at the first level of the Transcendent Realm. Heaven Profound cultivators lacked the strength and resources to make such a long journey, and it was no wonder none had appeared.
Now, he understood why no one had bothered provoking them the night before. In the eyes of the others, the Heavenly Dragon Sect itself would surely eliminate them before the trial even began.
Suddenly, suffocating pressure crashed from the sky and enveloped the valley like a tide.
“They’re coming!” Excitement rippled through the crowd as non-participants retreated to the valley’s edge, waiting for the spectacle.
Liu Wuxie raised his head. The oppressive aura rolled in like a tidal wave.
“No matter what happens, stay within three steps of me,” he warned He Yingwu. A heavy premonition told him that this year’s assessment would be far from ordinary.
He Yingwu nodded tightly, clinging to the hope that Liu Wuxie would once again defy all odds.
As if answering Liu Wuxie’s thoughts, three figures streaked across the heavens and hovered above the valley. The fact that they could fly freely in the astral domain marked them as Primal Origin Realm experts.
They shone like blazing suns, and their mere presence radiated an overwhelming might that pressed down on every living being. Even the strongest Transcendent Realm cultivators bowed involuntarily under the weight. Their spines bent, forcing their gazes to the ground.
The rumbling might of the Primal Origin Realm crushed the valley. Many of the weaker Transcendent Realm cultivators collapsed outright, unable to resist.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Dao Book unfolded and shielded Liu Wuxie.
He Yingwu nearly faltered; his dao heart teetered on the verge of collapse, but a soft light surrounded him, dispersing much of the weight and holding him upright.
Still, the pressure made more and more cultivators crumple. Those at higher levels of the Transcendent Realm could barely endure it. Those at the lower levels had already fallen in droves.
No one knew what was happening. The oppression struck them before the assessment even began and left them without the chance to speak.
Liu Wuxie raised his head again and saw three elders hovering in the sky. They released the suffocating aura.
“It’s him!” Liu Wuxie’s eyes widened as he focused on the elder at the center.
“Who?” He Yingwu asked, straining to see.
They spoke in low voices, audible only to each other.
“The one who saved us,” Liu Wuxie whispered, offering no further explanation.
Even so, He Yingwu understood. Only one man had ever saved them since they arrived in the Astral Domain—the old man who shared the teleportation array with them to the Indigo Bamboo Star.
The pressure continued to intensify. In mere minutes, one-third of the participants failed to endure. Some clutched their heads in agony, others slumped to the ground, while more sat in defeat, drenched in sweat.
Yet, most still clung on, trembling and pale, their clothes soaked through. A handful, however, remained unshaken, standing tall beneath the oppression.
The three elders closely watched them and noted every reaction.
“This is strange,” the southern elder murmured, fixing his gaze on Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu. “How are cultivators at the Heaven Profound Realm enduring our oppression?”
Everyone else present stood at the Transcendent Realm or higher, yet these two, mere Heaven Profound cultivators, still stood their ground.
“It’s them?” The elder in the center smiled meaningfully when his eyes settled on Liu Wuxie.
“You recognize them, Elder Ding?” asked the southern elder, surprised.
“We’ve met,” Elder Ding said calmly. “But I never thought they would travel so far just to take the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s assessment.”
He knew well that they had come from the distant Laman Astral Domain.
“This is absurd!” scoffed the northern elder, shaking his head. “In all history, there has never been a Heaven Profound Realm participant.”
In the past, even the weakest had been at the Transcendent Realm, with some contenders reaching the Origin Conversion Realm.
“Who decreed that the Transcendent Realm must always surpass the Heaven Profound Realm?” Elder Ding countered with a faint smile. “Look—many Transcendent cultivators already lie broken, yet those two are still standing.”
Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu had endured the crushing pressure of the super teleportation array. If they lacked strength, they would have died even with his help.
Now, even though many Transcendent cultivators collapsed, Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu still stood unscathed.
“So Elder Ding intends to open a back door for them?” the northern elder asked, though his tone carried curiosity rather than scorn.
“No,” Elder Ding replied evenly. “I simply wish to grant them a fair chance.”
Everyone knew his reputation for impartiality, and he would not tarnish it. Since Liu Wuxie had come here for the assessment, he deserved the opportunity.
“I won’t object if they can last five minutes,” the southern elder declared. “Only those at higher levels of the Transcendent Realm can endure that long.
“If those two truly possess such talent, then they will prove it. Otherwise, they will remain mediocre, even if admitted.”
The northern elder nodded slowly in tacit agreement. There was no rule barring Heaven Profound cultivators from participating. However, no one had ever thought that it was possible in the first place.
