Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1243 - Revealing Everything
Chapter 1243 – Revealing Everything
After Elder Long finished speaking, he stepped into the palace. The door groaned open, releasing a gust of decay laced with an ancient aura that swept outward to meet them.
Liu Wuxie followed closely, crossing the threshold into a vast hall. Though countless years had passed, he still discerned faint outlines of the hall’s former splendor. Artisans had forged the stone walls from rare materials, and they built the hall vast enough to hold tens of thousands of people.
Liu Wuxie frowned; the place felt oddly familiar, though he could not say why. It did not feel like a palace intended for ordinary human residence; no one would build such a colossal dwelling casually. Even the four towering pillars bore strange engraved patterns.
“Go on, where did you get your token?” Elder Long asked, stopping in the center of the hall. He did not venture deeper. The gates shut behind them, and the chamber shone as bright as day. The ceiling consisted of Qin white jade, a rare material that absorbed daylight and released a gentle glow at night.
The jade’s faint radiance illuminated the hall, casting an otherworldly sheen. For a moment, Liu Wuxie felt as if he’d stepped into another realm, cut off from the outside world.
Only those who possessed the token could enter this palace. The materials impressed, but the actual value lay in the engravings. Immortal runes laced the stone and sealed the place so securely that anyone short of an immortal could not force entry. No wonder Elder Long had chosen this palace, and he could speak here without fear of any eavesdroppers.
“Elder Long, I have a cautious request before I begin,” Liu Wuxie said, bowing deeply. This matter concerned the lives of everyone on the True Martial Continent, perhaps even its destruction. It explained why he remained silent since arriving in the astral domain; he dared not speak without certainty.
“Speak,” Elder Long urged, his tone firm. “What do you want me to do?”
“What I’m about to reveal is too important,” Liu Wuxie replied. “I hope you will promise to keep it secret and that no one else will hear it unless necessary.” He was not yet sure whether Elder Long would help; if not, he at least sought the elder’s silence.
If Elder Long chose to support him, the elder could act as the bridge Liu Wuxie needed to reach the sect’s upper echelons. However, Liu Wuxie kept his hopes guarded; to many cultivators in the astral domain, people from the True Martial Continent were insignificant, like ants. Who would risk crafting an Astral Domain Path for such beings?
This was why he had worked tirelessly to display his talent, to prove the True Martial Continent was not as insignificant as others assumed.
“You have my word,” Elder Long said after a pause, his voice carrying unshakable weight. Once he gave his word, it would not bend, not even if the sky fell.
“I come from a place called the True Martial Continent. I am not native to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain,” Liu Wuxie confessed, drawing a deep breath.
Elder Long’s brow furrowed. In all his years, he had never heard that name.
“The True Martial Continent?” Elder Long echoed. To him, worlds were stars, not continents.
“The True Martial Continent has a history tied to the Heavenly Dragon Sect,” Liu Wuxie explained. “During an ancient battle, an entire mountain range broke away and drifted into the void. That fragment became the seed of the True Martial Continent.”
He did not know the battle’s details, but he knew only an immortal-level force could have severed a mountain range. Void Realm cultivators could shift mountains and fill seas, but they could not sever an entire range.
“What?!” Elder Long staggered as if struck; he nearly fell to the ground.
“Elder Long, are you all right?” Liu Wuxie asked. The elder’s sudden change in expression startled him. Could there be some hidden truths about that battle?
“I’m fine. Continue,” Elder Long said, steadying himself with a long breath; Liu Wuxie’s words still resonated in his mind.
Liu Wuxie nodded. “Many humans vanished with that mountain range. They survived, multiplied, and over time the True Martial Continent took shape…”
He spent two hours recounting the history of the True Martial Continent; Elder Long listened in silence without interrupting. Only when Liu Wuxie finished explaining how he had entered the Astral Domain to save his homeland did the elder exhale a long, heavy breath.
“This involves too much,” Elder Long said gravely. “I must inform the upper echelons. The Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy and the Dragon Emperor Academy are branches tied to our Heavenly Dragon Sect; they are our descendants. We cannot allow them to be erased.”
He spoke with conviction. Those ancestors had once been disciples, perhaps even members of the sect’s higher echelons. They guided humanity to survive on the True Martial Continent, cultivating greatness for hundreds of thousands of years.
They were the pride of mankind; losing them to oblivion would be a crime. They deserved to return home to the Astral Domain, like fallen leaves returning to their roots.
“Elder Long, is building an Astral Domain Path difficult?” Liu Wuxie asked, a rare smile breaking through. Relief eased the burden he had carried for three months in the astral domain; with Elder Long’s support, the path suddenly seemed possible.
“You mentioned the Spirit Jade Pavilion earlier. Are you certain it has ties to the Ling Qiong Clan?” Elder Long asked, shifting the subject.
Earlier, Han Shanzi told Liu Wuxie that the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, the Dragon Emperor Academy, the Han Clan, and the Spirit Jade Pavilion all traced their origins to the astral domain, which was why Liu Wuxie raised the point now. Those four clans and other sects were relative newcomers, with histories measured in tens of thousands of years.
“I am not certain,” Liu Wuxie admitted. “But when I killed Ling Qiong, he used a secret technique to flee with his primordial spirit. I suspect he returned to the astral domain.”
“The Ling Qiong Clan…” Elder Long muttered, frowning as he walked the length of the hall.
Liu Wuxie did not interrupt; his curiosity about the Ling Qiong Clan grew as Elder Long’s expression darkened.
The elder paced for nearly fifteen minutes before he stopped. “Opening an Astral Domain Path is not easy, and only immortals can do it. A few reclusive grand elders once reached the Immortal Realm, but they vanished into the depths of the cosmos long ago.
“Even the sect master has only brushed the threshold of the Immortal Realm; he has not crossed it.”
He revealed the truth rather than hiding it. The grand elders had disappeared into the cosmos to seek higher comprehension; even if the sect faced annihilation, there was no guarantee they would return. Remaining in the Astral Domain could expose their immortal auras and trigger an involuntary ascension, forcing them into the Celestial Realm whether they wished it or not.
Liu Wuxie now understood their dilemma: in the Astral Domain, they could remain apex beings; in the Celestial Realm, they would be vulnerable and hunted, starting from the bottom.
Only those who reached the Immortal King Realm could stand securely there.
He understood why Ling Qiong had sought his death—if an Astral Domain Path reconnected the True Martial Continent, Ling Qiong’s isolated status would collapse. Ling Qiong preferred to remain an apex being in exile rather than start over in the Astral Domain.
Elder Long’s words wiped away Liu Wuxie’s brief smile. If only immortals could establish such a path, did he truly have no chance of success? Would he be forced to watch his homeland vanish?
He knew the immortals would not risk exposing their auras to construct a teleportation array for him, and it might summon them into the celestial realm.
“Elder Long, is there no other way? At least let me return to the True Martial Continent,” Liu Wuxie pressed after a moment’s thought.
If he could not rely on others, he would depend on himself. His top priority remained saving Han Feizi. The True Martial Continent had ten years left; within that span, he would strive for the Immortal Realm and, if necessary, carve the path himself.
“There is one way,” Elder Long said slowly. “I can petition the sect master. He might forcibly rend a rift in the Astral Domain so you can return.”
Liu Wuxie nodded, relief flickering. It was at least a chance. He vowed to pay any price to save Han Feizi, and even if he perished with the True Martial Continent, he would have no regrets.
“Elder Long, is there any way I can obtain a stalk of Dragon Origin Herb?” Liu Wuxie asked. Only that herb could save Han Feizi’s life.
“Why do you need it?” Elder Long asked, still absorbing Liu Wuxie’s revelations.
“A friend nearly died because of me. Only the Dragon Origin Herb can save him. He descends from the Spirit Sealing Institute’s Han Clan, which is another reason I entered the astral domain,” Liu Wuxie replied.
“What? The Han Clan?” Elder Long exclaimed, gripping Liu Wuxie’s shoulders in sudden shock.
“Yes. The Han Clan,” Liu Wuxie confirmed.
“If that is true,” Elder Long said with a faint, chilling smile, “Then perhaps we do not need to open an Astral Domain Path to bring the True Martial Continent home.”
The smile sent a chill down Liu Wuxie’s spine.
“Is there another way?” Liu Wuxie asked. Striving for the Immortal Realm within a decade felt impossible; he feared the True Martial Continent wouldn’t survive that long. If there were another path, it would spare him from a desperate gamble.
