Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1250 - Bloodline Reversion
Chapter 1250 – Bloodline Reversion
Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu threaded through several streets until they reached the edge of Eastern Street. The district sprawled for miles, and finding one man in that expanse felt like hunting for a needle in the ocean. Elder Long had given them only a vague clue about his friend, so the search seemed hopeless.
“Sorry to bother you, but do you know where Old Blindie lives?” Liu Wuxie asked, stopping an old woman along the road.
“Old Blindie?” the woman replied. “He lives in the tattered courtyard at the far end—keep walking straight and you’ll see it.”
She pointed toward the distant edge of the street.
They thanked her and quickened their pace. After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the far end of Eastern Street, where a crumbling courtyard stood alone.
“This should be the place,” Liu Wuxie muttered. Beyond this gate, they would leave Eastern Street entirely.
He Yingwu hurried forward and knocked on the warped wooden door. Crisp thuds echoed into the courtyard’s depths.
“Is anyone here?” he called. Silence stretched on; no one answered.
“Could he be out?” Liu Wuxie wondered, frowning.
Just as they prepared to leave, the door creaked open. A ragged old man shuffled out, leaning on a cane. He appeared blind; his eye sockets lay hollow, as if someone had gouged his eyes away.
“Who are you looking for?” the old man rasped. Though sightless, his presence told Liu Wuxie the man was not truly helpless.
A powerful aura rolled off him and stunned Liu Wuxie—the man had reached the pinnacle of the Void Realm. At that level, one could regenerate lost body parts, even eyes—so why had he chosen to remain blind?
“Junior Liu Wuxie pays his respects, Senior,” Liu Wuxie said with a bow. He knew he and He Yingwu could not carry out their plans in Mount Dragon City alone; with Old Blindie’s help, their chances would soar.
“I don’t know you,” Old Blindie replied flatly after searching his memory. He moved to close the gate without hesitation, not even offering them entry.
“Elder Long sent me to find you,” Liu Wuxie said quickly, stepping forward to keep the gate open.
At the mention of Elder Long, Old Blindie froze. His hollow sockets turned toward Liu Wuxie, and though empty, they pressed down with the weight of keen divine senses.
Liu Wuxie felt as if invisible blades pierced him. Old Blindie was probably the strongest cultivator he had ever encountered.
Elder Long was powerful, but rarely displayed his full strength. Old Blindie radiated a different sort of pressure —a suffocating darkness that made lingering feel dangerous, as if the night itself might swallow one whole.
“Long Shan…” Old Blindie murmured.
“That’s right,” Liu Wuxie nodded. Long Shan was the given name of Elder Long.
“Come in,” Old Blindie said at last, swinging the gate open.
“Many thanks, Senior,” Liu Wuxie replied, and he and He Yingwu stepped inside.
The courtyard proved even more dilapidated up close. It was small and barely habitable. In its center grew a fruit tree heavy with ordinary fruit—edible enough, but only mortal fare.
For cultivators, such fare carried impurities. Liu Wuxie relied on fasting pills; food like that offered no benefit and could even harm a cultivator. In the Void Realm, one did not need to eat, so the tree’s presence suggested survival, not cultivation.
The east room bore a gaping hole in its wall, unrepaired for years. The western room looked no better, and the central hall’s walls had blackened with age.
“Grandfather, do we have guests?” a girl of thirteen or fourteen cried as she ran from the east room. Her hair hung in simple braids, and her frame was thin.
Liu Wuxie immediately noticed something odd. He sensed no spiritual energy from her—she was a mortal. That was strange, since even servants in the astral domain usually carried some cultivation. Her existence alone felt anomalous.
Startled, the girl darted behind Old Blindie. To Liu Wuxie’s surprise, the old man’s cold demeanor softened; he cupped her head and showed an unexpectedly gentle tenderness. The contrast was striking.
When Liu Wuxie’s gaze lingered on the girl, his brows tightened.
“An innate ancestral-pulse constitution,” he murmured under his breath. It was a rare physique, a reversion of ancestral bloodlines.
Long ago, before humanity learned formal cultivation, such bloodlines had surfaced. After eons, they vanished; even then, these physiques were rare. Yet here one stood before him.
“Go prepare food. I have guests today; I’ll join you later,” Old Blindie said softly.
The girl cast a nervous glance at Liu Wuxie, then darted back into the room.
“Come with me,” Old Blindie said, his face hardening again.
“You stay here,” Liu Wuxie told He Yingwu. Then, he followed Old Blindie deeper into the courtyard. The furnishings were sparse, only a few aged tables and chairs. Old Blindie took the central seat and motioned for Liu Wuxie to sit.
“What do you want?” he asked bluntly. The courtyard had seen little company in years; he had no patience for idle talk.
“For the next month, I have plans that require your assistance,” Liu Wuxie said honestly.
“Say no more. I won’t agree—even if Long Shan himself asked,” Old Blindie interrupted coldly.
Liu Wuxie knew no resources could buy this expert. His only treasure was Wisdom Stones, and their effects lessened beyond the Void Realm. Astral stones held no weight here; Void Realm cultivators drew pure yang energy directly from the air and refined it into Pure Yang Pills, far more potent than astral stones.
He never expected Old Blindie to refuse so decisively.
“I would not ask without offering something in return. If my plan succeeds, Senior will reap great benefits,” Liu Wuxie pressed after steadying himself. His entire future, his chance to reach the higher levels of the Origin Conversion Realm within a month, hinged on Old Blindie’s help.
“Say no more. Go back and tell Long Shan not to send just anyone my way. Leave now,” Old Blindie said. He showed no interest in Liu Wuxie’s recent accomplishments.
In Old Blindie’s eyes, Liu Wuxie stood merely at the Transcendent Realm; that cultivation barely qualified him even to guard small clans. The conversation stalled. Old Blindie’s resolve hardened to stone; nothing Liu Wuxie said could sway him.
If not for Elder Long’s name, he would have already thrown them out. The air grew heavier with each passing moment, suffused with a sense of rejection.
“What if I can treat your granddaughter’s ancestral reversion? Would you help me then?” Liu Wuxie finally asked, eyes drifting toward the east room. He hated to press another’s wound, but desperation pushed the words out.
Old Blindie reacted instantly. In one motion, he seized Liu Wuxie and lifted him off the ground. Liu Wuxie dangled and could not resist. He had underestimated the old man’s strength. Though people called him blind, Old Blindie wielded a Void Realm expert’s prowess, and differences within that realm yawned like chasms.
He Yingwu drew his longsword and moved to intervene, but Liu Wuxie signaled him to stand down. He stayed calm in the old man’s grip, knowing Old Blindie needed a moment to absorb what he had heard.
Murderous intent burst from Old Blindie with such force that his hair whipped in the air. The suffocating aura shook the courtyard. Alarmed, the little girl ran from the east room, tears streaking her cheeks.
“Grandfather, please don’t kill anyone anymore!” she cried, clutching his sleeve. Her plea confirmed Liu Wuxie’s suspicion that Old Blindie had slain many over the years. Whenever he took her outside, people would mock them, calling him a blind cripple and her useless, as she was devoid of cultivation. None of those mockers had lived to repeat their words.
Since then, the girl had been refusing to leave the courtyard, terrified of provoking another death. Old Blindie could have regenerated his eyes long ago, but he had chosen blindness, unable to face his granddaughter’s pain.
“You’ve crossed my bottom line,” Old Blindie said coldly as he set Liu Wuxie back on his feet. The murderous aura did not ease. “If you don’t explain yourself now, you will face the consequences.”
The girl, relieved that her grandfather spared Liu Wuxie, lingered a moment before slipping back into her room. He Yingwu exhaled and lowered his blade, though tension clung to him. Liu Wuxie remained composed, as if events had unfolded exactly as he had planned.
“Your granddaughter carries a rare ancestral-reversion bloodline,” Liu Wuxie said steadily. “I believe you’ve tried every possible method to cure it over the years.”
The words hit Old Blindie like thunder. He spent decades searching—consulting healers, poring over rare texts, exhausting every avenue. Only one person had identified his granddaughter’s condition before; when Liu Wuxie named it at a glance, he could not ignore it.
“What are you saying?” Old Blindie asked, disbelief thick in his voice. Deep down, however, a fragile hope flickered. He knew what awaited his granddaughter if she could not cultivate—she would age and die like any other mortal. Though he had been sustaining her with rare medicines, a mortal lifespan remained a blink compared to a cultivator’s years.
