Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1251 - Ancient Desolate Divine Physique
Chapter 1251 – Ancient Desolate Divine Physique
The Old Blindie could no longer keep his composure. His granddaughter was his only remaining kin, and if anything happened to her, he would have no reason left to continue living.
Though Elder Long had never spoken of Old Blindie’s past, Liu Wuxie could sense that he carried a heavy history. Still, Liu Wuxie had no habit of prying into another’s privacy.
“Ancestral reversions are extremely rare, and they cannot be treated with spiritual pills alone. I imagine you know this better than I do,” Liu Wuxie said. He could feel the old man’s heartbeat quicken, but he refrained from revealing his solution too soon. Instead, he deliberately stoked Old Blindie’s anticipation, employing the careful tactic of feint and restraint.
Old Blindie nodded slightly. He had long been willing to sacrifice his life for his granddaughter, yet her rare constitution left her little different from an ordinary mortal. Her frail body failed to withstand the impact of spiritual pills. At most, he soaked the pills in warm water and let her drink them, barely sustaining her life.
The laws in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain were harsh and made it difficult for mortals to survive. The only reason Old Blindie chose to remain in Mount Dragon City was that the dragon vein here eased the pressure on mortals.
“If you can cure Xiao Luo, my life is yours,” Old Blindie declared, his voice low and resolute.
Since Elder Long had recommended Liu Wuxie, he could not be ordinary; Old Blindie had already sensed as much. The aura radiating from Liu Wuxie alone would cause most cultivators to bow to their knees.
Yet, Liu Wuxie’s calm remained unshaken even under the oppressive presence of a Void Realm pinnacle expert.
Xiao Luo, his granddaughter, was the one person tethering him to the world. For years, the two had been relying on each other, living a simple but hard life.
“I’m at ease now with your promise,” Liu Wuxie said. “Treating an ancestral reversion doesn’t rely on spiritual pills alone; it requires adapting to the physique itself.”
He had been waiting for Old Blindie’s oath. At such a cultivation level, the heavens recorded words; cultivators could not take oaths lightly. Once cultivators spoke them, they never broke them.
“And how do we do that?” Old Blindie asked, unable to hide the excitement on his face. He had waited far too long for this chance.
“May I examine Xiao Luo’s body more closely first?” Liu Wuxie asked. He dared not make any promises until he had thoroughly confirmed her condition.
Ancestral reversions were rare in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain but relatively more common in the Celestial Realm, where countless predecessors developed specialized cultivation methods. Yet the types of reversion varied, and Liu Wuxie had to be certain before deciding—one mistake could cost Old Blindie his life.
“Come with me,” Old Blindie said, leaving the main hall and stepping into the courtyard.
Liu Wuxie followed without protest. A delay of a day or two meant little; if he could secure Old Blindie’s aid, he could realize his plans in Mount Dragon City within a month.
In the east room, Liu Wuxie paused outside and waited. After several minutes, Old Blindie emerged with Xiao Luo. Years of searching for doctors had made her temperament older than her years, though her small, thin frame betrayed her fragility.
When she looked up at Liu Wuxie, a flicker of hope shone in her eyes. Her grandfather had just told her this young man could probably help her, and more than anything, she wanted to ease her grandfather’s endless worry.
Old Blindie stepped aside and gestured for Liu Wuxie to examine her.
“You’re called Xiao Luo, right?” Liu Wuxie asked gently, crouching to meet her gaze.
Xiao Luo, though thirteen or fourteen, stood shorter than her peers; her constitution had severely hindered her growth.
“Okay,” Xiao Luo answered softly, her voice tinged with shyness. This was her first close encounter with a stranger; in the past, every physician her grandfather sought had been cold and detached, forcing even Old Blindie to speak to them in deferential tones.
“Don’t be afraid,” Liu Wuxie reassured her. “If you can cultivate, your physique may one day surpass ordinary cultivators. I will find a way to help you.”
He spoke as he activated his Ghost Eye, using conversation to keep her relaxed and prevent pressure from building. With care, he examined every inch of her body. Soon, the results began to appear in the Heavenly Dao Book, which meticulously recorded her physique and converted it into complex sequences across its pages.
“Give me two hours,” Liu Wuxie said, withdrawing his Ghost Eye and closing his eyes to organize the revelations.
He had studied several cultivation methods tailored for ancestral reversion, but none seemed ideal for Xiao Luo. Her condition far surpassed most; her bloodline carried the Ancient Desolate Divine Physique, no weaker than his own True Dragon Physique.
He could hardly believe he had stumbled upon such a once-in-a-thousand-years constitution. The Heavenly Dao Book rapidly analyzed her physique and flooded his mind with techniques suited for her.
Old Blindie remained silent, watching with taut patience as He Yingwu stood nearby and Xiao Luo rested quietly in her grandfather’s arms.
Time flowed slowly as strands of law wove around Liu Wuxie’s body. Old Blindie, despite his vast experience, had never seen such a sight. Liu Wuxie no longer seemed fully human but like a living book with pages turning in unseen hands; faintly, the sound of flipping echoed through the courtyard.
He Yingwu had long since grown numb to Liu Wuxie’s peculiarities, but for Old Blindie, the wait tormented him. Liu Wuxie had rekindled a fragile hope he thought long dead, and each moment stretched into an eternity.
For Liu Wuxie, two hours passed like a blink. When he opened his eyes, profound comprehension shimmered in his pupils.
Old Blindie’s expression faltered. For an instant, he even wondered whether Liu Wuxie was truly a man in his twenties or an ancient being who had lived countless ages.
“How is it?” he asked, his voice unsteady.
“Perfect,” Liu Wuxie replied; it was the only word that could capture the depth of what he felt.
He beckoned Xiao Luo closer as golden radiance shimmered across the pages of the Heavenly Dao Book. Even he felt breathless at the profundity of the cultivation art it revealed. While not as boundless as the Desolate Devouring Art, it ranked among the finest divine arts and fit the ancestral-reversion physique flawlessly.
Xiao Luo glanced at her grandfather; when he gave a solemn nod, she stepped toward Liu Wuxie.
“Calm your mind. I’ll imprint a set of memories into your soul. The process will be painful, but it will soon pass,” Liu Wuxie said gently.
“I’m not afraid,” Xiao Luo answered, her face firm with resolve. Years of hardship had tempered her beyond her years; a little pain was nothing to her.
Liu Wuxie placed a hand on her head, then looked toward Old Blindie. At the old man’s nod, he formed seals and released a golden imprint from the Heavenly Dao Book; the light shot into Xiao Luo’s upper dantian.
After about half a minute, pain surfaced on Xiao Luo’s face. She was only a mortal, and forcing foreign memories into her soul sea tormented her beyond words.
The agony clawed through her mind—heart-wrenching enough to make anyone wish for death. Yet she clenched her teeth and endured, determined not to trouble her grandfather.
“Xiao Luo, sit cross-legged and cultivate according to the technique I transmitted to you,” Liu Wuxie instructed. He was certain Old Blindie had already taught her the basics of cultivation.
His assumption proved right; Xiao Luo had secretly tried to cultivate before, but she failed.
She lowered herself onto the meditation mat in the courtyard and followed the technique Liu Wuxie had given her. The moment she began, the air shifted, and the branches of the fruit tree rustled as if stirred by an unseen wind.
Sensing something amiss, Old Blindie silently gathered his strength. If anything went wrong with Xiao Luo, he would strike Liu Wuxie down without hesitation.
Though the movement of spiritual energy was subtle at first, its density steadily increased. Even He Yingwu felt it and leapt to his feet in alarm. For an expert like Old Blindie, the change was unmistakable—the atmospheric spiritual energy itself had become restless.
Streams of energy surged and converged toward Xiao Luo, a phenomenon she had never experienced.
Light flickered in Old Blindie’s hollow sockets as though his lifeless eyes had found hope again. With a low hum, a wisp of spiritual energy slipped into Xiao Luo. At once, she broke through and stepped into the True Profound Realm, faint ripples spreading through the courtyard.
On the True Martial Continent, the True Profound Realm marked strength—children there could sometimes reach it by age three. For Xiao Luo, however, this breakthrough was monumental, as it meant she could finally cultivate and draw spiritual energy into herself.
Almost instantly, her cultivation advanced further; in less than a minute, she climbed from the True Profound Realm to the Spirit Profound Realm.
Her progress did not stop. Old Blindie’s expression shifted wildly as he watched her rise; tears rolled freely down his weathered face when Xiao Luo pushed through again and reached the Heaven Profound Realm.
An hour passed before she finally stabilized her cultivation. She now stood at the pinnacle of the Heaven Profound Realm, a single step from the Transcendent Realm. Soon, she would truly become a cultivator.
Xiao Luo swayed to her feet in disbelief, as though caught in a dream; the reality of her transformation had not yet sunk in.
Liu Wuxie remained calm, but He Yingwu slumped into a chair, stunned beyond words. Even Old Blindie stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance.
“Grandfather, what’s wrong?” Xiao Luo asked, puzzled by the shock written on her grandfather’s face.
