Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1414 - Mockery

Chapter 1414 – Mockery

Liu Wuxie’s voice didn’t carry far on its own, yet it spread across thousands of miles. The entire Auspicious Cloud Hall functioned as a spiritual array, and if the Heavenly Dragon Sect ever faced a foreign invasion, the hall could immediately serve as the array’s core. With the array’s support, even a soft voice could reach every ear present.

Yi Shanhe sank into contemplation as Liu Wuxie’s answer echoed again and again in his soul sea. Threads of enlightenment surfaced in his heart, and many experts at the summit turned their gazes toward Liu Wuxie, eager to see him clearly. Even cultivators at the Heaven Gaze Realm could not have offered a more concise answer.

“What an exquisite reply. I can feel the cultivation stirring, and I seem to have grasped something,” exclaimed an Earth Immortal as he stood abruptly. His aura surged, and right before everyone’s eyes, he broke through on the spot, stepping into the fourth-level Earth Immortal Realm.

All of that came from a single, short answer from Liu Wuxie. Even Hua Feiyu couldn’t help the flicker of shock that passed through his eyes as he finally realized he had still underestimated his disciple. When he first proposed taking Liu Wuxie in, everyone knew it was primarily to grant him protective status.

More and more people began to ponder Liu Wuxie’s words, and the deeper they delved, the more profound they found them. Their view of Liu Wuxie shifted almost instantly.

Jian Yiming remained seated without moving, but Pei Hong frowned, looking as though he wanted to argue against Liu Wuxie’s answer. Song Siqi, however, just like Jian Yiming, had fallen into deep thought, slowly savoring every word.

“That brat isn’t simple,” Song Siqi said at last, letting out a slow breath. Even he had gained considerable insight from that response.

“Senior brother, don’t tell me that you’re also going to praise an outsider to belittle yourself? He’s just spouting bullshit,” Pei Hong grumbled, feeling that his senior brother demeaned himself by acknowledging Liu Wuxie.

“Junior brother, don’t belittle him. If we’re not enemies, I might even seek him out personally to ask him a few questions,” Song Siqi replied through voice transmission.

They stood on opposite sides, yet even Song Siqi had to admit Liu Wuxie’s answer forced him to reassess his opponent. The outside world might say Liu Wuxie had survived and turned the tables time and again purely by luck, but after hearing him speak, they understood that luck alone could never explain it. They had no choice but to admit Liu Wuxie was genuinely extraordinary.

Once or twice could be written off as a coincidence, but having fortune always favor the same man was anything but normal.

“Your senior brother is right. That kid isn’t simple,” Jian Yiming added when he saw that Pei Hong still wanted to argue.

Song Siqi wasn’t praising someone else to diminish himself. He evaluated his opponent honestly—after all, there was an old saying: know thyself and know thy enemy.

Hearing even his master agree with Song Siqi, Pei Hong could only swallow his frustration. Inwardly, however, he still dismissed it, convincing himself that Liu Wuxie must have guessed the answer by chance.

Yi Shanhe, on the other hand, had clearly gained immense benefit from those words.

“Many thanks, Young Master Liu. This is a small token of my gratitude. Please accept it,” Yi Shanhe said as he took out a strange pearl and offered it to Liu Wuxie, expressing his heartfelt thanks.

“Senior Yi, you flatter me. I hope that I didn’t mislead you with my answer. As for the gift, I must refuse. Please, take it back,” Liu Wuxie replied. The various factions had already presented their formal gifts through proper channels, and the sect would receive them on his behalf. If he started accepting private gifts, people would see him as greedy and laugh at him.

Yi Shanhe managed an awkward smile as he realized his misstep, then quickly put the pearl away. His gratitude had driven him to act on impulse.

Liu Wuxie continued to climb the stairs, heading toward the higher steps where more trials awaited him. His pace remained so steady that it gave everyone the illusion he was merely lifting and setting his feet down in place.

When he reached the seventieth step, two figures appeared in his path. At this rate, it would be difficult to reach the summit, and the journey might drag on for more than half a day.

Hua Feiyu sat on the high platform, a faint smile on his face as he watched the scene unfold below.

Sun Xiao had already arrived as well, and a frown creased his brow when he looked at the Auspicious Cloud Stairs. He asked, “Why are there so many trials?”

During his own apprenticeship ceremony, he had only faced three such trials, yet Liu Wuxie already had more than a dozen. It was apparent these people intended to make things difficult for his junior brother.

An old man and a young man appeared before Liu Wuxie. Those who arranged trials were usually from second-tier sects or influential planets. As for powers like the Nine Dragon Palace and the Comet Temple, they wouldn’t set tests midway; they waited on the platform above with their own methods of probing.

“The Flame Dragon Alliance’s alliance leader has brought his disciple to congratulate Young Master Liu for entering the tutelage of a renowned master,” the old man said, cupping his fists. In contrast, the young man behind him bowed respectfully.

Liu Wuxie smiled and returned the salute. He naturally knew of the Flame Dragon Alliance, a subsidiary power under the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Since they’d taken the initiative to set a trial, they wouldn’t deliberately try to trip him up.

“Young Master Liu, I have a question that I would like to ask. I sincerely hope that you can resolve my confusion,” the alliance leader said, his smile warm and sincere.

Just as Liu Wuxie had anticipated, the Flame Dragon Alliance bore him no hostility and had no intention of making things unnecessarily complicated.

“Senior, please ask away,” Liu Wuxie replied modestly. Sunlight fell across his face, casting him in a soft halo.

Just as Shi Lu had predicted, many of the female cultivators nearby had already started calling out his name.

“What does it mean that those who follow the right path gain support, while those who lose it lose support?” asked the Flame Dragon Alliance’s alliance leader.

As soon as everyone heard the question, they exchanged knowing looks. Even the experts seated on the platform turned to look at Jian Yiming, finding the question especially interesting. Quite a few people even covered their mouths to stifle their laughter, not daring to do so aloud and draw Jian Yiming’s attention.

This question clearly targeted the Grand Unity Sect. The Flame Dragon Alliance’s alliance leader watched Liu Wuxie with a smile, eager to hear how he would respond.

Many people already had an answer in their hearts, but they still wanted to hear Liu Wuxie say it. Coming from his mouth, it would be far more entertaining.

However, Liu Wuxie didn’t pause to think. He immediately answered the Flame Dragon Alliance’s alliance leader, saying, “Those with a righteous cause gain support, and those without find little. When support dwindles to nothing, even your family and friends will desert you; when support is overwhelming, the whole world will fall in line with you.”

His words struck their souls like a heavy hammer. Although many people had a vague understanding before, even Heaven Gaze Realm experts couldn’t have articulated it as clearly as Liu Wuxie did.

The meaning behind his words was simple. Those who upheld dao and stood on a righteous cause would naturally gain the support of the world, just like the Heavenly Dragon Sect in this situation.

Back in the Celestial Immortal Star, the Heavenly Dragon Sect had chosen to stay behind and block the loulan race, giving the other human cultivators a chance to escape, rather than rushing into the space-time gate at the first possible moment. They could have slipped away the instant the gate opened, but if they had, the other humans would have suffered unimaginable losses, and only a pitiful few would have survived.

Those without a righteous cause, on the other hand, would lose all support, which in the end meant betrayal. While the Heavenly Dragon Sect risked their lives to hold off the loulan race, the Grand Unity Sect intervened, causing catastrophic casualties among the rest of the human cultivators. Naturally, such behavior would cut them off from the rest of the world, and the Grand Unity Sect would only grow more isolated in the future. Their plummeting reputation was the most obvious example.

The events on the Celestial Immortal Star not only showcased the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s sense of duty, but they also laid bare the Grand Unity Sect’s treachery and ruthlessness for all to see.

Jian Yiming clenched his fists tightly at the answer. How could he not feel the stares from all around? The mocking looks directed their way made the three of them feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

Pei Hong’s expression turned frighteningly dark. He wanted to stand up several times, but Song Siqi stopped him each time. They could not afford to act recklessly on the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s turf, especially when Liu Wuxie had never explicitly named the Grand Unity Sect.

The elders of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, meanwhile, felt a deep sense of vindication and quietly tightened their fists in satisfaction.

Everyone present stood at the peak of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, and whatever happened today would soon spread across the entire astral domain. With only a few sentences, Liu Wuxie had delivered a resounding slap across the Grand Unity Sect’s face in front of all these witnesses, leaving Jian Yiming and his disciples with no way to refute him.

If they stood up and reacted to Liu Wuxie’s words, it would be equivalent to admitting that he had aimed his answer at them.

A trace of murderous intent flashed in Song Siqi’s eyes. The three of them had come here to humiliate Liu Wuxie, yet before they could act, the crowd mocked them instead.

Everyone could sense the tension thickening in the air like gunpowder the moment the Grand Unity Sect appeared uninvited.

“Young Master Liu’s answer has truly opened my eyes. I wish that you climb to the heavens,” said the Flame Dragon Alliance’s alliance leader as he cupped his fists toward Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie mirrored the gesture, then resumed his steady ascent, climbing the stairs at the same calm, unhurried pace as before. By now, the sun hung high at its zenith, blazing fiercely overhead, yet no one on the mountain felt the heat. Instead, a faint chill swept through the crowd, a cold so sharp it seemed to crawl along everyone’s spine. That chill came from murderous intent.

However, that killing intent did not come from the Grand Unity Sect’s group of three, but from another direction entirely. The Lingqiong Clan had arrived, led by Lingqiong Zhi. Like the Grand Unity Sect, they arrived without an invitation and walked straight to the summit.

“Sect Master Hua, how could you hold such a grand ceremony without informing our Lingqiong Clan? We’ve prepared a generous gift,” Lingqiong Zhi said, a hint of mockery flickering in his eyes.

News of the True Martial Star had already swept through the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain like wildfire, exposing the Lingqiong Clan’s ugly face for everyone to see. As for the appearance of the divine race and the Immortal Slaughter Palace on the True Martial Star, Liu Wuxie had long suspected that the Lingqiong Clan had been the ones to leak that information.

“The Lingqiong Clan is secluded and rarely interferes with the outside world. This ceremony is an internal affair of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, and there’s no need to trouble the Lingqiong Clan about it,” Hua Feiyu replied with a smile. Ever since their last heated debate, he had grown increasingly displeased with how frequently the Lingqiong Clan showed themselves.

Liu Wuxie remained unaware of the Lingqiong Clan’s arrival and continued to climb the stairs without slowing.

The intent behind Hua Feiyu’s words could not have been more apparent. He was telling the Lingqiong Clan to cultivate quietly and stop meddling in matters related to the Grand Unity Sect.

After all, he had already resented how often the Lingqiong Clan interfered in the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s internal affairs over the past few years.

“Sect Master Hua, aren’t you going to invite us to sit now that we’re here? We really did prepare a generous gift for Liu Wuxie,” Lingqiong Zhi said with a narrow-eyed smile.