Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1422 - Black Tortoises Shell

Chapter 1422 – Black Tortoise’s Shell

The moment Liu Wuxie opened the box, a violent aura exploded from within and swept across the skies above the Auspicious Cloud Hall. Even Hua Feiyu shifted his gaze toward it, intent on seeing what his chief disciple had presented to his junior.

“It’s a black tortoise’s shell!” exclaimed the Divine Sun-Moon Palace’s palace lord, an expert at the Heaven Gaze Realm.

The black tortoise was one of the four great divine beasts, standing on equal footing with the Qilins. The four divine beasts were the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North.

However, these four great divine beasts were unimaginably rare, and rumors had long claimed that they were already extinct.

No one knew where Sun Xiao had obtained the black tortoise’s shell. Judging from the intricate patterns etched across its surface, this Black Tortoise had lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years.

At its peak, this black tortoise had likely reached the Quasi-Immortal level, or perhaps an even higher realm.

“Senior Brother, this gift is too much. I can’t accept it,” Liu Wuxie said, attempting to return the box to his senior brother.

This was a black tortoise’s shell, a blacksmithing material capable of forging Quasi-Immortal Artifacts. The immortal runes within it could tempt cultivators at the Quasi-Immortal Realm, let alone those at the Void Realm.

If his senior brother were to keep it, the shell would play a crucial role in his future.

“Senior Brother, this is a token of my goodwill. Please don’t turn it away. I noticed that your weapon can no longer keep up with your cultivation, and this black tortoise’s shell suits you perfectly,” Sun Xiao said, casting a glance at Liu Wuxie’s Heretic Blade.

The grade of the Heretic Blade could no longer keep pace with Liu Wuxie’s cultivation and needed to be upgraded. However, obtaining top-tier blacksmithing materials was no easy feat. Even Hua Feiyu had spent tens of thousands of years forging the Divine Heavenly Feather Robe.

Trying to forge an artifact comparable to those of the Earth Immortal Realm would usually require at least several thousand years, but Liu Wuxie did not have that kind of time.

If he could acquire the black tortoise’s shell, he could use it to reforge the Heretic Blade into an Earth Immortal Artifact, and its grade could even surpass treasures such as the Thunderclap Sword and the Heavenly Primal Wheel.

Everyone stared at the black tortoise’s shell with burning eyes, feeling it was a pity to use it to forge a single weapon. After all, the greatest value of the black tortoise’s shell lay in the Quasi-Immortal Runes contained within it.

Liu Wuxie was only at the Void Realm, and those Quasi-Immortal Runes could at best help him fortify his foundation. They were unlikely to push his cultivation directly into the Quasi-Immortal Realm.

Even so, Liu Wuxie did not feel particularly anxious. Now that he had stepped into the Void Realm, he already possessed enough strength to protect himself within the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

As long as he did not encounter experts at the Heaven Gaze Realm, he could move without worry. Due to the fact that he was Hua Feiyu’s disciple, few people dared to touch him.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll accept it,” Liu Wuxie said, carefully placing the box into his interspatial ring. He planned to upgrade the Heretic Blade when he found the time.

What followed was the formal exchange between the various sects as Hua Feiyu led Liu Wuxie around the platform to greet their representatives.

Liu Wuxie greeted most of them with a cupped-fist salute and silently committed each name to memory. After all, anyone qualified to attend the apprenticeship ceremony as a representative of their sect was surely an upper echelon.

Hua Feiyu even brought Liu Wuxie over to meet Jian Yiming and his two disciples, making sure not to leave the Grand Unity Sect out.

Since the trio had come as guests, the Heavenly Dragon Sect naturally had to demonstrate the bearing of a major sect.

“Young Master Liu, I’ve long heard that you’ve comprehended the Dragon-Grasping Hand. I just happened to master a claw technique as well. I wonder if you would be willing to spar with me?” a disciple from the Nine Dragon Sect asked.

Rumor had it that the Nine Dragon Palace’s ancestor also originated from the dracon clan and shared distant ties with the Heavenly Dragon Sect. However, that era lay too far in the past for anyone to verify.

The speaker was a youth named Xing Hua, and the two were not strangers, having already exchanged greetings earlier. An open area had long since been cleared on the platform, prepared for Liu Wuxie to spar with prodigies from the various sects, as tradition required. These bouts were intended as friendly spars to promote martial exchange rather than life-and-death battles.

Most sparring matches only lasted three to five moves before a victor emerged.

“Please,” Liu Wuxie said, extending his hand in an inviting gesture.

Xing Hua had already reached the third-level Void Realm and was slightly older than Liu Wuxie.

When the two stepped into the center of the platform, a large crowd gathered around them, eager to witness the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s famed technique.

As soon as they took their positions, Liu Wuxie struck first with the Dragon-Grasping Hand, and dragon roars echoed throughout the Auspicious Cloud Hall.

The claw technique that Xing Hua displayed did not manifest a dragon, but a crane that stretched out its sharp talons toward the Dragon-Grasping Hand.

Neither of them dared to be careless, as both represented their respective sects and could not afford to disgrace them.

In terms of variation and transformation, the Dragon-Grasping Hand was clearly inferior to Xing Hua’s claw technique. Xing Hua’s claws kept changing form, sometimes resembling a palm and at other times a crane’s beak.

Each transformation drew applause from the spectators, and everyone was astonished by the exquisite technique.

Even Liu Wuxie felt a jolt of surprise. He could tell that Xing Hua’s Crane Claw Art was formidable and in no way inferior to his own Dragon-Grasping Hand.

The two continued to trade blows, their attacks accompanied by the roar of a dragon and the cry of a crane. Two opposing forces tangled together in midair, weaving into patterns that looked strangely beautiful.

Liu Wuxie deliberately held back and did not unleash his full strength, as Xing Hua was a guest, and he wanted to leave him some dignity.

On the other hand, Xing Hua continued to increase his power when he failed to breach the Dragon-Grasping Hand’s defenses even after using seventy percent of his strength.

Liu Wuxie met every incoming strike with calm precision, dismantling each move with a clean and appropriate counter. He displayed no flashy changes and unleashed no dramatic bursts of force.

Elder Long and Qiao Bian quietly observed the duel from afar.

“His Dragon-Grasping Hand has become even more exquisite than before. He has already returned it to simplicity,” Elder Long said, stroking his beard as he spoke to Qiao Bian.

In terms of raw talent, Qiao Bian was in no way inferior to Liu Wuxie. He had only joined the Heavenly Dragon Sect a few dozen days ago, and he had already reached the high levels of the Primal Origin Realm.

“Triple-Layer Celestial Crane!” Xing Hua roared as he shifted tactics, and his claw manifested into three celestial cranes. The three cranes overlapped and radiated with even greater power. After exchanging more than a dozen moves, the time had come to decide the victor.

The Dragon-Grasping Hand shifted as well, transforming into a massive palm that struck directly at the weakest point of the Triple-Layered Celestial Crane.

Xing Hua hurriedly withdrew his hand, shock plastered across his face. He could not understand how Liu Wuxie had discovered the weakness in his technique.

If he had not pulled back in time, he would have made a fool of himself before everyone. He knew Liu Wuxie had spared him that humiliation because the Triple-Layered Celestial Crane would have collapsed had Liu Wuxie continued his attack.

“Young Master Liu, your technique is extraordinary, and I deeply admire it,” Xing Hua said, cupping his fists toward Liu Wuxie in gratitude for stopping at the final moment.

“Senior Brother Xing, your Triple-Layered Celestial Crane is incredibly powerful, and I merely took advantage of a brief opening. In actual combat, it might not be that easy to determine the outcome,” Liu Wuxie said out of courtesy.

His modest response drew a nod of approval from the Nine Dragon Palace’s palace lord. Liu Wuxie’s temperament alone made him very likable.

After Xing Hua, representatives from other sects also stepped forward one after another. Each time, Liu Wuxie narrowly bested his opponent by only half a move, and his restraint and courtesy naturally won him waves of praise from the crowd.

From beginning to end, Liu Wuxie remained humble, showing not the slightest trace of arrogance. By the time he had exchanged blows with most of the first-tier sects, the second-tier sects no longer dared to step forward. After all, Liu Wuxie had already defeated even the first-tier sects, and they would only invite humiliation if they were to challenge him.

Everyone had now seen Liu Wuxie’s combat strength with their own eyes. When he was still at the Primal Origin Realm, he could already kill experts at the Void Realm. Now that he had broken through to the Void Realm, only cultivators at the third or fourth-level Earth Immortal Realm could truly compete with him.

Naturally, everyone turned their gazes toward the Grand Unity Sect, the only group that had yet to initiate a challenge.

“Liu Wuxie, I have long heard that the Heavenly Dragon Sect possesses several powerful sword techniques, and I’d like to experience them for myself today,” Pei Hong said as he stepped forward. He had been waiting a long time for this moment.

As soon as he finished speaking, a boundless sword intent erupted from him, forcing the weaker cultivators in the surroundings to retreat. His sword intent gradually condensed into a seven-colored divine sword above his head.

The fact that he could manifest a longsword purely from sword aura proved that he was anything but simple.

By now, he had already surpassed every opponent Liu Wuxie had faced so far. Most importantly, Pei Hong stood at the pinnacle of the Void Realm, stronger than ordinary cultivators of the same realm.

Everyone knew that the Grand Unity Sect had come with one clear purpose—to humiliate Liu Wuxie during the apprenticeship ceremony. Crushing him in this challenge would be the ideal outcome for them, and even the Heavenly Dragon Sect had anticipated as much. As a result, no one appeared the least bit surprised.

They had all been waiting for this moment ever since Jian Yiming appeared.

“Very well,” Liu Wuxie replied. He did not refuse, as he also wanted to gauge the level of the Grand Unity Sect’s swordsmanship.

During his time inside the Immortal Stone Cave, Liu Wuxie had devoted himself to comprehending the Divine Nine Suns Sword and the Great Asura Sword. With the help of the Heavenly Dao Book’s analysis, he had pushed both sword techniques close to perfection.

The two men walked together toward the center of the platform, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Everyone knew this would not be a simple spar and might even escalate into a life-or-death battle.

“Today is the apprenticeship ceremony, and it will only be a friendly spar. Do either of you have any objections?” Chi Heng asked as he hurried forward to serve as referee.

Liu Wuxie nodded, as he did not wish to see blood spilled on such an important day.

“Blades and swords have no eyes. Once I unleash the God-Slaughtering Sword, there will be no room for mercy. We will rely on our own ability. If I die under your sword, it simply means that I’m not your equal,” Pei Hong said, issuing an open challenge and provocation that twisted the friendly spar into a life-and-death duel.

Chi Hong wanted to speak up, but Liu Wuxie stopped him. With the other party this aggressive, no amount of words would change anything; only their swords could resolve this.

“Junior Brother, catch!” Sun Xiao said, tossing his sword toward Liu Wuxie.

Sun Xiao’s longsword had already reached the level of the Void Realm and surpassed the Heretic Blade by far in terms of grade.

After all, Liu Wuxie did not have a suitable sword with him. If he were to rely on mythical arts alone to defeat Pei Hong, it would invite ridicule, especially when the other party had declared that he wanted to test the Heavenly Dragon Sword’s sword arts.

An invisible sword aura gathered around Liu Wuxie, and that was the Undying Sword Intent. He had barely grasped its profundity, so he had not expected to use it so soon.

The sword Sun Xiao had given him was three fingers wide and three and a half feet long, the standard length and width for a sword.

It felt heavy in Liu Wuxie’s grip, but its power would inevitably diminish since it was not his lifebound weapon.

He was fortunate that the sword did not reject him, as a weapon of this level had long since awakened its artifact spirit. If the sword had refused to acknowledge him, it would have been even more difficult for Liu Wuxie to wield it.

Song Siqi stood at his master’s side, watching his junior brother intently, his expression grim. The moment Liu Wuxie raised his sword, a strange and indescribable unease rose in his heart.

When Pei Hong lifted his sword, a boundless wave of sword intent gathered and surged outward. Thick clouds roiled into existence above the sky, forming a sword cloud.

As the terrifying sword aura churned within it, it resembled sword rain pouring from the heavens, riddling the ground below with honeycomb-like holes.

“What a terrifying sword intent!” the surrounding experts murmured, all of them shaken by Pei Hong’s sword intent.