Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1436 - City Covered in Flowers

Chapter 1436 – City Covered in Flowers

Nightmare City lay at the intersection of the Indigo Bamboo and Spirit Martial Astral Domains. Reaching it from the Indigo Bamboo Star alone required several days of travel through teleportation arrays, and they even had to cover the final stretch on foot.

With Nightmare City about to open, waves of travelers crammed the teleportation arrays to their limits.

“Wuxie, over here!” A voice called from the distance.

When Liu Wuxie turned in that direction, he saw Zhuge Ming and several elders approaching them. The Heavenly Dragon Sect had developed a new pill this year and intended to use Nightmare City as the stage to promote it.

“Greetings, elders!” Liu Wuxie said, bowing to Zhuge Ming and the others.

He understood that the Heavenly Dragon Sect had chosen to depart at this time to safeguard him. Elder Jian alone wasn’t enough. After all, Shen Tian’s death and Mu Ye’s submission had dealt a resounding slap to the Grand Unity Sect.

Rumors were already spreading that the Grand Unity Sect had abandoned its allies, stirring dissatisfaction among the forces that had sided with them.

Yet the Grand Unity Sect had its own problems, as the Heavenly Dragon Sect intercepted all the experts they sent to the two planets.

The group stepped into the teleportation array and vanished. Their route crossed several planets, and two days later, they stepped out into a barren land.

“We’re going to cross several planets before we reach Nightmare City. Even though it’s already the eighth month and most of the evil spirits have left, we still need to stay vigilant.

“There have been multiple reports over the years of evil spirits lingering in the city,” Zhuge Ming said, while Luo Hai followed behind him like a servant.

Evil spirits were utterly different from demon spirits. They were a unique species, an ancient race born between the ghost clan and undead clan, now considered on the brink of extinction, and many humans regarded them as filthy existences.

Evil spirits had strange appearances: one body, two heads—male and female sharing the same form. Their inheritance also differed from that of other races.

They could appear and vanish without a trace, and aside from their two heads, they possessed three arms and four legs. Their faces were peculiar as well, since the two heads shared only three eyes, one of which belonged to the male head.

What made evil spirits even more terrifying was their ability to conceal themselves. They could fade from sight and merge into their surroundings so thoroughly that even divine sense couldn’t detect them.

Within the entire Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, only in Nightmare City could one find evil spirits, which thrived in an environment suited to them, as they fed on evil energy.

Unlike ghostly energy, demonic energy, abyssal energy, spiritual energy, immortal energy, or even primordial energy, evil energy did not exist naturally in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

A normal person would feel extreme discomfort and even fall into hallucinations upon inhaling evil energy. Since evil spirits excelled in stealth, humans could do nothing to them, and Nightmare City gradually fell under their rule.

The group traveled across several planets before a vast crowd came into sight ahead. With only one day left before the eighth month, countless cultivators making their way to Nightmare City had gathered on a nearby planet to wait.

“There it is,” Luo Hai said, pointing at a city floating amid the clouds. The city hung in the air, bound by four massive chains anchoring it to the surrounding mountains to keep it from drifting away.

“What a bizarre city…” Liu Wuxie murmured. It was his first time seeing a city suspended in the sky.

“Those are the Seven-Fiendish Netherworld Chains, capable of binding even immortals. This city has already given birth to spirituality, and the chains exist to stop it from drifting away,” Zhuge Ming explained patiently.

No one truly knew who had chained the city. Some rumors claimed an immortal from the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain was responsible, while others said an expert from the Spirit Martial Astral Domain had done it. Others even insisted that a powerful evil spirit had chained it down for the sake of their race.

A powerful gust swept over them, causing Nightmare City to shudder violently. Strangely, the buildings in the city showed no sign of damage.

Liu Wuxie activated Ghost Eye and peered into the city, trying to uncover its secrets. A flash of movement flickered before his gaze, as though something had darted past.

“An evil spirit!” Liu Wuxie was certain the figure that streaked by had been an evil spirit. Its speed was astonishing, and with four legs and a natural ability to conceal itself, it was nearly impossible for others to track.

Just as Zhuge Ming had said, the city teemed with evil spirits.

On the final day, even more cultivators arrived, and their numbers soon filled the entire nearby planet.

Liu Wuxie couldn’t help feeling surprised; he hadn’t expected such a vast number of people to be heading for Nightmare City, and he even spotted representatives from the Divine Alchemy Sect.

During the annual alchemy contest, the Divine Alchemy Sect received countless orders. At this rate, in a few years, they had a high chance of being promoted to a first-tier sect.

Although other sects also had their own exclusive pills, none could match the sheer variety offered by the Divine Alchemy Sect.

There weren’t many sellers of artifacts, just as Liu Wuxie had speculated. Once cultivators reached the Primal Origin Realm, they no longer needed to buy weapons or profound talismans from others.

Most of Nightmare City’s activity revolved around trade, and bartering had become the norm. As long as one had enough resources, they could buy almost anything in the city.

On the last day, the various sects would put on displays to showcase their unique skills to the world. Although the Divine Alchemy Sect was famous for its pills, it still needed to purchase spiritual herbs from elsewhere.

Among the many sects, the Nine Dragon Palace specialized in trading spiritual herbs and had amassed a fortune through it. Rumor had it that they had cultivated wide new varieties of herbs and even succeeded in reviving long-extinct species used for ancient pills.

As the surrounding fog slowly dissipated, the eighth month finally drew near.

After resting for the night, Liu Wuxie tried to comprehend the evil energy in the air to see whether he could absorb it. The desolate world had already given birth to many forms of energy, but evil energy was something he had never encountered before.

Quietly, he summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, devoured a strand of evil energy, and guided it into the desolate world.

Everything unfolded as he had expected. With the addition of evil energy, the desolate world began to split, and a new realm slowly took shape.

“Just as I thought!” A smile tugged at Liu Wuxie’s lips. The birth of a new realm meant the desolate world could continue to expand.

He had already reached the limit of the desolate world’s development after several breakthroughs in his cultivation, but that limitation shattered with the appearance of this new realm.

If anyone learned that Liu Wuxie could absorb evil energy, they would be utterly terrified. Evil energy was like poison to humans; a single breath could send someone into hallucinations and strip away their rationality.

When dawn arrived, the sandstorm weakened, and they could finally make out the distant outline of the Spirit Martial Astral Domain.

Nightmare City never saw the sun for most of the year, but the arrival of sunlight marked the arrival of the eighth month. From then on, everyone would have an entire month to trade in the city, and cultivators from the Spirit Martial Astral Domain would arrive as well.

“Let’s get going,” Zhuge Ming called out, urging everyone forward. Those who entered first could claim the prime spots within the city.

Countless flowers began to bloom throughout the city, especially near the gates. The black-red blossoms were Mandala Flowers, which only appeared where two realms intersected.

In the blink of an eye, the entire city was carpeted in Mandala Flowers, turning it into a sea of blossoms.

The once lifeless city became shrouded in flowers within just two hours, and a rich floral fragrance wafted through the air.

However, Mandala Flowers were poisonous. They weren’t deadly enough to kill cultivators outright, but being pricked by their thorns was far from pleasant.

Zhuge Ming led everyone across the barren land and landed on the Seven-Fiendish Netherworld Chains, leaping along them to enter the city.

The Mandala Flowers continued to bloom, spreading across the Seven-Fiendish Netherworld Chains. Many blossoms stretched outward, releasing the energy they had stored throughout the year.

The city was ancient, perhaps older than any other Liu Wuxie had seen in the astral domain. Ancient craftsmen had carved strange patterns into the surrounding stones, patterns he didn’t recognize, suggesting they came from a distant age.

The moment Liu Wuxie stepped into the city, he immediately scanned the surroundings with Ghost Eye. Then, he abruptly froze.

“Wuxie, what’s wrong?” Zhuge Ming asked, and Liu Wuxie suddenly stiffened.

“It’s nothing,” Liu Wuxie said, shaking his head. He hoped he was imagining things, because he had felt an invisible force trying to pull him somewhere. Since he wasn’t certain, he chose not to mention it.

Zhuge Ming frowned, but since Liu Wuxie wasn’t willing to explain, he didn’t press any further. Nightmare City was shrouded in mystery to begin with.

Even with tens of thousands of cultivators flooding into the city, it didn’t feel crowded at all. Nightmare City could easily contain billions of people.

“We need to head to our designated area immediately. Most of the trade takes place at the city’s center, where there’s a massive plaza,” Zhuge Ming said. This clearly wasn’t his first time here.

Liu Wuxie released Qiao Bian, Han Feizi, and the others from the Universal Gourd. Now that they had arrived, he wanted everyone to familiarize themselves with the city’s layout.

“So many flowers!” Xu Lingxue and the other women said, entranced as they gazed at the blooming sea of blossoms.

“Don’t touch them. These flowers have absorbed vast amounts of evil energy and contain potent toxins,” Liu Wuxie said, stopping the women just as they were about to reach out.

The Mandala Flowers were too alluring; their petals even resembled smiling faces.

“Brother Liu, this city is haunted,” Han Feizi said as he walked at Liu Wuxie’s side, with Qiao Bian on the other.

“Go on,” Liu Wuxie replied. He knew that Han Feizi had received Elder Han’s personal guidance. Not only had Han Feizi’s cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, but his knowledge had deepened as well.

On top of that, Han Feizi possessed the Spirit-Sealing Physique. Even he didn’t know the origin of this physique, as Elder Han had never explained it, but it was undoubtedly an extremely rare constitution.

“This isn’t a city,” Han Feizi added. The trio communicated through divine sense, so no one else could hear them.

“You’ve noticed it as well?” Liu Wuxie’s eyes widened in surprise. He thought he was the only one who sensed it, so he had never expected that Han Feizi would manage to perceive it as well.

Qiao Bian, on the other hand, was utterly baffled. He had no idea what Liu Wuxie and Han Feizi were talking about.

Thanks to his unique physique, Han Feizi could see things others could not. Liu Wuxie, with his Ghost Pupil, could also view the world from a different angle.