Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1467 - Hunters
Chapter 1467 – Hunters
Liu Wuxie departed from the Heavenly Dao Society and made his way back to the Heavenly Dragon Sect. When he stepped into the lesser realm, he found his master and senior brother already waiting for him.
His senior brother had sensed his return the instant Liu Wuxie arrived at the Heavenly Dao Society and had deliberately given him time to make arrangements before sending a message summoning him over.
“Greetings, Master! Senior brother!” Liu Wuxie bowed to both of them the moment he entered.
“Come, have a seat,” Hua Feiyu said with a nod, gesturing for Liu Wuxie to sit down.
Liu Wuxie took the seat beside his senior brother, fully aware that his master had to have summoned him here for a reason.
“Senior brother, did something happen?” Liu Wuxie asked. He could sense the heaviness in Sun Xiao’s mood, as if something weighed heavily on his mind.
“Your third senior brother ran into trouble in the Outer Astral Spacetime, and your second senior brother has already rushed over. Master called for us because he hopes we can go as well,” Sun Xiao replied, holding nothing back.
Liu Wuxie already knew that his second senior brother was cultivating in the outer worlds near the Outer Astral Spacetime and had gone ahead first.
For his third senior brother to send a message back to their master for help, the situation had to be serious.
“Since that’s the case, we shouldn’t delay and should set out immediately,” Liu Wuxie said.
The Heavenly Dao Society could now operate on its own path, and Liu Wuxie had already given detailed instructions on what they ought to do next.
As for the martial souls, he had entrusted everything to Mu Yueying, while Xu Lingxue and the other women went into seclusion to raise their cultivation as much as possible.
“No rush. Let’s talk about what happened in the Nine Dragon Palace first,” Hua Feiyu said. A brief delay wouldn’t affect their trip to the Outer Astral Spacetime, and his third disciple wasn’t in danger, only stuck in a difficult situation.
Liu Wuxie held nothing back and recounted everything that had happened in the Nine Dragon Palace, placing special emphasis on the Serpent Insects planted by the Profound Azure Gate.
“Master, I suspect that they also planted the Heavenly Silk Ant in Madam Zhuge,” he said with a frown.
The Profound Azure Gate was a first-tier sect, but he didn’t believe they dared to provoke both the Nine Dragon Palace and the Heavenly Dragon Sect at the same time. After all, the Heavenly Dragon Sect and the Nine Dragon Palace possessed foundations far above those of the Profound Azure Gate.
“Do you recall the black-robed figure who tried to kill you in Mount Dragon City?” Hua Feiyu asked with a nod. He had already almost concluded that both the Heavenly Silk Ant in Zhuge Ming’s wife and the Serpent Insects in the Nine Dragon Palace were the work of the Profound Azure Gate.
However, the Heavenly Dragon Sect still lacked any concrete proof regarding the Heavenly Silk Ant and could not yet move openly against the Profound Azure Gate.
Not long ago, the Nine Dragon Palace had waged war on the Profound Azure Gate, destroying several of their branches in succession along with their businesses.
There was no need for the Heavenly Dragon Sect to interfere, and for the time being, they needed to focus on guarding against the Grand Unity Sect’s counterattack.
“I do,” Liu Wuxie replied. He naturally remembered the black-robed figure who had tried to kill him when Old Blindie disguised himself as the Primordial Elder, and how Hua Feiyu had saved him.
“He’s the Grand Unity Sect’s sect master, Venerable Great Unity,” Hua Feiyu said, revealing the truth.
Liu Wuxie furrowed his brows as he sifted through every detail in his mind, trying to string all the pieces of information together.
“Master, you’re saying that not long after I treated Madam Zhuge, the sect master of the Grand Unity Sect came knocking personally?
“Could it be that the Profound Azure Gate is in cahoots with the Grand Unity Sect?” Liu Wuxie asked, his expression growing grave as he pieced everything together.
“It’s hard to say for certain, and the two sects have rarely interacted with each other. Just keep this to yourself and beware of the Profound Azure Gate in the future,” Hua Feiyu said. He wanted to warn Liu Wuxie to remain cautious when dealing with the Profound Azure Gate from now on.
“Master, where’s Elder Jian?” Liu Wuxie asked. Elder Jian had personally protected him for the past few months, yet he was nowhere to be seen now.
“He went to stop something,” Hua Feiyu said, offering no further details.
“Is it related to me?” Liu Wuxie asked. He had a strong feeling that Elder Jian’s departure had something to do with him.
“That’s right,” Hua Feiyu replied with a nod. Since he wasn’t sure whether Elder Jian could return, he didn’t want to put too much psychological pressure on Liu Wuxie.
Liu Wuxie knitted his brows even tighter. His master’s refusal to explain any further meant the matter was more serious than he had imagined, but he didn’t press the issue.
If anything were to happen to Elder Jian, Liu Wuxie swore he would turn the entire Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain upside down.
After all, Elder Jian had done countless things for him over the past few months, and who knew how many powerful enemies he had quietly blocked for him.
The three of them talked for two hours before Liu Wuxie finally left the lesser realm with his eldest senior brother, heading straight toward the Outer Astral Spacetime.
It hadn’t been long since they last met, yet Sun Xiao had already broken through to the fourth-level Earth Immortal Realm. His cultivation was advancing at a terrifying pace. The two boarded a teleportation array and sped toward the edge of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.
The journey to the Outer Astral Spacetime was perilous, and the laws there differed entirely from those of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain. It was a desolate, barren region.
Liu Wuxie had also studied the Outer Astral Spacetime from books, knowing that Earth Immortals often ventured into the outer worlds in search of treasures.
The Nine Dragon Palace had discovered the Blueheart Wood in the outer worlds. At the same time, several of the materials used for the Divine Heavenly Feather Robe had come from the Outer Astral Spacetime itself.
“Junior Brother, you have to be extra careful once we enter the Outer Astral Spacetime. We don’t just have to be wary against other sects; we also have to be wary against hunters there,” Sun Xiao said, sharing everything he knew about the Outer Astral Spacetime.
He had no idea that Liu Wuxie had been an Immortal Emperor in his previous life, and patiently explained everything to him as an elder senior brother.
“Hunters?” Liu Wuxie asked. He had never truly heard of hunters in the Outer Astral Spacetime before; he had only read brief introductions about them, with hardly any concrete details.
“They’re powerful cultivators at the Earth Immortal Realm or even the Heaven Gaze Realm. They like to venture to the outer worlds and the Outer Astral Spacetime to hunt rogue cultivators.
“After all, there are no laws in those two places, and even if a sect’s disciples die there, no one will pursue them. Simply put, they are lawless regions,” Sun Xiao explained.
Whether it was the outer worlds or the Outer Astral Spacetime, both lay beyond the jurisdiction of the four astral domains. In other words, entering them was equivalent to stepping into lawless territory. Everyone had to rely on their own strength to seek out treasures.
Liu Wuxie nodded, finally grasping the meaning behind his senior brother’s words—this trip would be fraught with danger.
“Senior Brother, I noticed that you’ve been distracted this whole time. Is there something on your mind?” Liu Wuxie asked as they stepped out of the teleportation array. By now, they had already left the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain’s territory, and the Outer Astral Spacetime lay further ahead.
“As you know, you have two other senior brothers—your Second Senior Brother Tong Shan, and your Third Senior Brother Yin Ying, who’s actually a woman. I’ve liked her for a long time,” Sun Xiao admitted. With no one else around, he didn’t bother hiding this secret from Liu Wuxie.
Liu Wuxie already knew that his third senior brother was a woman, but she disliked others addressing her as “senior sister.” Her straightforward personality was also very similar to Sun Xiao’s.
“You’re worried about her safety,” Liu Wuxie said. He could clearly hear the concern and anxiety laced through Sun Xiao’s tone.
“Your third senior brother ventured to the Outer Astral Spacetime to search for a certain blacksmithing material, and she’s been gone for almost a year now. Her sudden transmission indicates she’s in trouble, but she did not explain it. This is why I’m worried,” Sun Xiao replied with a chuckle. Whenever he mentioned Yin Ying, he unconsciously wore a gentle expression.
“Don’t worry about it. I believe that she will be fine,” Liu Wuxie said, offering a few words of comfort.
“She has been competitive since she was young, and that’s why she forbade anyone from calling her senior sister or junior sister. This also has a lot to do with her background. Her father favored sons over daughters, yet he had four daughters, including her, the eldest.
“He raised her like a son, and over time, she gradually came to think of herself as a man,” Sun Xiao said.
By the time he finished speaking, they had already stepped into the Outer Astral Spacetime. There weren’t many planets here, and a gray haze in the surroundings greatly hindered their vision.
As they flew forward, they saw countless tiny meteorites hurtling toward them. There was no time to continue talking as they executed their footwork to evade the incoming stones.
The farther they went, the darker the surroundings became, but it still wasn’t dark enough to obscure their sight. After flying for about two hours, they finally stopped on a dead planet without a single plant in sight.
“Senior Brother, did Third Senior Brother give you any coordinates?” Liu Wuxie asked. It would be troublesome if they had to search blindly without any direction; the Outer Astral Spacetime was too vast, and they would probably not find her even if they searched for a year.
“She did. She said that astral clouds surround her,” Sun Xiao replied. There was only one place in the Outer Astral Spacetime that matched that description perfectly.
“The Astral Sea,” Liu Wuxie said as the image of that place surfaced in his mind. Astral clouds filled that region, spreading out like an ocean of stars.
Just as the two were about to set off, rushing sounds echoed from far away. There was only this dead star in the vicinity, and many passersby would stop here to rest.
Before the newcomers even arrived, they released their powerful auras at the Earth Immortal Realm. Few cultivators at the Void Realm ventured into the outer worlds or the Outer Astral Spacetime; almost everyone who came here had already reached the Earth Immortal Realm.
Hua Feiyu had naturally sent Liu Wuxie here for a reason—to temper him.
When the two figures descended, they stared at Sun Xiao and Liu Wuxie with a ferocious glint in their eyes.
“Hunters!” Liu Wuxie thought immediately, recalling what his senior brother had said earlier.
There were countless hunters in the Outer Astral Spacetime, and these two cultivators were at the sixth-level Earth Immortal Realm—two complete levels above Sun Xiao.
Sun Xiao immediately went on guard and pulled Liu Wuxie behind him to shield him.
Back in Nightmare City, Liu Wuxie had only managed to kill experts at the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm by pure luck.
If he relied solely on his own strength, he could only handle cultivators at the fourth or fifth-level Earth Immortal Realm.
The two hunters began to close in on Sun Xiao, amplifying their auras with every step they took. They clearly weren’t passersby; they had locked onto them and tailed them here.
“You should know our identities by now. Hand over your interspatial rings and get lost from here,” one of the hunters said. Hunters rarely killed their targets, as their primary goal was to plunder resources.
The one who spoke stood on the left, coldly demanding that Sun Xiao and Liu Wuxie hand over their interspatial rings.
“We’re disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Are you sure you want to rob us?” Sun Xiao asked, revealing their identities directly.
In the Outer Astral Spacetime, the influence of one’s background was almost negligible, and many elders here didn’t even originate from the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain. They had come solely to plunder resources before returning to their own astral domains.
“The Heavenly Dragon Sect?” The man on the right frowned when he heard the name.
“Cut the crap. I don’t care who the fuck you are, whether it’s the Heavenly Dragon Sect or the Heavenly Serpent Sect. Hand over your interspatial rings, or don’t blame us for what will happen next,” said the man on the left. They had wandered in the Outer Astral Spacetime for months now. They had plundered some resources from others, but it still wasn’t enough to satisfy them.
“Senior Brother, take the one on the left. I’ll deal with the one on the right,” Liu Wuxie said, secretly transmitting his voice to Sun Xiao.
Why waste time talking to them when killing them would solve everything? When it came to dealing with hunters, the best solution was to hunt them instead.
