Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1471 - Compete

Chapter 1471 – Compete

Deep in the valley lurked a terrifying monster with an enormous body. It had devoured the Vine Demon that entered earlier.

The Vine Demons capable of coming here were not weak; each one was at least at the sixth or seventh level of the Earth Immortal Realm.

This Astral Sea was anything but ordinary, and it was no wonder cultivators below the Earth Immortal Realm avoided the outer world and the Outer Astral Spacetime. It was not just dangerous; it was a place that consumed lives.

“A primeval beast, the Six-Clawed Netherbeast,” Liu Wuxie muttered.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast was born with six claws and favored wood-attribute food. It remained here because of the pure wood-attribute energy created by the fragment of the Great Dao of Wood.

Not far from the Six-Clawed Netherbeast lay a section of strange wood, wrapped in ink-green energy that even the beast could not approach. It had to be the fragment of the Great Dao of Wood that surfaced from underground.

Once the astral clouds dispersed, the other cultivators would also sense the Six-Clawed Netherbeast, and anyone who wanted to obtain the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment would have to get past the beast first.

Fiery snorted. The Six-Clawed Netherbeast was a primeval beast, but a qilin was from the Ancient Era, with a lineage that stretched far beyond the beast’s.

No one could trace the Ancient Era anymore, and almost all its remnants had vanished into history. Only a few places still retained the appearance of the Primeval Era, while the Primordial Era had long disappeared into the long river of time.

“Big Brother, that Six-Clawed Netherbeast is extremely useful to me. If I can refine it, I can make a breakthrough into the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm,” Fiery said excitedly.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast contained primeval laws. If an ancient divine beast like Fiery devoured it, Fiery’s strength would leap forward by a considerable margin.

If Liu Wuxie refined the Six-Clawed Netherbeast himself, he could also raise his cultivation by a level. However, that was not his priority; his actual target was the fragment of the Great Dao of Wood, a treasure born from heaven and earth.

“We’ll wait for the right chance. Attack immediately once the Six-Clawed Netherbeast is injured,” Liu Wuxie said.

Fiery’s current strength already rivaled cultivators between the fourth and the sixth level of the Earth Immortal Realm.

During this period of time, Liu Wuxie had amassed a vast trove of resources and never held back when feeding Fiery. However, because a qilin was too conspicuous, Fiery spent most of his time curled up asleep in the beast’s pouch.

The faster Fiery grew, the more help he would provide in the future, as his cultivation was too low at the moment. At this pace, Fiery could even reach the Immortal Realm before Liu Wuxie. As long as a divine beast had enough resources, it could keep making breakthroughs without facing bottlenecks.

Just then, the fragment of the Great Dao of Wood stirred restlessly, as if it had sensed danger.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast slowly advanced toward the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment. If it were to devour the fragment, it would make a breakthrough into the Heaven Gaze Realm.

“It’s a fragment of the Great Dao of Wood! It’s a treasure, and I want it,” said a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm with excitement on his face.

“Dark Evil Emperor, the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment doesn’t belong to anyone, and we’ll rely on our ability to obtain it. You got some nerves trying to claim it for yourself,” mocked another cultivator at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm.

These people all possessed terrifying cultivation, with the weakest among them at the seventh level of the Earth Immortal Realm.

It would not be easy for Liu Wuxie to seize the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment from their hands, but with Gong Gong around, he didn’t feel overly pressured.

Lately, Gong Gong had been urging him to step into the Earth Immortal Realm as quickly as possible. Once Liu Wuxie reached that level, Gong Gong could enter his third slumber and would awaken at the Heaven Gaze Realm.

Gong Gong’s memories still lay in fragments, yet something deep inside pushed him to raise his cultivation at all costs. It felt as if he had something more critical awaiting him. It also meant his memories would not return until he reached the Heaven Gaze Realm, so he could only endure for now.

In the past, Gong Gong would never have bothered to act against mere hunters.

“Xiao Yuetian, you want to steal from me?” asked the Dark Evil Emperor.

The Dark Evil Emperor’s cultivation surpassed Xiao Yuetian’s. Although both stood at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm, strength still varied within the same realm.

“The treasures naturally belong to those who are capable of retrieving them. We’ll rely on our own abilities to see who can seize it,” Xiao Yuetian said, ignoring the Dark Evil Emperor.

They were hunters, and none of them was a stranger to one another. They had even crossed paths in the past.

If any of them obtained the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment, they would make a breakthrough into the Heaven Gaze Realm. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and no one wanted to let it slip away.

If Liu Wuxie seized the fragment, he could advance two levels in a row. Once he reached the fifth level of the Void Realm, he would be able to mobilize far more power and even stand his ground against experts at the seventh level of the Earth Immortal Realm.

The competition for the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment began, and the Six-Clawed Netherbeast moved first. It extended a massive claw toward the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

At the same time, dozens of Vine Demons launched their attacks, taking on all sorts of forms. Some transformed into human figures, some into demonic beasts, and others into abyssal devils.

Their various shapes suggested that abyssal devils had once entered the Astral Sea, which was how some Vine Demons had learned to mimic their forms.

Shortly afterward, the human cultivators made their move as well. All eight of them charged into the valley at once, unleashing all kinds of mythical arts.

As the thorn-covered vines exploded, they finally exposed the deepest part of the basin.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast roared in fury as the other five claws swept at the eight humans and the Vine Demons. The force of its strikes whipped up a raging storm that tore through the surroundings.

Liu Wuxie continued to wait. He intended to move only when the battle reached its peak. His speed already matched that of a high-level Earth Immortal Realm cultivator, and with the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, he had a strong chance of snatching the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

Inside the desolate world, Xiao Rou paced anxiously, but with her low cultivation, she could not help him at all.

With a thunderous boom, the eight human cultivators combined their strength, unleashing a violent torrent of laws that struck the Six-Clawed Netherbeast and wounded it in a single joint attack.

The Vine Demons seized the opening and rushed toward the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

“You’re all courting death!” the Dark Evil Emperor roared. They had worked together to suppress the Six-Clawed Netherbeast, so how could they allow the Vine Demons to steal the prize?

As Liu Wuxie’s palm descended from above, he swatted the charging Vine Demons aside like rag dolls. Their strength was still far inferior to that of human cultivators.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast suffered heavy injuries in that brief exchange and howled in rage.

“Fiery, get ready,” Liu Wuxie said, and then he drew Fiery into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

Once he dragged the Six-Clawed Netherbeast into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, he would use the Divine Purgatory Palace to suppress it and help Fiery refine the beast.

The battle raged on. Even though it was wounded, the Six-Clawed Netherbeast had not lost its fighting strength. One of its claws still reached toward the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

If it managed to devour the fragment, it would step into the Heaven Gaze Realm, and neither the humans nor the Vine Demons would be able to oppose it by then.

“Let go!” Xiao Yuetian slashed out with his sword, trying to force the Six-Clawed Netherbeast to pull back its claw.

For now, the humans set aside their grudges and joined forces against the Six-Clawed Netherbeast and the Vine Demons. Once they dealt with those threats, they could turn on one another to fight over the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

The earth-shaking clash shook the surrounding region, drawing in cultivators from far away.

Cultivators entered the Astral Sea every day, and just as many perished here. Whenever they fell, their interspatial rings would stay behind, waiting for others to loot them.

Xiao Rou had hunted several cultivators herself, and their interspatial rings had long since fallen into Liu Wuxie’s hands. From those rings, he had harvested tens of thousands of astral crystals and more than a few Earth Immortal Realm artifacts.

There were also countless other materials that he hadn’t had the time to sort through.

By now, wounds riddled the Six-Clawed Netherbeast, and bloody gashes crisscrossed it. The Dark Evil Emperor and Xiao Yuetian had inflicted most of those injuries themselves. The other cultivators could not match their destructive power and instead turned their focus to the remaining Vine Demons.

The Great Dao of Wood’s fragment began to struggle, trying to sink back into the earth, but a restriction suddenly formed around it and blocked its retreat. The Dark Evil Emperor had taken action, sealing the surrounding space to keep the fragment from escaping. The Great Dao of Wood could only thrash about in place.

“Dark Evil Emperor, do you really think you can snatch the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment for yourself when we’re busy dealing with the Six-Clawed Netherbeast and the Vine Beasts? Dream on!”

As the Dark Evil Emperor tried to take complete control of the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment, Xiao Yuetian intervened and reached out for it at the same time.

For a moment, the two pinnacle Earth Immortal Realm experts clashed fiercely, hurling mythical arts at one another. The Vine Demons were driven back again and again and could only use their vines from afar to harass the human cultivators.

Right at this moment, a pitch-black vine extended forward as the Ghost Vine Demon appeared.

“Ghost Bugs!”

The Ghost Vine Demon nurtured countless Ghost Bugs inside its body, and once they entered a victim, they were nearly impossible to guard against. Even cultivators at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm dreaded them.

The Ghost Vine Demon took the form of a man, shrouded in black miasma that sent Xiao Rou into a shiver of fear. From that alone, one could imagine how terrifying the Ghost Vine Demon was.

“Damn it!” the Dark Evil Emperor snarled.

He had nearly secured the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment, only for Xiao Yuetian to ruin it. Now that the Ghost Vine Demon had joined the fray, the battle spun entirely out of control. If things continued this way, no one could say who would end up obtaining the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment.

Liu Wuxie glided closer to the valley, having already communicated with Gong Gong in secret to intercept the other experts once he seized the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment. As for the Ghost Bugs, he felt little fear. He had already grasped the profundity of undying, and his fleshly body had become one with heaven and earth.

Even if Ghost Bugs invaded his fleshly body, he could use the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron to refine them. His genuine concern lay with the Dark Evil Emperor and the others.

The ordinary Vine Demons could no longer influence the outcome, and the shockwaves blasted them away. Only the Ghost Vine Demon pressed forward, countless black vines sweeping over as the other Vine Demons hastily yielded the path.

“Xiao Yuetian, none of us can get the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment like this. Why don’t we join forces to kill the Ghost Vine Demon first before deciding the ownership of the fragment?” the Dark Evil Emperor asked.

The Six-Clawed Netherbeast no longer posed much of a threat; its combat power had plummeted. But the sudden arrival of the Ghost Vine Demon left them both under immense pressure.

“Very well,” Xiao Yuetian said. He understood that if they kept fighting among themselves, they would only benefit the Ghost Vine Demon.

Once the Ghost Vine Demon obtained the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment, it would rise to the Heaven Gaze Realm, and every human present would die. It would drain every last drop of energy from their bodies.

The two men finally stopped bickering over the Great Dao of Wood’s fragment. Their hands flew through seals, erecting a barrier to block the Ghost Bugs, and they unleashed their strongest attacks at the Ghost Vine Demon without hesitation.

The other human cultivators retreated another step. After pushing back the ordinary Vine Demons, the remaining six directed their mythical arts at the Six-Clawed Netherbeast to keep it from regaining momentum.

“Now is our chance!” Liu Wuxie murmured with a devilish smile.

He had been unable to find a proper opening, as the Dark Evil Emperor and Xiao Yuetian hovered near the fragment, but the appearance of the Ghost Vine Demon had drawn both of them away, creating the perfect window for him to act.