Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1473 - Heavenly Deity Valley
Chapter 1473 – Heavenly Deity Valley
After obtaining so many benefits, Xiao Rou felt she had to do something for her master. If she couldn’t help him in critical moments, who could say for sure whether he’d casually slap her to death one day when he was in a bad mood?
Xiao Rou was intelligent and knew how to read people’s hearts.
Liu Wuxie didn’t stop her. He also wanted to see how strong she had become after her recent breakthrough. He opened the desolate world, and Xiao Rou flashed out like a streak of light.
Her roots remained anchored within the desolate world, but that no longer restricted her movements. She could move freely outside while drawing endless energy from the desolate world through her roots.
With a loud boom, the ground exploded as a terrifying Vine Demon burst up from underground. It had concealed its presence from the other Vine Demons and intended to swallow Liu Wuxie alone. After all, humans weren’t the only selfish ones who thought only of themselves—the Vine Demons were the same.
The moment the Vine Demon emerged, Xiao Rou struck first and slammed her palm down. The newcomer froze in shock, assuming she was another Vine Demon who had rushed over after sensing Liu Wuxie.
None of them ever imagined she would suddenly turn on it and attack.
“You’re a Vine Demon, so why are you helping a human?!” the Vine Demon roared furiously, throwing a punch that detonated with a powerful shockwave.
When palm met fist, Xiao Rou and the Vine Demon were both forced backward. Judging from the clash, however, Xiao Rou held the advantage. The primeval laws within the desolate world had continually nourished and strengthened her.
“Damn it! How dare you submit to a human?!” the Vine Demon bellowed, enraged. It immediately used its roots to communicate with the other Vine Demons, calling them over.
When the nearby Vine Demons received the message, they accelerated toward the battlefield.
Liu Wuxie had already sensed them, but he still chose not to intervene. This was the perfect chance for him to harvest more Vine Demon energy and push Xiao Rou to the eighth level of the Earth Immortal Realm. The more Vine Demons she devoured, the stronger she would grow.
If Xiao Rou and Fiery both advanced, Liu Wuxie would be able to protect himself even if he ran into the Dark Evil Emperor.
The two Vine Demons clashed again and locked into a fierce stalemate. Xiao Rou didn’t bother using any bewitching techniques, as such tactics were useless against another Vine Demon, and their means of reproduction had nothing in common with humans.
The Vine Demon fighting Xiao Rou possessed strength comparable to the fifth-level Earth Immortal Realm, and its body was incredibly tough. Killing it wouldn’t be easy, but Xiao Rou only needed time—victory would eventually tilt in her favor.
“Master, more Vine Demons are coming this way,” Xiao Rou warned while trading blows. Handling one opponent was already her limit; if more joined in, she would quickly be overwhelmed.
“Your attacks are too simple. I’ll teach you an offensive technique. Match it with this footwork, and your combat strength will soar,” Liu Wuxie replied with a nod.
Since Xiao Rou had already submitted to him, he had no qualms about guiding her to increase her strength. The stronger she grew, the more effectively she could support him in future battles.
With a tap of his finger, Liu Wuxie sent out a golden ray that shot into Xiao Rou’s soul sea. When it exploded, the technique’s knowledge merged seamlessly into her memories.
Xiao Rou had been living for ten thousand years, but she was still a child compared to many Vine Demons, and her combat strength was mediocre. With Liu Wuxie’s help, however, her movements immediately shifted. She danced around her opponent like a butterfly weaving through flowers, and even her soft-looking palm carried a deadly killing intent.
The mythical art Liu Wuxie chose for her was one he had handpicked. Paired with Xiao Rou’s agile movement, the Flower-Plucking Palm suited her perfectly. With a heavy thud, the Vine Demon screamed as Xiao Rou’s strike sent it hurtling back.
Her palm then morphed into a blade, cleaving down with a sharp ray of light as she flashed in front of the Vine Demon like a bolt of lightning. In just a few breaths, she had already grasped the essence of the palm technique.
Liu Wuxie nodded in satisfaction. He knew then that subduing Xiao Rou had been the right decision.
Vine Demons could become either good or evil—it all depended on who guided them. With proper guidance, they could become tremendous helpers; without it, they would only bring disaster wherever they went.
When her palm blade fell, it sliced off one of the Vine Demon’s arms, which dissolved into a cluster of pure energy.
A vine suddenly shot out and absorbed that energy, and Xiao Rou’s aura surged again.
Right at that moment, three more Vine Demons arrived, rushing over the instant they received the earlier call. They froze at the sight of two Vine Demons fighting each other.
Their first instinct was to lunge toward Liu Wuxie. As for Xiao Rou, they dismissed her entirely, assuming Liu Wuxie had bewitched her. They had no idea that Xiao Rou revered him and had submitted to him wholeheartedly.
After losing an arm, the Vine Demon’s combat strength plummeted, and it began retreating in panic.
Xiao Rou had no intention of letting it escape. If she could devour it, her strength would spike again. Meanwhile, the three Vine Demons had already reached Liu Wuxie, but their cultivation was only around the fifth- to sixth-level Earth Immortal Realm.
“Great Spatial Mythical Art!” Liu Wuxie unleashed the technique, locking the three charging Vine Demons in place.
Their expressions changed dramatically. None of them expected this human to be so terrifying.
Without the interference of the three newcomers, Xiao Rou increased her tempo. Relying on her palm blade, she chopped off another arm, then pounced forward and severed the Vine Demon’s head, absorbing all of its energy.
“Master, I want to devour those three as well. This way, I can make a breakthrough to the eighth-level Earth Immortal Realm,” Xiao Rou said after finishing her feast, turning her bright eyes toward the remaining Vine Demons.
She didn’t realize that Liu Wuxie had deliberately lured these Vine Demons over to raise her cultivation and instead looked at him with hopeful anticipation.
Liu Wuxie nodded slightly at her, granting his permission.
Xiao Rou immediately pounced. Before meeting Liu Wuxie, she had only been at the fourth-level Earth Immortal Realm. In just a few days, she was already attempting a breakthrough to the eighth-level Earth Immortal Realm.
Liu Wuxie smiled at the sight of Xiao Rou’s cultivation advancing rapidly.
The Great Dao of Wood’s fragment continued to float within the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Once Xiao Rou completed her breakthrough, she and Fiery could stand guard while he refined the fragment.
He had chosen not to refine it yet because he still worried about the other humans and Vine Demons in the Astral Sea. He hadn’t fully grasped Gong Gong’s temperament either, nor did he know how much he could trust him.
For now, Gong Gong remained his trump card.
At the moment, Liu Wuxie didn’t need to worry about being discovered. Even if someone found him, Xiao Rou and Fiery could hold off the enemy for a while.
Once all the Vine Demons were slain, Xiao Rou successfully broke through to the eighth-level Earth Immortal Realm.
The battle had created quite a commotion, and many Vine Demons had already noticed it. Without wasting a breath, Liu Wuxie disappeared and left the region behind.
“Master, I know a place where you can make your breakthrough safely. Vine Demons don’t dare to go there,” Xiao Rou said. When she devoured the Vine Demons earlier, she had also absorbed their memories.
She understood that the stronger her master became, the more benefits she would receive. Most importantly, he didn’t seem like a bad person, and she felt genuinely at ease by his side.
“What place?” Liu Wuxie asked.
He had just contacted his senior brother, but they still had no news of his third senior brother. That meant he could only wait.
The Astral Sea was too vast, and finding her wouldn’t be easy. Still, he was sure she was alive, as her soul tablet remained intact.
It was likely she had encountered serious trouble and was trapped somewhere in the Astral Sea. As long as they could find that place, they would naturally be able to rescue her.
“The Heavenly Deity Valley,” Xiao Rou said.
“What’s the Heavenly Deity Valley?” Liu Wuxie asked. He had read many books and knew about the Outer Astral Spacetime and the Astral Sea, but he had never come across that name.
“It’s normal that Master doesn’t know about it. The humans who come here don’t know it either. Only the Vine Demons do,” Xiao Rou explained. No human cultivator had ever set foot in the Heavenly Deity Valley.
“Alright. Take me there,” Liu Wuxie replied with a nod. If that place truly existed, it would be an ideal location for his breakthrough. At the very least, he wouldn’t have to worry about human cultivators disturbing him.
He followed Xiao Rou’s guidance and sped up, sending word to his senior brother about his location and plans.
Upon learning that Liu Wuxie intended to head to the Heavenly Deity Valley to make his breakthrough, Sun Xiao only told him to be careful.
Liu Wuxie flew through the astral clouds, constantly adjusting his direction according to Xiao Rou’s perception. She had never personally visited the Heavenly Deity Valley and only knew of it from the memories she had absorbed from other Vine Demons, so even she wasn’t entirely sure of its exact location.
After wandering back and forth for three days and killing two more Vine Demons, they finally locked onto the Heavenly Deity Valley’s position. By then, more pursuers had joined the chase behind them, and Liu Wuxie had become the target of a full-scale pursuit.
Staring at the rolling tide ahead, Liu Wuxie fell into deep thought. There were no vines in the surroundings anymore, only an endless surge of astral clouds rising and falling.
He still stood within the Astral Sea; no land lay in sight—only clouds that churned like a boundless tidal wave.
“The Heavenly Deity Valley is inside that tide?” Liu Wuxie asked with a frown.
“That’s what I know from their memories. The Heavenly Deity Valley lies within these tides,” Xiao Rou answered, a hint of uncertainty on her face. If this failed, they would have to find another place for his breakthrough.
Executing Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie’s gaze pierced the astral clouds and reached into the depths of the tide.
“There’s really something hidden in there,” Liu Wuxie muttered.
Ordinary cultivators’ divine senses couldn’t pierce the clouds, so they couldn’t see what lay inside.
Just then, sharp whooshing sounds echoed in the distance.
“Someone has found us!”
The Dark Evil Emperor and his group had mobilized every resource at their disposal to track Liu Wuxie, refusing to give up even after five or six days.
The Great Dao of Wood’s fragment still contained a strand of his law, which he had left there when trying to control it earlier. That law proved that Liu Wuxie had yet to refine the fragment and that it remained in his possession.
News of Xiao Rou’s submission to Liu Wuxie had also spread among the Vine Demons, and many of them used their racial connection to track her location.
“Master, there’s a large number of Vine Demons heading this way,” Xiao Rou said, anxiety flickering across her face.
It was far too late to retreat now. If they hesitated any longer, the enemy would surround them.
“We’re going down,” Liu Wuxie said. He darted forward and plunged straight into the endless tide.
Astral clouds wrapped tightly around him, and he felt as though he had fallen into a sea of cotton, his body suddenly weightless. As he continued to plummet, his surroundings shifted and warped, as if he had slipped into another world altogether.
The sensation immediately made Liu Wuxie wonder whether ruins existed within the Outer Astral Spacetime.
He wasn’t sure. Many worlds drifted into the Outer Astral Spacetime after their destruction, leaving behind lifeless ruins.
By the time the Dark Evil Emperor closed in, Liu Wuxie had already vanished.
“Are we still going to chase him?” asked one of the human cultivators.
As more and more Vine Demons converged on the area, everyone fell silent and stared at the rolling tide in front of them.
“They went into the Heavenly Deity Valley,” said one of the Vine Demons.
Upon hearing the words “Heavenly Deity Valley,” the human cultivators exchanged glances, and their faces grew increasingly complicated.
