Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1489 - Verbal Conflict
Chapter 1489 – Verbal Conflict
A devilish smile curved on Liu Wuxie’s lips as he stepped out from the crowd, and tens of thousands of gazes locked onto him at once.
Many high-ranking figures of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain also began to reveal themselves, including upper echelons of the Grand Unity Sect, the Heavenly Dragon Sect, the Nine Dragon Palace, and more.
It almost defied belief that a mere Heavenly Dao Society could draw so much attention. Then again, the Heavenly Dao Society had risen far too meteorically, and that kind of ascent naturally stirred discontent.
“Palace Lord, I have a feeling that Liu Wuxie is cooking up something nasty,” Elder Xue said as he stepped forward. The scene back in the Nine Dragon Palace still burned vividly in his mind.
Given Liu Wuxie’s personality, he would never allow Li Hong and the others to succeed. Experts from the Heaven Gaze Realm lurked here, and they had already glimpsed the heavenly dao, so they could distinguish truth from lies with ease.
Yet they couldn’t intervene because of their status, and plenty of people didn’t want to see the Heavenly Dao Society surpass them so quickly anyway.
Humans were selfish by nature, and even good friends felt a stab of jealousy when they watched a companion surge ahead.
“Let’s keep watching. It’s a pity this kid joined the Heavenly Dragon Society. If he had joined the Nine Dragon Palace, he wouldn’t still be trapped at the mere Void Realm,” the palace lord said, his regret obvious. He cursed himself for not finding Liu Wuxie first.
Over the past year, the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s nurturing of Liu Wuxie had been close to nonexistent, and Liu Wuxie had reached this point by relying on himself. That was all anyone on the outside ever saw, but it was only the surface.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect didn’t lack resources, and it could have poured them into him. Instead, it merely kept him alive—like how Elder Jian had nearly fallen to save him—and that was what the Heavenly Dragon Sect had truly paid.
For Liu Wuxie, the Spirit Sealing Institute burned through countless resources every single day, and that, too, came from the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Nothing mattered more than survival, and even an endless pile of resources meant nothing if his past and present were severed.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect didn’t need credit or to announce anything to the world. It acted in silence, helping Liu Wuxie dissolve crisis after crisis.
Looking through history, countless prodigies had died before they could grow up, erased by time. A monstrous prodigy like Liu Wuxie surviving to this day was itself a fortune.
Li Hong and the others turned their eyes over the moment Liu Wuxie revealed himself.
“Liu Wuxie, you finally decided to show yourself. You have to give us an explanation today,” Li Hong said after taking a deep breath. He stood in the Earth Immortal Realm, yet he still didn’t dare meet Liu Wuxie’s eyes, and he carried none of the earlier domineering posture.
After all, Liu Wuxie’s ruthless reputation had already spread across the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, and no one who offended him ever ended well.
The Sky Cloud Star’s planet lord had submitted to him, the Tranquil Meteor Star’s planet lord had died, and the Divine Alchemy Sect had lost its market share in alchemy—every one of those outcomes bore Liu Wuxie’s imprint.
“You’re right. I will give everyone an explanation today,” Liu Wuxie replied with a nod as he swept his gaze around.
The instant Liu Wuxie said that, confusion rippled through the crowd. Did that mean the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills truly had a problem?
Li Hong sneered, convinced their plan had sealed the outcome. He felt certain Liu Wuxie couldn’t escape this even if he had three heads.
“Liu Wuxie, since you’ve admitted that there’s an issue with the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills, we only want some compensation in the form of astral crystals, and we won’t make things difficult for the Heavenly Dao Society,” Li Hong said. His attitude changed instantly the moment he thought Liu Wuxie had conceded.
He had already reached his goal. Once the Heavenly Dao Society agreed to compensation, it would walk straight into their trap, and public eyes would treat it as confirmation that their pills were defective.
“Hold on,” Liu Wuxie said, cutting Li Hong off with a raised hand.
Li Hong froze the moment he heard that.
“Which ear of yours did you hear me say that the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills are defective?” Liu Wuxie shot back with a question of his own. He had said he would give everyone an explanation, but he had never admitted the pills were defective.
“Didn’t you just say that you would give everyone an explanation earlier?” A man stepped out from behind Li Hong, and according to the information Luo Hai had gathered, his name was Cui Sheng.
“I did say that I’ll give everyone an explanation, but since when did I say that I’ll give you an explanation?” Liu Wuxie asked, still wearing that same smile.
Only then did the crowd realize that Liu Wuxie had said he would give everyone an explanation, not Li Hong’s group.
“You’re playing word games here?” Li Hong snapped. He could tell Liu Wuxie had no intention of conceding at all.
“Let’s hear what Liu Wuxie would say, and what he meant by giving everyone an explanation.” People in the crowd cut Li Hong off. Since Liu Wuxie planned to speak, they wanted to hear it. The problem wasn’t going anywhere, and now that Liu Wuxie had shown himself, he couldn’t avoid it.
“Liu Wuxie, what explanation are you going to give us?” The surrounding cultivators called out, eager to hear what he would say.
Even Mu Tianli felt baffled, unable to see where Liu Wuxie intended to steer this.
“Starting today, the price of our pills will increase by twenty percent,” Liu Wuxie said, and his voice echoed through Mount Dragon City.
Instead of addressing the claim that the pills were poisonous, Liu Wuxie raised the prices first. Over the past month, the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills had been selling like hotcakes because of their superior quality and low prices.
Their production speed also crushed every other sect.
Even when priced twenty percent below market, they still earned significant profits. Yet Liu Wuxie chose this moment to raise prices by twenty percent, pushing the Heavenly Dao Society’s pill prices up to match other sects rather than undercut them.
Many sects let out quiet breaths of relief when they heard that. By raising prices, the Heavenly Dao Society had handed them a chance in the market.
If the Heavenly Dao Society continued to sell its pills for such low prices, even the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s market share would eventually feel the pressure.
A buzzing noise surged through the crowd as everyone stood, stunned. No one expected Liu Wuxie’s “explanation” to be a price hike.
“Is Liu Wuxie out of his mind? Someone died after taking the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills, and nobody even knows if they’ll be able to sell pills in the future. If he raises the prices, won’t it just make them even harder to sell?” Even Earth Immortal Realm cultivators stared in disbelief, unable to make sense of his move.
“People say that Liu Wuxie likes to take the unconventional approach, and it seems to be really true.”
For most of them, this was the first time they had ever seen Liu Wuxie in person, and everything they knew about him came from hearsay.
The Heavenly Dao Society’s foundation ran shallow, and Liu Wuxie also wanted stability. However, if he were to walk the stable path, who knew how long it would take for the Heavenly Dao Society to grow?
He had no choice but to take shortcuts.
Shortcuts often ended at cliffs, and one misstep could end up in one getting buried.
“Let’s see how Liu Wuxie will clean this mess up. If he can’t resolve the issue with the pills, no one would want their pills even if the Heavenly Dao Society gave them out for free,” others said as they shook their heads. Even they couldn’t imagine how Liu Wuxie would escape this.
The evidence looked complete, and everything pointed toward a single conclusion—the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills were defective.
Li Hong and the others were only rogue cultivators, so why would they dare provoke the Heavenly Dao Society without a reason?
“Liu Wuxie, can you solve the claim with the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills first? If the pills don’t have a problem, we can accept the hike in price as the effects are excellent,” some of the watching cultivators said, all demanding an explanation.
“Liu Wuxie, even if you try to change the topic, it won’t change the fact that the pills produced by the Heavenly Dao Society are defective and killed someone.
“There are so many witnesses here today, so you won’t be able to change the outcome no matter how you try to explain yourself,” Li Hong sneered, his face twisting with malice. As he spoke, the aura of the Earth Immortal Realm swept toward Liu Wuxie.
“What impudence!” Mu Tianli stepped forward and released an even more terrifying aura from the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm.
“What? Since when did Mu Tianli reach the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm?” Gasps burst from the crowd.
As the leader of the Heavenly Dao Society, Mu Tianli held a status in Mount Dragon City. He often visited the Medicinal Hall, so many people recognized him on sight.
Only a few days ago, they had seen him at the low levels of the Void Realm, so it made no sense that he had reached the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm in just a few days.
Moreover, Luo Hai, behind him, had actually reached the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm.
“What? The Heavenly Dao Society wants to bully us with its strength?” Li Hong demanded, stepping forward again and refusing to back down. Even if he couldn’t match Luo Hai or Mu Tianli, he still stood at the fifth-level Earth Immortal Realm.
The situation immediately turned tense. As things stood, the Heavenly Dao Society held the disadvantage unless Liu Wuxie could provide concrete proof that these deaths had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao Society’s pills.
“I don’t care who sent you, but be ready to pay the price for provoking the Heavenly Dao Society,” Liu Wuxie said, and he finally bared his fangs as an invisible pressure rolled outward.
Even the Heaven Gaze realm cultivators hidden among the crowd turned to look at Liu Wuxie, all sensing a mysterious aura from him that made their dao hearts uneasy.
When the other sects saw Luo Hai and Mu Tianli standing at such heights of the Earth Immortal Realm, an immense pressure seemed to crush down on them as well.
If the Heavenly Dao Society continued to develop like this, it would eventually become a first-tier force. If it produced even one Heaven Gaze Realm cultivator, it would rise into a second-tier force, and it had only been a few months since it existed.
“Liu Wuxie, we’ve come to seek justice. There’s no one behind us. Don’t slander us,” Li Hong said, as though he had already prepared that defense.
“Justice?” Liu Wuxie sneered. “I’ll show you what justice looks like today.”
A ferocious glint flashed in Liu Wuxie’s eyes, and he looked like an ancient beast about to pounce, making everyone’s scalps prickle.
Countless cultivators had died in Liu Wuxie’s hands over the past year, and they all died without leaving whole bodies behind.
“Liu Wuxie, Li Hong, and the others have Memory Talismans as proof. How are you going to explain it?”
Many people who sided with Li Hong’s group raised their voices to question Liu Wuxie.
With both proof and witnesses, it seemed impossible for Liu Wuxie to reverse the situation.
“You have all watched the Memory Talisman’s replay, but didn’t any of you notice something wrong with it?” Liu Wuxie asked as he swept his gaze outward, looking at the crowd as though he were staring at fools.
