Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1538 - Sky City

Chapter 1538 – Sky City

The Nether Deity Harvest that Liu Wuxie practiced had already veered off its original path. It had become wholly different from the version practiced by the Nether Deity Clan, and that divergence only made it more terrifying. It no longer merely manifested a scythe; it summoned an actual grim reaper.

When the Nether Deity Clan cast it, the technique only formed a black scythe, and one could resolve the attack by shattering that scythe.

However, the Grim Reaper’s scythe was an entirely different matter. The instant the Grim Reaper opened its eyes, heaven and earth seemed to tremble.

No wonder the two men looked so horrified.

The grim reaper’s scythe drilled straight into their minds, leaving them no time to think.

“ARGH!” the two men screamed in agony as blood trickled from their five orifices.

Liu Wuxie seized that opening and struck without mercy, cleanly severing their heads before summoning the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron to swallow their corpses.

When the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron returned to the desolate world, it sank into the depths and disappeared. Moments later, a powerful surge of Heaven Gaze Realm’s laws rose from below and nourished the desolate world.

Then a terrifying wave of pure, liquid spiritual energy surged from the depths and converted into true essence. Even the immortal energy within the two experts’ bodies was stripped away by Liu Wuxie, leaving no trace.

After collecting their interspatial rings, Liu Wuxie vanished in a flash. This place had become unsafe, because more experts were already converging from afar. The disturbance from a battle between experts in the Heaven Gaze Realm could carry for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

The Limitless Sea stretched vast and boundless, and without someone to guide the way, it was easy to lose oneself inside it.

Achiel adjusted their direction several times before they finally left the Limitless Sea and entered an oasis five days later. The place looked like a paradise, filled with exotic creatures—some splashing in the water, others soaring through the sky.

“Feathered Emperor, we’ll enter the Spirit Clan’s territory after we make it through the oasis,” Achiel said. Reverence had filled his voice.

Along the way, Achiel would have died countless times without Liu Wuxie. After cultivating in the Heavenly Deity Monument for such a long time, he had successfully broken through to the first-level Heaven Gaze Realm.

Liu Wuxie had generously directed a considerable amount of Heaven Gaze Realm’s laws into his body after killing the two powerhouses at the Heaven Gaze Realm five days ago. With the Dao Comprehension Stone’s help, Achiel had completed his breakthrough, and perhaps because he missed home, emotion began to seep into his expression as they got closer to the Spirit Clan’s territory.

“Let’s go!”

The two crossed the oasis as Achiel led Liu Wuxie up into the clouds, leaving Liu Wuxie baffled for a moment. He wondered if the Spirit Clan didn’t live on land. Then he remembered they had wings, and everything instantly made sense to him. Their way of life differed completely from the human race, so living in the sky didn’t feel strange at all.

They crossed ravines, mountain ranges, and clouds before their view finally opened up, revealing a Sky City before Liu Wuxie. The massive city floated in midair, vast beyond measure and wrapped in countless laws.

When Liu Wuxie cast Ghost Pupil, he spotted members of the Spirit Clan gliding through the sky. Guards formed a ring around the city, preventing outsiders from entering. Aside from this Sky City, no other living creatures appeared in the surrounding area, and that emptiness made this world stand out even more.

“A lesser realm!” Liu Wuxie finally understood why the Spirit Martial Astral Domain’s map held no record of the Spirit Clan. The surrounding world differed from the Spirit Martial Astral Domain and resembled the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s lesser realm.

Achiel stepped ahead and arrived at one of Sky City’s entrances. The instant he appeared, three members of the Spirit Clan moved forward to intercept him.

“Achien, it’s me!” Achiel yelled as soon as he saw the three Spirit Clan members approaching.

The three members of the Spirit Clan rushed up the moment they recognized him.

“Achiel, you’re finally back!”

Achiel had vanished when the Spirit Clan had clashed with the Black Crow Clan, and they had been searching for his whereabouts ever since. His sudden return naturally left them shocked.

Liu Wuxie flew at a much slower pace, and that alone made the three members of the Spirit Clan feel as though a formidable enemy had approached.

“Human!” The Spirit Clan held an unfavorable opinion of the human race, and the two races rarely interacted. After all, humans had come multiple times in recent years to capture members of the Spirit Clan and sell them off as slaves.

“He’s a friend of mine. He has come with me,” Achiel said, stepping out to stop the three.

Liu Wuxie was the benefactor of the Spirit Clan, especially since he had come specifically to return the Earth-Binding Chains.

“Achiel, have you lost your mind? Don’t you know that humans have captured dozens of our people in the past few years?” Achien said, glaring in Liu Wuxie’s direction. That reaction wasn’t surprising since humans had repeatedly captured their people, and hatred toward the human race had become natural.

“This matter is important. Take us to the chieftain,” Achiel said. He couldn’t explain it clearly there, and everything would make sense once they met the chieftain. The return of the Earth-Binding Chains to the Spirit Clan held deep significance.

“No! Humans are forbidden to enter the Sky City,” said the three members of the Spirit Clan. They could not match Achiel’s strength, but they didn’t fear him. Achiel could enter, but Liu Wuxie could not.

“Nonsense!” Achiel’s temper flared as he released the aura of the Heaven Gaze Realm at the trio.

The three members of the Spirit Clan stared in disbelief. “What? You made your breakthrough to the Heaven Gaze Realm?”

When Achiel had left, he had only been at the lower levels of the Earth Immortal Realm, and barely a month had passed since then.

“He’s the reason why I have my current cultivation. Don’t blame me for being ruthless if you three dare to stop me,” Achiel said, pressing down with stronger pressure. After reaching the Heaven Gaze Realm and comprehending a wisp of that power, he could naturally borrow heaven and earth’s pressure.

“Still no,” the three members of the Spirit Clan said with determination despite their shock. For countless years, no human had stepped into the Sky City, and they refused to break that rule.

“Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for what happens next,” Achiel said, forming seals with his hands to bind the three in place.

The three only stood at the lower levels of the Earth Immortal Realm, stationed here to guard this region. They held some status in the Spirit Clan, yet after Achiel bound them, they could only roar in fury.

“Achiel, you despicable bastard! How dare you become the slave of a human!” Achien cursed, convinced the human had subdued Achiel and that Achiel had willingly become his slave.

“Let’s go in,” Achiel said, ignoring him.

It wasn’t that Achiel didn’t want to explain about the Earth-Binding Chains; he simply couldn’t. If the news spread, the Black Crow Clan would learn of it at once, which was why he had to see the chieftain immediately.

The Earth-Binding Chains were a sacred relic of the Spirit Clan, so he couldn’t let the news of them leak out carelessly.

Liu Wuxie had stayed silent since the beginning and merely glanced at the three members of the Spirit Clan before he followed Achiel into the Sky City.

Achiel had only bound them briefly, so they would regain their freedom quickly. Once inside, the city’s interior proved far larger than Liu Wuxie had imagined, with tens of thousands of Spirit Clan members residing within and working tirelessly.

As for the younglings of the Spirit Clan, they practiced the Spirit Clan’s mythical arts with focus. Most of their attacks were soul-based, and the Soul Forge Art had once been the Spirit Clan’s strongest mythical art, but they had lost it across countless years.

The remaining soul techniques were far inferior and couldn’t compare to the Soul Forge Art. That weakness was the main reason why the Spirit Clan had suffered repeated incursions by the Black Crow Clan.

The Black Crow Clan was cruel by nature, and they delighted in capturing members of the Spirit Clan to feast on their brain marrow and drain their souls to strengthen their own soul sea.

The soul energy cultivated by the Spirit Clan leaned toward light, while the Black Crow Clan’s soul energy leaned toward darkness. After entering the city, they could only travel on foot because fighting was forbidden, and an invisible restriction enveloped the sky. Anyone who dared to fly upward would meet resistance.

The two moved quickly and passed several members of the Spirit Clan along the way, exchanging only hurried glances in passing. The city’s terrain rose in a steady slope as they headed toward the highest point, where a massive castle stood. It was the home of the chieftain and elders of the Spirit Clan.

The common folk of the Spirit Clan resided throughout the surrounding regions, living there and raising their descendants.

Several females of the Spirit Clan stood guard on both sides of the castle, patrolling with long spears. Liu Wuxie also noticed that the Spirit Clan practiced matriarchy, a female-led society in which men held status far below women.

Their men mainly patrolled the outer perimeter and tended the fields. When the guards spotted someone approaching, the female sentries immediately stepped forward to block Achiel’s path.

“Who goes there? Why are you trying to trespass on the Ancestral Hall?” The castle was called the Ancestral Hall, and it enshrined the remains of the Spirit Clan’s ancestors across generations.

“Four sisters, I have urgent matters to report to the chieftain,” Achiel said, lowering his tone. The difference in status made it clear that men ranked lower than women in the Spirit Clan.

“Achiel? What are you doing here?” The female guard in the center asked after recognizing him. Achiel didn’t hold a low status in the Spirit Clan, yet his gender still placed him beneath women.

“I really have urgent matters to see the chieftain,” Achiel said. He had no time to explain to the guards, and he could only pass this checkpoint if he entered the Ancestral Hall directly.

“That won’t do! Without the chieftain’s orders, no one is allowed to enter. You can tell us if you have anything to report, and we’ll pass it along,” said the guards. If a female Spirit Clan member had come instead, the scene would have played out entirely differently.

The matriarchal society wasn’t unique to the Spirit Clan; many races practiced it as well, with women holding far higher status than men.

The chieftain handled countless affairs in the Spirit Clan, and not just anyone could meet them on a whim.

A flicker of displeasure passed through Liu Wuxie’s eyes as he found the Spirit Clan’s attitude distasteful—partly because of their society, and partly because they refused to adapt, clinging stubbornly to dead rules. Rules stayed dead while people lived, and if the Spirit Clan continued like this, decline would become inevitable.

Back in the days, the Spirit Clan had flourished and prospered; now, they had barely tens of thousands of members left, clinging to survival.

The Black Crow Clan’s invasion was one factor, but the Spirit Clan also carried problems of its own. Their decline couldn’t be blamed entirely on the Black Crow Clan.

“In that case, don’t blame me for being rude,” Achiel said, sharpening his eyes as he prepared to act. He didn’t hesitate to release his Heaven Gaze Realm aura, instantly alarming countless people who turned their heads toward the disturbance.

If a powerhouse at the Heaven Gaze Realm stood elsewhere, they could count as an absolute powerhouse. Yet within the Spirit Clan, there were a few cultivators at the Heaven Gaze Realm, and seeing one act like this was rare.

The moment he moved, booming sounds echoed through the Sky City, convincing everyone that an invasion had begun. Ripples spread out, but Achiel didn’t strike to kill. He only forced the guards to make way.

“Achiel, you’re getting bolder by the day. How dare you injure my guards!” A furious yell echoed from behind Liu Wuxie.