Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1607 - Serene Peace Star
Chapter 1607 – Serene Peace Star
Several days had already passed since Liu Wuxie had stepped into the Heavenly Aquatic Pool, so even if something went wrong there, no one would hold him accountable. The elder guarding the place still didn’t dare to report it to the sect, so the issue stalled, then rotted in silence.
Liu Wuxie traveled with the other disciples, took the teleportation array, and landed on Serene Peace Star.
This planet served as one of the Immortal Slaughter Palace’s most important mines. It not only produced Soul Stones in abundance, but also yielded top-tier astral crystals, and it had even produced a pseudo-immortal stone a century ago.
A pseudo-immortal stone differed from a genuine Immortal Stone because impurities clung to it that ordinary people couldn’t remove. Even so, a pseudo-immortal stone still surpassed astral crystals countless times.
With so many experts from the Immortal Slaughter Palace stationed here, Liu Wuxie couldn’t simply destroy this place alone without consequences.
After the newest batch arrived, Liu Wuxie’s group of thirty-two stepped out of the teleportation array together. A round trip between the Immortal Slaughter Palace and Serene Peace Star only took ten minutes, which meant any attack would bring Immortal Slaughter Palace reinforcements to this planet in an instant.
The moment Liu Wuxie set foot on the Serene Peace Star, a barren heatwave slammed into him, as if he had stepped onto a blazing planet.
Red rocks covered the planet’s surface, radiating intense heat in every direction. Only an extreme environment like this could produce astral crystals, and most planets that produced them shared the traits of high temperature and high identity. Anlu Star had been the same.
An old man waiting outside the teleportation array said, “Everyone, follow me!” the moment they emerged.
“Greetings, Elder Chen.” The disciples bowed. Many of the new arrivals were veterans, and this wasn’t their first visit, so they stepped forward to greet him in turn, and Liu Wuxie followed along. Even as he greeted, he activated Ghost Pupil, and his vision stretched into the distance.
What a vast planet! Liu Wuxie thought. Even with Ghost Pupil, he still couldn’t see every corner of Serene Peace Star at once.
The Immortal Slaughter Palace had built the teleportation array inside the camp itself. The camp sprawled across a vast area, and towering walls rose around it like a fortress.
“Elder Chen, is there a reason why we have built walls this high?” Liu Wuxie asked, instantly earning rolling eyes from the disciples around him.
“You’re Meng An?!” Elder Chen looked at Liu Wuxie as he recognized him immediately. Someone clearly had briefed him on Meng An in advance.
“I am,” Liu Wuxie replied with a nod. A flicker of suspicion stirred in his eyes, and he wondered if Niu Yichang had reached out to this elder about his arrival. Yet that didn’t seem likely, because with Niu Yichang’s temperament, he probably didn’t have many friends inside the Immortal Slaughter Palace.
“Apart from our campsite, Serene Peace Star also has the Santi Tribe. They’re the true owner of this planet. The Santi Tribe is ferocious in battle, and many of our disciples have died at their hands over the years,” Elder Chen explained.
Besides Liu Wuxie, several other miscellaneous disciples had come to this planet for the first time as well.
Liu Wuxie gained a rough grasp of Serene Peace Star’s geography, but he still hadn’t pinned down the power’s layout across the planet.
“Elder Chen, do we have a quasi-immortal stationed here?” a disciple at the Primal Origin Realm inquired.
Out of the thirty-two disciples sent over, half were at the Origin Conversion Realm, and many at the Primal Origin Realm. After reaching the Primal Origin Realm, they could qualify as pillars of the sect and hold some authority.
“You’ll understand in time. I’ll show you around so you all can familiarize yourself with the environment,” Elder Chen said. He didn’t bother to explain further. Since they couldn’t return to the Immortal Slaughter Palace anytime soon, they would learn of the Serene Peace Star’s situation sooner or later.
Liu Wuxie, however, latched onto the mention of a quasi-immortal stationed on this planet. That fact alone forced him to tread carefully, because a quasi-immortal’s divine sense was terrifyingly powerful, and the slightest flaw could expose him.
Layer after layer of restriction wrapped the campsite, making escape difficult for anyone trapped inside.
Liu Wuxie had already contacted Tian Can through the Pool of Faith, and Tian Can was currently making his way toward Serene Peace Star.
The campsite covered an immense area and swallowed an entire mountain range. Mountains guarded three sides, and an abyss cliff yawned to the west, turning the campsite into an ideal fortress that was easy to defend and hard to attack. The Immortal Slaughter Palace had chosen the location well.
The Immortal Slaughter Palace had mined the Serene Peace Star for thousands of years, yet the veins remained abundant, and they could be excavated for a thousand more years.
Over the last thousand years, the Immortal Slaughter Palace and the Santi Tribe had clashed time and time again.
“Are those the remains of the dragon clan?” Liu Wuxie asked as they moved deeper into the camp and reached an area shaped like a martial field, which also served as a resting place for disciples.
A massive skeletal frame loomed there, over a hundred meters tall and five hundred meters long. Its sheer scale was terrifying. Only a dragon could have possessed bones like that, and Liu Wuxie couldn’t imagine another race leaving behind such a skeleton. Judging by its shape, it didn’t look like the Divine Devouring Pythonbeast.
A Divine Devouring Pythonbeast couldn’t appear in this mountain range, because they preferred the vast starry skies.
“This is the skeleton of the Giant Archaic Rat, the Santi Tribe’s mount,” Elder Chen said, pointing at the remains.
A collective hiss rippled through the crowd as grim expressions spread across their faces, including Liu Wuxie’s. Only the few who had visited before managed to keep their composure.
If the Santi Tribe rode mounts like this, no one could help imagining how terrifying the Santi Tribe itself was.
Many disciples walked around the skeleton, yet it still took several minutes to complete a full lap. That was only the skeleton, and they knew the beast would have been even larger with flesh still on it.
After the tour ended, Elder Chen led everyone farther into the camp.
“These are your living quarters. Someone will be responsible for assigning your tasks, and you can take a look around for now. But don’t wander too far away,” Elder Chen said, gesturing to several houses ahead. Four people shared one house as their residence on this planet.
Liu Wuxie walked into one of the rooms. The furnishings were bare and cramped, with four wooden beds and several meditation mats. The conditions felt harsh, and there weren’t even basic tables or chairs. Fortunately, the disciples who came had prepared in advance, brought their own items, and arranged them inside.
“My name is Nanmen Shan!”
“Liao Yongming!”
“Sun Yizhou!”
Liu Wuxie also introduced himself, “Meng An!”
“I heard from some disciples that the Serene Peace Star is dangerous. The Immortal Slaughter Palace has sent many disciples here over the years, but many of them never returned,” Liao Yongming said, breaking the silence.
“I heard that too. The mining output on Serene Peace Star is massive, accounting for 50% of the sect’s income. We still have to come and guard the mine even if it’s dangerous,” Sun Yizhou added.
“Santi Tribe is the scariest thing on Serene Peace Star. They’ve been trying to stop our Immortal Slaughter Palace from excavating the veins,” Nanmen Shan said. He held the highest cultivation at the fourth-level Primal Origin Realm, so he naturally knew more than the other three.
Liao Yongming and Sun Yizhou were only at the pinnacle of the Origin Conversion Realm, while Liu Wuxie showed the sixth-level Origin Conversion Realm.
“Why is the Santi Tribe trying to stop us from mining the astral crystals?” Sun Yizhou asked, his confusion evident.
Liao Yongming and Liu Wuxie both turned their eyes to Nanmen Shan and waited for him to answer.
“Do you know what forms the foundation of a planet?” Nanmen Shan asked, taking on the posture of a senior brother as he prepared to share what he knew.
Although Liu Wuxie already understood, he still put on a curious expression.
“Countless rocks and trees,” Sun Yizhou answered immediately.
“Wrong. A planet’s foundation lies in its core,” Nanmen Shan explained, cutting him off. Trees and rocks only covered the surface.
“We all know that every planet has a core. What does it have to do with the Santi Tribe attacking us?” Liao Yongming asked.
“Of course. The stronger the core, the stronger the planet. Thus, the more astral crystals it can produce. If we continue to mine the planet, the Serene Peace Star would be stripped bare in a few thousand years at most. Without the core to nourish the planet, Serene Peace Star would slowly wither and eventually become a dead star. The Santi Tribe has lived here for countless years and has already adapted to this environment. If this planet becomes a dead star, where would they live?” Nanmen Shan said, finally driving into the heart of it.
Liu Wuxie nodded silently. It wasn’t just the Immortal Slaughter Palace; other sects also did the same thing. For selfish gain, they destroyed worlds without blinking.
Even though new stars appeared each year, they couldn’t endure excavations like this forever.
The cultivation world had entered its most prosperous era, and the population boomed. That meant demand for resources had also climbed staggeringly. Even if one sect left a planet alone, another sect would seize it, and the number of dead stars would only multiply.
Some powerful experts could even rip out a core outright, dooming an entire planet to extinction.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect also mined several planets, but they rarely pushed mining to the point of turning a planet into a dead star. They always left at least one vein behind so the planet could continue to grow.
Even on Anlu Star, Liu Wuxie hadn’t taken everything; he had left a vein behind. Given time, that vein could regrow, and only that approach could prevent resources from drying up.
Astral crystals nourished the planet’s core. The stronger the core, the more astral crystals would form, and the two supported each other.
The other three nodded as understanding finally settled in, and they grasped why the Santi Tribe attacked the campsite and tried to drive the Immortal Slaughter Palace away.
Liu Wuxie had read records mentioning that Serene Peace Star hadn’t always looked like this. The environment used to be better, with plenty of vegetation. Now the world had become barren with rocks everywhere, and mining had clearly played a role.
With the planet’s ecological balance destroyed, the creatures living here would steadily dwindle.
“Everyone, come out! We’re assigning the tasks now!” A shout came from outside, and the four climbed down from their beds and stepped out.
A man at the Void Realm stood before everyone, radiating terrifying murderous intent, looking like he had just killed people earlier.
“From this moment on, your task is to patrol the nearby area to prevent raids from the Santi Tribe. I’ll split you into eight groups of four, and each group will be responsible for a patrol zone. Report right away to the campsite if you spot movement,” the Void Realm cultivator commanded, handing each group a booklet.
One room counted as one group, and eight groups stood in total, with each responsible for patrolling a different region.
Liu Wuxie opened the booklet and found a map inside. After leaving the campsite, they needed to travel 150,000 meters east, which was within their patrol area.
The Santi Tribe excelled at concealment, and they could sometimes slip all the way to the campsite without detection.
With no better solution, the camp sent out disciples to patrol so the camp could sound the alarm at the first sign of trouble. If the Santi Tribe broke into the camp without warning, defending would become far harder.
After all, a mistake such as that had happened before, when the Santi Tribe had fought their way into the campsite’s center and killed countless disciples.
