Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1733 - Dilemma

Chapter 1733 – Dilemma

Xiang Rulong held an aloof status among the fifteen students. His cultivation was extraordinary, having already reached the Quasi-True Immortal Realm. In other words, he was only one step away from the True Immortal Realm.

Xiang Rulong raised his hand, stopping the others who tried to intervene. Once he made up his mind, no one could stop him.

“Have you thought it through? If you fail, you’ll have to stay and become my student,” Liu Wuxie said, looking at Xiang Rulong with a hint of joy in his eyes. He could tell Xiang Rulong wasn’t ordinary, as a rare bloodline flowed within his body.

With just a little nurturing, he would surely rise in the future. This meant Liu Wuxie had to bring him into his class no matter what.

Although the other fourteen weren’t as strong as Xiang Rulong, they also possessed extraordinary talent. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have formed a group. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

Xiang Rulong bargained, pointing at Zhang Hua and Wang Zhuang. “If I succeed, you’ll have to return their freedom.” From the very beginning, he hadn’t treated Liu Wuxie as an assistant mentor.

Liu Wuxie was even a year or two younger than him, and his cultivation was far inferior. Based on those two factors alone, neither could accept Liu Wuxie as a mentor. People naturally followed and respected the strong, but Liu Wuxie clearly didn’t qualify in their eyes.

“It looks like you’re quite confident. How about this? Why don’t we raise the stakes? All fifteen of you can enter together, and I’ll consider it my loss if even one of you makes it through. But if none of you manage to leave the spiritual array within fifteen minutes, all of you will stay as my students,” Liu Wuxie said. He had no time to waste with them and wanted to end the recruitment process as soon as possible.

After all, he still needed to cultivate and earn substantial resources. Since he had promised Ye Linghan he would recruit disciples, he naturally had to keep his word. That had always been his principle.

“Are you certain?” Xiang Rulong asked. He didn’t know where Liu Wuxie found such confidence. After all, among the fifteen of them, some were proficient in spiritual arrays.

Although they had all enrolled in the martial technique class, they also possessed considerable attainments in spiritual arrays.

Liu Wuxie replied with a nod, “I’m certain.”

Ye Linghan grew increasingly anxious, stomping her foot in frustration. The spiritual array’s range was limited, and if all fifteen entered together, they would fill the entire formation.

However, Liu Wuxie had already spoken, and with so many witnesses present, it was too late for him to retract it.

Xiang Rulong yelled, “Everyone, enter with me.” He didn’t have much confidence in breaking the spiritual array on his own. He had only stepped forward because of Liu Wuxie’s earlier provocation.

Liu Wuxie wanted all fifteen of them to enter because he valued their potential.

“Quick, go notify Mentor Jiang!”

The moment Xiang Rulong’s group entered the spiritual array, many students quickly left.

Xiang Rulong was one of the top students in Mentor Jiang Hongran’s class. Naturally, Mentor Jiang valued him greatly. Over the past year, Jiang Hongran had even supported Xiang Rulong as his personal disciple and invested tremendous effort in nurturing him.

If Xiang Rulong switched to Liu Wuxie’s class, Mentor Jiang definitely wouldn’t let the matter rest.

The surrounding mentors exchanged glances, and all of them sensed an incoming storm. If Xiang Rulong succeeded, everything would be fine. But if he failed, a massive earthquake would shake the entire Azure Flame Dao Hall.

Jiang Hongran was renowned for his fiery temper. If he learned that someone had poached his disciple, how could he possibly not erupt in fury?

The Azure Flame Dao Hall naturally allowed students to switch classes. For example, if students couldn’t learn anything useful in their current class, or if their specialty didn’t match their mentor’s, they could choose to transfer. As long as they obtained the mentor’s consent, most requests would be approved.

However, Liu Wuxie’s method was extremely rare, as he allowed students to join his class without their mentor’s permission.

Ye Linghan also felt anxious. She didn’t fear Jiang Hongran, but she feared that things would spiral out of control.

“He’s really fearless. He thinks he can recruit students by using a few tricks. Let’s see how he embarrasses himself now,” Tu Zhengbao said with a gloating expression. Regardless of whether Xiang Rulong succeeded or failed, Liu Wuxie would suffer humiliation.

If Xiang Rulong succeeded, Zhang Hua and Wang Zhuang would regain their freedom and also have the chance to watch Ye Linghan bathe. Even if Xiang Rulong failed, he would have to stay, and Jiang Hongran wouldn’t sit idly by then.

“Where does his confidence come from? Does he think four array flags can stop fifteen people?” Yu Yong asked. He had examined Liu Wuxie’s spiritual array with his divine sense more than once, yet he still couldn’t discover its profundity.

As for the agreement between Liu Wuxie and Xiang Rulong, he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“This spiritual array seems to contain the eight trigrams, along with yin and yang,” Xia Yuanming said.

Guo Anyi frowned. “I’ve noticed that too. There only seem to be four array flags, but they contain the great dao of heaven and earth. Did he really set up this spiritual array himself?” he asked. The more they studied the spiritual array, the more they realized its profundity. It had turned out to be far more terrifying than they had imagined.

Liu Wuxie had aligned this spiritual array with the heavenly dao. Unless someone could unravel the secrets of heavenly dao, walking out of the spiritual array would be impossible.

After Xiang Rulong and the other fourteen entered the spiritual array, they began wandering around aimlessly like Zhang Hua and the others. They were only one step away from leaving the spiritual array, yet no matter how they tried, they couldn’t step out.

With that, a bizarre scene unfolded. Fifteen people stood scattered around the formation. They were less than a meter apart, yet they couldn’t make contact with one another, making the scene even more terrifying.

As time slowly passed, only one-third of the allotted time remained. Xiang Rulong and the other fourteen still couldn’t find the opening in the spiritual array.

Zhang Hua and Wang Zhuang exchanged a glance, both seeing the deep shock reflected in each other’s eyes.

More students began arriving after receiving messages through Communication Talismans. Before long, over two thousand students had gathered outside the courtyard.

Crowds packed the area to the brim. Ye Linghan hadn’t expected Liu Wuxie’s gimmick to attract so many people.

“What’s going on here?” Wei Wenbin appeared. He was about to start his class when he discovered that many students were absent. After asking around, he learned from other students that Liu Wuxie had set up a spiritual array, which had attracted many students.

Another mentor beside him quickly explained everything that had happened.

Wei Wenbin snapped, “This is outrageous! Why didn’t any of you stop this farce?” He couldn’t believe that with so many mentors present, no one had stepped forward to stop Liu Wuxie’s nonsense.

The surrounding mentors merely smiled, saying nothing. None of them had looked favorably upon Liu Wuxie at first. Who would have thought such an inconspicuous spiritual array could produce such an effect?

“Fifteen minutes are up!” a student beside Ye Linghan announced. He had lit an incense stick as a time marker, the moment Xiang Rulong and the other fourteen students had entered the spiritual array.

The young man, Diao Jiuzhi, came from a low-income family. He had no money to pay tuition and could only study under Ye Linghan for free. The other two were Liang Han and Ren Fanfan.

Liu Wuxie waved his hand, and all the surrounding illusions vanished. Xiang Rulong emerged from the spiritual array with a dejected expression.

“Damn it! We could’ve broken this spiritual array if we had a little more time!” The other students clenched their fists furiously.

Liu Wuxie took out the agreements and handed them over. “Sign the agreement,” he said.

Once the students signed the agreement, they would become his students and would need to follow his instructions.

A student behind Xiang Rulong stepped forward angrily and snapped, “Dream on!”

They had all fallen into Liu Wuxie’s trap.

“So you people are a bunch of dishonorable fools who planned to go back on your word from the very beginning?” Liu Wuxie asked mockingly. This was undoubtedly the best way to deal with such hot-blooded youths.

The moment Liu Wuxie said that, the fifteen students looked at him with resentment. His words were too ruthless. He practically forced them to sign the agreements, or everyone would regard them as dishonorable. If that happened, it would be difficult for them to regain their footing in the Azure Flame Dao Hall in the future.

Xiang Rulong and the others were in a dilemma. With their abilities, Liu Wuxie couldn’t stop them, but he had no intention of doing so either. The gate had always remained open, and they could leave freely if they wished.

Even Zhang Hua and Wang Zhuang had willingly chosen to join the class, and Liu Wuxie hadn’t forced them.

“Xiang Rulong, what should we do now?” The fourteen students behind him felt dejected.

“A man should be true to his word. Since we accepted the bet, we naturally have to do as promised,” Xiang Rulong said, taking a deep breath before signing his name on the agreement.

It was already too late for the other students to stop him, and they knew Xiang Rulong’s temperament well.

“It’s your turn now,” Liu Wuxie said as he sent the agreement to the remaining fourteen students.

“Even if we sign the agreement, we won’t come here for class. We’ll apply to the upper echelons to leave the class tomorrow,” one student said. Signing the agreement didn’t mean they would attend class. As long as they applied to the upper echelons, they could always request a transfer.

Liu Wuxie merely smiled and said nothing.

In just a few breaths, all fifteen students signed their names on the agreements. This meant that starting today, they had all become Liu Wuxie’s students.

A roar echoed from afar. “Liu Wuxie, how dare you?” A figure shot through the air and swiftly arrived outside the courtyard.

Many students cried out in surprise, “Mentor Jiang Hongran has arrived!”

Xiang Rulong and the fourteen students looked at Jiang Hongran guiltily. They had failed to live up to Jiang Hongran’s teachings.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Hongran appeared before Liu Wuxie and stopped five steps away from him. The moment he arrived, he released a terrifying aura at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm, proving that he was truly an expert.

Ye Linghan mustered her strength and also released her aura the moment Jiang Hongran landed.

“You’re Liu Wuxie?” Jiang Hongran asked. He hadn’t been present during the assessment yesterday and had only heard from other mentors that Ye Linghan had recruited an assistant mentor.

Back then, many people had sneered in disdain. Ye Linghan barely had any students herself, yet she had recruited an assistant mentor. But who could have thought that Liu Wuxie would recruit seventeen students in just one night without much effort?

“That’s right,” Liu Wuxie replied. He had already learned this man’s identity from the surrounding discussions and knew why he had come.

“How dare you poach my students! I’ll kill you here and now.” Jiang Hongran snapped. The moment he finished speaking, he moved as though he would attack.

“They all joined my class willingly, and you call that poaching?” Liu Wuxie looked at Jiang Hongran with a smile. Claiming that a Heavenly Immortal like him had poached students from a profound immortal was giving him far too much credit.

Xiang Rulong and the others had all reached the pinnacle of the High Immortal Realm. Which one of them didn’t surpass Liu Wuxie in cultivation? Using the word “poach” didn’t fit this situation at all.