Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 117 - Competing In Spiritual Arrays

By the next morning, a crowd had assembled outside Advanced Class Three. Word of the previous night’s events had spread, drawing students from various classes to observe. After all, it was unheard of for a student to request a transfer; typically, it was the teachers who advised students to leave. This naturally caused an uproar in the Imperial Academy.

The students of Advanced Class Three had long arrived with fury on their faces. Upon hearing the news the previous day, they hadn’t slept and mobilized all the students, wanting to teach the traitor, Song Ling, a lesson.

Over the years, Advanced Class Three had produced many talents, and Sun Shizhou was one of them. He donned a purple robe and had arrived early along with Jiang Hua and others.

But even when the sun rose to the sky, Liu Wuxie was still nowhere to be seen.

“Why is he taking so long? Don’t tell me that he’s too scared to come?” The students of Advanced Class Three discussed among themselves. A long time had passed, and Song Ling was still nowhere to be seen.

“He’s probably scared and fled the academy overnight!” A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd. After all, who in the right mind would want to challenge the entire class? Only someone tired of living would do something like that.

While Advanced Class Three was bustling with people, the courtyard where Liu Wuxie resided was quiet. Liu Wuxie asked Song Ling, “Have you memorized them?”

It would depend on Song Ling’s performance if he wanted to transfer. Liu Wuxie was ultimately an outsider, and there were many things that he couldn’t interfere with.

“I’ve memorized them!” Song Ling affirmed with a nod. His knowledge about spiritual arrays had expanded significantly overnight, surpassing everything he had learned over the past decade or so. The wisdom imparted by the Song Clan paled in comparison to what Liu Wuxie had taught him. Liu Wuxie had not only educated him about spiritual arrays but had also assisted him in refining a set of flags to operate these arrays. Song Ling had etched everything in his memory and was ready to put them into practice.

“Alright, let’s go!” Liu Wuxie glanced at the sky, and time was running out. They left the courtyard and headed to Advanced Class Three, passing through the woods and arriving at the classrooms. There was a crowd ahead with many people waiting for a long time.

The teacher of Advanced Class Three was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a goatee beard. He had been waiting there for an hour, which made him furious.

“Teacher Gao, that brat is crossing the line. Do you want me to fetch them?” Jiang Hua, unable to contain his irritation any longer, approached the teacher, offering to personally go to Liu Wuxie’s courtyard and bring them over by force.

“They’re here!” A commotion came from the crowd as they all looked at Liu Wuxie, who appeared with Song Ling in the training ground.

“I was starting to think you two lacked the courage to show up!” Jiang Hua smiled sinisterly, looking at the two as though he were looking at two corpses. He intended to make them regret challenging Advanced Class Three, and it was common for accidents to occur during an exchange.

“Cut the crap. How can he transfer from the class?” Liu Wuxie couldn’t be bothered with small talk as the reward for his assessment was about to be handed out, implying that he would soon be occupied. Therefore, he didn’t want to waste his time in this place.

Liu Wuxie’s attitude enraged everyone in Advanced Class Three as they cussed, glaring at him as though they wanted to devour him whole.

Liu Wuxie was already familiar with what Song Ling had learned in Advanced Class Three, and to him, it was all worthless. In the past, he wouldn’t have even bothered to give the teacher of Advanced Class Three a second glance.

“Brat, you’re too arrogant! Today, I’ll make sure you regret it!” Jiang Hua’s gaze turned cold as ten students from advanced class three stepped forth, surrounding the training ground.

“I look forward to it!” Liu Wuxie replied coldly. On the other hand, Song Ling was so nervous that his palms were covered in sweat.

“The rules are simple. We’ll set up a spiritual array. He can transfer from Advanced Class Three if you two can leave the spiritual array alive!”

Students of Advanced Class Three studied spiritual arrays, and it was fair for them to determine the outcome with spiritual arrays.

“Sure!” Liu Wuxie accepted without any hesitation, wanting to end this farce quickly.

“Where did this brat get his confidence from? Advanced Class Three has been making preparations through the night and received guidance from Teacher Gao. They must’ve prepared a powerful array that will endanger even students of the Profound Grade. So where did he get his confidence from?” The other students present had never seen someone so arrogant before.

Then again, it wasn’t because Liu Wuxie was confident, but he had never considered them his opponent. This was why he wasn’t even willing to say another word to them.

“Let us show him the strength of Advanced Class Three!” Liu Wuxie’s attitude made many people furious. This was because Liu Wuxie had been aloof since he came, standing with his hands behind him. But in reality, he was only seventeen or eighteen and could be considered the youngest among all the students here.

Despite the uproar around him, Liu Wuxie remained unaffected, patiently waiting with closed eyes as Advanced Class Three prepared their spiritual array. Who would give their opponent time to set up a spiritual array in an actual battle? The spiritual array had to be set up immediately to have a chance of winning against the opponent.

Deep in the Imperial Academy, a lady in yellow ran into a courtyard, yelling, “Senior Sister Xu, the person you asked me to monitor, got into a fight!”

This was the same courtyard where Xu Lingxue stayed. Her master had gone to teach her class, and she was the only one left in the courtyard. Without her master’s instructions, she didn’t dare to leave the courtyard. This was why she could only get the lady in yellow to convey information about Liu Wuxie.

“What happened?” Xu Lingxue stood up with a concerned expression. Liu Wuxie had joined the academy a day ago, and it made no sense for him to get into a fight.

The woman in yellow, panting heavily, recounted the events that unfolded in the dining hall, including the incident at the Drunken Immortal House. This caused Xu Lingxue to furrow her brows. She was familiar with Song Ling, the young master of the Song Clan. At the Azure Billow City’s colosseum, Song Ling and Liu Wuxie seemed to share a friendly rapport.

“I want to go and take a look!” declared Xu Lingxue, disregarding her master’s orders as she dashed out of the courtyard to witness the unfolding events.

“But Senior Sister Xu, what if the Vice-Headmaster returns after you leave?” The lady in yellow followed behind Xu Lingxue with concern on her face. After all, Baili Qing was famous for being strict. If she learned that Xu Lingxue ran out on her own, both of them would be punished.

“Don’t worry about it. The Master’s lesson today will take a long time to end, and I will be back after taking a glance.” Xu Lingxue wore a veil and left her courtyard. Since her arrival at the Imperial Academy, she had devoted most of her time to cultivation within her courtyard, seldom venturing out.

It wasn’t long before Advanced Class Three, led by Jiang Hua, had their spiritual array in place.

Song Ling was busy making calculations with his hands. Had it been the previous day, he would have been perplexed by this spiritual array. However, thanks to the intensive lesson from the night before, he was now able to decipher the spiritual array set up by Advanced Class Three. This newfound understanding deepened his admiration for Liu Wuxie. Yet when he turned around, he found Liu Wuxie standing there cultivating with his eyes closed.

“The spiritual array is now ready. If you two can endure within the array for fifteen minutes, consider yourselves victorious,” Jiang Hua declared before exiting the array. The array was designed to be potent and deadly, with the intent to eliminate both of them.

Ten students from Advanced Class Three stood at the nodes of the spiritual array, prepared to activate it at any time.

“Let’s begin!” Liu Wuxie opened his eyes with a hint of impatience.

Li Shengsheng and Zhao Cheng were already present, their faces etched with worry. They were helpless to intervene, even if they wished to.

Suddenly, an invisible barrier enveloped the training ground, trapping Liu Wuxie and Song Ling.

“It’s the Seven Calamity Quicksand Array!” someone exclaimed from the crowd. The deployment of such a lethal spiritual array was not merely an attempt to kill Liu Wuxie and Song Ling, but to annihilate them, leaving no room for survival.

A lightning bolt materialized and shot at Liu Wuxie as a storm erupted from within the array.

“Song Ling, let’s begin.” Liu Wuxie strode the Seven Dipper Steps to dodge the lightning bolt. He retreated to a corner to let Song Ling deal with this array himself. This was a great opportunity for Song Ling to train himself. If Song Ling could break this spiritual array, he would be comparable to Profound Grade students.

“Okay!” Song Ling roared. Utilizing the knowledge imparted by Liu Wuxie, he swiftly pinpointed the spiritual array’s vulnerability. He stepped onto the Kun Gate and surged forward, reappearing at the Qian Gate. His speed was so astonishing that it left many spectators in awe.

Song Ling was only in the Houtian Realm, and it would be even more terrifying if he were in the Xiantian Realm. When he threw out a seemingly ordinary punch, the Qian Gate shook violently as the spiritual array became unstable with cracking sounds.

“What’s going on? How did he find the spiritual array's weakness so quickly?” Jiang Hua was shocked, looking at Song Ling. After all, he knew from Song Ling’s performance in the past few days that he was talented, but he seemed insignificant compared to seniors like them.

Teacher Gao narrowed his eyes, acknowledging that even he couldn’t have delivered such a precise punch.

Song Ling easily caused tremendous pressure on the spiritual array, causing the expressions of the ten students from Advanced Class Three to shift as they swiftly manipulated the spiritual array. This was the art of spiritual arrays, allowing spiritual array masters to adjust the formation.

As the ten students made adjustments, Song Ling adapted in tandem. Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie skillfully evaded incoming threats, observing the scene with ease.

Song Ling practiced a grand fist technique that was compatible with his size. Whenever he threw a punch, he would create layers of ripples.

“Maintain the Qian Gate and break the Kun Gate!” Song Ling muttered as the spiritual array was on the verge of collapse, shocking everyone present.

“How can this be? This guy’s ability in spiritual arrays is this strong?” The observers couldn’t comprehend what was going on, but students from Advanced Class Three were shocked by Song Ling’s abilities as a spiritual array master.

The Seven Calamity Quicksand Array they were talking about was a lethal spiritual array. But Song Ling dealt with it easily. This gave everyone the illusion that they were playing a game.

“Look! What is he doing?!” As Song Ling dismantled the spiritual array, flags materialized in his grasp, which he swiftly embedded into the ground. The terrain of Advanced Class Three’s training ground was soft, facilitating the effortless insertion of the flags.