Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 512 - Sky Yin Sect

Liu Wuxie stored away all the spirit stones that he had won and glared at his opponents. He then unleashed a terrifying murderous intent, sending everyone flying.

"You’re courting death!"

Pei Kun was enraged, but he didn't expect Liu Wuxie to be so powerful.

Many of the guards were in the high levels of the True Core Realm. They were so strong that they could even become outer disciples in the ten major sects.

Pei Kun tried to strike Liu Wuxie with his palm, displaying strength comparable to a cultivator in the high levels of the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

In response, Liu Wuxie roared, "Get lost!"

His voice created a terrifying whirlwind, tearing apart all the walls on the second floor. The attack also created a large hole, which Liu Wuxie and Chen Ruoyan then used to escape. They vanished on the streets before their opponents could come to their senses.

"Search the entire Azure Mountain City! Use whatever means necessary to find those two!" Pei Kun ordered.

The Teng Clan casino had never suffered such heavy losses before. If they pursued this matter, he knew he would have to take responsibility. To make matters worse, considering how exceptional Liu Wuxie's gambling skills were, he could put other casinos in trouble as well. He had to find and capture him before then.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie removed the mask that he was wearing, and Chen Ruoyan did the same to her veil.

"Big Brother Liu, where are we going now?" Chen Ruoyan asked.

She found the experience exciting, mainly because she had spent most of her time in the mundane world stuck in a palace. Even when she joined the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, she spent her days cultivating. Now that she finally got to spend time outside, she became more cheerful and smiled more.

"Let's just walk around," Liu Wuxie replied with low enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the game earlier couldn't pique his interest.

Since it was already dark, most shops had closed except for casinos. Nevertheless, he decided against heading back to the inn.

"How is Big Sister Jian?" Chen Ruoyan asked.

It had been several hours since Jian Xing'er left, yet they still hadn't heard anything from her.

"Don't worry. She'll be fine!" Liu Wuxie said to reassure Chen Ruoyan.

He couldn’t erase the hint of worry from his expression. However, he believed that Jian Botong wouldn't do anything to Jian Xing'er. Even tigers didn’t eat their cubs.

While they were walking, a woman ran out of a building and let out a frantic, heart-wrenching scream. "My child! My child!"

At the same time, a black figure darted toward the outskirts of the city. He had a child in his arm.

"You go back to the inn first!" Liu Wuxie instructed. He then vanished and chased after the black figure. The culprit couldn’t be a profound beast, considering he dared snatch a child so blatantly in the city.

Chen Ruoyan hesitated, but she ended up heading back to the inn as ordered. She didn't want to cause Lui Wuxieany trouble.

Flying like a comet, Liu Wuxie swiftly caught up to the black figure. However, although they were already close to the edges of the city by then, he still maintained a slower speed. After all, he didn't want to alarm the Teng Clan.

Soon, the black figure exited the city and dashed into the Azure Mountains. Upon reaching a hillside, he slowed down and put the child down. He didn’t seem to have noticed that someone was tailing him.

Concerned that a fight would hurt the child, Liu Wuxie had been stopping himself from making a move. However, the moment the black figure placed the child down, Liu Wuxie vanished and struck him with his palm. The attack caught his target by surprise, blasting him five meters away.

Liu Wuxie picked up the child, who seemed to only be two or three years old.

Meanwhile, the black figure stood back up. Glaring at Liu Wuxie, he took out a longsword with a chilling luster from his interspatial pouch and pointed it at Liu Wuxie. "Who are you?!"

Considering the man was only in the True Core Realm, Liu Wuxie could easily kill him with one finger. However, he refrained from doing so since he wanted to know why the man had kidnapped the child.

"I should be the one asking that," Liu Wuxie countered.

Due to how remote the Azure Mountain City was, its people suffered from poverty and scarce resources. Hence, it naturally created many bandits. Still, he had only heard of bandits plundering money. Kidnapping children was unprecedented even for them.

"How dare you ruin the Sky Yin Sect's plans!" the black figure shouted, unknowingly revealing his identity as a sect disciple.

It wasn't hard to tell from the name of his sect that it was a demonic cult, not a righteous sect.

Liu Wuxie frowned. Although it was only a coincidence that he had encountered this man, he couldn’t help but wonder if there were others like him.

"How many children have you all captured, and where have you taken them?" he asked.

"You talk too much! Die!"

The black figure swung his sword down at Liu Wuxie with lightning speed. In response, Liu Wuxie pointed at him with his finger and froze his limbs with a cold ray, leaving only his head free from the ice.

He then slowly approached the black figure, who now looked so afraid that he had turned deathly pale. The man hadn't seen such a technique before.

"Where's the Sky Yin Sect? Why are you kidnapping children?" Liu Wuxie coldly asked. Right after, the child in his arms opened his eyes wide and looked around in confusion.

"You won’t get anything from me!"

The black figure flashed a sinister smile. Right after, black blood dripped from his lips.

"Did you just poison yourself?"

Liu Wuxie wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. Not even he could have expected the man to have poison hidden in his mouth. The ruthlessness of it all made him wonder what the Sky Yin Sect was.

With the black figure dead, Liu Wuxie had no choice but to return. He followed the same path back to the city and eventually found the woman from earlier still weeping on the street. When he approached her, the woman raised her head. Seeing her child, she immediately leaped forward and took the baby.

"My child..."

The woman pressed her face on the child's face. Perhaps it was because of her smell, but the baby smiled.

"Thank you!" she said.

"Do you know why that person kidnapped your child?" Liu Wuxie asked in hopes of getting clues that he failed to get from the black figure.

"The Sky Yin Sect is behind it. They've kidnapped many children over the years."

The woman gritted her teeth. This certainly didn’t seem to be the first time that they had kidnapped children from the city.

"Why are this city’s prominent clans allowing the Sky Yin Sect to kidnap children?" Liu Wuxie prodded, now a little enraged.

He wasn't benevolent, but even he couldn't be so heartless. Kidnapping children was against all morals and the heavens.

The woman lulled her child to sleep. Afterward, she sighed and sat down on the door's threshold.

"They're all the same. They're all bloodsuckers. The only difference is that the Sky Yin Sect commits crimes openly while the others do it in the dark."

Since Liu Wuxie had time to spare, he saw this as an opportunity to learn more about the city. Since the woman was one of its natives, she had to be familiar with its situation. Hence, Liu Wuxie believed he could get something useful from her.

At that moment, Liu Wuxie also realized that the cultivation world didn't have a proper system of laws. This place allowed the strong to prey on the weak.

Prominent clans needed constant resources to survive. Since they couldn't exploit their kin, they decided to exploit the city's commoners instead. To that end, they monopolized almost the entire market in the city, allowing them to determine the prices of goods.

"Do you have any more information on the Sky Yin Sect?" Liu Wuxie asked. However, he already had a rough understanding of this city’s prominent clans even if the woman failed to provide her with more intel.

The ten major sects were no different. They constantly absorbed talents and geniuses in the cultivation world, creating a siphoning effect that prevented any new forces from rising. This system allowed them to dominate a territory spanning hundreds of miles.

"They're a bunch of inhumane beasts!" The woman shouted as she trembled in anger. Her voice startled the child in her embrace into crying.

Liu Wuxie waited for her to continue.

"A man called the Sky Yin Ancestor came to the city three decades ago and established the Sky Yin Sect in a valley within the Azure Mountains. They then recruited disciples, allowing them to swiftly expand in just a few years. Even the city’s prominent clans in the city couldn't do anything to stop them."

The Sky Yin Sect was relatively restrained in its first few years. However, they had since gradually extended their reach to the city.

"Why are they kidnapping children?" Liu Wuxie asked with a frown. He could understand the Sky Yin Sect recruiting disciples to expand, but why were they kidnapping children?

"The Sky Yin Ancestor likes to eat infants. Kidnapped infants were roasted for him to eat."

The woman caressed her child, who would have become food for the Sky Yin Ancestor if not for Liu Wuxie's intervention.

A surge of murderous intent swept out from Liu Wuxie. Eating humans wasn't unheard of, but this was the first time he had heard of someone eating infants.

"The Sky Yin Ancestor has eaten a few hundred infants in the past few years. Mothers like us can only hide our children and make sure no one else knows about them. Fortunately, we only have to hide them until they reach the age of three because the Sky Yin Ancestor doesn't like children that old.”

Eating hundreds of infants in just a few years was madness. However, the Sky Yin Sect's disciples were cautious. They only captured children from ordinary families, never from prominent clans.

After all, they knew that ordinary people wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if they were furious.

Liu Wuxie felt a heavy heart like a stone pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe. He did his best to calm his inner anger, but his eyes flickered with murderous intent.

"It’s getting late, Young master. Thank you for saving my child!” the woman exclaimed. She then carried her child back to her house.

In just a few months, her child would be three years old, and she wouldn't have to worry about the Sky Yin Sect anymore.

Liu Wuxie couldn’t even remember how he returned to the inn. Upon seeing him, though, Chen Ruoyan rushed over to him.

"What happened, Big Brother Liu?” Chen Ruoyan asked. “Why do you look so upset?"

"I'm fine," Liu Wuxie replied dismissively.

He had no intentions of telling Chen Ruoyan something so disgusting. With her temperament, she would probably erupt in anger if she heard about it.