Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 78 - Killing A Marrow Cleansing Realm

This was the sword technique that Yun Lan was famous for, the Chasing Wind Twenty-Seven Sword. Relying on this sword technique, it was rare for anyone to force Yun Lan to perform all twenty-seven swords.

However, today, an unremarkable figure provoked him repeatedly, dodging all his attacks with a movement technique. This naturally made Yun Lan furious, making him roar furiously. Just like that, Yun Lan chased as Liu Wuxie fled. Liu Wuxie didn’t fight back because he had discovered eight weaknesses in the Chasing Wind Twenty-Seven Sword and needed to exploit those flaws.

“Fatal Chasing Wind!” Yun Lan bellowed. The sword in his hand left behind afterimages, and he was on the verge of becoming one with the sword. This was also the strongest attack of the Chasing Wind Twenty-Seven Sword.

“An opportunity!” A smile rose on Liu Wuxie’s lips, and he swung his blade at an incredible angle, aimed at Yun Lan’s underarm.

This scared Yun Lan into shuddering because this was the weakness of the Fatal Chasing Wind, but how did Liu Wuxie know about it?

Yun Lan had no choice but to withdraw his sword hastily, evading the lethal thrust of Liu Wuxie's blade. Failing to do so would have meant his demise, even if he succeeded in eliminating Liu Wuxie. With no luxury of time for contemplation and a fierce determination to survive, Yun Lan swiftly opted to dodge to his right, narrowly escaping the potentially fatal strike.

“Too slow!”

Yun Lan broke out in a cold sweat when the blade brushed past him. When he retracted his sword, he realized he had made a mistake. He fell into a disadvantageous position as Liu Wuxie naturally wouldn’t let him catch his breath and unleashed a barrage of attacks.

“This is impossible! How do you know the flaws of my martial technique?!” Yun Lan was shocked.

Each of Liu Wuxie’s attacks targeted the weaknesses of Yun Lan’s attacks, forcing him to retract his sword before he could even swing it, leaving him feeling frustrated.

Liu Wuxie relied on the Ghost Eye to deal with Yun Lan’s sword techniques. Coupled with his battle instincts as an Immortal Emperor, Liu Wuxie easily resolved Yun Lan’s attacks. But wanting to kill Yun Lan was entirely different, and it was nearly impossible. After all, just breaking Yun Lan’s attacks wasn’t enough because he was in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Yun Lan was several levels higher in terms of true essence. He swung his sword down, planning to clash head-on and using his cultivation to tear a hole in Liu Wuxie’s attacks. After all, skills were limited in the face of absolute strength.

The terrifying true essence released by Yun Lan formed into a gust that made Liu Wuxie stagger. After all, there was a significant disparity between their levels of cultivation, and attempting to bridge the gap in cultivation was more challenging than scaling the heavens.

Liu Wuxie was biding his time, but his opportunity hadn’t yet arrived. So, he continued to retreat, evading Yun Lan’s attacks and waiting for his chance.

“Stop dodging. You won’t be able to escape. What does it matter if you can find the weaknesses in my attacks? I’m in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and I can prolong the battle to exhaust your true essence before crushing you!” Yun Lan let out a sinister smile. And so, one fled while the other pursued among the tree branches.

Lei Tao couldn’t put into words what he was feeling at that moment. Someone at the pinnacle of the Spirit Cleansing Realm wouldn’t be able to withstand more than a hundred moves against someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

“Talk about it when you actually catch up to me!” Liu Wuxie used himself as bait to attract Yun Lan to take the bite because he needed an opportunity to kill Yun Lan. There would only be one chance, and he would die if he failed.

The more Yun Lan fought, the more furious he became. Yun Lan had a fiery temper to begin with, so as Liu Wuxie and his attacks continuously mocked him and failed to connect, this naturally enraged Yun Lan. In the heat of battle, if one participant succumbs to agitation, they frequently resort to irrational actions.

Liu Wuxie and Yun Lan chased each other like cat and mouse. Yun Lan was pressed for time because someone would take this path during the day, and it would be harder for him to kill Liu Wuxie if he failed. So, Yun Lan had to accelerate the battle no matter what.

They could no longer hear the fight between Bi Gongyu and Nangong Qi as they ran deeper into the woods. The towering trees covered the sky, and the surroundings became darker. Liu Wuxie suddenly stopped as he intentionally lured Yun Lan to this place. This was so that no one could see him executing the Ghost Eye.

“Not going to run anymore?” Yun Lan stopped. This place was rather spacious and suitable for them to fight. The two stood facing each other about ten meters apart. Yun Lan’s face turned sinister as murderous intent emanated from him.

“Pavilion Master Yun, can I ask you a question?” Liu Wuxie suddenly smiled as he looked at Yun Lan and lowered his blade.

“Go on. I’ll grant your wish before you die!” Yun Lan didn’t want to waste time talking and urged Liu Wuxie to speak quickly.

“Why is a pavilion master of a branch like you being used by Shangguan Cai willingly? Don’t you know he’s using the two of you to kill me?” Liu Wuxie asked with a mocking expression.

It was clear that Shangguan Cai was using Yun Lan and Nangong Qi to kill him. He didn’t come here himself and instigated Yun Lan and Nangong Qi to attack them.

Mo Shidao’s disciple, Du Mingze, had also died at the hands of Liu Wuxie, but Mo Shidai didn’t fall for it. Even if he wanted revenge, he would do it himself and wouldn’t fall for Shangguan Cai’s instigation.

“You think I don’t know Shangguan Cai is using me? But what does it matter as long as I can kill you?” Yun Lan wasn’t stupid. He and Shangguan Cai were just using each other.

“Sure enough. Shangguan Cai sent you guys to kill me!” Liu Wuxie tried to probe Yun Lan and verify that Shangguan Cai was the mastermind.

“Are you done with your last words?” Yun Lan looked impatient as he continued, “You can die now.”

When Yun Lan released his aura in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, it felt suffocating and formed into a tidal wave, sending the rocks flying around the ground.

“This is the strength of the Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivator?!” Liu Wuxie licked his lips with a hint of madness in his eyes. As the distance between them closed, a long sword appeared within three meters of Liu Wuxie. If Liu Wuxie hadn’t moved, Yun Lan would slain him. Liu Wuxie suddenly roared, “Yun Lan, prepare to die!”

Liu Wuxie’s voice was loud as it contained his true essence, which came from his dantian, sounding like rumbling lightning. The loud voice startled Yun Lan, and he subconsciously raised his head to look at Liu Wuxie.

However, the moment he looked into Liu Wuxie’s eyes, he knew he had made a grave mistake.

“Ghost Eye, kill!” Liu Wuxie’s golden soul sea rumbled as his soul energy flowed into his right eye and shot out using his right eye as a conduit. The soul energy formed into a torrent and pierced Yun Lan’s eyes.

This naturally surprised Yun Lan because who could’ve thought that an eye could be used as a weapon? Yun Lan failed to react in time, and it was already too late when he wanted to close his eyes because he felt a stinging pain in his soul sea.

“ARGHHH!” Yun Lan collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with his hands as he writhed in agony. He was suffering from an excruciating headache that felt like his soul sea was being torn apart, and the pain was suffocating.

The pain was unbearable, causing Yun Lan to wish for death because it was inhumane torture. One could endure physical pain, but the pain in the soul sea was intangible and elusive. As Yun Lan gripped his head tighter, the force he exerted tore the skin on his scalp, staining his palm red.

After three days of competition, Liu Wuxie’s soul sea had expanded several times. Generally speaking, Liu Wuxie wouldn’t resort to attacking with his soul energy as it was dangerous. If he wasn’t careful, he might suffer the backlash of his soul energy, but Liu Wuxie had no choice but to go all out to survive. It was either his death or Yun Lan’s.

“Momentous Gleam!” Liu Wuxie pounced forth and swung his blade down. The Ghost Eye could only render Yun Lan immobilized for half a breath’s time, and he would die when Yun Lan’s soul sea recovered.

Yun Lan’s eyes became bloodshot from the pain in his soul sea, but his consciousness was still clear. When Liu Wuxie swung his blade down, Yun Lan raised his sword to block the incoming attack, but he rolled on the ground instead to avoid the fatal blow.

Although Yun Lan managed to avoid the blow to his head, Liu Wuxie’s blade still cut through his waist, creating a wound of roughly an inch, exposing his intestines. The pain made Yun Lan take a deep breath, and his facial expression became distorted because of it.

But Liu Wuxie had no intentions of letting Yun Lan go and followed up with another attack. After coming this far, Yun Lan no longer wanted to fight and only wanted to escape because he had lost his fighting prowess due to the pain coming from his soul sea.

“Die!” As Liu Wuxie’s desolate true essence gushed out, this was Liu Wuxie’s strongest strike. He didn't use his full strength when he was in front of Lei Tao and Bi Gongyu earlier. After executing the Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie’s soul sea would dry up momentarily, and a sense of dizziness assaulted him. If he couldn’t kill Yun Lan anytime soon, his soul sea would dry up, rendering him helpless before Yun Lan.

Liu Wuxie’s blade intent swept out, and Yun Lan was immobilized, which was the true power of the blade intent. It was normally impossible to comprehend the blade intent without reaching the level of a grandmaster, and Liu Wuxie was an exception.

“Don’t kill me!” Yun Lan went down on his knees, begging for mercy as he didn’t want to die. But it was too late as Liu Wuxie’s blade aura cut through the air and his neck.

As Yun Lan’s body began to shrivel up, the essence of a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert poured into Liu Wuxie’s body, and the energy was enough for Liu Wuxie to reach the late phase fourth level of the Xiantian Realm. Simultaneously, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron produced three liquids before flowing into his dantian. Liu Wuxie’s true essence began to rise rapidly with a series of rumbles, reaching the late phase in under three breaths.

“As expected of a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert, the energy in Yun Lan’s body is too massive.” According to Liu Wuxie’s calculations, it should have taken him at least a month to reach the late phase, but killing an expert in the Marrow Cleansing Realm saved him a month’s worth of hard work.

But Liu Wuxie couldn’t be bothered about the rise of his cultivation and quickly sat down because of the intense pain coming from his golden soul sea. The backlash for executing a soul energy attack was too massive. He could only circulate the Desolate Devouring Art to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy and slowly recover his soul sea. This process lasted an incense’s time, and only one-third of his soul sea was recovered. It would take a day or two if Liu Wuxie wanted to recover completely.

The battle far away was still going on, and it had reached a critical stage. Bi Gongyu’s and Nangong Qi’s strengths were evenly matched, and it was tough for them to determine a winner. If they carried on fighting, both sides would lose, and no one could gain any advantage.

Turning into an afterimage, Liu Wuxie disappeared as he rushed towards the battleground. After tasting the benefit of slaying a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert, Liu Wuxie wanted to kill another. At that time, there would be a high chance for him to reach the pinnacle fourth level of the Xiantian Realm, saving him another month’s time.

But when Liu Wuxie approached the battleground, he took a cold breath because both Nangong Qi and Bi Gonyu were injured. To hold back Bi Gongyu, Nangong Qi had done everything he could, disregarding his own life to fight Bi Gongyu.

“Wuxie, leave quickly!” Bi Gongyu wanted Liu Wuxie to leave upon seeing him.

“We’ll leave together!” Liu Wuxie joined the battle, swinging his blade at Nangong Qi.

This startled Nangong Qi into retreating because he could feel his life being threatened by Liu Wuxie’s blade.

“Yun Lan, where the hell are you? Why isn’t this brat dead?!” Nangong Qi roared, seeking Yun Lan to come and reinforce him.

“He’s already dead. So you don’t have to call for him,” Liu Wuxie said coldly.

Bi Gongyu and Nangong Qi were both stumped when they heard that, and they stopped what they were doing as they looked at Liu Wuxie.