Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 91 - Energy Dispersing Liquid

Xu Yilin didn’t bid farewell to Liu Wuxie. Instead, he stood on the roof of the Xu Clan’s residence, looking at Liu Wuxie’s departing figure. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he muttered, “Child, you have grown up and can only depend on yourself in your future journey.”

It was unusual for a person like Xu Yilin to show vulnerability. He maintained his composure even when Xu Lingxue departed. However, for some reason, he felt a sense of loss when Liu Wuxie left, as if something precious had been taken from him, leaving him in a melancholic state.

As Liu Wuxie traversed two streets, a familiar voice echoed from behind him, “Young Master Liu, hold on!” Lei Tao ran over, gasping for his breath with a bottle in his hand. He handed it to Liu Wuxie and said, “I made it in time! The pavilion master told me to give this to you. He spent a few days refining ten Golden Spirit Pills and asked me to hand them to you in case you need them.”

Although the ten Golden Spirit Pills were devoid of any pill runes, each was perfectly round, signifying Bi Gongyu’s diligence.

Bi Gongyu had spent the past five days refining pills, especially the Golden Spirit Pills. He attempted to refine the Golden Spirit Pills ten-odd times before he grasped the technique.

“Please convey my gratitude to the pavilion master!” Liu Wuxie accepted the bottle from Lei Tao without any formalities, and with a fist-and-palm salute, he continued his journey. He exited the city, walking towards the sunrise through the gates, his future unknown to all.

......

A day later, Liu Wuxie found himself in a nondescript town’s restaurant. After an entire day of traveling, he was famished and parched.

He didn’t know if the Xue Clan had laid an ambush for him along his route, so he remained cautious, sticking to the main roads and refraining from traveling after dark.

Before Liu Wuxie sat down, a waiter came over. The waiter was friendly, with an oil-stained white cloth slung over his shoulder. He asked, “How can I help you?”

As this was a small town, it only had one restaurant. So Liu Wuxie didn’t have many choices and was satisfied as long as he could replenish himself here.

“A few simple dishes will do. I’m in a hurry.” Liu Wuxie sat down and had no baggage on him as he kept everything in his interspatial pouch. When the waiter left, Liu Wuxie began to examine the restaurant. Rather than calling this a restaurant, it would be more appropriate to call it a house with a few tables.

To his right, an older couple was seated. The man grumbled about the woman’s slow pace, while she wept quietly.

On his left, three individuals who appeared to be farmers sat, their bags of harvested crops resting beside them.

Behind him was a young man, his attire relatively clean. However, his pristine shoes suggested he hadn’t been traveling long.

This was a bizarre scene as the farmers were discussing their harvest this year while the couple mumbled.

It didn’t take long before the waiter returned with three stir-fried dishes. He also brought a small jar of wine and a bowl of fragrant spiritual rice. When the dishes were placed before Liu Wuxie, they whet his appetite. Spiritual rice was watered with spiritual rain, containing spirituality that could strengthen the body of cultivators.

“Please enjoy your meal!” The waiter left after placing the dishes down.

Liu Wuxie filled a cup with wine, a frosty smile playing on his lips. Oddly enough, the restaurant fell into silence as he lifted his cup.

The middle-aged couple stopped their mumble, the commoners stopped chatting, and the white-clothed youth behind moved his shoulder slightly. None of those details escaped Liu Wuxie’s eyes, and he could capture every single one of their expressions.

Liu Wuxie brought the cup to his lips but refrained from drinking. As the anticipation grew, the farmers began to grow restless, their conversation becoming disjointed and forced. The couple resumed their squabble over trivial matters. The youth in white moved his hand inward, obstructing Liu Wuxie’s view of his actions.

When Liu Wuxie gulped down the wine, he placed the cup down and roared, “Good wine!”

“Liu Wuxie, we finally have you cornered!” The middle-aged couple brandished two blades hidden beneath the table and lunged at Liu Wuxie. However, they halted three meters away, their blades glinting in the sunlight.

“What are you guys waiting for? Come at me together!” Liu Wuxie placed the cup on the table and said, looking at the group of farmers and the white-clothed youth, tearing their disguises apart.

“How did you know we’re a team?” The three farmers rose, their faces twisted into menacing expressions as they pulled weapons from their crop bags, blocking the exit to prevent Liu Wuxie from fleeing.

The white-clothed youth behind him drew a sword from underneath the table. After all, not everyone had an interspatial pouch and would usually carry their belongings on them.

“Are you guys from the Xue Clan or the City Lord Mansion?” Liu Wuxie’s gaze swept across the room, finally resting on the middle-aged couple. These two were the leaders here, the oldest and the strongest.

“Boy, you can ask that question in the underworld! You won’t have a chance to find out!” The middle-aged man said eerily as he wore a cruel smile on his lips. The three farmers laughed while the white-clothed youth had no expression. They slowly approached Liu Wuxie but didn’t dare to act rashly as though they were waiting for something.

“Aren’t you guys looking down on me to think that a poison of this caliber will work on me?” Liu Wuxie wore a harmless smile as he raised the wine cup from the table.

The smiles on the middle-aged couple’s faces froze, their expressions turning stiff. After all, how did Liu Wuxie know that the wine was laced with poison? The wine, dishes, and rice were all laced with poison, ensuring that Liu Wuxie would be affected whether he drank or ate.

“H-How did you know that the wine is poisoned?!” The middle-aged man asked nervously. They were well aware of Liu Wuxie’s strength and knew they couldn't kill him with their strength, so they resorted to using poison. The three farmers clenched their weapons tightly and looked nervous.

“Don’t worry. I specially prepared the Energy Dispersing Liquid. Even if someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm consumes it, they will lose their cultivation in minutes,” the white-clothed youth assured them. The name of the poison sounded ominous, but its effects remained unknown as it hadn’t taken effect yet.

Liu Wuxie was still pouring a cup of wine for himself as he picked up a piece of meat and placed it in his mouth, enjoying his food and ignoring the six people surrounding him. The waiter stood not far away with a kitchen knife, waiting for an opportunity.

After Liu Wuxie filled his stomach, he burped before standing up.

“Bai Yun, what’s going on?” The middle-aged man looked at the white-clothed youth. This was weird as it had already been a few minutes, but Liu Wuxie didn’t seem to be affected by the poison, looking lively and energetic.

“He must be feigning wellness to deceive us! Stay alert!” The youth in white, Bai Yun, was convinced that Liu Wuxie was merely putting on a show. Despite Liu Wuxie’s apparent well-being, Bai Yun was confident that he had lost his cultivation. After all, he used an entire bottle of Energy Dispersing Liquid in the dishes that even a demonic beast in the Spirit Cleansing Realm would’ve collapsed by now.

“What are you guys waiting for? I will leave if you guys aren’t going to make a move.” Liu Wuxie couldn’t be bothered to waste time with these people as he walked toward the door where the three farmers stopped him.

“Ole’ Sixth, test if he has lost his cultivation!” The middle-aged man instructed.

A man wielding a sickle lunged at Liu Wuxie, aiming for his head. If successful, the attack would sever Liu Wuxie’s neck, even if it didn’t decapitate him. His strike was swift and decisive, leaving no room for Liu Wuxie to react.

Without their true essence, cultivators were no different from ordinary people. At that point, even someone in the Houtian Realm could easily take Liu Wuxie’s life.

The sickle tore through the air and reached Liu Wuxie. This man wasn’t weak as he had cultivation in the sixth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm; he could be considered an expert in the Azure Billow City.

If the Xue Clan wanted him dead, they wouldn’t have sent someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm but someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, at the very least. Therefore, Liu Wuxie deduced that these people weren’t sent by the Xue Clan but by someone else. As for who that might be, he was still uncertain.

As the man neared, Liu Wuxie could feel a biting cold, yet he remained motionless. Seeing this, the middle-aged man smirked, convinced that Liu Wuxie had lost his cultivation and had been putting on a brave front all along.

As the sickle approached, Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes and placed his right hand on the interspatial pouch. A beam of light erupted from the pouch, with a blade ready to be unsheathed.

A flash of light streaked past so swiftly that no one had time to react before it vanished. The man charging at Liu Wuxie suddenly froze as though he had been petrified.

This baffled the middle-aged man, and he asked, “Ole’ Sixth, what are you doing?”

No one present could keep up with the trajectory of Liu Wuxie’s blade; all they saw was a flash of light.

Blood dripping down the man’s neck painted a red flower on the ground. Despite his efforts, the man was unable to utter a word as Liu Wuxie’s blade had slit his throat, rendering him speechless.

The middle-aged couple exchanged a glance, fear evident in each others’ eyes. They exclaimed, “Y-You’re not poisoned?!”

Several minutes had passed, and Liu Wuxie was still unscathed, even managing to kill one of them with his blade. This only meant that the Energy Dispersing Liquid was ineffective against Liu Wuxie.