Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 457 - Escape

Liu Wuxie and the other slaves were shoved to the front as cannon fodders. They would bear the brunt when the battle began, crushed to death by the Ding Feng Hall and Wolf Fang Regiment’s troops.

They couldn’t resist because the Wild Lion Gate had confiscated their weapons, and everyone was only given an ordinary long blade.

This was Liu Wuxie’s first time seeing Kuang Shi, who looked imposing, had a prominent bulge on his forehead, and looked ferocious. He wielded a giant hammer in his hand and showed no signs of being poisoned from the outside.

The Netherspirit Flower's power was such that only those poisoned knew its effects—outsiders couldn't detect anything from the surface. Liu Wuxie dared not test it further, fearing that Kuang Shi might uncover the truth.

“Kuang Shi, surrender this area, or we’ll flatten this place tonight!” The Wolf Fang Regiment’s leader was a man in his forties with a red mark on his forehead and many strange tattoos on his arms. It was rumored everyone had to engrave such marks on their bodies before becoming a pirate.

These tattoos represented the sea, which was believed to protect them in times of trouble.

Then again, it was just a form of belief because one could only rely on themselves in the face of danger.

Ding Ye and Lin Feng stood on the other side and said nothing, but their intentions were clear. When the earthquake had struck ten days ago, the Wild Lion Gate had taken advantage of the chaos and invaded the Ding Feng Hall’s territory, killing more than five hundred people.

They had seized some of the Ding Feng Hall’s territory, which was when Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu were taken away as slaves.

The Ding Feng Hall had suffered heavy losses and secretly gathered their troops for revenge.

“You’ll have to step over my dead body if you want this territory!” The Wild Lion Gate had developed rapidly in recent years, recruiting many experts. They weren’t comparable to the Ding Feng Hall and Wolf Fang Regiment in terms of their numbers, but they were evenly matched with the other two forces in terms of experts.

It was no wonder why the Wild Lion Gate was so arrogant in recent years, with such rapid development and even signs of monopolizing the entire Blood Sea Abyssal Island.

This meant they didn’t care about how many of their people died as long as the higher-ups remained intact.

Every year, new arrivals came to Blood Sea Abyssal Island, replenishing the manpower of the three major forces and ensuring their continued survival. This constant influx of new recruits was why these forces had persisted so long—only the death of their leaders could bring about their downfall.

“Since that’s the case, let’s fight!” The Wolf Fang Regiment wanted to replace the Wild Lion Gate and become the strongest force in the Blood Sea Abyssal Island. The opportunity was right before them because the three forces had never united previously and merely kept each other in check.

When the Wild Lion Gate and Ding Feng Hall clashed, the Wolf Fang Regiment would reap the benefits. When the Ding Feng Hall fought with the Wolf Fang Regiment, the Wild Lion Gate would reap the benefit.

This was the first time the Ding Feng Hall and Wolf Fang Regiment joined forces to attack the Wild Lion Gate.

Many sea demons gathered in the distance, eager to make a move but didn’t dare to come closer. They naturally hoped for internal strife between humans so they could reap the benefits. It was best if humans suffered mutual destruction for the Blood Sea Abyssal Island to fall into the hands of the Sea Demon Clan.

The sky gradually became dark with people moving in the distance. The Abyssal Clan had appeared.

“Big Brother Liu, what should we do? There are experts ahead!” Gu Yu was nervous and gripped his long blade tightly as he looked at Liu Wuxie.

The other two forces had placed their experts at the front, and slaves like them would become victims under their weapons once the battle began.

“Stick close to me!” Liu Wuxie instructed with a serious tone. The current situation was dire, and he had hoped that things wouldn’t escalate to this point. He had wished for a scenario where Xiao Yanlong would let them go, allowing them to part ways without further conflict.

However, the situation had spiraled beyond his control, and retreat was no longer an option. The slaves, frustrated and angry, vented their resentment toward Kuang Shi, but their words were impotent against the overwhelming forces surrounding them. They stood in a tight group, bracing themselves for the inevitable clash with their enemies, waiting for the order to strike.

“Attack!” The Wolf Fang Regiment’s leader swung his saber. The experts standing at the front let out a roar and charged at Liu Wuxie’s group.

“Charge!” Liu Wuxie didn’t choose to retreat and dashed forward instead. After all, they would only die faster if they retreated now.

Striding the Seven Dipper Steps and executing Ghost Eye, the surroundings began to slow down in Liu Wuxie’s eyes. He quickly found the weaknesses in his enemies and slipped past them easily.

Gu Yu followed closely behind Liu Wuxie, not daring to relax.

The battlefield was filled with roars and echoes, with deaths occurring every second.

......

The mine turned into a purgatory with blood and flesh splashing around and the ground littered with corpses.

In the blink of an eye, the majority of the slaves were dead. Many slaves with powerful cultivation managed to avoid the fatal blows and quietly followed Liu Wuxie after noticing that he was unscathed.

When a frontal collision could not be avoided, Liu Wuxie used Frost Finger to create a shield and block all incoming attacks.

Gu Yu was almost killed, but Liu Wuxie used Frost Finger in a critical moment to resolve a fatal strike from a Heavenly Phase Realm cultivator.

After covering over a hundred meters, they had managed to distance themselves from the heart of the conflict. The other two forces, having reached the Wild Lion Gate’s stronghold, clashed fiercely with it.

An earth-shattering battle finally unfolded, with Kuang Shi letting out a roar and joining the fight with his giant hammer. When he swung his hammer, he crushed many incoming experts from the other two forces.

Ding Ye and Lin Feng finally acted. The Wolf Fang Regiment’s leader also charged into the battlefield with no one capable of stopping him.

The two forces weren’t truly united and remained wary of each other. Their main objective was to seize the mine. Whoever seized it first would own it, and their alliance was only temporary.

Once the Wild Lion Gate was destroyed, they would inevitably battle until one side controlled the entire Blood Sea Abyssal Island.

“Liu Wuxie, die!” Che Yong shouted as he attacked from behind. Out of over three hundred slaves, fewer than thirty had managed to escape the battlefield, with the majority perishing in the chaos.

Che Yong was in the third level of the Heavenly Phase Realm, and it wasn’t surprising that he survived.

“I was thinking of killing you, and here you are. You can die now!” Liu Wuxie’s eyes flashed with murderous intent, and the long blade vanished from his hand, replacing it with the Heretic Blade.

They were free now that they had escaped from the battlefield. The Wild Lion Gate was too busy with their problems and couldn’t pay attention to them.

Che Yong's vendetta against Liu Wuxie wasn’t driven by loyalty to the Wild Lion Gate but by personal animosity. His face paled as he saw Liu Wuxie wield the Heretic Blade, struggling to understand the depth of his opponent’s power. Liu Wuxie, seemingly ordinary on the day of his capture, now wielded a force beyond his expectations.

The Fatality Blade Art’s Fifth Fatality Form manifested as a formidable blade aura, hurtling towards Che Yong with lethal intent.

Che Yong froze mid-charge as Liu Wuxie struck him down with a single blow. The sight was so shocking that many onlookers gasped in disbelief. Cultivators who had been observing the battle from a distance now hesitated to get involved, wary of the immense power on display.

“Who’s that kid? He’s strong enough to kill someone in the third level of the Heavenly Phase Realm with one strike.” Many humans were hidden nearby, wanting to take advantage of the situation to reap benefits.

Liu Wuxie quickly left with Gu Yu after killing Che Yong, not wanting to stay for another moment. The war between the three forces had nothing to do with them.

The two escaped into the woods and vanished without a trace. They finally stopped to rest after ensuring no one followed them.

On a hill overlooking the battlefield, Xiao Yanlong witnessed Liu Wuxie’s devastating strike against Che Yong.

“Liu Wuxie, I didn’t expect you to be alive. Are you my nemesis?” Xiao Yanlong’s voice was filled with frustration and disbelief. After discovering Liu Wuxie’s pivotal role in the turmoil and seeing his immense power firsthand, Xiao Yanlong was convinced that the Wild Lion Gate's end was near. He had not returned to the Wild Lion Gate after leaving the mine, knowing that its fate was sealed.

He recalled how Liu Wuxie had defeated the formidable Prince Yongxian, and now, the once-harmless boy had transformed into a formidable force beyond the mundane world’s limits.

“This is weird. I didn’t see Xiao Yanlong in tonight’s battle!” Liu Wuxie panted heavily as he rested. He had only managed to escape thanks to the Soul Forge Art.

Without the support of his powerful soul energy, he would have been overwhelmed and defeated by the combined forces.

The battle reached a crucial turning point as the poison in Kuang Shi’s body took full effect. The once-mighty hammer now felt unbearably heavy in his grasp. As he struggled under its weight, Lin Feng’s sword pierced his right arm, and he was forced to drop the hammer.

“Time to leave!” Kuang Shi was injured, which meant the Wild Lion Gate had become history. Xiao Yanlong didn’t hesitate to leave the Blood Sea Abyssal Island in search of a new path.

He would only die if he continued to stay on the Blood Sea Abyssal Island because the Ding Feng Hall and Wolf Fang Regiment wouldn’t let him off.

A momentous change was on the horizon for the Blood Sea Abyssal Island. After tonight’s catastrophic events, many cultivators, including those who had remained loyal to the Wild Lion Gate, departed the island.

That day, a warship arrived at the harbor with new arrivals on board, while many others set sail to leave the island.

The war continued with the Wild Lion Gate utter’s defeat and Kuang Shi’s fall. The Wild Lion Gate had dominated the Blood Sea Abyssal Island for nearly a century, but it couldn’t withstand the assault of the two combined forces.

Kuang Shi had assembled a formidable group, creating the illusion of a powerful Wild Lion Gate. However, the Wild Lion Gate lacked true sect unity, and when faced with danger, its members scattered. As soon as Kuang Shi fell, the Wild Lion Gate began to crumble, with everyone fleeing in disarray.

Kuang Shi was covered in blood and could only sigh, looking at the experts he recruited fleeing for their lives. He didn’t expect to end up in this state after dominating the Blood Sea Abyssal Island for a century.

When Ding Ye’s sword pierced into Kuang Shi’s neck, the battlefield fell into silence, with the remaining Wild Lion Gate members fleeing, not daring to linger for another moment.

This had nothing to do with Liu Wuxie because they searched for a place to settle down after they rested well. They didn’t lack in Blood Abyssal Stones, not to mention they had just made a breakthrough. Liu Wuxie had to temper his cultivation and aim to reach the third level of the Heavenly Phase Realm within three months.

Rustling sounds came from a distance, alerting Liu Wuxie.

“Brat, you’re still alive!” The Jade Blood Yaksha’s voice echoed.

Due to the poisonous mist, he had to rest for a few days, and the flesh on his arm still hadn’t regrown, which meant his strength was greatly diminished.

Liu Wuxie remained clam when he saw the Jade Blood Yaksha. He was tired of hiding because he believed he could establish himself on the Blood Sea Abyssal Island with his current strength. He said, “Let’s settle our feud today!”

He would be fine if he didn’t provoke any experts in the high levels of the Heavenly Phase Realm or Astral River Realm. He had just reached the Heavenly Phase Realm and needed a battle to solidify his foundation.

The appearance of the Jade Blood Yaksha was perfect at this moment.