Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 124 - Ashamed

Her plan was to use her master’s stature to pressure Liu Wuxie into surrendering the qualification voluntarily, thereby avoiding any potential criticism. After all, there’s a significant difference between willingly giving up the qualification and being forced to do so.

Zhao Yuanjia found himself in a quandary, unable to reveal to Qi Ningyun the fear he felt when he faced Liu Wuxie. The intensity of Liu Wuxie’s gaze was suffocating, akin to the god of death tightening his grip around his neck.

“There’s something peculiar about that brat that he’s able to ignore the pressure of my aura.” Despite being unwilling to admit it, Zhao Yuanjia still told Qi Ningyun the truth. If it were another student in the Xiantian Realm facing his aura as a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert, they would immediately go down on their knees, begging for mercy. But the gaze from Liu Wuxie made him feel as though needles were poking into every inch of his body.

“He’s that weird?” Qi Ningyun naturally believed her master. After all, the fact that Liu Wuxie could cripple so many students in the ninth-level Xiantian Realm meant that he wasn’t simple. It would be weird to rise in such a manner in one month if there weren’t any special encounters.

“There’s something off about him. I’ll return tonight,” Zhao Yuanjia declared, his tone filled with determination. He found it hard to let go of the intimidation he felt under Liu Wuxie’s gaze. Since he couldn’t confront him during the day, he resolved to return at night to compel Liu Wuxie to surrender the qualification, knowing there would be no further opportunities after today.

When they left, the courtyard fell into silence once more. No one came again, and Liu Wuxie didn’t go to the dining hall till the sky turned dark. He merely took out a few Heavenly Spirit Pills and swallowed them. When he circulated the Desolate Devouring Art, he devoured all the spiritual energy within a few thousand meters of radius, and he was only one step from reaching the sixth-level Xiantian Realm.

Liu Wuxie entered his golden soul sea. His days of cultivation had significantly strengthened his soul sea, with golden soul energy transforming into golden threads. These threads intertwined to form multiple bridges within his soul sea.

When night came, a shadowy figure quietly approached with the moon hanging in the sky.

“He’s finally here!” Liu Wuxie gathered his soul energy with a brutal smile hanging on his lips. He had expected someone to come at night.

The shadowy figure landed in the courtyard silently and approached Liu Wuxie’s room stealthily. The room was shrouded in darkness, with no lamp to pierce the blackness. Even so, cultivators in the Marrow Cleansing Realm had a powerful perception, capable of sensing something more than ten meters away. Thus, the figure could hear the sound of breathing emanating from the room.

“Brat, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” The figure paused briefly outside the door before bursting inside. Upon entering, he lunged towards the source of the breathing sound, dagger in hand. His movements were swift, his dagger reaching its target in the blink of an eye. Liu Wuxie lay on his bed, vulnerable to the impending strike.

The figure laughed cruelly as he closed the distance to Liu Wuxie, now just five steps away. The room was small, barely ten square meters, with only ten steps separating the door from the bed.

But just when the dagger was about to fall, the figure suddenly froze as he had lost track of Liu Wuxie. The surroundings began to change as the figure found himself in a world of darkness, unable to see anything. No matter where he tried to escape, he would be forced back by an invisible force as if trapped in a cage.

The figure was still calm, trying to find a way to escape. He knew he had fallen for Liu Wuxie’s trap and wanted to find a way out. But as time passed, he realized that he couldn’t break out of the cage no matter how hard he tried, and this gradually made him lose his patience. In the end, he could only sit on the ground to try and figure a way out.

Occasionally, he would rise and attempt to break through, but all his efforts were in vain. It was as if an invisible wall stood before him, impenetrable no matter how hard he tried. An hour passed in this manner, with the shadowy figure exhausting his true essence significantly. If this continued, he faced only one possible outcome: death by entrapment.

“Liu Wuxie, I know you’re responsible for this. Release me, or face the consequences!” Zhao Yuanjia’s voice echoed, revealing his identity. His chest heaved heavily from exhaustion, a significant feat for someone in the Marrow Cleansing Realm after such a prolonged attack.

“So it’s Teacher Zhao. I wonder what business Teacher Zhao has to visit my room so late at night?” Liu Wuxie’s voice sounded from the surroundings, making it tough to determine his location and making Zhao Yuanjia anxious.

Zhao Yuanjia had hoped to determine Liu Wuxie’s location based on the origin of his voice and find an exit from this spiritual array. However, he soon realized his miscalculation. The spiritual array was not as straightforward as it seemed. It wasn’t dangerous, ruling out the possibility of it being a lethal array. Yet, not many in the academy could construct a spiritual array capable of trapping a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert so flawlessly.

This realization filled Zhao Yuanjia with fear. He wondered if a higher authority within the academy was assisting Liu Wuxie. After all, a spiritual array of this level wasn’t something that a brat like Liu Wuxie could set up, and this only meant a big shot was standing behind Liu Wuxie!

“Brat, why are you asking so many questions?! Let me out quickly, or don’t blame me for what will happen next!” Zhao Yuanjia was furious, releasing murderous intent. But it was unfortunate that his aura was locked within the spiritual array. Even the students living in the opposite room couldn’t sense it.

“I’m intrigued by what Teacher Zhao will do next.” The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, causing Zhao Yuanjia to shiver with a sense of danger looming over him. He had never believed that someone in the Xiantian Realm could pose a threat to him, but he believed it now.

Then again, even if the spiritual array combined with Ghost Eye couldn’t kill him, it wasn’t an issue to make him suffer.

“Hmph, let me see how long you can trap me here!” Zhao Yuanjia drew his weapon and started attacking the spiritual array, wanting to break it forcibly. The entire spiritual array began to shake violently with signs of collapsing, which boosted Zhao Yuanjia’s confidence. He continued to swing his sword as cracks began to appear on the spiritual array. Despite the array’s formidable nature, it could only trap someone one or two levels higher. However, Zhao Yuanjia was a first-class teacher with strength comparable to Jin Jianfeng.

Trapping him in Liu Wuxie’s spiritual array was no easy task, and it would be challenging unless Liu Wuxie reached the Spirit Cleansing Realm. Then again, Liu Wuxie also had no intentions of killing Zhao Yuanjia and merely wanted to teach him a lesson.

Back in the day, he could have killed Gao Yingzhang if he had wanted, but he didn’t do that. Killing students like Jiang Hua was the limit, and it would be troublesome if he killed Gao Yingzhang. Likewise, he could ridicule Yu Yifan and cripple the other students that came for him, but he couldn’t kill a teacher openly.

Caught by surprise, a blade ray tore apart Zhao Yuanjia’s defenses and left a wound on his right arm.

“What a pity!” Liu Wuxie’s voice sounded. He had planned to leave a serious wound with that attack earlier, but Zhao Yuanjia sensed it in advance and managed to alleviate serious injury.

“I’ll kill you!” Zhao Yuanjia bellowed, his rage echoing like a lion’s roar as he charged at the spiritual array. Each impact he made caused more cracks to appear in the array. His sole intent now was to break the array, find Liu Wuxie, and subject him to a fate worse than death.

When Zhao Yuanjia turned around, another blade ray flew over even faster this time. Zhao Yuanjia wanted to dodge, but the third blade ray containing a hint of blade intent locked onto him. This time, Zhao Yuanjia suffered injuries on his chest and back, and his blood dyed his black clothes. The pain made Zhao Yuanjia roar even more furiously, but there was nothing he could do because he couldn’t even catch Liu Wuxie.

“Brat, come and fight me like a man! You’re a coward who only knows how to hide!” Zhao Yuanjia taunted, hoping to provoke Liu Wuxie into revealing himself.

“A first-class teacher like you tried to launch a sneak attack against an Earth Grade student. Who’s the coward? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” Liu Wuxie’s refute made Zhao Yuanjia’s face turn red. If word of tonight’s events were to spread, Zhao Yuanjia’s reputation would be ruined. This made it imperative for him to eliminate Liu Wuxie tonight, no matter the cost.

Striding a peculiar movement technique, Liu Wuxie would appear behind Zhao Yuanjia each time, and his blade would draw blood. In just ten-odd breaths, Zhao Yuanjia was covered in five to six wounds, each one causing him to wince in pain.

If this continued, Zhao Yuanjia would bleed to death. Unable to escape, he could only resort to passive defense. Had he known that Liu Wuxie had set a trap in his room, he would have avoided coming here, even at the risk of his own life.

Liu Wuxie had already set up the spiritual array the previous day to prevent a sneak attack at night. He didn’t expect his first ‘customer’ to be Qi Ningyun’s master. Whenever he unleashed a blade ray, Zhao Yuanjia would scream, but his voice couldn’t get out of the spiritual array. Thus, he could only roar towards the sky to express his anger. He was so frustrated that he wanted to commit suicide. After all, a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert like him was being toyed around by someone in the Xiantian Realm.

It didn’t take long before Zhao Yuanjia was covered with twenty-odd wounds, but none of them were fatal. The most severe one was a gash on the left side of his face, likely to leave him disfigured.

Zhao Yuanjia roared and unleashed his aura, wanting to drag Liu Wuxie down. Pushed to this point, he wouldn’t be able to dispel the hatred in his heart even if he managed to kill Liu Wuxie.

Suddenly, the spiritual array disappeared when he swung his sword down.

“The array is gone?” Zhao Yuanjia tried stepping forward before discovering that the spiritual array had disappeared. Without it, he could kill Liu Wuxie now.

“If you don’t leave now, don’t blame me for what happens next!” Liu Wuxie’s icy voice echoed from behind Zhao Yuanjia, sending a chill down his spine and prompting him to flee.