Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 816 - Azure Dragon Mountain

The two youths lounged carelessly on the seat they had forcibly taken from Liu Wuxie, showing no intention of moving. The surrounding cultivators cast indifferent glances but made no attempt to intervene. In the cultivation world, it was an unspoken rule to avoid trouble and mind your own business unless personal interests were at stake.

"I'll ask again—are you two getting up or not?!" Liu Wuxie said with a hint of anger flashing across his face. These two would have already died because of their actions if they weren't in the teleportation array.

"Brat, didn't you hear what my big brother said? Get lost and take the next one!" The youth on the right jabbed his finger at Liu Wuxie, urging him to leave as the teleportation array was about to activate.

Upon seeing that he couldn't reason with these people, Liu Wuxie could only make his move. He seized them by their shoulders before they could respond. In the next second, they were airborne as they were thrown out of the teleportation array.

Right then, the teleportation array flared to life with the entrance sealed as Liu Wuxie took his rightful seat.

The two youths could only roar in frustration, yelling curses from outside as they committed Liu Wuxie's face to their mind.

The nearby cultivators cast odd glances at Liu Wuxie. It was hard to believe that a fifth-level Nascent Transformation Realm cultivator had effortlessly tossed out two cultivators at the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm. But it was just a fleeting curiosity.

The tearing force of spatial energy from the teleportation array surged as everyone diverted their focus to resist it.

A kaleidoscope of light and color filled their vision, though none were fazed—this was a familiar experience. With the sheer size of the Central Plains, it would take them half a month if they traveled from Martial City to Azure Dragon Mountain without any help. But they could reach their destination in two hours with the teleportation array.

When Liu Wuxie's feet touched the ground, he emerged from the teleportation array. The city wasn't large, but the sudden influx of cultivators instantly made it feel congested.

Liu Wuxie didn’t stop for even a moment, following the crowd toward Azure Dragon Mountain. He remained on high alert, as there were many people in the surroundings, including disciples from other sects and rogue cultivators.

Upon entering Azure Dragon Mountain, Liu Wuxie deliberately slowed his pace, allowing others to advance ahead. The massive mountain wasn't inferior to the Heavenly Spirit Mountain Range.

The Central Plains had retained most of its ancient wilderness. Aside from a few cities, the other places remained primal forests, untouched by civilization.

He let Fiery out and allowed it to scout ahead. After consuming large amounts of spiritual fruits, Fiery had grown considerably, making it no longer suitable to hide in his clothes. Thus, Liu Wuxie had purchased a beast pouch—a pocket dimension perfect for storing living creatures. The beast pouch was perfect since Fiery spent most of its time sleeping.

After emerging from the beast pouch, Fiery twitched its nose, its glossy fur shimmering under the sunlight. Golden runes flickered beneath its fur, and a faint pressure radiated from the tiny creature—an unmistakable aura of a divine beast.

Liu Wuxie had long suspected that Fiery was a divine beast, but he still couldn’t determine its exact species. It bore some resemblance to a qilin, yet it didn’t quite match the descriptions he had read.

Qilins had a fierce and majestic appearance, their sharp scales resembling blades. But Fiery looked adorable, with no trace of the qilin’s usual ferocity. There was another possibility—Fiery might not have fully awakened its bloodline yet. If that were the case, it could transform into a qilin when it matured.

Among divine beasts, the qilin wasn’t on par with the dragon clan, but it still held a high ranking. Dragons were ranked first on the divine beast ranking, followed by phoenixes, and qilins as the third. This meant qilin ranked higher than black tortoises and vermilion birds.

Fiery sniffed the air and suddenly raised its paw, pointing in the opposite direction of where the leading group was heading.

"Are you sure?" Liu Wuxie asked, seeking confirmation.

Fiery nodded. Divine beasts were blessed with extraordinary senses, capable of detecting fellow beasts. This meant there was a powerful presence lurking in Azure Dragon Mountain. But even Fiery wasn't sure if it was a divine or profound beast.

"Let's go!" Liu Wuxie took out a blade to slice through the thorns and bushes to carve a path. The surroundings were filled with dense vegetation, and Fiery occasionally stopped to adjust their direction as they advanced.

Aside from navigating, they also had to stay on guard against the profound beasts lurking in the area.

Azure Dragon Mountain was filled with profound beasts, and many places were unexplored by humans. So, it was dangerous for Liu Wuxie to stray from the group.

Many eyes were already watching him with malicious intent. In the Central Plains, it wasn’t uncommon for Nascent Transformation Realm cultivators to be captured and enslaved by those at the True Profound Realm, forced to sign soul contracts.

Liu Wuxie, however, wasn’t concerned about that. With the Heavenly Dao Book, no one could bind him to a soul contract. But that only meant anyone attempting to enslave him would have no choice but to kill him instead.

Though traveling alone seemed more dangerous, it was actually safer than moving within a crowd of potential threats. After walking for half a day, Liu Wuxie lost track of time and distance. No one was in sight, and he had ventured deep into the mountain.

He sat down to rest briefly, and Fiery climbed a tree to keep watch. But the moment it reached the top, it suddenly leaped down and landed beside Liu Wuxie's feet. It raised its paw forward, urging Liu Wuxie to investigate.

There was no time for rest as Liu Wuxie stood up and headed in the direction Fiery pointed out. After taking a dozen steps, a stench of blood assaulted his senses. The surrounding trees had been uprooted and reduced to specks of dust.

"There was a battle between profound beasts!" Liu Wuxie murmured. He could sense the aura of powerful profound beasts lingering in the surroundings, confirming that a fierce fight had taken place.

An open ground with a radius of a few hundred meters appeared before Liu Wuxie. The surrounding trees had vanished. A powerful profound beast lay in a pool of blood at the center, It hadn't died and was still struggling on the ground.

"A Jagged-Tooth Beast!" Liu Wuxie was shocked and didn't dare to approach recklessly.

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The Jagged-Tooth Beast let out a pained groan, its throat torn open by a wound so large that a human’s head could fit inside. The sheer force behind the attack was terrifying—something had ripped into it with immense strength.

"Who could kill a pinnacle tenth-grade profound beast?" Standing five meters tall and weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, the Jagged-Tooth Beast had reached the tenth grade, making it comparable to a cultivator at the pinnacle of the True Profound Realm.

It was rare for a profound beast to grow this powerful. After all, it would become a spiritual beast if it could make another breakthrough, possessing intelligence enough to speak. This meant the other profound beast capable of killing this Jagged-Tooth Beast must've exceeded the tenth grade, and it was possibly a spiritual beast.

The Jagged-Tooth Beast struggled on the ground briefly before taking its last breath.

Liu Wuxie approached with caution. The Jagged-Tooth Beast's corpse was a treasure, and its bones could be used to forge into weapons. But he wasn't in a hurry to dissect it.

After a brief examination of its wounds, Liu Wuxie concluded that the creature that had killed the Jagged-Tooth Beast was far larger. He couldn't imagine such a spiritual beast and would have to flee if he ran into it.

"This is weird...this wound is peculiar, and I don't recall seeing a spiritual beast like this before..." Liu Wuxie studied the corpse for a long time and couldn't determine what had killed the Jagged-Tooth Beast. The wound was too bizarre, and he couldn't find any clues about it.

There were no traces of an intense battle on the battlefield. This meant the Jagged-Tooth Beast was killed in three exchanges at most. This was a one-sided battle, and the discovery left Liu Wuxie shocked. But he could only let it go since he couldn't find more leads.

"We have to leave this place quickly!" Liu Wuxie didn't dare to linger for another moment and left with Fiery. He didn't even have the time to collect the Jagged-Tooth Beast's corpse. He knew whatever had killed the Jagged-Tooth Beast was likely lurking nearby, and escape would be impossible if they were targeted.

Not long after Liu Wuxie departed, a massive azure serpent slithered into the clearing, its enormous body cutting through the terrain. Most strikingly, it had two heads, one on each end—both bearing gaping maws lined with razor-sharp fangs.

The moment it appeared, an overwhelming demonic energy erupted from it.

After sprinting several thousand meters, Liu Wuxie suddenly stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"What terrifying demonic energy!" he muttered in shock.

Fiery, perched on his shoulder, trembled uncontrollably, overwhelmed by fear.

The crimson demonic energy could be felt from a few thousand meters away, lingering in the sky and refusing to dissipate.

"I wonder if this journey to the Azure Dragon Mountain is a blessing or a curse." Liu Wuxie had lost his way, but he had no choice but to press forward.

He soared to the sky and surveyed his surroundings, and he could no longer find the exit.

Most importantly, powerful aerial profound beasts occasionally roamed the skies, and Liu Wuxie was nothing more than prey to them. When they all pounced at him, Liu Wuxie had no choice but to retreat.

More people were entering Azure Dragon Mountain and heading to where the mysterious creature had appeared.

After walking for two days, the landscape before Liu Wuxie opened up, and a towering mountain appeared in sight.

"This must be the place!" Liu Wuxie muttered, looking at the mountain ahead. There were many scorched marks on the ground, evidence that raging flames had burned through this area. He had taken a shortcut and was far ahead of the group he came with.

Just when he sat down to take a rest, bone arrows shot out from the bushes, aiming at his back.

"A Sabertooth Tiger!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed as he leaped into the air. The deadly projectiles had barely missed and whistled past him.

The bone arrows shot into the trees far away, and a portion also pierced directly into massive boulders before vanishing into the stone.

A ferocious Sabertooth Tiger appeared before Liu Wuxie, its body bristling with bone spikes that resembled an oversized porcupine. The wound would be fatal if one of those arrows struck its target.

Looking at Liu Wuxie, the Sabertooth Tiger exhaled a white mist from its jaws, accompanied by a series of menacing snorts. This was its territory, and Liu Wuxie's intrusion had enraged it.

Liu Wuxie retrieved the Heretic Blade as there was no turning back. The Sabertooth Tiger was a formidable foe, a low tenth-grade profound beast—an overlord in Azure Dragon Mountain.

The most terrifying trait about it was its near-impenetrable defense. Ordinary weapons couldn't break through its bone spikes. To make matters worse, Liu Wuxie had to guard against the sudden onslaught of the deadly bone spikes.

A thunderous roar echoed from the Sabertooth Tiger as it leaped into the sky, launching itself toward Liu Wuxie.

The ground trembled under the Sabertooth Tiger's massive frame, leaving behind paw-print-sized craters when it galloped.

Liu Wuxie didn't hesitate to swing the Heretic Blade and slice through the air with a sharp whistle. After reaching the fifth-level Nascent Transformation Realm, his true essence had grown even more powerful than before. Paired with the power of his laws, his attack caused a rapid compression of air, resulting in a series of explosions.