Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 676 - Thousand-Year Deathguards

Liu Wuxie had found it odd the moment he had stepped into the tavern. It was puzzling how a tavern could function in the Heavenly Nether Battlefield. Activating his Ghost Eye, he scanned his surroundings carefully.

The flesh on the diners' faces began to melt away, leaving behind nothing but skeletal frames—menacing and terrifying. His gaze fell upon the shopkeeper, whose face was eerily intact while the rest of his body was bare bones.

Heavenly Nether Deathguards! Liu Wuxie exclaimed inwardly. He hadn't expected to run into the Heavenly Nether Deathguards right after entering the Heavenly Nether Battlefield, as this was too much of a coincidence.

Moreover, they had disguised themselves as humans to lure unsuspecting prey over, slaughtering and feeding their flesh to other humans. Without the Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie might have fallen victim to their deception.

The deathguards were horrifying, their hollow eyes like black whirlpools glowing ominously. Black liquid dripped from their lips as they stared at Liu Wuxie, their expressions ravenous, as if ready to pounce and devour him.

Five deathguards approached him, six if the shopkeeper was included. They advanced slowly, their intent clear—living flesh was their ultimate nourishment, and the rotten meat they had consumed earlier had merely been a reluctant substitute.

Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down, killing the few deathguards charging at him. Despite their bones falling onto the ground, they were fearless as the shopkeeper pounced over with sharp claws extending from his hands that ripped through the air.

"Get lost!" Liu Wuxie bellowed. The deathguards were only comparable to the fifth or sixth level of the Astral River Realm at best, and Liu Wuxie could easily kill them with one blade strike.

The shopkeeper's body blew apart, reduced to a pile of broken bones on the ground. After killing the six deathguards, his action seemed to have drawn the attention of the entire city.

All the Heavenly Nether Deathguards disguised as humans on the street began to converge. Their numbers grew, and many came out from the tattered buildings. Some even climbed out from the ground, alerted by the presence of a human.

Liu Wuxie even noticed a few deathguards that appeared freshly turned. After the victims were slaughtered and their flesh devoured, it wouldn’t take long before they, too, were transformed into deathguards.

They looked like zombies without any flesh, their teeth grinding together to produce a chilling sound.

As Liu Wuxie leaped out of the tavern, he began to perform the Frost Finger, unleashing multiple ice arrows, piercing through dozens of deathguards in the blink of an eye.

Far away, a man and a woman watched Liu Wuxie's massacre with shock etched across their faces.

"What a powerful dao technique!" the woman whispered, careful not to draw the attention of the deathguards. They had been trapped there and risked being discovered by the deathguards the moment they showed themselves. This was why they remained in hiding.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie had publicly shown himself on the street, and it would’ve been surprising if he hadn't drawn the deathguards' attention.

Why didn't the deathguards attack me immediately when I first entered? Liu Wuxie wondered as he continued slaughtering them. From the start, he had sensed that something was off. The movements of the people on the street had seemed stiff and unnatural, but he hadn’t thought much of it then. After all, such behavior wasn’t unusual for those who had spent too long in the Heavenly Nether Battlefield.

Is there a more significant danger ahead? Liu Wuxie had a sinking feeling. These Heavenly Nether Deathguards seemed like mere pawns—there had to be an even stronger deathguard commanding them, using the tavern to lure unsuspecting victims.

Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down and had to end the battle quickly as this place was no longer safe. The Heavenly Nether Battlefield was too weird and filled with dangers. He would die if he weren't careful.

He had killed all the thirty-odd deathguards on the street, their bones littering the ground, and dense heavenly nether energy filled the surroundings. He wasn't sure if he could refine the heavenly nether energy, as the desolate world had been filled with a deathly aura after absorbing over a dozen drops of the green liquid previously.

Since Liu Wuxie had received the blessing of the Southern Province, the laws in the desolate world had become more complete. It now looked like a world brimming with life, but something felt lacking.

But the moment deathly energy appeared in the desolate world, Liu Wuxie finally realized what was missing. How could there not be death if there was life? That was the natural cycle of the world, life and death forming into Yin and Yang. Yang represented day, life, men, and heaven, while Yin represented night, death, women, and the earth.

There was Yin and Yang to everything in the world. If Liu Wuxie wanted to perfect the laws in the desolate world, achieving harmony between Yin and Yang, life and death was essential.

At this moment, Liu Wuxie seemed to have gained insight, deepening his comprehension of the Desolate Devouring Art. The entire desolate world pulsated. It didn't expand in size, but it had been strengthened, and the spatial laws became even more sturdy.

So much that even a devastating attack from someone in the Nascent Transformation Realm couldn't shatter his dantian. Not to mention, he had the laws formed by the blessing of an entire realm to support the desolate world.

"Who the hell created the Desolate Devouring Art? Why does it embody so many truths of the heavens and earth?" Liu Wuxie was immersed in his contemplation, distracted from the dangers around him. After all, he had already killed all the deathguards nearby.

"Watch out!" a voice suddenly echoed in Liu Wuxie's ears, and a pair of sharp claws descended from the sky, heading toward his head.

The claws approached rapidly, but Liu Wuxie maintained a hint of divine sense, remaining on guard against the surroundings. However, this creature had avoided his divine sense, and his first reaction was to leap backward, avoiding the fatal strike.

Although the claws had missed Liu Wuxie's head, they managed to tear through the fabric of his robe; the part struck corroded by the deathly energy.

"What terrifying corrosive ability!" Liu Wuxie murmured, raising his head. He saw a monster three meters high, with a humanoid body and a lion's head. The massive body was covered in layers of rotten flesh, exuding an unbearable stench.

Liu Wuxie shut his five senses to isolate himself from the strong discomfort.

"Who warned me earlier?" Liu Wuxie scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted two people hidden a hundred meters away. The woman who had alerted him appeared to be part of a couple who had ventured into the Heavenly Nether Battlefield to train.

Before he could express his gratitude, the deathguard lashed out again with its claws.

Liu Wuxie deduced that this monster must be the ruler of the city. The deathguards he had slain were likely its minions, and the victims here had all been offered as tribute to this monstrous behemoth.

The Heavenly Nether Deathguard was several times faster than Liu Wuxie, appearing before him in the blink of an eye.

Most importantly, this deathguard regained some of its martial techniques from when it was alive and even knew how to use them.

Liu Wuxie planned to sever the deathguard's hands with the Heretic Blade. The battle would tilt in his favor if he could render its claws useless.

When sparks flew under the collision, Liu Wuxie felt his arms going numb as the strong rebound force sent him flying back ten meters away.

"Be careful! That's a thousand-year deathguard and impervious to ordinary weapons!" This time, the warning came from the man, and the couple had been trapped there for days.

The two could have escaped while Liu Wuxie held off the thousand-year deathguard, but they chose to stay. They wanted to see if Liu Wuxie could kill the deathguard, knowing they could still flee if the battle turned unfavorable, especially since the guards at the exit had already been slaughtered by Liu Wuxie.

Though the Heretic Blade wasn't an origin artifact, it was comparable to one. Thus, Liu Wuxie was shocked when the Heretic Blade failed to split apart the deathguard's bones. This deathguard wasn't any weaker than Bai Yuan in terms of strength.

He didn't dare to be careless and channeled his true essence into his arms. The spatial laws here had significantly weakened his strength, and it was impressive that he managed to hold his ground against the deathguard.

The couple in the distance exchanged a glance with astonishment. They couldn't believe someone who was only in the fourth level of the Astral River Realm could unleash such power.

"True Strike!" Liu Wuxie roared, and a boundless blade intent enveloped the sky, freezing the thousand-year deathguard. After receiving the Southern Province's blessing, he could feel an invisible force had strengthened his attack.

This was the benefit of receiving a region's blessing. The Heavenly Nether Battlefield was connected to the Southern Province, which supported Liu Wuxie. This was equivalent to the entire Southern Province helping Liu Wuxie in his fight.

"What a powerful strike!" The couple had deep shock reflected in their eyes.

The Heretic Blade's edge sliced through the air, producing a sizzling sound. If this were the Southern Province, such a strike could easily tear through space, but here, it only cut through the dense air resistance of the Heavenly Nether Battlefield.

This alone was proof that the space here was more than ten times sturdier than in the Southern Province.

In a flash, Liu Wuxie closed the ten-meter gap as the deathguard's claws neared him.

When the blade aura swung down, it traced an arc, sending ripples through the air like a stone skimming across a lake. A sharp crack echoed as the thousand-year deathguard's arms fractured.

Although Liu Wuxie severed the bones, the arms did not fully detach, hanging loosely by strands of decayed flesh that stubbornly held them in place.

As the deathguard couldn't sense any pain, it continued to pounce at Liu Wuxie with an unbelievable speed. If the deathguard were a human, it would've retreated after losing its arms, but the deathguard continued to attack instead of retreating.

A bizarre scene unfolded as the deathguard's arms began to regenerate. Deathly energy emerged from the rotten flesh and stitched the shattered bones together.

"This is one relentless deathguard!" Liu Wuxie felt powerless. He would've killed his enemy if the deathguard was a human, but who could've imagined the thousand-year deathguard to be so tenacious? Capable of regenerating its broken arms.

With a heavy heart, Liu Wuxie's gaze became grim. He executed the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance to dodge the thousand-year deathguard's attack.