Desolate Devouring Art

Wen Ding pressed the group to endure a little longer. Twenty days spent crossing the entire Dragon Burial Mountain Range had exhausted them.

The others remained silent. Once they returned to Fourfold City, their mission would be complete, and the Wen Clan would finally rise to prominence.

"Honored guests, care for some tea?" Liu Wuxie asked, hurrying forward to invite them inside.

"Get lost!" the burly man roared impatiently.

The grueling journey had soured his temper, but he never intended to make things difficult for Liu Wuxie.

An explosive crash suddenly ripped through the air. Liu Wuxie flew backward and smashed into one of the tea stall's tables, reducing it to shattered pieces.

"Murder!" Liu Wuxie screamed as he struggled upright.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, while splintered wood had torn several wounds across his back.

Utter bewilderment seized the burly man. He had done nothing more than shout at the shopkeeper, so how had the man suddenly gone flying?

"You people have gone too far! If you don't want tea, fine, but did you really have to attack an ordinary mortal?" Yuan Jiang demanded.

He sprang to his feet and blocked the Wen Clan's path, refusing to let them leave as he hurled his accusation.

Liu Wuxie dragged himself upright and clutched his waist, his features twisted into a mask of agony.

"What am I supposed to do now? My entire family depends on me!" Liu Wuxie wailed.

His flawless performance tightened the pressure around the Wen Clan even further.

Combined with Yuan Jiang's accusation, Liu Wuxie's anguished display made the Wen Clan experts' expressions turn even uglier.

"All I did was shout at him! He fell on his own, so this has nothing to do with me!" the burly man protested.

"Hmph! Do you think we're all blind? Does having powerful cultivation give you the right to bully ordinary people? Every one of us saw you send him flying," Yuan Jiang shot back.

He rolled up his sleeves, making it clear that he had no intention of letting the matter end there.

Wen Ding watched the dispute with a deep frown, displeasure darkening his face.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron concealed Liu Wuxie's desolate world, leaving him indistinguishable from an ordinary mortal. When the burly man had roared, Liu Wuxie had deliberately recoiled in fright, stumbled backward, and crashed into the table.

Yuan Jiang then deliberately accused the Wen Clan of using their strength to torment the weak.

"Old sir, the fault was ours. Please accept these one thousand immortal stones as compensation for your losses," Wen Ding said.

Rather than waste time arguing, he intended to resolve the dispute through compensation.

"So, having immortal stones makes you special? You injure someone and expect to walk away by throwing money at him? Is there no justice left in this world?!" Yuan Jiang demanded, stubbornly barring the Wen Clan's path.

Liu Wuxie answered only with pained groans, refusing to accept the immortal stones.

Just then, voices came from the outside. "Damn our luck! I never thought we'd encounter a monster this close to Fourfold City. If we hadn't escaped when we did, it would've slaughtered every one of us. Looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning before entering the city."

Two elders approached the tea stall from the direction of Fourfold City. Both were fifth-level Origin Immortals whom Liu Wuxie had positioned in advance. The elder on the left was Wang Xing, while the one on the right was Li Da.

Every Wen Clan expert's expression shifted upon hearing their words. Any monster capable of wounding fifth-level Origin Immortals had to be extraordinarily strong.

"Seniors, is that true?" Wen Ding asked, approaching Wang Xing and Li Da courteously.

Wang Xing looked at Wen Ding, and a flicker of admiration crossed his eyes. Wen Ding was a ninth-level Origin Immortal, and his cultivation towered far above theirs.

"At our age, do you think we have nothing better to do than spout lies?" Wang Xing asked.

He touched the wound on his right arm. The injury was deep enough to expose bone and resembled the bite of a monster's fangs.

"Elder Wen Ding, a Heaven-Eclipsing Serpent, left this wound," an elder behind Wen Ding said after examining Wang Xing's arm.

Wen Ding needed no reminder. He had recognized the wound the moment he saw it.

"Shopkeeper, bring us some tea!" Wang Xing and Li Da yelled as they ignored the Wen Clan and entered the stall.

"Right away!" Liu Wuxie replied.

He limped to the stove, lifted the kettle, and poured tea for the two elders.

The Wen Clan experts now found themselves trapped in a dilemma. Yuan Jiang blocked their way, while the sudden appearance of a Heaven-Eclipsing Serpent had thrown their plans into disarray. If the creature could injure a fifth-level Origin Immortal, proceeding down the road could leave them severely wounded as well.

"Something doesn't add up. Heaven-Eclipsing Serpents normally remain deep within the Dragon Burial Mountain Range. Why would one appear along the main road?" the burly man murmured, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Wen Ding and his companions remained skeptical of Wang Xing and Li Da's account. Heaven-Eclipsing Serpents were exceedingly rare and seldom appeared in public, while their strength rivaled the pinnacle of the Origin Immortal Realm.

A cultivator could go decades without encountering one, yet these two elders had somehow crossed paths with such a creature.

Wang Xing and Li Da paid no attention to the Wen Clan. Instead, they vividly recounted their battle, bringing every detail to life.

"Elder Wen, caution would serve us better than regret. Why don't we wait another day? Fourfold City is only one day away," an elder behind Wen Ding suggested.

He possessed the weakest cultivation in the group and had also suffered the greatest exhaustion. His throat had long since become painfully dry, and their entire supply of water was gone.

From the very beginning, none of them had suspected Liu Wuxie's identity. How could danger possibly await them in such a crude tea stall? With their formidable cultivation, only Divine Immortals could truly threaten them.

"Are you gentlemen also traveling to Fourfold City?" Wang Xing asked, breaking off his conversation with Li Da.

"What business is that of yours?" the burly man snapped.

Annoyed by the two elders' incessant chatter, he stepped aggressively toward them.

"What are you waiting for? Leave already!" Wang Xing urged.

This reverse psychology was also part of Liu Wuxie's plan. Encouraging the Wen Clan to remain would only awaken their suspicion, so Wang Xing had instead urged them to leave.

Sure enough, the Wen Clan's resolve immediately began to waver. Liu Wuxie understood human nature far too well.

"Wen Qian, scout the road ahead while the rest of us remain here," Wen Ding ordered.

He decided to send someone ahead and confirm whether the road was safe.

The burly man stepped forward and shot Liu Wuxie a fierce glare before racing down the hillside. The remaining six entered the tea stall and settled around a large boulder nearby.

Yuan Jiang raised no further trouble. He returned to his seat and resumed drinking while Liu Wuxie repeatedly stepped forward to refill their bowls.

Wen Ding produced a water bag and raised it to his mouth, but only a few drops fell onto his tongue. The others met with the same result, having already drained their water supplies.

"Wen Sheng, find a stream and bring back some water," Wen Ding ordered.

A middle-aged man stood, prepared to search for water. They preferred fetching water from a nearby stream over drinking the tea at the stall, revealing just how excessively cautious they were.

"Is something wrong with your heads? There's tea ready to drink right in front of you, yet you insist on fetching water from a stream?" Yuan Jiang mocked.

The shopkeeper was nothing more than an ordinary mortal, while Yuan Jiang and his companion appeared to be merchants with mediocre cultivation. Even if they wished to harm the Wen Clan, they would first need the strength to accomplish it.

Wen Sheng halted midstride. Yuan Jiang's words sounded crude, but the reasoning behind them was undeniable. Before absolute strength, every scheme and trick became meaningless.

The stream lay some distance away, and traveling there and back would require about an hour. Coincidentally, another three patrons arrived at that moment and occupied the remaining table, prompting Liu Wuxie to hurry over and fill their bowls with tea.

They drank their tea, rested for only about fifteen minutes, and then continued their journey.

That sight made Wen Ding and the others exchange glances. For the first time, they realized that their caution might have gone too far.

"We should leave. It's about time," Yuan Jiang said as he stood.

He and his companion walked out of the tea stall and continued along the road without once looking back.

Silence immediately settled over the tea stall, leaving only Liu Wuxie, Wang Xing, and Li Da behind.

Liu Wuxie sat idly beside the stove, seemingly oblivious to everything around him as he dozed off. Wang Xing and Li Da exchanged a few words from time to time, filling the silence with strange tales.

"Elder Wen Ding, Wen Qian won't return anytime soon. Why don't we go inside and have some tea?" one of the elders suggested.

Every one of them was extremely thirsty.

Wen Ding understood that continued refusal may produce the opposite effect among the other Wen Clan experts and cause them to resent him.

"Old sir, we were in the wrong earlier. Please accept our apologies and bring each of us a bowl of tea."

The six Wen Clan experts divided themselves between two tables, arranging their positions so they could respond to danger from any direction.

Liu Wuxie reluctantly rose, lifted the kettle, and slowly approached the nearest table. Just as he prepared to take out porcelain bowls for them, a voice stopped him.

"Wait!" Wen Sheng suddenly called out.

He retrieved six bowls from his interspatial ring and placed one before each of his companions.

Their absurd caution drew a silent sneer from Liu Wuxie. With their strength, they could easily have snatched the kettle out of his hands, but Wang Xing and Li Da's presence stopped them. Doing so would only make the Wen Clan appear overbearing.

Had Wang Xing and Li Da not been inside the tea stall, Wen Ding's group would have killed Liu Wuxie to silence him and seized the entire stall by force.

If they still resorted to murder, they would naturally have to eliminate every witness. However, Wang Xing and Li Da were both fifth-level Origin Immortals, making them tough opponents to kill. The plan appeared ordinary on the surface, yet countless details lay hidden within it.

Liu Wuxie had woven every element together so naturally that no one could perceive those threats.

The Wen Clan had failed to notice the greatest threat, which was that Liu Wuxie himself was posing as the owner of the tea stall.

After filling all six bowls, Liu Wuxie crossed over to Wang Xing and Li Da and refilled theirs as well. The two elders raised their bowls and drained the tea in several large gulps.

The Wen Clan's tea came from the same kettle as the tea Wang Xing and Li Da had consumed. If anything had been wrong with it, the two elders would have died long ago.

Seeing Wang Xing and Li Da remain unharmed finally persuaded the Wen Clan experts to lower their guard. After extensive preparation, Liu Wuxie's plan had finally succeeded. He had calculated every step to perfection.

Wen Sheng and the others emptied their bowls in several swift gulps. Their thirst remained unsatisfied, so they immediately urged Liu Wuxie to pour them more.

Liu Wuxie stepped forward and refilled their bowls despite his apparent reluctance. If he intended to perform a role, he had to carry it through to the very end.

Time crept onward until the sun shone high overhead. According to their calculations, Wen Qian would soon return from scouting the road ahead.