Desolate Devouring Art

The Azure Flame Dao Hall had granted everyone a day off today. Even if the hall had not declared it, the students would have requested leave anyway, so the Azure Flame Dao Hall simply made it official and gave everyone the day off.

Xiang Rulong and the others waited outside the courtyard. Shi Wa was already fully prepared, while Xiao Qian kept adjusting his clothes again and again.

Xiao Qian wept silently. Shi Wa, however, looked almost excited because this was the most important moment of his life. He knew that if he overcame this hurdle, his future would shine with boundless brilliance. If he failed, everything would end here.

The other students stood around them. They were all students from the Southern Lake's courtyards, and every one of them planned to go cheer Shi Wa on.

When Liu Wuxie appeared, the five mentors and students all looked at him with deep respect. In their hearts, Liu Wuxie had become something close to a totem. The five mentors knew they would never have enjoyed such high treatment without him, and the students knew they would never have learned so much without his guidance.

In just over ten days, every student who had joined Ye Linghan and Liu Wuxie's class had gained tremendous benefits.

"Let's move," Liu Wuxie said.

Everyone had been waiting for his order, and the moment he spoke, they immediately set off toward the Talisman Tower.

By now, people had packed the area around the Talisman Tower so tightly that it seemed water could not seep through. Ninety percent of the mentors had arrived, along with nearly all the students from the junior, intermediate, and advanced classes.

Zuo Yang and the Azure Flame Dao Hall's upper echelons had also appeared. They sat in the designated seats at the center. The mentors had seats prepared for them as well, but the students could only stand and watch.

Bai Jingye had been waiting for a long time, and the sky had already begun to brighten when he had arrived.

By the time Liu Wuxie arrived with Shi Wa and the other students, the sun was already hanging high in the sky.

"Liu Wuxie, I thought you wouldn't have the nerve to show up," Bai Jingye said, aiming straight at Liu Wuxie the moment he saw him. As long as he defeated Shi Wa, he would be able to kill Liu Wuxie.

"Are you that eager to die?" Liu Wuxie asked, striking back without hesitation as his gaze landed on Bai Jingye's face.

A moment later, a powerful aura from the third-level True Immortal Realm swept out from Liu Wuxie, forcing even some peak True Immortal Realm cultivators to retreat. Even a few Spirit Immortals looked horrified because his aura made them feel deeply uncomfortable.

The moment Liu Wuxie appeared, he gave everyone a clear show of force.

The surrounding mentors and students were all shocked. "What kind of aura is that? When did he break through to the third-level True Immortal Realm?"

It had only been slightly over a month since Liu Wuxie had joined the Azure Flame Dao Hall, yet his cultivation had soared from the Heavenly Immortal Realm to the third-level True Immortal Realm. Such a rapid rise was simply unbelievable.

Everyone looked at Liu Wuxie with fear. Those who had mocked him in the past suddenly realized their clothes were soaked with cold sweat. Not only had Liu Wuxie survived Shen Guang's pressure and schemes, but the attitude of the upper echelons spoke volumes.

Some mentors even took the initiative to cast friendly looks toward Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie took in all the surrounding gazes and walked straight to his seat. After sitting down, he turned his attention toward the Talisman Tower.

The Talisman Tower was enormous, with seven floors in total, and each floor corresponded to something different. This life-and-death competition was not about training inside the Talisman Tower, but about entering the Death Talisman Pool.

The mere mention of the Death Talisman Pool made many people shudder. It was a mysterious place within the Talisman Tower, and even a Profound Immortal might not be able to leave the Death Talisman Pool unharmed.

"Have both of you thought this through?" Zuo Yang asked, his gaze falling on Shi Wa and Bai Jingye.

"Let's begin," Bai Jingye said. He could barely restrain himself any longer.

Shi Wa said nothing, but the fierce fighting spirit radiating from him was answer enough. He could not wait to avenge the humiliation he had suffered that day. Bai Jingye had slapped him for no reason, and someone had also injured Xiao Qian. He had to resolve this grudge, or he would never be able to share the same sky with Bai Jingye.

"The Death Talisman Pool is full of danger. Both of you had better be careful," Zuo Yang warned. With a wave of his hand, the Talisman Tower opened, signaling that the two could enter.

Bai Jingye moved first, turning into a streak of light as he rushed into the Talisman Tower.

"That bastard has no shame!" Xiang Rulong and the others cursed.

After all, entering first naturally gave Bai Jingye an advantage, allowing him to set up obstacles for Shi Wa. Logically speaking, as a mentor, Bai Jingye should have yielded to the student.

The other mentors and students also looked at him with undisguised contempt.

Then again, Shi Wa's talisman talent during the class assessment had already made Bai Jingye feel an intense sense of crisis.

Shi Wa followed behind him and entered the Talisman Tower without rushing.

The moment the two figures vanished into the Talisman Tower, the gate closed. It would only open again once one side claimed victory.

Inside the Talisman Tower, the gate to the second floor stayed shut. Only the Death Talisman Pool was opened this time.

The two contestants passed through a dark corridor as waves of deathly energy swept past them.

The Death Talisman Pool was not above ground; it lay beneath the Talisman Tower. An eerie, terrifying energy filled the corridor, and a foul stench drifted through the air.

Several talisman mentors stepped forward and began forming seals with both hands, injecting runes into the Talisman Tower. Soon, an image appeared before the Talisman Tower, revealing the interior, where Shi Wa was advancing slowly.

Everyone outside could clearly see everything happening in the Death Talisman Pool. This was one of the Talisman Tower's wondrous functions. Using the principle of refraction, it projected the scene inside for everyone outside to see.

It was also called a mirror structure, and special materials with refractive properties formed the Talisman Tower.

Right then, a strange bird flew toward Shi Wa at blinding speed.

Upon closer inspection, it was not a bird at all but an arrow constructed from runes, shaped to resemble a bird. The moment the two stepped inside, they had already activated the Death Talisman Pool.

"I don't think either of them will find it easy to walk out of the Death Talisman Pool alive," a mentor at the Origin Immortal Realm said.

The Death Talisman Pool had not been created intentionally. Instead, a serious mistake had occurred during the construction of the Talisman Tower, giving birth to it by accident. No one could remove the death zone, and over time, it gradually became the Death Talisman Pool.

The talismans inscribed by students who came to cultivate would sometimes vanish for no reason, absorbed into the Death Talisman Pool. Over the years, the Azure Flame Dao Hall's upper echelons had tried many methods to remove the pool because its existence made many students too afraid to cultivate inside the Talisman Tower.

There had even been incidents where students had accidentally wandered into the Death Talisman Pool and died inside.

The cultivators who had built the Talisman Tower had either left or died. Because of that, the Death Talisman Pool has remained to this day.

Liu Wuxie had encountered similar situations before, where flaws would develop during artifact forging. If no one repaired those flaws, problems would eventually appear over time. But some flaws could be fixed, while others could not.

Left with no other choice, the Azure Flame Dao Hall had sealed the Death Talisman Pool beneath the Talisman Tower. In the past, the Talisman Tower had eight floors, but now it only had seven, with one floor used to seal the Death Talisman Pool.

Facing the rune flying toward him, Shi Wa did not dodge. He drew a line through the air, and a fireball appeared before him, colliding with the incoming rune before bursting into flames and reducing it to mist.

This was a contest of talisman art, and martial cultivation was useless here. Otherwise, Liu Wuxie would never have allowed Shi Wa to compete with Bai Jingye.

After destroying the rune, Shi Wa quickened his pace. He passed through the dark passage and soon saw an ink-green pool ahead.

Bai Jingye stood at the edge of the Death Talisman Pool, searching for a way across. The moment Bai Jingye and Shi Wa met, their eyes turned bloodshot.

A talisman appeared in Bai Jingye's hand and shot straight toward Shi Wa. According to the rules, the two were supposed to compete over who could cross the Death Talisman Pool first, which meant they were not allowed to attack each other during the process.

However, Bai Jingye had already broken the rules. The talisman streaked across the air toward Shi Wa, its power comparable to the Profound Immortal Realm. It produced a sharp whistle as it flew, and if it struck, Shi Wa would undoubtedly lose his life.

"This is bad!" many students cried out when they saw the scene, rising to their feet in alarm.

Many students began cursing aloud. "Mentor Bai is shameless! This is supposed to be a talisman competition, and he actually attacked his opponent?!"

Xiang Rulong and the others were anxious, but there was nothing they could do except watch helplessly as the talisman flew toward Shi Wa.

Ye Linghan clenched her fists tightly. When she looked at Liu Wuxie, she noticed that he remained calm and composed, as though he had already expected Bai Jingye to attack Shi Wa.

When the talisman drew close to Shi Wa, it transformed into a ferocious tiger, baring its fangs. For a talisman to take on a physical form, Bai Jingye clearly possessed decent talent in talisman art.

After Che Yangrong's death, Bai Jingye had gained even more students. After all, aside from Che Yangrong, his talent in talismans was considered among the best in the Azure Flame Dao Hall.

Facing the incoming talisman, Shi Wa calmly took out a talisman of his own. When the talisman expanded, it transformed into a massive black hole and released terrifying flames.

The moment the talisman appeared, everyone's expression changed. They could all sense an ancient aura coming from it, one that shook their minds. That was the power of the Ancestral Talisman, something only Liu Wuxie knew about.

Liu Wuxie had injected the power of the Ancestral Talisman into the talismans Shi Wa had refined. This meant the talismans Shi Wa inscribed contained the Ancestral Talisman's will.

Although the Fire Ancestral Talisman had no devouring ability, it could incinerate everything in the world. Terrifying flames blotted out the sky and swallowed the tiger, slowly reducing it to ashes.

This sudden scene did not merely catch Bai Jingye off guard; it also left the mentors and students staring at one another in shock. They had all thought Shi Wa would die, but no one had expected the talisman he released to be this powerful.

This was Liu Wuxie's trump card. With the Ancestral Talisman helping him, Shi Wa had already stepped into an invincible position.

"How is this possible?! How could your talisman burn mine away?!" Bai Jingye exclaimed in disbelief. A flicker of panic flashed through his eyes, but greed soon followed as he stared at the talisman in Shi Wa's hand. After all, once he killed Shi Wa, that talisman would belong to him.

Shi Wa swiped his hand through the air, and the surrounding space suddenly grew restless. Soon after, countless runes began flying out of the Death Talisman Pool.

No one knew how many runes the Death Talisman Pool had stored over the past thousands of years. Aside from runes, many seals also surged toward Shi Wa and poured into the talisman hovering in the air.

Shi Wa was actually absorbing the runes inside the Death Talisman Pool to strengthen the talisman in his hand, a sight that overturned everyone's understanding.

The runes within the Death Talisman Pool were chaotic and impure, and some even contained evil energy. If absorbed recklessly, they would affect the user and cause the talisman under Shi Wa's control to explode.

As long as the power of the Ancestral Talisman remained, any talismanic rune that merged in would obediently answer its summons.

Bai Jingye's face grew darker by the second. He knew he could not afford to delay any longer and had to kill Shi Wa as soon as possible. A terrible feeling rose inside him, warning that if he allowed the talisman to keep growing stronger, the consequences would be unimaginable. It could even injure a profound immortal.