Desolate Devouring Art

Liu Wuxie's words jolted the two men, their expressions changing at once. Neither had expected him to see through them at a glance.

"Knowing won't save you. You're dying here!" the two cultivators declared, unleashing powerful blade rays without another word. Both stood at the pinnacle of the Origin Immortal Realm and hailed from the Celestial Weave Domain. Their combat strength exceeded Chen Kun's by several times.

"You want my life? Come and take it!" Liu Wuxie challenged. They were on the outskirts of the platform, where a battle would inevitably attract countless eyes.

For now, he had no desire to reveal a strength so extraordinary that it would invite scrutiny. A low profile would serve him better, allowing the other participants to underestimate him because of his cultivation.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

His figure blurred as he executed the Divine Ninefold Step. In the next instant, he shot away like a meteor and vanished into the night. The late hour concealed his departure from everyone's notice, and a few effortless leaps carried him over a hundred meters.

"You think you can get away?!" the two cultivators roared as they pursued him. Both had taken payment from the Ji Clan.

The chase carried them across the outer peak and steadily farther from the platform. Before long, even the sounds of their pursuit had faded beyond hearing.

More than ten kilometers passed before Liu Wuxie stopped abruptly. His face remained unflushed, his breathing even. The men behind him were panting with exhaustion.

"Let's see how much farther you can run, brat!" they shouted. Without pausing to recover, they raised their blades and rushed him from opposite sides, their weapons cutting through the air.

The Celestial Weave Domain bound heaven and earth with exceptionally firm laws. In Eastern Emperor City, a ninth-level Origin Immortal could shake heaven and earth with an attack. Here, that same force scarcely stirred a ripple.

"You think trash like you can kill me?" Liu Wuxie sneered, determined to end the battle before any unforeseen complications arose.

He had not fought since advancing to the Profound Immortal Realm. These two offered an ideal measure of his present strength and, more importantly, a chance to test the reforged Bloodthirst Blade. Since restoring the weapon, he had nurtured it within the Desolate World, deepening its attunement to him.

The Heavenly Crest Divine Blade Art erupted from Liu Wuxie, sweeping outward in a radiance that chilled to the bone. Horror gripped both attackers. His combat strength surpassed theirs by dozens of times.

"Instant Blade!" Liu Wuxie called, unleashing his fastest attack to end the fight at once.

A blade ray flashed like a meteor, then disappeared. Neither man caught sight of the strike.

Blood sprayed into the air. Before either attacker could scream, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron swallowed them both. In a single breath, Liu Wuxie had killed the two men and erased every trace of the battle. Once he chose to strike, he finished what he started.

Demonic flames billowed from the cauldron's depths, refining the men into liquid energy that poured into the Desolate World. His cultivation did not rise at all. Cultivators in the Origin Immortal Realm could no longer benefit him through refinement, and advancing further would require a large number of Divine Immortals.

Instead of returning to the platform, Liu Wuxie inspected what he had gained. The contents held no surprises. Both men had been ordinary cultivators, and their interspatial rings contained only a few million immortal stones.

The Ji Clan hadn't dared involve anyone else and used rogue cultivators to deal with Liu Wuxie.

"Why haven't they finished yet?" the three Ji Clan disciples wondered. Midnight had passed long ago. Two men should not have needed this much time to kill a third-level Profound Immortal, yet neither had sent word.

"I'll check," the youngest offered, rising. His companions cautioned him to be careful before he left.

He found Liu Wuxie's former spot deserted. Frowning at the continued absence, the Ji Clan disciple searched the area, then returned empty-handed.

Only at daybreak did Liu Wuxie reappear. The sight left the Ji Clan disciples dumbfounded.

"How is he still alive? What happened?!" they cried.

Their camp lay close by. From Liu Wuxie's elevated position, he remained clearly visible even from a few hundred meters away.

"Did those two pocket our immortal stones and refuse to do the job?" The three could think of no other explanation.

"Forget him for now. The assessment starts today," the eldest decided. Admission mattered more than anything else. Once they joined the Azure Jade Palace, the advantages of a superpower would be theirs to enjoy.

Throughout the platform, elders and relatives gave their final instructions. Once the assessment started, the experts who had escorted the participants would have to leave. No one could interfere with the trials.

A series of whooshes cut through the air overhead. Azure Jade Palace experts arrived from every direction and assembled above the platform.

The Heavenly Dao Book stirred. Liu Wuxie studied all ten faces. There were six men and four women. Four had attained the pinnacle of the Immortal Venerable Realm, and the others had reached at least its high levels.

He recognized Elder Kong, who would serve as one of the chief examiners, as well as Elder Ji. The remaining eight were unfamiliar to him.

Powerful divine sense swept across the platform as the ten experts surveyed the crowd. Under the Immortal Venerables' pressure, many Divine Immortals found themselves unable even to raise their heads.

"Welcome to Azure Jade Palace, everyone. As you've heard, we're expanding this year's recruitment and intend to admit about three thousand disciples. The assessment rules have also changed from previous years. Are you ready?" Elder Kong asked, stepping forward. His voice reached every corner of the platform.

The announcement of changed rules sent uneasy looks passing through the crowd. Had they made all those preparations for nothing?

Liu Wuxie smiled faintly. The booklet from the Mystic Pavilion detailed the Azure Jade Palace's assessment. How it had obtained that information remained unclear, but there was no doubt about the reach of its intelligence channels.

"Anyone who isn't taking the assessment must now leave the platform," Elder Kong instructed, his gaze traveling over the gathering.

The accompanying Immortal Kings and Great Golden Immortals withdrew at once. They made up about one-third of those present, and their departure quickly gave the participants much more room.

When the last non-participants had left, Elder Kong swept a hand through the air. A ring took shape around the platform where the participants stood.

"Enter the circle. Your first trial will last for an hour and test soul energy. Fail, and you're eliminated. Pass, and you'll proceed to the second trial," he announced.

Anyone whose soul energy proved inadequate would face immediate elimination. Cultivation did not, by itself, determine potential. Soul energy mattered just as much.

Some cultivators had reached a high level of cultivation yet retained weak soul energy, revealing that their potential was already spent. Even admission to the Azure Jade Palace would do little to raise the limits of their future achievements.

The recruitment's principal purpose was to resist the Heavenly Alliance's expansion, making strict standards essential. Admitting a mass of mediocre disciples would accomplish nothing beyond wasting resources.

Those with weaker soul energy looked grim. In earlier years, the first trial had always measured strength, posing little difficulty for Divine Immortals. Participants blessed with exceptional physical strength had likewise enjoyed a substantial advantage.

Yet none had come this far merely to leave without trying.

Liu Wuxie entered the ring with the others. Most remained near the perimeter, with only a few venturing toward the center. Their reasoning was obvious. The pressure would be greatest in the middle and weaker along the edges.

For an ordinary participant, even that slight difference could mean the difference between endurance and collapse.

Above them, disappointment passed between the ten Immortal Venerables. Only Liu Wuxie and a handful of others moved toward the center. Everyone else pressed around the perimeter, leaving the middle almost empty.

"Wait for me, Brother Liu!" Huang Zechang called, hurrying to catch up. He meant to stay beside Liu Wuxie.

The other Huang Clan disciples tried to change his mind, but he would not yield. His clan already owed Liu Wuxie a debt. He wanted an opportunity to repay it.

Liu Wuxie knew what Huang Zechang intended. As a Divine Immortal, Huang Zechang could offer some protection by sitting by his side. What he did not know was that Liu Wuxie could easily neutralize the soul energy pressure using the Heavenly Dao Book.

Whatever reservations Liu Wuxie held about the Huang Clan, Huang Zechang himself was someone he considered worth befriending.

"The trial begins now!" Elder Kong declared. With everyone in position, he produced an hourglass to mark the start of the assessment.

The ten Immortal Venerables looked at one another and nodded. A formidable wave of soul energy descended upon the participants.

The moment it reached the ground, hundreds of cultivators spat blood. They scrambled from the ring without hesitating.

Disappointed, the ten examiners shook their heads. Only half a breath had passed, and over a hundred participants had already failed.

Most were simply too weak. Having never endured such intense soul pressure, they were utterly unprepared when it descended upon them.

Time moved on. The pressure climbed, driving still more participants to abandon the trial.

Liu Wuxie remained quietly seated, his attention focused within. He didn't use the Heavenly Dao Book, choosing instead to let the pressure help him advance to the fourth-level Profound Immortal Realm. Much of the energy produced by refining the Face-Seer Ghost King remained in his body, not yet fully absorbed.

Only the power of an Immortal Venerable could break down that energy. As a Profound Immortal, Liu Wuxie could not accomplish this on his own, so he intended to use the immense soul energy pressure to do it for him.

"Wait, a Profound Immortal?" a female examiner remarked in disbelief as she noticed Liu Wuxie. Earlier, with so many participants gathered, the ten Immortal Venerables had given them only a cursory inspection.

"A mere Profound Immortal has the nerve to enter this assessment?" scoffed a middle-aged man standing beside Elder Ji.

"I disagree. I think there's more to him than we're seeing. Lasting this long already puts him beyond the scope of the Profound Immortal Realm," the female examiner observed, studying him with growing interest. On closer inspection, she found his aura remarkably steady.

"Elder Xu Rui, he was the first to detect the Ivory Wraith Worms. His warning saved many lives," Elder Kong explained.

"Now that's interesting. How did he manage to detect the Ivory Wraith Worms?" Xu Rui asked, growing even more curious.

"Nothing more than coincidence," Elder Ji dismissed coldly.

"Exactly as Elder Ji Pei says. A mere Profound Immortal doesn't merit our attention," the middle-aged man beside Ji Pei agreed, flattery weighing heavily in his voice.