Desolate Devouring Art

Without the slightest regard for his own life, Wen Xuan lunged toward the Dragonstone Sword and wrapped himself around it.

Cracks multiplied across the blade as a violent shockwave erupted, tearing Wen Xuan's flesh. The sudden turn of events caught everyone by surprise.

Wen Changxing froze, unable to comprehend why the Dragonstone Sword was exploding. By the time everyone recovered from their shock, it was already too late. The sword had unleashed a terrifying force.

"Retreat, now," Wen Changxing roared.

He fled the blacksmithing chamber first, with the other three elders racing after him.

The instant all four escaped the chamber, a deafening explosion ripped through the Wen Clan. A devastating shockwave obliterated the entire blacksmithing chamber and vaporized Wen Xuan on the spot.

The Dragonstone Sword's detonation caught Wen Changxing's group as they fled, hurling all four through the air. The limbs of the three ninth-level Origin Immortal elders exploded into showers of blood.

Wen Changxing fared no better. Despite his powerful cultivation as a Divine Immortal, the defensive barrier he hastily summoned came one step too late.

The shockwave hurled Wen Changxing ten thousand meters away and drenched his entire body in blood. The ordinary elders guarding the entrance vanished from existence before they could even react.

Such was the destructive force released by a Golden Immortal Realm artifact's detonation. The entire city shook violently, terrifying countless residents.

The Wen Clan's territory covered several hundred thousand square meters, yet the explosion flattened the entire estate and destroyed every building. Even nearby structures suffered heavy damage, revealing the horrifying power behind the blast.

Gu Yi had been happily drinking tea when the cup before him suddenly exploded. Without hesitation, he shot out of the Skyhalberd Auction House and raced toward the Wen Clan.

The Mu Clan had been patiently waiting for the Wen Clan and the City Lord Mansion to fight to the death when an earth-shattering explosion suddenly thundered across the city.

Massive fissures split several streets throughout Fourfold City and continued spreading outward. Cracks tore through countless houses, and cultivators crawled from the ruins covered in dust, lingering terror etched across their faces.

The explosion echoed across thousands of miles. That alone revealed the terrifying magnitude of its force.

"Move out!" Ye Guhai ordered, rubbing his ears as they throbbed from the blastwave.

At his command, every City Lord Mansion expert immediately charged toward the Wen Clan.

A vast crowd soon gathered around the Wen Clan's territory. The moment they saw the devastation, they were horrified.

"What happened here? How did the Wen Clan estate end up like this?" an expert from the Mu Clan exclaimed.

Dozens of Mu Clan experts stared at the ruins in utter disbelief.

Gu Yi soared into the sky and quickly arrived above the Wen Clan. When he looked down at the wasteland, the sight left him stunned.

Only now did Gu Yi fully comprehend Liu Wuxie's plan. No wonder Liu Wuxie had claimed that consigning the Sumeru Stone to the Skyhalberd Auction House was connected to the Wen Clan's destruction.

Liu Wuxie's scheme had succeeded, but Gu Yi still couldn't identify the source of the explosion. Even the self-detonation of a Divine Immortal couldn't have unleashed such catastrophic destruction.

No one understood how Liu Wuxie had accomplished it, and Liu Wuxie naturally had no intention of revealing that he had tampered with the Sumeru Stone.

For the past several days, he had patiently waited for the Wen Clan to forge a Golden Immortal Realm artifact.

Divine senses intertwined as everyone surveyed the mangled flesh scattered across the ground and the blood mist drifting through the air. A terrifying chill crept down everyone's spine.

The Wen Clan possessed a legacy stretching across centuries, a pinnacle Divine Immortal, and numerous Origin Immortals. Yet Liu Wuxie had reduced such a powerful clan to ruins in only a few days.

"Ye Guhai, you shameless bastard! You tampered with the Sumeru Stone," Wen Changxing roared.

He was still alive, though he was drenched in blood as he staggered from the ruins. Every step he took left another pool of blood behind.

Wen Changxing stared at the rubble that had once been the Wen Clan estate and wanted to weep, but no tears remained. He should have listened to Wen Xuan and abandoned the forging of the Dragonstone Sword.

Regret came far too late. From the beginning, Wen Changxing had never realized that Liu Wuxie was controlling everything from the shadows. He still believed Ye Guhai had devised the entire scheme.

"I understand now. City Lord Ye deliberately tampered with the Sumeru Stone before selling it back to the Wen Clan. How ruthless," someone in the crowd exclaimed as the truth finally dawned upon them.

The City Lord Mansion had first killed Wen Ding and the others to seize the Sumeru Stone, then consigned it to the Skyhalberd Auction House and forced the Wen Clan to spend a fortune to buy it back. Unbeknownst to them, however, the stone had already been tampered with.

The crowd mentally reconstructed everything that had happened over the past dozen days.

"Wen Changxing, out of respect for your position as patriarch, take your own life. I'll allow you to keep your corpse intact," Ye Guhai said as he rose into the sky and unleashed the crushing pressure of a Divine Immortal.

Wen Changxing had suffered fatal injuries. Even if he fought, he could draw upon only one-third of his strength, leaving him incapable of opposing Ye Guhai.

Wu Sheng and the others had also surrounded the entire area.

The Wen Clan elders were either dead or too severely injured to fight. Wen Changxing alone remained standing, barely clinging to life.

Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan slowly made their way down the street. As they approached, the crowd immediately parted, clearing a path to the center of the battlefield.

The instant Wen Changxing saw Liu Wuxie, he clenched his teeth and tried to charge at him. Ye Guhai's pressure pinned him firmly in place before he could move.

"Liu Wuxie, did you orchestrate all of this?" Wen Changxing asked.

He had fought Ye Guhai for centuries, and each man knew the other's methods thoroughly. If Ye Guhai possessed the ability to create such a scheme, he would never have waited until today to use it.

By now, Wen Changxing had finally realized that Liu Wuxie was the true mastermind.

"That's right," Liu Wuxie replied with a nod.

He had no intention of denying what he had done. His admission also served as a warning that anyone who sought his life had better be prepared to face annihilation.

The crowd gasped. After endless speculation, they finally learned that Liu Wuxie had engineered everything.

"Tell me how you did it," Wen Changxing demanded.

He knew he wouldn't survive. He merely wanted to understand how Liu Wuxie had destroyed his clan in only ten days.

Even within the celestial realm's central region, the Divine Immortal Realm couldn't be considered weak. Yet Wen Changxing had still fallen to such a miserable end.

"You don't need me to explain it. I believe you already know the answer in your heart," Liu Wuxie replied.

He showed no joy at Wen Changxing's ruin, as though everything he had accomplished amounted to something insignificant.

Wen Changxing closed his eyes and reviewed every event. As the scattered pieces connected, he threw back his head and burst into laughter.

"You killed Wen Qiong and learned about the Sumeru Stone from his memories. Then you disguised yourself, ambushed Wen Ding, seized the stone, and consigned it to the Skyhalberd Auction House. That was only the first step of your plan," Wen Changxing said as he opened his eyes.

"That's right," Liu Wuxie replied.

Silence gripped the surroundings, and no one interrupted.

"After the Skyhalberd Auction House announced they would auction the Sumeru Stone, you staged a falling-out with Ye Guhai to mislead the Wen Clan. Without that supposed betrayal, we would've immediately suspected that Ye Guhai was setting a trap," Wen Changxing continued.

Realization struck many people in the crowd.

"That's right," Liu Wuxie answered again.

"On the day of the auction, you deliberately had Ye Guhai lead the City Lord Mansion's experts into the auction house, making us believe they would openly seize the Sumeru Stone. That false threat forced us to bring every expert to the auction house," Wen Changxing continued before coughing up another mouthful of blood.

Frustration worsened his injuries as fury struck directly at his heart.

"That's right," Liu Wuxie replied once more.

Ye Linghan stood beside Liu Wuxie, yet she couldn't detect even the faintest emotional fluctuation from him.

"But the so-called experts Ye Guhai brought into the auction house were merely disguised impostors. They existed to lure us away while the true experts struck our foundation. Brilliant. The Wen Clan deserves its defeat," Wen Changxing continued, admiration gradually entering his voice.

He couldn't comprehend how Liu Wuxie had devised such a meticulous scheme. Every step connected seamlessly to the next while exploiting human nature with terrifying precision.

From the very beginning, Liu Wuxie had led the Wen Clan by the nose along a path he had prepared for them. Even minor deviations wouldn't have mattered because he had devised several backup plans.

Realization swept through the crowd. Liu Wuxie had begun plotting the Wen Clan’s destruction ten days earlier, and the sheer depth of his foresight sent chills down their spines.

"Only one thing still escapes me. How did you make the Dragonstone Sword explode?"

Everything Liu Wuxie had done was merely preparation for the destruction of the Dragonstone Sword. Its explosion alone had brought the Wen Clan to ruin.

Everyone knew the City Lord Mansion could never have defeated the Wen Clan through brute force, as the two factions were evenly matched. The Dragonstone Sword’s detonation had shattered that balance and decimated the Wen Clan’s forces.

"The Dragonstone Sword was already flawed. I merely used a rune to disrupt its internal structure and force it to detonate ahead of time," Liu Wuxie replied with a sigh.

That had been the most uncertain stage of his entire plan. Liu Wuxie hadn't known what quality of artifact Wen Changxing would forge. Had the Dragonstone Sword been flawless, his mental energy might have accomplished very little.

In the end, Liu Wuxie had overestimated Wen Changxing, and the Dragonstone Sword's quality proved mediocre. Liu Wuxie's answer finally exposed the truth behind his scheme to destroy the Wen Clan.

Cold sweat poured down the faces of the nearby Mu Clan experts. They had originally intended to exploit the chaos and reap the rewards, but after hearing the conversation between Liu Wuxie and Wen Changxing, the Mu Clan's patriarch immediately abandoned his plan.

He understood that offending the City Lord Mansion could lead to only one outcome, and the Wen Clan stood before him as the perfect example.

"My defeat was well deserved," Wen Changxing said, raising his head with a long sigh.

Several injured elders struggled into sitting positions, regret consuming them as they listened to the exchange between their patriarch and Liu Wuxie. The elders who had prevented Wen Xuan from stopping the patriarch regretted their actions so deeply that they wanted to slap themselves.

No one sympathized with the Wen Clan. They had dispatched countless experts to kill Liu Wuxie, and anyone in his position would have retaliated.

The world had always obeyed the law of the jungle. Had Liu Wuxie lacked the strength to defend himself, the Wen Clan would have killed him long ago, and none of this would ever have happened.

A cold breeze swept through the ruins, lifting dust from the ground and obscuring everyone's vision.

"So be it!" Wen Changxing said with a miserable laugh.

Having finally surrendered to his fate, he raised one palm and struck the crown of his own head.