Desolate Devouring Art

A figure materialized from nowhere and intercepted Zhu Li's attack. Sparks exploded from the collision, forcing Zhu Li to step back, while the newcomer was hurled away and slammed heavily into the ground.

"Qin Shuang?" Liu Wuxie murmured in disbelief after finally completing his breakthrough and turning toward the man sprawled across the ground.

Liu Wuxie could never have imagined that Qin Shuang would save his life. Qin Shuang had also fallen into Enchantress's hands at the Yin Market, just as Liu Wuxie had. Later, Liu Wuxie had used him to throw the Enchantress's yin and yang energies into chaos. After the Shadow Divination Gate was destroyed, Liu Wuxie had taken Qin Shuang away with him.

The two had eventually separated in Moonveil City.

Later, when news of the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm spread, Qin Shuang had defied his family's objections and entered it.

In truth, Qin Shuang had discovered Liu Wuxie long ago. However, had deliberately concealed himself to avoid unnecessary trouble. Had Shen Can and the others discovered their friendship, they would have captured him and used him as leverage against Liu Wuxie.

Qin Shuang coughed as he struggled to his feet. A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. His cultivation was only at the lower levels of the Profound Immortal Realm. He stood no chance against Zhu Li. That single sword strike had already inflicted severe injuries upon him.

On the other side, Shen Can forced Blackie backward as his sword closed in on its underarm. Blackie could withstand ordinary attacks, but its body was not entirely without weaknesses.

"Divine Mystic Yin Needle," Liu Wuxie unleashed the Divine Mystic Yin Needle and sent it streaking toward Shen Can's eyes.

If Shen Can continued his thrust instead of withdrawing, the needles would blind him. They effortlessly pierced his defensive barrier and rapidly approached his eyes.

No one had expected Liu Wuxie to attack Shen Can directly. They had thought he would kneel and beg for mercy instead.

The other cultivators continued bombarding Blackie, producing a rapid succession of sharp cracks whenever their attacks landed. Yet only Shen Can was strong enough to genuinely threaten Blackie.

Anger flickered across Shen Can's face. With no other option, he withdrew his sword and dodged sideways, allowing the Divine Mystic Yin Needle to flash past him.

"Blackie, we're leaving!" Liu Wuxie called.

Without the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt, Liu Wuxie still couldn't contend with so many enemies. He immediately summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and drew Blackie and Qin Shuang inside. Then he executed the fifth form of the Divine Ninefold Step and vanished.

No one had expected Liu Wuxie to vanish from right under their noses.

"Don't let him escape," someone shouted.

The crowd immediately gave chase. Even Liu Wuxie didn't know what awaited beyond the Kidney Palace, though he suspected that a route out of the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm lay ahead.

The passage gradually narrowed until countless tunnels emerged, branching and intersecting in every direction. No one could determine where any of them led.

"Into the cauldron," Liu Wuxie roared, entering the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. He had no intention of searching for the exit yet. Forging the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt came first.

Inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, Blackie sat quietly and licked its wounds. Qin Shuang sat cross-legged nearby and absorbed the liquid within the cauldron to recover from his injuries.

Liu Wuxie placed one thousand crystals before Blackie in gratitude for its protection. Without Blackie, Shen Can and the others would have killed him long ago.

Blackie immediately gathered the scattered crystals and began crunching on them. After it consumed roughly fifteen crystals, the wounds covering its body visibly began to heal.

Liu Wuxie then handed Qin Shuang two pills, which he accepted without hesitation and swallowed to treat his injuries.

"Don't worry. No one will leave this place alive," Liu Wuxie growled, madness flashing through his eyes. Only a few thousand people remained, and if necessary, he would slaughter every last one.

After issuing that promise, Liu Wuxie withdrew into the depths of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. His next objective was to refine the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt, and he intended to complete the process beyond every prying gaze.

Pitch-black demonic flames engulfed Liu Wuxie, making him look like a fire deity. With a beckoning gesture, he summoned the Divine Metal Core, Divine Fire Core, Divine Earth Core, Divine Wood Core, and Yin Water Essence before him.

As Liu Wuxie formed seals, mysterious runes gradually appeared within the void. The other nine Immortal Emperors would have recognized those runes instantly, but inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, Liu Wuxie had no reason to fear exposing his aura.

The Divine Penta Elemental Bolt resembled a talisman without truly being one. Its nature lay closer to palm thunder, allowing the user to throw it rapidly and unleash its power.

Liu Wuxie swept one finger through the air, parting the demonic flames and revealing a pitch-black rune.

"Darkness rune, everything depends on you now," Liu Wuxie said. He had inscribed countless talismans throughout his life, yet he had never used the darkness rune when creating either the Five Elemental Talisman or the Pentabolt Talisman.

This marked the first time Liu Wuxie had ever inscribed a darkness rune. He intended to use it as the foundation containing the power of the five elements, an undertaking fraught with danger. The slightest error could detonate the Divine Penta Elemental Bolt and injure him.

If Liu Wuxie wished to leave this place alive, he had no choice but to accept the risk.

After catching up, Shen Can and the others entered the maze of intersecting tunnels. Before long, they too lost their bearings and could no longer find a way out.

"Liu Wuxie must be hiding close by. Split up and find him," Zhu Li roared, ordering everyone to scatter through the tunnels and hunt Liu Wuxie down.

Thousands of cultivators dispersed into the branching passages. Several walked directly past Liu Wuxie's position, unaware that the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had become a speck of dust hovering silently in the air.

Before Liu Wuxie, the black rune flickered between existence and nothingness while radiating a bizarre glow.

"Five elements, become one," Liu Wuxie growled.

Relying on only one element would inevitably create instability and could trigger an explosion. The safest approach was to circulate all five elements together, allowing them to restrain and balance one another.

Five distinct energies hovered before Liu Wuxie, slowly rotating as they intertwined. The moment the Divine Fire Core touched the Yin Water Essence, a violent collision erupted, threatening to detonate. Water naturally curbed fire, making the two elements inherently incompatible.

The Divine Wood Core and Divine Earth Core soon entered the cycle, followed by the Divine Metal Core. All five elements rapidly formed a complete circulation resembling a colossal millstone, bathing the surroundings in light.

Liu Wuxie had no intention of stopping after forging one Divine Penta Elemental Bolt. He planned to create many, for one or two could never deal with several thousand cultivators.

Time dragged on, yet the cultivators searching the intersecting tunnels found no trace of Liu Wuxie. Their frustration steadily mounted until many began hacking the surrounding walls with their weapons.

"Where the hell is Liu Wuxie?" Wei Wenbin asked as he, Jiang Hongran, and Shen Chao stopped to catch their breath, panting heavily from exhaustion. Messages had already arrived from the other search parties, but none had discovered any sign of Liu Wuxie.

"Liu Wuxie has a black vortex inside his body, and he's extraordinarily skilled at hiding himself. He must be somewhere nearby. We keep searching until we find him," Shen Chao said, suppressing the frustration simmering inside him.

Shen Chao belonged to the Eastern Emperor Pavilion, whose backing had enabled the Shadow Divination Dao Hall to rise so quickly. The hall's destruction had therefore dealt the Eastern Emperor Pavilion a devastating blow.

Several hours passed before the millstone floating before Liu Wuxie finally stabilized and the five elements reached perfect balance. Liu Wuxie did not stop. He inscribed additional darkness runes and fused them into the five elemental energies. The enormous millstone gradually divided into smaller orbs, each containing terrifying power.

Liu Wuxie grew even more cautious. The detonation of a single orb could obliterate him without leaving a trace. Even if his physique had reached unity with heaven and earth, recovering from such destructive force would be nearly impossible.

Ten Divine Penta Elemental Bolt orbs floated before him, held firmly under his control. Only moments earlier, each had been the size of a fist, but they rapidly compressed until they were no larger than chicken eggs. Even that was still too large. A true Divine Penta Elemental Bolt was only as big as a quail egg. The smaller an orb became, the more destructive power it contained and the harder it would be to detect once thrown.

Liu Wuxie had already consumed roughly half of his immortal energy, yet the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts remained far from complete.

The Ancestral Tree suddenly swayed, extending its roots deeper into the surroundings and drawing in vast quantities of immortal energy to replenish the Desolate World's dwindling reserves.

The Divine Penta Elemental Bolts compressed more slowly. Then one orb abruptly began swelling and trembling, its five elemental energies falling out of balance and threatening to explode at any moment.

Liu Wuxie raised his head and summoned ten thunderbolts from the Desolate World's depths. "Thunder, descend."

They transformed into lightning serpents and burrowed into the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts.

The lightning serpents coiled around the orbs, making each one appear almost alive. Additionally, Liu Wuxie also infused ice-attribute energy.

Nourished by lightning, the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts compressed further and gradually reached the size of quail eggs. Countless runes surfaced across each orb, with every rune representing an element of heaven and earth.

Liu Wuxie's inscription speed continued accelerating as both hands moved at once to form a complete sword rune. Refining a mystic talisman like the one he had crafted in Moon Reverence City would require numerous sword runes. He had neither time nor cultivation to accomplish that now, but a single sword rune remained within his capabilities.

The instant the sword rune manifested, even the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron sensed the approaching danger and attempted to eject Liu Wuxie. If all the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts detonated at once, the explosion would shatter the cauldron into countless fragments.

Liu Wuxie ignored the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron's reaction. He intended to forge Divine Penta Elemental Bolts unlike anything the world had ever seen.

The sword rune split into ten smaller runes. The moment they entered the orbs, all ten Divine Penta Elemental Bolts swelled violently as though they were on the verge of exploding.

"Stabilize yourselves," Liu Wuxie roared, slamming both hands down and forcing every rune suspended in the air into the ten orbs simultaneously.

"Once the sword runes merge completely with the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts, the refinement will be finished," Liu Wuxie murmured. Even he could not estimate how terrifying their final power would be. They would likely possess enough destructive force to kill Origin Immortals.

As the Divine Penta Elemental Bolts gradually stabilized, they became pitch-black beads whose appearance no longer carried the same terrifying presence.

Meanwhile, Shen Can and the others began regrouping. The countless interconnected tunnels eventually converged upon an oval chamber. If they broke through that chamber, they could leave the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm.

"Did Liu Wuxie vanish from this world?" someone asked dejectedly.

They had been moments away from killing him, only for him to disappear without a trace before their eyes.

More cultivators steadily arrived from the surrounding tunnels. They declared indignantly, "Then we'll wait here. I want to see how long he can stay hidden."

Inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, Liu Wuxie collapsed from utter exhaustion. He had never imagined that crafting ten Divine Penta Elemental Bolts would consume ninety percent of his immortal energy.

Without wasting another moment, he produced several hundred crystals and one hundred thousand immortal stones to replenish the depleted energy of the Desolate World.

"Time to reap the harvest," Liu Wuxie said with a cold smirk as he rose, his immortal energy fully restored.

Blackie had also recovered from its wounds and stood beside him. Murderous intent filled its eyes while flames erupted from the black staff in its hands.