Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 650 - Encountering Snowmen

No one expected it to be a trap. This was a sly design, a meticulously crafted trap by Liu Wuxie to lure them in, and it was too late by the time they realized what was happening.

Liu Wuxie had long calculated every step and movement in his predictions. After all, he had mastered the strongest martial techniques of the ten major sects, allowing him to hold a decisive advantage over his foes.

"Liu Wuxie, you demon!" Peng Bin roared moments before Liu Wuxie decapitated his head.

There were fifteen people a breath ago, but only five remained standing now, their faces pale with terror. As for the other ten disciples, their corpses lay on the ground.

The surviving five disciples took a deep breath as the sight before them was too horrifying to comprehend. They couldn't fathom how things developed in this manner.

"Y-You've been hiding your true strength!" stammered a disciple in the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm. He finally realized that Liu Wuxie had been playing the fool by concealing his strength.

"Don't you think it's too late to realize that now?" Liu Wuxie said and charged at the five, performing True Strike, Soul Spears, Frost Finger, Earth-Binding Chains, and the Demonic Purgatory Chains.

The five were caught by surprise, and they didn't know how to put up a resistance against Liu Wuxie. When they managed to block the True Strike, they would be assaulted by the Frost Finger. When they evaded the Frost Finger, the Soul Spear would come assaulting.

By the time they managed to avoid that, they were bound by the Earth-Binding Chains. This was a one-sided massacre, and the five didn't even know how they died. They couldn't fathom how Liu Wuxie mastered many techniques, each executed with unrivaled precision. The Demonic Purgatory Chains, in particular, left them utterly helpless and bound in place.

After they were all killed, Liu Wuxie cleared the battlefield and vanished with fifteen interspatial rings.

......

A few hundred people gathered on the frozen lake. Aside from the Heavenly Origin Sect, Azure Crimson Gate, and Indigo Cloud Gate, disciples of the Transcendent Plume Gate, Sky Rift Valley, and Misty Sect were also present.

With so many people searching for Liu Wuxie, escape seemed impossible. But who would've thought that Liu Wuxie had already left shortly before they had arrived?

"Where's Liu Wuxie?" demanded Deng Yong of the Indigo Cloud Gate as soon as he arrived, questioning the disciples from the other sects.

Everyone shook their heads as they had just arrived and hadn't seen any trace of Liu Wuxie.

It didn't take long before Bai Yuan arrived with his team, who went to ask the other disciples of the Heavenly Origin Sect. However, no one found any trace of Liu Wuxie anywhere.

"This is strange. Where are the disciples who reported his location?" someone muttered, his voice tinged with unease. Something was clearly amiss. The news had come from Miao Shi, but the Heavenly Origin Sect disciples couldn’t establish contact with him.

Similarly, the Azure Crimson Gate disciples failed to reach Jia Fengmao and his team. Even the Indigo Cloud Gate couldn't find the disciples who had sent a message to them.

All communications had been cut off once the disciples had reached the frozen lake, and those who notified the sects had vanished. Vanished, along with Liu Wuxie.

"Could it be that Liu Wuxie killed them?" murmured one of the Divine Sun Palace disciples, and that was the only plausible explanation.

"That's impossible! How can he possibly kill forty to fifty experts all at once?" questioned someone from the Dugu Clan. Even if Liu Wuxie was skilled, how could he possibly kill so many people?

"How do you explain this situation then? Do you think those disciples who notified us played a prank on us?" retorted the disciple from the Divine Sun Palace. They had all received news of Liu Wuxie’s appearance on the frozen lake.

"There's another possibility. The news might be fake, and someone is deliberately trying to mislead us, using this place to deceive us," said a Dugu Clan youth who shared his view.

His words made several in the crowd exchange uneasy glances, nodding as they recalled similar schemes from past years.

"What if someone has found a ten-thousand-year Snow Lotus and doesn't want to share it? Trying to lure us here by spreading fake news so they can monopolize it?" added a disciple from the Sky Rift Valley with his brows locked.

A ten-thousand-year Snow Lotus was a treasure of unimaginable value, capable of causing an uproar if discovered. If someone had found one and didn’t want to share, the smartest tactic would be to spread false information. By diverting everyone’s attention to Liu Wuxie’s conflict with the three sects, they could harvest the Snow Lotus undisturbed, using the chaos as a perfect smokescreen.

"That makes sense," someone chimed in after hearing the Sky Rift Valley disciple’s theory. "I remember something similar happening during a previous Ten Grand Ceremony. That person successfully harvested a ten-thousand-year Snow Lotus while everyone else was distracted."

As the debate over the authenticity of the news intensified, a sudden uproar erupted outside the barrier, capturing everyone’s attention.

The Indigo Cloud Gate's sect master, Xu Yanhui, stood stunned as he looked at the fifteen shattered soul tablets. A minute ago, the soul tablets had shattered, and the three sects had suffered immense losses.

Compared to them, the soul tablets from the other sects were fine, and there wasn't a single death.

"Someone explain to me what's going on here!" roared an elder of the Indigo Cloud Gate, his voice echoing with rage and frustration.

The disciples the Indigo Cloud Gate brought over were elite and their finest, with their goal set for the top three. Yet, they had lost fifteen disciples in the final battle.

The second-tier sects also fell silent under this bizarre situation.

"I told you—Liu Wuxie must've killed them," whispered a disciple of the Azure Thunder Sect. This wasn't the first time this speculation had been made, and everyone had dismissed it at first. But as the death toll continued to rise, everyone was forced to reconsider the possibility.

Three to four hundred people were gathered on the frozen lake, but there was no trace of Liu Wuxie anywhere. This left everyone with no choice but to leave, scatter out, and expand their search.

"Young master, something feels off," Yu Tianyi said with a frown. There was an uneasy feeling in his heart, but he couldn't describe it in words.

"I feel the same. It might’ve been fake news if it was just one person, but disciples of our three sects can't deceive us altogether," Ye Feng said, agreeing with Yu Tianyi's point of view.

Bai Yuan could also feel that something wasn't right without their reminders. He said grimly, "I suspect that they've all died!"

"Dead?" The nine disciples behind Bai Yuan shivered. They couldn't believe that so many people had died, especially since the message had come from one of the strongest disciples of their Heavenly Origin Sect.

"Liu Wuxie must have killed them all," Bai Yuan confirmed. Not only were they killed, but they were all killed by Liu Wuxie alone.

"But that's impossible! There were so many of them, not to mention an expert like Senior Brother Miao Shi," Yu Tianyi retorted, unwilling to believe it. He might be strong, but he was even inferior to Miao Shi. If even someone like Miao Shi were killed by Liu Wuxie, it would be big news.

"The opponent we're up against is stronger than we imagined. Prepare to initiate the plan," Bai Yuan said after taking a deep breath. With no way to locate Liu Wuxie and their options dwindling, they had no choice but to proceed with their last-resort plan, even though it had been scheduled for ten days later.

"We should've done it long ago. I know where the Misty Sect disciples are," Yu Tianyi said. Since he was the one who had suggested the plan, he had naturally investigated the location of the Misty Sect disciples.

As the Misty Sect was known for being peaceful, its disciples remained in safe zones after entering the barrier. They cared little for their rankings and only wanted to leave this place safely while honing their skills in this unique environment.

"Just the Heavenly Origin Sect won't be able to control the Misty Sect. Let's notify the others as well," Bai Yuan said as he walked forward. Though the Misty Sect's ranking wasn't high, their strength couldn't be underestimated.

The Heavenly Origin Sect couldn't capture them by themselves, and they had to borrow the strength of the Indigo Cloud Gate and Azure Crimson Gate.

"I'll have it done immediately!" Ye Feng volunteered for the mission and dashed toward the Azure Crimson Gate's direction to relay the plan.

When the Azure Crimson Gate heard of the plan, they agreed without hesitation and notified the Indigo Cloud Gate, who hesitated. After all, if their actions were revealed, it would tarnish their reputation and standing.

However, the Indigo Cloud Gate ultimately agreed because they all guessed that Liu Wuxie had killed their fellow disciples, and it would be worth it if they could kill Liu Wuxie, regardless of the cost.

......

Meanwhile, after leaving the frozen lake, Liu Wuxie was heading to the towering peak. This area had fewer people, making it ideal for him to rest for a few days to digest what had happened in the past two days.

After slaying so many people and devouring their energies from their corpses, he needed time to consolidate himself.

"Run! The snowman is coming!" When Liu Wuxie wanted to rest, two Sky Rift Valley disciples ran over from the left.

Behind the two disciples loomed a colossal snowman, reaching over sixteen meters and looking like a massive fortress. It was clear that someone had ventured too far up the peak and alarmed the snowmen.

In mere moments, the snowman was only a few dozen meters away from Liu Wuxie, and similar scenes had unfolded in multiple regions. Snowmen had appeared, hunting humans.

As the snowman pursuing the two Sky Rift Valley disciples drew closer, a gigantic palm descended and shattered the ground. Despite the two disciples' desperate efforts, they were no match for the snowman in terms of speed.

In the snowy terrain, the snowman appeared to glide effortlessly, as though hovering above the ground while it moved.

When the two Sky Rift Valley disciples saw Liu Wuxie, their eyes flickered with hope. They didn't want to die—not at the hands of a snowman.

Liu Wuxie had plenty of time to intervene and save them, but saving them would mean fighting the snowman, making him his new target. He was weighing if it was worth the risk.

He could have easily abandoned the two Sky Rift Valley disciples to their fate, but a memory resurfaced—how the Sky Rift Valley elder had once stood up for him in Serene Sea City, resolving Li Hongda's coercion. That act of kindness had left a debt of gratitude unpaid.

Liu Wuxie believed in repaying kindness tenfold—and he applied the same principle to those who sought to harm him.

"Roll to the left!" Liu Wuxie yelled.

The two disciples didn't dare disobey, as they had no better options and could only trust Liu Wuxie. They rolled to the side, but the snowman's palm was too massive, making it impossible for them to avoid it.

However, Liu Wuxie's intention wasn't for them to evade the palm but to create space for him to attack, as he might risk injuring them if they remained on the same path.

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