Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 459 - Recruit

The suffocating energy tore through the air resistance, leaving behind small cracks in space under the ancient star’s crushing force. The surrounding bubbles exploded one after another, turning into steam before disappearing.

The Jade Blood Yaksha was still struggling desperately like a fish splashing around on land, needing to return to the water.

Liu Wuxie naturally wouldn’t allow the Jade Blood Yaksha to return to the sea and struck down with the Primordial Astral Fist, killing all the incoming sea demons until they didn’t dare to approach the slightest bit.

“Die!” Liu Wuxie’s voice rang out like a death knell as the Jade Blood Yaksha exploded into a mist of blood, his form disintegrating into nothingness. Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Despite the Jade Blood Yaksha's weakened state, traces of Astral River Realm laws still lingered within him—precious remnants that Liu Wuxie needed to absorb and harness.

These laws would significantly reduce the time required for Liu Wuxie to comprehend the Astral River Realm.

After killing the Jade Blood Yaksha, Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu vanished. No one knew where they went as the sea demons surged forward to see the devastated ground, and several elderly figures emerged from the Sea Demon Clan.

“Humans! Those damned humans killed a member of the Yaksha Clan!” The Sea Demon Clan was divided into various species, and yaksha was one of them. Other species, such as the Whale, Spear-Fish Clan, and many others, were skilled in combat.

The Yaksha Clan was sinister and cunning, holding a high status among the Sea Demon Clan. The elderly sea demon who spoke was also from the Yaksha Clan. The Jade Blood Yaksha was a vital clan member even if he wasn’t the elderly sea demon’s relative. So, how could they just let it go like that?

“Have you found out who killed him?” A member of the Spear-Fish Clan stepped forward. They had a close relationship with the Yaksha Clan, and the two species complemented each other to serve the Sea Emperor.

The surrounding sea demons swiftly gathered information and soon found some clues.

Liu Wuxie had destroyed the spirit this time. However, the Jade Blood Yaksha’s recent actions showed some clues, such as who he wanted to kill the most, his enemies, and the most recent information from the shell horn—all these were clues that could lead to the culprit behind the Jade Blood Yaksha’s death.

It didn’t take long before Liu Wuxie’s information was compiled and placed before the two elders.

“This kid killed so many members of our Sea Demon Clan?!” The elder of the Yaksha Clan’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

The elders mostly lived in the sea and wouldn’t come on land. But tonight was special because the Blood Sea Abyssal Island situation had changed drastically, so they came.

“Deploy the elites to search for this human and kill him! Since he dared to kill a member of my Yaksha Clan, I will make sure he remains on the Blood Sea Abyssal Island!” the elder gave the order as sea demons began to scatter out to search for Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie was unaware of these unfolding events after his departure. He had long returned to the courtyard in the city with Gu Yu. The spiritual array was still around and hadn’t suffered much damage.

Many people had tried to occupy this courtyard during their captivity, but all their attempts had failed.

The order in the city gradually returned, and many cultivators who had hidden themselves began to emerge. The Wild Lion Gate’s fall created a huge vacancy, and the Ding Feng Hall and Wolf Fang Regiment took over.

The two forces began to expand rapidly, but they couldn’t manage such a large territory alone. Thus, they had no choice but to recruit more people to help them manage the territory.

After returning to the courtyard, Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu sat on a mat. They had experienced life and death in the past half a month, wandering on the edge of death daily. The slightest mistake could lead to their death in the Blood Sea Abyssal Island.

“Big Brother Liu, the past few days have been too thrilling, more insane than anything I’ve experienced in the past decade,” Gu Yu said with a look of relief after surviving the ordeal.

Over the past few years, his grandfather had taken him to many perilous places, yet he had never known fear under his grandfather's protection.

“The days ahead won’t be too peaceful.” Liu Wuxie wasn’t as optimistic as Gu Yu, who thought they were safe after escaping the Wild Lion Gate.

The Wild Lion Gate’s fall only meant the Blood Sea Abyssal Island situation had become even more chaotic. The Wolf Fang Regiment and Ding Feng Hall weren’t enough to suppress the Human Clan’s region.

He could foresee many forces rising through this opportunity and forming new forces to compete with the Wolf Fang Regiment and Ding Feng Hall to divide the Blood Sea Abyssal Island’s resources.

The humans suffered heavy casualties this time, with the Sea Demon Clan and Abyssal Clan becoming restless. They were gradually encroaching on the territory belonging to humans, drawing closer to the city.

Gu Yu had matured a lot through this ordeal, and he was calmer now in how he viewed things or faced crises.

The two seized the time to rest because they knew the city would soon fall into chaos again. This was like a dynasty where chaos would occur when the old regime was overthrown before a new system was fully implemented.

The Blood Sea Abyssal Island was in such a state of chaos, with people raising banners and creating their forces.

The Wolf Fang Regiment and Ding Feng Hall also suffered heavy casualties from this battle and were recuperating, unable to continue fighting. This was why the small forces dared to expand recklessly and seize territories.

As the night deepened, the city fell into a deathly silence like the calm before the storm.

Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu stopped their mediation at dawn, especially Liu Wuxie, who could feel the rise in his cultivation after absorbing the Jade Blood Yaksha’s corpse.

With a resounding boom, the door shattered under the force of a powerful palm strike. The spiritual array, which had taken a beating over the past few days, had been left unrepaired as Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu planned to restore it after some much-needed rest.

Who would’ve expected an intrusion at dawn?

When Liu Wuxie and Gu Yu came out, they saw a group of people outside the courtyard with a large hole in the spiritual array.

“Who are you, and why did you damage our spiritual array?” Liu Wuxie frowned because these people were strong, with one person in the seventh level of the Heavenly Phase Realm.

He still wasn’t confident in facing an opponent in the high levels of the Heavenly Phase Realm unless he combined Soul Spear with the Earth Binding Chains for some odds of winning.

Then again, this only meant he had some odds of winning. After the Earth Binding Chains had been nourished for so long, he had grasped a hint of the power.

Since he had taken the Earth Binding Chains with him and kept it in his soul sea, it had remained dormant because Liu Wuxie’s soul sea was probably too weak to mobilize it.

The Feather Emperor had mentioned that mastering the Earth Binding Chains required practicing the Soul Forge Art and possessing powerful soul energy.

Now that Liu Wuxie had reached the Heavenly Phase Realm, his soul energy had significantly increased. This growth caused the runes on the Earth Binding Chains to glow more intensely, causing the chains to stretch slightly and emit a soft rustling sound.

It was a coincidence for Liu Wuxie to kill the Jade Blood Yaksha. The latter was a sea demon, and his power was significantly decreased on land.

Twelve people stood outside the courtyard, with the weakest cultivator being in the first level of the Heavenly Phase Realm.

“We’re members of the Qingxiu Gang. We’re giving you all a chance to join us,” the seventh-level Heavenly Phase Realm cultivator spoke condescendingly as if recruiting someone like Liu Wuxie was doing him a favor.

“I’m not interested!” Liu Wuxie flatly refused. He had no intentions of joining any faction, not even the Ding Feng Hall or the Wolf Fang Regiment, if they came to recruit him.

Joining them would only lead to an endless cycle of subservience, much like being captured by the Wild Lion Gate. They would treat him as a mere lackey, tasked with their dirty work.

“Brat, are you tired of living to refuse our Qingxiu Gang’s offer?” Those in the low levels of the Heavenly Phase Realm jumped out and pointed at Liu Wuxie, thinking he showed no respect for the Qingxiu Gang.

“Brat, you may not know this, but our Qingxiu Gang is filled with talents. We’re certain to become the next Wild Lion Gate. I advise you to join us, or you will face dire consequences.”

This was a carrot-and-stick approach. Besides the Qingxiu Gang, the other factions were also aggressively recruiting members.

When they encountered those who were tough to recruit, they would give up after a few attempts. However, for someone like Liu Wuxie, who had low cultivation, the various rising forces made them the primary targets for recruitment.

After all, Liu Wuxie’s cultivation wasn’t high, making him easy to manage. Secondly, he had no background, and they wouldn’t feel any burden to send him to his death after recruiting him.

“Brother Wei, we might as well kill him since this brat is so stubborn, lest other factions recruit him.” They would destroy him if they couldn’t recruit him—this was the survival law of the Blood Sea Abyssal Island.

In just one night, more than a dozen forces had emerged in the city. The Qingxiu Gang wasn’t the largest, but they also weren’t the smallest. They could be considered a mid-level force with a leader in the Astral River Realm.

The man in the seventh level of the Heavenly Phase Realm was called Wei Zhong. He was the deputy leader of the Qingxiu Gang and held a high status in the group.

If they could recruit a batch of experts quickly, the Qingxiu Gang could soon establish a foothold on the Blood Sea Abyssal Island.

“Brat, you have another chance to make your choice again. You won’t be mistreated if you join us.” Wei Zhong’s face became grim, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Liu Wuxie if the latter dared to refuse again.

The atmosphere became tense, and Gu Yu had secretly accumulated his strength, ready to strike if things went south.

They couldn’t afford to fall into the wolf’s lair after escaping from the tiger’s den, or they would never be able to leave the Blood Sea Abyssal Island alive.

“Not interested. We don’t join any faction, and you should find someone else.” Liu Wuxie waved his hand. He spoke politely because he didn’t want to offend the Qingxiu Gang.

However, to Wei Zhong, Liu Wuxie’s words sounded like an insult to the Qingxiu Gang. With any chance of friendship gone, he saw Liu Wuxie as an enemy who needed to be dealt with.

Liu Wuxie had anticipated that trouble would come soon after his return, but he hadn’t expected it to arrive so quickly. Despite the surprise, he knew he had to confront the situation head-on.

The Qingxiu Gang targeted them today, and Liu Wuxie knew other forces would come to recruit them the next day. Hiding in the courtyard wasn’t a viable long-term solution, as they couldn’t stay in this small space forever.

“Brat, don’t blame us for being ruthless since you’ve chosen to court death!” Wei Zhong didn’t want to waste any more time talking because they had other places to go to recruit people. They needed more people to contend with the Wolf Fang Regiment.

The Blood Abyssal Stones were reduced in number and impossible for an individual to excavate, so they could only form into groups.

“You all plan to act against us?” Liu Wuxie frowned because he had made clear he wasn’t interested in joining any factions, not just the Qingxiu Gang.

“Blame yourself for being stubborn; don’t blame us for being ruthless.” Wei Dong waved his hand, and a few people stepped forward, preparing to deal with Liu Wuxie.