Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 641 - Martial Tower

Liu Wuxie remained indifferent to Bai Yuan's provocation without changing his facial expression.

"I hope you can impress me tomorrow," Liu Wuxie said casually before leaving with the Ascension Pill.

Bai Yuan was left frozen in place, replaying Liu Wuxie's words in his mind. The more he recalled them, the more unsettling they seemed. This was a blatant provocation from Liu Wuxie.

His performance in the past few days was commendable, but it was pale compared to Liu Wuxie's accomplishments, which had stolen all his limelight. The rest of the competitors had become supporting characters, and Liu Wuxie overshadowed their performances.

After this trial, the remaining time became lackluster, and each conversation was centered around Liu Wuxie.

"Young Master, there's no need to trouble yourself over a dead man. Even if he performs well in tomorrow's trial, he'll meet his end in the final battle," a fellow disciple from the Heavenly Origin Sect said confidently. To them, Liu Wuxie's fate was already sealed.

Hearing this, Bai Yuan's expression eased, his confidence bolstered by the thought of Liu Wuxie’s impending demise in the final battle.

When everyone returned to rest, Liu Wuxie now possessed three Ascension Pills, but he had no intention of making a breakthrough. He calculated that he would need at least six pills to reach the third level of the Astral River Realm.

His goal was clear: secure first place tomorrow and claim the champion prize, allowing him to obtain five more pills. With those Ascension Pills, he could reach the third level of the Astral River Realm.

Determined, Liu Wuxie resolved to give his all in the upcoming trial. The night passed quietly, with no one daring to disturb him. He spent the entire time immersed in cultivation, preparing himself mentally and physically for the challenges of the next day.

The upcoming trial promised to be difficult, as every participant would have to rely solely on their true abilities to navigate the challenges in the tower. While the obstacles weren’t life-threatening, failure would result in immediate elimination.

At dawn, everyone ended their meditation. When everyone came out of their tents, the neutral disciples of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion began to treat Liu Wuxie differently after witnessing his extraordinary performance on the previous day’s trial.

Many had changed their form of address from "Junior Brother Liu" to "Senior Brother Liu," and their tones were more polite than before. This change was brought about by the display of his strength and talents.

"How have you been preparing yourself?" Mu Tianli asked Liu Wuxie, the shining hope of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

If Liu Wuxie could obtain first place again on this trial, he would achieve an unprecedented feat: obtaining first place in all five trials in the history of the Ten Grand Ceremonies. This was something worthy of celebration.

"I'll do my best," Liu Wuxie replied. He wouldn't back down, nor would he put his life at risk.

As the disciples moved out, the atmosphere among the ten major sects became heavy. Spiritual arrays, alchemy, blacksmithing, and spiritual talismans were all considered secondary in cultivation, while the martial trial was the true test.

The final challenge carried great weight, capable of overshadowing the victories of the four previous trials. In any other trial, Liu Wuxie would undoubtedly have been the center of attention, celebrated for securing the top rank.

But strangely enough, Liu Wuxie's name was barely mentioned today. Instead, Bai Yuan became the center of attention. The fact that he reached the Nascent Transformation Realm under thirty had hailed him the title of the Southern Province's strongest prodigy, with praises and admiration swirling around him.

Today, Bai Yuan was clad in a purple robe, looking striking and confident. Many female disciples screamed at the sight of him, wishing they could rush over to his side.

In contrast, Liu Wuxie wore a simple blue robe; its color faded from frequent washing. With each step he took, a faint rhythm seemed to resonate in the surroundings, as if he were in perfect harmony with the world around him.

"Finally, the most thrilling moment has finally come!"

The second-tier sect's disciples couldn't participate, and they could only watch with anticipation, hoping to broaden their horizons. After all, it would aid them greatly in their future cultivation.

Close to two thousand disciples stepped into the largest tower, the Martial Tower. Each level contained the prized techniques from the various sects, and the contestants had to find the flaws in the techniques.

Many of the techniques were nearly flawless, and even the sect that set up the challenge had to spend a long time finding their flaws.

However, these techniques posed little threat to Liu Wuxie. No matter how intricate or refined they were, could they truly rival immortal techniques? With the power of the Ghost Eye and the Heavenly Dao Book at his disposal, Liu Wuxie could identify flaws even in immortal techniques—ordinary techniques were no exception.

Of course, Liu Wuxie wouldn't openly boast of it, but this was an opportunity for him to hone his martial techniques. He could study the various sects' martial techniques to complement his own.

For instance, the Divine Sun Palace was famed for its spear techniques, the Overlord Spear in particular. A move in the Overlord Spear, the Thousand Sweep, had vanquished countless foes.

When the participants entered the first floor, this move awaited them. But, it was only a simplified version of the original to prevent the other sects from finding the flaw in their prized technique.

However, even the simplified version wasn't something someone on the first level of the Astral River Realm could deal with. It was a genuine heaven-grade martial technique that was endlessly close to a spiritual-grade martial technique.

However, this challenge was of no difficulty to the Divine Sun Palace disciples, who had spent countless months preparing for it.

When Liu Wuxie stepped into a large chamber, the Thousand Sweep was engraved on the wall, requiring him to deal with it.

Holding the Heretic Blade firmly, Liu Wuxie assumed a drawing stance; his eyes closed in deep concentration, the blade poised above his head.

In his soul sea, two figures appeared, one wielding the Heretic Blade and the other donning the uniform of the Divine Sun Palace disciple and wielding a spear. The latter's movements perfectly mirrored those of the engraving on the wall.

This time, Liu Wuxie didn't rely on the Heavenly Dao Book because this technique wasn't worth it.

Two cold rays shot out one minute later when Liu Wuxie opened his eyes with terrifying blade intent enveloping the entire chamber.

Liu Wuxie unleashed a swift strike, not employing True Strike but executing his attack with precision. His blade left intricate marks on the wall, perfectly deconstructing the Thousand Sweep depicted there.

The spear technique comprised three movements, and Liu Wuxie systematically neutralized each one, identifying the critical flaw in the move.

He had long noticed that this move wasn't complete, and the three figures on the wall came to life with each change perfectly illustrated. This left the Divine Sun Palace's sect master in shock, who couldn't believe that Liu Wuxie managed to decipher the complete Thousand Sweep.

"How did this happen?" an elder from the Divine Sun Palace muttered bitterly. While other disciples could deal with the simplified version of this technique, Liu Wuxie not only deciphered it but also found the fatal flaw in Thousand Sweep.

This was a devastating blow to the Divine Sun Palace, as they wouldn't dare use this technique against their enemies in the future.

"This is bad! He might also decipher our martial techniques!" Dugu Shan exclaimed, his voice tinged with alarm.

The Dugu Clan was known for its swordsmanship, which was called the Divine Sun Sword. This sword technique consisted of seven intricate moves, and they had chosen their most formidable move, omitting the core secrets.

"That's it? It's already over?" murmured the onlookers, their faces painted with disbelief as they watched Liu Wuxie walking out of the chamber, following the passage to the second level.

The rules of this trial dictated that if the challenge wasn’t completed, the passage would be sealed, forcing those who failed to take another route and leave the tower.

"Am I seeing things right? I have experienced this spear technique myself, and it's incredibly powerful. But is it riddled with flaws when I look at it now?" whispered someone.

Many people present had fought with disciples of the Divine Sun Palace before. They knew how powerful the spear technique was, especially Thousand Sweep.

Yet now, in this moment, the once-feared technique was laid bare, exposed by Liu Wuxie’s deconstruction. It was no wonder Deng Lei's face was so grim. This incident meant that the Divine Sun Palace would lose an offensive martial technique. They needed immediate corrections to this martial technique, as deploying it in battle now would be no different from committing suicide.

Meanwhile, Dugu Shan looked nervous, worried that Liu Wuxie would find a fatal flaw in their martial technique as he had done with the Overlord Spear.

The rules of this trial were simple: each sect would present a powerful technique and engrave it on the stone wall for participants to decipher. Though this trial didn't test cultivation, it would be impossible for participants to see through the profundities of the martial techniques if they were too weak.

"Look!” A voice echoed, "Liu Wuxie is the first to reach the second level!" causing an uproar among the crowd.

They weren't surprised that Liu Wuxie could deal with the first level, but it surprised them that he was the first to reach the second level. It was unbelievable that someone in the low levels of the Astral River Realm could easily decipher the Divine Sun Palace's Thousand Sweep. No one would believe it if they didn't witness it personally, but that was the reality.

When Liu Wuxie stepped into the second level, it was still another large chamber. A man wielding a longsword engraved on the stone wall stood beside him. Hundreds of shadows, all performing the essence of the Divine Sun Sword, surrounded him.

Liu Wuxie's task was to dissect the hundreds of shadows. The moves were overwhelming at first glance, and they were nearly impossible to follow with the eye if an actual battle took place with this technique.

He closed his eyes as images began to appear in his soul sea, performing the technique on the stone wall. His divine sense observed the changes quietly, and he watched three times before finally opening his eyes after finding seven flaws in the Divine Sun Sword.

Walking to the blank section of the wall, Liu Wuxie raised the Heretic Blade and began to engrave it.

Everyone instantly noticed his action, and they couldn't believe that Liu Wuxie had found the flaws in just one minute. But that wasn't all; after engraving the first flaw, he didn't stop there and continued to engrave more flaws.

Dugu Shan's face turned pale, and he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. When Liu Wuxie etched the seventh flaw on the wall, Dugu Shan collapsed to the ground and could only shake his head in resignation.

However, no one dared to mock him, not even the Divine Sun Palace. After all, they shared the same fate as the Dugu Clan—both had the flaws of their strongest techniques laid bare for all to see.

The remaining sects also began to fret over the trial. They also had their martial techniques engraved inside the tower, and they were worried that Liu Wuxie would decipher their martial techniques just as ruthlessly as he had done with the Divine Sun Palace and Dugu Clan.

Even the Sky Rift Valley looked worried with their heads lowered.

"Let's hope he remembers our goodwill and spares us some dignity," an elder from the Sky Rift Valley muttered with a wry smile.