Chapter 1113 - Second-Level Earth Profound Realm

Mo He had only reached the eighth level of the Earth Profound Realm. Judging by that, he likely held no significant position within the Golden Cauldron Pavilion.

In contrast, Chen Shan was a formidable cultivator. With his level of cultivation, he couldn't remain unknown in the Central Plains. The only reason he hadn't heard of Liu Wuxie's name was that he had just emerged from seclusion.

When Liu Wuxie mentioned the Golden Cauldron Pavilion, a flicker of shock crossed Chen Shan's eyes. He had no idea how Liu Wuxie had discovered his affiliation.

"Liu Wuxie, since you know I'm from the Golden Cauldron Pavilion, you'd better let me go," Chen Shan warned.

Chen Shan misread the situation, assuming Liu Wuxie was also a member of the Golden Cauldron Pavilion—how else could he have recognized him? If that were true, they were on the same side, and a life-and-death struggle would be unnecessary.

But Liu Wuxie had no such misconception. He had already prepared Soul Capture, ready to pour his faith energy into Chen Shan's soul sea and turn him into a devotee.

"I'll give you one last chance,” Liu Wuxie said coldly. "What did the Golden Cauldron Pavilion send you here to do?"

If Chen Shan refused to speak, Liu Wuxie would have no choice but to extract the information himself.

"Liu Wuxie, don't even think about getting a single word out of me about the Golden Cauldron Pavilion," Chen Shan snapped.

By now, he had realized Liu Wuxie wasn't one of them. He was fishing for secrets.

Anyone branded with the mysterious imprint knew the consequences of leaking the Pavilion's secrets. That mark could kill without warning.

Suddenly, a terrifying vortex appeared before Liu Wuxie. Chen Shan's expression changed drastically; he had no idea what was about to happen.

A powerful suction force pierced into his soul sea.

"Soul Capture!" Liu Wuxie had launched his technique, aiming to erode Chen Shan's soul sea.

But the moment Soul Capture penetrated his soul sea, something strange occurred—the mysterious imprint within Chen Shan abruptly contracted.

"ARGH!" Chen Shan let out a blood-curdling scream. His body convulsed violently and then fell dead.

It happened so quickly that Liu Wuxie didn't even get the chance to search his memory. Someone had destroyed Chen Shan's primordial spirit.

"What's going on? Why did the imprint kill Chen Shan the moment I touched his primordial spirit?" Liu Wuxie frowned in confusion. He had intended to use faith energy to dissolve the imprint and convert Chen Shan, planning to take a dual approach: control the soul sea and remove the imprint simultaneously. That would have allowed him to extract information safely.

"Could it be... dissolving Mo He's imprint alerted the Golden Cauldron Pavilion?" Liu Wuxie muttered, his brows furrowing as he absorbed the remnant laws from Chen Shan's corpse.

Meanwhile, in a barren mountain range, a woman dressed in red suddenly came to a halt.

"Liu Wuxie, your faith energy might dissolve the imprint I left behind, but you can't stop me from killing," she said softly, a faint smile curving her lips.

The men standing before her were captivated by her voice and by her beauty.

"Stared long enough?" Her cold tone cut through the air as she glared at the lecherous eyes around her.

"Little beauty, why don't you give in to us?" one of them sneered.

"Oh?" She approached slowly, a bewitching smile playing on her lips. "And how exactly would you like me to give in?"

Moments later, the metallic stench of blood filled the air.

"M-My heart!" one of them screamed, staring in horror at the gaping hole in his chest. He wasn't alone. Each man had the same tiny hole—their hearts crushed.

"I only wanted your hearts. Is that too much?" she whispered despite the carnage, not a trace of killing intent radiated from her.

To the dying men, she was no longer a beautiful woman, but a demon from hell.

"Y-You're merciless..." one of them gasped before collapsing. Many of them never even understood how they died, or how someone who looked so delicate could kill so ruthlessly.

"You scum think you can lay a hand on me?" The red-dressed woman chuckled lightly, as though she'd merely swatted a few insects. "You don't even know how 'death' is spelled."

"Liu Wuxie, let's see whose technique is faster—your Conversion Art, or my killing."

Her voice faded into the wind as she vanished.

Back at the mountain, Liu Wuxie stood in silence, staring at Chen Shan's lifeless body. After careful consideration, he reached a troubling conclusion: the mastermind must have sensed his Conversion Art and reacted immediately, killing Chen Shan before it could take effect.

"It looks like I'll have to strengthen the Conversion Art," he muttered.

With no more leads, Liu Wuxie let the matter rest for the time being. After absorbing the laws from Chen Shan's corpse, Liu Wuxie sat down, sensing the approach of another breakthrough. He could only take things one step at a time. For now, it seemed the Pavilion hadn't turned its full attention to him.

Back then, they had targeted the Liu Clan solely to destroy the golden parchment. With their strength, they could have easily wiped the clan out, but they didn't. Over the years, the Pavilion had never done anything so outrageous that it sparked public outrage.

Even after controlling so many people, they hadn't used them for their benefit. Their motives remained a mystery.

No matter how Liu Wuxie thought about it, he couldn't make sense of it. Eventually, he gave up.

As his cultivation continued to rise steadily, he focused on stabilizing it to prevent future instability. At the same time, he began studying the evolved Desolate Devouring Art.

The earlier version was only the foundation. What he had now was the immortal chapter. Whether more chapters existed, he couldn't say.

Days passed. Explorers unearthed more treasures in the heavenly coffin, helping countless cultivators break through their current limits.

But strangely, those who arrived at the Eternal Spirit Mountain found themselves barred from entering the coffin. A mysterious force sealed the triangle gate with such power that even Heaven Profound Realm experts couldn't pass through.

Liu Wuxie had nearly exhausted all his supreme-grade spirit stones. Fortunately, after killing Chen Shan and the others, he had looted a decent stash, just enough to help him break through to the second-level Earth Profound Realm.

He also drained the surrounding spiritual energy dry. It would take some time for the area to recover.

With his divine sense, he entered his soul sea and began studying the evolved Desolate Devouring Art. Each glowing character hovered before him as the Desolate Devouring Art etched them directly into his soul sea, radiating profound energy.

"All things are not things, they are one with me. Illusions manifest in various forms, assisting the creation of existence. Where there are people, there must be matter..."

Liu Wuxie studied the text in silence. The more he read, the less he understood. The content was profoundly obscure.

But he didn't panic. If once wasn't enough, he would read it twice or even ten times.

As Liu Wuxie continued to read, a sudden clarity dawned on him. He finally grasped the essence of the evolved cultivation technique. This new chapter emphasized comprehension above all else. The text shrouded its descriptions in ambiguity, leaving Liu Wuxie to explore and decipher their meaning on his own.

Unlike the foundation chapter, which merely required him to follow step-by-step instructions, this stage demanded profound understanding. From this point forward, his cultivation speed would slow considerably. Any misstep could lead to a deviation in his cultivation path, with consequences that could cripple his progress.

And it was far too late to change paths.

He had already formed the desolate world within him; switching to another cultivation technique would mean tearing everything down, destroying the desolate world, abandoning his current cultivation, and starting over from nothing.

Only the Desolate Devouring Art could nourish and sustain the world within him. Their very nature bound them together. Liu Wuxie had no choice but to press forward.

Still, he believed that as his cultivation rose, he would one day spread the name of the Desolate Devouring Art across the world, standing at the peak of the cultivation world.

Seven or eight days passed in a blur. Finally, Liu Wuxie opened his eyes slowly.

"Not bad," he muttered. "I've finally found the most plausible path."

Despite his efforts, he had only managed to comprehend a tenth of the immortal chapter. But that fraction alone was enough to support his current cultivation stage. At the very least, he wouldn't need to worry until he reached the Heaven Profound Realm.

Rising to his feet, he unleashed a terrifying aura that swept outward in all directions.

"I've finally reached the second-level Earth Profound Realm!" he said, unable to contain his satisfaction.

Activating Ghost Eye, the scenery around him began to shift and distort. The valley disappeared, along with the house. His breakthrough significantly broadened his field of vision after the event.

Where he had once only seen a few thousand meters ahead, he could now perceive beyond ten thousand meters, capturing everything within that radius in crisp detail.

"What's that?" he muttered.

In the distance, a bizarre light shimmered, exuding a monstrous aura. The Heretic Blade suddenly appeared, trembling with desire as it yearned to fly in that direction.

"Could it be an artifact?" Liu Wuxie speculated.

The owner of the heavenly coffin couldn't have collected only pills—there had to be artifacts among the treasures. Now that he had stepped into the Earth Profound Realm, he needed to upgrade the Heretic Blade beyond a mere dao artifact to match his strength.

Locking onto the target, Liu Wuxie deactivated Ghost Eye. Though the treasure seemed only ten thousand meters away through Ghost Eye, he knew the real distance stretched tens of thousands of miles. He returned to the illusory world created by spiritual runes.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

It would take dozens of days to reach it.

Without delay, Liu Wuxie activated his movement technique and shot forward, leaving behind nothing but an afterimage.

Treasure-fueled killings occurred daily within the heavenly coffin's internal space. As more items surfaced, bloodshed followed. A lucky cultivator discovered a fourth-grade spiritual pill and used it to break through to the Heaven Profound Realm.

Throughout his journey, Liu Wuxie encountered many cultivators. He made frequent inquiries about the whereabouts of the four women, but no one knew where they were. Still, he managed to collect various pieces of information.

"Ji Yuzhen reached the Heaven Profound Realm?"

The news made him pause.

Ji Yuzhen was the only individual Liu Wuxie had regarded as a legitimate threat. The fact that he had already advanced to the Heaven Profound Realm a few days ago was no small matter, and it spelled trouble.

While Liu Wuxie had no direct conflict with Ji Yuzhen, he did have a grudge with the Profound Cloud Sect. Outside the heavenly coffin, Ji Yuzhen wouldn't have lowered himself to deal with Liu Wuxie directly, especially with so many cultivators present. But inside the sealed space, those restraints no longer applied.

Time was no longer his ally. Liu Wuxie had to gather more treasures and rapidly raise his cultivation. Only by reaching the higher levels of the Earth Profound Realm would he have a chance of slaying a Heaven Profound expert.

Others at his level might never dream of such a feat, but Liu Wuxie wasn't like the others. He possessed world power.

Even cultivators at the Heaven Profound Realm rarely attained world power. Yet within his desolate world, a strand of world power had already begun forming.

As he drew closer to his destination, more cultivators began converging in the same direction, catching Liu Wuxie's attention. From time to time, he activated Ghost Eye to pinpoint the treasure's exact location and confirm it remained untouched.