Chapter 1282 - Nemesis of the Faceless Clan

The two members of the faceless clan turned and looked at Liu Wuxie. They had no facial features, yet nothing hindered their sight.

"Get out of the way!" Liu Wuxie roared. Urgency to save the Saintess drove him forward as he chased the two faceless beings, who moved like sheets of paper and drifted to block him.

"Open the spiritual arrays," one of them said. Their voices sounded strange, as if they came from their bellies—similar to ventriloquism, but not exactly—because the faceless clan's mouths grow on their abdomens, where they produced the sound.

They could perceive souls and needed no questioning. From Liu Wuxie's soul, they knew he had set up the spiritual arrays.

"I don't wish to kill anyone. Leave immediately," Liu Wuxie said. He wanted no fight. If they clashed, complications would multiply, drawing others and delaying the Saintess's rescue, especially the white-robed youth he had encountered last night, whose aura felt overwhelmingly powerful. Knowing the divine race would arrive soon, Liu Wuxie refused to waste time on the faceless clan.

"Human, you don't know what's good for you," the one on the right said. The colder tone stabbed into Liu Wuxie's soul sea as an invisible power tried to burrow in, just like at the black lake, spinning strange threads that shrouded his primordial spirit.

Liu Wuxie snorted, and the Heavenly Dao Book burst into dazzling radiance, dissolving the mysterious energy that had invaded his soul sea. The two faceless beings stepped back.

Though they had no facial features, Liu Wuxie sensed a subtle change. If he didn't want the faceless clan to kill him, he would have to kill them the instant they appeared; otherwise, they would never give him a chance to strike back.

Their race reproduced poorly and already stood on the verge of extinction. If the faceless clan could multiply on a large scale, they would become a nightmare for every other race.

As that eerie energy gathered again, Liu Wuxie gave them no opening. He executed the Dragon-Grasping Hand and reached for both of them.

However, the faceless clan lived up to their reputation for being cunning. Their bodies resembled paper and shifted at will. When the dragon's claws closed, the two turned into sheets and slipped through the grasp.

"What a bizarre race..." Liu Wuxie murmured. This was his first exchange with the faceless clan. He had only heard of them and had never interacted with them, much less fought them.

Many cultivators who encountered the faceless clan retreated immediately, unwilling to make enemies of them, revealing how terrifying they were.

No matter how he attacked, they remained unscathed, too slippery even for the Dragon-Grasping Hand. He switched to the Great Five Elemental Mythical Palm, conjuring a millstone that pinned them in place.

An even more unbelievable scene followed as their bodies broke apart like scattered paper sheets flying in all directions. Liu Wuxie's brows knit tighter.

He feared no one, yet a trace of dread rose as he faced them. In the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm, the faceless clan had long gone extinct and disappeared completely.

Ancient books recorded them, but always with a mystery. Humans naturally feared the unknown, and Liu Wuxie was no exception.

He abandoned the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms, knowing they would be futile because the Great Five Elemental Mythical Art wouldn't work.

"Human, you can't kill us. It's best if you open the spiritual arrays obediently," one of them said. They already knew killing Liu Wuxie wouldn't be easy, as their bizarre energy couldn't control his soul. The standoff locked both sides; neither could do anything decisive to the other.

There was a counter to everything under heaven, and Liu Wuxie believed the faceless clan had other weaknesses besides the elven race.

They still refused to give up, releasing mysterious energy to entangle his soul.

Liu Wuxie tested the powers one by one—faith energy, poison, death, and curse.

The instant he mobilized cursed energy, both faceless beings took a step back. His eyes narrowed. They feared cursed energy. Though he had not evolved it into the Great Curse Mythical Art, nothing stopped him from using the Curse Dao Art.

The lethality of Dao techniques fell short of mythical arts. Its offensive power was pitifully weak; it couldn't even kill a cultivator at the Origin Conversion Realm.

However, curse laws existed in the world, just like Liu Wuxie's Conversion Art. His faith energy remained insufficient; he couldn't convert others unless he strengthened it enough to grasp the Great Conversion Mythical Art.

"Curse laws are effective against the faceless clan!" Liu Wuxie said.

The elven race's Great Purification Magic could dispel the faceless clan's attacks, but could not kill them. Cursed energy differed—it was their true nemesis.

Liu Wuxie's desolate world contained hundreds of elements. He could test them one by one until he found a counter. The faceless clan was a cursed race with low production, and their population across the entire Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain was pitifully small.

Among all races that entered this event, the faceless clan fielded the fewest people.

Liu Wuxie formed seals, releasing cursed energy. At last, the two faceless beings grew afraid and began to retreat.

"Don't you think it's too late to retreat now?" Liu Wuxie said. He had already given them a chance; they refused to cherish it. A terrifying surge of cursed energy swept out, shrouding the sky and enveloping a radius of several thousand meters.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The Curse Dao Art was pitifully weak and couldn't even curse a cultivator at the Origin Conversion Realm, yet it proved unusually effective against the faceless clan.

"Human, since you know the Curse Dao Art, we won't allow you to live in the world!" the two roared. They transmitted news of the encounter to their kin. Liu Wuxie's existence threatened them even more than the elven race.

Among the three thousand dao techniques, some countered others, just as the Blessing Dao Art could resolve the Curse Dao Art.

"All the more reason I can't let you two live!" Liu Wuxie said. Murderous intent surged. If more faceless arrived, the consequences would be unimaginable.

His Curse Dao Art had not yet evolved into the Great Curse Mythical Art. Dealing with one or two was his limit, and he wasn't certain if the Heavenly Dao Book could dissolve the energy many of them would release.

He had no intention of facing the faceless clan head-on before comprehending the Great Curse Mythical Art. Each execution of the Curse Dao Art counted as a trial, and he also had to bear the backlash. Only those with the Curse Physique could cultivate the Great Curse Mythical Art to its limit.

Unless necessary, Liu Wuxie wouldn't cast it lightly.

Cursed energy covered the sky. The two faceless beings dashed left and right, but they couldn't escape its erosion, and screams tore from their mouths.

A horrific scene unfolded as their faces began to melt. Their features suddenly grew clear. They had always possessed facial features, but they had never fully developed them.

Four pitch-black holes opened on their faces—two eyes and two nostrils. Their mouths looked even more terrifying, scarlet fluid spilling from pale flesh into a chilling sight.

Even with his mental fortitude, Liu Wuxie drew a deep breath.

"Human, I curse you!" they screamed. They, too, possessed a portion of cursed energy.

Liu Wuxie felt an invisible force lock onto him, born of cursed energy. The Curse Dao Art originated from them, yet the same dao technique had begun to destroy them.

Every faceless being contained vast, cursed energy, harmless under normal conditions. The moment someone cast the Curse Dao Art, it triggered that energy into backlash, like deadly poison coursing from birth that remained dormant until an external spark. Liu Wuxie's Curse Dao Art provided that spark, igniting the cursed energy within them.

They rotted away. Bodies withered and turned into puddles of blood. The cursed energy in their bodies flowed and fed back into Liu Wuxie, strengthening his art.

"The Curse Dao Art seems to have grown stronger," Liu Wuxie murmured, a faint smile on his lips. He hadn't expected his art to strengthen after killing the two faceless beings.

If he found the chance, he could hunt more of them to temper the Curse Dao Art and strive to evolve the Great Curse Mythical Art as soon as possible. To take that final step, he would need a treasure akin to the Cursed Stone.

He had encountered one in the Eastern Domain and used it to comprehend the Curse Dao Art. Whether any existed in the astral domain remained unknown. Without such a treasure, advancing further would prove troublesome.

After killing the two faceless beings, Liu Wuxie exhaled in relief. Fortunately, their clash hadn't caused an overwhelming commotion.

He performed a strange footwork technique and walked into the cave, unaware that the other members of the faceless clan had already received news of the deaths and were rushing toward him, boding ill. He already faced the divine race; now the faceless clan was about to join the fray.

He couldn't afford to worry anymore and could only proceed one step at a time. If he reached the ninth-level Origin Conversion Realm, he wouldn't fear even multiple opponents at the ninth-level Primal Origin Realm.

With his current level of strength, he could face a single eighth-level Primal Origin Realm enemy; against more than one, victory would be hard. If he ended up meeting a ninth-level Primal Origin Realm foe, his odds would drop even further.

If they were to fight him as a group, he could only wait for death.

Before he could enter the cave, he already heard weeping from inside.

"Saintess, don't leave me!" the elven girl sobbed. She shook the Saintess as the latter's vitality teetered between life and death.