Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 780 - Thousand-Mile Tracking Art

Although no one was certain if the information was accurate, it didn't stop them from proceeding to Pinewood Grove to find Liu Wuxie. They weren't only interested in his jade token but also in his extraordinary talent and fortune.

They might just secure a place in the academy if they could kill him and seize his fortune.

The images flashed in everyone's mind, and even Liu Wuxie's number was disclosed.

"Hahaha! He's number seven! I'll go over now!" A hearty laughter came from the woods, and the person charged over after learning of Liu Wuxie's number. After all, Liu Wuxie's jade token was equivalent to one hundred points for him.

Liu Xin'er passed through a small creak, and her expression turned serious when an identical image appeared in her mind.

"Who's secretly informing us about Liu Wuxie's exact location?" A deep sense of unease washed over her. She knew someone was targeting Liu Wuxie, exposing his whereabouts to other participants. Once an encirclement was formed, it would be impossible for Liu Wuxie to escape.

"I have to warn him as soon as possible!" Liu Xin'er turned around without hesitation and headed to Pinewood Grove.

At the same time, countless participants were heading to Pinewood Grove, which caught the examiners' attention, who were hovering in mid-air.

"What's going on? Why is everyone heading to Pinewood Grove? I remember that lad is still over there," commented one of the many examiners. In addition to Miao Hanxuan, two other elders had also left, leaving behind seven examiners.

Qu Su's expression became grave. They all knew someone must have actually leaked Liu Wuxie's whereabouts, but only the ten examiners could do it.

Under normal circumstances, revealing a participant's location to others would be considered cheating and a violation of the academy’s rules. But this year was different—killing other participants was permitted, and the rules had loosened significantly.

Miao Hanxuan had also heard from Qu Su that the grandmaster intended to create additional obstacles for Liu Wuxie. With that knowledge, he saw himself as simply "following the flow" of the grandmaster’s plan.

Even if Qu Su or the other examiners discovered his actions, they would be powerless to interfere.

For now, Qu Su and others could only speculate that someone was behind this. Since three elders had left, they couldn't determine who it was. None were aware of the grudge between Liu Wuxie and Miao Hanxuan.

Liu Wuxie was utterly oblivious that his whereabouts had been revealed to all the participants. Countless participants were heading his way from all directions, and as he couldn't extend his divine sense, he could only discover them after they reached within a hundred meters. He realized that close to a hundred people were surrounding him.

"What’s going on? Why are they all here in Pinewood Grove?" he muttered to himself. He had memorized the layout of the training ground, and Pinewood Grove wasn’t a particularly important area. Its sudden influx of participants made no sense.

At first, he assumed they were drawn by rumors of a treasure appearing in the grove. But as he observed their predatory gazes, an unsettling thought emerged—they didn’t view him as a competitor but as a walking treasure trove.

"Could they be after me?" The thought sent a chill down his spine. He quickly dismissed the idea of any hidden treasure, having thoroughly searched the grove earlier. That left only one explanation: they were here to hunt him.

"Who leaked my location?" His eyes narrowed as his mind raced, piecing together the possibilities in less than a heartbeat. There was no way the other disciples could have coordinated such a large-scale ambush on their own, nor would anyone still on the platform have been able to spread his location.

This only left one possibility—the examiners!

He began to rule out the ten examiners before concluding Miao Hanxuan. Only he would want him dead out of all the examiners.

"Miao Hanxuan, I won't let you off!" The participants were only thirty meters away, and they could see each other.

Although Liu Wuxie had no concrete evidence that Miao Hanxuan was behind this, his instincts told him the elder was involved. But there was no time to dwell on it. His immediate priority was to find a weak spot in the encirclement and break through.

Despite his formidable combat abilities, facing nearly a hundred opponents at once was suicidal. As the participants tightened their encirclement, Liu Wuxie bolted southwest, his sharp eyes identifying the path of least resistance.

The direction he picked had no experts in the True Profound Realm and only a few cultivators in the Nascent Transformation Realm, and he covered dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

"Liu Wuxie, let's see where you can run!" The three men struck at once, unleashing sword auras that shattered the surrounding tree branches.

Not only did Liu Wuxie refuse to retreat, but he also charged forward, knowing there was no room to back down.

"True Strike!" Liu Wuxie raised the Heretic Blade and swung it down, creating a vacuum tunnel and destroying the surrounding trees.

The three men's expressions changed as they charged over. They realized they had underestimated Liu Wuxie's strength, and one of them had even reached the eighth level of the Nascent Transformation Realm. But they found themselves suppressed by Liu Wuxie's blade aura.

The Heretic Blade, now infused with profound metal essence and tempered by the Thunder God Hammer, had reached the pinnacle of origin artifacts. Its devastating power made it clear that ordinary cultivators could no longer withstand this weapon.

Qu Su and the other examiners narrowed their eyes in mid-air. They realized they had underestimated Liu Wuxie's strength and had no idea where his limits lay.

"I think I understand now why the grandmaster wants to make things difficult for him," Qu Su murmured. The grandmaster's true intention was to force Liu Wuxie to grow rapidly.

They were running out of time, and cracks had already appeared on the True Martial Continent. If they couldn't return to the astral domain, the continent would soon fracture and vanish from the universe. Only the astral domain's laws could perfect the True Martial Continent, turning it into a complete continent.

Liu Wuxie didn't hesitate to hold back and showed no mercy in his attack.

The three men froze as their heads flew to the sky; they were all decapitated in a single strike. Their corpses were instantly incinerated, leaving no traces behind.

Liu Wuxie moved swiftly, determined to erase all evidence of the battle and prevent anyone from discovering the full extent of his true combat strength. He collected the jade tokens from the fallen opponents, quickly assessing their value.

One of the men wore a uniform with the number seventy-seven, the last digit of which matched Liu Wuxie’s number. This token earned him five points.

Though the other two were mismatched numbers, they earned him one point each.

Now that he had carved an opening, he vanished into the distance, escaping Pinewood Grove.

On the other hand, Miao Hanxuan's eyes turned ice-cold as he watched Liu Wuxie flee. The stronger Liu Wuxie proved to be, the more uneasy he felt. He knew the assessment was a golden opportunity for him to kill Liu Wuxie before he could join the academy.

If he joined the academy and became an expert's disciple, it would be difficult for Miao Hanxuan to kill him.

He ignited another talisman that formed a strange mark, embedding itself into Liu Wuxie's clothing.

Liu Wuxie stiffened as if countless eyes were watching him.

"The Thousand-Mile Tracking Art!" Murderous intent erupted from Liu Wuxie like a tidal wave. "Miao Hanxuan, I swear that I'll kill you!"

He knew he would be tracked down no matter how he escaped with the Thousand-Mile Tracking Art. The way to erase the marking was to possess strength stronger than Miao Hanxuan, but there was no way he could accomplish that for now.

The Thousand-Mile Tracking Art wasn’t permanent—it would last for six or seven days before gradually fading away. But that duration was more than enough for those with spiritual talismans to track Liu Wuxie’s every move. Qu Su and the other examiners monitored the situation with growing concern.

"What's going on? Why is Miao Hanxuan doing this?" The other examiners were baffled. Though the grandmaster had instructed them to increase the difficulty for Liu Wuxie, he had never said to single him out and make him a target for everyone.

"I also find it strange as well. Since the first stage, Miao Hanxuan has shown strong hostility toward Liu Wuxie and even attempted to kill him. He might have died if it weren't for Elder Madman's referral letter." The remaining seven elders discussed among themselves and couldn't fathom what was going on.

"Could this be an instruction from the grandmaster?" Everyone could only speculate and couldn't find a definite answer.

From this moment on, Liu Wuxie didn't dare to stop for a moment, and he had to flee every moment as many disciples would be coming after him. That was especially the case for those with numbers that matched his.

After he left Pinewood Grove, he entered a narrow canyon, and he could sense the aura of a powerful profound beast. When the profound beasts sensed a human presence, they let out a roar.

"A viper!" Liu Wuxie's eyes widened in shock when he saw a ten-meter-long viper covered in scales before him. This species was a descendant of the dragon race, possessing a trace of the dragon clan's bloodline. After ten thousand years of cultivation, it could evolve into a dragon.

This viper had lived for countless years, undisturbed by human interference. Or the academy had already known of its existence and chose not to interfere with its growth.

The viper opened its maw, releasing a powerful wave of energy toward Liu Wuxie.

"I don't wish to be your enemy. I'm only passing through, so step aside!" With a swarm of pursuers behind him, Liu Wuxie had no intention of wasting his time fighting the viper, and every moment of delay brought his enemies closer.

This was an opportunity for him, and it was best to use it to reach the Nascent Transformation Realm. If he could make a breakthrough, he would have no concern even if he faced opponents in the True Profound Realm.

The viper was a peak ninth-grade profound beast comparable to the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm for human cultivators. But even those in the first-level True Profound Realm didn't dare to provoke it.

The viper roared, feeling provoked that a mere human dared utter such bold words. Though it couldn't speak the human tongue, that didn't mean it had low intelligence.

Just then, Fiery wriggled out from Liu Wuxie’s clothes, its small head poking out. The viper flinched and instinctively recoiled the moment it saw Fiery.

Liu Wuxie was momentarily stunned. A viper with such a noble bloodline shouldn’t be afraid of a weaker creature like Fiery. The only explanation was the suppression of bloodline—not a difference in strength. Despite consuming numerous spiritual fruits, Fiery was still only a sixth-grade profound beast and clearly no match for the peak ninth-grade viper.

Suddenly, Fiery released a threatening snarl, forcing the viper to retreat further.

"Fiery, can you control the viper and help me block those pursuing me?" Liu Wuxie asked urgently. His enemies were closing in fast, and he knew he couldn’t face them all alone. But with the viper’s help, the situation would be different. Not only could he fend off his pursuers, but he would also gain valuable time to increase his strength further.

As he planned his next steps, a bold thought emerged. Earlier, the demonic flames had incinerated three Nascent Transformation Realm cultivators, their dispersed laws enriching the surrounding energy and greatly benefiting his cultivation. Absorbing their essence had accelerated his progress, and now he had decided to hunt down more Nascent Transformation Realm cultivators and use their power to propel himself toward a breakthrough.