Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 685 - Mysterious Corpse

Liu Wuxie also didn't have a choice, as staying above ground meant certain death. Since there was an underground world, there was likely an exit out of the Yin-Yang Valley. Moreover, the mysterious tree seemed to beckon him, hinting at the presence of treasures there.

The treasures remained a mystery, and Liu Wuxie could only take one step at a time. He followed the fissure and descended underground.

His surroundings weren't as dark as he had imagined. A dim light illuminated them, allowing him to see underground.

When the dense, deathly energy swept through, it became clear that the underground was saturated with heavenly nether energy—thousands of times stronger than what existed outside. Ordinary people entering this space had to shut their five orifices to prevent the invasive energy from seeping into their bodies.

However, it was a different story for Liu Wuxie, who brought out the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron to devour the surrounding heavenly nether energy. The energy was converted into a green liquid, which fused into the desolate world.

As Liu Wuxie landed, he noticed that the underground world was damp and shrouded in heavy moisture, with a thin layer of ice covering the ground. The intense cold made him shiver slightly as the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly.

Taking out the Heretic Blade, Liu Wuxie remained alert, prepared for any unforeseen dangers. He carefully followed the path, realizing he was likely the last to arrive as most cultivators had already ventured deeper into the underground world.

To his dismay, he found his Ghost Eye rendered ineffective. The walls seemed to be coated with a mysterious substance that blocked all divine senses, forcing him to rely solely on his instincts and tread with caution.

After walking for about ten minutes, the narrow passage opened into a massive underground cavern.

"How did this happen?" Liu Wuxie was in deep shock when he saw this scene. The underground world was filled with countless coffins, and this was an unimaginable sight.

Some bold cultivators had drawn their weapons, attempting to pry open the lids of the coffins, clearly hoping to find treasures hidden inside. Others stood at a distance, fearful of the unknown and unwilling to approach, wary of the potential dangers that could be unleashed.

The coffins created an eerie atmosphere that was deeply unsettling. They didn't know who could've set them up in this manner there. The surroundings were also filled with deathly energy, manifesting into shadowy figures that hovered in the air.

When a coffin was pried open, crackling sounds echoed from within, reverberating through the cavern.

Even if Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye was ineffective, it didn't hinder his sight. Many people leaned over when the coffin was pried open, wanting to see what was within.

Liu Wuxie stood fifty meters away from them, but because he was on higher ground, he had a clear view of what was happening.

"It's a body!" The cultivators who pried open the coffin exchanged puzzled glances.

"What a strange corpse. It looks so lifelike, almost as if it's still alive," those gathered in the surroundings began to point fingers at the body in the coffin.

Inside the coffin lay a young man who appeared no older than thirty. His striking features and lifelike complexion were indistinguishable from those of an ordinary person. This was strange, as it had been an eternity since anyone had found humans in the Heavenly Nether Battlefield. The cultivators who entered were merely visitors, leaving once their training was complete.

No one knew how long these coffins had been here. Typically, only cultivators who had reached the True Profound Realm could preserve their bodies against the ravages of time. Yet, the corpse in this coffin clearly hadn’t reached that level, raising unsettling questions. Why were the corpses so well-preserved? And what was their true nature?

"Holy shit, what the hell is this place?" the robust man who had pried open the coffin exclaimed in frustration. He was a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm, wielding a massive blade, and clearly annoyed at finding a fresh corpse instead of treasures.

"Old Bull, your hair... it's turning white!" one of his companions cried out, his voice trembling with fear. Everyone turned to see the robust man’s hair rapidly losing its color and becoming stark white. This chilling sight sent a wave of panic through the crowd, causing many to retreat, their faces pale with dread.

Everything happened too quickly, and Liu Wuxie had a hint of disbelief on his face. The underground world was too bizarre. He couldn't even find why the robust man's hair rapidly turned white.

The robust man couldn't look at his hair, and he sliced off a lock with his blade, confirming the unsettling truth that his hair had completely turned white. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Fuck! Seal the coffin immediately!" Though the robust man was bold, this scene frightened him, especially when his hair turned white. He quickly worked with his companions to cover the coffin, but an even more unsettling scene occurred when they were about to cover it up.

"H-He came to life!" a terrified scream shattered the uneasy silence. Chaos erupted from the crowd as everyone fled, leaving the robust man behind.

Liu Wuxie, who had been watching the entire process intently, noticed the eyelids of the man in the coffin twitching.

Though the earlier scream might have been exaggerated, the eerie scene was enough to keep everyone far away from the coffins, fearing death or worse.

"Old Bull, what are you waiting for? Run!" one of the robust man’s companions shouted from a safe distance. Despite being cultivators supposedly unafraid of the supernatural, the bizarre scene had shaken them to their core. Their trembling legs betrayed their fear, as they had never encountered a corpse that could move after thousands of years.

The robust man, however, remained composed and turned around. When a dim light illuminated his face, it had a ghastly green hue, a horrifying sight that sent chills down everyone's spines.

A faint devilish smile hung on his lips, and he looked like a completely different person from before.

Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes as he had noticed something. He murmured to himself, "He's already dead."

The robust man was already dead; his body no longer belonged to him. With an eerie calmness, he raised the blade in his hand and pressed it against his neck. Slowly, he began slicing through his throat, crimson blood spilling down and staining the coffin behind him.

The robust man’s companion was so terrified that he didn’t dare utter a word. The robust man had always been fearless, even from a young age, making it incomprehensible how he had succumbed to such an incident.

"No!" his companions cried out, their voices trembling with fear. Yet, none dared to approach, choosing instead to stay at a distance, powerless to intervene.

The robust man remained unresponsive to their desperate calls. Instead, he continued to cut himself with his blade, the sharp, grating sound sending chills down everyone’s spines. Those with weaker resolve collapsed to the ground, trembling and unable to muster the strength to stand.

As the robust man cut himself with his blade, his eerie laughter echoed throughout the cavern, the sound piercing into their souls. The sound was so sharp that everyone could hear it clearly, even if they had closed their senses.

Blood splattered onto the ground, staining the surrounding coffins red. Strangely, the blood soaking into the ground seemed to be devoured unnaturally, as if consumed by the earth itself.

Liu Wuxie had been paying attention to the surroundings, and it looked like intricate patterns had devoured the blood on the ground.

"Is this a trap?" Liu Wuxie's eyes flashed with deep concern. If so, whoever was behind it had planned it long ago.

The hundreds of cultivators had vanished in the blink of an eye, fleeing toward the depths of the underground world through the few tunnels.

Liu Wuxie was left alone on the spot, and the situation was more severe than he could imagine. The underground world was filled with dangers and opportunities.

While there might be riches lying ahead, so did dangers. The mysterious death of the robust man had left a heavy shadow looming over everyone's hearts, including Liu Wuxie’s. He had to be careful with every step, or he might lose his life there.

When Liu Wuxie shifted his gaze to the coffins again, he froze, and a chill ran from his feet to his head. He murmured, his voice trembling, "It's gone?"

The corpse lying in the coffin had mysteriously vanished, replaced by the robust man. Everything had taken place under his nose, but he couldn't sense anything. His mind was reeled with unanswered questions, trying to connect the disappeared corpse with the robust man's unnatural death.

He dared not linger and chose the nearest tunnel, dashing in. But shortly after his departure, a haunting laughter echoed through the cavern.

The missing corpse descended from mid-air, landing on the ground like a feather without any weight. He wore a twisted expression, and his body was stiff. It was as though his body had become stiff after dying for so long.

Strange runes began to appear on the corpse, and Liu Wuxie would have recognized them if he had been present. The runes were a sign of the Blood Curse, an ancient curse that had long vanished in history but had reappeared in the underground world.

Human blood was required to engrave the Blood Curse, and few in the Celestial Realm knew about it. This was why it was unbelievable that it had appeared in the True Martial Continent.

As the Blood Curse continued to spread, the corpse began to wither, and the Blood Curses became sigils that seeped into the surrounding coffins.

It didn't take long before creaking sounds came from the surrounding coffins as they opened, causing a bizarre scene. All the corpses began to hover in the air, forming larger Blood Curses before seeping into the ground.

Countless deathguards who were in deep slumber had awakened. Anyone would be shocked to see that the Blood Curses could control the deathguards.

......

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie grew more cautious after entering the tunnel. The underground world was complicated, like a labyrinth, and no one knew where this tunnel would lead him.

As the surrounding temperature began to fall, Liu Wuxie realized that the underground world was vaster than he had imagined. At times, he found himself in vast open spaces, and at others, he had to squeeze through narrow passages.

Liu Wuxie soon found himself lost, as the Ghost Eye was ineffective here. He had left marks in his path, but when he returned, the marks had vanished.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" terrified screams echoed in front of Liu Wuxie as three cultivators ran toward him in a frenzy.

They were the robust man's companions, their faces twisted with terror as they brandished their weapons wildly. It was a strange and unsettling sight—there was nothing visible around them, yet they swung their weapons in random, desperate motions as if fighting unseen enemies.

At first, their attacks seemed random, slashing at the air in panic. But soon, their desperation turned into madness as they began attacking each other.

"Take this!" Cried a man on the right, his sword hacking into the man on the left. He would laugh as he swung his sword.

The man in the middle had stabbed his sword into the heart of the man on the right with a bizarre smile hanging on his lips.