Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 689 - Found the Altar

This was Ji Qiu's first hearing of Liu Wuxie's story.

"That's right. The world had nothing when it was just created. There was no sun, no moon, no yin-yang, no five elements, no time, no space whatsoever. They were all created by the Twelve Divine Avatars," Liu Wuxie nodded. He had learned about that from ancient texts.

Texts containing such knowledge were exceedingly rare on the True Martial Continent and even those that existed only provided fragmented accounts at best.

"And who exactly are these Twelve Divine Avatars?" Ji Qiu's curiosity was thoroughly piqued. He wished to know what the Twelve Creation Gods created. Even Tang Hong had anticipation on his face, and they had momentarily let their guards down.

"The first among them is Di Jiang. He has crimson skin like a blazing fire, six limbs, four wings, and a faceless visage. He's the progenitor of space and speed," Liu Wuxie explained.

He didn't know if this information was true as those who had seen the Twelve Divine Avatars had long died.

However, there were rumors that the Twelve Divine Avatars had left behind their bloodline, living in a certain time and space and doing their best to resurrect their ancestors.

Ji Qiu didn't dare to interrupt Liu Wuxie, fearing he might miss out on any information.

"Ju Mang,” Liu Wuxie continued, explaining, “a bird's body but a human face, riding on two dragons, the progenitor of wood.”

"Zhu Rong, a beastly head resting on a humanoid body, covered in red scales, adorned with fiery serpents on his ears, and stepping on a fire dragon, the progenitor of fire.”

"Ru Shou, a human face and a tiger's body, covered in golden scales with two wings on its shoulder. He also has a serpent adorned in his left ear, riding on two dragons, the progenitor of metal.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Gong Gong, a serpent head with a humanoid body covered in black scales, stepping in a black dragon with an azure serpent coiling around his hand, the progenitor of water.”

"Xuan Ming, the appearance of a grotesque beast covered in bone spikes, the progenitor of rain and ice.”

"Hou Tu, a humanoid body with a serpent tail, two arms wielding Teng serpents before the chest, and seven hands on the back, the progenitor of earth.”

"Qiang Liang, carrying serpents in the mouth and hands, possessing a humanoid body with a tiger's head, supported by four hoofed legs, the progenitor of thunder.”

"Zhu Jiuyin, a human head and a dragon's body with red skin, the progenitor of time.”

"Tian Wu, eight human heads, a tiger's body with ten tails, the progenitor of wind.”

"Xi Zi, a bird's body with a human face, adorned with an azure serpent in the ears and wielding a crimson serpent, the progenitor of lightning.”

"She Bishi, a beast body with a human face, adorned with canine-like ears adorned with azure serpents, the progenitor of poison," Liu Wuxie concluded.

Ji Qiu and Tang Hong were left awestruck. The names were entirely new to them.

But if this matter involved the Twelve Divine Avatars, the situation would be more serious than they had imagined. After all, these deities had created the world and possessed status far beyond that of Immortal Emperors.

"Brother Liu, the Twin-Eared Serpent we killed earlier, resembles She Bishi, as you described!" Ji Qiu's eyes widened in shock after contemplating for a full minute. Two serpents adorned on the ears—thus the origin of the Twin-Eared Serpent's name.

Liu Wuxie nodded to respond to Ji Qiu's question. Though She Bishi was ranked last among the Twelve Divine Avatars, he was known for his poison, and the other Creation Deities might struggle to compete with him.

"Don't you all find it weird? Something seems to be missing among the Twelve Divine Avatars," Liu Wuxie said.

Both Ji Qiu and Tang Hong began to contemplate Liu Wuxie's words since there must be a reason why he said that.

"The Twelve Divine Avatars represent metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, rain, lightning, thunder, poison, space, and time..." Ji Qiu muttered. He also felt that something was missing.

"Yin and yang! They’re missing!" Tang Hong exclaimed.

The Twelve Divine Avatars had encompassed nearly all the laws in the world, yet there was no yin and yang. Yin and yang represented life and death, light and darkness, and righteous and evil.

The Twelve Divine Avatars had created the world but hadn't comprehended yin and yang, which were required to overturn life and death.

"She Bishi's corpse isn’t forming this Yin-Yang Valley as a means to resurrect using the power of yin and yang, is it?" A bold thought struck Ji Qiu, his expression turning grave.

To control life and death, one had to master yin and yang. However, few have comprehended these concepts since ancient times.

In contrast, comprehending the metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, rain, lightning, thunder, poison, space, and time elements was much more common, with legacy stemming from the Twelve Divine Avatars.

Strictly speaking, humans possessed a hint of the Witcher Clan's bloodline.

Through their analysis, everything became clear. The Yin-Yang Valley, thousand-year deathguards, and Twin-Eared Serpents all pointed to She Bishi.

According to Liu Wuxie's speculation, witchy energy should have existed there since the Witcher Clan had set up this place. Perhaps they didn't realize it because they were on the outskirts, not in the core area.

Ji Qiu and Tang Hong took a deep breath, their expressions heavy with unease. The ancient secrets unfolding before them were far beyond their comprehension. The situation seemed far more dire than they had initially imagined, especially with the involvement of the Witcher Clan.

"The Twelve Divine Avatars might have perished countless years ago, but the Heavenly Nether Battlefield only appeared a few millennia ago," Liu Wuxie said, shaking his head. "I suspect their descendants created this place in an attempt to revive the twelve deities. If She Bishi himself had established this, we wouldn't have made it this far—our lives would already be forfeit."

"Brother Liu, what should we do next?" Ji Qiu asked. He was out of options. Their mind was still blank as they had just learned of the Witcher Clan's existence.

They now felt completely at a loss.

"We need to find the altar as soon as possible!" Liu Wuxie said. Finding the altar was the only way to uncover all the secrets, and it was also their chance to escape this place alive.

Even Liu Wuxie had never faced the Witcher Clan before and felt uncertain. In the past two years, he had encountered many things he had never experienced before during his time as an Immortal Emperor, such as the Spirit Clan, the Divine Race, and the Witcher Clan.

He had only heard fragments about the Divine Race from the older generation, who warned that its appearance would herald a calamity.

The trio moved cautiously, alert for any sudden ambushes from the Twin-Eared Serpents.

"So many serpents!" Panicked screams echoed ahead, filled with terror and despair.

As they pressed forward, the path opened into a massive stone chamber with a narrow exit. Twin-Eared Serpents poured out from cracks in the walls, leaping onto unsuspecting cultivators.

Their bites and the toxin they released were highly poisonous, capable of causing instant death.

Their victims were killed before they could even struggle, and there were over twenty deaths in the blink of an eye. But the Twin-Eared Serpents weren't satisfied and slithered in Liu Wuxie's direction. Most importantly, the serpents could fly, making it incredibly tough to guard against them.

"Over there!" Liu Wuxie said, veering into another passage after he scanned the surroundings. They dared not step into the stone chamber, as it teemed with countless Twin-Eared Serpents writhing within.

Ji Qiu and Tang Hong didn’t dare to delay and followed Liu Wuxie promptly. The Yin-Yang Valley was more dangerous than anyone could imagine.

Twin-Eared Serpents cut through the air rapidly, and Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down without hesitation as he guarded the rear.

A terrifying blade aura formed into a hurricane that knocked away all the incoming Twin-Eared Serpents. He didn't hesitate to use Frost Finger to conjure a wall to block the toxic fumes.

The ice wall began to sizzle, eroded by venom. One could imagine how poisonous the Twin-Eared Serpents were.

If She Bishi had been truly alive, a mere wisp of poison from him could probably destroy an entire world.

The trio fled to safety, and the ice blocked the toxic fumes. They then entered a strange dome-like structure.

A rhythmic sound, like a heartbeat, echoed in the underground world. Everyone, including Yu Lin's group, had heard it.

They had also entered this dome-like construct through that passage. When Liu Wuxie stepped in, the mysterious tree gave him another warning.

"There's danger!" This time, the warning was not about treasure but about potential danger.

Suddenly, a side of the wall exploded as hundreds of thousand-year deathguards charged over.

Liu Wuxie and his companions were blocked before entering the dome-like construct. A large number of Twin-Eared Serpents were behind them, and they were completely trapped.

Through the chaos, Liu Wuxie saw something that resembled an altar through a narrow gap, where the heartbeat was coming from. Over two hundred people were around the altar, including Yu Lin's group.

They were one step ahead of them in finding the altar while the deathguards blocked them. A portion of the deathguards were headed to the altar, and a fierce battle was inevitable.

"Follow me closely!" Liu Wuxie said. There was no retreat; they could only fight their way to the altar, hoping to sever the circulation of the yin and yang energies by destroying them.

The Heavenly Dao Book appeared and released a dazzling golden radiance. This created a strange scene as the thousand-year deathguards lunging toward them quickly recoiled under the sacred light.

Liu Wuxie's objective was to create a safe passage to the altar, not to kill all the thousand-year deathguards. Based on his strength, four to five thousand-year deathguards were his limit, and he couldn't kill all of them.

His action had naturally alarmed everyone around the altar.

"Sacred light!" exclaimed a man standing beside Yu Lin. Only sacred light could suppress the thousand-year deathguards.

Ji Qiu was utterly dumbstruck. He couldn't believe Liu Wuxie had something like sacred light on him. Sacred light was the purest light in the world, the nemesis of filth, like the deathguards.

Only the deathguards were affected as the Twin-Eared Serpents continued to pounce over.

When facing the Twin-Eared Serpents, Liu Wuxie could only temporarily deploy ice shields to control them.

"It will only hold them off for fifteen minutes at best! We have to destroy the altar within that time frame!" Liu Wuxie urged as he increased his speed.

The deathguards screamed in agony after being shone by the sacred light with black smoke rising from them.

In mere moments, the trio closed the distance and entered the dome-like structure with the altar before them. Many strange items surrounded the altar, including blood curses that hovered like ominous specters.