Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 690 - Ten-Thousand-Year Deathguard

Yu Lin and the others fought fiercely with the thousand-year deathguards. The deathguards didn't fear them because they didn't have the sacred light, which locked them in a stalemate.

More deathguards were approaching, and the Heavenly Dao Book would constantly exhaust Liu Wuxie's true essence. This made Liu Wuxie struggle to hold on for a long time.

The Twin-Eared Serpents would soon break apart the ice.

After recognizing the looming danger, Yu Lin broke away from the fight and roared, "What are you doing? Come and help!"

"Not free!" Liu Wuxie couldn't be bothered with Yu Lin. His divine sense was on the altar, observing the blood curses.

When he performed the Ghost Eye and looked into the altar, he was shocked to discover a flesh ball absorbing yin and yang energies, emitting a faint witchy aura.

"A witcher embryo!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed. The embryo was still developing, and She Bishi had started taking form. It would take shape if it were given a few more days.

However, external forces seemed to provoke it as the blood curses on the altar began to flare brilliantly. The surrounding yin and yang energies, surging over like a flood, accelerated the embryo's growth. A mysterious power from the void empowered the embryo.

"It's She Bishi's will!" Liu Wuxie gasped in horror. The Twelve Divine Avatars might've died countless years ago, but their will would never fade as long as the elements corresponding to theirs still existed.

Everyone in the surroundings could sense an invisible will empowering the embryo, accelerating its growth. The embryo had grown in size in just a few breaths, slowly taking on a humanoid form. It was more slender than an ordinary human but resembled a serpent-like beast. Serpents were highly poisonous, and this was She Bishi's form as the progenitor of poison.

"Brother Liu, what should we do now?" The number of deathguards continued to increase, and the Heavenly Dao Book above Liu Wuxie's head became dim without him realizing it. This was a sign of his soul energy being severely depleted.

A thousand-year deathguard lunged at Liu Wuxie, and Liu Wuxie tapped out with his finger to unleash icy energy that froze the deathguard in place. However, that didn't deter more deathguards from approaching.

"I don't want to die!" Cries of desperation echoed from the surroundings, and there were over a dozen deaths in a few minutes. The death toll continued to increase as time passed.

"I give up!" a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm shouted in despair. He abandoned his resistance and desperately attempted a breakthrough to the Nascent Transformation Realm. However, his effort was cut short as his body was torn apart mid-breakthrough, killing him instantly.

As the death toll continued to increase, blood flowed into the altar, making the blood curses light up even brighter. This further sped up the absorption of the yin and yang energies from the surroundings.

The embryo continued to grow rapidly, its form becoming more distinct. The blood curses flew up on the altar, forming a bigger sigil as they revolved.

Suddenly, the embryo moved as the surroundings erupted into chaos. There was a terrifying outburst of poison gushing out from the embryo, and the surrounding cultivators didn't dare to get close.

The several individuals who stood closer to the altar collapsed after the poisonous gas consumed their bodies.

"How did it come to this?" someone wailed. Over two hundred people were present earlier, but only about fifty remained in the blink of an eye. Not just that, the deathguards cowered in the corner.

The ground began to tremble violently as a terrifying aura gushed out. A deathguard standing five meters away appeared before everyone, throwing the remaining survivors into despair.

"A ten-thousand-year deathguard!" exclamations echoed from the surroundings.

The outside was swarming with Twin-Eared Serpents, countless deathguards blocked the path within, and the poisonous miasma closer to the altar created an impenetrable barrier. Escape was impossible.

For the first time, Liu Wuxie's composure faltered. He took out a handful of Soul Condensing Pills and swallowed them, replenishing the depleted soul energy. He knew the remaining survivors couldn't deal with the ten-thousand-year deathguard.

As the death toll continued to increase, the death curses grew even more powerful, which strengthened the summoning of She Bishi's will.

"What are you all waiting for? Attack together!" roared a cultivator in the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm, trying to rally everyone against the deathguard.

Only Liu Wuxie and his companions knew about the embryo. The others didn't even know who She Bishi was, and they only considered the embryo a demonic one.

However, the actual danger wasn't the ten-thousand-year deathguard but the imminent awakening of She Bishi.

The ten-thousand-year deathguard didn't fear the blood curses; it even gave off witchy energy.

The remaining survivors rallied together, but Liu Wuxie and his companions remained on the spot, unmoved. Compared to the ten-thousand-year deathguard, Liu Wuxie knew it was more important to destroy the altar.

So what if they could kill the ten-thousand-year deathguard when they would still die if She Bishi were resurrected?

A battle broke out between the remaining survivors and the deathguard. The remaining survivors were all-powerful, and each was comparable to the Nascent Transformation Realm.

Powerful attacks rained down on the deathguard, but the deathguard remained unmoved, unscathed by the attacks.

"Brother Liu, what should I do?" Ji Qiu's anxious voice rang out. He was feeling desperate and helpless, and he couldn't do anything. Judging from the current pace, everyone would die at the hands of the ten-thousand-year deathguard in just ten breaths at most.

Yu Lin wielded a sword and unleashed a powerful sword aura that ripped through space, creating a spatial rift. His attack left a crack on the deathguard's arm, but it wasn't enough to sever it.

This further provoked the deathguard, and its arm suddenly extended out, catching everyone by surprise. The nearby cultivators were instantly ripped into pieces.

When blood and pieces of flesh scattered on the altar, the blood curses only grew even stronger. The death toll continued to increase, and there were only thirty-odd people left in the blink of an eye.

"Young Master Yu, we can't hold on any longer! Find a way for us to escape!" There were a few deaths among the dozen people in Yu Lin’s group, and they would all die if this continued.

"We're fighting for our lives here, but that brat is sitting over there to harvest from our hard work. Find a way to lure the deathguard over!" Yu Lin said, glancing at Liu Wuxie through the corner of his eye.

Yu Lin assumed that since Liu Wuxie had successfully released sacred light to repel the thousand-year deathguards earlier, he must also possess a method to confront the ten-thousand-year deathguard.

"I have an idea!" said the man beside Yu Lin, and he quickly transmitted his voice to the other companions. They soon reached a unanimous decision as they promptly approached Liu Wuxie.

Without any assistance from Yu Lin's group, the remaining people were no match for the ten-thousand-year deathguard, and they were all killed in mere moments.

After the deathguard had killed everyone, it lunged at Yu Lin.

When Yu Lin's group approached Liu Wuxie, they quickly surrounded him.

Liu Wuxie had been observing the changes on the altar and needed more room to evade due to the confined space. On the left was a group of thousand-year deathguards, on the right loomed a ten-thousand-year deathguard, and the altar lay ominously at the center.

Liu Wuxie was powerless, no matter how much he wanted to act.

"Damn you all! If you'd just held them off for a little longer, I could’ve found a way to deal with the altar!" Liu Wuxie was furious. He had utilized the precious time they secured to devise a method to destroy the altar and halt She Bishi's resurrection.

However, all his efforts had gone down the drain with the ten-thousand-year deathguard attracted toward him. It was no wonder why he would be so furious.

"Why should we do all the hard work, risking our lives while we reap the rewards? It's best if you stay here!" Yu Lin laughed as he quickly retreated after luring the ten-thousand-year deathguard over.

The dozen people who came with Yu Lin also laughed as they retreated. Even if they all died there, they would at least die after Liu Wuxie.

"You fools! Do you honestly think the ten-thousand-year deathguard is the real threat here? Idiots!" Liu Wuxie snapped, his tone sharp with frustration. There was no time to explain, and even if he did, they were unlikely to believe him. They would only assume he was trying to stall.

"Don't play games with me! I know there's a powerful being there," Yu Lin shot back, his voice filled with greed and conviction. "If I can absorb its memory, I can inherit all its cultivation. You think I’d let this opportunity slip into your hands?" His misunderstanding of Liu Wuxie’s intentions only deepened, fueling his mistrust.

He was half right: it was indeed a powerful being attempting to resurrect, summoning the will of a Creation Deity through time and space. But it was no divine gift—it was a catastrophe in the making. If She Bishi succeeded in resurrecting, everyone present would perish, and the entire area would be engulfed in deadly poisonous miasma.

Even in such a perilous moment, they were still under the impression Liu Wuxie was trying to reap the benefits. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Liu Wuxie had no time to waste with them as the ten-thousand-year deathguard had already reached him. Moreover, the Twin-Eared Serpents were constantly destroying the ice he had created, and he didn't hesitate to summon the Earth-Binding Chains to immobilize the deathguard.

He could do nothing as he knew killing the ten-thousand-year deathguard with True Strike was impossible. He had also tried the Frost Finger, but the ten-thousand-year deathguard was comparable to the True Profound Realm, and his ice-attribute energy had shattered before it could even get close.

Just when Liu Wuxie was about to control the Earth-Binding Chains after binding the deathguard, it began to dislodge its bones. The Earth-Binding Chains passed through the deathguard's body as it had no flesh.

Since Liu Wuxie had obtained the Earth-Binding Chains, this was the first time it had failed him.

This was mainly because the ten-thousand-year deathguard had no flesh and only a skeletal frame. He also couldn't resort to the Heavenly Dragon Seal as they were underground, and using it might cause an earthquake, burying everyone present.

This meant Liu Wuxie was only left with the Annihilation Fist, but it was even more powerful than the Heavenly Dragon Seal, and he couldn't execute it in this narrow space. Not to mention, the commotion created by him could further awaken She Bishi.

This placed Liu Wuxie in a difficult position, but the deathguard wouldn't give him any opportunity as a terrifying aura blew at him. The deathguard poised its arms, attempting a bear hug at Liu Wuxie.

As the deathguard's massive arms closed in, Yu Lin and his followers’ fleeting joy quickly turned to dread. They had successfully lured the ten-thousand-year deathguard toward Liu Wuxie, but their plan carried a fatal flaw—what if Liu Wuxie failed to kill it? The creature would inevitably turn its attention back to them.

After consuming many Soul Condensing Pills, Liu Wuxie's soul energy had reached a new peak. He knew it was impossible to kill the ten-thousand-year deathguard relying on Soul Spear, and he could only inflict heavy injuries at best.

He had one last resort left—the Heavenly Dao Book.

"Screw it!" Liu Wuxie's eyes flashed with decisiveness, and he might as well gamble everything since he might die either way. He would rather go down fighting than wait for death to arrive.