Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 578 - Tracks Exposed

The thick murderous intent in the air made the two youths tremble in fear.

“I’ve told you many times that I’m Liu Wuxie, the founder of the Heavenly Dao Society. I’m an elite disciple of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, treasured by Elder Tian Xing. You will face dire consequences if you kill me.” The impostor sneered at Liu Wuxie with unwavering confidence.

Since the impostor wouldn’t stop using his identity, Liu Wuxie wiped his face and dissolved his disguise.

“If you’re Liu Wuxie, then who am I?” he asked.

The two youths, especially the impostor, turned pale and trembled, making them look as if they had seen a ghost. Although they had not seen Liu Wuxie in person before, they had seen his portrait many times, especially in the past few months. After all, everyone in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was talking about him.

“Y-You’re Liu Wuxie!” the impostor stammered, his courage vanishing.

He didn’t expect to run into the real person he was impersonating. All this time, he had thought that he’d be untouchable for as long as he claimed to be Liu Wuxie, but he now realized that he was wrong.

Liu Wuxie grew even more furious. The two had crossed a line that they shouldn’t have. “Confess! Who are you two?! Why are you using my name to oppress the weak?!”

Having heard of rumors about Liu Wuxie’s ruthlessness and decisiveness, the young men already knew that they couldn’t escape from him. They knew he wouldn’t spare them, especially now that they had m tarnished his name.

“My name is Zheng Ping, and he’s Yang Gu. We’re disciples of the Earth Force Peak,” the impostor confessed.

Liu Wuxie sensed that this matter wasn’t as shallow as he had initially thought. After all, they didn’t have to impersonate someone to extort commoners; they just had to be strong enough. There had to be more to this story, and since he had already delved into it, he decided not to rest until he had unearthed everything.

“Why are you two using my name?”

“If I tell you everything, will you let us go?” Zheng Ping asked out of sheer desperation to live. Neither of them wanted to die.

“No,” Liu Wuxie replied, destroying every bit of Zheng Ping’s hope.

“Then you won’t get anything from me!” Zheng Ping exclaimed with a twisted expression. Although he didn’t expect Liu Wuxie to be so merciless, he still refused to speak even in the face of death.

“Oh, you’ll talk!”

Instead of releasing a powerful aura, Liu Wuxie simply tapped Zheng Ping with his finger, sending a cold ray into his body.

Shortly after, Zheng Ping curled up into a ball and let out a blood-curdling scream. His face soured with pain.

Liu Wuxie started to sever his tendons as well, causing pain far beyond imagination and far worse than death itself. Nobody could endure such torture.

“I’ll talk! Just grant me a quick death in return!” Zheng Ping begged. His clothes were already drenched in sweat.

Liu Wuxie calmly sat on a nearby rock. With a gesture, he commanded, “Confess.”

“We’re members of the Lesser Blade Association. Our objective is to tarnish the Heavenly Dao Society’s reputation and inform everyone of their vile actions.”

Liu Wuxie was surprised. He didn’t expect them to be members of the Lesser Blade Association and that their organization to be despicable enough to try ruining the Heavenly Dao Society’s reputation.

Thanks to Elder Tian Xing and Elder Yi Xuan’s protection, the Heavenly Dao Society weren’t under any threats. Since they couldn’t dissolve the Heavenly Dao Society from within, they seemed to have resorted to such a vicious and effective schemes instead.

“How many others besides you two use my name to commit crimes?” Liu Wuxie asked.

The Lesser Blade Association wouldn’t allow anyone to threaten their position. This was also the reason they had nearly killed Bai Lin and the others on the first day of the Heavenly Dao Society’s establishment.

Witnessing the Heavenly Dao Society grow every day, the Lesser Blade Association eventually lost its composure. Now, they were willing to use such underhanded tactics just to eradicate their competition.

“There are at least seven or eight more people I know of,” Zheng Ping answered. He dared not hide anything from Liu Wuxie.

Planning to deal with the Lesser Blade Association when he returned, Liu Wuxie memorized all the details that Zheng Ping revealed. Since they had already provoked him, he might as well tear them apart.

“Write their names and locations down,” Liu Wuxie ordered so he could wipe them all out.

Zheng Ping did as instructed, revealing that the majority of the people tarnishing Liu Wuxie’s name were within tens of thousands of miles of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Liu Wuxie drew the Heretic Blade and decapitated the young men, sending their heads into the air.

Chen Ruoyan and Jian Xing’er arrived long before the interrogation ended. Having overheard parts of the conversation, they naturally grew furious. Who would have thought that a simple extortion case would turn out to be a far more diabolic scheme?

“The Lesser Blade Association has gone too far! I can’t believe they resorted to such an underhanded tactic!”

“Change of plans. We’re adding an extra day to our journey,” Liu Wuxie declared.

The two ladies nodded. “Okay!”

It would be best to resolve this matter as soon as possible. After all, the longer it dragged out, the more unfavorable the situation would become to Liu Wuxie. Damaging someone’s reputation would always be easier than repairing it.

Without a moment to waste, the three set off for the next town. The Southern Province had many towns like the one they had just visited.

Liu Wuxie wanted to wipe out all the impostors before the rumors spread. Otherwise, even if he tried to explain himself, no one would believe him.

They reached the next town in less than two hours. As Zheng Ping had said, they found someone pretending to be him while committing all sorts of havoc.

Not even a day later, Liu Wuxie had already eliminated all the Lesser Blade Association members in ten towns. He made sure to kill them without exposing himself too since the Azure Crimson Gate could use the trail he would leave behind to track him down. Getting more names in the process, they managed to clear out a radius of a few thousand feet.

After dealing with everyone, they resumed their journey back to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Jian Xing’er and Chen Ruoyan relaxed as they approached the sect, while Liu Wuxie grew more vigilant. Since they were no longer in a hurry, they decided to slow down a bit.

“We’ll reach the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion after crossing the Scarlet Sun Mountain Range,” Liu Wuxie said. At their current pace, he estimated that they’d reach their destination in half a day.

The three sat on a hillside to rest for a bit. The Scarlet Sun Mountain Range was usually filled with demonic beasts, yet they hadn’t come across any today yet.

Not long after, though, Liu Wuxie’s brows furrowed. “I’m sensing murderous intent nearby!”

The demonic beasts seemed to have long fled the area because of it. After all, they had stronger senses than humans.

Jian Xing’er and Chen Ruoyan stood up and prepared for battle. They wondered if the Azure Crimson Gate’s experts had caught up to them.

“Hide!” Liu Wuxie ordered.

The murderous intent was strong. Moreover, if the enemies overrun them with numbers, he’d be unable to protect the two.

“We’ll fight with you!” Jian Xing’er insisted.

“Don’t be foolish! Hide!” Liu Wuxie yelled. This was the first time he raised his voice at them.

Liu Wuxie’s stern expression made the two ladies reluctantly obey. They found a place to hide and concealed their aura to merge with the surroundings.

Liu Wuxie also wanted to hide, but it was too late; three experts surrounded him in a triangular formation to prevent his escape. Judging from their clothing, they didn’t seem to belong to the Azure Crimson Gate, which made Liu Wuxie frown and wonder who they were.

“Who are you? Why are you blocking my way?” he asked lowly.

These three were all in the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm. He could have a chance against one of them, but the pressure was high against three.

However, Liu Wuxie wasn’t intimidated. His Earth-Binding Chains, Heavenly Dragon Seal, Primordial Astral Fist, Frost Finger, and True Strike could kill at least one each. He had nothing to fear for long as he wasn’t facing someone in the Nascent Transformation Realm or a lot more Astral River Realm experts.

The man in the middle sneered as he approached Liu Wuxie. “You dare ask who we are after killing so many of the Hou Clan’s disciples? Today will be your death!”

“The Hou Clan?” Liu Wuxie was briefly stunned. He didn’t expect the Hou Clan’s experts to be guarding this area. “How did you track me down?”

He was genuinely curious. After all, he had traveled in secret and even disguised himself as a middle-aged man.

Now that his identity had been exposed, Liu Wuxie no longer needed pretenses. He tore off his disguise, revealing his true face.

“It won’t hurt to tell you since you’re as good as dead. We have long since received news that you’re heading to the Azure Mountain City, but since we were too late, we were forced to chase you all the way to Serene Sea City. To our surprise, though, the House of Tea Art was already protecting you by the time we arrived.”

The man in the middle sneered once more. They seemed to have stayed in Serene Sea City for days only to return empty-handed.

“Hence, we changed our plan to intercept you midway instead.”

“How did you discover my identity when I’ve kept myself under a disguise along the way?”

“It was pure luck. We just happened to pass by a town and run into several Heavenly Treasure Pavilion disciples claiming to be you. Naturally, we beat them up until they told us they were fakes. However, just as we were about to leave, we found those impostors dead. By following the trail of blood, we caught track of your aura.”

Everything was clear to Liu Wuxie now. Killing the impostors had exposed his tracks, allowing these three to chase him all the way here.