Desolate Devouring Art
Chapter 992 - Way Back Home

Chapter 992 - Way Back Home

Curious about what lay below, Liu Wuxie dived from the piller. However, even if he spent ten thousand years descending, he wouldn't reach the base of the stone pillar.

This place followed no laws of time or space. Even though it seemed like he was descending, he made no progress at all. He remained stuck in a dead loop, unable to find a way out.

As he returned to the top of the pillar, he felt helpless. He could only spend his time cultivating or traveling between the pillars, trying to search for clues. But every attempt he made ended in disappointment.

Eventually, Liu Wuxie forgot where he was or how long he had been drifting through the void realm. Anyone else in his position would have gone mad with suicidal thoughts in this unbearable silence.

At last, Liu Wuxie gave up. Exhausted, he sat atop the stone pillar and looked at the sky. He couldn't accept his fate of being trapped here for the rest of his life.

After his frustration faded, he calmed his mind and focused. He sat atop the pillar with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and all his senses focused, hoping to sense even the faintest trace of something in the void.

"Wait! Deathly energy! Perhaps I can use the deathly energy here to comprehend the Death Dao Art!" he muttered.

The Death Dao Art was a dao technique that manipulated and drained lifespan. With it, a youth could turn into a wrinkled old man in mere moments, and this was its terrifying nature.

However, comprehending such a profound dao technique couldn't happen overnight.

Since he was trapped here with no way out, Liu Wuxie figured he might as well use the time to comprehend it. Cultivation became his only way of finding comfort in this hopeless situation.

With hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, he had no shortage of resources.

Without any laws to support his cultivation, he couldn't make a breakthrough. The void realm mimicked the condition inside vacuum. His only option was to deepen his comprehension of the dao technique.

Days passed, and Liu Wuxie lost all sense of time in the void. He might've been trapped for a year, ten years, or even a hundred.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron constantly devoured boundless deathly energy. The Corpse Devouring Beasts that clung to the pillars slowly faded away, with Liu Wuxie draining their deathly energy.

......

Back in the Han Clan—at the Celestial Astral Stage—

Han Feizi bathed and changed into silk ceremonial robes. He then wore the Heaven Ascension Boots and slowly walked toward the stage.

Beneath the stage, many of the Han Clan's disciples stood in silence with grim expressions.

Han Shanzi stood among the crowd. The clan's elders sighed continuously, shaking their heads. At this point, there was no turning back.

Han Feizi's mother wept uncontrollably at this scene.

Two hours later, Han Feizi finally stood atop the Celestial Astral Stage. Despite its name, the stage rose atop a towering mountain that pierced the clouds, and many believed it connected directly to the starry skies.

Various strange and exotic objects, such as an altar and urns, were placed around the stage.

The True Martial Continent only knew of the Four Great Clans; a hidden clan like the Han Clan remained unknown. Not because they were weak but because they rarely ventured beyond the continent.

The Han Clan resided deep in a colossal mountain range, and no one could find them unless they revealed themselves on their own accord. Such was a genuine hidden clan.

"Big Brother!" Han Long finally appeared. He had rushed back immediately upon hearing that his nephew planned to activate the Celestial Astral Stage.

Han Shanzi nodded and gave a bitter smile when he saw Han Long.

The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, their gazes fixed on Han Feizi.

On the stage, Han Feizi wore no expression as he took out a brand-new dagger from the altar and gently slit his wrist, allowing his blood to drip into the urns.

A tense silence engulfed the surroundings, and everyone held their breaths. They understood the price of activating the Celestial Astral Stage.

Han Shanzi's injury was also deeply connected to the Celestial Astral Stage—otherwise, few in this world could harm him, an expert at the Heaven Profound Realm. Only the dao of heaven and earth was beyond his control.

"Second Brother, do you think Fei'er can awaken the Celestial Astral Stage?" Han Shanzi asked, turning to look at Han Long.

"You should've stopped him," Han Long replied, the meaning clear in his words.

Han Feizi was merely at the first-level Earth Profound Realm. For someone at his cultivation to activate the Celestial Astral Stage was essentially courting death. Forget success; it would be a miracle if he could survive.

"You should know his temper better than I do," Han Shanzi said wryly.

Han Long nodded in agreement. He would've dragged Han Feizi back half a year ago if not for that stubbornness. But he didn't have a choice when Han Feizi threatened him, and he could only allow Han Feizi to stay in the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy. He hand't anticipated so much to unfold.

"I have witnessed his growth in the past six months, and I believe in his decision," Han Long said firmly.

He had tried to stop Han Feizi six months ago, but after witnessing his growth, he realized that Feizi was no longer the reckless youth he once was.

"Let's leave it to fate," Han Shanzi sighed.

"Our clan has activated the Celestial Astral Stage five times, with only two survivors. I hope Fei'er can become the third," Han Long added, his gaze locked onto the stage.

Whether from blood loss or something else, Han Feizi's face turned pale as the urns around the stage filled with his blood.

Standing at the center of the stage, Han Feizi took out a compass and bit his finger, dripping his blood onto it. When his blood came in contact with the compass, it released a scarlet radiance.

After completing the preparations, he placed the compass at the center of the stage and began inscribing strange symbols in the air.

Suddenly, the urns around him activated as the blood inside them seeped into the stage. The blood flowed through the runes on the stage to form an intricate pattern.

The crowd's mood grew heavier with every passing moment. They watched as the scarlet radiance engulfed Han Feizi, and the compass began to spin on its own.

"Brother Liu... I hope you can receive my guidance and find your way back home," Han Feizi murmured.

His temples swiftly turned white, and wrinkles crept across his face. His lifespan was swiftly being drained. This was the price for activating the Celestial Astral Stage. His youthful face had aged into that of a middle-aged man's in under a minute.

It was no wonder Han Feizi's mother had tried to stop him from activating the Celestial Astral Stage.

Han Feizi's lifespan continued to drain away. If no one stopped him, it wouldn't be long before he aged into an old man and death claimed his life.

Though cultivators at the Earth Profound Realm would have their lifespan increased to thousands of years, even an expert at the Heaven Profound Realm couldn't withstand the price of activating the Celestial Astral Stage.

Han Feizi's mother continued sobbing. Her son had aged decades in minutes, now looking even older than her. Her heart ached, and the pain gnawed at her from within.

As more of Han Feizi's lifespan ebbed away, the blood runes converged into a single point and hovered above the compass.

The most critical moment had arrived. If Han Feizi failed now, everything would be in vain. Even if he wanted to attempt it again, his lifespan wouldn't support it.

Even Han Shanzi couldn't guarantee a successful activation of the Celestial Astral Stage on the first attempt, and Han Feizi only had one shot.

No one was optimistic about him. They all thought he was throwing his life away.

"Light up!" Han Feizi shouted. He felt the energy within his body rapidly draining away.

In the blink of an eye, he aged again—his hair whitened, his back hunched, and his body withered into that of a feeble old man. He had little lifespan left.

When the crimson runes fused into the compass, radiance suddenly erupted, and a scarlet beam shot into the sky.

......

Back in the void realm, Liu Wuxie clutched his chest in sudden pain that struck him out of nowhere. A deep and unsettling ache surged from his heart.

Though he didn't know how long he had been cultivating, he had finally begun to grasp the essence of death energy. But he couldn't execute it due to the lack of laws in the void, and he could only store his insights in his mind.

"What's going on? Why is my heart aching?" Liu Wuxie stood up and looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. The excruciating pain felt like someone had torn a piece of his flesh away.

"Could it be the death of someone close to me?" A dreadful thought took root in Liu Wuxie's mind. Various faces flashed in his mind as he immediately thought of his parents, wife, and companions.

......

Fracturing sounds came from the compass on the Celestial Astral Stage, unable to withstand the corrosion from the blood runes.

The crimson beam blasted through the True Martial Continent and surged beyond the crystalline wall.

Han Feizi continued to age. He looked like a man over a hundred years old, his skin folding with deep wrinkles.

Han Feizi's mother had collapsed helplessly to the ground. The other Han Clan members wept, and sighed at the sight of a vibrant youth turned into a feeble old man in mere minutes.

......

Liu Wuxie gazed into the distance, and the pain in his chest intensified. It was as if there was a voice that called out to him.

"Brother Liu, you must find your way back home..." the voice echoed in his ears.

"Brother Han! It's him!" Liu Wuxie shouted, his voice cracking with urgency like a madman.

"This is no hallucination. I heard Brother Han calling out to me!" He was certain about the voice.

He had hallucinated before in the void, but this time was different—he was sure it was Han Feizi's real voice.

He felt the voice reach him through some mysterious power.

No one could transmit their voice through the crystalline wall to the void realm. But the Han Clan was too mysterious.

Then, a scarlet beam shot forth, revealing the Celestial Astral Stage etched with blood runes.

"This is..." Liu Wuxie dared not hesitate and memorized the runes in his mind. He knew this could be his only way home.

As he remembered every detail, every change, and every blood rune, it sent waves of pain through his chest.