Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1409 - Escape

The prolonged, intense battle finally alarmed the Heaven Gaze Realm expert of the loulan race. That expert clearly wasn't in Loulan City earlier and only awakened after Liu Wuxie opened the space-time gate.

When the Great Five Elemental Mythical Art descended from the sky, it tore open an escape route for Sun Xiao and the others.

"Junior Brother, you go in first!" Sun Xiao shouted, intending to cover everyone's retreat.

The loulan race launched a frenzied assault. Everyone from the Grand Unity Sect had already died except for Shi Yuan, who barely managed to withstand the attacks.

However, the barrage of attacks sent Shi Yuan flying as he spat blood. He only survived because of his Earth Immortal physique; if it had been someone at the pinnacle of the Void Realm, they would've died long ago.

When the aura of the Heaven Gaze Realm crashed down, Shi Yuan spewed another mouthful of blood under the sheer pressure and collapsed to the ground, his life and death uncertain.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect's disciples began to retreat in an orderly fashion while Sun Xiao alone held back the ten Earth Immortals.

"You three leave as well!" Liu Wuxie said, turning to Xiao Yuesheng's group of three.

"If we are going to leave, we will leave together!" Xiao Yuesheng insisted. If not for Liu Wuxie, the three of them would have died at the hands of the members of the loulan race long ago.

"When I tell you to leave, you leave!" Liu Wuxie snapped. If they were to delay any longer, it would be too late, as the space-time gate was already nearing its limit.

"Okay, we'll go ahead," Xiao Yuesheng said. He knew Liu Wuxie's temperament well—once Liu Wuxie decided on something, no one could change his mind.

The three figures blurred as they stepped into the space-time gate. Only Liu Wuxie and Sun Xiao remained on the battlefield while the members of the loulan race continued their attacks.

"Great Darkness Mythical Art!" Liu Wuxie roared.

The ten Earth Immortals were completely entangled with Sun Xiao, and if Liu Wuxie were to abandon him now, his senior brother would certainly die here.

At that critical moment, Liu Wuxie cast the Great Darkness Mythical Art, plunging the surroundings into darkness and stripping the loulan race of their sense of direction.

The ten Earth Immortals also lost their bearings and couldn't locate Sun Xiao at all. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Senior Brother, let's go!" Liu Wuxie grabbed Sun Xiao, and the two of them vanished from sight.

Moments after they disappeared, the darkness dissipated. A terrifying aura continued to awaken at an even faster rate as the might of a Heaven Gaze Realm's expert enveloped the entire planet.

Under that overwhelming pressure, the space-time gate flickered repeatedly as cracks spread across its surface.

Shi Yuan regained consciousness at that moment and realized that many of his bones were broken, and even his internal organs had shifted positions. Everyone, including Liu Wuxie, had assumed he died under the combined strike of ten Earth Immortals, yet he somehow clung to life.

Staring at the space-time gate in the sky, Shi Yuan bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood, using the stabbing pain to clear his mind. He gathered his remaining true essence and shot toward the space-time gate.

When the darkness receded, the surrounding loulan race still couldn't understand what had happened and could only watch Shi Yuan slowly fade from sight.

The moment Shi Yuan vanished into the black hole, the space-time gate shattered into countless fragments and disappeared.

"Damn those humans! They stole all of our soul runes!" the Earth Immortals roared in frustration. Without the soul runes, the loulan race no longer had the means to construct a world teleportation array or summon another space-time gate.

Three red suns already hung in the sky, and the Celestial Immortal Star would decline altogether within another thousand years at most.

Most planets had lifespans, just like the universe itself. Once that lifespan ran out, the only chance of survival lay in finding a new world. Without the soul runes, the loulan race would be trapped here until they were dead.

"Slaughter every human on the Celestial Immortal Star!" The Heaven Gaze Realm expert appeared, wearing the form of a child.

In the next instant, vast numbers of the loulan race charged into the mountain range, and the stronghold under Mo Shanhe's rule naturally bore the brunt of their fury.

Besides this stronghold, many other humans had formed smaller bases, planning to settle down and build new lives on this planet.

Every cultivator on the Celestial Immortal Star saw the space-time gate when it appeared, including those in Mo Shanhe's stronghold.

"They actually left the Celestial Immortal Star... Damn it! Why didn't I agree to their proposal back then?!" Those who had rejected Liu Wuxie's invitation beat their chests in regret. Some even collapsed to the ground, wailing in grief.

If they had accepted Liu Wuxie's offer, they could have left this planet and returned to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain. However, it was too late for regrets, as the loulan race's forces had already arrived to massacre them.

The loulan race could vent their rage only on these humans. When Mo Shanhe tried to flee, the ten Earth Immortals struck together and killed him on the spot.

Then, they wiped out the other human strongholds, not sparing a single survivor.

From the moment they chose to stay behind, Liu Wuxie had already foreseen their fate. The loulan race would never allow another race to flourish on their territory. If they were to let the humans stay alive, they would eventually grow strong enough to threaten their existence.

......

When Liu Wuxie entered the space-time gate, he lost all sense of direction and saw only prismatic tunnels stretching endlessly to either side. He had lost contact with his senior brother, and the passage felt as if it would go on forever.

An unknown amount of time later, his falling speed slowed down, and a familiar scent drifted toward him. At that moment, he knew he was about to return to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

The instant he touched down, he looked around and realized he was standing in Ancient Loulan City, the place they had discovered beneath the Blood Fiend Battlefield. However, the city's existence had now become widely known, and many cultivators had gathered here.

Strangely, the two tianlin statues had vanished, and even the gate behind them was gone. That gate had disappeared when Liu Wuxie and the others entered it.

The sudden appearance of so many people startled the cultivators exploring Ancient Loulan City. More importantly, they could sense powerful Earth Immortal auras among the newcomers.

When the returning cultivators landed, they stared blankly at their surroundings, thinking for a moment that they had been thrown straight into Loulan City.

"We've made it back! We're finally back!" Everyone who escaped the Celestial Immortal Star embraced one another, tears brimming in their eyes.

When Sun Xiao landed, he immediately began searching the area for his junior brother.

"Senior Brother!" Liu Wuxie emerged from a corner and quickly joined him.

"Let's leave the Blood Fiend Battlefield," Sun Xiao said without hesitation, leading the Heavenly Dragon Sect experts away from this cursed place as quickly as possible.

"Isn't that Sun Xiao? Had he finally fulfilled his vow of slaying one million blood fiends? He actually reached the second-level Earth Immortal Realm!" Someone in the crowd recognized him. The aura he radiated stood out like a crane among chickens, impossible to miss.

"That's weird. Didn't the black hole swallow them up? How are they back here?" Many people were utterly baffled. The black hole had swept away over ten thousand cultivators, and only about two thousand had returned.

The cultivators who made it back quickly followed behind Sun Xiao as they headed for the surface, and it felt wonderful to see the sun again.

"Liu Wuxie, I can't put my gratitude into words. Just say the word if you need my help in the future," Luan Xiuwen said as he walked over. He knew that it was thanks to Liu Wuxie and Sun Xiao that they could return to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

Without Sun Xiao holding back the loulan race and Liu Wuxie inscribing the soul runes, they would have remained trapped on the Celestial Immortal Star for the rest of their lives.

It didn't take long for news of the Celestial Immortal Star to spread. People learned that the mysterious gate led to that planet and that Liu Wuxie had brought Sun Xiao and so many human cultivators back.

This feat significantly elevated the Heavenly Dragon Sect's reputation, especially since they had volunteered to cover everyone's retreat.

The surrounding cultivators who had returned to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain stepped forward and bowed deeply to the Heavenly Dragon Sect members, expressing their thanks.

"I will make sure that the Heavenly Dragon Sect's deeds become known to everyone once we return." Many cultivators made this promise, and most of them went into seclusion after surviving such a catastrophe.

"As for a vile sect like the Grand Unity Sect, it shouldn't exist in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain at all," another person said.

In contrast to the Heavenly Dragon Sect's soaring reputation, the Grand Unity Sect's name plummeted. If not for Sun Xiao, they wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses, with only around two thousand people returning out of more than four thousand.

Shi Yuan hid silently among the crowd, staring viciously at Liu Wuxie. Now that they had returned to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, the oath they swore no longer bound him.

Under Sun Xiao's leadership, everyone from the Heavenly Dragon Sect left the Blood Fiend Battlefield swiftly, planning to rest for the night and begin their journey back to the sect the next day.

......

Back on the Celestial Immortal Star, the hunt for humans gradually came to an end.

"You can't kill me!"

Deep within a mountain range, a group of loulan race surrounded a lone figure, human corpses scattered all around.

"Give me a reason," said an Earth Immortal of the loulan race, looking at the youth before him with mocking amusement. After the massacre, no other humans remained on this planet.

"That's because I can help your loulan race to get revenge. Don't you want to know who caused all of this?" asked the youth with a faint smile, showing no trace of fear even while facing ten Earth Immortals.

The loulan race cultivators, who were about to attack, suddenly paused. They knew someone had destroyed their sacred building and stolen their soul runes, but they still didn't know who the culprit was.

"What a joke! You humans are full of lies! You can die now," said Earth Immortal and continued to attack.

"You can take my life if your loulan race doesn't wish to take revenge. That person is also my mortal enemy," Ji Yuzhen said, closing his eyes and waiting for the strike to land.

He had wandered the mountain range ever since the black hole swallowed him, refusing to join any stronghold. He knew that if he ran into Liu Wuxie, the latter would kill him without hesitation, so he chose to hide deep within the mountains instead.

That loulan race cultivator ignored Ji Yuzhen's words and continued his attack.

Just as his palm was about to land an inch from Ji Yuzhen, a voice rang out. "Hold on!"

Shortly after, an expert who appeared to be a child appeared. No one would have guessed that he was the loulan race's Heaven Gaze Realm expert, and his presence made every loulan race member bow deeply toward him.

"Tell me about his background," said the ancestor of the loulan race in a gentle voice. Despite his youthful appearance, his tone lacked any youthful vigor; he had likely lived for tens of thousands of years.

"His name is Liu Wuxie, a disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. He is also my mortal enemy..." Ji Yuzhen began sharing everything he knew about Liu Wuxie with the loulan race.

Many of the loulan race experts frowned as they listened to Ji Yuzhen. They found it hard to believe such a prodigy existed, but if they could capture him alive, they could reclaim all the soul runes that they had lost.

"You mentioned earlier that you can help us seek revenge. How do you intend to return to the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain?" asked the loulan race's ancestors.

"I once read in an ancient text that once the three red suns have overlapped, a space-time wormhole would appear. We can use that to reach the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain," Ji Yuzhen said, maintaining his composure even while facing a Heaven Gaze Realm expert.