Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 745 - Past Feud

At this moment, Liu Jiahuai was like a rabid dog, ready to fight. To be sent flying with a kick before so many people and having his dantian fractured was an insult he couldn't take swallowing down.

"Take one more step, and I'll kill you!" Liu Wuxie’s voice rang out, laced with a terrifying aura that froze Liu Jiahuai in place. He didn’t dare take another step forward.

Did these people think Liu Wuxie wouldn’t kill? Fresh from the devil chamber, he had yet to suppress the murderous intent burning in his heart. If Liu Jiahuai was courting death, Liu Wuxie would not hesitate to grant him his wish.

"Alright, everyone. Calm down! Since Liu Wuxie has won the challenge, we should congratulate him instead!" Many instructors stepped forward to mediate the situation. They realized that if Liu Jiahuai kept pushing, it would only lead to further embarrassment.

It would be better to end things here before the situation worsened, and only the Liu Clan's reputation would be tarnished. After all, fatalities caused by internal disputes in a clan were a disgrace for any clan.

"Let's go!" Liu Wuxie glanced at Liu Jiahuai before he left with Liu Xing and Liu Yue. This time, no one dared to step forward to stop them.

"Damn it! He walked away just like that?" Many people grumbled, clenching their fists, but they could do nothing about it.

Liu Jiahuai had already stopped them once, and their actions couldn't be justified if they stepped out again. If they did, the clan's elders might intervene. As a result, the disciples of Liu Xiaotian's factions could do nothing but stare furiously.

"Don't worry, he won't live long. He has received the seven-colored radiance, and many people will target him," said a disciple in the third level of the Nascent Transformation Realm.

Liu Wuxie had piqued the interest of too many people and made them uncomfortable, especially after receiving the cleansing of the seven-colored radiance. This made him a target for everyone in the Liu Clan.

The trio slowed their pace after Liu Wuxie's group left the martial field.

"Big Brother Wuxie, I'm afraid someone might target you after today's incident," Liu Xing said. He understood the internal conflict in the clan, where factions and prodigies clashed for more resources, not to mention Liu Wuxie, the son of the acting patriarch. Over the past year, many people had resented Liu Dashan, secretly mocking him for his incompetence.

But it was different now as they could vent their frustration on Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes, a frosty glint shimmering in their depths. “Let them come,” he said coldly. He harbored little attachment to the Liu Clan disciples beyond his immediate kin. Though they bore the same surname, Liu, they were not of the same lineage and were scarcely more than strangers in terms of blood ties.

With a history spanning ten thousand years, the Liu Clan’s bloodlines had grown diluted over generations. After more than five generations, most clansmen shared only the faintest trace of common ancestry, their connections akin to those of unrelated strangers.

Upon returning to Liu Wuxie’s courtyard, he addressed Liu Xing and Liu Yue. “Don’t tell my mother about what happened at the martial field. She doesn’t need to worry.”

"Wuxie, how's your training today? Are you getting along with everyone?" Yan Yu left the room, and her complexion had improved significantly. But her eyes were still red and swollen—likely from crying too much the night before.

"We're getting along just fine. Mother, you don't have to worry about me," Liu Wuxie reassured her. He was a filial son at home. Liu Xing and Liu Yue could only nod in agreement to support Liu Wuxie's claims.

"That's good. I have prepared a feast tonight. Remember to invite your second and third uncles over for a gathering," Yan Yu said. It had been too long since the family was this lively, and Yan Yu was fond of this feeling.

"Mother, I'm afraid I'm not free tonight. I have promised my second uncle to spend the next two days at his place," Liu Wuxie said. He still had to treat his uncle's condition as soon as possible to avoid complications.

"Go ahead if you have things to do. Just be careful," Yan Yu said.

After bidding farewell to Yan Yu, the trio headed to Liu Xing's courtyard. His second uncle had become withdrawn and lived in seclusion because of his cultivation issues.

After passing through several courtyards, they arrived somewhere quiet.

"Big Brother Wuxie, can you really cure my father's condition?" Liu Xing asked, his face brimming with hope. He had only just learned of Liu Wuxie’s plan to treat his father, who had endured over a decade of torment, his life a misery worse than death.

"Don't worry about it. I'll ensure the second uncle recovers," Liu Wuxie said, patting Liu Xing's shoulder. As a son, it was a heart-wrenching experience for Liu Xing to watch his father suffer daily.

They were greeted by a strong scent of medicinal herbs when they stepped into the courtyard.

"Father, look who's here!" Liu Xing called out when he stepped into the courtyard.

When Liu Dazhi came out to see Liu Wuxie, he became excited. After treating Liu Xiucheng yesterday, Liu Wuxie had instructed Liu Dazhi to prepare the required medicine, which he had prepared early in the day, and was waiting for Liu Wuxie's arrival.

"Wuxie, you're here!" Liu Dazhi greeted Liu Wuxie warmly. He was more affectionate with Liu Wuxie than his children.

"I pay my greetings to Second Uncle!" Liu Wuxie bowed.

"Come in quickly!" Liu Dazhi urged, dragging Liu Wuxie into the room anxiously before closing the door, leaving Liu Xing and Liu Yue outside. The siblings could only exchange a wry smile before they returned to their rooms.

When Liu Wuxie stepped into the room, hundreds of herbs were neatly arranged.

"Wuxie, everything you asked for is here. What should I do next?" Liu Dazhi asked eagerly. He was desperate to restore his cultivation.

"Second Uncle, you just have to sit down and leave the rest to me," Liu Wuxie said, looking at the herbs. Liu Dazhi had used all his savings to gather these herbs.

Sitting on a mat, Liu Wuxie took out herbs and formed seals. He then dissolved the herbs into liquid, hovering mid-air. Liu Dazhi was amazed at his nephew's extraordinary technique and realized he had underestimated him.

"Wuxie, where did you learn these skills? I have never seen them in the Central Plains before," Liu Dazhi said. He might've lost his cultivation, but he retained his experience. This was why he was so shocked by Liu Wuxie's skills.

"I learned it from a senior," Liu Wuxie said, fabricating a plausible explanation.

The herbs on the ground began to decrease, dissolved into liquid as Liu Wuxie collected them in porcelain bottles, ready for use. He didn't refine them into pills because Liu Dazhi's meridians had become fragile over the years, and consuming a pill might worsen his condition. While liquids were inferior in terms of potency, they were gentler.

Though the recovery would be slower, it was safer this way. Once he was done with all the preparation work, his gaze finally fell on his second uncle. He had already detected the issue when he had briefly examined him yesterday.

Relying on Ghost Eye, he had examined Liu Dazhi's body, mapping his meridians, dantian, soul sea, and bones.

"Second Uncle, you didn't experience a deviation in your cultivation, but someone severed your meridians," Liu Wuxie said with a grave expression. Liu Dazhi had experienced the same thing as his grandfather. His grandfather was poisoned, while his second uncle had his meridian severed by someone. This made him wonder who could accomplish it without being discovered by anyone.

"That's impossible! I haven't fought anyone in years!" Liu Dazhi exclaimed in disbelief. He had visited countless renowned physicians throughout the years, and they all had told him he had experienced a deviation in his cultivation.

Although Liu Dazhi's symptoms might resemble a cultivation deviation on the surface, Liu Wuxie found a silver needle in one of Liu Dazhi's meridian that had severed his veins. This was the reason why he had suffered a deviation in his cultivation. Without this needle, Liu Dazhi would've already reached the late phase of the True Profound Realm by now.

"It might not have been planted during a battle but rather the work of a master who caught you off guard," Liu Wuxie said, his gaze fixed intently on the silver needle. The fact that the perpetrator could harm someone in the True Profound Realm, like Liu Dazhi, without his awareness, indicated extraordinary skill.

At first, Liu Wuxie had suspected Liu Xiaotian, even considering the possibility that he was behind the poison in his grandfather’s body. However, he quickly dismissed the idea. His grandfather was at the pinnacle of the Spirit Profound Realm, while Liu Xiaotian was only at the lower levels. If Liu Xiaotian had been responsible, there was no way his grandfather wouldn’t have detected it.

"I remember now!" Liu Dazhi suddenly slapped his thigh, seeming to recall something.

Liu Wuxie wasn't in a hurry to treat Liu Dazhi as the needle was burrowed deep into his body. If he removed it, it would unleash a surge of pent-up true essence that could destroy the meridians in Liu Dazhi's body.

The human body was like a vast lake, and meridians were like streams. If one stream were clogged, the water wouldn't be able to flow, and the lake would dry up sooner or later.

That was the condition in Liu Dazhi's body, which resulted in his meridians drying up. As his true essence was stopped in one place, it would keep growing, causing Liu Dazhi to feel discomfort.

If Liu Wuxie cleared up Liu Dazhi's meridians, the consequences would be dire when the pent-up true essence charged through the dried-up meridians. Thus, Liu Wuxie had to recover Liu Dazhi's dried-up meridians before he could remove the needle.

To complicate the matter further, the needle was embedded near the exit of Liu Dazhi's dantian, and his dantian could get fractured if the needle was pulled out suddenly.

The person who had planted the needle in Liu Dazhi's body was sinister, and he had done it to ensure Liu Dazhi had no hope of recovering.

"Have you recalled something?" Liu Wuxie asked after examining Liu Dazhi's body with his divine sense. If someone else were faced with Liu Dazhi's condition, they might be rendered helpless. However, it was just a slightly more troublesome condition for Liu Wuxie.

"Liu Xiaotian brought a man back to the clan a decade ago to attend the patriarch's centennial celebration. That man was unruly and arrogant. We had a dispute in the main hall but only exchanged harsh words and a brief moment of contact at best," Liu Dazhi shared.

Moreover, the patriarch felt uncomfortable after that celebration. No one thought much of it, and the symptoms only became severe a couple of years ago when the poison began to corrode his heart meridian.

A month after that dispute, Liu Dazhi had experienced an issue in his cultivation.

"Who's that person, and why was he brought into the clan?" Liu Wuxie was practically sure everything had something to do with that person.