Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 596 - Compensation

The broad street was packed to the brim with a large influx of cultivators coming from the surroundings.

"Our stall is over there!" Fan Zhen said as he pointed to the right. Old Century Trading had rarely participated in the talisman event in the past, so their stall wasn't in the prime location compared to other prominent shops.

Liu Wuxie wasn't in a hurry as he strolled the street, glancing at the spiritual talismans at the stalls on both sides of the street. The spiritual talismans were all produced by various masters. He would linger for a moment when he came across those with clear runes and dismiss those that were roughly made without a second glance.

For the most part, Liu Wuxie only skimmed through the spiritual talismans on display because these ordinary talismans could no longer catch his eye. He walked for about fifteen minutes, the time to brew a cup of tea. As they drew closer to the Old Century Trading stall, they saw a large crowd gathered ahead.

Almost every stall was packed with people, but there seemed to be more people gathered at the Old Century Trading stall—inside and out.

"What garbage spiritual talismans are these? How dare you sell them at such an outrageous price!" A roar echoed from the Old Century Trading stall, attracting the attention of the bystanders in the surroundings.

Liu Wuxie noticed that there were no spiritual talismans on display capable of rivaling the ones produced by the Heavenly Dao Society. While Song Ling was less proficient than him, he was leagues ahead of those amateurs.

"Though there might not seem to be a lot of runes on these talismans, they all possessed extraordinary power," Lan Yu quickly explained. Bei Chengsi stood by the side, nervously wiping sweat from his forehead. He was also taken by surprise by the sudden crowd.

The crowd grew in numbers, all looking at the commotion with curiosity.

"Extraordinary power? Bullshit! Pack up and get lost! Don't embarrass yourselves with such pitiful talismans!" mocked a group of youth as they charged forward to rip apart the spiritual talismans placed at the stall, laughing as they wreaked havoc.

Their laughter echoed even louder when they crushed the talismans and threw them onto the ground.

Someone in the crowd picked up one spiritual talisman to examine it closely.

"This is strange...while the runes don't seem complex, they're intricate as if they were naturally crafted," someone whispered among the crowd. Many spiritualists gathered in the surroundings, and they could determine if a talisman was of good quality with their keen eyes. The runes on these talismans were vivid, resembling swimming fish. It was certain that these spiritual talismans were of high quality.

"These spiritual talismans are extraordinary, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I've never seen these spiritual talismans before," murmured another person in the crowd.

However, no one dared try the talismans. Spiritual talismans weren't cheap, and people would stick to those they had tried before rather than risk trying an untested one.

"That looks like our stall," Fan Zhen said as the three squeezed into the crowd.

"They are the members of the Lesser Blade Association!" Bai Lin instantly recognized them. He had dealt with the Lesser Blade Association before and saw several familiar faces.

Liu Wuxie rarely spent time in the sect, so he wasn't as familiar with the elite disciples as Bai Lin.

"They arrived faster than I expected," Liu Wuxie remarked. He had already predicted the Lesser Blade Association would show up and cause trouble for him, but he didn't expect them to resort to such a brainless method.

Many people had gathered before the stall, severely disrupting the business. Others didn't dare approach, fearing they might provoke the group, and could only stand afar.

Cutting through the crowd, Liu Wuxie walked steadily toward the stall.

Upon seeing Liu Wuxie, Lan Yu heaved a sigh of relief. The stall wasn't large—about four square meters—but it had dozens of spiritual talismans on display. However, most of the spiritual talismans had already been destroyed.

Some had been ripped apart, while others had been crumbled, greatly reducing their power.

"Master!" Lan Yu quickly stepped forward to greet Liu Wuxie.

The youths gathered before the stall also turned to look at Liu Wuxie. When they saw him, murderous intent swept out of them.

"You people must be from the Lesser Blade Association. I'm Liu Wuxie, and you can bring out any tricks you have," Liu Wuxie said. He didn't like to beat around the bush, and he had a clear purpose in coming to Treasure City—to crush the Lesser Blade Association.

Since the feud between them couldn't be reconciled, there was no need for him to hide anything.

"He's Liu Wuxie?! " The crowd erupted in uproar upon hearing Liu Wuxie's name. His name had spread throughout Treasure City; everyone knew what he had done in Serene Sea City.

"What a stud!" Some female cultivators even winked at Liu Wuxie. The latter donned a simple robe, which exuded the aura of a scholar from ancient times.

"I heard that the Heavenly Dao Society founded by him has been clashing with the Lesser Blade Association in secret and in the open," whispered some Heavenly Treasure Pavilion disciples in the surroundings. They were already aware of the feud between the two factions.

The voices in the surroundings only attracted more people who wanted to look at Liu Wuxie.

"Liu Wuxie, you're not afraid of death, are you? Today will mark your end!" a youth threatened. He was stronger than his companions, with a cultivation in the Quasi-Astral River Realm.

Even those in the pinnacle Astral River Realm were nothing more than ants to Liu Wuxie, not to mention someone in the Quasi-Astral River Realm. He could easily kill someone like that with one slap.

"Junior Brother Liu, his name is Bing Kaifu. He's a spiritualist and formidable in the way of spiritual talismans." Bai Lin had become more acquainted with people after he started managing the Heavenly Dao Society. He had gathered more information on the Lesser Blade Association through his connections, and Bing Kaifu was one of them.

"You people destroyed these spiritual talismans?" Liu Wuxie asked, sweeping his gaze over the group. Aside from Bing Kaifu, he regarded the others as little more than trash.

He glanced at the destroyed talismans. Hundreds of them had been destroyed, and they were valued at millions of spirit stones.

"No one would bother picking up these worthless spiritual talismans even if they were left on the street, and I'm doing everyone a favor by destroying them. This is to ensure these trashy talismans will harm no one," Bing Kaifu laughed. He was in a fantastic mood after destroying hundreds of talismans produced by the Heavenly Dao Society.

In an instant, Liu Wuxie disappeared and reappeared beside Bing Kaifu, delivering a swift slap across his left cheek that sent him flying. Bing Kaifu had no time to react and crashed into the group behind him. Everyone stood in shock, completely caught off guard by Liu Wuxie’s sudden strike.

"Lan Yu, count the spiritual talismans. They'll pay for the damages they've done," Liu Wuxie said as if he had never moved.

"Yes, master!" Lan Yu began to calculate the damages caused by the Lesser Blade Association.

When Bing Kaifu struggled back to his feet, blood dripped from the corner of his lips, and his face was twisted with rage. He roared, "Liu Wuxie, I'll fucking kill you!"

Bing Kaifu wanted to charge over, but his companions held him down. They knew that Liu Wuxie's strength was unfathomable, and no one in the Heavenly Phase Realm could face him unless it were someone in the Astral River Realm.

The Lesser Blade Association had heard too many tales of Liu Wuxie's achievements, and he was known for challenging those with a higher cultivation than him. This meant anyone in the same cultivation wouldn't be his match.

"Master, I've finished the tally. The total loss is 3,400,000 mid-grade spirit stones," Lan Yu reported the damages.

"Hear that? Hand over 3,400,000 mid-grade spirit stones, or none of you will leave this palace alive," Liu Wuxie declared in an overbearing tone. If these people refused to pay for the damages, he wouldn't hesitate to take their lives.

"Don't even think about getting one spirit stone for us! I advise you to kneel and beg for mercy while you can!" another youth jumped forward. It was puzzling where he’d found the confidence to stand against Liu Wuxie.

The man's laughter stopped abruptly as a cold ray streaked across the sky. There was a tiny wound on his neck, and Liu Wuxie had ended his life in a split second.

"Starting from now, I'll kill one of you every three seconds if you don't pay for the damages," Liu Wuxie said. The Heretic Blade was still dripping with blood, and his murderous intent had enveloped the entire eastern street.

Everyone dropped the spiritual talismans they were checking out and began to gather toward the commotion. It was unprecedented for anyone to take another life on the street openly, and Liu Wuxie was definitely the first.

The members of the Lesser Blade Association began to tremble in fear, their feet shuffling backward in unison. They hadn't expected such audacity from Liu Wuxie to kill someone openly in broad daylight.

"Liu Wuxie, you dare kill a fellow disciple? I'll report it to the sect!" another youth took a step forward. They were all disciples of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, yet Liu Wuxie had killed one of them.

The sound of steel cutting through flesh echoed again as the youth's words were cut short; his life ended swiftly.

No one dared speak this time, and when they looked at Liu Wuxie, their eyes were filled with fear.

Even those in the surroundings were terrified by Liu Wuxie's ruthlessness and weren't on the same level.

Liu Wuxie knew when to use force and tactics. When facing this garbage, the simplest method was to suppress them forcibly. He just had to instill fear in them through slaughter. Then, the Lesser Blade Association's members would be too afraid to provoke him.

However, his actions caught everyone by surprise because they thought Liu Wuxie wouldn't dare to take the life of another disciple in broad daylight, but they had clearly underestimated him.

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..." As Liu Wuxie counted down, he was ready to take another life. The members of the Lesser Blade Association knew it was futile to escape, not to mention Liu Wuxie's bizarre blade technique could take their lives even if they ran a hundred meters away.

"Give him the spirit stones!" a bone-chilling voice echoed as a man approached the crowd holding a sheathed curved blade.

"It's Ye Dao!" someone exclaimed from the crowd. Many people recognized this youth, the famous Ye Dao. He was a true disciple of the sect, and his strength was on par with Xu Zhi, whom Liu Wuxie killed.

Liu Wuxie's act of killing Xu Zhi and Du Weihe wasn't publicly known to the outside world, and Bei Chengsi hadn’t revealed it to the Lesser Blade Association.

Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes at the sight of Ye Dao. He sensed that this person was also an expert in the blade as an overwhelming blade intent crashed down on him.

"Senior Brother Ye!" Bing Kaifu was baffled. He couldn't understand why they had to compensate Liu Wuxie. With Ye Dao present, surely Liu Wuxie wouldn't dare to act recklessly like before.

"Since you damaged his goods, compensating him for his losses is the right thing to do," Ye Dao commanded, urging Bing Kaifu to pay for the damages.

Despite feeling reluctant, Bing Kaifu gathered over three million spirit stones and placed them on the stall counter of Old Century Trading.

"Liu Wuxie, now that you've received your payment for the damages, shall we settle the score between us now?" Ye Dao said, his voice turning icy as his blade intent locked onto Liu Wuxie. As someone in the Astral River Realm, the power radiating from him was far more intimidating than anything from the Heavenly Phase Realm.