Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 173 - Thunderstorm Convergence

Chapter 173 - Thunderstorm Convergence

“Be careful of Qian Kun. His gloves are called the Thunderstorm Gloves and contain the power of thunder. If you’re hit, you will be heavily injured even if you’re not killed,” Chen Ruoyan reminded Liu Wuxie as she finished eating her roasted chicken.

Then again, Liu Wuxie had already noticed how unusual the gloves were. They had reached the level of a top-grade profound artifact, and ordinary weapons couldn't damage them.

“I don’t care who sent you, but I’ll rip you into pieces for killing my third brother. I’ll skin you alive and hang you on a flagpole for ten days and nights!” Qian Kun said with fury filled in his tone that swept through the main hall. The tables and chairs between them exploded under his voice.

The corpses littered on the ground also flew away, emptying a spacious ground enough for them to fight.

“Let’s see if you’re capable of doing that!” Liu Wuxie didn’t dare to be careless in the fight, raising the Heretic Blade and releasing his blade intent.

“What an excellent blade!” Qian Kun praised, his attention drawn to Liu Wuxie’s blade. He could tell the blade wasn’t an ordinary profound artifact because he was also a blacksmith. At a glance, he could tell that Liu Wuxie’s blade wasn’t beneath his gloves.

“Die!” Liu Wuxie disliked idle talking and aimed to wipe out the Scarlet Dragon Association before moving on to his next task. When he swung his blade down, he released a ten-odd-meter blade aura from it, producing a rumbling sound that caused the ground to explode like an earthquake.

Unleashing his full power, he spared no effort, his true essence rapidly depleting from his dantian.

Standing by the gate, Ye Xiao’s face changed drastically. He finally understood why Qian Kun had previously restrained him. The young man before them was an enigma. His combat abilities were on par with a third-level Marrow Cleansing Realm expert despite his cultivation only being in the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

Qian Kun was calm as he formed a profound seal with his hands. Traces of thunderstorm energy surrounded him as he raised his right hand to grab at the blade aura. There wasn’t any trick behind his move, and he planned to catch the blade aura barehandedly.

Actually, Liu Wuxie’s attack could kill an ordinary cultivator in the second-level Marrow Cleansing Realm. It was not something that could be withstood by the physical body alone.

As the blade aura descended, Qian Kun met it with his hand. The collision resulted in a resounding clang that echoed throughout the main hall. But Qian Kun didn’t stop there. He exerted force with his hand, effectively shattering the blade aura.

This unexpected display of strength caused Chen Ruoyan’s face to turn pale. She hadn’t anticipated that Qian Kun would be this formidable.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie remained unfazed and continued his assault. His next attack followed an even more complex trajectory, aimed directly at Qian Kun’s head.

However, Qian Kun remained steadfast. He extended his right hand towards Liu Wuxie’s blade, intending to catch it barehanded.

The clash of their weapons produced a metallic sound. Their movements were so swift that it was difficult for the onlookers to keep up.

Liu Wuxie pushed the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance to the limit, but Qian Kun’s movement technique wasn’t weak. The two exchanged several attacks, and no one could determine who held the upper hand in the fight.

As their battle raged on, Liu Wuxie’s Heretic Blade struck Qian Kun’s arm but failed to cause any harm. Thanks to the inner armor he wore, Qian Kun was virtually invincible. The Heretic Blade, known for its ability to split an anvil, could not penetrate Qian Kun’s armor, which was very unusual.

The clash of their powers sent powerful shockwaves radiating from the center of their battle, creating a massive vortex in the middle of the hall.

Liu Wuxie executed the Blood Gleam Blade Art, but it proved ineffective against Qian Kun. This was the first time since his rebirth that Liu Wuxie had encountered an opponent of equal strength. When he activated the Ghost Eye, Qian Kun’s speed began to decrease, and he aimed the Heretic Blade at Qian Kun’s underarm, following a complex trajectory.

This development alarmed Qian Kun. His palm technique, flawless and superior to ordinary profound-grade martial techniques, was found to have a weakness by Liu Wuxie. Recognizing the danger, Qian Kun quickly retreated to evade the potentially lethal blow.

Liu Wuxie continued his assault, his blade movements becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. Qian Kun could do nothing but evade, which naturally incited his anger. He roared and struck down with his palm.

A potent shockwave, accompanied by a thunderstorm, surged towards Liu Wuxie. Had Liu Wuxie not evaded this attack, the thunderstorm could have been fatal.

This forced Liu Wuxie to step back, withdraw the Heretic Blade, and face the shockwave with his palm. When his true essence poured into his palm, it was akin to roaring beasts; such terrifying true essence was unheard of.

When the two streams of true essence collided, the resulting impact unleashed a powerful shockwave. Both Liu Wuxie and Qian Kun were sent flying back to their original positions, with a vortex spinning between them. The vortex persisted for a full minute before it began to fade.

A prickling numbness spread through Liu Wuxie’s arm, but the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron soon devoured the thunderstorm energies. Lightning began to appear in the world within his dantian, looking like silver serpents hovering above it.

Qian Kun’s face sank as his right hand trembled lightly. Liu Wuxie’s true essence was too destructive. It left fine cracks on his Thunderstorm Glove and nearly destroyed it.

He squinted as he observed Liu Wuxie. Having been renowned for thirty years, he seldom encountered an equal opponent. Yet, he was pushed to such an extent by someone significantly younger.

“Who the hell are you? Since when did a monster like you appear in the Great Yan Dynasty?” Qian Kun started to falter. After hundreds of exchanges, he couldn’t find any flaw in Liu Wuxie. He had never encountered such a troublesome opponent before, and this was the first time he began to doubt his strength.

Liu Wuxie’s martial techniques and true essence were something he had never seen before. The blade technique might seem simple, but the attacks were fatal and hard to defend against, not to mention that Liu Wuxie’s true essence was highly destructive.

Chen Ruoyan also looked curious, wanting to know Liu Wuxie’s origin. She knew most of the outstanding geniuses in the Great Yan Dynasty, but she didn’t know someone like Liu Wuxie. His age also didn’t seem fake, and he looked in his twenties, no matter how she looked at it.

But how could such a monstrous genius remain unknown?

“I’ve already told you I’m nobody!” Liu Wuxie shrugged, not willing to offer any further information. He Sheathed the Heretic Blade, a plan forming in his mind amidst the chaos.

“Since you refuse to disclose your identity, I’ll just have to kill you and unmask you myself. Then, I’ll know who you are,” Qian Kun threatened.

After taking a moment to adjust his breathing, the discomfort in Qian Kun’s arm disappeared. Terrifying thunderstorm energies formed into miniature vortexes that slowly condensed as he clasped his hands together.

“Be careful, kid. This old man is not to be underestimated. His move, known as Thunderstorm Convergence, has defeated countless experts in the past,” Chen Ruoyan warned Liu Wuxie. She knew Qian Kun’s tactics like the back of her hand and warned in case Liu Wuxie suffered a loss.

The air around Qian Kun began to compress, forming a tornado with lightning flashing at its core. As he clasped his hands together, the vortex grew larger, threatening to engulf everyone in the hall.

The surrounding furniture exploded into fragments, drawn into the vortex by the powerful suction. The women present began to scream as they, too, were pulled towards the vortex.

Seeing this, Chen Ruoyan quickly moved to usher the women to safety, preventing them from being caught up in the vortex’s pull.

The black vortex loomed like a monstrous beast, its suction force causing Liu Wuxie’s clothes to billow in the wind. An unseen force seemed to be pulling him towards it, causing him to frown. Compared to Qian Kun, all his opponents in the past few months seemed insignificant.

Liu Wuxie raised his right hand, preparing to unleash his most potent attack, the Overlord Fist. His dantian began to rumble as a massive amount of wood-attribute energies flooded into his body.

When the power of the Overlord Fist condensed, there wasn’t any powerful shockwave or an earth-shaking commotion. Instead, it was eerily calm. But this made it more terrifying because it was seemingly ordinary yet formidable, waiting to strike a fatal blow at the enemy.

Meanwhile, Ye Xiao clenched his fists. He yearned to assist his Qian Kun but refrained from acting rashly for fear of disrupting his focus.

As the shockwave’s power reverberated, the paintings adorning the walls on either side were obliterated. The main hall echoed with ominous creaking sounds, hinting at an imminent collapse. Rocks started to dislodge from the ceiling, causing panic among the guards outside, who hastily fled to avoid being crushed.

The blue slabs started to crack with the ground caving in as water surged out, soaking Liu Wuxie and Qian Kun’s legs. It was surprising that there was an underground river beneath the main hall.

Chen Ruoyan’s heart raced, and she clenched her fists tightly. A wave of regret washed over her as she remembered her earlier actions.

“Thunderstorm Convergence!” Qian Kun’s roar echoed through the hall, and the vortex behind him expanded, engulfing the entire main hall and trapping Liu Wuxie within its confines. This was Qian Kun’s most formidable attack, a terrifying force that devoured everything in its path, lifting the blue slabs from the ground and hurling them at Liu Wuxie.

“Brat, you can die now! No one has ever survived under this attack!” Qian Kun sneered from within the vortex. It had been many years since he last used this attack, the very move that had earned him his fame in the Heaven Govern Academy.

“Not bad, but it’s still not enough to kill me!” Liu Wuxie stood firm in the center of the vortex, unscathed by the shockwave. The invisible power around him was weaker than the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron’s devouring force. In a nutshell, Qian Kun was too weak.

Since the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had completely devoured the thunderstorm's energies, it couldn’t injure Liu Wuxie. On the contrary, it helped him to perfect the world in his dantian.

This scene shocked Qian Kun because Liu Wuxie was devouring his thunderstorm energies.

“Enough of your attacks. Now it’s time for you to face mine,” Liu Wuxie declared, stepping out from the vortex and tearing a path through it.

Chen Ruoyan’s mouth hung open in shock. She was well aware of the potency of Qian Kun’s attack, which was why she had previously resorted to an assassination attempt. She knew she wouldn’t stand a chance against Qian Kun in a direct confrontation.

The seemingly ordinary Overlord Fist carried immense power, making Liu Wuxie look like a god descending upon this world.

The vortex formed by the Thunderstorm Convergence exploded as it couldn’t withstand the power of Liu Wuxie’s Overlord Fist.

“That’s impossible! What fist technique is this?!” Qian Kun was afraid as he retreated. The Overlord Fist, performed by Liu Wuxie, had exceeded his comprehension. It wasn’t a martial technique that humans could execute; only gods could.

The sheer force of the Overlord Fist enveloped Qian Kun, forcing the latter to take this attack head-on.