Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 630 - Deserved It

Chapter 630 - Deserved It

The Seven Spiritual Array was not a powerful spiritual array, and every cultivator in the Nascent Transformation Realm present knew how to set it up. Yet, how could such a spiritual array become a deadly trap for the Heavenly Origin Sect disciples?

"I believe everyone here is familiar with the Seven Spiritual Array, but perhaps you’re unaware of what happens when it’s combined with the Eight Diagrams Array," Liu Wuxie’s voice rang out at the perfect moment, his calm tone cutting through the murmurs.

Many sect masters began to calculate in their minds upon hearing the Eight Diagrams Array, combining it with the Seven Spiritual Array.

"How is it possible? If the Seven Spiritual Array and Eight Diagrams Array perfectly combine, it will transform into the Nine Death Array!"

The Nine Death Array was highly lethal, and the odds of living were less than ten percent if someone entered.

"Sect Master Bai, tell me if what he said is true!" The Misty Sect's sect master asked coldly. She didn't expect the Heavenly Origin Sect to stoop so low, combining the Seven Spiritual Array and Eight Diagrams Array. It wouldn't be any different from a Seven Spiritual Array if it weren't activated, but it would transform into the Nine Death Array if activated.

"Don't listen to his nonsense!" Bai Jin snapped hastily, his voice laced with frustration. This year's Ten Grand Ceremony had spiraled out of his control, and the root of all the chaos was unmistakably tied to one person—Liu Wuxie.

"Bullshit! Why doesn't everyone ask the disciples who came out? They should be able to tell you what they experienced," Liu Wuxie sneered, his tone dripping with disdain. He clearly didn’t consider someone in the True Profound Realm worth his attention.

The sect masters of various sects began questioning their disciples about their experiences on the tenth level. Through multiple accounts, it was revealed that they encountered a combination of the Seven Spiritual Array and the Eight Diagrams Array. However, something had gone awry—the Life Gate and Death Gate had been reversed. This anomaly allowed disciples from other sects to pass through safely, while disciples of the Heavenly Origin Sect faced peril.

The implications were clear: the Death Gate was triggered for the Heavenly Origin Sect’s disciples, while the Life Gate opened for others. It seemed too precise to be mere coincidence, as though someone had deliberately manipulated the array from the shadows.

"Liu Wuxie, that's bullshit! Why aren't the other disciples also injured if that's the case?" a familiar voice echoed.

When Liu Wuxie heard the familiar voice, he narrowed his eyes as he turned his head over. He muttered, "Ye Feng!"

Liu Wuxie hadn’t expected Ye Feng to show up, and beside him stood Yu Tianyi. The two had apparently been at other sects during Liu Wuxie’s scuffle with Bai Yuan, which explained their absence until now.

"That's right. If that's the case, why is everyone else fine? I bet Liu Wuxie must be behind it!" Yu Tianyi chimed in, echoing Ye Feng's words with a hint of malice.

"Liu Wuxie, do you know what's wrong with the tenth level's spiritual arrays?" an elder of the Sky Rift Valley asked in a gentle voice.

Most present didn't believe Liu Wuxie was behind the incident. The spiritual arrays had been inspected by experts in the True Profound Realm, who had left behind laws of their realm to prevent tampering. It seemed inconceivable for Liu Wuxie, prodigy or not, to alter such formations.

As the first to emerge from the tenth level, however, Liu Wuxie’s understanding of spiritual arrays might provide some answers.

"You should ask Sect Master Bai why he wanted to set up the two spiritual arrays," Liu Wuxie smiled as he looked at Bai Jin, ignoring Ye Feng and Yu Tianyi's provocations. In his eyes, they were no different from mere flies.

"Liu Wuxie, we're asking you now. Since you pointed out the two spiritual arrays, I believe you should know the reason," the Transcendent Plume Gate's sect master stepped forward.

"Very well, I'll continue since everyone wants me to explain. Anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong," Liu Wuxie replied, clasping his hands respectfully toward the gathered sect leaders. Strangely, Mu Tianli remained silent, making the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion the only sect master who refrained from commenting.

To the crowd’s surprise, Liu Wuxie stepped up to represent the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, addressing the other nine sects directly.

"Go on. We'll discern the truth," the Indigo Cloud Gate's sect master said unhappily. They were all in the True Profound Realm, but they had to listen to someone in the Astral River Realm for answers.

Liu Wuxie turned to Bai Jin and smirked. "Sect Master Bai, I believe the true purpose of combining the two arrays was to kill me, correct?" Bai Jin’s face darkened, and his silence spoke volumes. His refusal to refute the accusation was as good as an admission of guilt, confirming Liu Wuxie's claim.

"Liu Wuxie, we know the two spiritual arrays can be deadly if combined and can only be manipulated from within. As you can see, everyone from the Heavenly Origin Sect is present and unable to control the spiritual array. So, how was the Nine Death Array triggered?" one of the sect masters asked. It was a question on everyone’s mind. Even if the Heavenly Origin Sect had tampered with the spiritual array, it seemed illogical for them to endanger their own disciples.

"Are you all masters in spiritual arrays?" Liu Wuxie said, sweeping his disdainful gazes at the nine sect masters. This made the nine sect masters feel uncomfortable to be mocked by a junior.

"Liu Wuxie, stop beating around the bush and explain," Deng Yong from the Indigo Cloud Gate urged.

"To combine the two spiritual arrays, the array flags must be placed precisely according to certain principles. The effects will become adverse if the placement is even slightly off. The Heavenly Origin Sect had cleverly devised the two spiritual arrays, but there was a fatal mistake in their setup," Liu Wuxie explained calmly.

"What mistake did we make?" Wang Ba demanded, his voice tinged with urgency. The moment the words escaped his lips, he realized his misstep—it was an implicit acknowledgment of Liu Wuxie's claim. Yet, his mounting desperation to uncover the error overshadowed his caution, driven by the ever-growing casualties among his sect's disciples.

"You intended to let the Heavenly Origin Sect disciples pass quickly, so you must have embedded elemental stones when setting up the spiritual arrays. After stepping into the spiritual array and circulating their true essence, your disciples would’ve activated the elemental stone, allowing them to pass swiftly," Liu Wuxie explained, his voice calm and deliberate. No one interrupted him, not even the members of the Heavenly Origin Sect, who had fallen into an uneasy silence.

After pausing momentarily, Liu Wuxie continued, "The Heavenly Origin Sect specializes in spiritual arrays, and most of your disciples specialize in the metal attribute. Logically, you should have placed a metal-attribute elemental stone, but a wood-attribute elemental stone was placed instead. Elder Wang Ba possesses the fire attribute, and the first spiritual array set up by him contains powerful fire attributes. Metal crushes wood, wood fuels fire, and fire restrains metal. When Heavenly Origin Sect’s disciples entered the spiritual array and circulated their true essence, the Nine Death Array was triggered, transforming into a deadly trap for them."

Everyone gasped as Liu Wuxie's explanation settled over them like a heavy shroud. The implications were staggering. The immortal runes Liu Wuxie had incorporated into the spiritual arrays had amplified the Nine Death Array’s lethality, sealing the fate of the Heavenly Origin Sect's own disciples.

"I see...that makes sense now!" the Sky Rift Valley's sect master murmured, piecing everything Liu Wuxie said in his mind.

The Heavenly Origin Sect's trap had backfired and targeted their own disciples instead of Liu Wuxie.

"That's impossible! I clearly used a metal-attribute elemental stone. How did it turn into a wood one instead?" Wang Ba insisted, his voice trembling because he recalled placing down a metal-attribute elemental stone.

However, no one, including Bai Jin, listened to his explanation. Bai Jin had personally examined the array and confirmed the stone to be metal-attribute at the time. This meant there could only be one explanation: Wang Ba had swapped the elemental stone after he had left.

With the placement of a wood-attribute elemental stone, the disciples who entered to release their metal-attribute true essence unwittingly triggered a devastating reaction. Their metal essence pierced through the wood-attribute stone, which, in turn, fueled the fire attributes of the first spiritual array. The dissipating wood attribute created an explosive chain reaction, amplifying the spiritual array's power to catastrophic levels.

The crowd exchanged knowing glances, their expressions hardening. Wang Ba’s panicked response had essentially confirmed what everyone suspected: the Heavenly Origin Sect had indeed set up a Nine Death Array. The exact elemental attribute of the stone he used was now a moot point—it no longer mattered. The damage had been done.

Wang Ba was on the verge of crying because if the accusation were confirmed, the sect leader would undoubtedly hold him responsible.

"Who knows? Perhaps you made an error," Liu Wuxie said with a casual shrug, his expression unreadable. Of course, he would never admit the truth: he had subtly altered the flow of the five elements within the array. As for the elemental stone, he hadn’t even touched it. Instead, he had imbued the array with immortal runes, magnifying its potency far beyond its original design. Without this enhancement, the Nine Death Array wouldn’t have been capable of injuring someone like Bai Yuan, let alone nearly taking his life. The array, after all, was initially designed to target those in the lower levels of the Astral River Realm.

The crowd could only imagine the sheer power unleashed in the array, considering even an expert like Bai Yuan had barely escaped with his life.

The Heavenly Origin Sect had laid the foundation of their own downfall, and Liu Wuxie had only fanned the flames, turning their trap into an unrelenting catastrophe. The truth was undeniable: the tragedy was entirely of their own making.

"Liu Wuxie, this must be your scheme!" Wang Ba shouted, his voice rising with desperation. "The Nine Death Array we set up isn’t powerful enough to harm someone in the high levels of the Astral River Realm!" His words dripped with accusation, but his protests only deepened the sect’s shame. Every word felt like a feeble attempt to deflect blame, further solidifying the crowd’s belief that the Heavenly Origin Sect was at fault.

Even if Liu Wuxie had manipulated the array, it was the Heavenly Origin Sect who had crafted it in the first place. Their actions had set the stage for the devastating losses.

"Sect Master Bai, don't you think you owe us an explanation?" Next, it was Mu Tianli's turn to take the stage. Now that the truth had been out, the Heavenly Origin Sect's actions had caused the death of their disciples.

Every disciple who had died was a victim of their doings. If they hadn't set up the Nine Death Array, they wouldn't have suffered such casualties, and the death toll continued to increase, with over twenty disciples lost.

If this continued, the Heavenly Origin Sect would lose many disciples. They would be heavily injured even if their disciples made it out alive.

However, it was fortunate that many of their disciples had chosen to exit before stepping onto the tenth level; otherwise, they would also have lost their lives.

"Mu Tianli, what explanation do you want?!" Bai Jin's tone turned defiant. So what if they had deployed the Nine Death Array? The other sects had suffered no losses and had no grounds to make things difficult for the Heavenly Origin Sect. With only the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, he saw no reason to be concerned.

"A formal apology to everyone present! Your Heavenly Origin Sect has defied the core values of the Ten Grand Ceremony, and your sect is unfit to be first of the ten major sects," Mu Tianli said. His intention was simple: to make Bai Jin apologize to everyone.

"Sect Master Bai, your sect has crossed the line, and we demand an apology," said the Sky Rift Valley's sect master.

"Apologize!" Several Misty Sect disciples demanded as well. They were lucky they didn't circulate their true essence or would have experienced the same ordeal as the Heavenly Origin Sect’s disciples.

"Regarding today's matter, I apologize to everyone present, but let's not jump to conclusions based on a child's baseless words. Further investigation is required," Bai Jin apologized. The resentment of the sects who were vassals of the Heavenly Origin Sect could grow strong if this matter persisted. After all, what they had done was anything but honorable, and it no longer mattered if everyone believed in Liu Wuxie's words.

Liu Wuxie had successfully planted discord within the Heavenly Origin Sect, driving a wedge between Bai Jin and Wang Ba. Even the Indigo Cloud Gate and the other vassal sects began questioning their loyalty and considering their options.