Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 707 - Divine Race

The two didn't dare to linger for long, as many divinekin, members of the divine race, were lying in ambush around the altar, protecting it against intruders.

The divine race refused to allow humans to inhabit the Western Barrens, and the Murong Clan was merely one of their many victims. Aside from the Murong Clan, there were few humans in the Western Barrens. Even if some existed, they would be in places far from the divine race's reach, or well-hidden.

The two increased their speed after passing the altar. They were like two gusts of wind as they weaved through the mountain range, and it was already the second half of the night by now.

Biting, cold wind blew from the depths of the mountain range, and Murong Tianze suddenly halted. They were still more than a thousand miles from the exit.

"The valley is over there, where the divine race resides," Murong Tianze pointed at a pass five hundred meters away.

The divine energy was surging from the surroundings, making Murong Tianze feel uncomfortable and even affecting the circulation of his true essence.

In contrast, Liu Wuxie appeared unaffected. He had been paying close attention to the changes in the mysterious tree ever since he had returned. But what happened next shocked him as the mysterious tree began to devour the divine energy to strengthen itself.

This revelation further deepened Liu Wuxie's curiosity about the divine race.

"Senior, are you alright?" Liu Wuxie asked in a concerned tone. He had noticed Murong Tianze's discomfort.

"I'm fine!" Murong Tianze's complexion returned to normal after he circulated his true essence to eliminate the divine energy from his body.

The two pressed on at a slower pace than before, and they were forced to tread carefully because the divinekin were patrolling the surroundings.

When they were a hundred meters from the pass, they stopped. This was the furthest Murong Tianze had ever dared venture. A gateway prevented outsiders from entering the valley's mouth.

Divine energy gushed out from the gateway, and the two hid among the trees. Liu Wuxie activated the Ghost Eye, allowing his vision to penetrate through layers of foliage into the valley's depths.

The valley was larger than he had imagined, and many divinekin were inside. Unlike humans, their homes consisted of natural caves. The divine race slept either in their caves or under the open sky.

The mysterious tree became even more restless, wanting to break free from the desolate world and charge into the valley.

Time passed, and the patrolling divinekin would change shifts every two hours.

"They're changing shifts!" Murong Tianze whispered.

Liu Wuxie was intrigued. For a race as powerful as the divine race, facing no significant threats apart from the rare demonic beasts at the True Profound Realm, such tight security felt unwarranted. What could they possibly be guarding against? Or, more unsettlingly—what could they fear?

It was abnormal for such a powerful race to set up such tight security.

"Senior, I have a bold idea!" Liu Wuxie said suddenly.

"You want to infiltrate?" Murong Tianze guessed. He had lived for centuries, and his intuition had been sharpened over time.

"This is the only way. There's nothing we can do by staying here, and we might be discovered if we wait here," Liu Wuxie said. He had always been bold, and he would follow through once he had made his decision.

Moreover, he had come too far to give up now. He couldn't bear to leave with unanswered questions—particularly about the mysterious tree. He wanted to know more about the mysterious tree and why it would absorb divine energy endlessly.

In the past two years, he had scoured countless texts and couldn't find any information on the mysterious tree. Now that a clue was within reach, he couldn't just give up, and he naturally wouldn't tell Murong Tianze that.

"No! It's too dangerous for you to go in by yourself. If you decide to go in regardless, I must come with you," Murong Tianze refused. They were at the base of the divine race, and it was far too dangerous for Liu Wuxie to go alone.

Based on Liu Wuxie's cultivation, the odds of his survival were close to none if he was discovered.

"Don't worry. I'm unaffected by divine energy, but your presence might alarm them," Liu Wuxie replied. What he said was the truth, as Murong Tianze wouldn't have waited until today if he could have infiltrated the divine race's base.

Once he was done speaking, he leaped down from the tree. He used the opportunity when the guards were changing shifts to infiltrate.

As for Murong Tianze, he quickly followed behind Liu Wuxie, fearing he would be in danger. The two stopped again when they were fifty meters away from the pass.

"Senior Murong, if you don't hear from me in five days, retreat immediately and don't attempt any rescue!" Liu Wuxie said in a firm tone.

Given the size of this valley, it would take days for him to locate Murong Yi's parents, so he set a deadline of five days. He could only move at night, as he would be exposed if he moved during the day.

"Okay, but I'll risk my life to bring you out if anything happens to you," Murong Tianze vowed, gritting his teeth. They then exchanged Communication Talismans.

When another two hours passed and dawn began to arrive, Liu Wuxie knew he couldn't wait any longer, or he would have to wait for another day. Without hesitation, he streaked across the sky like a comet and vanished.

"What speed!" Murong Tianze was inwardly shocked. He realized he had still underestimated Liu Wuxie's strength.

Liu Wuxie hid behind a gate and executed the Nine Heavenly Crane Dance when the divine race was changing shifts. Like a celestial crane, he skimmed past the guards over their heads.

The guards felt only a breeze blow past them, but when they looked around, nothing was there. If someone had come, they would’ve instantly realized it from the distinctive aura of human cultivators.

However, thanks to the mysterious tree within him, Liu Wuxie had perfected the ability to mimic the divine race's aura. After absorbing a significant amount of divine energy, the mysterious tree had awakened a new power within him, suffusing his body with divine energy.

This discovery left Liu Wuxie utterly astonished. He realized there was a trace of divine energy in the desolate world, and he could blend himself in as a member of the divine race with it.

The only noticeable difference would be his appearance. The divine race was remarkably tall with enormous ears. Their mouths, too, were twice the size of regular humans.

As for the internal structure, their skeletal structure diverged significantly from humans with unusually long arms and protruding shoulder blades. Liu Wuxie speculated that they might have been capable of flight in ancient times, but their wings had vanished for unknown reasons, leaving only bony remnants as evidence.

Liu Wuxie exercised caution upon entering the valley, relying on Ghost Eye to quickly locate an unoccupied cave. When he darted inside, he planned to familiarize himself with the surrounding environment using Ghost Eye.

The faint light of dawn had started creeping into the sky, and many divinekin had risen to begin their activity in the valley. The cave was modest in size, enough to accommodate ten people. It was dry, and some food supplies were stored inside.

This should be a small storage chamber that the divine race rarely visited. After Liu Wuxie settled down, he began extending his divine sense beyond the cave to observe every detail of the valley.

"What are they doing?" Liu Wuxie asked curiously. There was an empty space at the valley's center, enough to accommodate over ten thousand people. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

To his astonishment, the divine race didn’t follow typical morning routines like washing or eating. Instead, they gathered in the vast clearing and began chanting in unison. The words were incomprehensible to Liu Wuxie, clearly part of a language unique to their race.

They soon moved on to dancing, raising their hands to the sky while pounding their feet on the ground rhythmically. The earth trembled beneath their movements, and echoes reverberated through the valley.

The strange ritual continued for ten minutes before they returned to their caves.

"What a strange ritual," Liu Wuxie commented, considering it to be a ritual. After all, every race had its customs and traditions, and the divine race was no exception.

In many ways, they resembled an ancient tribe, retaining some primal practices, such as their habitats and centralized control.

Liu Wuxie had limited knowledge of the divine race, so he needed more time to investigate. After waiting for roughly an hour, he saw a large group of divinekin emerging from their caves. They left their valley and headed toward the altar.

"What a terrifying aura!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed inwardly. Though he didn't know how the divine race was classified based on their cultivation, he could sense that the emerging members all gave off an unbelievably powerful aura.

Even the weakest among them was comparable to the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm. But despite possessing such strength, Liu Wuxie was baffled by the fact that the divine race had willingly confined themselves into seclusion in the Divine Light Mountain.

The valley was roughly a hundred miles from the altar, and the group soon reached it in no time.

As Murong Tianze had described, the divine race began chanting the moment they ascended the altar. The beasts around the altar spat out mists that enveloped the entire structure.

Then, a bizarre scene occurred as the divinekin standing on the altar had all vanished. Liu Wuxie mwas baffled, unable to tell where they had gone.

The absence of spiritual runes on the altar ruled out the use of a teleportation array, deepening the mystery.

As more divinekin vanished through the altar, Liu Wuxie felt a sense of urgency building within him. If the valley emptied entirely, he might find only two corpses—even if he managed to locate Murong Yi’s parents.

Using Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie scanned every corner of the valley. However, some areas were impervious to Ghost Eye’s probing, likely constructed with special materials similar to those found in the Yin-Yang Valley of the Heavenly Nether Battlefield.

The Witcher Clan was also an ancient race predating even the divine race. The twelve divine avatars had created the world, and the divine race was the firstborn into the world. The two races were equally ancient and seemed to have appeared simultaneously in the universe.

The valley was vast, and Liu Wuxie only managed to explore one-fourth of it after half a day. There were also places too far for the Ghost Eye to reach, and he could only see blurred images.

A sudden thumping sound broke his focus, originating from approaching footsteps. Liu Wuxie tensed immediately, remembering that he was in a storage chamber. While the stronger members of the divine race didn’t require food, the younger and weaker ones still relied on sustenance.

The storage chamber offered no hiding spots and only had a single entrance. If he left now, he would only bump into whoever was coming.

With no hesitation, Liu Wuxie drew the Heretic Blade and retreated towards the doorframe, preparing to strike at any moment.

When the footsteps grew closer, Liu Wuxie's heart pounded. This was his first frontal confrontation with a divinekin, and a wave of nervousness surged through him.