Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 762 - Mysterious Feather

This was a peculiar-looking, milk-white feather about half a foot long. It seemed ordinary at first glance but emanated a faint, sharp aura. This could typically be found on weapons, which was why the Universal Artifact Pavilion considered it a forging material.

The price wasn't high either, as it only cost ten thousand spirit stones. This was probably because the Universal Artifact Pavilion didn't know the origin of this feather. The other materials had labels detailing their origins, uses, and production locations, but this feather had no description.

This explained the low price compared to the other items, and ten thousand spirit stones were quite reasonable.

Though it wasn’t expensive, there was no information about it, making it a potential piece of junk. The feather had been on display for years, gathering a thin layer of dust.

"Young master, have you taken a liking to this feather?" a middle-aged man in his thirties asked, walking over when he noticed Liu Wuxie staring at it. His polite demeanor reflected the Universal Artifact Pavilion’s management style—they treated every customer with courtesy, regardless of their status or strength.

"Can I take a closer look at it?" Liu Wuxie asked. He was uncertain why the Earth-Binding Chains would react to this feather. This made him wonder if this feather was related to the Spirit Clan.

This made him recall the Feather Emperor he had encountered, a member of the Spirit Clan with a pair of wings on his back. But because too much time had passed, most feathers had weathered away. This was why Liu Wuxie wasn't sure if this feather was related to the Spirit Clan.

Even today, Liu Wuxie hasn't uncovered any information on the Spirit Clan. But he believed the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy might have some clues since their inheritance hailed from the Astral Domain.

"Of course!" the attendant replied and took down the feather, shaking off the dust before placing it on the counter.

When Liu Wuxie tried to pick up the feather, his arm unexpectedly sank under its weight. The feather, though small, weighed roughly half a kilogram. Such an unusually heavy feather left Liu Wuxie astonished.

"May I ask where this feather came from?" Liu Wuxie inquired. He was intrigued by this feather's origin as it might lead him to the Spirit Clan. This way, he could fulfill the task entrusted to him by the Feather Emperor to return the Earth-Binding Chains to the Spirit Clan.

Integrity was a principle Liu Wuxie upheld. Though the Earth-Binding Chains were a powerful artifact, he knew they didn’t belong to him. He was determined to honor his promise to the Feather Emperor. Whether or not he succeeded was secondary—what mattered was that he gave it his best effort.

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential," said the attendant, shaking his head. If Liu Wuxie asked about something else, there was information on the label.

Liu Wuxie furrowed his brows lightly. He was sure this feather came from a mysterious place, so the attendant wasn't willing to share anything with him.

"Then, is there any information on this feather's purpose?" Liu Wuxie asked. He didn't know the effect of this feather, but the reaction from the Earth-Binding Chains suggested it might sense the presence of its kind. This feather could guide the Earth-Binding Chains back to the Spirit Clan.

"I'm not sure," the attendant said, growing impatient. Another customer arrived, and he was prepared to return the feather to the display shelf.

The Universal Artifact Pavilion's business was bustling, and attendants often had to juggle between multiple customers.

"I'll take it," Liu Wuxie said. He planned on buying this feather to study it when he returned. He quickly paid ten thousand high-grade spirit stones and bought the feather.

Right then, Liu Xing and Liu Xin'er were done with their purchases and approached. They both looked surprised when they saw Liu Wuxie buying an unknown feather without information.

"Big Brother Wuxie, why did you buy this feather? I believe this feather has been here for years and ignored by everyone," Liu Xing asked, his face full of confusion. He had been to the Universal Artifact Pavilion several times and had always seen this feather on display.

"I'm just curious about it," Liu Wuxie replied with a shrug. Even he was unsure about this feather's purpose.

Liu Xing and Liu Xin'er looked baffled that Liu Wuxie would spend ten thousand spirit stones for a feather without any purpose to satisfy his curiosity. Although Liu Wuxie had won hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, that didn't mean he could be wasteful.

Liu Wuxie stored the feather in his interspatial ring before the trio continued shopping. Liu Wuxie wouldn't hesitate to make purchases whenever he ran into a suitable material, and he had spent hundreds of thousands of spirit stones in just an hour.

He mainly spent them on rare and unusual materials. The most expensive purchase was fifty thousand spirit stones for a mysterious meteorite.

While the meteorite was too tough in others' opinion, Liu Wuxie detected a trace of profound metal essence. This was far superior to ordinary metal essence, making it an ideal material to forge artifacts.

Through Ghost Eye, the profound gold essence detected by Liu Wuxie could fetch two hundred thousand spirit stones in an auction. But to Liu Xing and Liu Xin'er, Liu Wuxie seemed like a spendthrift, buying useless items.

After exploring the entire pavilion, Liu Wuxie still hadn't gathered enough materials to forge an origin artifact. But just when he was about to leave, the Ancestral Tree stirred. This was a rare movement as every movement from the Ancestral Tree would signal the presence of a treasure.

He didn't hesitate to follow the Ancestral Tree's guidance and saw an unusual beast horn hanging on the wall fifty meters away.

"What is this item, and why did it cause a stir from the Ancestral Tree?" Liu Wuxie wondered. The Ancestral Tree wouldn't alert him to ordinary treasures and only to those with significant meaning.

Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie strode forward, determined to buy it before anyone else could. His strategy was simple—secure it first and study later, regardless of whether it was worthwhile. @@novelbin@@

Never before had Liu Wuxie been so eager to acquire something. In the past, the Ancestral Tree had stirred when he was deep in the mountains, but it was different this time. The item was right before him, and he had to buy it before anyone else could.

"Big Brother Wuxie, slow down!" Liu Xing hurried over to catch up. The trio was already planning on leaving, and he was curious why Liu Wuxie had suddenly turned around.

The counter was crowded, and Liu Wuxie pushed through with incredible difficulty. His gaze fell onto the beast horn, and the price was still within his affordability range.

"I want that beast horn!" Liu Wuxie declared as he slammed down two hundred thousand spirit stones on the counter. This meant he had practically used up all the spirit stones he had won earlier, with this purchase taking up a significant portion.

He was lucky he had gathered over a hundred thousand spirit stones from his opponents in the arena.

On the other hand, Liu Xing was stunned to watch Liu Wuxie spending two hundred thousand spirit stones on a beast horn, and he began to wonder if the latter had lost his mind. But despite their doubts, neither Liu Xing nor Liu Xin'er voiced any objections.

Though most customers inspected items before making a purchase, Liu Wuxie wasn’t the first to buy something outright. Still, it was uncommon for visitors to skip the inspection process.

The attendant behind the counter swiftly took down the beast horn and gave it to Liu Wuxie.

Upon closer inspection, Liu Wuxie verified it wasn't an ordinary beast horn. But he wasn't sure if it was from a profound beast or other lifeform. From the label, Liu Wuxie learned that this horn was obtained from a mysterious lesser realm and was currently on consignment.

This meant someone had placed the horn in the Universal Artifact Pavilion for sale, and the Pavilion would receive a portion of the sales as a commission.

It wasn't long before Liu Wuxie found some clues about this horn. The Ancestral Tree stirred with excitement with an urge to devour this horn. This sign made him wonder if this horn was from a divinekin.

When he was in the Divine Light Mountain, he had noticed that divinekins who had reached the True Profound Realm bore a small, horn-like protrusion on their heads. This made him come to speculate that a powerful divinekin might have a horn growing from their head. However, that was only his speculation with no confirmation.

This horn was no bigger than the size of a palm and slightly thicker than an average adult's thumb. But despite its modest size, the price was staggering because it emanated a mysterious aura and a faint oppression.

When Liu Wuxie grabbed the horn, a wave of joy swept over him. He exclaimed, "Divine energy!"

This verified his speculation that this horn came from a divinekin.

"I'll take this horn!" Right then, a voice came from behind Liu Wuxie.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, including Liu Wuxie. But Liu Wuxie soon frowned as others couldn't tell that this was an item from a divinekin without the Ancestral Tree, and the horn had been on display for a long time without any buyer.

Thus, it was weird the moment someone appeared when he bought it. But he only glanced at the other party before keeping the horn in his interspatial ring.

The man was enraged by Liu Wuxie's action and roared, "Liu Wuxie, didn't you hear me?! I said I want that horn!"

Since this person could call out Liu Wuxie's name, this person must know him. But Liu Wuxie couldn't recall who this youth was.

"Big Brother Wuxie, his name is Liu Lin, the grandson of Liu Xiaotian. He's strong and has been a first-tier disciple for long," Liu Xing whispered in Liu Wuxie's ears.

Liu Wuxie was surprised to learn that this person was Liu Xiaotian's grandson. In addition to him, a few more people were behind him, and they should belong to Liu Xiaotian's faction.

Liu Lin had noticed the joy on Liu Wuxie's face when he bought the horn earlier, which prompted him to intervene, wanting a share in it

"Let's go!" Liu Wuxie said. He didn't want to lower himself to the level of Liu Lin. The latter was only in the eighth level of the Nascent Transformation Realm, someone he could kill with a slap.

When Liu Lin saw how Liu Wuxie ignored him and left with Liu Xing and Liu Xin'er, he was enraged. He roared, "Liu Wuxie, stop it right there!"

This time, Liu Lin's roar drew everyone's attention, who turned to look over. However, no one intervened after learning they were from the same clan.

Although the Liu Clan might've declined, they were still among the Four Great Clans, and few people dared to provoke them. After all, they couldn’t bear the consequences of enraging someone in the Earth Profound Realm.

Those in the Spirit Profound Realm were no different from mere ants before someone in the Earth Profound Realm, not to mention those in the True Profound Realm.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? The reason why I ignored you is because you're not worthy of my time. Now, get lost, and don't stand in my way!" Liu Wuxie replied with a sharp tone. He had no good impression of anyone from Liu Xiaotian's faction.

After all, Liu Wuxie’s parents had been forced to leave the Liu Clan because of Liu Xiaotian. On top of that, his grandfather had been poisoned, and his second uncle’s cultivation had deviated, all due to Liu Xiaotian’s schemes. Each of these offenses was enough to make Liu Wuxie want to kill him a thousand times over.

If he were strong enough, Liu Wuxie wouldn’t have hesitated to take Liu Xiaotian’s life long ago.

Being publicly insulted only fueled Liu Lin’s fury. Boundless murderous intent surged from him, his face twisting with rage.