Chapter 141: The Blood-Soaked Prodigy

The Blood-Soaked Prodigy

Far away.

Nux slowly opened his eyes.

The world before him was gone.

There was nothing.

No sky.

No earth.

No mountain.

No sound of wind.

Only an endless void.

Black fog rolled across the darkness like an ocean without a shore.

It swallowed everything it touched.

A pair of crimson eyes slowly appeared within that darkness.

Bloodthirsty.

Cold.

Hungry.

The sound of gnashing teeth echoed through the void.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Something was chewing.

Something was eating.

The sound was so close that it made the skin crawl.

Nux’s hand tightened around his blade.

Then a voice entered his mind.

Cold.

Empty.

Almost devoid of emotion.

"Killing... for what purpose...?"

Nux lowered his eyes.

He looked at the weapon in his hand.

"For what?"

His voice was quiet.

He thought about it for a moment.

Then his crimson eyes hardened.

"For my uncle Patriarch."

"For the Salvatore family."

The darkness remained silent.

Then—

"Wrong..."

The voice became even colder.

The next instant—

BOOM—RUMBLE!!

Four or five monstrous creatures burst from the black fog.

They were enormous.

Their bodies were pitch-black, their limbs twisted unnaturally as they crawled across the void.

Long claws scraped against the ground.

Sharp fangs dripped with crimson blood.

Their eyes contained nothing but hunger.

Nux’s gaze sharpened.

Killing intent erupted from his body.

The air trembled.

His black hair whipped violently around his face.

Then his blade moved.

"Eight Slaughter Cuts—First Strike: Sorrow Severing!!"

SHING—!!

A crimson arc tore through the darkness.

It crossed the void so quickly that the creatures barely had time to react.

Their bodies split apart.

Blood exploded into the air.

Pieces of black flesh rained down.

The endless darkness was briefly illuminated by the crimson flash of the blade.

Then silence returned.

Blood dripped from the edge of Nux’s weapon.

The crimson rain fell over his white robes, staining them little by little.

But his expression remained unchanged.

"Killing... for what purpose...?"

The cold voice sounded again.

Nux did not hesitate.

"For the Patriarch."

"For the family."

"WRONG!!!"

CRACK—CRACK—!!!

The black fog erupted.

Something enormous began crawling out.

Bones scraped against the ground.

A creature made entirely from pale bones slowly emerged from the darkness.

Its limbs were unnaturally long.

Its skull turned toward Nux.

Two points of crimson light burned inside its empty eye sockets.

Bloodlust poured from its body.

Then the fog behind it suddenly parted.

A pale-white ocean surged forward.

It came crashing through the darkness like an endless tide.

Nux looked at it.

Then smiled.

It was not a warm smile.

It was cold.

Arrogant.

Almost cruel.

His fingers tightened around the weapon granted to him by Victor.

"Abyssal Styx Sovereign Blood scripture— granted by the Patriarch."

"The more I kill, the stronger I become."

His crimson eyes burned.

"So then..."

"Become part of my power!!"

His killing intent exploded.

"Eight Slaughter Cuts—Second Strike: Twin Moons Convergence!!"

The heavens trembled.

Crimson killing intent flooded the entire void.

His blade flashed.

Two enormous arcs of blood-red light crossed the darkness.

The smile on Nux’s lips widened.

His arrogance knew no bounds.

------------------

Within a pool of blood, countless prodigies sat with pale faces.

Their bodies trembled.

Some gritted their teeth.

Others clenched their fists against the pain.

Occasionally, someone would let out a muffled groan before the overwhelming force of the trial expelled them from the blood pool.

One after another, they were eliminated.

The blood churned.

The ancient formation continued to test them.

Time passed.

Eventually, the noise faded.

Only one person remained.

Black hair cascaded down his back.

His clothes were soaked in blood.

His killing intent stretched across the pool like an endless sea.

It was Nux.

The Blood Slayer.

----------------------

Inside the Star-Gazing Pavilion, a massive water screen floated above the center of the hall.

Scenes from the Heavenly Secret Realm appeared upon it.

Every prodigy.

Every trial.

Every battle.

Everything was clearly reflected.

The assembled experts watched in silence.

Then the scene shifted.

They saw the ancient token in Lucas Bluestone’s hand.

The atmosphere inside the pavilion changed instantly.

Faces darkened.

Some experts clenched their fists.

Others exchanged grim looks.

Finally, one of them could no longer restrain himself.

"Elder Alaric, your empire has gone too far!"

The Celestial Secrets Token.

A Heavenly-grade lower-tier treasure.

A treasure that could only be used once every hundred years.

Its purpose was extremely special.

It could temporarily obscure the restrictions imposed by the heavens, allowing its holder to bypass the Heavenly Secret Realm’s rules and summon a Heavenly Genesis expert into the realm for one hour.

Of course, there were limitations.

The token could only summon someone at the Heavenly Genesis level.

A Stellar Grasping expert was already beginning to comprehend the Great Laws of World.

Such an existence could not be so easily concealed from the heavens.

But that distinction did little to comfort the Dawn Empire’s experts.

A Heavenly Genesis expert entering a Heavenly Secret Realm filled with youths barely past twenty years old...

It was a disaster.

The Salvatore family’s prodigies were terrifying.

Everyone had witnessed it.

But even the strongest among them were only at the Astral Manifestation Realm.

They were monsters.

Absolute monsters.

At such a young age, if they were given enough time, perhaps even Heavenly Genesis experts would one day have to lower their heads before them.

But right now—

They were still young.

They were still growing.

And a Heavenly Genesis expert who had already stepped beyond Astral Manifestation and could draw upon the power of heaven and earth could crush them all.

The difference was simply too enormous.

"Gone too far? Heh."

Elder Alaric laughed.

His voice was filled with mockery.

"Derek Dawn, Derek Dawn... as the ruler of a kingdom, how can you be so naive?"

His smile became cruel.

"Just how will you respond?"

"Your kingdom is just trampled under my kingdom soldiers? Hah Hah Hah."

The words struck the pavilion like a slap.

"This isn’t just a contest of inheritance, you know!"