Chapter 201 - 199: Blood Killing Realm

Chapter 201: Chapter 199: Blood Killing Realm

Chen Yuan could usually use his Demonic Qi to conceal the aura of the Celestial Fire Secret Manual.

But the Heaven-Burning Destruction Sword Qi was far too conspicuous. Even with the cover of Demonic Qi, it would be hard to prevent someone from recognizing it.

Therefore, Chen Yuan would never use this Secret Technique in public.

Only after confirming no one else was around did Chen Yuan use the Heaven-Burning Destruction Sword Qi to obliterate the Martial Artist from the Red Lotus Sect.

However, Chen Yuan also discovered that the Celestial Fire Power was an extreme counter to the power of the Red Lotus Sect.

The Red Lotus Willpower was bizarre and insidious, capable of ignoring most True Qi Power. Yet, under the Celestial Fire Power, it was instantly suppressed and dissolved.

The Red Lotus Sect derived its power from its followers burning their bodies as offerings to the Red Lotus Saint Mother, which in turn generated Red Lotus Willpower. Fire was also one of its core attributes.

Since the Celestial Fire Secret Manual cultivated the Fire Origin, it was only natural that it would have a suppressive effect on them.

Fortunately, the Red Lotus Sect’s rebellion had occurred twenty years ago.

If it had happened during the time of the Great Brightness Sect, the Celestial Fire Hall could have sent just a few elites and easily crushed the Red Lotus Sect.

Just then, Chen Yuan noticed an ancient-looking booklet fall from the chest of Hou Jing’s corpse.

Chen Yuan picked it up and saw that it was a Secret Manual of Cultivation Techniques. It wasn’t a powerful Heart Method, however—only Profound Level.

However, a last testament had been written in blood on the Secret Manual of Cultivation Techniques, detailing the origins of the Blood Killing Realm.

The Blood Killing Realm was a small, independent world whose history could be traced back to the Ancient Era.

Legend had it that a Sacred Artifact containing the Killing Intent Origin was hidden within, once owned and worshipped by a Clan in the Ancient Era.

The Clan later vanished for unknown reasons, and the place remained undiscovered until five thousand years ago.

The Martial Artist who found it occupied the Blood Killing Realm. Using the Sacred Artifact as a foundation, he developed a Cultivation Technique and named the place the Blood Killing Realm. He styled himself the Blood Slaughter Venerable, and his methods in the Qin Province Jianghu were tyrannical, brutal, and utterly merciless.

Five thousand years ago was a time of chaos. The Central Plains were carved up by warlords and dotted with small kingdoms. In a place as large as Qin Province, three different men had even proclaimed themselves emperor.

In order to merge with the Sacred Artifact in the Blood Killing Realm, the Blood Slaughter Venerable propped up a small kingdom and began a rampage of conquest and slaughter, harvesting Qi Blood and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Finally, a local high monk from the Buddhist Sect in Qin Province, Master Dust Crossing, the ’Golden Body Arhat,’ stepped forward. He rallied the Jianghu Heroes of Qin Province, vowing to destroy the Blood Killing Realm.

The battle was incredibly arduous. Although the Blood Slaughter Venerable couldn’t wield the Sacred Artifact in the Blood Killing Realm, he could borrow a portion of its power, making his might immense.

Master Dust Crossing and the Blood Slaughter Venerable ended up killing each other, and the Jianghu People who had followed the master were almost completely wiped out.

The Martial Artist who left this last testament was one of the Jianghu People from Qin Province who had followed Master Dust Crossing to destroy the Blood Killing Realm.

Gravely wounded and on the verge of death, he had used his own blood to write of their great deed—the destruction of the Blood Killing Realm—on his personal Secret Manual of Cultivation Techniques. He only asked that future Martial Artists, in honor of their life-and-death struggle for the Qin Province Jianghu, look after the young disciple he had left behind.

’Based on the Cultivation Technique, this Jianghu person probably wasn’t too strong,’ Chen Yuan deduced. ’At best, he was only in the Condensing Truth Realm.’

’Five thousand years have passed. A legacy from someone with this level of Cultivation probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few generations. It must have died out long ago.’

Still, the testament pointed Chen Yuan in the right direction. He headed straight for the heart of the realm, toward the area with the densest collection of crumbling ruins. That had to be the center of the Blood Killing Realm.

But Chen Yuan was puzzled. ’How did the Blood Slaughter Venerable borrow the power of the Seven Kills Stele? Was it purely through blood sacrifice?’

’Blood sacrifices could indeed grant a portion of power, but the effect isn’t long-lasting, and the side effects are severe.’

’But according to the testament, although the Blood Slaughter Venerable never truly merged with the Seven Kills Stele Fragment, he was able to borrow a portion of its power. What method did he use?’

In any case, in the original story, there were only two ways to draw out the power of the Seven Kills Stele.

One was to use large-scale blood sacrifices to draw out the Killing Intent Origin, but that was only temporary. Once the power from the sacrifice dissipated, the Killing Intent Origin would return to the Seven Kills Stele.

The other was the method Chen Yuan had previously used to completely merge with the Seven Kills Stele.

’This Blood Slaughter Venerable was something else. He seemed to have mastered a third way to control a Seven Kills Stele Fragment, and could even develop Cultivation Techniques based on it.’

Chen Yuan didn’t dwell on the question and headed straight for the center of the Blood Killing Realm.

He was only halfway there when he saw Gu Lichuan rushing toward him in a panic.

Gu Lichuan’s face lit up when he saw Chen Yuan. "Brother Chen! Quick, come with me and help me save Brother Qin!"

Chen Yuan forgot all about heading to the center of the Blood Killing Realm. He immediately changed direction and followed Gu Lichuan.

"What happened to Brother Qin? Was it the Red Lotus Sect?"

Gu Lichuan explained as he sped along, leading the way. "I met up with Brother Qin not long after entering the Blood Killing Realm. We ran into some Independent Practitioners who were being hunted by the Red Lotus Sect.

After we took care of the Red Lotus Sect members, the Independent Practitioners told us they’d learned the origin of this place. They’d even found the spot where the master of the Blood Killing Realm, the Blood Slaughter Venerable, and the high monk Master Dust Crossing killed each other. They said the Sacred Artifact of the Blood Killing Realm was still there!

Brother Qin and I rushed over immediately, but a huge number of Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists—more than thirty of them—had gathered there.

They seemed to consider the place extremely important, and they’d even laid an Array to trap us.

Right now, Brother Qin, Murong Li of the Murong Family, Steward Lu Wenhao of the Celestial Water City’s Lu Family, Martial Monk Instructor Xing Yi of the Vajra Prajna Temple’s Wuxiang Hall, and a dozen other Martial Artists are all trapped inside the Array by the Red Lotus Sect.

I unleashed three sword strikes at once to barely force my way out, but I couldn’t break the Array. All I could do was tell Brother Qin and the others to hold on for as long as possible while I came to find you for help, Brother Chen."

Chen Yuan was taken aback.

’According to the testament I found,’ Chen Yuan thought, ’the Blood Slaughter Venerable shouldn’t have been able to merge with the Seven Kills Stele Fragment. That means the fragment should still be at the very center of the Blood Killing Realm.’

’But the place Gu Lichuan is taking me isn’t the center. It’s in the northern part of the realm.’

"Is the Red Lotus Saintess, Su Mei, there as well?"

Gu Lichuan shook his head. "Su Mei isn’t there."

Hearing that Su Mei wasn’t there, Chen Yuan instantly understood. ’There must have been some kind of misunderstanding that led everyone to believe the Seven Kills Stele Fragment is there.’

’Since Su Mei came specifically for the Seven Kills Stele, she wouldn’t have gone to the wrong place.’

When Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan arrived, they were greeted by the sight of a massive crater, hundreds of yards across, that resembled a meteor impact site.

In the very center of the crater lay two corpses.

One body was completely shrouded in a black robe, kneeling on one knee and leaning on a long, narrow, blood-red saber. Crimson patterns swirled across the blade like waves on the sea.

Even after thousands of years, the saber still radiated a shockingly intense, boiling killing intent.

Across from the black-robed figure sat an old monk, cross-legged. Of the string of Buddhist Beads he once held, only two remained clutched in his hand, emitting a hazy Buddha Light.

These two were none other than the Blood Slaughter Venerable, who had once occupied the Blood Killing Realm, and the high monk of the Buddhist Sect, Master Dust Crossing, the ’Golden Body Arhat’.

The Cultivation of these two must have reached the Ninth Realm Celestial Profound, or perhaps even higher. Even after five thousand years, their power had yet to dissipate, preserving their bodies from decay.

Not far from the two bodies, over thirty Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists had laid an Array, trapping Qin Suguang and the others. They were trying to use the Red Lotus Sacred Fire to grind them down to their deaths.

Even from hundreds of yards away, Chen Yuan could faintly sense a trace of the Power of Origin from the Killing Intent Origin emanating from the Blood Slaughter Venerable’s body. ’Don’t tell me he actually managed to merge with the Seven Kills Stele?’

But then, he sensed something was off.

’The power from the Killing Intent Origin in the Blood Slaughter Venerable’s body is very weak,’ he thought. ’It’s not even as strong as the power from the Seven Kills Stele Fragment I carry.’

’The Seven Kills Stele was split into seven pieces, and each one carries the Power of Killing Intent Origin, but the strength of that power varies from piece to piece.’

’The fragment Chen Yuan carried was the first to reappear in the world, so its Power of Killing Intent Origin should be the weakest of them all.’

’He couldn’t be sure where the fragment in the Blood Killing Realm ranked, but it was bound to be stronger than his own.’

As he focused his senses on the Killing Intent Origin in the Blood Slaughter Venerable’s body again, realization dawned on Chen Yuan.

’He finally understood what the Blood Slaughter Venerable had done.’

’The man had somehow managed to create a Divine Artifact Incarnation of the Seven Kills Stele to house its Killing Intent Origin.’

’Normally, it would be impossible to create a Divine Artifact Incarnation from a mere fragment of the Seven Kills Stele.’

’But certain Exotic Treasures could be used to contain the stele’s power.’

’So, the Blood Slaughter Venerable must have used blood sacrifices to forcibly extract the Killing Intent Origin from the Seven Kills Stele, infuse it into a vessel, and then seal that vessel.’

’This was tantamount to forcibly stripping away a portion of the Seven Kills Stele Fragment’s power to create a Divine Artifact Incarnation.’

’However, this Divine Artifact Incarnation wasn’t a one-time creation; it needed to be frequently replenished with power.’

’That was why the Blood Slaughter Venerable had propped up a small kingdom to wage war and slaughter—to collect vast amounts of Qi Blood for constant sacrifices, which allowed him to maintain his power.’

’The Red Lotus Sect must know this as well. That’s why they want to seize the Blood Slaughter Venerable’s corpse—to release the Killing Intent Origin within and allow it to return to the Seven Kills Stele.’

Meanwhile, Qin Suguang and his group were still struggling to hold on inside the Red Lotus Sect’s Array. Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan exchanged a glance and charged in from two different directions.

When the Red Lotus Sect’s Martial Artists saw Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan attacking simultaneously, their faces fell.

’The three of them had teamed up to kill Wu Daoquan, a Primordial Pill Realm expert. There was no one at that level among their ranks now. Could they possibly stop these two?’

But even if they couldn’t, they had to try!

"Attack! Take care of the two on the outside first! If you ruin the Saintess’s important mission, you can all wait to be burned alive by the Sacred Fire!"

The faces of the Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists drained of color. One by one, they began to burn their own Qi and Blood, assuming desperate, life-risking stances as they charged toward Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan.

The Red Lotus Sect’s practice of burning bodies as offerings to the Red Lotus Saint Mother was what granted them Red Lotus Willpower. However, this ritual was usually reserved for ordinary believers. The core Martial Artists of the sect would never burn themselves so easily.

But if they made a mistake or failed in their duties, they too would face the fate of being sacrificed by fire.