Chapter 319: Blood Pool

Chapter 319 -317: Blood Pool

“How did you find his true body?”

Wen Rou was a little surprised.

Qu Yuanfeng wasn’t strong in combat, but his skill at escaping was second to none.

Never mind a Grandmaster of the Primordial Pill Realm; even a Grandmaster at the Eighth Realm Divine Platform would have a hard time capturing him.

Who would have thought that Chen Yuan would see through his disguise so easily and kill him with a single arrow?

“With my eyes, of course,” Chen Yuan said, pointing to his own eyes.

Qu Yuanfeng’s Illusion Technique was incredibly realistic, but under the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, what illusion could he not see through?

Chen Yuan had only used the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill for five breaths. Although the Spiritual Power consumption was immense, a single breath was more than enough to see through Qu Yuanfeng’s disguise.

Wen Rou pursed her lips but didn’t press the matter. In her eyes, Chen Yuan must have used some Secret Technique from the Ming Sect.

“Did Shangguan Moyuan die by your hand as well?”

Chen Yuan nodded.

Qu Yuanfeng couldn’t imagine that Shangguan Moyuan would die, but Wen Rou had faith in Chen Yuan.

She knew of Chen Yuan’s identity within the Ming Sect and was even more aware of the powerful foundation the Ming Sect kept hidden in the shadows.

As a prominent talent of the Ming Sect’s younger generation, Chen Yuan was certain to have trump cards given to him by the Sect.

But even though she had expected it, hearing Chen Yuan admit with his own mouth that he had killed two prodigies from the top fifteen of the Hidden Dragon Rankings and withstood two Divine Artifact Incarnations in a single battle still left her aghast.

This was only possible inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower. If this had happened in the outside world, Chen Yuan’s achievements would have been enough to shake the entire Jianghu.

“Tsk tsk, I really never would have imagined that the Martial Artist from that small gang in Lianshan City would one day come this far.”

Wen Rou remarked with a hint of emotion.

Most Martial Artists in the Jianghu thought Chen Yuan came from Zhenwu Hall, one of the Seven Alliances of the World, and considered his origins to be quite low already.

The Seven Alliances of the World were all grassroots factions, and their most fatal flaw was their shallow foundation.

Currently, not a single faction among the Seven Alliances of the World had existed for more than three hundred years.

In the eyes of the Jianghu People, for Chen Yuan to come from such a grassroots faction with no foundation and still be able to suppress the prodigies and geniuses of the Noble Sects was already an incredible feat.

But if they knew that Chen Yuan had originally come from a low-level, small-time gang, it would have been even more shocking to them.

“A humble background is no disgrace. A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm.”

Chen Yuan shook his head and said, “Martial Artists like Shangguan Moyuan and Su Changhe, who come from top Noble Sects, may have powerful foundations, but they lack the guts to fight to the death.

They have too much, care about too much, and are too afraid of losing it all. That’s why the further they progress, the more difficult their path becomes.”

Chen Yuan wasn’t boasting; he was stating a fact.

In times of peace, these Martial Artists from Noble Sects indeed held the advantage. Their foundations were deep enough to allow them to reach the peak without needing to fight and struggle against too many others.

However, once the world descends into chaos, when heroes rise from the common folk and an era of great struggle begins, these Martial Artists from Sects and Families often seem to lack staying power.

Already, grassroots heroes like Wang Xuangan and Chen Longbi were beginning to make a name for themselves. In the future, when chaos engulfs the world, the rising talents—be it Gu Lichuan, Luo the Thirteenth Lang, or Qin Suguang—would almost all be of Loose Cultivator origins.

By that time, more than half of the powerful experts capable of stirring up storms in the world would have started as Independent Martial Artists.

“Tower Master Wen, I’ve used up a lot of my strength. Please act as my Guardian for a while. I’ll explore the ruins after I’ve recovered some of my power.”

Chen Yuan was not in good shape. His body, having unleashed the supreme Blood Fiend Power, was starting to break down, covered in fine cracks from head to toe.

His True Essence was nearly depleted, and even his Spiritual Power was mostly drained from using the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill. He was still suffering from intermittent, sharp pains.

Exploring the ruins in this condition would be suicide. Even if there were no dangers inside, he wouldn’t be able to merge with the Seven Kills Stele.

Wen Rou nodded. She hadn’t expended too much energy, just a normal amount of True Essence, so she stood guard for Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan already had a good number of Elixirs on hand, and he had just obtained more from Shangguan Moyuan and Su Changhe. Almost all of them were of the highest quality, with potent medicinal effects.

After taking the Elixirs, Chen Yuan sat quietly to recover his strength. It took him about a day and a night to return to his peak condition.

For any other Martial Artist, Chen Yuan’s recovery speed was astonishing.

Another Martial Artist would have needed many days just to heal the physical injuries.

But in Chen Yuan’s view, this speed was a bit slow, mainly because his Spiritual Power was recovering too slowly.

Neither Shangguan Moyuan’s nor Su Changhe’s Qiankun Bag contained any Elixirs for restoring Spiritual Power. Chen Yuan could only rely on quiet meditation to recover naturally.

“Let’s go. Let’s see what’s inside the ruins of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect.”

Wen Rou’s spirits lifted instantly. She looked at Chen Yuan coquettishly and said in a delicate voice, “The dangers in the ruins are unpredictable. Master Chen must protect little me.”

Chen Yuan looked at Wen Rou, slightly speechless.

‘Weren’t you incredibly brave just now, fighting four against one?’

However, Wen Rou was indeed very useful to Chen Yuan, and he couldn’t let her perish in the ruins.

The surface-level halls and buildings of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect had almost completely collapsed, leaving only ruins and broken walls.

However, its underground space was perfectly preserved. That was the true core of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect.

Chen Yuan picked a random spot, smashed the ground with his power, and directly blasted open a huge hole.

“I’ll scout it out first.”

Wen Rou formed a Seal Technique with her hands, and the power of her Rain and Wind Chasing Spell spread downward. A moment later, she shook her head. “There are no unusual power fluctuations.”

Chen Yuan nodded and leaped straight down.

The underground space of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect was enormous. The first thing that met their eyes were large black wall tiles inscribed with blood-colored runes, emitting the smell of decay and rust.

“Are these runes written in blood?” Wen Rou asked, slightly surprised.

The entire underground space was covered in black stone, all of it densely packed with blood-colored runes. How much blood would have been needed to write all this?

Chen Yuan nodded. “Not just any blood. It was written with blood tainted by extreme killing intent.”

Possessing the Seven Kills Stele, Chen Yuan could feel the effect of these runes more directly.

Although millions of years had passed and the runes were no longer active, Chen Yuan could still sense that they had once served to gather and condense killing intent.

After entering this place, Chen Yuan felt the killing intent around him being stirred, and the two Seven Kills Steles inside his body seemed eager to act.

The two of them walked forward along the passage. At the very center of the underground space was a structure that resembled an altar, surrounded by dense piles of ghastly white bones.

At a rough glance, there were thousands, even tens of thousands of skeletons. This place was practically a mass grave.

But when they walked to the center of the altar, they discovered that the ground around it was covered with sharp blades, all connected to some kind of Mechanism.

Bodies were thrown onto the surrounding area, and when the Mechanism turned, they would be instantly torn to pieces, their blood flowing into a huge Blood Pool up ahead.

Even after millions of years, the Blood Pool had not dried up. However, it was only half-full of a viscous, blackish-red liquid that gave off a pungent, bloody stench and an aura of extreme sinister evil.

Wen Rou’s expression turned ugly.

Because this scene reminded her of something: a meat grinder.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly. ‘It seems anything involving the Seven Kills Stele can’t escape the concept of blood sacrifice.’

Back in Lianshan City, Jiang Kaitai had used a blood sacrifice on the Seven Kills Stele. In the Blood Killing Realm, the Blood Slaughter Venerable’s method was also to use a blood sacrifice on the Seven Kills Stele to create a Divine Artifact Incarnation.

Now, it seemed the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect was no different.

However, the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect’s blood sacrifice wasn’t simply for the Seven Kills Stele. To be precise, they were sacrificing themselves.

The blood of the dead on the altar wasn’t used to sacrifice to the Seven Kills Stele, but to inscribe the Killing Intent Runes throughout the entire underground space.

If Chen Yuan wasn’t mistaken, it wasn’t just this underground space that had these Killing Intent Runes. Every Martial Artist of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect had to tattoo these runes onto their bodies using blood filled with extreme killing intent, transforming themselves into vessels capable of containing the Killing Intent Origin.

This way, even if no one in the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect could truly merge with a Seven Kills Stele Fragment, they could still use this method to have the Killing Intent Origin descend upon them.

But as Chen Yuan looked around, he couldn’t see the Seven Kills Stele anywhere.

However, the two Seven Kills Steles inside his body were both reacting, indicating that a Seven Kills Stele Fragment should be right here.

Just then, the Blood Pool suddenly began to bubble violently.

From within the viscous, crimson-black blood, a figure emerged.

The figure was an old man clad in tattered, crimson Battle Armor.

The Battle Armor he wore was in ruins, shattered in some places, revealing his skin underneath.

And just as Chen Yuan had guessed, the exposed skin was covered in the same runes as the surrounding walls.

The old man’s chest was covered in all sorts of scars, some so deep the bone was visible, revealing withered organs that were nevertheless enveloped in a bloody glow.

There wasn’t a trace of reason in his eyes; they were completely crimson, filled with a dense killing intent.

Chen Yuan’s gaze sharpened. He had found the Seven Kills Stele Fragment.

The old man’s heart was gone, and in its place was a Seven Kills Stele Fragment!

“What is that thing!? A member of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect from ten thousand years ago is still alive?”

Wen Rou was horrified.

Chen Yuan shook his head. “No Martial Artist can break the limits of their lifespan. Anyone who exists beyond their natural lifespan has usually paid an enormous price.

He was naturally a member of the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect in life. Now, however, he’s just a puppet who failed to merge with the Seven Kills Stele and was instead controlled by it.”

The Three Extremes Evil Venerable relied on the power of the Demon Spear Corpse Tower Forest to coexist with it. Lu Beiming was frozen for three hundred years and later revived. None of these are normal ways to extend one’s life.

This old man from the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect is the same. In life, he probably wasn’t qualified to merge with the Seven Kills Stele Fragment, but he forced the fusion at a critical moment. The result was this unforeseen transformation, and he became what you see now.