380: Chapter 380 Blood Fiend Dragon Form, A Show of Force

Tu Lie gestured toward the depths of the canyon, signaling them to walk inside.

"Senior has come from afar. Wine and food have been prepared within the canyon. Perhaps we could eat while we talk? I wonder if Senior would be interested?"

Su Changge walked on, not answering this sentence.

Tu Lie followed at his side, maintaining a certain distance. His pace was steady, and his gaze swept over Su Changge from time to time. Each time he swept his gaze over, his Divine Sense would involuntarily try to probe, only to retract after encountering that unfathomable perception. This action was repeated three times along the way.

Zhao Tian walked behind, counting Tu Lie's Divine Sense probes in his heart. When he reached the third time, he couldn't help but take a step closer to Ye Qingyao.

Ye Qingyao walked beside him, her expression calm.

In the depths of the canyon, there was a wide open space carved into the cliff wall. The surrounding cliff walls were embedded with blood-colored glowing stones, illuminating the space. In the center sat a heavy stone table, upon which were wine vessels and a few simple dishes. The arrangement was not luxurious, but it was clean and tidy, clearly prepared with intention.

Around the stone table stood several Cultivators, all emitting the aura of the Nascent Soul Stage or higher. They stood quietly at the edge of the open space, their hands not resting on any Magic Treasure. They appeared to be ordinary guards, but everyone's positioning had been designed, covering almost all retreat routes of this open space within their field of vision.

Su Changge stopped beside the stone table. He did not sit, but instead scanned the open space, getting a rough idea of the guards' positions.

[Hmm.]

[Three trapping Formations, ambushes on both sides, plus the overlapping positions of these guards—Tu Lie has made the safety measures for this meal very meticulous.]

[He is not certain of my background, but he has prepared enough means just in case. This is the logic of a mature powerhouse: cautious but not timid.]

[The question is, is his set of means useful against me?]

[Useless.]

[Not because I am strong, but because Ye Qingyao is standing here. Ye Qingyao is in the Mahayana Stage, while Tu Lie is in the Middle Stage of Undergoing Tribulation. These trapping Formations and these ambushing Cultivators cannot touch Ye Qingyao, so all his means are rendered ineffective against her existence.]

[Tu Lie understands this point. The essence of this 'Hongmen Banquet' is not to actually trap me to death, but a demonstration to show me how many cards he has, while incidentally seeing how I react.]

Su Changge thought these things through and sat down at the position beside the stone table. His movements were natural, without any hesitation. After sitting down, he did not look at the guards, but simply let his gaze fall on the wine vessels on the stone table, taking a glance.

Tu Lie sat down opposite him. Watching Su Changge's posture as he sat, something in his eyes stirred.

He had seen too many people who, upon entering this open space, would slow their pace or let their eyes wander. This person, however, upon entering, scanned the area once and then sat down directly, behaving no differently than if he had returned to his own courtyard. That composure was not cultivated; it was real. Tu Lie used his many years of experience in judging people to determine this, and the conclusion was: this person was either truly not afraid, or truly so strong that he did not need to be afraid.

He poured a cup of wine for Su Changge and pushed the wine vessel forward.

"Senior, this is brewed from the Dragon Vein spring water, a specialty of the canyon. Please."

Su Changge looked at the cup of wine but did not reach out.

Tu Lie's hand paused on the wine vessel for a moment, then withdrew. He picked up his own wine cup again, drank a mouthful, then set the cup back on the table and spoke.

"Which Dao Domain does Senior come from?"

Su Changge did not answer.

"I heard that at the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly in the Chixiao Dao Domain, Senior suppressed four demonic Dragons that had taken form. Although I reside in a remote corner, I have heard of this matter. I wonder how much truth there is in the rumors?"

Su Changge's gaze shifted from the wine vessel and landed on Tu Lie's face. It paused for two breaths, then shifted away, landing elsewhere, as if that question was not worth a specific answer to him.

Tu Lie tapped his knuckles on the table twice. It was not out of a loss of patience, but out of thought. He went over Su Changge's behavior since entering in his mind and decided to change his approach.

"What is Senior's purpose in coming to the Dragon Vein Ancient Continent?"

Su Changge finally spoke, his voice steady, using very few words.

"Just looking around."

Tu Lie stared at him, turning these three words over and over in his mind, and then smiled. That smile was not a smile of relief, but the kind of smile that said, 'You saw through me, but I also saw you,' carrying an undisguised directness.

"If Senior says he is just looking around, I believe it. But the words 'looking around,' when placed in the Dragon Vein Ancient Continent at this current point in time, are not a simple matter."

"The Dragon Vein Ancient Continent has not been peaceful lately. The four major forces all have their own calculations. The location of the ancient Seal is said to have already begun to loosen. Whoever masters the Dragon Vein Origin first will be able to stand at the highest point in this chaotic situation. This matter is not only being watched by us, but people from outside the domain are also watching."

He paused here, his gaze landing on Su Changge's face, locking onto him for a breath.

"Does Senior also know about the matter of the ancient Seal?"

Su Changge picked up the cup of wine he had pushed over, took a look, and put it back on the table without drinking.

Tu Lie's gaze paused on that cup of wine, and he did not speak.

Su Changge spoke, still in that unhurried tone.

"The source of the chaos in the layout of the Dragon Vein Ancient Continent is not in the four directions, but deep underground."

Tu Lie's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What does Senior mean?"

"The Seal has been in place for a long time, and Earth Evil Qi has accumulated. The thing that the four directions are fighting over is not necessarily a blessing."

Tu Lie was silent for a moment, repeating this sentence over and over. Then he suppressed the layer of inquiry in his eyes, replacing it with a more focused expression.

"Since Senior knows these things, you must have your own views on what is inside the ancient Seal. I wonder what Senior thinks is sealed inside?"

Su Changge did not answer this question but stood up, walked to the position beside the stone table, turned his back to the stone table, and looked at the cliff wall in the depths of the canyon.

The cliff wall was carved with a large number of blood-patterned runes, dense and numerous, extending from the ground to a height of over ten zhang. Under the illumination of the glowing stones, those runes emitted a dull red light—neat, precise, and constituting a complete trapping Formation System.

Zhao Tian sat at the other end of the stone table, not eating a single bite of food or drinking a single drop of wine, his eyes scanning back and forth between Tu Lie and Su Changge, his expression highly vigilant.

Ye Qingyao sat there, picked up her wine cup, smelled it, and put it back, her expression calm.

Tu Lie stood up, walked to Su Changge's side, and looked at the cliff wall.

"What is Senior looking at?"

Su Changge said.

"The Blood Pattern Trapping Formation."

Tu Lie was silent for two breaths, then laughed. This time, the laughter was audible, low, and carried a hint of undisguised meaning.

"Senior has good eyes. This set of Formations is the result of my painstaking efforts over more than a decade. Everyone who enters this canyon cannot escape from the Formation, including..."

He raised his hand, and the air in the canyon changed at that moment. The thin layer of Evil Qi suddenly surged, exploding upward from the cracks in the ground. It was no longer seeping out, but gushing out. The black-red Evil Qi rapidly accumulated at the bottom of the canyon, then was shaped by an invisible force, condensing into form in the air, stretching and extending, slowly forming the outline of a giant Evil Qi Dragon. The Dragon's body used Evil Qi as its bone and blood-patterned runes as its scales, spiraling up from the ground to the top of the canyon. It lowered its head, opened its mouth, and towards Su Changge's direction, emitted a low roar. That roar fell directly into the Divine Soul—not heard by the ears, but perceived by the Soul—carrying a compulsive coercion that made the Divine Soul involuntarily shrink back at that moment.

Zhao Tian's chair moved back a bit, his back pressed against the cliff wall behind him, his two palms bracing against the cliff wall, his face deathly pale.

Ye Qingyao stood up, the magic power at her side moving silently, but she did not strike, only standing guard.

Tu Lie put away that smile, the expression on his face returning to a calm scrutiny. He turned his head to look at Su Changge, his voice low and steady.

"This is the first thing I wanted to say to Senior: the Dragon Vein Ancient Continent is not a place that just anyone can 'look around'."

That giant Evil Qi Dragon circled in the sky above the canyon, lowered its head, and swooped down toward Su Changge. Its speed was increasing. Its blood-red Dragon claws opened, and Evil Qi churned around the Dragon's body. The temperature of the entire canyon dropped suddenly at this moment, the tremors from the ground intensified, and a compulsive coercion rushed toward them along with the Dragon form, carrying the aura of a Middle Stage Undergoing Tribulation Cultivator, rushing straight toward Su Changge's Divine Soul.

Zhao Tian in the back was almost about to shout.

Ye Qingyao's hand had already moved.

But Su Changge did not move.

He stood there, back to the stone table, facing the direction from which the giant Evil Qi Dragon was swooping down. He stood straight, his face showing no change. His eyes fell on that Dragon, unswerving, watching it pounce down with indifference.

The things he was experiencing in his heart and his outward appearance formed a deep chasm at this moment.

[It's coming, it's coming, it's coming!]

[Almost there!]

[This Dragon is condensed from real Evil Qi. If it lands, my Qi Refining First Layer body will...]

[System! System, get to work!]