230: Netherblood, new prey

The phantom of Elder Jieyin dissipated.

That cloud layer returned to its previous calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

Yet, the deathly silence upon the Central Altar signaled just how subversively real everything that had just occurred truly was.

Everyone's gaze remained frozen on Lin Fan.

Awe. Fear. Jealousy. And a sense of bewilderment toward an unknown existence that could not be described with words.

This man had used the most brutal and unreasonable method to completely trample the hundreds of years of cultivation cognition of these so-called Prodigies under his feet, crushing it repeatedly.

Under the gaze of hundreds of complex eyes, Lin Fan bent down and picked up the white jade token suspended in front of him.

His movements were calm. There was not a hint of triumph or arrogance on his face.

He even cupped his hands again in the direction where the clouds had disappeared, embodying the posture of a humble junior to the core.

After doing all this, he turned around and, amidst the crowd that automatically parted for him, walked step by step toward the Gates to Heavens where the galaxy flowed.

Every step he took felt like it was stepping on the hearts of all the Prodigies.

Yao Tianqi stared fixedly at Lin Fan's back.

He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles emitting an unbearable cracking sound due to excessive force.

His chest heaved violently, and on his eerie face, two completely different emotions—killing intent and wariness—intertwined crazily, making his expression look twisted and ferocious.

"Kill him." This thought grew wildly like weeds.

But the next moment, the image of Lin Fan being completely erased from existence under that gray divine light, only to arrogantly be reborn, uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

A chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to his crown. "Cannot be killed. This monster simply cannot be killed."

Yao Tianqi's breathing became incomparably heavy. The anger in his eyes was gradually replaced by a more sinister greed.

He issued a command to Niu Mang and the other Yao Race experts beside him using Divine Thought transmission that only they could hear.

"This person must possess a heaven-shaking secret."

"After entering the next stage, everyone obey my orders."

"Spare no cost, prioritize capturing him alive."

"I will personally interrogate him to extract his secrets."

Niu Mang and the others felt a jolt in their hearts and simultaneously bowed their heads in acknowledgment, the look in their eyes as they gazed at Lin Fan now carrying the fierce glint of looking at prey.

On the other side, the subsequent trials continued. The figure of Yue Xi appeared in the center of the Central Altar.

She did not court death like Lin Fan; she simply calmly withstood the impact of that golden Qi, ripples slightly stirred around her, and she passed easily.

She obtained the white jade token that belonged to her.

Before walking into the Gates to Heavens, she stopped and took a deep look at Lin Fan.

Those eyes that could see through falsehood were now filled with unprecedented complexity.

She believed in her own eyes; she had seen the reshaping at the level of Law.

Yet the man before her had used an even more inconceivable method to treat this reshaping as nourishment for cultivation.

"What exactly is this man?"

Yue Xi withdrew her gaze, and her figure submerged into the Gates to Heavens.

After her, Lu Xinghe and some other top Prodigies also each displayed their trump card methods, either sacrificing powerful defensive Magic Treasures or using some secret technique, passing the trial without any major danger.

But the more difficult it was for them to pass, the more it highlighted just how shocking Lin Fan's previous actions had been.

Just as the trial was halfway through, the space at the edge of the Central Altar suddenly rippled with distortion.

Over a dozen figures emerged from the shadows without warning.

They were uniformly dressed in black robes that covered their entire bodies, exuding an aura that was cold, dead, and carried a thick scent of blood, completely out of place with the entire Central Altar.

The appearance of this group of uninvited guests immediately aroused the vigilance of everyone.

At the lead was a young man. He was not wearing a hood, revealing a handsome face that was pale to the point of being morbid.

His lips were thin and also lacked color. The most eye-catching thing was his pair of eyes.

That was a pair of pupils that presented an eerie blood-red color. It was as if two endless seas of blood were floating and sinking in the depths of his eyes.

"People from the Netherworld Palace." Yao Tianqi's brows furrowed sharply when he saw this group, and he said in a low voice.

The Yao Race experts beside him also revealed expressions of disgust and wariness.

This group of black-robed Cultivators came from an extremely mysterious and evil hidden demonic sect in the Cultivation World, the "Netherworld Palace".

They seemed to have used some special secret technique to bypass the previous trials, and only now had they directly arrived at the Central Altar.

The young man named Blood Shadow did not care at all about the vigilant gazes cast from around him.

His blood-colored pupils scanned the entire scene nonchalantly.

When he saw Yao Tianqi, the corners of his mouth even hooked into an undisguised sneer of disdain.

Finally, his gaze landed on that white figure who had just passed the trial and was about to walk into the Gates to Heavens—Yue Xi.

Blood Shadow's eyes suddenly lit up. It was the undisguised greed and possessiveness that only a starving wolf would have when seeing a peerless delicacy.

He extended his scarlet tongue and gently licked his pale lips. A subtle movement, yet it was filled with evil temptation and extreme danger.

He whispered to a subordinate beside him who was also shrouded in a black robe, using a voice that was almost like sleep-talking.

"A top-grade Dao Embryo Spirit Eyes."

"Pure, transparent, containing a trace of Innate Law of breaking falsehood."

"If I can dig out these eyes and integrate them into my 'Netherworld Blood Pupils'."

"My Blood Pupils will surely reach Major Achievement."

His voice was not loud, but it made the Soul of the subordinate who heard it tremble.

...

Inside the Gates to Heavens was not another world, but a brilliant passage formed by the convergence of countless starlight.

All the Prodigies who passed the trial were temporarily staying here, seemingly waiting for everyone to arrive before being teleported together.

Lin Fan stood in the corner of the passage, silently feeling the surging power within his body and the reward named "Indestructible Divine Soul".

This reward seemed to have caused a wonderful transformation in the essence of his Divine Soul, making it tougher and harder to erase.

Just at this moment, a bone-chilling coldness came from behind him without warning.

It was not a drop in temperature, but a trembling from the deepest part of his Soul after being targeted by some terrifying natural enemy that lived by devouring Souls.

Lin Fan turned his head sharply. His gaze pierced through the light wall of the passage, just in time to meet the blood-pupiled young man on the Central Altar in the air.

In those blood-colored pupils, there was greed, desire, and a kind of indifference that viewed all things as food.

Almost at the same moment, the System's notification sound rang out booming in his mind.

【Detected special Bloodline: Netherworld Bloodline Scion.】

【Warning: This Bloodline has extremely strong erosive and polluting properties toward Divine Soul and Dao foundation.】

【If killed by this Bloodline Power, there is a very high probability of obtaining 'Law-Breaking' or 'Filth' type rare rewards.】

Lin Fan's pupils contracted slightly at that instant.

Netherworld Bloodline Scion. Erosive to Divine Soul. Law-Breaking type rewards.

The thoughts in his heart turned rapidly. The look he cast at Blood Shadow also instantly changed.

The initial vigilance, after the System notification sound fell, quickly turned into an uncontrollable... excitement.

It was the kind of look a hunter would have when seeing a perfect prey, unprecedented, with beautiful fur and highly nourishing flesh and blood.

He had just obtained the "Indestructible Divine Soul" and was worried about having no place to test its quality. This had sent an "Advanced sparring partner" specializing in Divine Soul.

Furthermore, after killing him, he could even drop rare rewards. This was not an enemy at all. This was clearly a mobile, humanoid super treasure chest tailored for him.