124: Blood Tower

The blood light in Xue Hai’s blood-red eyes surged, and the dark golden patterns on the surface of his Profound Fiend Demonic Body suddenly lit up.

Facing the poisonous cauldron that blotted out the sky and sun, he didn't dodge. His left fist, wreathed in blood-colored lightning, struck upwards with ferocity.

The moment the green mist from the cauldron touched his fist wind, it hissed and melted like snow in boiling water. The ten-zhang giant cauldron was sent flying by this punch, its body covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

The dwarfish Cultivator spat out a mouthful of his Lifeblood Essence and rapidly formed hand seals with his ten fingers.

Thousands of emerald green poisonous insects suddenly swarmed out of the shattered cauldron. Each insect had a silver thread as fine as a strand of hair wrapped around its tail. This was his trump card; these silver threads were extremely malicious hidden weapons called Soul-Snatching Silks. Even a Nascent Soul Realm powerhouse would be immediately corroded by the potent poison if cut by these threads.

“Good timing!” Xue Hai’s long roar shook the four wilds, and Nine Yang Demonic Flames erupted from his seven orifices.

Nine Blazing Dragons circled in the sky. Wherever the demonic flames swept, the poisonous insects turned to ash. The Soul-Snatching Silks, which were said to be able to corrode a demon infant, let out shrill cries like an Infant/Baby wailing in the intense flames.

The black-robed figure walked through the fire, his Blood Sea Demonic Sword in his right hand slashing repeatedly in the air. Sword Qi, like raging waves crashing on the shore, surged towards the dwarfish Cultivator, it was precisely the second stance of the Heaven Slaughtering Sword Art, “Overwhelming Law”.

The sky full of fiery rain suddenly froze, turning into blood-colored ice crystals.

Xue Hai’s brow furrowed slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. As his magic power surged, the demonic flames blazed fiercely, instantly melting the frozen areas. The nine black flaming Demonic Dragons lunged towards the bone nails, biting them.

The old woman rapidly formed hand seals with her withered fingers, intending to make the bone nails bypass the Demonic Dragons, but she saw the black dragons’ speed suddenly increase.

In the blink of an eye, all seven bone-piercing nails were swallowed into the dragons’ bellies and refined.

In an instant, four of them had already been incinerated, and the remaining three were also on the verge of collapse.

The one-eyed old woman’s face turned deathly pale, and a large mouthful of black blood surged from her throat.

With four of her Lifebound Treasures destroyed, her Divine Soul felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and dark red blood lines oozed from her seven orifices.

Almost simultaneously, the dwarfish Cultivator was also shredded into a mist of blood by the Sword Qi, and even his demon infant was torn into fragments.

Xue Hai’s gaze swept across the sky full of blood rain, then fixed on the old woman.

The latter’s single eye trembled violently, and she turned into a streak of light, attempting to flee.

The black-robed youth flicked his finger, and a muffled thunder-like roar suddenly erupted from within the old woman’s body.

“Boom!” The old woman’s body exploded into a dazzling blood flower in mid-air. Her demon infant was annihilated before it could even escape—this was the stunt Blood Burst.

A drop of dark golden blood bead flew out from Xue Hai’s glabella, hovering in mid-air and humming with vibration.

The scattered blood mist, as if summoned, transformed into streams of crimson and converged into the blood bead.

“Still not showing yourself?” Xue Hai’s crimson eyes locked onto the dust below. The scar-faced Cultivator appeared with an ashen face. Although his aura had recovered, he had coldly watched his companions fall.

The moment the scar-faced Cultivator raised his eyes, an invisible Soul Thorn attacked through the air.

This was the killer move he had been biding his time for.

However, Xue Hai’s figure suddenly blurred, and when he reappeared, he was already right in front of the other person.

“You…” The scar-faced Cultivator’s pupils contracted sharply, and a gurgling sound came from his throat, “How can you be unafraid of Soul Thorns… ”

Xue Hai indifferently formed a hand seal, and the Origin Blood Bead trembled slightly.

The scar-faced Cultivator’s eyeballs bulged, and his ten fingers dug deeply into his neck. A foul-smelling blood mist continuously surged from his seven orifices towards the blood bead.

In an instant, this half-step Late-stage Demon Infant (Cultivation Stage) Cultivator had turned into a withered corpse, and even his demon infant had turned to ash.

After collecting the Storage Pouches of the three, and glancing at the received Attribute Points, Xue Hai galloped directly north.

The three rogue Cultivators were merely dust on his path forward.

Black flames streaked through the air, and ahead, a dark rift, stretching across heaven and earth, conspicuously appeared.

Looking down, black mist that devoured light churned within the abyss.

Taking out the Jade Slip gifted by Gao Hou and sensing it briefly, Xue Hai flew along the edge of the rift.

This was the Endless Abyss, rumored to have no end. Legend has it that those who step into this place will never find their way back for all eternity.

Only the mysterious Abyssal Blood Palace dared to conceal its palace gates within this abyss.

After flying for another half an hour, Xue Hai plunged headfirst into the abyss.

After flying for another half an hour, Xue Hai suddenly swooped down and plunged into the abyss. This time, in just half an incense stick’s time, the crimson pagoda, abruptly standing on a dark floating island, came into view.

The giant pagoda was over a hundred zhang tall, glowing with a dark red aura like molten lava.

The pagoda’s body was covered in constantly flowing blood-colored runes, and a sweet, bloody Qi, mixed with metallic humming, vibrated in the air.

The plaza in front of the pagoda was crowded with hundreds of Cultivators, mostly Early Stage Demon Core Realm Cultivators, their turbid breaths interweaving into a net within the crowd.

There were dozens of Nascent Soul Realm powerhouses, each occupying a corner, meditating with closed eyes. Lower-level Cultivators all walked ten steps around them.

In the pavilion on the east side, a white-haired old man slowly sipped tea, while two blue-clad maidens’ skirts fluttered like butterfly wings.

A black wooden long table at the pagoda gate glowed faintly, where two Blood Palace Disciples were dipping their brushes in ink to register.

In the center of the plaza, a dark stone stele stood majestically. Blood mist churned at the top of the stele, forming ten dynamic scenes, which were the trial scenes inside the pagoda.

Xue Hai silently landed, his demonic might rippling out.

The winding queue stretched for hundreds of meters, but Xue Hai walked directly to the registration desk.

The Cultivators in line, catching sight of his black robe billowing and his oppressive aura faintly visible, all took half a step back in unison—in the Blood Demon Realm, a Cultivator whose depth couldn't be discerned was more deadly than a poisoned blade.

Xue Hai naturally filled the empty space.

Behind him, a burly man with a green face and fangs swallowed hard, finally retreating in silence.

This was the rule of Demonic Cultivators; the strong never had to care about the feelings of the weak.

Soon, the person in front finished registering and waited at the pagoda entrance to challenge the tower. The next one was Xue Hai.

The registering Disciple, seeing Xue Hai in his black robe and deliberately exuding a Nascent Soul Realm aura, raised an eyebrow. He had naturally seen Xue Hai cut in line but didn't say much.

Seeing Xue Hai approach, the Disciple asked indifferently, “Name, Origin, Realm.”

“Xue Hai, Wuluo Prefecture, Early Stage Nascent Soul Realm.” His voice was like an ice blade scraping against iron.

The Disciple was accustomed to Xue Hai’s coldness; most Demonic Cultivators were like this. If someone was overly enthusiastic with everyone, they were either a fool or a ruthless individual.

The Disciple’s wolf-hair brush moved, the ink still wet, when he tapped the table with the brush handle and pointed towards the pagoda entrance: “Pay one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones and wait.”

Xue Hai didn't reply, simply nodded slightly. He raised his hand, took out an empty Storage Pouch, placed a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones inside, dropped it on the table, and slowly moved to the side, turning to look at the light-and-shadow projection on the stone stele.

In the scenes, Cultivators battled fiercely in seas of lava and on isolated islands amidst raging waves. Each person was in a different terrain, as if they weren't inside the pagoda but fighting in another world.

Every challenger was incredibly powerful. This power wasn't about how high their Realm was, but rather that their combat strength was absolutely among the strongest of their peer group.

The number of floors they had cleared was displayed below the scenes. Currently, all ten scenes showed that they had passed the first floor.

One person had even reached the third floor.

When the black-robed Cultivator’s Thousand soul banner waved, wailing souls shrieked and tore at the air, and ten Demon Core Realm main souls surrounded a bald giant, cast in bronze and iron.

As the giant’s fist wind swept past, the specters flickered like candle flames.

The challenger dared not let the giant get close.

He relied solely on his movement technique to constantly circle him, while simultaneously activating his soul banner to attack.

From time to time, he would also cast some auxiliary binding spells to assist his main souls in battle.

“Heh! This kid has really good luck; he actually encountered a Body Cultivator as the guardian. It looks like he has a chance to pass!”

“I don’t think so! Although this person has refined a Thousand soul banner, none of his ten main souls have reached Late Stage Demon Core Realm. Facing such a Body Cultivator at Demon Core Realm Perfection, it will likely be difficult to break through his defense.”

“Anyone who dares to challenge the tower must have other tricks up their sleeve. Let’s just watch!”

The onlookers below were also commenting.

Suddenly, the discussions were abruptly torn apart.

Dark clouds suddenly pressed down from the sky. Four Vicious Beasts with Dragon heads, black scales, and treading on ghostly flames, pulled a Xuan-iron sedan chair through the air. The dark golden patterns on the sedan curtain flickered like a living creature breathing.

The plaza instantly fell silent, and even the Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators who were meditating with closed eyes abruptly opened them.