114: Blood Sea
The Sea of Blood was boundless, a place of dead silence where life was hard to find.
Qing Wu and Yuan Feng stood at the edge of the Sea of Blood. The crimson waters before them stretched to the horizon, like a wound on the Primordial Land that would never heal.
The convergence of endless blood Qi and Evil Qi filled the air above the Sea of Blood with various perils.
The surface of the Sea of Blood appeared calm, but undercurrents surged beneath; a moment's carelessness could lead one into a hidden trap.
The water of the Sea of Blood was as thick as pulp, its surface shimmering with an eerie luster. Occasionally, bubbles would rise, and their popping sound was not that of ordinary water, but a hiss like the wailing of resentful souls.
No birds flew over the Sea of Blood, and no vegetation could be seen in any direction.
Any trace of life that reached this place was bound to vanish.
The air was thick with a heavy, fishy stench—the decaying scent emitted by the accumulated blood of billions of living beings.
A wisp of flame ignited at Yuan Feng's fingertip, but even the firelight seemed a bit dim in this space.
Yuan Feng frowned slightly. "This Sea of Blood... is indeed even more lifeless than the rumors suggest."
This was true. Looking out, the Sea of Blood before them not only lacked life but even lacked the typical restlessness of death.
Ordinary lands of death would at least have churning resentment and drifting ghost fires, but here, there was only a suffocating tranquility.
The waters of the Sea of Blood seemed calm, but in reality, every drop was as heavy as a thousand pounds; ordinary beings would dissolve upon contact.
Occasionally, dark shadows flashed beneath the surface, yet they were not living things, but blood-evil crystals that had precipitated over countless kalpas.
In the distance, a few twisted, dark-red plants grew tenaciously. These were Soul-Devouring Thorns unique to the Sea of Blood, surviving by consuming the wandering souls that occasionally drifted by.
But at this moment, even these plants were drooping, clearly having not fed for a long time.
The two had been at the Sea of Blood for several thousand years, but aside from finding some blood-evil crystals, they had gained little else.
It seemed the Sea of Blood was managed so tightly that anything of value had already been scavenged clean.
This was inseparable from the conduct of a certain Lord of the Sea of Blood.
Old Ancestor Minghe, who claimed that as long as the Sea of Blood did not dry up, Minghe would not die, had always pursued the path of being 'low-key' and 'cautious'.
As one of the top tier of Innate Sacred Beings, he possessed two Top Grade Innate Spirit Treasure killing swords as his companion treasures, allowing him to kill without incurring Karma.
Furthermore, the karma fire red lotus growing within the Sea of Blood was also under his control.
One must know, the Three Pure Ones only started with a single tower.
In addition, the entire Sea of Blood had no enemies to speak of, with at most a single mosquito.
Minghe could be described as an existence among the Innate Sacred Beings who was dripping with wealth.
Yet such an existence, who might hold significant weight in the Primordial Land, seemed to be perpetually obsessed with his own path of caution, unable to extricate himself.
Aside from when Hongjun preached the Dao, he basically stayed honestly within the Sea of Blood.
Under his management, the Sea of Blood was treated as his private domain.
Four hundred and eighty million Blood God Doppelgangers were spread throughout the Sea of Blood, keeping the entire sea within his grasp.
It seemed that if they didn't want this trip to be in vain, they would have to meet this Lord of the Sea of Blood.
Qing Wu took out a blood-evil crystal, which contained a wisp of twisted black Qi.
That wisp of black Qi was constantly undergoing changes.
According to his guess, this was inseparable from Minghe's Blood God Doppelgangers Divine Ability; there might be a wisp of Minghe's Divine Thought within it.
As for whether it was or not, he would know after trying.
He gave a light squeeze, and the blood crystal shattered. The wisp of black Qi did not manifest but instead merged back into the Sea of Blood like smoke.
"The Sea of Blood does not dry, Minghe does not die!"
"No wonder he is unwilling to leave the Sea of Blood," Qing Wu murmured.
Every drop of blood water and every wisp of remnant soul in this Sea of Blood was his Clone and his eyes and ears.
As long as he was within the Sea of Blood, he was an undying existence.
Yuan Feng also took out some blood crystals and crushed them casually, letting the black Qi within escape.
She then attempted to use her great magic power to imprison it.
But as soon as she cast the spell, the black Qi dissipated on its own, annihilating itself.
"This fellow is truly as slippery as an eel."
To Minghe, such a maneuver could only be called a standard operation.
After all, within the Sea of Blood, Blood God Doppelgangers were countless; if one was lost, another could be refined.
As they spoke, the Sea of Blood suddenly surged without wind. In the distance, walls of blood rose from the sea level, advancing toward them with the force of toppling mountains.
A blood-colored figure could be faintly seen within the waves, controlling these walls of blood.
In an instant, they were surrounded on all four sides, about to be bound within.
Yuan Feng gave a cold snort, and a spark of fire appeared at her fingertip.
In a flash, it transformed into a fire phoenix that flew out, directly smashing all the approaching blood walls to pieces.
The churning blood water could not escape being scorched by the Nanmingli Fire.
However, one drop of blood water broke through the flames and landed on Yuan Feng's palm.
Although she annihilated it immediately, the transmission of that decaying, fishy stench still made Yuan Feng a bit angry.
Coming to this Sea of Blood was already unlucky enough; having to be tainted by such filthy things was truly unfortunate.
Yuan Feng summoned the divine phoenix plume, and the aura of the violent Nanmingli Fire surged out.
Just as she was about to spread her wings and fly to find that blood-colored figure hidden in the shadows,
She found that the remaining blood waves had stopped silently and were now slowly receding.
The blood-colored figure also vanished along with them, as if it had never appeared.
"Is he... gone just like that?" Yuan Feng raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused by this move.
"Minghe is telling us that he knows of our arrival and is tacitly allowing our every move here."
Qing Wu smiled. "This Lord of the Sea of Blood seems even more cautious than imagined."
Perhaps Minghe, through various means, could not sense the true strength of the two of them, which was why he chose this course of action.
Even though he knew they were here, he only used some minor tricks as a warning.
It had to be said, when it came to the path of caution, he was serious.
Yuan Feng suppressed her fiery aura and shook her head slightly.
She was truly left speechless by his methods.
The Sea of Blood is boundless; did he think he could just stay hidden?
Shrinking into a corner—even if one were invincible, so what?
The Primordial Land is vast; how can a mere Sea of Blood compare?
At that moment, countless green leaves were seen floating in the Sea of Blood.
When the tide of the Sea of Blood receded just now, Qing Wu had already scattered countless leaves, which receded along with the tide.
By now, the leaves carried away by the waves were widely distributed throughout the Sea of Blood.
Each leaf emitted its own divine charm, attracting and capturing the nearby blood-evil crystals.
With just a thought, he could annihilate all these blood-evil crystals.
He might not be able to annihilate all the Blood God Doppelgangers, but this amount would be enough to make Minghe's heart ache; re-refining them would also have a cost.
"Fellow Daoist, are you truly unwilling to come out and meet?"
From below, a response finally came from the depths of the Sea of Blood.
"Fellow Daoist, do not be anxious. This poor Daoist is coming out!"
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