556: towering trees

Inside the Puppet's eye sockets, two massive soul fires burned fiercely. At the center of its chest, Blood Butcher's figure floated, serving as the core of the entire Formation. The aura around his body surged at a speed visible to the naked eye; the barrier of the Early Spirit Transformation Stage shattered with a roar, and his cultivation base soared all the way, finally stabilizing firmly at the Peak Spirit Transformation!

A terrifying pressure swept out from the flesh Puppet. Rocks crumbled one after another, and as the mountain winds howled, even the sky was dyed a dark red. The space twisted slightly under this pressure, emitting an overwhelmed creaking sound.

Roar—!

The flesh Puppet threw its head back and let out a deafening roar. The sound resonated across the fields like a thunderclap, causing the eardrums of the Falling Snow Pavilion Disciples to ache. They covered their ears one after another, expressions filled with fear.

Brat, even if I die today, I will drag you down with me! Blood Butcher's voice emanated from the chest of the flesh Puppet, laced with crazed hatred. He controlled the Puppet to lift its massive flesh fist, which was shrouded in the thick evil power of the Blood Shadow Sect. With one punch, the surrounding space was instantly shattered, forming black spatial rifts. The fist wind, carrying world-destroying power, smashed fiercely toward Murong Gu. Wherever it passed, even the air was annihilated, leaving behind only void.

Seeing this, the Falling Snow Pavilion Disciples were filled with despair. The pressure of the Peak Spirit Transformation had already rendered them unable to move. The power of this punch could likely easily shatter the entire Falling Snow Pavilion!

Murong Xue also gripped the Sect Head token tightly, her spiritual power circulating frantically as she wanted to step forward to help, but she was firmly suppressed by the Puppet's pressure. She could only watch helplessly as the fist approached Murong Gu, her heart filled with worry.

Yet, facing this fatal blow, Murong Gu showed no fear on his face. Instead, a faint trace of anticipation flashed in his eyes, even carrying a touch of greed.

As the Lord of the Blood Realm, he was integrated with the Origin of the Blood Realm. All the blood power and Divine Soul power in the world were nutrients to him. This flesh Puppet, piled together from the corpses and Divine Souls of thousands of evil cultivators, was not a threat at all; rather, it was a huge Opportunity delivered to his doorstep, an excellent nutrient sufficient for him to Breakthrough his Realm!

The moment the flesh fist was about to strike him, Murong Gu's body suddenly began to expand. Golden-red Blood Realm power gushed out from within him, and his figure grew larger at a speed visible to the naked eye. In an instant, it expanded a thousand times, transforming into a massive phantom of blood that stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the flesh Puppet.

The phantom had no fixed form, only a massive blood maw that blotted out the sky opening in its center. Inside the maw, countless blood-colored vortexes spun frantically, emitting a terrifying devouring power, like the maw of a primordial beast, waiting for prey to walk right into the trap.

Hum—!

The flesh Puppet's fist smashed fiercely onto the blood phantom, but there was no earth-shattering collision as imagined. Instead, it was instantly enveloped by that massive blood maw.

As soon as the evil power on the fist touched the blood maw, it was torn and devoured by the blood-colored vortexes, transforming into pure energy that merged into the blood phantom.

Blood Butcher's movements controlling the Puppet suddenly froze. The madness in his eyes was instantly replaced by extreme shock and astonishment. He stared fixedly at the blood maw that had enveloped the fist, his voice trembling: This... what is this?! Completely turning the body into energy—this is something only a legendary expert at the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence could possibly achieve! How could a mere kid at the Early Spirit Transformation Stage do this?!

The common sense of the cultivation world was completely overturned by Murong Gu. A Genius at the Nascent Soul Early Stage was killed in one strike, a flesh Puppet at the Peak Spirit Transformation was easily enveloped, and now, he had even seen the energy-manifestation form that only experts at the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence could master. How was this some ordinary Disciple of the Falling Snow Pavilion? This was clearly a peerless expert hiding his true strength!

No... impossible!! Blood Butcher roared frantically, wanting to control the flesh Puppet to withdraw its fist, but the devouring power within that blood maw was like maggots on a bone, firmly adhering to the fist, and even following the Puppet's arm, began to crazily devour the entire body of the flesh Puppet.

The flesh on the Puppet dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into streaks of blood light that were sucked into the blood maw. The Divine Souls of the thousands of Disciples condensed within the Puppet were also torn into fragments by the blood-colored vortexes, becoming nutrients for Murong Gu.

Ah—! Save me! Blood Butcher let out a shrill scream. He wanted to break free from the core of the Formation, but he was firmly bound by the power of the forbidden technique. He could only watch helplessly as he and the flesh Puppet were devoured bit by bit by that terrifying blood maw.

Clear smack, smack chewing sounds came from within the blood maw. Each sound struck the hearts of the Falling Snow Pavilion Disciples like a heavy hammer, making their entire bodies go cold.

In just a moment, the hundred-meter-tall flesh Puppet was completely devoured, leaving not even a trace of flesh residue. Blood Butcher's screams also gradually dissipated into the air, completely devoured by Murong Gu; not even his Divine Soul was spared.

The mountaintop returned to peace once again, with only that thousand-times-larger blood phantom floating in mid-air, slowly writhing as it digested the massive energy it had just devoured.

The Falling Snow Pavilion Disciples stood in place, everyone dumbfounded, mouths agape, having even forgotten to breathe, their faces filled with expressions of disbelief.

They looked at that terrifying blood phantom, with only one thought remaining in their hearts: Who exactly was the Righteous Path, and who was the Evil Path? This appearance of Murong Gu devouring flesh and Divine Souls was several times more terrifying than the evil cultivators of the Blood Shadow Sect!

Some Disciples couldn't help but whisper, their tones filled with fear and confusion: This... this is too terrifying, he actually devoured the entire flesh Puppet directly, along with the Divine Souls of thousands of people...

Yeah, what's the difference between this and the cultivation methods of the Evil Path? He hasn't turned into an evil cultivator, has he?

These fragmented discussions reached Murong Xue's ears. She turned her head abruptly, a flash of sternness in her eyes, and coldly shouted sternly at the Disciples: Pedantic!

Her voice was clear and firm, overpowering all the discussions. Righteousness and evil are never determined by Cultivation Technique and power, but by the human heart! A Gu was taken away by Black Impermanence and brought into the Blood Realm back then in order to save us. If he wanted to become evil, he could have allowed the power of the Blood Realm to erode his original heart long ago in the Blood Realm; why would he need to come back to save us?

Murong Xue walked to the edge of the mountain gate, gazing firmly at the blood phantom in mid-air, her voice growing increasingly stern: He has obtained powerful strength now, not to commit evil, but to punish the wicked, eradicate evil, and protect us! Such a person is the Righteous Path! From now on, whoever dares to speak ill of A Gu again, I, Murong Xue, will never let them off lightly!

The Disciples were intimidated by Murong Xue's stern reprimand and lowered their heads one after another, expressions filled with shame. They remembered the scene where Murong Gu had just killed the Blood Shadow Sect Disciples in one strike and saved the entire Falling Snow Pavilion, and then recalled Murong Xue's words. Their hearts suddenly cleared up—yes, if Murong Gu were an evil cultivator, why would he waste his power to save them? He could have just let the Blood Shadow Sect trample the Falling Snow Pavilion.

As Murong Xue gazed at that familiar yet strange blood phantom, an inexplicable ripple arose in her heart. Beyond the shock, there was even a trace of admiration that was hard to conceal. She thought back to many years ago, to that little boy who followed behind her, timidly calling her Aunt Xue. Now, this little boy had grown into a man standing tall and upright, blocking the catastrophe of the Blood Shadow Sect with his own strength, and had become a towering tree protecting the Falling Snow Pavilion.