170: Chapter 170 The True Demon Appears, the Young Ones Are Beaten and the Old Ones Arrive

Leaving the Ghost Market, one arrives at a mass grave.

This place is shrouded in Yin Qi all year round; even crows refuse to land here. The withered trees resemble twisted ghostly hands, casting mottled shadows under the pale moonlight.

Gu Yan stopped in his tracks.

Without any unnecessary chatter, he turned around and raised his left hand toward the dead silence of the darkness behind him. The asura armguard beneath his robe grew slightly warm—an instinctive warning against Killing Intent.

"Come out."

"You've followed me the whole way, aren't you tired?"

The wind stopped.

Three human figures emerged like ghosts from the ground, surrounding Gu Yan in a triangular formation.

The leader was the very same red-robed Cultivator who had been intercepted at the Ghost Market. Now, the faceless mask had been removed, revealing a face as pale as paper with no eyebrows. Behind him, two stooped attendants crawled on the ground, using both hands and feet, emitting beast-like low growls from their throats.

Those were "Blood Slaves," and Advanced Blood Slaves at that—ones that had completely lost their sanity and knew only how to kill.

"Hand over the item."

The red-robed Cultivator stared at Gu Yan, his voice as feminine and cold as a damp snake's tongue licking against an earlobe: "Also, peel off this skin of yours. I've taken a liking to it."

He smelled that scent on Gu Yan that drove him mad.

It was the scent of his own kind, yet more Advanced and purer than his.

"You want it?"

Gu Yan took the rusty iron shard from his bosom and tossed it in his hand: "You'll have to see if you have the teeth for it."

"You're courting death."

The red-robed Cultivator flicked his finger.

The two Blood Slaves on the ground instantly lunged. Their speed was astonishing; their nails were as black as blades, carrying foul-smelling corpse poison, aimed directly at Gu Yan's throat and groin.

Gu Yan didn't move.

Not until those sharp claws were only three inches away from him.

Hum!

The sleeve of his left arm burst open.

Dark gold scales instantly covered his forearm. Gu Yan raised his left hand and, without even looking, swept it horizontally.

Clang! Clang!

Two crisp sounds rang out.

The sharp claws, capable of shattering rock, struck the asura armguard, only sparking a few embers.

"Scram."

Gu Yan's left arm muscles bulged as he backhanded, precisely grabbing the heads of both Blood Slaves.

Bang!

He brought his hands together.

The two heads collided like overripe watermelons, splattering red and white matter everywhere.

Two headless corpses slumped to the ground.

"Is that it?"

Gu Yan shook the blood off his hand and looked at the red-robed Cultivator: "Do you people from the Blood River Sect not bring decent dogs when you go out?"

The red-robed Cultivator's pupils contracted violently.

One strike to kill two Blood Slaves comparable to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage? And that arm... that aura...

"Asura Battle Body?!"

The red-robed Cultivator shrieked, the greed in his eyes instantly turning into terror: "Are you from the Sacred Sect? No! The Sacred Sect sealed its mountains long ago, how could you have the Asura Battle Body?!"

"Sacred Sect?"

Gu Yan grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "I prefer to call it... spoils of war."

Boom!

The ground exploded.

Gu Yan vanished from where he stood.

The red-robed Cultivator reacted extremely quickly; blood light surged around him, forming a blood-colored shield.

"Blood River Shield!"

Crack.

The shield had just formed when it was forcibly shattered by a fist wearing black knuckle dusters. Gu Yan's fist momentum did not diminish as it slammed directly into his chest.

Pfft.

The red-robed Cultivator spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with organ fragments, his entire body flying backward like a torn sack, stopping only after crashing through three withered trees.

He struggled to crawl up, but a foot was already pressed onto his face.

"Don't move."

Gu Yan pressed down with his foot, crushing half of his cheekbone: "Answer a few questions for me, and I can let you die quickly."

"You... you dare to kill me..."

The red-robed Cultivator's mouth bubbled with blood, his eyes full of venom: "Lord Blood Scion is nearby... He will pull out your tendons and peel your skin... refine you into lamp oil..."

"Blood Scion?"

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow.

This term did not exist in Lin Canghai's memories. It seemed to be a more Advanced existence than the peripheral trash of the Lin family.

"Where is he?"

Gu Yan increased the pressure under his foot.

"Three hundred miles east of here... He is looking for... looking for that thief who stole the Old Ancestor's Legacy..." The red-robed Cultivator laughed miserably, "You can't run away... Your aura has already been locked on..."

"Oh."

Gu Yan nodded.

"Thanks for the reminder."

Crack.

His foot came down, and the red-robed Cultivator's head turned into meat paste.

Gu Yan bent down to remove his Storage Pouch, performing another skilled "looting the corpse" process.

[Ding! Recovered one elite from the Blood River Sect.]

[Obtained Bloodline Points: 80.]

[Obtained Item: Blood Transmission Talisman x1 (damaged), Human Skin Map x1.]

Gu Yan unfolded the human skin map.

Several red dots were marked on it; one of the largest red dots was currently resting on the edge of the Yunlan Sect's sphere of influence, less than five hundred miles away from Baifeng City.

"So close?"

Gu Yan stared at the map, his eyes gradually turning cold.

That so-called "Blood Scion" was clearly coming for the blood river bead. And since he had swallowed the bead, he was now a walking human signal tower.

"It seems the peaceful days are over."

Gu Yan put away the map and took out the rusty iron shard he had just bought.

During the fight just now, this iron shard had been vibrating in his storage ring, seemingly impatient to come out.

Gu Yan held it in his left hand.

Zzzzt.

The dark gold scales on the asura armguard suddenly opened, like greedy little mouths, directly biting onto the iron shard.

There was no need for a complex smelting process.

This iron shard seemed to be part of the armguard from the beginning; the moment it made contact, it turned into flowing liquid metal and merged into the scales.

Hum!

Gu Yan's left arm suddenly expanded by a circle; the armguard's reach extended from his elbow to his shoulder, forming a complete half-body armor. On the original dark gold patterns, a streak of scarlet blood line appeared, radiating an even more tyrannical aura.

[Ding! Component Fusion successful.]

[Asura Armor (Damaged) evolved into: Asura Shoulder Guard (Left).]

[Defense increased: Can ignore attacks below Golden Core Mid-Stage, reduces damage from Golden Core Late Stage by 30%.]

[New skill: Blood Shadow Charge (short-range burst displacement, collision damage doubled).]

Gu Yan moved his left shoulder; the feeling of indomitable heaviness made him feel a bit more at ease.

"Beat the young, the old one comes."

He looked to the east, where it was pitch-black night, but in his perception, a monstrous blood aura was slowly approaching.

That was a true demonic Cultivator.

Not a half-baked one like the Lin family, but a madman who had killed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"System, calculate win rate."

[Although the opponent has not appeared, based on energy fluctuations, they are at least Golden Core Mid-Stage and possess an Advanced demonic artifact.]

[Host's current win rate: 30% (head-on confrontation).]

[Suggestion: Don't be reckless. Hurry back and call for help, or...]

"Or lure him in and shut the door to beat the dog."

Gu Yan interrupted the System.

He hadn't spent so long setting up Baifeng City just to be a coward.

"Thirty blood corpse Puppets, plus the improved city protection formation, and this newly upgraded set of bones of mine..."

Gu Yan touched the ferocious beast-head armor on his left shoulder, his mouth curling into a cruel arc:

"I don't believe I can't knock out a few of his teeth."

His figure flickered, turning into a streak of light, and he sped toward the direction of Qingyun Peak.

The night wind howled.

A storm even more dangerous than the battle at Fallen Demon Valley was brewing on the border of the Yunlan Sect.

And this time, there was no Sect to rely on.

He could only rely on the blade in his own hand.