362: Chapter 362 Remnants of the Abyss - The Source of Bloodlust

"Without my permission, you dare to leave?"

Jiang Chen's fist shot out like a dragon, a pitch-black fist imprint tearing through the air, carrying the momentum to shatter mountains and split the earth, smashing straight toward the teleportation gate!

"Mo Tianya! Elder Chen!" State Preceptor Bai's face was ashen. His five fingers clenched in the void, and a giant hand that blotted out the sky suddenly materialized, grabbing the two men and hurling them toward the oncoming black fist shadow——

The two men screamed in agony, struggling with all their might, but the fist imprint descended like the heavens themselves. Upon contact, their bodies instantly transformed into a mist of crimson blood, not even bone fragments remaining.

In that fleeting moment, State Preceptor Bai had already flashed into the teleportation gate, his figure vanishing in an instant.

Jiang Chen did not pursue. With laojuns treasure so close at hand, it was far more worthy of his attention than a fleeing State Preceptor. He had already made up his mind: once matters here were settled, he would go to the Great Qin Divine Dynasty in person to settle this debt.

Those who dared to offend would never be forgiven.

"Lord Jiang Chen! Thank you for slaying the traitors and repelling the Great Qin Divine Dynasty!"

Mo Wudi quickly stepped forward, bowing and cupping his fists, his voice filled with reverence.

Jiang Chen nodded slightly, his tone indifferent. "The urgent matter now is to find laojuns treasure as quickly as possible. Delay invites trouble."

"Understood! This subordinate will immediately mobilize all members of the Demonic Sect to turn the Western Journey Mountain upside down!"

Mo Wudi knew the gravity of the situation and dared not show the slightest negligence.

The group immediately began their search. In less than the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, they found the entrance to laojuns legacy beneath a cliff.

It was an ancient cave dwelling buried deep underground. A massive bronze door stood tightly shut, its surface shimmering with an obscure, difficult-to-decipher array of restrictive light patterns, breathing slowly as if alive.

Mo Wudi stepped forward to test it, unleashing several types of restriction-breaking divine abilities in succession—palm winds sharp as blades, sword energy like rainbows. Yet the door remained unmoved, not a single crack appearing.

Jiang Chen frowned and murmured, "This restriction cannot be broken by ordinary means; it would take considerable time... But State Preceptor Bai must have already sent a message for reinforcements. Troops from the Great Qin Divine Dynasty could arrive at any moment. We cannot wait any longer—everyone, step back. I will break it."

The Demonic Sect members quickly cleared a path. Jiang Chen stepped forward, his right fist gathering power, then he unleashed a violent strike——

With a dull boom, the massive bronze door exploded on impact, fragments flying like rain.

"Lord Jiang Chen's divine might shakes the world!" Mo Wudi hurriedly cheered loudly.

"Let's go in. Take whatever treasures you find." Jiang Chen strode inside, followed closely by the Demonic Sect members and Wu Ming.

But the moment they stepped in, everyone was stunned—the cave dwelling was utterly empty, its walls bare. Forget rare treasures, there wasn't even half a jade slip or a single pill to be seen.

"How can this be?!"

"laojuns treasure... Could it have been taken by someone else long ago?!"

Mo Wudi growled in a low voice, disbelief and anxiety evident in his tone.

The Demonic Sect had expended immense effort, risking their lives to obtain the treasure map from an ancient ruin, losing several elders in the process. Now, to come up empty-handed—no one could swallow such a bitter pill.

Boom——!

The ground suddenly shook. An intricate array diagram rapidly rose from the stone floor. A flash of golden light, and the scenery before their eyes twisted abruptly. In an instant, they had been transported to an unfamiliar space.

Here, the heavens and earth were pitch-black as ink, with neither sun nor moon. Only deep within the void did faint ripples of law undulate—clearly, an independent realm personally opened by a peerless powerhouse.

"It's a trap." Jiang Chen's gaze was calm, his tone devoid of fluctuation.

Wu Ming and the others exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss.

But soon, a maniacal laugh tore through the silence, and everyone's faces instantly paled.

"Hahaha—I've finally waited for living beings! Enduring hundreds of thousands of years of solitude, my grand scheme has not been in vain!"

In the distance, black mist churned as a sinister-looking man with ink-black long hair strode forward. Demonic energy surged around him like boiling water, as if he were the embodiment of calamity crawled up from the deepest depths of the Nine Nether. Most terrifying were the pair of black curved horns on his forehead, gleaming with a cold, eerie light, seemingly capable of piercing one's soul.

"You are a Demon!"

Mo Wudi's pupils contracted as the words escaped his lips.

Demons, the common enemy of all races. In the past, they swarmed out from the abyssal rifts, leaving shattered mountains and rivers and extinct life wherever they passed. They were the very embodiment of the word 'devourer'—for them, slaughter was nourishment, destruction was cultivation. Their realms naturally grew amidst blood and fire, requiring no meditation, no external aids. In the end, it was at the cost of generational sacrifice that the various races managed to nail this scourge back into the depths of the abyss.

Mo Wudi never expected to encounter a stray Demon in this place.

"You walk the Demonic Path, yet you do not crave slaughter? Heh... With such a lukewarm cultivation method, your realm should have stagnated long ago."

Tian Xie glanced sidelong at Mo Wudi, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth, as if weighing a rusty blade blank.

"Why are you trapped here? Where is laojuns legacy? Did you take it all for yourself?"

Mo Wudi lowered his voice, his knuckles turning white.

"Haha! laojuns treasure vault? All mine! It's just a pity the cave dwelling held a hidden mechanism. I was careless for a moment and fell into this dead, silent black realm, trapped here for hundreds of thousands of years—now, you are the key to my escape!"

Tian Xie's gaze swept over the group, burning with a greed so intense it seemed he saw not living people, but ten saintly vessel bodies waiting to be unwrapped.

"What do you intend to do!" Mo Wudi's throat bobbed, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

That oppressive feeling was a hundred times greater than when facing the Demonic Sect's Ancestor.

"Do something for me—pick any one of you, offer up their fleshly body for me to seize possession of and leave this place. Succeed, and I'll spare the rest of you."

Tian Xie's tone was flat, as if ordering a servant to bring tea.

"Don't even think about it! Every disciple of my Demonic Sect is a comrade of iron will. We will not allow an abyssal bastard like you to lay a finger on us!"

Mo Wudi's words were resolute, each syllable like iron.

"Heh... Once inside this cage, who do you think decides who is master?"

With a light flick of his sleeve, a blast of pitch-black demonic wind howled forth.

Wu Ming and the Demonic Sect disciples instantly felt their legs go weak, their spines turn to jelly. They thudded to their knees, even lifting a finger becoming a distant hope.

"What kind of evil sorcery is this!" Mo Wudi snarled hoarsely.

"Merely a casual flick. The gap in cultivation is too vast. Struggle? It only adds a bit of amusement before death."

Tian Xie sneered, his eyes devoid of any emotion—to him, the life and death of ants wasn't even worth pausing his breath for half a beat.

"Oh? That demonic wind of yours... can it actually move me?"

Jiang Chen suddenly smiled. His feet hadn't shifted, yet his voice was as steady as a rock.

...

Tian Xie's eyebrows raised slightly, his gaze fixing on Jiang Chen. "Hmm? Able to stand firm... What fine steel bones and iron sinews. Just what I need."

"You are the second person who wants to seize my body. The first one's grave grass is already three feet high."

Jiang Chen's tone was calm, yet it was like a cold blade slowly being drawn from its sheath.

"The weak die, the strong live—being chosen by a Demon is a fortune you've cultivated for three lifetimes. Don't waste your effort."

Tian Xie threw his head back and laughed uproariously, closing the distance step by step. With each step, the demonic might within him surged. Black energy surged like magma. Before three steps were complete, it had reached its peak! In that instant, bone-chilling demonic aura swept across the area. The air froze, souls trembled. The Demonic Sect members' teeth chattered, their internal organs screaming to flee, even their thoughts frozen and sluggish.

"Is this the true power of a Demon?... Lord Jiang Chen, now we can only rely on you. But the opponent is a Mystic Immortal-level Demon. I fear this place will be stained with blood."

Mo Wudi's voice trembled, his face ashen.

Although he had personally witnessed Jiang Chen's world-shaking method of crushing the Demonic Sect's Ancestor, this Tian Xie before him possessed an aura that surpassed a True Immortal—a genuine Mystic Immortal cultivation. The disparity was as vast as that between cloud and mud. If Jiang Chen failed, not a single bone fragment of anyone present would remain.

Wu Ming's face was also iron-gray. Beings of the Mystic Immortal level typically only moved within realms abundant in spiritual energy. How could one have fallen to such a barren minor star? And among Jiang Chen's past opponents, the strongest had only been True Immortals; he had never faced the pressure of a Mystic Immortal.

His heart pounded like a drum, worried both for Jiang Chen's safety and even more fearful for his own future—the Huangdao Sect's hopes of soaring to greatness all rested on Jiang Chen alone. If he fell, Wu Ming feared he wouldn't even qualify to be a sacrificial offering.