266: Blood Tempering Pool of Ten Thousand Demons

After bidding farewell to Yun Xuanxuan, they left the yellow sand-shrouded valley.

Ye Hao and his companion returned to Guiyan Inn in Yunxi City.

After a brief rest, Ye Hao immediately rushed to the ferry and found Steward Song, the ferry manager, to entrust him with delivering a handwritten letter to his Revered Master.

The letter detailed the disturbances in the Rain God Continent and the fact that an army of hundreds of thousands from the Yao Race was pressing upon the borders, making it easier for his Revered Master to prepare in advance.

Although he also had message talismans, those made of ordinary materials could only be used within a single province and had many limitations. If one used talismans made from high-quality thousand-year-old peach wood paper, messages could be sent across provinces. However, who would use such a precious item to draw the most basic message talisman?

Having settled the matter of the letter, the two made a special trip to the Tianque Sect to gather information.

As one of the Three Great Sects of the Rain God Continent, the Tianque Sect's intelligence network spanned the entire province, and they were bound to have a clear understanding of the movements on the Demon Race Continent. After some investigation, although they didn't obtain more core secrets, it confirmed Fang Ningyan's words: the Yao Race was coming with aggressive intent this time, far beyond any ordinary conflict in the past... Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Today was the day to go to the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool for tempering.

Ye Hao and Li Pingan arrived at the first Demon Suppressing Tower on time. The Arena Stage, which used to be filled with the deafening sounds of slaughter, was now silent. It wasn't that the Cultivators participating in the trial had fled after hearing rumors, but rather that the demon-slaying trial had a fixed duration.

Although there were many Yao Race members imprisoned in the Demon Suppressing Tower—tens of thousands—they could not withstand the day-to-day consumption.

The one responsible for receiving Ye Hao and his companion was still the same Arena Stage Elder from before.

The one responsible for receiving them was still that same Arena Stage Elder. Seeing Ye Hao and Li Pingan arrive, he hurried forward with cupped hands and a respectful tone: "Young Master Ye, Young Master Li, please come inside!"

After saying that, he led the two toward the depths of the pavilion.

The ten thousand demon blood quenching pool here was located on the third floor of the pavilion.

Along the way, the Elder led the way while solemnly cautioning them: "Young Masters, this ten thousand demon essence blood contains the violent aura and remnant wills of countless Yao Race members. Those with weak Divine Souls will easily have their minds eroded by evil thoughts once immersed, turning into bloodthirsty demons who only know slaughter. Even if one's Divine Soul is stable, one must rely on great perseverance to resist the violent aura in the blood; there must not be the slightest relaxation."

"When you are immersed, you must focus your entire mind and soul on your own Divine Soul to resist the erosion of the blood quenching pool. You must not be careless."

"Otherwise, it is very likely that an Opportunity will turn into a disaster, which would not be ideal!"

These words were exactly the same as what Zhao Jingchen had mentioned during their chat inside the Demon Suppressing Tower previously.

Ye Hao nodded slightly and thanked him with cupped hands: "Thank you for the advice, Senior. This Junior will keep it in mind."

The Elder smiled and waved his hand: "You two have extraordinary talent, even slaying demons across cultivation realms is no problem for you. I expect the trial of the blood quenching pool will not stump you either."

While speaking, the three had already reached a heavy door on the third floor.

Besides them, three other people were standing outside the door!

One of them was the woman Ye Hao and his companion had met once before at the Arena Stage, while the other two were young men with extraordinary appearances and temperaments.

Tiangong Pavilion—Yu Qingyan!

She was dressed in a pale purple palace dress with intricate cloud patterns embroidered on the hem, shimmering with light as she moved. The woman was beautiful, with eyebrows like distant mountains and eyes like autumn waters. She was surrounded by an innate aura of nobility, clearly a Fairy-level figure pursued by thousands.

The other two young men were Prodigy Disciples from the Five Elders Gate.

The two glanced at Ye Hao and Li Pingan without lingering. Their eyes held a trace of subtle arrogance, and they occasionally stole glances at Yu Qingyan from the corners of their eyes, clearly harboring admiration for this Tiangong Pavilion Fairy.

However, Yu Qingyan never looked at them once from beginning to end. Even though they were the favored sons of one of the Three Great Sects of the Rain God Continent, she didn't care at all.

This wasn't arrogance, but the confidence granted by her strength and background. Behind the Tiangong Pavilion sat the Heavenly Venerable Mogong, making it one of the top powers on the Nine Provinces Continent. Looking at the entire cultivation world, there were very few people who could make her take notice.

However, as Ye Hao and his companion approached, Yu Qingyan's gaze subconsciously swept over, and a flash of surprise crossed her clear eyes.

She remembered that they were the ones who had slain demons across realms on the Arena Stage that day.

But... it was only a single glance before she withdrew her gaze.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Elder said no more and lightly pushed the heavy stone door. With a muffled "rumble," the stone door slowly opened inward.

In an instant!

A thick, pungent smell of blood mixed with a primitive, violent aura rushed toward them, causing the five to subconsciously furrow their brows.

Stepping inside the stone door, the scene before them was startling.

This was an extremely spacious stone room, with walls made of an unknown ink-black rock.

In the center of the stone room was a blood pool about several zhang wide, filled with a thick, dark red liquid like syrup—the ten thousand demon essence blood. Small bubbles gurgled on the surface of the blood pool, and whenever a bubble burst, one could vaguely see a distorted phantom of a demon soul, accompanied by faint roars that made one's Divine Soul tighten.

In the center of the blood pool, five smooth green stone platforms were placed, clearly intended for people to sit cross-legged while undergoing Body Tempering and immersion.

"This is the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool."

The Elder walked to the edge of the blood pool and pointed at the essence blood inside, saying, "The essence blood in this pool is condensed from powerful Yao Race members slain by successive generations of the Demon Suppressing Tower."

Of course, much of it was also essence blood taken from the Yao Race imprisoned on the upper floors.

He turned to look at the five and said solemnly, "It is best to immerse oneself in this ten thousand demon blood quenching pool for one day. This allows for the absorption of enough essence Qi to temper the Physical Body while minimizing the risk of erosion by the violent aura. Of course, if your Divine Soul is strong enough and your perseverance is firm enough, the longer you stay, the better the results. You will be able to absorb more Demonic Power and essence Qi, and the tempering effect on your Physical Body will be increasingly significant."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Qingyan took a step forward, her pale purple skirt moving slightly as her cold voice rang out:

"May I ask, Senior, what is the longest time a Cultivator has ever immersed themselves in this ten thousand demon blood quenching pool?"

Upon hearing this, the Elder slowly replied, "The longest was for two days. The one who achieved this feat was the Xuanxu Tower Master eighty years ago."

Seeming worried that they might underestimate this extra day, the Elder added: "Do not look down on this mere extra half-day. The danger of this ten thousand demon blood quenching pool increases exponentially with the duration of immersion. During the first day, the violent aura and remnant wills in the essence blood can still be barely suppressed. But once the one-day limit is passed, those suppressed demon soul resentments become increasingly frenzied, like Vicious Beasts breaking free from their shackles, madly attacking the Divine Soul of the one immersed."

"When the Xuanxu Tower Master had been immersed for one day, he was already covered in blood, with blood seeping from his seven orifices, and his Divine Soul was shaking so much it almost dissipated."

"But he persisted in the blood pool for another day relying on his extraordinary willpower. During that day, the demon soul phantoms in the blood pool roared and lunged madly, and countless violent auras poured into his body through his pores, attempting to erode his mind and destroy his Physical Body."

"It is said that at that time, the Tower Master thought the Xuanxu Tower Master wouldn't make it, but in the end, he endured."

Yu Qingyan nodded and cupped her hands, "Thank you for informing me, Senior."