In Iron Town, become a miner

The Black Volcano Mountain Range, as its name suggests, presented a scorched black color, and the air was perennially filled with the pungent smell of sulfur mixed with blood. This was an important territory of the Blood Crow Tribe, with rich Blood Marrow Ore Veins hidden deep within the mountains, serving as a crucial source of cultivation resources for the tribe.

Molten Iron Town was situated at the foot of the Black Volcano. Rather than a town, it was more like a massive, chaotic mining camp. Crude stone houses and tents were haphazardly crammed together, and the streets were filled with various Yao Race members, covered in dark red ore dust and exuding a fierce aura. Besides the smell of sulfur, the air was thick with sweat, Evil Qi, and a faint, almost imperceptible scent of despair.

Nightmare and his group restrained their auras, disguised themselves as rogue demons seeking a livelihood, and blended into Molten Iron Town. In the center of the town was an open space, where a long queue had formed. At the front of the line, several Yao Race members, dressed in Blood Crow Tribe totem garments and with stern expressions, were registering and screening miners.

The conditions were indeed as "lenient" as they had heard, or rather, crude. They didn't inquire about origins; one only needed to withstand the Evil Qi pressure released by a Blood Crow warrior and be able to crush a low-grade Blood Marrow Ore with bare hands to be hired. Those who failed would either be lightly injured and thrown out, or severely, have their heart meridians shattered by the Evil Qi pressure and die.

The line moved quickly, with Yao Race members constantly passing or falling.

When it was Nightmare's turn, the Blood Crow warrior responsible for the test impatiently released his Golden Core-level Evil Qi pressure. This pressure would be fatal to ordinary Yao Race members, but to Nightmare, it was like a gentle breeze. He didn't even bother to change his expression, casually picked up a Blood Marrow Ore from beside him, and with a slight squeeze, crushed it into powder.

The Blood Crow warrior looked at him in surprise, seemingly not expecting this seemingly unstrong "Snake Demon" to possess such strength and resistance. He nodded and tossed him a bone tablet engraved with a number: "Go wait over there! Next!"

Mo Yuan and the others also easily passed the test. For them, Demonic Cultivators, resisting Evil Qi was a basic skill.

Soon, this batch of nearly a hundred newly recruited miners was led by a Blood Crow Yao Race member, who looked like an overseer, towards the depths of the mountain range.

The scenery along the way became increasingly desolate and oppressive. The ground was dark red, vegetation was scarce, with only some strange, Evil Qi-resistant shrubs. Huge mine entrances, like the gaping mouths of Vicious Beasts, dotted the mountainside, and the clanging sounds of mining and painful groans continuously echoed from deep within.

They were led to a massive mine pit. The pit entrance exuded a nauseatingly thick Evil Qi, even forming a faint red mist. From the depths of the pit, heart-stopping roars and the dragging sound of chains faintly emanated.

"This is Mine Pit Number Seven! From now on, you'll be working here!" The overseer said coldly, pointing to a pile of rusty pickaxes and baskets nearby. "The daily quota is to dig a full basket of Medium Grade Blood Marrow Stone! Fail to complete it, no food! Laziness, death! Attempt to escape, death!"

After speaking, he roughly herded them down into the mine pit.

The mine pit was extremely deep, and the light was dim, with only some moss emitting a faint red glow on the pit walls providing illumination. The further down they went, the denser the Evil Qi became, even starting to erode their Physical Bodies and Divine Souls. Many of the accompanying Yao Race members were already breathing rapidly, their faces showing signs of pain.

Nightmare, however, was in his element. The Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture quietly circulated, frantically devouring the Evil Qi here, which in turn replenished his consumption and nourished his Demonic Body. Mo Yuan and the others could also still endure.

At the bottom of the pit was a huge mining face, where many gaunt, expressionless old miners were mechanically swinging their pickaxes. Nearby, several Blood Crow overseers with fierce expressions patrolled, holding blood whips. If they saw someone moving slowly, they would lash out with a whip, leaving deep bloody marks.

Nightmare and the others were assigned areas and began to work.

Mining was not easy. Blood Marrow Stone was incredibly hard, and the Evil Qi it contained would rebound, consuming a great deal of physical strength. But for Nightmare, this was not a problem at all. He seemingly casually swung his pickaxe, yet he could precisely locate the ore vein nodes, working with high efficiency.

His primary focus was not on mining, but on quietly spreading out his Divine Sense, carefully probing the mine pit, especially in the direction from which the roars emanated.

His Divine Sense penetrated layers of rock walls and soon discovered a clue. At the deepest part of this mine pit, there was actually another hidden, narrow passage leading downwards! The passage entrance had Restriction fluctuations, and two Blood Crow warriors at the Late Golden Core Stage were guarding it!

And those unsettling roars and chain sounds were coming from below the passage! Furthermore, Nightmare could feel that the closer he got to that passage, the purer the Evil Qi in the air became, even mixed with an extremely faint trace of... aura originating from the "blood resentment mud"!

"As expected, there's a secret..." Nightmare thought to himself. This passage likely led to a place closer to the Myriad Demon Blood Pool, or was directly a branch or leakage point of the Blood Pool!

Over the next few days, Nightmare worked while disguised as an ordinary miner, secretly observing. He found that every so often, a team of Blood Crow warriors would escort several dying miners, seemingly drained of too much essence and spirit, into that passage, and they were never seen again. The passage guards would also rotate periodically.

He also noticed that the head overseer in the mine pit, a one-eyed Early Nascent Soul Stage Blood Crow demon cultivator, would personally enter the passage once every three days. Each time he emerged, his aura would subtly strengthen, as if he had gained some benefit from below.

"It seems there's not only a secret down there but also something that can rapidly increase cultivation..." A glint flashed in Nightmare's eyes. This might be his opportunity.

He needed to find a suitable time to replace them or sneak in.

The opportunity soon arrived.

On this day, a violent tremor and chaotic roars suddenly came from the depths of the mine pit! It seemed something had gone wrong below the passage!

"Oh no! That beast is going crazy again! Quickly reinforce the Restriction!" The guards at the passage entrance shouted in panic.

The one-eyed head overseer's expression changed, and he immediately rushed into the passage with several of his trusted subordinates!

The other overseers in the mine pit also became nervous, all scolding the miners to stay away from the passage area.

A light flashed in Nightmare's eyes—now was the time!

Taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly performed his Demonic Technique, his figure seemingly merging into the shadows, avoiding all sight, and like a phantom, he arrived near the passage entrance.

The two Golden Core guards were fully focused on maintaining the turbulent Restriction, completely unable to spare any attention for anything else.

Nightmare simply raised his hand, and two almost imperceptible Soul Shattering Finger winds shot out.

Puff! Puff!

The two guards' bodies stiffened, their eyes instantly dimmed, and they silently slumped down, their Divine Souls already annihilated.

Nightmare quickly dragged the two corpses into the shadows and disposed of them. Then, he mimicked the aura of one of the demons, put on his armor, and stood at the passage entrance. The entire process was as fast as lightning, unnoticed amidst the chaos.

A moment later, the vibrations within the passage subsided.

The one-eyed overseer emerged with a few of his subordinates, grumbling and cursing. They seemed to have resolved the problem, but all of them looked somewhat disheveled and bore injuries.

"Damn it! That beast is getting harder and harder to suppress! Next sacrifice, we must increase the blood food..." The one-eyed overseer spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

Just then, his gaze swept across the passage entrance and narrowed slightly: "Hmm? Why are you the only one left? Where's Ala?"

The guard Nightmare was impersonating lowered his head and replied hoarsely with a simulated voice: "Reporting, sir, Brother Ala said his stomach hurt just now and went to relieve himself, asking this junior to cover for a while."

The one-eyed overseer didn't doubt him, cursed, "Lazy donkey, always needing to pee and poop when it's time to work!" and then left with his men.

Nightmare successfully passed the test, a cold sneer in his heart. Standing at the passage entrance, he could more clearly feel the pure and violent Evil Qi energy surging from below, as well as that familiar blood resentment mud aura.

"Sacrifice? Blood food? Beast?" He pondered the one-eyed overseer's words, wondering what was imprisoned below.

Over the next few days, Nightmare used his disguise as a guard to investigate more conveniently. Through indirect questioning and casual chats with other guards, he gradually pieced together some information.

Below the passage, it did not lead directly to the Myriad Demon Blood Pool, but rather imprisoned a defective ancient Blood Beast that had escaped from the depths of the Blood Pool! It was said that this beast possessed a faint ancient Vicious Beast Bloodline, was bloodthirsty and violent, and was imprisoned here by the Blood Crow Tribe. They regularly fed it miners as blood food, and at the same time, utilized the pure Evil Qi it emitted to refine a special blood crystal, which greatly benefited the Blood Crow Tribe's cultivation.

And that "blood resentment mud" was formed by the beast's excrement mixed with the mine pit's Evil Qi. Occasionally, some miners would find it, but most considered it ominous and discarded it.

"Ancient Blood Beast? Defective? blood crystal?" Thoughts raced through Nightmare's mind. This Blood Beast could access the Myriad Demon Blood Pool, and its excrement could even form blood resentment mud. Then, perhaps, it itself... knew more secrets about the core of the Blood Pool? Or even... could its blood or Soul fragments serve as a medium to find karma mud?

A bold plan formed in his mind.

He needed to go down and meet this Blood Beast! Perhaps, he could find a shortcut to the core of the Myriad Demon Blood Pool from it!

He patiently waited for the next opportunity to "feed blood food."

Three days later, the opportunity arrived.

The one-eyed overseer once again selected several miners who looked extremely weak, preparing to escort them down the passage.

Nightmare volunteered: "Sir, let this junior go today. It's a good chance to stretch my limbs."

The one-eyed overseer glanced at him and nodded: "Alright. Be careful, that beast seems particularly agitated today."

Nightmare lowered his head, escorting the few despairing miners, step by step towards the deep, blood-scented passage.

The passage sloped downwards, becoming increasingly damp and hot. The walls were covered with dark red moss and congealed blood scabs. The nauseating stench and a violent pressure grew stronger and stronger.

Finally, a massive underground grotto appeared ahead.

In the center of the grotto, there was a huge Blood Pool, with blood plasma churning and bubbling within. And in the center of the Blood Pool, a colossal, strangely shaped beast was imprisoned!

The beast was covered in dark red scales, shaped like a lizard, but with three hideous heads and six eyes flashing with mad, bloody light! Its four limbs and neck were tightly bound by thick, black chains inscribed with runes, and its shoulder blades were pierced by huge iron hooks, yet it still struggled wildly, letting out deafening roars that shook the entire grotto!

A thick, almost palpable Evil Qi and resentment emanated from its body!

This was the imprisoned ancient Blood Beast!

Seeing someone enter, the Blood Beast's three heads turned simultaneously, its six blood-red eyes bursting with greedy and tyrannical light, struggling even more violently, making the chains clatter!

"Throw them in!" A Golden Core guard leading the group shouted sharply, seemingly not daring to stay any longer.

The few miners were so frightened they collapsed to the ground, crying and begging for mercy.

A cold light flashed in Nightmare's eyes.

Now!

He struck fiercely, moving with lightning speed! His Soul Shattering Finger continuously struck, instantly killing all the accompanying Blood Crow guards!

Then, he looked at the Human Race miners, casually unleashed a burst of Demonic Essence, knocking them unconscious, and dragged them to a corner, temporarily sparing their lives.

Finally, his gaze fell upon the imprisoned ancient Blood Beast, which exuded a terrifying aura.

The Blood Beast also seemed to sense something unusual about this "little bug." Its three heads stopped roaring, and its six blood-red eyes stared intently at him, emitting threatening growls from its throat.

Nightmare slowly walked towards the Blood Pool, no longer concealing the Demonic Qi around him. The terrifying pressure of his Late Nascent Soul Stage, mixed with the strange power of the rule fragment, erupted violently, standing against the Blood Beast's ferocious might!

"Beast, do you want freedom?" Nightmare looked at the Blood Beast's eyes, filled with madness and pain, his voice carrying an alluring demonic charm, "Or do you want... revenge?"