Chapter 361: Blood Nether Celestial

At this thought, Blood Nether Celestial couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. It was a good thing he had casually placed a restriction back then. Otherwise, if any crucial information had leaked, it would have been detrimental to the plans of the Demon Race.

‘It’s just a shame about Wu Qianlong, that pawn,’ Blood Nether Celestial muttered to himself.

Tongxuan Realm experts of the Human Race were relatively rare, and those who worked for Demon Fiends were rarer still.

Although Wu Qianlong had fallen, it didn’t mean the Blood Sacrifice plan couldn’t be executed.

As long as he performed a blood sacrifice with the tens of millions of people in Lingxiao City, his power would surely break through to the Realm of Harmonization. Who would be able to stop him then!

At this thought, a wisp of Demonic Qi unconsciously seeped from Blood Nether Celestial, causing the void around him to collapse and shatter. He emanated a terrifying Demonic Power comparable to the Tongxuan Mastery Peak!

Furthermore, with the formidable Physique and immense life force of a Demon Fiend, even an ordinary Half-Step Harmonization powerhouse would be unable to stop him.

“A report, Lord Xue!”

Suddenly, a crisp voice traveled in from outside the cave residence.

Blood Nether Celestial’s scarlet eyes narrowed. He spoke softly, “Open!”

The cave’s layers of Arrays parted. A man in a black shirt with an ordinary face, his body radiating a terrifying Demonic Qi, rode a stream of light and instantly arrived inside. He then knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and clasped his fists, speaking respectfully.

“My lord, the Array is ready. Shall we inform Wu Qianlong and begin the blood sacrifice?”

Blood Nether Celestial rose and slowly walked before the black-shirted man. He stared at the kneeling man who radiated Demonic Qi, then turned away, clasped his hands behind his back, and said flatly, “Wu Qianlong is dead.”

The black-shirted man kneeling on the ground looked shocked. He said in disbelief, “Wu Qianlong is dead?!”

“Then… my lord, without Wu Qianlong as our inside man, should we still proceed with the Blood Sacrifice plan?”

Blood Nether Celestial spun around, his scarlet eyes fixed on the man. “Don’t be ridiculous!” he barked.

“Just because we’ve lost Wu Qianlong as our inside man, does that mean the Blood Sacrifice plan can’t be carried out?”

“Say that again, and you can spend three days in the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons.”

The black-shirted man’s face instantly filled with terror.

‘The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons? Forget a Demon Fiend like him with only a Half-Step Tongxuan Cultivation. Even an ordinary Tongxuan Realm Demon Fiend couldn’t endure that hellhole, let alone him. One trip there would be a death sentence. It’s not just the Human Race that fears death; Demon Fiends are no exception. In fact, they cherish their lives even more.’

“This lowly one knows his crime! Please punish me, my lord!”

The black-shirted man began kowtowing forcefully, smashing his forehead against the floor again and again. Dark red demon blood trickled from his brow. He was truly being cruel to himself.

Blood Nether Celestial watched him with his scarlet eyes, then raised a hand slightly. “Enough,” he said flatly.

“I hereby appoint you as the Array Starter.”

“Send word.”

“The Blood Sacrifice plan will be executed one month from now.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The black-shirted man spoke respectfully, his fists clasped.

Then, he transformed into a stream of light and withdrew.

Blood Nether Celestial clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head up slightly. His scarlet eyes gazed in the direction the man had departed, his vision piercing through layer after layer of the void, as if he could see the boundless, starry cosmos.

‘My Lord Demon Lord, when will you finally decide to prepare a large-scale invasion of this world?’

…

「Meanwhile.」

Within Lingxiao City, the sky was dim and heavy, a vast expanse of oppressive blackness that seemed ready to collapse, instilling a sense of endless dread in all who saw it.

In the northwest of the city, amidst the ruins of the Du Mansion,

“Thank you for saving me, fellow Daoist, and for slaying that traitor Wu Qianlong who colluded with the Demon Fiends. This is a great service. You could claim a reward from the Holy Sect for it.” After managing to stabilize his grievous injuries, Du Yuan spoke respectfully to Gu Yun.

‘A reward from the Holy Sect?’ Gu Yun thought, his expression unreadable.

‘If they knew I’d also killed Feng Xiu, a Peak Master of the Celestial Refining Demon Sect, I wonder how they would react.’

“There’s no need for a reward.” Gu Yun shook his head gently. Then he asked quietly, “Regarding Wu Qianlong’s collusion with the Demon Fiends, how much do you know?”

“It’s a long story. Please, fellow Daoist, come with me to Baiyujing.

I can explain everything in detail there.” A faint smile appeared on Du Yuan’s aged face as he spoke.

Gu Yun saw a green light, thick with Dao Rhythm, emanating from the other man’s broken body as it worked to heal his wounds. That he was willing to delay his treatment to explain the situation, despite his severe injuries, was a clear sign of his sincerity.

Gu Yun nodded slightly in agreement.

“However, before we go, please wait a moment, fellow Daoist. Allow me to eliminate this ambitious traitor of a clansman who betrayed me.” A sharp glint flashed in Du Yuan’s weathered eyes as he spoke, his voice chilling.

His icy voice caused the temperature of the surroundings to plummet, as if they had entered a world of frost. The air became thick with a towering killing intent.

Gu Yun’s gaze swept indifferently over to Du Pengfei, whose face was now a mask of terror. “Go ahead,” Gu Yun said calmly.

“You beast. Are you disappointed that I didn’t die?” A murderous glint appeared in Du Yuan’s weathered eyes. He spoke with venom, “In my entire life, I have hated nothing more than traitors. For an ambitious wolf like you to backstab me and collude with outsiders… that is a hatred beyond all others.”

“An… Ancestor! Spare me, Ancestor! I was bewitched by that Wu Qianlong!” Du Pengfei stammered, his face a mask of terror as he watched the scene unfold.

“You can save those words for King Yama!” As his voice fell, a cold light glinted in Du Yuan’s eyes. Dao Rhythm swirled around him as Magical Power surged through his body. He stretched his hand out, fingers spread, and thrust his palm forward.

In an instant, immense Magical Power condensed into a sky-blotting Palm Seal. The seal pulsed with Dao Rhythm and emanated an endless, majestic light. It crushed the space before it as it descended upon Du Pengfei with world-ending force!

“Ancestor, I… I was wrong.” Du Pengfei stared up at the giant Palm Seal. The profound, intricate patterns within it seemed to contain an entire world, bearing down on him with supreme might. His pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks.

This strike, filled with the Divine Power of an enraged Tongxuan Middle Stage expert, contained a monstrous might. An invisible, terrifying pressure locked onto him, making it impossible to dodge. It was simply not something a Cultivator who had yet to reach the Tongxuan Realm could possibly withstand.

In a flash, the sky-blotting Palm Seal, filled with profound runes and radiating a terrifying Dao Rhythm, was upon him.

BAM!!

In the next instant, the Palm Seal, suffused with supreme Dao Rhythm, utterly obliterated Du Pengfei’s body, leaving not even a speck of dust behind as he was annihilated into the void. The seal then slammed into the earth below, creating a Heaven-Reaching boom and leaving behind a massive crater shrouded in thick dust.

…

「Three days later.」 In the center of Lingxiao City stood a magnificent twelve-story tower that seemed to rise straight from the earth. It was a place of carved railings and jade masonry, of green tiles and vermilion eaves. A plaque was inscribed with the flamboyant calligraphy of the name ‘Baiyujing’. The entire structure resembled a divine dragon soaring into the clouds, majestic beyond compare!

Now, in a private room on the twelfth floor, Gu Yun and Du Yuan were in conversation.

“So, you also discovered Wu Qianlong’s collusion with the Demon Fiends by chance, and you don’t know where that particular Demon Fiend is located?” Gu Yun asked after they had been talking for some time.

Du Yuan nodded slightly. “Yes. I happened to be in the Qiu Long Mountain Range when I stumbled upon him colluding with a Demon Fiend. It seemed they were plotting against Lingxiao City.”

‘It seems he doesn’t know the location of that terrifying Demon Fiend, Blood Nether Celestial, that I learned about from Wu Qianlong’s memories,’ Gu Yun thought.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Gu Yun’s brow furrowed slightly. His Divine Sense, which covered a three-thousand-li radius, seemed to have detected something. He said to Du Yuan, “Please wait a moment, fellow Daoist. I must step out.”

The moment his voice fell, Gu Yun vanished from the spot.

At that moment, in a bustling market street in Lingxiao City, the crowd flowed like a tide amidst the busy traffic and the constant shouts of vendors.

A man with an ordinary face, dressed in a black shirt and exuding no discernible aura, stepped into the street. He was utterly unremarkable, blending in perfectly with the teeming crowd.

‘What a pity. Once the Blood Sacrifice Array is activated,’

‘a city so full of life will be transformed into a veritable ghost town,’ the black-shirted man thought to himself.

Hm? Suddenly, after taking just a few more steps, his pupils contracted. A sudden sense of unease washed over him.

The next moment, he was suddenly seized by an impossibly vast power. His vision went black. The world spun around him, and then he found himself high up in the sky.

When he opened his eyes, a figure appeared before him: a man in a white robe with a handsome face, wreathed in Dao Rhythm and radiating a terrifying aura.

“You have some nerve, daring to sneak into the city,” Gu Yun said flatly, looking at the ordinary-faced man before him.

‘If it weren’t for my profound familiarity with the aura of Demon Fiends, coupled with my incredibly powerful Divine Sense, I might have actually been fooled.’

“Who… are you? Why did you bring me here?” the black-shirted man asked, his head bowed and his voice trembling.

Hearing this, a sharp light glinted in Gu Yun’s eyes. A cold, menacing smile spread across his face as his majestic voice, imbued with Dao Rhythm, boomed:

“Look at me!

Bastard!”