Chapter 360: Demonic Cultivators Infiltrate the Realm

Slipping the Golden Blood Essence Fig safely into a jade container inside his spatial ring, Shen Yu turned his attention toward the sprawling terrain ahead.

Meanwhile, nearly three hundred miles across the blood-soaked expanse of the realm, the stagnant air over a jagged ridge warped violently.

Four silhouettes cloaked in tattered, pitch-black robes stepped out from behind a colossal rib-cage formation, gathering together in a secluded ravine.

A thick, pungent demonic pressure rolled off their bodies, all four were demonic cultivators at the Early Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

One of them, a lanky, sickly thin man with hollow cheeks and pitch-black irises, let out a raspy, screeching chuckle.

"Finally, we have gathered together, hahahaha!" the thin man hissed, his voice grating like metal against bone.

"Our empire's blood array was truly able to bypass the ancient realm's restrictions and smuggle us inside! This time, those hypocritical righteous bastards are going to suffer. We and the others will butcher every last one of them, plunder their treasures, and conquer this entire realm for ourselves!"

"Hmph, don't waste time talking," a burly man with scarred forearms sneered, cracking his knuckles as black miasma hissed from his skin.

"The earlier we spill their blood, the faster our blood-refining arts advance. Let's move!"

"Kill every righteous dog on sight!" the other two chimed in, their eyes flashing with bloodthirsty glee.

Without lingering, the four demonic figures vanished into the crimson fog, embarking on a ruthless slaughter campaign.

Similar scenes were erupting simultaneously across every corner of the ancient domain.

Squads of hidden demonic cultivators appeared out of nowhere, ambushing isolated righteous teams, breaching ancient resource sites, and leaving trails of severed limbs and scorched blood in their wake.

At first, the righteous disciples from the various participating empires were caught completely off guard, suffering heavy casualties against the vicious, underhanded demonic arts.

However, as battered survivors fled and panic spread, word of the demonic infiltration ripped through the realm.

The remaining righteous cultivators quickly grew extremely vigilant, forming larger coalitions, setting defensive formations, and traveling with their guard raised to the absolute limit.

To Shen Yu, however, this sudden chaos was utterly inconsequential.

As one of the absolute strongest entities to step into this ancient domain, neither the righteous factions nor the hidden demonic squads posed any genuine threat to him.

During his sweeps across the region, he had briefly shed the guise of Shen Yu, reverting to his refined, elegant identity to interrogate a passing group of frightened disciples and extract the full picture of the realm's shifting landscape.

Once he had all the intelligence he needed, Shen Yu simply sneered.

Re-donning the dark, malevolent presence of Shen Yu, he continued his rampage across the marshlands, shamelessly plundering ancient spirit herbs, beast cores, and sacred altars from beasts and cultivators alike, reveling in the sheer, ruthless freedom of his demonic identity.

A week passed in a blur of relentless slaughter and plundering.

Shen Yu swept through nearly half the marshland like an unchecked calamity.

His primary spatial ring had long been crammed to its absolute limit with beast cores, ancient spiritual herbs, and rare artifacts; by now, he had slung several plundered spatial rings casually across his fingers.

Unlike his initial days as Shen Yu, where he openly unleashed a suffocating, late-stage demonic pressure, he had now dialed his presence back.

Activating the Void Concealment Bracelet, his leaked aura stabilized squarely at the 3rd Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The change was purely practical.

His earlier terrifying aura had made righteous factions scatter in panic before he could even close the distance, while wandering demonic cultivators gave him a wide berth. Scouring the massive realm alone was simply too inefficient.

By masking his true realm behind a modest Early-Stage facade, righteous hypocrites eagerly attacked him under the guise of "slaying demons," while greedy demonic cultivators rushed to prey on a lone target, only for all of them to be systematically butchered, their rings effortlessly absorbed into his collection.

On the seventh day, Shen Yu was casually strolling along a barren, blood-red volcanic ridge.

He tilted his wine gourd back, taking a leisurely, fiery swig beneath the sulfurous sky.

SWOOSH—!

Four distinct streaks of dark, malevolent Qi ripped through the dense crimson fog ahead, slamming aggressively onto the jagged ridge in a tight semi-circle that completely cut off his path.

Shen Yu lowered the gourd with unhurried grace, wiping a stray drop of liquor from his lip with the back of his thumb.

He casually retrieved a handful of Tier-1 Blood-Sun Sunflower Seeds from his pocket, spiritual seeds rich in raw baleful essence that aided the introductory cycles of the Asura Blood-Forging Sutra, and began cracking them between his teeth.

Standing before him was the same squad of demonic infiltrators.

The lanky, sickly thin man with pitch-black irises stood at the front, flanked by the burly, scarred brute and the remaining two Early-Stage cultivators.

Their robes were stiff with dried, crusty gore from a week of butchering righteous disciples, their eyes gleaming with predatory cruelty.

The sickly thin cultivator eyed Shen Yu's lone figure.

He noted the authentic, dark miasma swirling around him, pinpointing his cultivation at the 3rd Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Yet, what made the thin leader pause was Shen Yu's sheer nonchalance.

Surrounded by four demonic cultivators of equal apparent cultivation, the man hadn't flinched, he was simply standing there, cracking sunflower seeds as if watching street performers.

'A lone rogue cultivator at the 3rd Stage who doesn't even blink? He must have a lethal trump card,' the thin man deduced inwardly, suppressing his initial murderous intent and quickly replacing his cruel sneer with a raspy, welcoming grin.

"Hahaha! Finally, a fellow daoist of the sacred path!" the lanky man chuckled, his voice grating like metal against bone as he cupped his hands.

"Brother, you have fortunate timing. We four have just discovered an ancient hidden trial sealed deep within the volcanic caldera ahead. The restriction explicitly requires five demonic cultivators to channel their Qi and unlock the vault. Since fate has brought us together, why not join us to claim the supreme inheritance inside?"

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