Chapter 361: Never Trust Demons

Shen Yu spat a seed husk onto the volcanic stone, his blood-red eyes narrowing slightly as a sharp, mocking amusement flickered beneath his gaze.

"Five people, you say?" Shen Yu murmured, tossing another seed into his mouth.

"And how do you plan to divide the spoils once the seal breaks?"

The burly brute stepped forward with an ugly grin, a subtle, venomous glint flickering across his eyes.

"Naturally, we split it equally among sacred brethren! Five keys, five equal shares. A secret realm left by ancient demonic seniors surely holds enough harvest to elevate all of us."

Shen Yu's lips curled into a cold, mocking smirk, instantly seeing through the four wolves attempting to lure him into a sacrificial slaughter.

Shen Yu had walked the demonic path longer than these juniors' ancestors had drawn breath.

In his past life, he had witnessed, and orchestrated, every treacherous scheme the blood paths had to offer.

If the demonic path taught a cultivator a single absolute truth, it was this: never trust anyone who walks it.

The demonic dao was forged in unadulterated ruthlessness.

If butchering an oath-sworn brother yielded a single breakthrough pill or an extra scrap of cultivation resources, a true demonic cultivator wouldn't hesitate for half a heartbeat.

That was the unvarnished reality of the path. In his past life, Shen Yu had never bothered forming fragile alliances, he was a lone wolf through and through, trusting only the absolute power within his own grasp.

Watching these four brats attempt such clumsy, transparent schemes before him felt almost charmingly nostalgic.

To them, he was the unsuspecting fifth key, and the first fat lamb marked for slaughter the exact moment the vault doors cracked open.

"Lead the way, then," Shen Yu said, his smirk widening as he tucked his wine gourd into his sash.

"Let us see what this trial of yours has to offer."

The lanky leader's grin widened, revealing a row of jagged, yellowed teeth.

"Brother is indeed a straightforward man! Follow us closely, the volcanic terrain is treacherous," the thin man rasped, turning on his heel to lead the way down the narrow, jagged ridge.

The burly brute and the other two cultivators fell into formation around Shen Yu, their movements appearing casual on the surface, yet subtly cutting off his flanking routes.

Subtle, predatory glances passed between the four men, silent messages confirming their unspoken scheme.

To them, this lone wanderer was merely walking straight to his own funeral.

Shen Yu walked leisurely at the center of their loose perimeter, chewing on his sunflower seeds with complete, arrogant indifference.

His spirit sense was far broader and sharper than theirs; every slight shift in their breathing, the minute Qi fluctuations in their meridians, and the faint, blood-soaked talismans hidden beneath their sleeves were laid bare before his senses.

Walking through the dense, boiling sulfur fog, the group descended into the heart of the volcanic caldera.

The temperature spiked dramatically. Boiling scarlet magma bubbled in jagged trenches along the crater floor, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the towering basalt walls.

At the deepest recess of the caldera stood a colossal, pitch-black stone gate carved directly into the volcanic rock.

Etched on the ground before the black stone gate were five serpentine grooves leading to five distinct palm-shaped indentations, each glowing with faint, blood-red ancient runes.

"Here it is," the lanky leader announced, stepping in front of the gate with an excited glint in his pitch-black eyes.

"The Asura Blood-Seal Gate. According to the ancient inscriptions, all five indentations must be supplied with pure demonic Qi simultaneously to break the outer ward."

The burly brute walked to the far-left indentation, while the other two positioned themselves on the adjacent slots.

"Brother, take the central formation eye," the thin man said, pointing toward the deepest indentation in the middle.

His tone was smooth, yet an undercurrent of coiled tension betrayed his eagerness.

"Once the barrier opens, the primary treasures inside will naturally be yours to view first!"

Shen Yu strode toward the central node, his boots clicking crisp and steady against the scorched basalt.

Watching him step directly into the focal point, the lanky cultivator sneered inwardly.

'Heh, even if you hold some hidden trump card, you fool, we've already laid a binding formation beneath your feet. You're as good as dead.'

Smoothing his face into a polite, respectful facade, the thin man urged, "Brother, you only need to channel your Qi into the array, and the seal will unlock."

Behind his back, the other three men subtly shifted their weight.

Their muscles coiled beneath their tattered robes, prepared to unleash a coordinated lethal barrage the exact moment he committed his spiritual energy to the gate.

Hovering his hand an inch above the cold stone indentation, Shen Yu didn't immediately inject his Qi.

His crimson eyes scanned the intricate patterns carved into the rock.

Though array formations were far from his primary specialty, his vast experience allowed him to discern the sinister nature of the runic matrix in a single glance.

This was no unlocking mechanism, it was a vicious blood-tribute lock.

The moment an unsuspecting victim pumped their energy inside, the array would latch onto their meridians like a ravenous parasite, draining their cultivation dry before devouring their marrow and blood essence to pry the gate open.

A chilling smirk touched Shen Yu's lips.

He slowly turned his head, his glowing, blood-red eyes locking directly onto the thin leader.

"You truly believed this transparent little trick of yours was clever, didn't you?" Shen Yu murmured, his voice dripping with venomous amusement.

The lanky cultivator's polite smile instantly froze on his face.

"Brother... what are you—"

BOOM——!

Before the excuse could leave his mouth, the air in the caldera exploded into a tempest of raw, suffocating slaughter intent.

The Void Concealment Bracelet broke its suppression, instantly shattering the modest 3rd-Stage facade.

The catastrophic pressure of a Peak 9th-Stage Foundation Establishment powerhouse detonated outward like an unchained apocalyptic storm.

The overwhelming gravity of his aura slammed into the four demonic cultivators like a collapsing mountain.

CRACK— THUD!

Their knees violently fractured the stone floor beneath them, driving them straight into the dirt as their internal organs shuddered under the sheer, suffocating weight.

"A-A Peak Stage monster?!" the burly brute shrieked, terror strangling his throat as every drop of blood in his body turned to ice.