Chapter 362: Four Sacrifices

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

The crushing weight of Shen Yu’s killing intent flattened the bubbling sulfur fumes, pinning the four demonic cultivators ruthlessly against the jagged basalt floor.

Dark blood trickled freely from their nostrils and lips under the sheer, suffocating spiritual suppression.

“Activate the array! KILL HIM!” the lanky leader shrieked, his voice turning shrill as he violently bit down on the tip of his tongue, spitting a mouthful of hot blood essence onto the hidden runes beneath his palms.

HUMMM—!

The trap array concealed beneath the stone flared with a sickly, corrupt green light.

Dozens of shadowy, barbed tendrils sprouted from the floor, whipping through the air to bind Shen Yu’s limbs and drag him into the sacrificial lock.

Shen Yu didn’t even flinch. His expression remained utterly bored as he lifted his right boot and stomped down.

BOOM!

A concussive pulse of pure, refined Qi ripped through the bedrock.

The emerald trap formation shattered like cheap porcelain, its runes dissolving into dull smoke.

Yet, despite the terrifying force that cratered the surrounding stone, the ancient indentations on the Asura Blood-Seal Gate remained entirely pristine, completely unfazed by the localized tremor.

“P-Paralyzing Shadow Array… shattered with a single stomp?!” The lanky cultivator coughed up a clump of clotted black gore, his eyes bulging in unadulterated horror.

“Is this the extent of your grand scheme?” Shen Yu sneered, his crimson eyes gleaming with cruel amusement as he closed the distance with slow, predatory steps.

“A counterfeit binding formation and a blood-tribute lock? Truly, the caliber of demonic scions has fallen straight into the gutter.”

“Mercy! Senior, spare us!” the burly brute cried out, his previous arrogance entirely erased as he slammed his forehead repeatedly against the scorched basalt, cracking the rock beneath his brow.

“We were blind! We have gathered dozens of spirit herbs and spatial rings from the righteous factions, we will offer every single scrap to Senior!”

“Keep your trash,” Shen Yu said coldly, stopping right before the four trembling figures.

“Since this gate demands five sources of blood and Qi to open, you four can fulfill your purpose and offer your lives.”

The four men turned deathly pale, their souls nearly leaving their bodies.

“Or,” Shen Yu added, his lips curling into a sadistic smirk, “you can bring me four living sacrifices to take your place. One person each.”

Flicking his wrist, Shen Yu retrieved four dark-green, rancid pills from his spatial ring and tossed them onto the dirt in front of the kneeling cultivators.

The medicinal pills hissed softly against the volcanic heat, emitting a nauseating, foul stench.

“Swallow,” Shen Yu commanded, his voice brooking no argument.

Cold sweat drenched the backs of all four men.

They were demonic cultivators, they recognized the distinct scent of a vicious parasite poison at a single glance.

Yet, looking into Shen Yu’s abyssal, glowing crimson irises, they knew that refusing meant instant, brutal decapitation.

Gritting their teeth, all four scrambled to grab their respective pills and shoved them down their throats.

“Good,” Shen Yu said leisurely, watching the dark medicinal essence dissolve into their bloodstreams.

“The Heart-Devouring Blood Worm Pill. It will take full effect in exactly two weeks. If you fail to swallow my antidote before the fourteenth sunset, the parasitic Qi will awaken, liquifying your internal organs and sucking every drop of blood essence from your marrow until you are hollow husks.”

He folded his arms behind his back, looking down at them like insects.

“Deliver the four sacrifices before the deadline, and the antidote is yours. Fail, or attempt to flee this caldera, and you may test whether your legs can outrun the rot in your veins. Now… get out of my sight and find my keys.”

The four demonic cultivators didn’t dare utter a single syllable of protest.

Scrambling to their feet with terror burning in their eyes, they turned and bolted out of the volcanic crater, desperately hunting across the realm for fellow demonic cultivators to offer to the slaughterhouse.

Watching the four frantic silhouettes vanish into the sulfurous haze, Shen Yu let out a low, amused chuckle.

He had no intention of letting those four scoundrels walk away alive, even if they completed their task to the letter.

When he had examined the Asura Blood-Seal Gate, his sharp spirit sense immediately unraveled the array’s true design, it was not an unlocking mechanism that could be satisfied by a single sacrifice, as those fools had assumed.

It required at least four complete blood sacrifices placed in the central node, while four auxiliary cultivators stood at the four cardinal corners to continuously channel their Qi, driving the array to drain and consume the sacrifices.

That was the sole reason he kept them breathing.

Those four would act as the fuel to burn the four sacrifices, while he took the central share of whatever lay beyond.

Besides, using demonic cultivators to hunt their own kin was vastly more efficient than combing the sprawling volcanic ridges himself.

Desperation was a potent motivator, with the lethal parasite ticking in their meridians, those four hounds would scour every ditch, dragging whatever unsuspecting fools they could find straight into his trap.

Turning his back to the caldera entrance, Shen Yu strode toward a sheer basalt wall.

With a casual sweep of his hand, dense physical force pulverized the volcanic rock, carving out a spacious, secluded cavern.

Stepping inside, he dropped straight into the foundational stance of the “Asura Blood-Forging Sutra”.

The sutra was divided into nine distinct physical training katas, corresponding to the first nine layers of body tempering.

Only after mastering each of the nine layers in strict sequence could one attempt the legendary Tenth Layer, which required running all nine parts fluidly one after another.

Attempting to skip ahead or practice them simultaneously was suicide, the physical load of the second part alone would instantly tear the muscles of anyone whose body had not been fully reinforced by the first.

Shen Yu committed himself entirely to the bizarre, contorted postures of the first part.

The primary hurdle of the foundational layer was that it forbade the use of Qi entirely, it demanded the practitioner to manipulate their internal blood essence purely through physical intent.

Normally, an ordinary cultivator would spend months of grueling, bone-breaking labor just to grasp the faint sensation of their own blood circulation without spiritual energy guiding it.

For Shen Yu, however, the process was absurdly smooth.

By chewing on the Blood-Sun Sunflower Seeds, the simmering, volatile medicinal heat within the seeds made his blood hum and boil naturally.

He could easily perceive, direct, and surge his blood essence through his vessels to match the grotesque stances, accelerating his comprehension and physical refinement at a monstrous pace.

-x-

A/N:

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