Blood and Flesh

"This... this is impossible..."

Tong Hui's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at the battle raging in the center of the ruins.

The bursting waves gave even the raindrops that splashed out with force, making them hit the face like being struck by hail.

Tong Hui found it hard to believe that You Su was like a completely different person. He could sense from their brief previous contact that You Su was extraordinary, but You Su should not be this powerful.

This was not Water Condensing Lower Realm at all; Tong Hui even felt that this was not human.

This blind man, like the giant serpent that easily sent the Fire Armadillo flying, is an ancient monster beyond human comprehension.

Not only him, but many people present were dumbfounded. A giant snake that made them not even have the courage to draw their swords, You Su was able to challenge it time and time again.

Even after being sent flying hundreds of meters, he soared into the air like an unkillable monster and continued his fearless attacks.

Equally unexpected, the Evil Tide in the south underwent another strange change.

Because the incident happened suddenly, and because they were forced to separate to make way for You Su, both groups were caught off guard. Someone accidentally let the Evil Tide in, but the unfortunate child caught in the Evil Tide found that he had not been dismembered by these numb Evil Puppet.

Fu Heng and the others fought desperately against the Evil Puppet that had climbed onto the ruins, but the Evil Tide had already gained momentum, and the exhausted cultivators were no match for this surging torrent.

Just as everyone was preparing for a desperate fight, they discovered that the Evil Puppet simply brushed past them, as if they hadn't seen them at all, or as if the Evil Puppet's target wasn't them at all.

They actually started tearing each other apart!

No one could understand how things had turned out this way. The Evil Puppet had started killing each other, and the giant serpent was being held back by You Su. Could it be that You Su truly brought hope?

You Su knew, of course, that he couldn't kill this giant snake that had lived for over five thousand years. As a cultivator at the lower level of the Water Condensing Lower Realm, even getting close to it was difficult, let alone rescuing Ji Xueruo from its clutches.

So he didn't hesitate to cut his wrists.

He rushed forward, deliberately mixing the blood flowing from his wrist into the rainwater, which then splashed into the mouths of these Evil Puppet.

The Evil Puppet had no master, and the blood of the true god held an almost instinctive allure for them. The group of Evil Puppet in the south who suddenly fled in a frenzy earlier were not afraid of You Su, but rather afraid of the Evil Demon who had evolved from puppets into their minions wherever You Su passed.

This was You Su's resolve; he would save Ji Xueruo, and he would save everyone else.

He has never spread his evil blood so rampantly as he does today, like a true Evil God.

These Evil Puppet became his flesh puppets. Each of them was once a renowned genius below the Feather Transformation Realm, who passed on almost inexhaustible power to You Su, which enabled him, at the Water Condensing Lower Realm, to challenge the giant serpent. They also became You Su's army, forcibly infecting those Evil Puppet that had not yet been 'contaminated' by him, to expand You Su's reserve pool.

Before today, You Su always believed that he was merely a vessel for God, that he was himself, and that God was God.

At this moment, feeling this boundless power, You Su felt that he had become one with God.

Previously, he only wanted to protect himself and those around him in a petty way, and You Su's identity was enough for him to do that. Therefore, he never admitted that he was God, but only believed that God resided within him.

But now he has another goal—

He wants to overturn the fate that person wrote for him, and one day he will pull that person out of the fog, and then figure out the conspiracy surrounding him and the truth of the world.

You Su cannot do this, but You Su who becomes Allah can.

He is God.

The combined power of hundreds of cultivators was directed at him, You Su felt an intense, throbbing pain all over his body, as if he were about to explode. However, his strong heart and extraordinary will held back his muscles that were about to fall apart.

He will live, and he will ensure that everyone else lives.

Beyond the immortal island, the True Immortal Zhengyang reigned supreme, behind him a blazing sun reflecting the hellish scene of Heaven Awakening Island.

You Su rode the fire-breathing beast, sprinkling his own blood. Wherever he passed, cultivators from all five continents lay on the ground, writhing and convulsing, before rising to their feet and transforming into dazed Evil Demon followers.

They followed the boy's dark figure as if he were their king.

What an amazing scene!

The True Immortal Zhengyang exclaimed in a loud voice, his voice like thunder surging fiercely in the clouds.

Before him stood an equally imposing white-haired old man, almost on equal footing with this unique True Immortal of Heavenly Awakening. This was an absolute taboo for the True Immortal Zhengyang.

The First Elder remained silent. In the light screen, he couldn't even see the faces of the cultivators, only You Su's brave and resolute back.

Beneath the two elderly people, the crowd grew increasingly restless.

Most of the cultivators who were corrupted and turned into followers were related to some of them, but they never expected that their first glimpse into the inner workings of the Immortal Island would lead them to see their own descendants or disciples infected and turned into followers by an Evil Demon hidden among the human race.

And the protector of this Evil Demon is the Venerable Tian Shu above them, who led them to put pressure on the True Immortal Zhengyang.

He wouldn't do something like that for no reason.

The First Elder took a deep breath. You Su was not a complicated or difficult person. The First Elder, who had seen countless people, trusted him so much precisely because he understood him.

These words were met with a torrent of curses from below, some even directing their anger at You Su towards the Venerable Tian Shu. Some went so far as to suggest that the Venerable Tian Shu might be colluding with the Evil Demon; otherwise, how could someone of the Venerable Tian Shu's power fail to see through an Evil Demon right under his nose?

They clamored for the True Immortal Zhengyang to show mercy and allow them to fly into the immortal island to rescue the people; some glared angrily at the Venerable Tian Shu, as if venting their anger at losing loved ones on the old man.

The arrogant True Immortal Zhengyang ignored the commotion below. With a wave of his hand, the images on the light screen abruptly stopped, and the world fell into silence.

The two elderly people facing off and the noisy crowd seemed to be in two different worlds; they couldn't hear each other's voices.

"What's done is done. Does the Venerable Tian Shu intend to excuse his disciple?" True Immortal Zhengyang asked with a smile.

Upon hearing First Elder instead looked directly into the other person's burning eyes.

He stared like that for a long time before finally looking away, closing his eyes as if stung, and sighing:

"These are truly unbearable eyes to look at... But I once read in a cheap bookstore that the other side of the sun is black because the sun revolves around us, which is why there is day and night. The sun brings not only extreme light, but also extreme darkness."

"This theory is wrong," True Immortal Zhengyang replied confidently after listening attentively. "Once you reach the Heaven Awakening Realm, you will be able to discern that we are actually orbiting the sun. The other side of the sun is not black; it is a giant fireball, tens of thousands of miles away from us."

"But the reasoning is correct," the First Elder replied calmly.

True Immortal Zhengyang was taken aback for a moment. He knew what the old man meant: that his 'sun' brought not light, but boundless darkness.

"You are very wary of me," said True Immortal Zhengyang calmly.

"What exactly do you want to do to that child?" The First Elder's long eyebrows furrowed deeply. He could die, but he absolutely did not want that child to die.

The True Immortal Zhengyang remained silent for a moment, and the dazzling light in his eyes seemed to dim slightly.

"Ineffable."

The First Elder nodded as if he had expected this. He looked into the distance, gazing at the peaceful island shrouded in rain on the sea, and sighed softly:

"I hope he doesn't have too much hardship."

"The Celestial Ancestor Tianqi left behind a four-word motto for future cultivators..." True Immortal Zhengyang said with a smile.

"No pain, no gain?"

The First Elder answered quickly, a bitter smile appearing on his withered face. He felt that such words were nothing more than lies used to deceive the group of delusional cultivators in the Southern Yang Continent, a way to find amusement in their suffering.

True Immortal Zhengyang nodded slightly, like an elder who praised his junior for remembering the ancestral teachings. However, the appearance of the First Elder was much older than that of him who had broken through to the Heavenly Awakening stage.

The First Elder shook his head and looked up at the sky, where rain poured down from the dark curtain that covered the heavens.

"It's so dark..."

The First Elder murmured softly, as if he had returned to hundreds of years ago, looking at the dark sky and uttering the same murmur to his father.

It was actually a manta ray-shaped evil spirit that flew in the sky, blocking out all the light. It descended upon the village where the First Elder had grown up. His parents wrapped him up in layers of clothing, making him the sole survivor of the entire village. He then took it upon himself to kill this evil spirit, but he searched for it for hundreds of years without success.

But just as he was dying, he found Him.

But this time He was not in heaven; He was in the dark sea.

The True Immortal Zhengyang burst forth with dazzling light, like a real sun, thus allowing people to witness this terrifying scene.

The giant whales that had brought the fairy island had been waiting silently in the water, but now they let out a piercing, heart-wrenching cry, as if the heavens and earth were trembling. Something more powerful than the whales was devouring their flesh underwater, and the seawater quickly turned even darker.

Just as everyone's attention was focused on the sea, a scene that would be unforgettable for everyone present unfolded—

The pitch-black sea split open, revealing the true form of an Evil Demon never before seen by humankind. Its body resembled a towering mountain of flesh, with thick, pulsating blood vessels beneath its scarlet skin. These vessels connected to the manta ray beneath it and extended into the Black Sea.

It was unlike any living being; it was more like a fresh heart, enormous beyond measure.

The hundred-meter-long manta ray spread its wings in the viscous seawater, creating endless waves. Something in the water surged out with the waves; strange and malevolent tides clung to the manta ray's underside like parasitic snails, but what they truly parasitized was the heart on the manta ray's back.

The First Elder was as insignificant as dust before this mountain of flesh, yet he still trembled with excitement.

He knew what it was—it was the Lord of Flesh and Blood.

The True Immortal Zhengyang flew high into the sky, spreading his arms as if to embrace this turbid world. A wide grin spread across his face, a smile of triumphant satisfaction.

"Broken! Then reborn!"

Ji Xueruo's eyes became completely empty.

She could hardly believe that the serpent ancestor her Lineage had worshipped and believed in for thousands of years was not the 'mother' of all serpent demons, but a demon that had been lying in wait for a thousand years to devour its offspring.

She shouldn't have been so trusting of a monster that should have died long ago. She couldn't even understand its language, yet she naively thought that this giant snake must have been benevolent towards its offspring.

What prompted her to walk up to it?

Was it a call from the shared bloodline? Or was it because of a sliver of hope in her heart?

If the Snake Ancestor of the Snake Clan were still alive, then the Snake Clan's return to Star Zhao Divine Mountain would be inevitable, and such a snake demon with a lifespan of at least five thousand years would be invincible in the world.

She will rise from a diligent clan leader who slowly led her people toward revival to become the second-in-command of the strongest Demon Race in Japan.

"I am not worthy to be your clan leader at all..." Ji Xueruo thought with regret.

From the moment she was born, the blood feud of her mother and the revival of her race naturally became her lifelong mission. As the older sister, she accepted all of this from a young age and has grown up step by step to this day.

But now, looking back, she realizes that the image of a strong, hardworking, serious, and mature young woman was just an empty shell she couldn't shake off. She was just an ordinary person who often thought about escaping or being lazy.

Perhaps it would be better for her younger sister to be the clan leader... She often found herself in this dilemma, then shook her head and convinced herself to persevere.

This time, however, she could not resist the temptation to slack off. She could accept paying with her life as the price for trying to be lazy, but she could not accept her people dying because of her.

The greed in the snake's eyes plunged Ji Xueruo into a deathly despair with just a glance.

In her hazy state of consciousness, Ji Xueruo vaguely saw someone fighting against the Serpent Ancestor.

Did someone come to rescue her?

That person was thrown away time and time again, yet returned time and time again.

It seems... to be You Su?

Rain streamed down her delicate, pale snake face, and it seemed as if You Su's anger, sorrow, and other emotions were being transmitted to her heart through the invisible thread of her kin.

Why did that idiot turn around?!

Ji Xueruo recalled everything that had happened since entering the island, and it seemed that she had always escaped danger with You Su's help. This was a huge difference from when she was in the Jade Ring Pool, where she thought she and You Su were evenly matched, but now it seemed that was not the case.

Ji Xueruo's pride seemed to be her last strength, seeping out from her broken snake bones and merging into her flesh and blood.

The girl felt as if she were being reborn, and this feeling of transformation made her serpentine body tremble with excitement.

But just then, a slender hand touched her forehead.

"Your Sin Blood."

Ji Xueruo stared blankly at the purple-skirted girl standing on the body of the Serpent Ancestor. She was quite certain that she had never seen her before, but the girl's eyes seemed to have known her for a long time.