At the edge of the Blood Sea, Di Jiang drew on the power of space, greedily absorbing the dense, murderous aura as if swallowing it like a whale. His mind was immersed in the preliminary construction and simulation of the Great Formation of the Myriad Heavens!
At the same time, he keenly sensed a faint thought deep beneath the boundless, viscous Blood Sea. It was carefully observing him through layer upon layer of bloody waves.
Di Jiang understood. The landlord here was Minghe!
With his overwhelming superiority in cultivation, Di Jiang could sense the wariness and apprehension in that thought, along with a trace of deeply hidden unease. It was only natural. Anyone would grow wary if a stranger suddenly showed up at their home and began gathering resources right outside their door—even if it was murderous aura, which wasn't among Minghe's most valuable resources.
With a slight sweep of his divine sense across the Blood Sea, Di Jiang sensed a life source hidden at its core, almost fused with the entire Blood Sea, as well as hundreds of millions of Blood God Son clones scattered throughout it. Minghe was naturally cautious, and a master at staying alive.
"Four hundred and eighty million Blood God Sons. As long as the Blood Sea remains, Minghe won't die. He does have some tricks up his sleeve. But if he thinks that's enough to deal with me, he's got a long way to go." Di Jiang wasn't impressed!
He sensed that although Minghe was watching him from the shadows, he had no intention of stopping or driving him away. He was tacitly permitting Di Jiang to collect the murderous aura. Di Jiang was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet, and couldn't be bothered to call him out. He continued with his experiment.
However, after a while, Di Jiang noticed a subtle change in the observing thought. The wariness and apprehension were still there, but now they were joined by a hint of curiosity—and a hard-to-describe sense of kinship!
Just as Di Jiang was wondering about it, the surface of the Blood Sea before him suddenly bulged upward without a sound. The viscous blood gathered and took shape as if it were alive.
In the blink of an eye, a figure had formed.
He didn't resemble the sinister old fiend of later legends. Instead, he looked like a handsome boy of about fifteen or sixteen. His robe had been formed from the purest crimson energy, and his features were so exquisite they seemed almost demonic!
His skin was fair, but his lips were blood-red. His crimson eyes were like the purest rubies, carrying a hint of newborn innocence and curiosity, yet concealing an inborn ferocity and cunning.
Barefoot, he stood atop the blood waves. His aura was closely bound to the entire Netherworld Blood Sea, as if he were the Blood Sea itself, and the Blood Sea were him.
Minghe looked at Di Jiang. A complicated glimmer flashed in his crimson eyes before he cupped his hands. His voice was clear, with the youthful timbre of a boy, yet carried a steadiness that didn't match his appearance.
"Minghe of the Netherworld Blood Sea greets you, fellow Daoist!"
After a pause, Minghe let his gaze linger on the vast vitality and profound spatial Dao-rhyme surrounding Di Jiang. His tone held a note of recognition and dawning understanding.
"Your vitality blazes with radiant splendor, resonating with the very earth of the Primordial World. And you command the mysteries of space! You must be the orthodox heir born from Father God Pangu's blood essence—the lord of Mount Buzhou?"
Minghe had taken form from Pangu's unclean blood. Though his bloodline was turbid where Di Jiang's was pure, and unusual where Di Jiang's was orthodox, both ultimately came from Pangu. At such close range, Minghe could clearly sense the faint connection between their bloodlines.
It was this shared origin, along with his assessment of Di Jiang's strength, that had finally convinced him to appear in person instead of continuing to hide in the shadows. Secretly observing a powerful being who shared his origins and far surpassed him in strength was beneath him. Better to meet openly.
Facing the handsome youth before him, formed from pure blood and murderous aura and carrying the aura of a peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Di Jiang narrowed his eyes, which held swirling vortices of time and space. A flicker of understanding—and a trace of displeasure—passed through them.
His divine sense was exceptionally keen. He had already seen through the appearance of this clone and sensed its close connection to the Blood Sea's origin. But it wasn't the sole, central source.
"A Blood God Son clone. You're a cautious one."
A primordial fiend-god like Minghe, who had taken form directly from Pangu's unclean blood, had an extraordinary Origin. He should have been born a Golden Immortal. How could he be only at the Grand Unity level? Clearly, he feared Di Jiang's strength and didn't dare meet him in his true form. He had sent only a clone to test him.
This excessive caution—the way he clung to the path of survival—left Di Jiang feeling slightly insulted. He was a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal, of Pangu's True Lineage, and he had personally come to Minghe's Blood Sea to gather a little murderous aura without even asking to be charged. Yet Minghe, the host, wouldn't even show his true form and had sent a mere clone to fob him off?
Di Jiang's expression remained calm, but his gaze settled on Minghe's clone with an invisible pressure. He didn't answer Minghe's guess about his identity. Instead, he spoke slowly, his tone detached and leaving no room for argument.
"Since you know of our shared origins, fellow Daoist Minghe, why not meet me in your true form?"
"Showing up with nothing but a Blood God Son clone is rather discourteous, don't you think?"
Di Jiang made no effort to conceal his displeasure.
The handsome face of Minghe's clone tightened, and his crimson pupils narrowed slightly. He had clearly felt the displeasure in Di Jiang's words, as well as the pressure held just beneath the surface. Minghe fell silent for a moment, apparently weighing his options!
Di Jiang didn't urge him. He simply stood with his hands behind his back, the aura of a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal looming around him as it met the murderous aura of the boundless Blood Sea head-on and suppressed it.
At last, Minghe's clone raised his head. A resolute look appeared on his face, and he cupped his hands. "I was inconsiderate and offended you, fellow Daoist."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Blood Sea beside him surged once more, with even greater force than before. An even more abundant and purer stream of origin-blood energy gathered. The Blood God Son clone, at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, melted into the blood waves.
The next moment, the waves lifted a new figure slowly into view.
He still looked like the same handsome boy of fifteen or sixteen, dressed and featured exactly like the clone. But now the aura he exuded was unmistakably that of a mid-stage Golden Immortal!
It was denser and deeper, resonating with the entire Netherworld Blood Sea to a degree never before seen. It was as though he were the very will of this sea and all it contained!
This was Minghe's true form. Seeing that Minghe had ultimately chosen to meet him in person, the trace of displeasure in Di Jiang's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hint of approval so faint it was almost imperceptible.
"So you have some courage after all. You're not the sort to cower at every turn."
Di Jiang's opinion of Minghe rose a little. Choosing to show himself despite knowing he was outmatched took a decisiveness that ordinary people lacked.
His gaze returned to Minghe's boyish appearance, and a strange curiosity stirred in his heart. Why did he look so young? Ordinarily, primordial fiend-gods took whatever form they desired when they assumed physical shape, and most chose the body of a young or middle-aged man to convey maturity and authority!
Di Jiang's divine sense passed over Minghe, faintly sensing two peerlessly sharp, murderous sword auras hidden in the depths of his origin, not yet fully refined—Abi and Yuantu!
In an instant, Di Jiang understood.
"Of course. Abi and Yuantu were innate killing swords, born from the world's murderous intent. They were sharp and bold, charging straight ahead, valuing spirit and courage above all.
"Minghe was born alongside such ferocious treasures. Their influence must have shaped his temperament when he first took form. A youth's proud spirit, sweeping across the world, roaming with sword in hand, living and fighting as he pleased—that was precisely the temperament and bearing that suited these twin killing swords best!"
With that in mind, Minghe's youthful appearance seemed far more reasonable to Di Jiang. It wasn't a disguise, but a true reflection of his nature at a particular stage of life. He wondered how the temperament and appearance of this "young man of the Blood Sea" would change after weathering the storms of the Primordial World and growing ever more steeped in slaughter.
Di Jiang put the thought aside and gave Minghe, now in his true form, a slight nod, acknowledging his sincerity. His earlier displeasure faded away. His main purpose here was to gather murderous aura, and since Minghe knew how to behave, Di Jiang had no desire to cause further trouble.
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