The slight dizziness from spatial transit had not yet completely faded when an overwhelming stench of blood and a monstrous aura of resentment and malice swept over him.
Tongtian stepped out of the hidden Spatial Node. Chaos Qi circulated around him of its own accord, driving away the foul blood aura that tried to eat into him. He found himself at the bottom of a vast, boundless sea of blood. Thick, dark-red Blood Water surrounded him, with countless twisted remnant souls and vengeful spirits bobbing in it, wailing.
This was the Netherworld Blood Sea! The exit of the Spatial Node happened to lie in a deep, remote trench in the sea. Without Yang Mei's runes to guide him, it would have been nearly impossible to find.
"Old Ancestor Yang Mei actually set a palace node at the bottom of the Blood Sea... It seems there may be some ties between him and Ancestor Minghe that outsiders know nothing about." Tongtian mused, while cautiously spreading his divine sense in every direction like Mercury spilling across the ground.
His injuries had fully healed, his cultivation had advanced, and he had gained Yang Mei's inheritance of Space. His confidence had grown considerably. But Ancestor Minghe was no easy opponent. His divine ability, "As long as the Blood Sea remains, Minghe will never die," was enough to give even Saints a headache. Tongtian had not come here to fight, but to seek a subtle form of "cooperation."
However, the moment his divine sense spread out, it triggered countless hidden restrictions within the Blood Sea!
Woo—woo—woo! A low, bloodthirsty horn blared through the Blood Sea! Countless powerful auras surged out from the ravines and palaces all around!
"Who dares trespass into the heart of the Blood Sea?" A roar exploded like thunder. An Asura Demon King with three heads and six arms, wielding blood blades, led a vast army of Blood Sea warriors and surrounded Tongtian, their murderous intent surging!
It was Indra, an Asura general Tongtian knew well, whom he had crossed paths with before!
When Indra saw Tongtian, he froze for a moment. Then, blazing fury and hatred erupted in his eyes. "You?! Tongtian! You dare return to my Blood Sea?! You're asking to die!"
Old and new grudges surged through Indra's mind. He gave Tongtian no chance to speak, swinging his six arms and blood blades to raise a ten-thousand-foot wave of blood as he charged. Behind him, countless Asura warriors formed a battle formation. Their baleful aura gathered into a ferocious giant demon that lunged at Tongtian!
Tongtian furrowed his brow. He had intended to begin with courtesy, but his opponent would not even give him a chance to speak.
"Stubborn fool." He gave a cold snort. Without even moving his feet, he held two fingers like a sword and made a light slash through the air.
"Split!"
With a tearing sound, a fine yet incredibly sharp streak of Misty Grey sword energy appeared out of nowhere. It did not strike Indra, but instead cut toward the giant demon formed from the baleful aura of countless Asuras behind him!
The giant demon looked fearsome, but before the sword energy imbued with the True Meaning of Chaos Destruction, it was like butter beneath a hot knife. It split in two and instantly collapsed into nothingness! The Asura warriors who made up the formation were struck hard; they all spat blood and were sent flying backward!
Indra's blood-blade attack had not yet reached its target when an invisible, irresistible force suddenly pressed down on him. His charge came to an abrupt halt, as if he had crashed into an invisible iron wall. His six arms shook violently, and his blood blades nearly slipped from his hands!
"How is this possible?!" Indra was utterly horrified. The last time they had fought, Tongtian had been strong, but he had still needed a mount and trickery. How had he become so powerful? A casual strike had broken the battle formation of Indra's army!
Indra had no idea that Tongtian had now reached the Late Quasi-Saint Peak. With the Chaos Great Dao and the Space Law at his command, his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Quasi-Saint Peak. Dealing with a Grand Unity Golden Immortal like Indra was effortless.
Tongtian stood with his hands behind his back and glanced at Indra with an impassive gaze. "Tell Minghe to come see me. Otherwise, I'll make your Blood Sea choose a new batch of demon kings today."
His tone was calm, yet carried a suffocating authority and killing intent.
Indra was both shocked and enraged, but he did not dare attack again. His opponent's strength was unfathomable, far beyond anything he could withstand.
Just then, deep within the Blood Sea, a vast, cold, and savage will slowly awakened in the magnificent, blood-soaked Blood God Palace.
"Tongtian, you really are a persistent ghost!"
Ancestor Minghe's icy voice seemed to rise from every corner of the Blood Sea. The sea churned, and endless waves of blood converged, taking the form of a sinister-looking Daoist in a blood-red robe: Ancestor Minghe. He had not come in person, but had instead formed an incarnation from the Blood Sea Origin. Even so, his pressure far exceeded that of Indra and the others.
"Daoist Minghe, it's been a while." Tongtian cupped his hands slightly, his tone neither servile nor overbearing.
"Spare me the pleasantries!" Ancestor Minghe's incarnation stared coldly at him. "You schemed against me before, drawing that Demon God into a rampage in the Northern Dark Sea. I haven't settled that score with you yet! And now you dare trespass into the heart of my Blood Sea. Do you really think I can't kill you?"
Before the words had even faded, the entire Blood Sea seemed to come alive. Terrifying pressure squeezed in on Tongtian from every direction, while countless Blood God Son avatars flickered like ghosts beneath the Blood Water, all locked onto him.
Tongtian acted as if he had noticed nothing and smiled faintly. "Why get angry, Daoist? We each got what we wanted last time. If I hadn't drawn that Demon God in, how could you have gained further insight into the Otherworld Aura and refined your Slaughter Dao?"
Ancestor Minghe's eyes shifted slightly. Tongtian had clearly hit upon part of the truth. Though he had suffered a little in his fight with the One-Eyed Demon God, he had indeed sensed an utterly different path of destruction and gained a great deal from it.
"Hmph, silver-tongued as ever! If you can't give me a satisfactory explanation, I'll leave this incarnation of yours here to taste my Blood Sea Soul Refining!" Ancestor Minghe's tone had softened slightly, but his killing intent remained.
Tongtian's expression turned serious. "I came here today not as an enemy, but to make a deal with you—or, rather... to form an alliance."
"An alliance? You?" Ancestor Minghe scoffed. "A stray dog who's lost his home thinks he's worthy of an alliance with me?"
"What if I could help you escape the Heavenly Dao Restraint and truly reach the state of freedom beyond the Dao, where 'the Blood Sea remains, and Minghe never dies'?" Tongtian's words were startling.
Ancestor Minghe's pupils contracted sharply, and the waves of blood around him fell still! Escape the Heavenly Dao Restraint? Attain freedom beyond the Dao? It was the realm he had dreamed of for ages! But then he sneered. "Arrogant! Even Saints can't escape the Heavenly Dao. What makes you think you can?"
"Saints entrust themselves to the Heavenly Dao, so naturally they're subject to it," Tongtian said slowly. "But my path is the Chaos Great Dao, which transcends it. Your Slaughter Dao is not entirely aligned with the Heavenly Dao, either. Guarding the Blood Sea may have its limits. With the help of the Chaos Origin, perhaps... you could find another way."
The Chaos Bead appeared faintly above his head, releasing a trace of pure Chaos Aura.
Ancestor Minghe stared fixedly at the Chaos Bead, greed and wariness intermingling in his eyes. He could feel its fatal allure!
"What do you want?" Ancestor Minghe's voice had grown a little hoarse.
"Simple." Tongtian held up two fingers. "First, if I establish a Dao Field and teach the path to the Primordial Realm in the future, you must fight for me three times and help me withstand the pressure from the Saints."
"Second, the Netherworld Underworld and the Land of Reincarnation border your Blood Sea. If the Otherworld invades and Reincarnation is threatened, you must fight by my side and protect it."
"In return," Tongtian continued, putting more weight into his voice, "I can share my insights into the Chaos Great Dao with you and use the power of this bead to temper your Blood Sea Origin and condense a Seed of Chaos Slaughter Dao! And if an opportunity arises in the future, we can explore the Otherworld together and prove the Dao through slaughter!"
Ancestor Minghe fell silent. Blood light flashed rapidly in his eyes as he weighed the offer.
Tongtian's terms were incredibly tempting! Sharing the Chaos Great Dao and helping him condense a Chaos Slaughter Dao gave him perhaps his greatest hope of breaking through his current bottleneck. Fighting three times and protecting Reincarnation were no small price, but compared with what he stood to gain, they seemed acceptable. Especially the prospect of an Otherworld Invasion... If Tongtian's words proved true, it would also be an enormous opportunity and challenge for him.
As for making enemies of the Saints, had Minghe ever feared them? He had always been a law unto himself!
The risks were enormous, but the rewards were beyond imagination!
At length, Ancestor Minghe suddenly raised his head, blood light blazing in his eyes. "Fine! I'll trust you once. But words alone mean nothing. We must swear a Great Dao Blood Oath!"
"Agreed." Tongtian nodded.
The two swore oaths on their respective Daos. Ancestor Minghe even forced out a drop of Blood Sea Origin essence, while Tongtian drew forth a thread of Chaos Dao Source. Together, they formed a Covenant Rune and inscribed it into the laws of the Great Dao. If either broke the oath, their Dao Foundation would collapse, and they would never advance again!
Once the oath was complete, thunder rumbled faintly above the Blood Sea. The alliance was sealed!
Ancestor Minghe's expression eased somewhat. As he looked at Tongtian, there was less hostility in his gaze and more scrutiny and expectation. "Tell me, what do you plan to do next? How can I help?"
Tongtian smiled faintly. "I don't need your help just yet. I need to hide in the Blood Sea for a while and comprehend the Dao. Also, please keep an eye on developments in the Netherworld Underworld, especially Empress Pingxin and... the Western Teachings' activities there."
He knew that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had been cultivating influence in the Netherworld Underworld for a long time, and that the Western Teachings had no small designs on it. Now that he had allied with Minghe, the Blood Sea would be a thorn in the side of anyone trying to reach into the Netherworld Underworld.
"Done," Ancestor Minghe replied readily. "I'll set aside an area deep in the Blood Sea for you. It'll be completely safe. As for the Netherworld Underworld... Hmph, those baldies really have reached too far!"
With their business settled, Ancestor Minghe's incarnation dispersed, and the Blood Sea returned to calm. Indra and the other Asuras were unwilling to leave, but they did not dare disobey their ancestor's orders and withdrew sullenly.
Guided by Minghe, Tongtian made his way to a hidden blood valley deep in the Blood Sea, concealed beneath special restrictions. The baleful aura there was pure, and it held a trace of Netherworld aura connected to the earth's veins. The environment was harsh, yet possessed a peculiar subtlety.
He set up a Chaos Restriction and began his seclusion. He intended to consolidate his cultivation while carefully studying the Space Rune he had obtained from Yang Mei—and how to combine the Chaos Great Dao with his own formations.
At the same time, he did not completely cut himself off from the outside world. Using a special Blood Mirror provided by Ancestor Minghe, he could sense some of the major events unfolding in the Primordial World.
Sure enough, the effects of the Battle of the Heavenly River continued to spread.
The Heavenly Court was furious and strengthened its defenses along the Heavenly River. It also tightened its watch over the true spirits of the Jie Teachings Ranked Disciples. But the fact that Tongtian had rescued Zhao Gongming and the others could no longer be concealed, and it had caused a huge stir among the upper echelons of the Primordial World.
The Western Teachings and Chan Teachings intensified their hunt for Tongtian. But after the commotion at Longevity Mountain and the battle at the Heavenly River, they seemed unable to get a clear read on him, and their actions grew more cautious.
What caught Tongtian's attention even more was that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva seemed to be acting more frequently and urgently in the Netherworld Underworld. The Western Teachings appeared to be accelerating their infiltration, and had even made contact with some remnants of the Wu Clan.
One day, as Tongtian studied the Space Rune, he suddenly sensed through the Blood Mirror a powerful aura that was both familiar and strange. It had quietly entered the Netherworld Underworld and gone straight to Empress Pingxin's Fengdu Hall.
The aura was peaceful, yet carried an unquestionable authority. Could it be one of Sage Jieyin's Three Corpses Incarnations?!
Jieyin's incarnation had come in person to meet Empress Pingxin in the Netherworld Underworld? What for?
A trace of wariness rose in Tongtian's heart. Had the Two Saints of the West finally decided to personally make a move for the Netherworld Underworld, this juicy prize?
He immediately contacted Ancestor Minghe through their alliance. "Daoist Minghe, have you heard that Jieyin's incarnation entered the Netherworld Underworld?"
Minghe's cold voice came from the Blood Sea. "I just heard. That bald monk's incarnation went to Fengdu Hall and has been talking privately with Pingxin for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. I can't spy on the details, but... Pingxin's aura seems to have fluctuated."
Tongtian furrowed his brow. Jieyin had surely come with a major purpose! Though Empress Pingxin was bound to Reincarnation, her standing was extraordinary, and her attitude was crucial.
"Can you find a way to learn more?" Tongtian asked.
"Hard to say," Minghe replied. "The Reincarnation Disk protects Fengdu Hall. Even a Saint would find it difficult to spy on it by force. But... I can send a few little fellows to eavesdrop on those old Wu Clan fossils."
Tongtian's gaze flickered. "I'd appreciate it."
He ended their communication, his thoughts racing. Jieyin had met with Empress Pingxin, while Minghe was looking into the Wu Clan... The Netherworld Underworld seemed peaceful, but dark currents churned beneath the surface. Something major was likely about to happen.
And all of it seemed to point toward the approaching Otherworld Great Tribulation.
He could no longer remain in secluded cultivation.
He had to find a way to contact Empress Pingxin as soon as possible, at the very least to learn what the Western Teachings were planning!
His gaze fell once more on the system interface. Perhaps he would need to exchange for something special if he wanted to infiltrate Fengdu Hall again without a trace.
The game of the Netherworld had begun. And he was sure to become one of its most important players.
Before you continue