"Direct to Blood Pool Hell." Lin Taichu tightened his grip on the Heaven Burning Sword Art. He could sense the turbid energy within the Star Core stirring, as though it resonated with some power within the Blood Mist.
Huowuchang's pupils contracted sharply, and the eye on his compass spun madly. "No one has ever dared choose the third level... So be it. If the Pavilion Master wants to see you, you'll have to show some real skill."
With a wave of his hand, he withdrew the sails. The entire Soul Ferry Boat suddenly plunged straight down into the boiling blood pool.
Countless ferocious faces churned within the pool. They were the resentful souls of Cultivators who had died unnatural deaths.
They gnawed at the hull, their fingernails scraping against the wooden planks with a teeth-grinding sound.
Lin Taichu swung his sword. Wherever the golden Sword Light passed, the resentful souls let out piercing shrieks and dissolved into bloody froth.
"Watch out!" Huowuchang suddenly threw out twelve Soul Suppressing Nails. "That's a fragment of Blood River Ancestor's soul!"
Lin Taichu looked up and saw a bone altar rising from the center of the blood pool. Sitting cross-legged atop it was a corpse covered in bloody blisters—the Blood River Ancestor, who had been suppressed by the Profound Heaven Sect a century ago.
He opened his mouth and spewed a black Light Pillar directly at the mast of the Soul Ferry Boat.
"Crack!" The instant the mast broke, Lin Taichu was flung into the water. The corrosive power of the blood pool instantly soaked through his clothes, scorching his skin until blue smoke rose from it.
Enduring the agonizing pain, he activated the royal secret art, the Fire Bath Art. Golden Flames ignited across his body, vaporizing every trace of blood filth.
"So