Blood Sacrifice Night (Part 1)

The night of the full moon.

A blood moon hung high in the night sky, casting the entire Zhao Family Shelter in a pale, dark red hue.

Inside the underground cavern, the yin wind howled.

The massive blood pool was currently boiling, countless wronged souls wailing and struggling in the blood, but they were bound tightly by an invisible force.

A complex grand formation had already been set up around the blood pool.

Eight White Bone Totem Pillars stood in the eight directions, each pillar bound with several naked young boys and girls. They had already fainted, countless small wounds cut into their bodies, their blood slowly flowing down the pillars into the formation's patterns, converging into the blood pool in the center.

And directly above the blood pool, Lin Xiaowan was suspended alone. Her wrists were cut open, her bright red blood falling like beads from a broken string onto the Corpse Pill below.

"Drip... drip..."

With each drop of blood that fell, the pitch-black Corpse Pill would flash with a red light, emitting an even more terrifying aura.

Zhao Wuji sat cross-legged on the bone lotus in the center of the blood pool, his eyes tightly shut, his hands forming seals, chanting incantations. As he chanted, the concentration of Yin Energy in the entire cavern was rising frantically.

And in the Kun position (southwest) of the formation, Yan Kui stood like an iron tower.

He held the eight-hundred-pound Bone Shattering Hammer in his hand, watching all of this with a blank expression.

Besides him, there were seven other protectors in the remaining positions, all of them either death warriors cultivated by the Zhao Family or core members like Zhao Rong from before.

Each of them wore expressions of fanaticism and fear, as if anticipating the arrival of a miracle.

"The time has come!"

Zhao Wuji's eyes snapped open, glowing blood-red.

"Activate the formation!"

The eight White Bone Totem Pillars simultaneously erupted with blinding blood-red light.

The young boys and girls bound to the pillars instantly shriveled, as if all their moisture and vital energy had been drained.

"Ah--!"

Despite being unconscious, the extreme pain still caused them to let out instinctive screams. But the screams quickly came to an abrupt halt, turning them into mummified corpses.

Rolling vital energy poured into the blood pool, and the blood instantly surged three feet higher!

"Not enough! Still not enough!"

He pointed a finger into the void.

The wounds on Lin Xiaowan, suspended in the air, suddenly burst open, her blood gushing out like a torrent, completely engulfing the Corpse Pill.

The Corpse Pill trembled violently, as if a heart was beating inside it.

A terrifying pressure erupted from the Corpse Pill, instantly sweeping across the entire scene.

"Good! Now! Fuse!"

"Ah--!"

Accompanied by a shrill scream.

Zhao Wuji's previously shriveled body instantly swelled like an inflated ball. His skin tore open, and countless pitch-black scales emerged from his flesh and blood, carrying dripping black blood. His spine elongated with crisp cracking sounds, and he instantly transformed into a half-corpse monster, three meters tall, with a green face and fangs!

A tangible Corpse Fiend aura erupted from his body.

The surrounding rock walls groaned under the terrifying pressure, and gravel rained down. The protectors standing nearby felt as if their chests had been struck by heavy hammers, their Qi and Blood flowing backward, causing them to involuntarily spit out a mouthful of blood.

This was the pressure of the Foundation Establishment Stage!

An absolute crushing of life's hierarchy!

"Roar--!"

Zhao Wuji's eyes were blood-red as he let out a non-human roar.

"Corpse Pill... backlash..."

Although he had gained power, the mixed resentment of the wronged souls was also assaulting his sea of consciousness.

"Protectors! Help me suppress the corpse poison!"

Zhao Wuji roared sternly, his voice like two pieces of raw iron grinding against each other. "Inject your Qi and Blood into the formation!"

Upon hearing the order, the other seven protectors dared not delay. They immediately bit their tongues and sprayed their own Qi and Blood onto the formation's nodes.

Only Yan Kui.

He stood in the Kun position, like an unchanging reef, unmoved by the surging tide of corpse energy that battered around him.

"Yan Kui! What are you doing?! Why aren't you acting?!"

Zhao Rong, not far away, saw this and was greatly alarmed, shouting and cursing.

Yan Kui slowly turned his head.

His eyes, devoid of any emotion, made Zhao Rong's heart palpitate.

"Act? Of course, I will act."

"However, it's not to help him."

Yan Kui's lips curved into a sinister arc, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Instead, I'll send him to the west!"

Before his voice even faded, Yan Kui stomped his right foot down heavily.

This stomp didn't use any internal energy; it was a pure burst of muscular strength.

Crack!

The hard granite formation node beneath his foot instantly shattered into powder. Spiderweb-like cracks spread outwards.

With the Kun position broken, the perfectly functioning Blood Sacrifice Grand Array instantly developed a massive gap.

Zhao Wuji, who had been madly absorbing energy, was like a speeding sports car that suddenly blew a tire. The berserk corpse energy within his body instantly went out of control, rampaging through his meridians.

"Pfft!"

Zhao Wuji spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You... you dare betray me?!"

"Betrayal?"

Yan Kui let out a cold laugh.

The next moment.

His figure vanished into thin air.

No, he didn't vanish.

It was because he was too fast!

Propelled by a terrifying strength of 5.5, his body instantly broke through air resistance, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Dozens of meters covered in an instant!

By the time Zhao Rong reacted, a massive dark shadow had already blotted out the firelight above his head.

"I was never your man, so how can there be betrayal?"

A chilling voice exploded by Zhao Rong's ear.

Following it was a suffocating gale.

Bone Shattering Hammer! Eight hundred jin!

Wielded by Yan Kui's monstrous strength, the heavy hammer's speed even surpassed the speed of sound, compressing the air in front of the hammerhead into a visible white barrier.

"No—"

Zhao Rong let out a desperate scream, instinctively raising his Fine Iron Long Saber to block.

However.

There was no suspense.

The moment the Fine Iron Long Saber touched the Bone Shattering Hammer, it shattered like glass.

Next came Zhao Rong's arm, head, upper body...

The immense kinetic energy didn't stop upon hitting its target. Instead, with world-destroying momentum, it directly "erased" Zhao Rong's entire being.

Splat.

A smear of bloody pulp splattered against the wall behind him.

The air even carried a scorched smell from the extreme friction.

Instant kill!

Zhao Rong, at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, couldn't even withstand a single blow!

"What?!"

The remaining guards were all terrified, their legs trembling like sieves.

This wasn't martial arts; it was like a savage beast hunting!

"Since the formation is broken, you're useless too."

Yan Kui turned, his gaze sweeping over the remaining protectors.

During a massacre, was there any need for further words?

No.

He moved again.

The Bone Shattering Hammer transformed into a black storm of death, sweeping across the entire area.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each hammer blow was pure physical annihilation. Whether it was protective qi or steel shields, they were a joke in the face of absolute mass and speed.

In just three breaths.

All seven protectors were wiped out!

The entire cave instantly fell silent, leaving only Yan Kui's heavy breathing and Zhao Wuji's ragged gasps.

"Good! Good! Good!"

In the center of the blood pool, Zhao Wuji wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression becoming incredibly ferocious.

"I never expected that Yan Kui, who is usually taciturn, would be hiding so much."

"This brute strength… it must be over a thousand jin, right?"

"Natural divine strength?"

Zhao Wuji slowly stood up, his fleshy wings unfolding behind him, spanning over ten feet wide. His claws scraped across the rock, leaving deep marks.

"Unfortunately, mortals are still mortals."

"You simply don't understand what the power of a cultivator is!"

Zhao Wuji flapped his wings, and his body instantly turned into an afterimage, moving so fast that it was actually a hair faster than Yan Kui had been earlier!

And he was flying!

Looking down from above, his claws were like knives, aimed directly at Yan Kui's crown.

"You call yourself a cultivator?"

Yan Kui looked up at the charging monster and let out a sneer.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, gripping the hammer handle with both hands, his muscles bulging like coiled dragons.

The Mysterious Iron Body on his skin, as black as ink, instantly lit up with a dazzling red glow.

[Qi and Blood Projection · Body Protection Qi!]

"Get down here!"

Yan Kui roared, swinging the Bone Shattering Hammer from bottom to top with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, aiming fiercely at Zhao Wuji!

CLANG!!!

A deafening sound like a great bell shook the entire cave, making it tremble three times.

A terrifying shockwave swept out in all directions, stirring the blood in the pool into waves several dozen feet high.

The ground beneath Yan Kui's feet instantly collapsed, his legs sinking into the rock.

Meanwhile, Zhao Wuji, suspended in mid-air, was sent flying backward by this single blow. He crashed heavily into the stalactites on the cave ceiling, breaking several of them before landing in a sorry state.

"How is this possible?!"

Zhao Wuji looked at his slightly trembling claws, his eyes filled with shock.

During that last attack, he felt like he had slammed into a mountain!

The opponent had no flashy techniques, just pure toughness! And that ridiculously overpowered strength!

"Exhilarating!"

Yan Kui pulled his legs out, twisted his neck, and let out satisfying cracking sounds.

He looked at Zhao Wuji, his eyes burning with the fire of ambition.

"Old bat, show me your real skills."

"Otherwise, I'm taking that Corpse Pill of yours today!"

In the center of the blood pool, Zhao Wuji wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth. His previously angry expression had calmed down.

Only his eyes were sinister enough to send chills down one's spine.

"I never expected that after spending my days hunting geese, I would be pecked by one."

"You destroyed my formation, you killed my men."

"Since that's the case, then I'll use your life to fill this void!"

Zhao Wuji slowly stood up.

At this moment, his body had completely transformed. He had grown to three meters tall, his entire body covered in black scales, his hands turned into claws, and a pair of fleshy wings had sprouted from his back.

Although the Corpse Pill had backfired, it had also temporarily granted him the terrifying power of a half-human, half-corpse.

"With my current strength, I can tear apart even a true Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

"What are you, a mere mortal, going to use to fight me?!"

Zhao Wuji flapped his wings, stirring up a foul wind, and instantly lunged at Yan Kui.

His speed was like lightning!

"What am I going to use to fight you?"

Yan Kui slammed the Bone Shattering Hammer he held heavily onto the ground, making it tremble.

He took a deep breath.

The Mysterious Iron Body on his skin, as black as ink, instantly lit up with a dazzling red glow.

Qi and Blood Projection! Body Protection Qi!

"Just with this body of mine, trained to toughness!"

"Fight me!"

Yan Kui didn't retreat but advanced, meeting Zhao Wuji's terrifying claws with a thunderous hammer strike!

The clang of metal on metal echoed throughout the underground cavern.

Sparks flew.

A massive shockwave swept outwards, sending blood from the pool splashing dozens of feet into the air.

The rock beneath Yan Kui's feet instantly shattered, his feet sinking half a foot into the ground.

Zhao Wuji, too, was sent flying backward by the blow, crashing into the cavern wall and creating a large crater.

"Exhilarating!"

Yan Kui let out a great laugh, pulled his feet free, and charged forward again.

"Old monster! Today is the day you die!"

The Blood Sacrifice Night, the Feast of Slaughter, officially begins!