(Xiao Wu artwork)
The City of Slaughter, deep within the core of its inner city—the Blood Red Royal Court.
The light here was forever murky, while the air was thick with a rusty stench of blood and a sickly sweet, nauseating odor of decay.
The walls seemed cast from dried blood and the bones of unknown creatures, with reliefs of countless twisted faces contorted in agony faintly visible upon them.
At the center of the royal court stood an enormous throne piled entirely from pale white skulls, dark-red viscous liquid flowing through its cracks. Upon it lounged the King of Slaughter—or rather, Tang Chen's Shell, parasitized and controlled by the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King—in a lazy yet sinister posture.
He had a woman on either side of him. The two seductive women were scantily clad and voluptuous, yet their eyes were hollow and numb, like exquisite dolls, as they mechanically kneaded his shoulders.
The King of Slaughter toyed with a goblet made from a skull, filled with scarlet liquid. From time to time, he took a sip and let out a satisfied sigh.
Just then, the heavy doors of the royal court silently swung open.
A travel-worn figure strode in, unable to conceal his urgency and anticipation. It was the Clear Sky Sect's Fifth Elder, who had finally arrived after enduring countless perils.
When he saw the figure upon the throne, radiating boundless terror and bloodlust, and sensed a power far stronger and more sinister than what the sect's records described, his heart involuntarily tightened.
Yet, thinking of the sect's grand plan, he still dropped to one knee upon the cold, slick floor without hesitation.
He lowered his head deeply, his voice hoarse from excitement and the long journey:
"Your unworthy junior, Tang Zhen, Fifth Elder of the Clear