Secret Realm, Ping'an City!
Deep within the city, a certain grand hall was suffused with a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Yet at first glance...
It was far from as beautiful as one might imagine.
Within the hall stood an enormous Blood Pool, occupying a vast area.
That was right.
This was Cheng Buzheng's spoils from long ago—the [Blood Crystal Pool].
At this moment, the [Blood Crystal Pool] was filled to the brim with scarlet blood, like burning flames, its red glow flooding the heavens.
The pleasant fragrance permeating the hall also originated from the vast quantity of spiritual blood in the Blood Pool.
On the stone platform at the center of the [Blood Crystal Pool], an aged old man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, quietly composing himself, as though he were about to cultivate some sinister art.
Just then...
The formation covering the hall suddenly opened a gap.
A man and a woman walked in from outside the hall. The male cultivator stood tall and straight, with a face as fair as jade and a faint, gentle smile at his lips, making him seem exceptionally approachable.
As for the female cultivator, she was a peerless beauty capable of toppling kingdoms. A single faint smile from her was enough to make countless male cultivators fall head over heels for her.
The two also looked exceptionally well-matched, as though they were a union made by heaven.
At that instant, the old man seated on the stone platform at the center of the Blood Pool seemed to sense something.
He immediately opened his eyes and saw the man and woman who had entered the hall.
Seeing this, the old man hurriedly rose to his feet and bowed deeply.
"Ping'an greets Father and Mother!"
This sight
seemed rather incongruous, yet it was a common