Bloodstained Return: The Mist Over Earth

Blood Fiend Secret Realm.

The air is perpetually filled with the smell of blood, and the barren land is devoid of vegetation, with only jagged ravines crisscrossing the landscape.

In the heart of this desolate land, a golden palace floats in the void, emanating a chilling aura.

This is the core headquarters of the Soul Hall.

Although Tang An and his group of six had been here many times, they still couldn't help but hold their breath and vigilantly observe their surroundings every time they stepped into the palace. Their apprehension stemmed not from the palace's eeriness, but from the fact that a terrifying figure was permanently stationed here: the Soul Hall Vice Hall Master.

No one knew his real name; within the Blood Fiend Secret Realm's internal network, everyone secretly called him "Jie-Jie Monster."

The nickname comes from his signature, wicked and cruel laugh, a sharp, piercing laugh with a chilling eeriness that is difficult for ordinary people to imitate.

What's even more terrifying is that over the past few thousand years, countless brilliant geniuses within the Blood Fiend Secret Realm have attempted to resist the oppression of this deputy hall master. Among them were many powerful figures at the realm lord level, and even a few top prodigies who had touched upon immortal combat power, but their resistance ultimately proved futile.

This "Jie-Jie Monster" always managed to suppress them with overwhelming power, then kill them in front of everyone in the secret realm, showing no regard for the possible forces behind those realm lords and geniuses, nor for how outstanding their talents were.

"Tap tap tap~"

With light footsteps, the six walked cautiously towards the depths of the palace. On both sides of the cold palace corridor, eerie green Soul Fire burned, casting long shadows of them.

Final.

Deep within the main hall.

"Hehehe~ Look who's here? It's actually a rising star from my Soul Hall! What, you've grown too big for your britches and dare to challenge my authority?" A sharp, eerie laugh suddenly echoed through the hall, filled with mockery and malice. "Welcome, welcome! My greatsword has been thirsting for blood for a long time!"

On the high platform of the main hall stood a tall figure, his entire body shrouded in heavy black robes, obscuring his features. Only two beams of scarlet blood light shone through the gaps in the black robes, like demons from hell, locking onto Tang An group of six.

Tang Guo was startled by the sudden laughter and instinctively shrank to the side. Long Hao reacted quickly, stepping forward to shield Tang Guo behind him.

Tang An took a deep breath, stepped forward, and cupped his hands, saying, "Senior, according to the rules of the secret realm, if we wish to have offspring, we can apply to go to Earth. We have come today for this very reason."

"Oh~ Hehehe~" The figure on the platform let out an even more ear-piercing laugh, "Fresh blood, a young human genius cub—that's my most prized possession!" Ah! Welcome, welcome!

As the laughter subsided, his tone suddenly turned icy. "However, I must offer you a few friendly reminders, so listen carefully."

"First: Before leaving the secret realm for Earth, your most important family members, your parents, who remain within the secret realm, will be held hostage."

"Second: Before you set off, you must wear my specially made Immortal Divine Power Bracelet."

Remember, do not attempt to remove the bracelet by any means, nor try to block its signal. If the bracelet detects any anomalies or detaches from your body, your relatives remaining in the secret realm will be immediately executed.

"Third: It is forbidden to expose any information about the Soul Hall to the outside world in any way. Of course, if you insist on exposing it, so be it." At this point, he let out another eerie laugh, "Once you get to Earth, you will know just how dark the sky is for the Human Race."

Hehehe~"

As the sinister laughter subsided, the figure on the platform casually waved his hand, and six bracelets gleaming with a pale golden light suddenly appeared out of thin air, slowly landing in front of Tang An and his group of six. Immediately afterward, a pitch-black hole appeared before them, its interior so deep and boundless that it was impossible to discern its destination.

Tang An and the other five exchanged glances. This might be their only chance to escape the Blood Fiend Secret Realm in their lifetime. Gritting their teeth, the six of them stepped forward and picked up the bracelets.

The bracelets felt icy cold to the touch. As soon as they were placed on their wrists, they transformed into a stream of Flowing Light, entering their bodies and gradually disappearing. However, they could not only clearly sense the presence of the bracelets, but also feel the aura of the bracelets within each other's bodies, like an invisible net tightly binding them together.

Then, the six exchanged glances, said nothing more, and turned to jump into the deep, dark hole together.

Only after Tang An six companions completely disappeared into the black hole did the black hole slowly close, and the man in black on the high platform slowly lifted his hat. Underneath the hat was a familiar, handsome face with black hair and black eyes: it was Tang Ping.

He gazed in the direction where the black hole disappeared, and sighed with emotion, "The hearts of parents are truly selfless—"

Now, the only thing that worries him in the Blood Fiend Secret Realm is Liu Hui's family.

To be honest, even the training instructors in the secret realm were quite curious about Liu Hui's family. This kid Liu Hui was currently hanging out with Tang Ping's clone, and his life could be described as "living in dire straits."

He was often beaten for poor performance on missions, and if his wife and daughters performed poorly, he would be beaten as well. Occasionally, he couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks about Tang Ping's clones, and he would be severely punished.

Strangely, every time Liu Hui was beaten, as long as he saw Tang Ping's clone being punished and beaten for various "mistakes," Liu Hui mood would instantly improve, and his previous grievances and anger would seem to vanish.

Before long, he was able to adjust his mindset and throw himself back into his work and Law Comprehension, and his speed of improvement was surprisingly not slow at all.

Optimistic, too optimistic!

As for Liu Hui's wife and daughters, they are both very traditional women. Every time they see Liu Hui being beaten on the virtual network, they feel heartbroken and burst into tears. Then they work even harder to cultivate and complete tasks, hoping to alleviate Liu Hui's pressure.

Occasionally, when they finally manage to meet Liu Hui online, just seeing Liu Hui still cheerful immediately calms their tense and devastated state of mind, making them reassured once more.

The state of this family is simply Extreme Point.

In fact, a special expert group was established within the secret territory to study the mentality of Liu Hui's family.

Despite being ordinary people with no outstanding talent or powerful background, the three of them possessed astonishing resilience, able to quickly adjust no matter how much pressure or setbacks they faced.

"Could this be—something that makes Earthling special?"

Inside the black hole.

After a strong sense of spatial tearing, Tang An six companions were swept up by an irresistible force and appeared inside a completely silver-white spaceship.

Inside the cabin stood two guards clad in Black Battle Armor, their faces obscured by helmets, revealing only a pair of cold, blood-red eyes.

Upon seeing the visitor, Black Guard coldly said, "Choose your own room. You will arrive on Earth in ten days!"

Tang An and his six companions stood silently in place.

"Buzz~"

The spaceship started up, and looking out through the porthole, the familiar Blood Fiend Secret Realm void had long since disappeared, replaced by the vast universe, with countless stars like shattered diamonds embedded in the black curtain.

What a beautiful and vast universe!

About two weeks later, on Earth, in apartment 606 of the Happiness Residential Complex.

Tang An and five others gathered together.

"Finally—we're safe?" Tang Guo's voice trembled slightly.

Long Hao raised his hand and gently patted her back. "You're safe for now, but the bracelet is still working, so we must not let our guard down."

Tang An walked to the window, his gaze sweeping over the completely unfamiliar sci-fi buildings outside, even the Super Floating Island...

Floating City.

"This is indeed Earth, but since the Soul Hall dared to send us back without any surveillance, they must have something to rely on. Our top priority is to find someone who can help us as soon as possible. The Blood Fiend Secret Realm, the Soul Hall —we can't let them hold us like this forever."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Tang Yiyi frowned. "These past few days I've searched through the entire database in the Virtual Universe, and the information about the Soul Hall is almost completely blank. Moreover, Earth has changed so much in the past few thousand years. After the Luo Family spent a lot of money on special modifications, it's said that even a World Lord Rank expert wouldn't be able to cause any trouble here."

"Now, hundreds of billions of Human Race live here, including many powerful families with the strength of Venerable Level and King Rank. They specially send pregnant women here to give birth and let their children learn here."

Logically, if we could establish a connection with any major family, we could easily escape the control of the Soul Hall. Why are they so confident, leaving us here without even a single guard?

Upon hearing this, Tang An couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "Yiyi, you're still too naive. In the eyes of those top-tier powers, the scions of our impoverished families are utterly insignificant. Until we reach the Marquis Rank Realm, in the eyes of the Human Race's higher-ups, we're no different from ants, utterly dispensable."

"Have you forgotten the deeds of Galaxy Lord Luo Feng? Back when he was the Inspector Envoy of the Virtual Universe Company Ganwu Branch, he encountered a powerful King Rank: the Blood Demon King."

The Blood Demon King controlled the entire Dutuo Star Sector. He had a World Lord named Aokefei under his command who gathered billions of young women on his planet and conducted a frenzied Blood Demon Ritual, ultimately turning billions of lives into a sea of blood and flesh.

"The Blood Demon King's forces have slaughtered trillions of lives over the past few thousand years, including many World Lord Rank. But what was the result? The Blood Demon King himself was completely unharmed; at most, he just pushed a few of his subordinates out to take the blame."

Tang An said somewhat helplessly, "The Human Race's territory is too vast, so vast that the number of natural deaths among ordinary people each year is an astronomical figure that cannot be estimated. Even those high-ranking officials who uphold fairness will only value true geniuses. We haven't reached the point where they even give us a second glance."

Upon hearing the word "genius," Tang Yiyi's eyes lit up. They had also been hailed as geniuses in the Blood Fiend Secret Realm.

Tang An saw through her thoughts at a glance and patted her shoulder. "Don't overthink it. What the clan truly values are peerless geniuses who have the potential to become pillars of society, like the Galaxy Lord Luo Feng, who can be King Rank king and even rule a Universe Country. Only such people are worth their all-out efforts to cultivate, just like when they directly gave Earth, this treasure trove, to the Luo Family back then."

Tang Yiyi pouted, her cheeks puffing out slightly, clearly unconvinced.

She also has the potential to become a strong person!

Tang Guo, who was standing nearby, suddenly had a bright idea. "I remember Dad said that our Tang Family and the Luo Family have a very close relationship! Can we ask the Luo Family for help and rescue Dad?"

Tang An shook his head slightly and said in a deep voice, "Several hundred years ago, the Luo Family announced that the four elders of Earth with outstanding combat power had already left, their return date uncertain, and their whereabouts unknown. Moreover, they were only at the World Lord Rank level. No matter how talented they were, they couldn't possibly break into a dragon's den or tiger's lair like the Blood Fiend Secret Realm."

"Wait!" Tang Guo suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "I discovered that Earth's newly appointed First Elder is named Tang Ping! Exactly the same as Dad's name! Could he be a member of the Tang Family?"

My father once said that our Old Tang Family has a mysterious and terrifying past. During the great chaos of that time, many branches of the family escaped!

Unfortunately, there is no video or news of him, and what's even stranger is that people who have seen him say they can't remember him.

Tang An shook his head again. "Putting aside the fact that we don't even have his contact information, the surname 'Tang' is a very common surname on Earth. There are countless people named Tang Ping, so it's highly likely that he has no connection to us. Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to find him."

"Then... what should we do?" Tang Guo asked in despair.

Tang An glanced at everyone and said firmly, "First, we must seize the time to cultivate and improve our strength; second, we should try to join the Ganwu Dojo or the Luo Family Dojo in the Virtual Universe and see if we can find a powerful master to take as our teacher."

In addition, there are still three nails left on the wrecked ship. Everyone should try to contact other members of their families to see if they can connect with those supreme experts through them.

"But the most important point is that relying on others is never as good as relying on ourselves! As long as we can break through to the Immortal realm, be granted the title of Marquis Rank, or even King Rank, and one day even rise to the upper echelons of the Soul Hall, then the Blood Fiend Secret Realm will naturally no longer be able to bind us, and we will be truly free!"

"Come on!"

The six men spoke in unison, their fighting spirit rekindled.

Then, they went in pairs to the three rooms next to the living room.

In today's world, every inch of land on Earth is incredibly valuable. Forget about residential areas; even staying overnight in the wild is forbidden. Without a house, even a powerful being at the World Lord Rank would be driven away by patrol teams.

So they could only share a room, but thankfully they had already confirmed their relationship with their respective families.

I hope it works!