Blood-Colored Stone Stele

Mist billowed thickly, as if the mountains were locked away.

Yet Zhou Heng's gaze pierced through the mist, fixed on the depths of the valley. He strode forward without pausing.

Just ten minutes later, the view ahead suddenly opened up. The mist vanished, revealing a clear, starry sky once more.

There were still mountains and water, dark and profound.

"This is... the other half of the valley!" Han Yulian's beautiful eyes glimmered. This clearly wasn't the exit. The terrain was different, and there was no sign of Lu Qing or the other man.

Zhou Heng nodded, his heart brimming with curiosity. What secret did this mist-locked mountain conceal?

Could there be treasure? But why hadn't the Black Sword reacted?

Zhou Heng frowned. The valley clearly wasn't ordinary. How could there not be any precious natural treasures here?

Then they would keep going. How could he be satisfied without reaching the end?

He set off. He had taken only two steps when he heard Han Yulian's footsteps behind him. She came alongside him.

"What's that smell?" After another seven or eight minutes, Zhou Heng and Han Yulian caught a strange odor at the same time.

They exchanged a glance and continued forward. The closer they got, the stronger the stench became, until it was utterly foul.

"The smell of corpses!" Han Yulian stopped abruptly. An unusual light flickered in her beautiful eyes. Rather than disgust or fear, she seemed excited.

Why would she be excited?

Zhou Heng turned it over in his mind and quickly understood.

This valley was like a demonic lair that devoured people without even spitting out their bones. Who knew how many people had died inside? Their bodies naturally couldn't have made it out. Those who died here must have had some belongings on them, some of which might even have been extremely valuable!

Finding their corpses was like finding a treasure trove!

No wonder she'd insisted on coming in. With Zhou Heng's "ability," she didn't have to worry about getting trapped here. But she'd only just crawled back from the brink of death and was already thinking that far ahead. There was no denying this woman was deeply calculating!

Zhou Heng felt a chill in his heart and secretly grew wary. She certainly needed him to get out, but there was no guarantee she'd need him later. If they really found the so-called treasure and she grew greedy, she could kill the others and keep it all for herself. Once back, she'd only have to say they'd encountered a Blood Refining Realm monster and she'd barely escaped alone.

He hoped he was worrying over nothing!

As he thought this, he strode on. He was genuinely curious about what secrets the valley held.

After they'd walked for a while, the valley narrowed until it resembled a winding path, twisting and turning. After nearly half an hour, the space ahead abruptly opened into a vast platform.

And this was the bottom of the valley.

Zhou Heng and Han Yulian emerged at the platform's western edge, facing a sheer cliff. They had to turn around to see the whole platform. When they did, they were confronted with a truly horrifying sight.

At the center of the platform stood a Blood-Colored Stone Stele. Strange patterns covered its pillar, seeming half like writing and half like pictures. It was about ten meters tall and two feet wide. Around it lay circles of corpses, arranged in perfect order, four layers in all.

The corpses closest to the stele had rotted until only white bones remained, while those on the outermost ring were relatively "fresh," their bones not yet exposed.

The bizarre scene made Zhou Heng and Han Yulian's scalps crawl.

Dead people weren't anything unusual. What martial artist hadn't seen a corpse? But who would arrange corpses in a pattern after dying? Was there still someone alive in the valley, someone who'd arranged them like this?

And if such a person really existed, what were they trying to accomplish?

Zhou Heng paused only briefly before heading straight for the stele. Maybe... the answer was on it.

The platform was only a hundred meters across, and Zhou Heng quickly reached the outermost corpses. The corpse "formation" consisted of four circles, with more than three hundred bodies in total. Gathered together, they made a chilling spectacle that set one's scalp crawling.

Zhou Heng held his breath and stepped toward the center.

Voom!

At that moment, the Blood-Red Stele suddenly trembled and released a blood-red wave of light that swept into every corner of the platform.

A powerful urge to despair surged through Zhou Heng, making him want to end it all. But the Black Broken Sword in his Dantian vibrated at just the right moment, and he abruptly came back to himself, shock filling his heart!

The mist outside had the power to confuse the mind, and so did this wave of light! What's more, it was even stronger. Before, he'd managed to awaken through sheer willpower, but this time, if the Black Broken Sword hadn't intervened, he didn't know whether he would've ever come back to his senses!

Speaking of coming back to his senses, Zhou Heng hurriedly swept his gaze around. Han Yulian was walking over like a walking corpse, her eyes dim and utterly lifeless. She reached a gap in the outermost ring of corpses, lay down flat, and didn't move again!

Hiss!

Was this the secret behind the circles of corpses? They hadn't been moved there after the victims died. Their minds had been bewitched, and they'd walked there themselves!

It was that simple!

Zhou Heng went to Han Yulian's side. The woman's eyes were wide open, but her pupils didn't focus at all. They were horribly dull.

Had the people who'd wandered into the valley before simply lain like this until they died?

A powerful chill rose in Zhou Heng's heart. Who could accept dying like this?

What kind of power could make someone die without the slightest resistance?

"Senior Sister Han! Senior Sister Han!" Zhou Heng shouted, but Han Yulian didn't react at all. It was as if she'd lost her soul. If not for the Blood Refining Realm aura still emanating from her, she would've seemed completely dead.

How bizarre. One wave was enough to make a Blood Refining Realm martial artist die without any resistance!

"Don't blame me later. I'm doing this to save you!" Zhou Heng muttered to himself. Smack! He slapped Han Yulian across the face.

She didn't react at all.

Smack, smack, smack! Zhou Heng slapped her seven or eight times, but it still made no difference. Han Yulian was like a living corpse—or perhaps just an empty shell.

Zhou Heng tried every trick he could think of: hitting her, slapping her, pinching her. Nothing worked.

Clearly, ordinary methods were useless.

Zhou Heng's thoughts shifted. He'd regained consciousness because of the Black Broken Sword. At the very least, the treasure could resist that mysterious power. If he could draw on its power, could he bring Han Yulian back?

The key was figuring out how to channel the Black Sword's power into healing Han Yulian.

He might as well try. Success or failure was up to fate.

He focused on communicating with the Black Sword in his Dantian, again and again. Voom! At last, the wondrous treasure responded, releasing a supreme wave of power.

The wave traveled through Zhou Heng's hand, which was holding Han Yulian, and entered her body.

"Ah—" Han Yulian cried out as if waking from a nightmare. Her upper body jerked upright. Her face was pale as paper, but her alluring eyes had finally regained their light.

Zhou Heng breathed a sigh of relief. It really worked!

"I... I..." Han Yulian stared at Zhou Heng, then suddenly threw her arms around him and said in a trembling voice, "I felt as though I'd been trapped in a cage. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't escape, until a beam of light broke through everything!"

The mature beauty was fully grown, and when she embraced him like that, Zhou Heng felt two soft mounds pressing against his chest. It was an indescribably pleasant sensation.

"It's all right now!" Zhou Heng quickly pushed her away. At this moment, the mature beauty didn't seem seven or eight years older than him at all. She looked more like a young girl who'd been frightened out of her wits. He wasn't the sort to take advantage of someone in distress. He stood up straight and fixed his gaze on the Blood-Red Stele.

"Don't go any farther!" Han Yulian hurriedly grabbed Zhou Heng, her hand trembling.

She was truly frightened now. She didn't dare think of taking anything from those corpses on the ground. They had to be alive to get out!

"It's fine!" Zhou Heng shook his head, his gaze unwavering as he looked ahead. Once he'd made up his mind, nothing could stop him.

The Black Broken Sword was powerful enough to suppress the evil of the Blood-Red Stele!

He strode forward. Voom! The Blood-Red Stele released another wave of light, blasting out in every direction.

But this time, neither Zhou Heng nor Han Yulian was affected in the slightest. It was as if they'd both become immune.

Voom! Voom! Voom!

Wave after wave of blood-colored light surged out, like crashing breakers. Zhou Heng and Han Yulian were the sturdiest of seawalls, standing firm and unmoving.

Zhou Heng continued forward, passing through the first ring of corpses, then the second.

But just then, the Blood-Colored Stone Stele released another wave. This time, it wasn't aimed at Zhou Heng and Han Yulian, but at the corpses on the ground.

An even more bizarre sight appeared. The corpses actually began to climb to their feet, one after another!

People practiced martial arts to become the strongest. They didn't believe in ghosts and gods!

But even corpses that had long since turned to skeletons could stand back up. This completely overturned everything Zhou Heng and Han Yulian believed!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Green flames flickered in every skull's empty eye sockets, and a layer of red hair sprouted over their bodies. They looked as sinister as could be.

"Wh-what... what are those things?" Han Yulian's voice trembled. Who could see this and not have their hair stand on end?

Zhou Heng's hair stood on end too. Corpses coming back to life was far beyond anything he could imagine!

"Ugh... ugh..." The corpses let out dry, rasping growls. Green flames danced in their eye sockets, making them even more terrifying.

Han Yulian was already numb with fear. This had nothing to do with her cultivation; it was simply far beyond what she could bear!

The corpses slowly moved, closing in around Zhou Heng.

Two layers inside, two layers outside, surrounding him until there was nowhere to escape!

Zhou Heng let out a long roar, drew the sword at his waist, and sent the sword intent of the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles sweeping out as he swung again and again.

Clang, clang, clang!

His sword struck the corpses' bones, throwing off a string of sparks. Several bones were severed at once and crumbled into powder—the bones of even a Blood Refining Realm expert couldn't withstand the passage of time. Only those who'd reached the Spirit Gathering Realm could.

Zhou Heng's first successful strike boosted his confidence, but the sword intent of the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles seemed useless against these skeletons. Their movements weren't hindered in the slightest.

That made sense. They were already dead. How could they still feel fear?

Zhou Heng unleashed the Flying Cloud Steps, soaring through the air and tapping his feet across the skulls of one skeleton after another. In an instant, he broke free of the corpse's encirclement. Han Yulian watched, her heart practically leaping out of her chest.

The corpses moved slowly, but Zhou Heng still didn't dare let them touch him. He'd seen that they all had long, pitch-black fingernails!

They were clearly poisonous!