Being an honorary elder of the Pill Tower had brought Lin Chen enormous advantages and an exalted status.
Yet as his fingertips traced the cool patterns on the Pill Tower token, a trace of clarity remained in his eyes.
The token could ward off trouble for a time, but it could not protect him from the blades and swords of the Saint-Falling Mountain ruins.
The Saint-Falling Mountain was about to open, and geniuses and veteran powerhouses from the Central Plains were gathering.
Even with restrictions on cultivation, it would still be a battleground where life and death hung in the balance.
Among his peers, reaching the cultivation level of a Six-Star Dou Zong was already utterly unattainable!
Yet as Lin Chen gazed at the clear sky outside the window, his knuckles slowly tightened.
What he wanted wasn't to be "impressive," but to have "absolute control"—the strength to snuff out any unexpected turn before it could take root.
Staying at the Pill Tower to cultivate in seclusion would certainly be safe, but following a steady routine was like trying to fill rivers and seas with a trickle.
It was nowhere near as swift as the surge of power when the Blood Scripture devoured blood and energy.
He didn't need a warm nest. He needed a hunting ground where he could stain his fangs with blood.
As his fingertips passed over the words "Black Demon Domain" on the map, a cold glint flashed through Lin Chen's eyes.
That chaotic land on the border between the Central Plains and the Beast Domain was a boiling mess of humans, magical beasts, exiles, and unorthodox cultivators.
Killing was the only language everyone understood there, making it the perfect place to temper his blade and nurture his cultivation.
When Lin Chen settled Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin in a Pill Tower courtyard, he deliberately left them enough pills to break through to Dou Wang.
Seeing Qing Lin clutch the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture in delight, he also reminded Skyfire Venerable to keep an eye on the two women.
Only then did he turn and step into the teleportation array with Medusa and Zi Yan.
A wisp of purple mist curled around Medusa's fingertip as her gaze swept over Lin Chen's taut profile.
"The Black Demon Domain is perilous. Should I set up a snake formation in advance?"
Lin Chen paused. When he turned his head, the warmth had faded from his eyes, leaving only coldness.
"No need. This is the perfect chance to show those rats hiding in the dark what true evil looks like."
Zi Yan shook her purple hair, propped the Heavy Profound Ruler on her shoulder, and licked her lips.
"I can finally fight! I didn't get enough of it last time in Sky Yellow City!"
As soon as they entered the Black Demon Domain, the ashen sky pressed down on them, making it hard to breathe.
The stench of blood in the air was like a sticky spiderweb, clinging to their nostrils and refusing to fade.
Outside the ruined town, bones had piled up into little hills.
A few vultures were tearing at dismembered limbs. When they saw people approach, they merely raised their blood-red eyes.
Then they lowered their heads again.
The moment Lin Chen and the others appeared on the wasteland, dozens of greedy gazes shot out from the shadows.
Like hungry wolves eyeing lambs.
"That woman's figure, tsk, tsk. If we could just take her back..."
"That man looks refined. Maybe he's some sect's greenhorn."
"He's bound to have plenty of treasures on him!"
"Don't let your guard down. That ruler the little girl beside him is carrying looks unusual."
"So what if it's unusual?"
"In the Black Demon Domain, even a Dou Zong has to crawl before me!"
The filthy words drifted over on the wind, but Lin Chen didn't stop.
He merely glanced toward the voices from the corner of his eye.
A band of savage bandits led by three Dou Emperors was closing in, weapons in hand.
The leader had a scar running from his forehead to his jaw. He spat on the ground.
"Kid, hand over the women beside you and all the pills you're carrying."
"Then I might even let you die quickly!"
Lin Chen stopped and slowly turned around.
He didn't use his Dou Qi or even draw his sword.
The warmth in his eyes simply faded away, bit by bit.
His Spirit Realm soul power spread silently along the ground like an invisible tide.
The three Dou Emperors were still yelling, but the next moment, their arrogant expressions froze.
Their eyes suddenly went blank. Like puppets with their souls ripped out, they fell straight to the ground.
The dozens of lackeys behind them hadn't even realized what was happening.
The agony of their souls being annihilated swept through them.
They clutched their heads and collapsed, twitching a few times before breathing their last.
Blood seeped from beneath the bodies, flowing through cracks in the ground toward Lin Chen's feet.
The Blood Scripture inside him quietly absorbed it.
The watchers in the distance sucked in a sharp breath at the sight.
The auras that had been itching to make a move instantly withdrew, and even their breathing grew quieter.
This wasn't a lamb at all. It was a vicious fiend crawling out of hell!
Feeling the blood and energy within him grow slightly, Lin Chen's lips curled into a cold smile.
Mercy was the most useless thing in this place.
If he didn't want to be treated as prey, he had to become the most terrifying hunter first.
Over the next month, a figure that struck terror into all who heard of him emerged in the Black Demon Domain.
Lin Chen targeted only those steeped in grave sin.
The unorthodox cultivators entrenched in Black Wind Stronghold practiced cultivation arts that drained young women after abducting them.
The cellars in their stronghold were piled high with young women's bones.
The "Corpse-Eating Mercenary Group," which roamed the wasteland, targeted only injured travelers.
They not only robbed their victims of everything they owned, but also boiled their corpses into meat broth.
Then there was the pack of Iron-Armored Demon Bears in the "Poison Miasma Forest," which fed on humans.
The nearby villages had already been slaughtered to the last person.
Whenever Lin Chen made a move, he first unfurled the Blood Sea Domain.
When the dark-red domain shrouded the land, the stench of blood in the air grew even stronger.
Enemies within the domain felt their blood and energy churn, and even their Dou Qi became sluggish.
Medusa, meanwhile, transformed into a streak of purple.
Her Seven-Colored Dou Qi pierced her enemies' vitals with the precision of a venomous snake's fangs.
Her gaze remained cold throughout.
Only when she looked at Lin Chen did a trace of concern, nearly impossible to detect, flicker through her eyes.
Zi Yan, meanwhile, was like a little wildcat off its leash.
The Heavy Profound Ruler howled through the air as she swung it.
One blow from her ruler could crack the skull of a Dou Emperor-level magical beast.
She would even crouch beside a corpse, pull out its Magic Core, wipe it clean, and pop it into her mouth, crunching away.
"This one tastes better than the last!"
Lin Chen stood at the center of the domain like a bloodsucking statue.
He could clearly feel the dead's blood and energy, along with their Soul Origins, surge through the domain and into his body.
As they flowed through the channels of the Blood Scripture, each circulation made his cultivation a little more solid.
The barrier to the mid-stage of Six-Star Dou Zong cultivation was pierced like thin paper.
Then came the late stage, followed by the peak.
Finally, one morning a month later, he drained the blood and energy of the last Eight-Star Dou Emperor.
His Dou Qi suddenly surged, breaking through the bottleneck—Seven-Star Dou Zong!
But killing brought more than an increase in cultivation.
It also drew hatred from those lurking in the shadows.
News that the Wind Lightning Pavilion's North Pavilion had lost disciples in Sky Yellow City had long since reached the main pavilion.
The pavilion's elders were enraged and dispatched a large number of people to track down Lin Chen.
When the name "Blood Emperor" spread through the Black Demon Domain, Wind Lightning Pavilion's spies immediately pinpointed their target.
No one but Lin Chen, who had grievously wounded the North Pavilion's disciples, could control a sea of blood and devour blood and energy.
That day, Lin Chen had just finished wiping out the Hehuan Sect.
The Hehuan Sect's leader was a Seven-Star Dou Zong who cultivated an evil art by draining young women.
Lin Chen didn't let him die quickly. Instead, he trapped him in the Blood Sea Domain.
He slowly drained away the man's blood and energy, watching him go from arrogant and domineering to terrified pleas for mercy.
In the end, the man became a dried-up corpse.
Zi Yan was squatting on the ground, playing with the jade pendant she'd found on the sect leader.
Medusa was inspecting the Hehuan Sect's treasury.
Suddenly, three fierce torrents of wind and lightning came hurtling from the horizon.
Like three bolts of lightning, they instantly engulfed the trio!
"You little bastard! We finally found you!"
A furious roar rang out amid the thunder of wind and lightning.
Three figures landed, kicking up a sky full of dust.
The old man in front wore the robes of a Wind Lightning Pavilion elder, his beard and hair entirely white.
His gaze was as sinister as an eagle's. He was Fei Tian, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong.
The auras of the two old men beside him were just as powerful.
They were both Eight-Star Dou Zongs!
The wind-and-lightning Dou Qi around the three men wove together.
It formed an invisible net that trapped Lin Chen and the others within.
"You killed my Wind Lightning Pavilion disciples and crippled my North Pavilion elder."
"Today, I'll grind your bones to dust!"
Fei Tian's voice was like ice steeped in poison.
He fixed Lin Chen with a murderous stare, as if he wanted to tear him apart and devour him alive.
Medusa's expression turned grave.
As a Three-Star Dou Zong, she would indeed struggle against these three.
She quietly gathered her Seven-Colored Dou Qi at her fingertips, ready to strike at any moment.
Zi Yan also put aside her playfulness and gripped the Heavy Profound Ruler.
Her little face was taut, and the pressure of an Ancient Void Dragon faintly radiated from her.
Lin Chen, however, remained calm. A trace of anticipation even flashed in his eyes.
He rolled his wrist, feeling the surging Dou Qi within him.
His lips curled into a cold smile.
"Wind Lightning Pavilion? I hadn't even come looking for you, and you showed up at my door yourselves."
"Perfect. You can see for yourselves what I can do now that I've broken through to Seven-Star Dou Zong."
"Arrogant!"
Fei Tian roared and exchanged a glance with the other two elders.
"Set up the Three Talents Wind Lightning Array!"
In an instant, three torrents of wind-and-lightning Dou Qi shot into the sky.
They drew in the wind and lightning between heaven and earth, forming a massive cage of wind and lightning.
It trapped Lin Chen and the others inside.
Countless wind blades and bolts of lightning rained down from the cage.
They poured down like a storm.
Every wind blade could split rock.
Every bolt of lightning could shatter steel!
Medusa let out a sharp cry.
The phantom of the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python appeared behind her.
Its massive tail swept across the battlefield, blocking most of the wind blades and lightning.
Zi Yan roared as well, her body swelling slightly.
Ancient Void Dragon scales appeared on her arm, and she threw a punch.
She smashed a bolt of lightning to pieces.
But the Three Talents Wind Lightning Array's attacks came without end.
The two soon began to struggle, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
Lin Chen, however, didn't join their defense.
He watched the sky-filling wind-and-lightning attacks, a hint of amusement passing through his eyes.
The Wind Lightning Pavilion's people hadn't looked this miserable when they'd attacked Qing Lin in Sky Yellow City.
He took a step forward, deliberately meeting the incoming wind blades and lightning.
The dark-red Blood Sea Domain suddenly spread out, denser and broader than ever!
The wind blades and lightning entered the domain and abruptly slowed.
Their power also weakened by more than half, as if they had fallen into a mire.
"Pathetic tricks!"
Fei Tian snorted coldly and formed hand seals.
The Wind Lightning Dou Qi within him surged wildly.
It gathered into a massive spear of wind and lightning.
Golden thunder coiled around the spear, radiating an aura of destruction.
"Break!"
The spear shot forth like a bolt of lightning, stabbing straight toward the heart of the Blood Sea Domain.
That strike was powerful enough to grievously wound an ordinary Nine-Star Dou Zong!
But Lin Chen only smiled.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
With a thought, the blood and soul power within him surged wildly, following the profound secret art from the Blood Scripture.
They split apart in his dantian and gathered anew.
He could clearly feel his consciousness dividing.
Each fragment of consciousness carried the same killing intent and cultivation.
It was as if he were seeing countless versions of himself in a mirror.
"Blood God Children, form!"
At Lin Chen's low shout, twelve dark-red figures suddenly split off from the Blood Sea Domain!
They looked exactly like Lin Chen.
Even the coldness in their eyes was identical.
Their auras were no different from his own.
Each Blood God Child possessed eighty percent of Lin Chen's strength!
What's more, they were perfectly fused with the Blood Sea Domain.
As they moved within the domain, they left almost no trace, and were even a little faster than Lin Chen himself!
Fei Tian and the other two watched, their pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Their faces were filled with utter disbelief and horror.
"What... what kind of clone technique is this?"
"How can there be twelve clones this powerful?!"
One of the Eight-Star Dou Zong elders cried out.
His voice trembled.
They had seen clone techniques before, but those could create no more than two or three clones.
And those clones were far weaker than the original.
For Lin Chen to create twelve at once, each with the strength of at least a Five-Star Dou Zong—
It was unheard of!
Lin Chen and the twelve Blood God Children spoke in unison, their voices layered together.
Like death warrants from the underworld: "Kill!"
The twelve Blood God Children scattered like phantoms.
In an instant, they split the three men apart and surrounded them.
Sword Qi gathered in their hands.
The Void-Splitting Sword Intent, wrapped in dark-red blood energy, slashed toward the three men.
Each strike was weaker than Lin Chen's own.
But with twelve sword strikes coming at once, thick as rain, there was nowhere to dodge!
The Three Talents Wind Lightning Array that Fei Tian and the others had relied on was thrown into disarray beneath the Blood God Children's assault.
The Eight-Star Dou Zong elder with a mole on his left cheek was targeted by five Blood God Children.
He had just formed a blade of wind when two sword strikes pierced his shoulder.
Blood gushed out.
He screamed and tried to retreat.
But a Blood God Child was already waiting behind him.
A Karma Fire Red Lotus descended from above, instantly engulfing him.
"No! I don't want to die!"
He struggled in the flames, but the karmic fire burned souls.
In moments, his screams fell silent.
Only a charred corpse remained, quietly swallowed by the Blood Sea Domain.
The other Eight-Star Dou Zong elder saw this and was so terrified that his soul nearly fled his body.
He turned and tried to run.
But the moment he took a step, four Blood God Children blocked his way.
Sword Qi rained down on him.
His protective Dou Qi quickly filled with cracks.
Medusa seized her chance. A seven-colored ribbon of light shot from her fingertips.
It pierced his heart with perfect precision.
He fell to the ground, gasping for breath, still trying to beg for mercy.
Zi Yan was already charging over with the Heavy Profound Ruler on her shoulder.
One swing, and his head burst like a watermelon, splattering red and white everywhere.
Only Fei Tian remained.
He watched his two companions die horribly, fear filling his eyes.
But above all, he was consumed by madness.
The Wind Lightning Dou Qi within him surged wildly.
A long spear of thunder gathered in his hand.
He thrust it toward Lin Chen's true body. "You little bastard! I'll take you down with me!"
Lin Chen stood still, a mocking smile curling his lips.
Three Blood God Children stepped forward at once.
Sword Qi came at Fei Tian from three directions, forcing him to defend himself.
The moment his attention wavered, Lin Chen's true body moved.
Killing intent gathered in his hands, the power of Yuantu and Abi.
He unleashed the Void-Splitting Sword Art to its fullest.
A dark-red sword strike swept forth like the scythe of death.
It severed the thunder spear in Fei Tian's hands in an instant.
Then it cleaved through his protective Dou Qi.
The slash ran from his left shoulder to his right hip!
Blood gushed out.
Fei Tian fell to the ground, his body split in two.
His eyes were still open, filled with unwillingness and fear.
But his consciousness soon faded.
Lin Chen stepped forward, and the Blood Sea Domain drained away Fei Tian's blood and Soul Origin.
The Dou Qi within Lin Chen grew stronger still.
In the distance, the Black Demon Domain forces that had come to watch the spectacle saw the three High-Rank Dou Zong experts from the Wind Lightning Pavilion wiped out.
Terrified, they turned and fled.
Not one of them dared even breathe too loudly.
From that day on, the name "Blood Emperor" spread throughout the Black Demon Domain, and no one dared provoke him.
Lin Chen withdrew the Blood Sea Domain.
The twelve Blood God Children turned into blood energy and returned to his body.
Feeling the even more surging Dou Qi within him, a trace of satisfaction crossed his eyes.
Medusa stepped forward and handed him a handkerchief.
"Wipe yourself off. You've got blood on you."
Zi Yan tugged at his arm.
"Lin Chen, Lin Chen, will we get into another fight like that next time?"
"That was so much fun!"
Lin Chen took the handkerchief and wiped the blood from his face.
He looked toward Saint-Falling Mountain.
There were less than half a month left before the ruins opened.
His cultivation had already climbed to Eight-Star Dou Zong through slaughter.
His soul power had grown more refined, and he had become increasingly skilled at controlling the twelve Blood God Children.
At this point, even without relying on Medusa and Zi Yan,
he was strong enough to establish himself in the Saint-Falling Mountain ruins.
He could even put up a fight against a Dou Venerate.
"Soon."
Lin Chen murmured, his eyes gleaming.
"The geniuses of Saint-Falling Mountain can finally learn what it feels like to be crushed."
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