Peak of the Houtian Realm

Chapter 16: The Peak of the Post-Natal Realm

Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art, 12th level, 360,000 jin of immense strength, 180 tons!

Red light flickered frantically in Chen Lin's eyes. Clearly, having absorbed so much pure Heavenly Demon essence blood, the bloodline within his body had benefited immensely. This time, he intended to madly condense Sha Qi to complete the final level of the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art!

The total amount of Sha Qi required for the final level of the technique was terrifyingly vast!

As if sensing Chen Lin's madness, or perhaps drawn by the pull of his cultivation technique, in a mere instant, time within the Blood Pool seemed to solidify in Chen Lin's eyes. Everything in existence ceased its motion!

Immediately following, the surrounding Sha Qi turned violent. The fierce Sha Qi that other ferocious beasts avoided like the plague was something Chen Lin pursued like a moth to a flame. That ferocious Sha Qi actually emitted the sound of flowing air currents; invisible to the naked eye, it surged like a crashing thunderbolt, like a gale whipping up snow!

Violent compression, whistling in and out! Flesh, blood, tendons, and bones were tempered a thousand times over!

Ten breaths later, Chen Lin's body suddenly exploded, as if shattered by the terrifying Sha Qi, transforming into a sky full of blood rain and shredded flesh!

A miserable, blood-red mist danced across the sky, obscuring everyone's vision. The entire area seemed to be swept by a terrifying hurricane of blood. A strong, bloody stench surged incessantly throughout the region.

"Sigh... he failed after all..." Wu Lan and Qiu Ming's eyes dimmed, and they remained silent. The many powerhouses atop the altar shook their heads. Although they had been amazed by Chen Lin's previous bizarre state, that interest faded along with his death.

No one noticed that where Chen Lin had been, a blood-colored seed slowly rotated, emitting a hazy, crimson halo.

A seed formed from Source Blood!

Chen Lin could no longer feel pain; he only felt the cold, heavy Death Energy within his blood. In a trance, he felt as if he had already died, yet he also sensed wisps of Heavenly Demon essence blood slowly condensing in his body, seemingly struggling to reorganize and restore his flesh and blood.

It felt like icy snakes slithering and winding through his muscles, or like thousands of insects crawling and gnawing at his flesh. The cold, painful sensation was agonizing.

Within the Blood Pool, a body of flesh and blood was being reconstructed in a bizarre fashion.

Gradually, this body became more solid, once again becoming the focus of everyone's gaze!

"He actually isn't dead?! Such powerful regenerative ability—could it be some special constitution or innate divine ability?!"

Everyone was shocked. Li Juekong's eyes flashed with purple brilliance, as if trying to see through the blood mist to clearly examine Chen Lin's body.

Chen Lin slowly opened his eyes. A trace of red light flickered in their depths, adding a touch of evil to his appearance.

"Hum~!"

Suddenly, a radiance flashed behind Chen Lin, and a massive Heavenly Demon phantom gradually solidified.

This Heavenly Demon resembled Chen Lin, but its entire body was as transparent as emerald crystal, covered in red veins. The two antennae on its head had transformed into devilish horns, and its eyes were like blood, exuding a wild and perverse aura. Behind it extended a pair of massive, ink-black wings, carved with complex runes that flickered with a lethal, eerie, and dangerous light.

"What kind of Heavenly Demon is this? Have any of you heard of it?"

The masters of the various meridians atop the altar frowned in thought, yet they could not recall any impression associated with this Heavenly Demon.

An old man stroked his beard with one hand, pondered for a moment, and then his eyes flashed as he said slowly, "This Heavenly Demon's appearance is somewhat similar to the 'Green-Light Plankton Beast'."

"Green-Light Plankton Beast? Now that you mention it, I do have some recollection. This Heavenly Demon ranks four hundred and eighty-seventh on the Heavenly Demon Ranking, placing it at the very bottom."

"Indeed, but this child's appearance differs greatly from the Green-Light Plankton Beast. Furthermore, his performance in the Blood Pool just now was nothing short of astonishing; it must be due to some innate divine ability. However, the innate divine ability of his ancestor, the 'Green-Light Plankton Beast', should be the 'Plankton Illusion Realm', a technique for creating hallucinations. This Heavenly Demon descendant has been rarely seen for hundreds of years—could it have mutated?"

"No need to investigate too deeply for now. Once the Blood Pool Cleansing Ceremony concludes, we shall conduct a thorough examination. I must say, I am quite curious about this little fellow."

Chen Lin walked out of the Blood Pool and vaguely sensed that everyone's gaze toward him had changed. Even Wu Lan and Qiu Ming were looking at him with expressions of strangeness, curiosity, and expectation, which made Chen Lin feel quite uncomfortable.

However, Chen Lin knew that his performance in the Blood Pool had indeed been too eye-catching. He had wanted to keep a low profile, but if he hadn't utilized the Sha Qi to cultivate his technique, he likely would have ended up as nothing but bones within a few breaths of the Blood Pool array activating. He had no choice but to be conspicuous.

At this moment, his Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art had reached its peak: 390,000 jin, 195 tons of immense strength! If he activated the technique, he could barely reach a force of 200 tons, which was terrifying to the extreme. Even among innate ferocious beasts, he was likely a creature of formidable power.

The moment his technique reached great completion, the Void Meridians within his body opened up as a matter of course. Three hundred and sixty-one Void Meridians now spread throughout his entire body, connecting his Yin-Yang Meridians.

He could now break through the Post-Natal peak realm and reach the Innate Realm at any time. But the current occasion was clearly not suitable for a breakthrough, so Chen Lin suppressed the urge to advance and held back.

With a turn of events and a stroke of luck, the main quest he had thought impossible to complete had now become incredibly easy. Chen Lin sighed with emotion, but this was a good thing; at least he wouldn't have to be erased for the 1,000 Death Energy points.

Chen Lin couldn't help but feel lucky, but the moment he thought of Death Energy points, he hurriedly used his mind to communicate with the Ascension Space. Seeing 8,114 points of Death Energy, he felt as if he had gone from poverty to prosperity overnight.

Happiness always arrived so suddenly.

Half an hour later, the Blood Pool Cleansing Ceremony finally concluded.

Those who had successfully condensed a phantom behind them were led by disciples to one end of the square to await the final testing by the meridian masters on the altar.

As for those ferocious beasts who had failed to condense a phantom in the Blood Pool but had luckily survived, they were assigned to the other end of the square. These beasts possessed Heavenly Demon bloodlines, but their blood was inferior and their aptitude limited, so they could only be cultivated as outer sect disciples. Although they hadn't become inner sect disciples, surviving the Blood Pool had clearly granted them immense benefits; at the very least, their intelligence was now no different from an ordinary person's. Of course, if they had the opportunity to improve their bloodlines or if their cultivation increased to meet the requirements, they would also be accepted by the Myriad Demon Sect as inner sect disciples.

Chen Lin looked around and discovered that most of those around him were Innate-stage ferocious beasts who had taken human form. Their auras were rich and terrifying. A select few, after the baptism of the Blood Pool, had eyes that flickered with brilliance and auras that appeared even more profound. From their very bones, they exuded a faint majesty, clearly indicating noble, pure Heavenly Demon bloodlines and superior aptitude.

Once all the beasts had gathered, Li Juekong and the other Demon Race powerhouses flew down from the altar.

With so many powerhouses present in person, even those beasts who had awakened their Heavenly Demon bloodlines dared not act presumptuously, and they all lowered their noble heads.

Li Juekong and the other leading meridian masters had strange lights in their eyes as they scrutinized the beasts who had performed exceptionally well in the Blood Pool.

The first to be valued was naturally Chen Lin, who had displayed the most bizarre and astonishing performance in the Blood Pool. In an instant, dozens of gazes, filled with the look one might give a rare treasure, were fixed tightly upon him.

Being stared at by so many powerhouses was truly an unpleasant experience. Chen Lin felt his hair stand on end and his breathing become difficult. Every one of these people possessed the strength to kill him with ease and held heaven-defying means; he could not help but tremble with fear.