Drinking raw blood? Don't you people enforce hygiene and disease prevention?

The dilapidated tavern at the very back of Rotten Bone Town was so dark and shabby that it didn't even have a proper storefront. It looked like a broken coffin with its mouth half-open, waiting to devour someone.

Ling Yun kicked the drafty, rotten wooden door to pieces and led everyone across the threshold. Outside, the scorching sun beat down on the ground, making it burning hot, but inside the house, it was gloomy and chilly. A dozen or so skinny, bony rogue cultivators with eyes as dull as dead fish huddled in the shadows in the corner, their shifty eyes fixed on the six unfamiliar faces who had just entered.

Behind the broken counter, a bartender with a face as white as if he had just applied two pounds of whitewash slowly swayed over, carrying a tattered tray with peeling paint.

On the tray were six cups of reddish, murky soup, with blood bubbles rising to the surface. The metallic, metallic smell of dead human blood could be smelled from three steps away.

"Gentlemen," the bartender said, his eyes drooping like dead fish, his voice booming as if it came from a graveyard, "The rule here is one Bloody Mary per person. Drink it, and you're one of us."

If it were someone who usually came here hoping to get lucky, they would probably be so scared by this scene that their legs would tremble, or they would hold their noses and force it down their throat just to pretend to be a hero.

But Ling Yun had his hands in his pockets, not even a finger reaching for the tray.

He leaned closer and sniffed twice, his casual expression instantly turning into one of disgust.

"I'm asking you, does your shady business fall under the jurisdiction of the authorities?"

Ling Yun frowned deeply. "Drink raw blood? Don't you know anything about hygiene? Has this blood been inspected? Has it been vaccinated? Does it carry Parasitic? My brothers just got tetanus shots outside, and you're offering me a cup of malaria to try?"

The bartender's deadpan face suddenly froze, and his mind went blank for a moment.

He'd been greeting people at the gates of the Slaughter City for years, and he'd seen people terrified and people putting on airs. But this was the first time anyone'd ever come up to him and ask about "health and quarantine"!

"Kid, these are the rules..." The bartender's eyes darkened, and he was about to say something harsh.

"Rules are worthless!"

Ma Hongjun was feeling hot, and the stench made him nauseous. His large belly bulged, and a wisp of Pure Yang Phoenix Fire shot out from the corner of his mouth!

With a "whoosh!"

The six cups of blood, along with the rotten wooden tray, burned instantly into a pile of foul-smelling black ash.

"Fatty, teach this guy who doesn't know anything about food safety a lesson."

Ling Yun pulled up a long bench and sat down, raising his chin. "Bring out that half-pot of hot pot broth we left over from last night, the one with ten times the amount of crazy ghost peppers, boil it up, and feed it to him! Today I'm going to teach him what high-temperature sterilization really means!"

"Alright, Brother Yun!"

Ma Hongjun was very quick and nimble. He took out the unwashed copper pot from the bundle and set it on fire, boiling the bright red chili and beef tallow inside until it was bubbling vigorously.

Dai Mubai and Tai Long pounced on the bartender like wolves, pinning him to the counter from both sides and prying open his jaw. Ma Hongjun, carrying a pot of boiling hot pot broth, poured it down his throat without saying a word!

"Gurgle--Ahhh!!"

The bartender, feeling like he was being electrocuted, kicked wildly. His pale face turned purple in the blink of an eye, and tears and snot Spit Up more than a foot away from his nose. His lips Air Balloon up like two red sausages.

The assassins who had been trying to act all serious in the corners were so frightened that they all shrank back into the corners, not daring to utter a sound.

Where did this living ancestor come from! They've seen plenty of ruthless killers, but this despicable method of forcing people to drink boiling hot pot broth is even more heartless than the Slaughter City!

Ling Yun ignored the sausage-mouthed guy rolling on the ground, walked behind the counter, and kicked the heavy mahogany wine cabinet to pieces.

With a "crack," a large, dark hole appeared in the floor tile, and gusts of cold wind carrying the stench of blood rose straight up.

"Let's go, down the cave into the city." Ling Yun clapped his hands and led the way, jumping down.

After walking a short distance along the long path beneath the black hole, light gradually appeared ahead. Two heavy bronze doors blocked the way.

"Da, da, da."

At the end of the cold, stone path, came the dull sound of horses' hooves.

A large man, clad in thick black armor, rode a black horse covered in iron armor, holding a gleaming twelve-foot -Long Spear, standing like an iron gatekeeper blocking the way.

Terror Knight Scott and gatekeeper of the Slaughter City.

Scott, perched high above, pointed his Long Spear at Ling Yun and his group. The sounds beneath his helmet were hoarse and low, conveying the air of a seasoned expert.

"You reckless intruder, this is the gates of hell."

"Defeat me to gain entry to the Slaughter City. Otherwise, leave your life behind..."

"Brother Yun! Big deal!"

Before Scott could finish reciting half of his polite words, Ning Rongrong, who was hiding in the back, suddenly yelled and squeezed to the front with her eyes gleaming with a sly green light.

The young lady pointed her slender white finger intently at Scott's attire, practically drooling. "His black, battered iron armor is mixed with deep-sea cold iron! And that spearhead, it's made of meteorite black iron! The most valuable thing is that saddle, each side inlaid with a top-grade black agate; pry it off and take it to a pawnshop in Heaven Dou City, it'd fetch at least three thousand gold soul coins!"

Ning Rongrong let out a loud scream.

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Tai Long's eyes instantly turned completely red. It was the look in the eyes of bandits who hadn't eaten for half a month and had just seen a gold ingot!

Scott felt a chill run down his spine under the intense gazes from those few men on horseback. What was this all about? These newcomers were like fat sheep, looking at him as if he were a piece of meat that had been pulled off its bone!

"Then why waste time talking?"

Ling Yun, hands in his pockets, tapped the ground with his toes, looking like a foreman assigning tasks. "Boss Dai, Tai Long, unload the goods. Leave one alive, don't kill him. Strip this metal suit off completely."

"Get to work!!"

Dai Mubai roared, and the White Tiger Vajra Transformation hardened and pounced like a mad tiger descending the mountain; Tai Long transformed into a gorilla, his two fan-like hands aimed straight at the horse's legs; Ma Hongjun breathed fire on the horse's rump in mid-air.

Scott had never fought such a humiliating battle in his life!

Before he could even unleash a single, pretentious Soul Skill, the black horse was knocked over by Tai Long's shoulder. Immediately afterward, Dai Mubai's massive fists rained down on the helmet, making his head feel like it was being struck by a giant bell.

"Hey! Don't pull on that breastplate, that button is real gold!" Ning Rongrong jumped up and down anxiously from behind.

"Pull down your pants! That belt is made of good material too!"

"No, no, no, please spare me, sir... I'll give you the badge, I'll give you the badge, okay?! Don't pull down my underwear!!"

The Terror Knight's agonizing screams echoed through the stone path.

About half an hour later.

Outside the desolate Rotten Bone Town, Tang Hao, leading Tang San, like two vengeful ghosts who had just crawled out of a graveyard, crept to the tavern's entrance, stepping on the shadows of the setting sun.

Tang Hao turned his head and looked at Tang San, whose eyes were bloodshot and who exuded a deathly murderous aura.

"Xiao San, harden your heart." Tang Hao's voice was as deep as a weight. "Behind this broken door is a living hell. There are no rules, only murder. You need to forget all your principles, become Asura, and crawl out of the bloodbath."

"Dad, don't worry."

Tang San touched the iron box containing Hidden Weapons on the inside of his right arm, now re-coated with poison, his teeth grinding together. "I'll see through the darkness here. Those bloodthirsty fools from Ling Yun probably won't even get past the threshold right now. I'll personally take their lives inch by inch in this underworld with the Yama's Invitation!"

Tang San took a deep breath, his "I want to become a demon" spirit reaching its peak.

He reached out and pushed open the broken wooden door.

Creak--

In the dimly lit hall, there were no severed arms or legs, nor any desperate criminals engaged in fierce fighting.

Tang San spotted the bartender behind the counter at a glance.

The bartender was squatting on the ground, frantically wiping the floor with a tattered rag. His lips were swollen like two big red sausages, a purplish-red, and he kept gasping for breath as he wiped the floor, tears streaming down his face. He looked incredibly pitiful.

In the corner, the thugs, their faces bruised and swollen, huddled together, as docile as a few quails hibernating for the winter.

Tang San was stunned; this was completely unrelated to the Asura scene he had imagined.

"The secret passage is under the counter!" Tang Hao didn't bother with any more words, kicked the counter to pieces, and led Tang San into the black hole.

The two men followed the stone path downwards, their murderous aura growing stronger with each step.

Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eyes, wary of any stray arrows that might appear at any moment. His Grandmaster had said that the Terror Knight, the gatekeeper of the Slaughter City, was an extremely ruthless and cold-blooded butcher!

The clattering footsteps stopped in front of the bronze gate.

Tang San clenched his fists, prepared to fight to the death.

But.

Beneath the bronze gate, there were no tall horses, no Long Spears, and no black armor.

There was only one burly, rough man with bare arms, wearing only a pair of ripped floral shorts.

The man was barefoot, squatting in the cold corner, his arms wrapped around his chest, shivering in the draft. His body was covered in large bruises. The warhorse next to him had been stripped of its saddle and bridle and was grazing nakedly on the dry moss in the cracks between the floor tiles.

Hearing footsteps, the naked man suddenly raised his head, and tears of grievance streamed down his fleshy face.

"Waaaaah"

The mighty Terror Knight Scott, upon seeing the Tang family father and son, acted as if he were seeing his own grandfather, pointing at the open bronze door ahead and sobbing uncontrollably:

"Stop hitting me in the face... those little devils in front snatched all the signs..."

"I can't stay in this awful place anymore... City people are so barbaric! They even ripped off my iron crotch and sold it as scrap metal! Waaaaah..."

Standing in the eye of the storm, Tang San's head buzzed.

He had been holding back for three days and three nights, accumulating a bellyful of "dark Asura" aura, and it was like throwing a heavy punch, Sturdy smashing into a pile of rotten cotton sheets that smelled of garlic.

Tang San's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed onto the Plate.

He suddenly realized something in despair.

In this dark underworld called the City of Slaughter City... Ling Yun and his gang are the most unreasonable living devils.