The voice was deep and weathered, seeming to come from right beside him and yet from the edge of the heavens.
"Who dares speak so arrogantly!"
Xu Yan's gaze sharpened, and he began searching his surroundings.
Soon, his expression changed drastically. At some point, an old man with the bearing of an immortal sage had appeared, reclining behind the stone pillar to his left.
The old man leaned against the pillar, dressed in a tattered blue Daoist robe washed so often that parts had faded white. Beneath him lay a worn meditation cushion woven from reeds and vines. Reclining as he was, his face was difficult for Xu Yan to make out.
As though sensing Xu Yan's gaze, the old man turned toward him just then.
A serene face came into view, but what made Xu Yan's expression change drastically was the bloody Demon Beast heart and liver clutched in the old man's left hand. In his right, he held a gourd glowing blue, from which wafted the reek of blood. It undoubtedly contained blood wine. He tipped back a mouthful, then savagely bit off a chunk of heart and liver. Blood immediately spurted from his mouth, forming a stark contrast with his peaceful expression.
"I am Kunwuzi, the cultivator guarding the entrance to the Netherworld Domain! To enter, you must offer thirty percent of the Spirit Treasures in your Storage Ring!"
Having spoken, the old man tipped his head back and took another swig of blood wine without so much as glancing at Xu Yan.
Kunwuzi? The gatekeeper of the Netherworld Domain?
Doubt stirred in Xu Yan's heart. He slowly extended his divine sense toward the man, and his expression soon shifted slightly.
His divine sense actually could not discern the old man's cultivation. Coupled with the man's apparent