Three-Aspect Primordial Energy

"Trying to run?" Li Chen Zhou sneered, chasing after them like a ghost. "Leave your lives behind!"

The Blood Demon Blade carved a bleakly beautiful arc through the air, and the three men in black were instantly separated from their heads. Poison Maiden hurriedly retreated, only to find her path blocked by the Earthly Fiends Four bursting from the ground.

"Ah!" With a scream, Poison Maiden's right arm was severed at the shoulder. Her bone flute fell to the ground, its tune abruptly cut off, and Li Chen Zhou followed with a palm strike that blasted her into a mist of blood.

The venomous insects in the room immediately lost control and began slaughtering one another.

Seeing that things had gone awry, the elder suddenly hurled out a smoke bomb. Taking advantage of the spreading smoke, he fled in panic with his remaining subordinates.

Just as Li Chen Zhou was about to give chase, Zhang Zhiruo's startled cry rang out from inside the inn. "Senior Sister!"

His heart tightened. Forgetting the fleeing enemies, he immediately turned back toward the inn.

Inside the room, Leng Rushuang's face had turned bluish-black, and black blood continuously seeped from the corners of her mouth. Amid the chaos, a Gu King had already burrowed into her body!

"Senior Sister has been infected by the Gu King... Without the gu flute to control it, the Gu King will run rampant inside her..." Zhang Zhiruo wept helplessly, at a complete loss.

Li Chen Zhou frowned as he examined her, then said gravely, "There is one more way."

"What way?" Zhang Zhiruo asked anxiously.

"I'll use the Soul Absorption Art to draw out the Gu King along with her inner force," Li Chen Zhou said calmly. "But she'll lose all her cultivation."

Zhang Zhiruo froze. "This..."

Leng Rushuang weakly grasped her junior sister's hand and nodded with difficulty, her expression faint but resolute.

"Alright..." Zhang Zhiruo said through her tears. "Please act, Senior Li."

Li Chen Zhou said no more. He pressed his right hand against Leng Rushuang's dantian, and a black vortex slowly seeped into her body. Leng Rushuang furrowed her brow in agony, yet clenched her teeth without making a sound.

A moment later, a jet-black Gu King was forcibly drawn out. It struggled twice in Li Chen Zhou's palm before being crushed apart by the black qi.

System notification: Inner force increased by three years. Current inner force: two hundred and fifteen years. Current lifespan: forty years.

Leng Rushuang fainted weakly, but her complexion had improved greatly.

Zhang Zhiruo looked deeply at Li Chen Zhou and whispered, "Thank you..."

Li Chen Zhou waved a hand aside and walked to the window. Gazing in the direction the Heavenly Devil Sect members had fled, killing intent blazed in his eyes. "This debt will be settled sooner or later."

Qian Shisan leaned closer and whispered, "My lord, when that Heavenly Devil Sect elder fled, I think I heard him say he was going to find some 'Blood Demon Ancestor'..."

"Blood Demon Ancestor?" Li Chen Zhou frowned.

Ding — Mission triggered: Find the Blood Demon Ancestor's hiding place. Reward: Cloud Dispelling Palm.

He rose and pushed open the window. The night was black as ink, while the distant mountain shadows resembled colossal beasts lying dormant.

"Bookworm." Li Chen Zhou called softly.

Bookworm, who had been dozing off, jolted upright. "What are your orders, my lord?"

"Do you know of the Blood Demon Ancestor?"

Bookworm adjusted his glasses, their lenses reflecting the light of wisdom beneath the candlelight. "According to the Brocade Guard's secret archives, the Blood Demon Ancestor vanished in this region thirty years ago. Based on my analysis, he is most likely in Dragon Burial Abyss to the southeast."

A sharp glint flashed through Li Chen Zhou's eyes. "Prepare to depart."

"My lord, this subordinate..." Bookworm hesitated.

"You're coming with me," Li Chen Zhou said in a tone that brooked no argument. Then he looked at Zhang Zhiruo, who had just entered. "You too."

Zhang Zhiruo gripped her sword tightly. "Why me?"

Li Chen Zhou said, "Cut the nonsense. If you don't come with me, I'll stuff the gu insect back into your senior sister."

Zhang Zhiruo's expression changed. She gritted her teeth and nodded.

Yin Wujiu led the remnants through the forest at a rapid pace. Suddenly, he stopped and raised a hand, signaling everyone to hide.

"Elder, why have we stopped?" A disciple had barely opened his mouth before Yin Wujiu silenced him with a sharp glare.

The mist in the forest gradually thickened, and a faint rustling sound could be heard, as though something were crawling over the dead leaves. Suddenly, five black figures drifted down from the treetops, landing without a sound.

The leader wore a brilliantly colored cloak and a bronze mask carved with five venomous creatures. It was none other than the Heavenly Devil Sect's Five Venoms Venerable.

"Greetings, Venerable!" Yin Wujiu hurriedly bowed, his voice filled with reverence.

"Trash." Five Venoms Venerable's voice was hoarse, and two icy glints shone from beneath his mask. "You couldn't even deal with some wet-behind-the-ears brat."

Cold sweat seeped from Yin Wujiu's forehead. "That brat possesses the Soul Absorption Art. He truly..."

"Shut up!" A crimson little snake suddenly shot from Five Venoms Venerable's sleeve, coiled once around Yin Wujiu's neck, then withdrew. "The Sect Master has ordered that finding the Ancestor takes priority. The Blood Demon Token has sensed that the Ancestor's secluded cultivation site lies within a hundred li of here."

He turned toward the southeast, and the voice beneath his mask suddenly grew excited. "Thirty years... At last, we're going to welcome the Ancestor home!"

Three figures sped through the morning mist. Wind seemed to gather beneath Bookworm's feet, allowing him to barely keep up with the other two—this was precisely the power of the Wind God Kick Li Chen Zhou had taught him.

"My lord, Dragon Burial Abyss lies ahead." Bookworm pointed toward the mist-shrouded gorge. "It is said that the righteous and demonic factions fought their decisive battle here back then. The Blood Demon Ancestor vanished here as well..."

Suddenly, Li Chen Zhou raised a hand, signaling them to stop. He had keenly caught a trace of a fishy-sweet scent in the air.

"There's an ambush," he said quietly, the Blood Demon Blade already slipping silently from its sheath.

Almost at the same time, an icy laugh came from the bushes ahead. "Little devil, we meet again."

Five Venoms Venerable slowly emerged with more than ten men in black. Different-colored poisonous mists coiled around every one of them.

"A fourth-rank Lesser Grandmaster..." Zhang Zhiruo's face turned pale, and the hand gripping her sword trembled slightly.

Bookworm adjusted his glasses, but a sharp gleam flashed through the eyes behind their lenses. "My lord, it seems they're looking for the Blood Demon Ancestor as well."

Li Chen Zhou sneered. "Stay close behind me."

His figure suddenly shot forward, and the Blood Demon Blade drew a bleakly beautiful arc as it went straight for Five Venoms Venerable's throat!

"Courting death!" Five streams of colored smoke flew from Five Venoms Venerable's sleeve, transforming in midair into phantoms of five poisonous creatures—a snake, a scorpion, a centipede, a spider, and a toad—as they lunged at Li Chen Zhou.

"Careful! It's the Five Venoms Manifestation!" Zhang Zhiruo cried out.

Li Chen Zhou neither dodged nor retreated. His left hand unleashed the Soul Absorption Art, drawing all the poisonous mist into a black vortex. The Blood Demon Blade in his right hand did not slow in the slightest. Frost Heaven Six Annihilations! With a clang, it collided with Five Venoms Venerable's poisonous claw, sending sparks flying in every direction!

The two separated at a touch, each retreating three steps.

Shock appeared in the eyes beneath Five Venoms Venerable's mask. "Good brat! You actually managed to receive one move from me!"

Blood seeped from the corner of Li Chen Zhou's mouth, yet his smile grew even more unrestrained. "A fourth-rank Lesser Grandmaster? Nothing impressive."

"Arrogant!" Just as Five Venoms Venerable was about to attack again, the entire gorge suddenly shook violently, and thunderous rumbling echoed from afar.

"It's coming from Dragon Burial Abyss!" Bookworm shouted. "Someone has triggered the restriction!"

Five Venoms Venerable's expression changed drastically. "Not good! Someone got there first!" He glared fiercely at Li Chen Zhou. "Brat, I'll spare you for today!"

With that, he led his subordinates in a mad dash toward the source of the tremors.

Li Chen Zhou wiped the blood from his lips, his fighting spirit blazing even fiercer. "Follow them!"

Zhang Zhiruo looked at him worriedly. "You're injured..."

"It's nothing." Li Chen Zhou circulated his inner force. "A wound like this is hardly worth mentioning."

The three followed the Heavenly Devil Sect deeper into Dragon Burial Abyss. The farther they went, the thicker the stench of blood in the air became. Strange blood-red patterns began appearing along the cliff walls, slowly writhing as though alive.

Bookworm suddenly stopped and pointed toward a blood-colored altar ahead. "My lord, look! That is the Blood Altar recorded in the Brocade Guard's secret archives!"

Around the altar, Five Venoms Venerable and the others were kneeling on the ground, chanting under their breaths. At the altar's center, an ancient bronze coffin shook violently. Of the nine talismans pasted across its lid, eight had already burned away...

"They're awakening the Blood Demon Ancestor!" Zhang Zhiruo cried out.

Li Chen Zhou tightened his grip on the Blood Demon Blade, excitement flashing through his eyes. "Perfect timing."

The final talisman began to burn. From the cracks of the ancient bronze coffin seeped a thick red mist, viscous as blood...

Ding — Blood Demon Ancestor's location discovered. Reward: Cloud Dispelling Palm.

Ding — Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Cloud Dispelling Palm. A martial art available for synthesis has been detected. Synthesize?

System character information:

Host: Li Chen Zhou

Realm: Mid Fourth Rank (215/240)

Martial arts:

Thirteen Guardian Golden Bell Shield (Mastered)

Three Abyssal Slashes (Mastered)

Soul Absorption Art (Mastered), divine-grade attribute twenty percent (Cosmic Shift unlocked)

Thousand Faces (Mastered)

Soaring Illusionary Steps (Mastered)

Hell Soul Exchange Scripture (Mastered)

Three-Aspect Primordial Energy (Mastered)

Hundred Hit Dragon Claw Hand (Mastered)

Frost Heaven Six Annihilations (Proficient)

Indestructible Divine Skill (Mastered)

Inner cultivation: 215 years (calculated based on an ordinary person cultivating basic techniques for one year)

Lifespan: 40 years

Weapon: Blood Demon Blade (Charging: current progress 60%)