Three-Aspect Primordial Energy

"Trying to escape?" Li Chen Zhou sneered, his figure ghost-like as he caught up, "Leave your life behind!"

The Blood Demon Blade drew a ghastly arc, and three men in black were instantly separated from their heads. Poison Maiden retreated in a panic, only to be blocked by the Earthly Fiends Four, who suddenly emerged from the ground.

"Ah!" A miserable scream rang out as Poison Maiden's right arm was severed at the shoulder. Her bone flute fell to the ground, its music abruptly ceasing, before Li Chen Zhou blasted her into a bloody mist with a single palm strike.

The poisonous insects within the room immediately lost control, turning on each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.

Seeing the situation turn dire, the elder abruptly threw a smoke bomb, taking advantage of the spreading smoke to flee in panic with the remaining subordinates.

Li Chen Zhou was about to give chase when he suddenly heard Zhang Zhiruo's cry of alarm from inside the inn: "Senior Sister!"

His heart tightened, and without bothering to pursue the enemy, he immediately turned back to the inn.

Inside the room, Leng Rushuang's face was ashen, and black blood continuously spilled from the corners of her mouth. It turned out that in the chaos, a Gu King had burrowed into her body!

"Senior Sister has been poisoned by the Gu King... Without the control of a Gu Flute, the Gu King will wreak havoc inside her..." Zhang Zhiruo was in tears, at a complete loss.

Li Chen Zhou frowned as he checked her condition, and said in a deep voice, "There is one other way."

"What way?" Zhang Zhiruo asked urgently.

"I can use the Soul Absorption Art to absorb the Gu King along with her internal energy," Li Chen Zhou said calmly, "But she will lose all her cultivation."

Zhang Zhiruo was stunned: "This..."

Leng Rushuang struggled to grasp her junior sister's hand, giving a weak but firm nod.

"Okay..." Zhang Zhiruo said through her tears, "Please, Senior Li, do what you must."

Li Chen Zhou said no more, placing his right hand on Leng Rushuang's dantian, where a black vortex slowly seeped in. Leng Rushuang frowned in pain, but bit her lip, not uttering a sound.

After a moment, a completely black Gu King was forcibly extracted, struggling twice in Li Chen Zhou's palm before being crushed by the black energy.

System notification: Internal energy increased by three years. Current internal energy value: 215 years. Current lifespan: 40 years.

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

Zhang Zhiruo gave Li Chen Zhou a deep look, and said softly, "Thank you..."

Li Chen Zhou waved his hand, turned, and walked to the window, gazing in the direction the Heavenly Devil Sect members had fled, his eyes filled with chilling intent: "This debt will be settled sooner or later."

Qian Shisan sidled up and whispered, "My lord, when that Heavenly Devil Sect elder fled, I think I heard him say something about going to find some 'Blood Demon Ancestor'..."

"Blood Demon Ancestor?" Li Chen Zhou's brow furrowed.

Ding-- Task triggered: Locate the Blood Demon Ancestor's hiding place. Reward: Cloud Dispelling Palm.

He got up and pushed open the window. The night was as dark as ink, and the distant mountain shadows resembled lurking beasts.

"Bookworm." Li Chen Zhou called out softly.

The Bookworm, who had been dozing off, jumped up with a start: "What are your orders, my lord?"

"Do you know anything about the Blood Demon Ancestor?"

The Bookworm pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting a glimmer of wisdom in the candlelight: "The Brocade Guard's secret files record that the Blood Demon Ancestor disappeared in this area thirty years ago. According to my analysis, he is most likely in the 'Dragon Burial Abyss' to the southeast."

A gleam flashed in Li Chen Zhou's eyes: "Prepare to depart."

"My lord, I..." The Bookworm hesitated.

"You will come with me," Li Chen Zhou said in an unquestionable tone, then looked at Zhang Zhiruo, who had just entered, "You too."

Zhang Zhiruo gripped her long sword: "Why me?"

Li Chen Zhou: "Stop talking nonsense. If you don't come with me, I'll shove the Gu worm back into your senior sister."

Zhang Zhiruo's expression changed, and she nodded through gritted teeth.

Yin Wujiu led his remaining forces through the forest at a rapid pace, suddenly stopping and raising his hand to signal the others to hide.

"Elder, why have we stopped?" A disciple had just opened his mouth when he was silenced by Yin Wujiu's sharp gaze.

The fog in the forest grew thicker, and a faint "rustling" sound could be heard, as if something were crawling on the fallen leaves. Suddenly, five black shadows floated down from the treetops, landing silently.

The leader wore a colorful cloak and a bronze mask carved with five kinds of 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 awe.

"Waste," the Five Venoms Venerable's voice was hoarse, and two cold glares shone from beneath the mask, "You can't even deal with a young whelp."

Sweat beaded on Yin Wujiu's forehead: "That kid possesses the Soul Absorption Art, it's really..."

"Silence!" The Five Venoms Venerable suddenly shot a small, scarlet snake from his sleeve, which circled Yin Wujiu's neck before retracting, "The Sect Leader has ordered that finding the Ancestor is the priority. The Blood Demon Token senses that the Ancestor's retreat is within a hundred li of here."

He turned to the southeast, and the voice beneath the mask suddenly became excited: "Thirty years... We are finally about to welcome back the Ancestor!"

Three figures moved swiftly through the morning mist. The Bookworm's feet generated wind, and he was even able to barely keep up with the speed of the other two – this was thanks to the Wind God Kick skill that Li Chen Zhou had taught him.

"My lord, Dragon Burial Abyss is just ahead." The Bookworm pointed to the misty gorge ahead, "It is said that the righteous and demonic paths fought a decisive battle here back then, and the Blood Demon Ancestor disappeared here..."

Suddenly, Li Chen Zhou raised his hand to signal them to stop. He had keenly detected a faint, sweet scent of blood in the air.

"There's an ambush," he said in a low voice, the Blood Demon Blade already quietly unsheathed.

Almost at the same time, a sinister laugh came from the bushes ahead: "Little devil, we meet again."

The Five Venoms Venerable walked out slowly with more than a dozen men in black, each of them surrounded by different colored poisonous mists.

"Fourth-grade Lesser Grandmaster..." Zhang Zhiruo's face paled, the hand gripping her sword trembling slightly.

The Bookworm pushed up his glasses, a glint flashing behind the lenses: "My lord, it seems they're also searching for the Blood Demon Ancestor."

Li Chen Zhou sneered: "Stay close."

His figure suddenly erupted, the Blood Demon Blade carving out a ghastly arc of light, heading straight for the Five Venoms Venerable's throat!

"Courting death!" The Five Venoms Venerable released five streams of colored smoke from his sleeves, transforming in the air into illusory forms of five venomous creatures: snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and toads, all pouncing towards Li Chen Zhou.

"Careful! It's the Five Venoms Manifestation!" Zhang Zhiruo exclaimed in alarm.

Li Chen Zhou neither dodged nor evaded, his left hand channeling the Soul Absorption Art, the black vortex sucking in all the poisonous mist; his right hand, wielding the Blood Demon Blade, continued its momentum with "Frost Heaven Six Annihilations," colliding with the Five Venoms Venerable's venomous claws with a "clang," sparks flying everywhere!

The two separated instantly, each retreating three steps.

The Five Venoms Venerable's eyes behind his mask revealed shock: "Good lad, to actually withstand one of this Venerable's moves!"

Blood trickled from the corner of Li Chen Zhou's mouth, but his smile grew even more deranged: "Fourth-grade Lesser Grandmaster, is that all you've got?"

"Arrogant!" Just as the Five Venoms Venerable was about to attack again, the entire canyon began to tremble violently, a muffled, thunderous roar echoing from the distance.

"It's the direction of Dragon Burial Abyss!" The Bookworm shouted, "Someone has triggered the restrictions!"

The Five Venoms Venerable's expression changed drastically: "Not good! Someone's beaten us to it!" He glared fiercely at Li Chen Zhou, "Boy, I'll spare you for today!"

Having said that, he led his subordinates and rushed towards the source of the tremors.

Li Chen Zhou wiped away the blood from his mouth, his eyes burning with even greater battle intent: "Follow them!"

Zhang Zhiruo looked at him with concern: "You're injured..."

"It's nothing." Li Chen Zhou circulated his inner energy, "This little injury is nothing to worry about."

The three of them closely followed the Heavenly Devil Sect's group, advancing towards the depths of Dragon Burial Abyss. The deeper they went, the thicker the bloody stench in the air became, and bizarre blood-colored patterns began to appear on the cliff walls, wriggling slowly as if they were alive.

The Bookworm suddenly stopped, pointing to a blood-colored altar ahead: "My lord, look! That's the 'Blood Altar' recorded in the Brocade Guard's confidential files!"

Around the altar, the Five Venoms Venerable and his group were kneeling on the ground, chanting incantations. In the center of the altar, a bronze ancient coffin was shaking violently, eight of the nine talismans affixed to the coffin lid already burned away...

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

Li Chen Zhou gripped the Blood Demon Blade tightly, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes: "Perfect timing."

The last talisman began to burn, and from the cracks in the bronze ancient coffin, a viscous, blood-like red mist seeped out...

Ding —— Discovered the location of the Blood Demon Ancestor, Reward: Cloud Dispelling Palm

Ding —— Congratulations to the Host for obtaining Cloud Dispelling Palm, discovered a martial skill that can be synthesized, synthesize?

Li Chen Zhou uttered in a low voice: "Synthesize."

Start synthesizing 1%, 2%...100%

Ding —— Congratulations to the Host for successfully synthesizing and obtaining Divine-grade martial art: Three-Aspect Primordial Energy, beginning automatic fusion... Fusion complete

System Character Information:

Host: Li Chen Zhou

Realm: Fifth-Grade Intermediate (215/240)

Martial Arts:

Thirteen Guardian Golden Bell Shield (Mastery)

Three Abyssal Slashes (Mastery)

Soul Absorption Art (Mastery) Divine-grade attribute twenty percent (Unlocks Cosmic Shift)

Thousand Faces (Mastery)

Soaring Illusionary Steps (Mastery)

Hell Soul Exchange Scripture (Mastery)

Three-Aspect Primordial Energy (Mastery)

Hundred Hit Dragon Claw Hand (Mastery)

Frost Heaven Six Annihilations (Profound Understanding)

Indestructible Divine Skill (Mastery)

Inner Energy Cultivation: 215 years (Calculated based on an average person practicing basic techniques for one year)

Lifespan: 40 years

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