Blood Pool

The cultivators who had yet to enter watched helplessly as Si Chen rode the great crimson bird into the depths of the cave, then stole a glance at Lü Ci, who hung against the rock wall with a livid face.

A Nascent Soul expert had had his dignity pressed into the dirt and ground back and forth. This was absolutely explosive news.

But everyone understood that if they kept watching the spectacle, they might draw the flames onto themselves.

No one dared linger. Heads lowered, they hurried toward the dark entrance, afraid that a moment's delay would make them the target of Lü Ci's wrath.

Lü Ci flashed down to the lakeside. His spiritual power formed a giant hand, swiftly hauling out the two elders struggling to hold on in the dark green water.

Though they had survived, the radiance of their protective Magic Treasures had dimmed, and their Daoist robes had been corroded into tatters. They looked utterly bedraggled and had clearly suffered tremendous losses.

Looking at his subordinates, then recalling Si Chen's casual wave as he left, Lü Ci felt his chest churn. Blood nearly surged out of his throat.

Young Master Fang fell silent for a moment, then looked at Lü Ci and asked, "Sect Leader Lü, who was that just now...?"

Lü Ci drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his towering fury. "Just a petty evil cultivator who doesn't know how high heaven is or how deep the earth runs. Rest assured, Young Master Fang. I will take care of this matter."

He deliberately stressed the words "evil cultivator," both to salvage his dignity and to brand Si Chen in advance.

Young Master Fang nodded at that and asked no more. He merely cast a thoughtful glance in the direction Si Chen had gone and quietly repeated:

"An evil cultivator..."

Meanwhile, Si Chen, Black Mountain, and Red Wind had already traveled some distance through the tangled passages.

The depths of the cave branched in every direction, with countless forks, like an enormous maze.

Several times, Si Chen looked at a passage and thought, That one looks pretty good. Just as he was about to step into it, Black Mountain blocked him with his massive body.

"Oh, my dear brother! Don't you dare!" Black Mountain waved a bear paw in alarm and hurriedly stopped him.

"If we let you lead, we'll probably end up settling down in this cave and spending our twilight years here until we're buried!"

Red Wind swished his tail and helplessly nudged Si Chen with his head, pushing him toward the route he had chosen. "Well... Brother Si Chen, leave the pathfinding to me and this stupid bear..."

Si Chen bristled, but remembering his remarkable feat of getting lost for two years, he could only give up.

Along the way, they occasionally encountered cultivators or members of the Demon Race who had entered before them.

The moment they saw Si Chen's group-and especially when they recognized him as the fierce man who had brazenly attacked a Nascent Soul expert by the lake-their expressions changed drastically. As though they had seen a ghost, they immediately gave him a wide berth, practically wishing they could squeeze themselves into the walls.

They couldn't afford to provoke him. They really couldn't.

Without Si Chen causing trouble, Red Wind soon led them into an unusually spacious underground chamber.

Rather than a cave, it was more like a magnificent hall.

The surrounding rock walls had been smoothed fairly evenly. Faint ancient carvings were even visible in places, bearing clear traces of deliberate craftsmanship.

At the center of the hall stood an enormous pool filled with thick, dark red liquid that gave off a rich, bloody-sweet scent.

At the same time, vast and pure waves of energy spread from it, invigorating everyone who sensed them.

"Is... is this flood dragon blood?!" someone cried out, his voice brimming with incredulous delight.

"There's no mistaking it! Blood vitality this pure-it has to be true flood dragon blood!"

"They say flood dragon blood contains a trace of dragon aura. If you absorb and refine it, it can not only greatly increase your cultivation, but also cleanse your meridians and marrow, strengthening your root bone and flesh!"

The crowd instantly stirred. Human cultivators and members of the Demon Race alike had greed blazing in their eyes.

With such temptation before them, almost no one could remain calm.

Strengthen my root bone?

Those words stirred something in Si Chen.

He cultivated the Nine Tribulations Thunder Body and needed all kinds of ways to temper his flesh. Perhaps this flood dragon blood might be useful.

He approached the blood pool. The closer he came, the stronger that bloody-sweet scent grew.

There was indeed a tremendous power within it, but... it felt restless and turbulent.

As Si Chen looked at it, an instinctive aversion rose inside him for some reason. He disliked it.

In the brief moment he hesitated, people and demonic beasts who could no longer restrain themselves had already begun jumping into the blood pool with splash after splash.

"Haha! What pure power!"

"I can feel my body absorbing this energy!"

Cries of pleasure and excitement rose from the pool.

Black Mountain and Red Wind exchanged glances, tempted as well. Their Demon Race already placed great importance on the flesh. How could they miss such an opportunity?

"Brother, shall we take a soak too? Maybe we'll be able to take a beating even better!" Black Mountain rubbed his bear paws together.

"Opportunities like this are rare." Red Wind nodded too.

Si Chen watched the churning blood pool. That restless feeling had grown more pronounced. He warned them, "This blood pool gives me a bad feeling."

Red Bean had already shrunk back to the size of a small bird and perched on Si Chen's shoulder. The bird seemed repelled by the blood pool as well, showing none of the eagerness for flood dragon blood that the other demonic beasts displayed.

"Aw, brother, you're just too cautious!" Black Mountain waved a bear paw dismissively. "This is flood dragon blood! It's incredibly nourishing! Look how comfortable everyone is in there!"

Though Red Wind believed Si Chen would not speak without reason, the temptation of flood dragon blood was simply too great. "We'll just try it at the edge. If anything feels wrong, we'll get out immediately."

Si Chen looked at the blood pool that made him uneasy, then at his two expectant Demon Race companions. In the end, he said nothing more and merely nodded.

"Be careful," he reminded them.

Black Mountain and Red Wind let out low growls and eagerly stepped into the blood pool. They found places to soak, comfortable expressions immediately appearing on their faces.

Yet as Si Chen watched more and more people and demons enter the pool, that sense of unease grew steadily stronger.

More people kept arriving at the hall, equally delighted to see the flood dragon blood. Soon, the blood pool was packed.

The latecomers could only wait wistfully at the edge, their gazes burning.

Seeing that Black Mountain and Red Wind would not be coming out anytime soon, Si Chen sat cross-legged a little farther away and closed his eyes to rest while he waited.

Time ticked by. Roughly an hour passed.

Suddenly, Si Chen wrinkled his nose. The smell of blood in the air seemed considerably stronger than before, mixed with a trace of... indescribable savagery.

He opened his eyes and looked back toward the blood pool.

What he saw immediately made him frown.

In the blood pool, the cultivator who had entered first was trembling faintly and unnaturally. His face was flushed, and veins bulged at his temples.

Within a few breaths, the man suddenly opened his eyes.

A pair of eyes completely flooded with scarlet!

"Roar!"

He let out a low roar and suddenly leaped from the blood pool. Without a word, he hooked his fingers into claws and lunged at a cultivator waiting beside the pool, bringing a bloody gust with him!

"What are you doing?!" Caught off guard, the waiting cultivator had several wounds clawed into his shoulder so deep that bone showed. He was both shocked and furious.

But the only answer he received was more figures rising from the blood pool, their eyes crimson!

The people and demonic beasts who had just been quietly cultivating and absorbing energy now seemed to have collectively descended into madness, indiscriminately attacking every living thing around them!

"What's going on?!"

"Brother Li! Snap out of it!"

"There's something wrong with this blood! They've gone mad!"

The hall, so recently filled with opportunity and joy, instantly became a bloody killing ground! Roars, screams, and the clash of weapons rang out without end.

Si Chen darted nimbly aside, avoiding the wild lunges of several red-eyed cultivators.

His grave gaze passed over the chaotic crowd and settled on the center of the blood pool.

There, Black Mountain and Red Wind, who had been soaking for a long time, slowly stirred their massive bodies.

Then... they opened their eyes at the same time.

Those two familiar pairs of beastly eyes were now the same terrifying scarlet!