The stone chamber was deathly Soundless.
The massive head of the Ink Abyss Bone Crocodile slowly retreated into the darkness, as if it had never existed.
Only the four charred corpses on the ground and the white bone altar that still faintly exuded the stench of blood proved that what had just happened was not an illusion.
The lingering, chilling aura of the Earth Realm Fifth Level demon servant still hung in the air.
"You lot, leave immediately and do not disturb my peaceful cultivation."
A hoarse, aged sound, like two pieces of dry bone rubbing together, came from the deepest darkness outside the cave.
The voice carried an air of condescending indifference, and a hint of barely perceptible... impatience.
Zhao Chengkong's fingers gripped the scroll so tightly that his knuckles protruded. He stared intently at the outside of the cave, his bloodshot eyes burning with hatred, yet shrouded in a profound sense of powerlessness.
"That bone crocodile is at the Earth Realm Fifth Level... Should we retreat?"
He forced out the words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse.
Reason told him that this was almost the only option.
Li Xi, standing to the side, also had a frosty expression on her pretty face.
She tightened her grip on the blue longsword, her delicate brows furrowed.
"This person's cultivation is unfathomable, and with a demon servant at the Earth Realm Fifth Level... there is no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation."
Since he let us leave, perhaps he didn't want to escalate the situation and alarm my sect and the Demon Suppression Bureau.
This is the most logical deduction.
An old monster who has lived for two hundred years must have his own concerns when he acts.
However, Su Yu remained silent.
He stared calmly at the dark cave entrance, his deep eyes showing no fear, no anger, only a deathly stillness.
Abnormal.
This is very unusual.
In Su Yu's mind, thoughts raced like a sophisticated computing instrument.
Would a force capable of easily annihilating a Blood Baleful Intent Hall elder at the Earth Realm Third Layer fear a mere Demon Suppression Bureau Division captain and a disciple of the Azure Sword Manor Mansion?
The cleanest, most efficient, and most logical course of action would be to kill them to silence them and bury all traces beneath this Bone-Eroding Abyss.
Let them go?
This doesn't sound like a warning; it sounds more like... being driven away.
It's like someone who doesn't want others to go near the space under their bed where they hide secrets.
"You guys go back first."
Su Yu finally spoke, his voice indifferent, breaking the oppressive atmosphere in the stone chamber.
Zhao Chengkong and Li Xi were both stunned and looked at him in astonishment.
"Brother Su?"
Are you going to stay here all by yourself?
" The Zhao Clan patriarch possesses cultivation at the Earth Realm Fifth Level, and you..."
Su Yu raised his hand, interrupting Zhao Chengkong.
He turned around, his calm gaze sweeping over the two of them. "You two are of no use here except to distract me."
The words were direct and hurtful.
But it is the truth.
Zhao Chengkong's lips moved, a hint of humiliation flashing across his face, but it ultimately turned into a dejected sigh.
He knew very well that he was currently blinded by rage, his mind was damaged, and his combat strength was less than one-tenth of what it used to be. Staying would only be a burden.
Li Xi gave Su Yu a deep look.
She recalled the incredible feats the young man had performed in the Blood-Colored Secret Realm, and the scene where he had instantly killed four Peak Mystic Realm with a single thought.
She suddenly realized that perhaps she had never truly seen through this man.
His strength seems to defy conventional measurement.
"Are you... confident?"
Li Xi's voice had a slight dryness that she herself was unaware of.
Su Yu did not answer, but his eyes were firm.
Li Xi fell silent.
A moment later, she nodded, sheathed her sword, and did so swiftly and decisively.
"Good.
We're waiting for you outside.
If you do not emerge within two hours, I will immediately send a message to my sect and report to the Qing Province Demon Suppression Bureau.
After saying that, she didn't hesitate any longer and turned to support the distraught Zhao Chengkong.
"Lieutenant Zhao, let's go."
Don't cause him trouble.
Zhao Chengkong took one last look at the altar of white bones, suppressing his overwhelming hatred deep in his heart, and let Li Xi support him as he walked out of the cave that had torn his soul apart.
Soon, their presence disappeared into the distance.
Su Yu was the only one left in the entire underground stone chamber.
And that lonely altar of white bones.
"Master, they've left."
Yao One's voice rang in Su Yu's mind, carrying the trembling of someone who had survived a calamity.
"Um."
Su Yu gave a faint reply, his gaze returning to the altar. "Tell me, what did you sense just now?"
"Yes, Master!"
Yao One dared not hide anything and said urgently, "Just now, when that skull crocodile appeared and swallowed the Blood Baleful Intent Hall elder, I... I felt that the ancestor's soul aura weakened for a moment!"
Although it was extremely faint and fleeting, I was certain!
It's like... just like the brief exhaustion that inevitably follows when someone throws a punch with all their might!
weak?
A glint of light suddenly flashed deep within Su Yu's eyes.
This intelligence is of paramount importance!
He slowly walked to the altar of white bones, and his immense divine power poured over it like mercury, Soundless covering it.
This time, his investigation was a hundred times more detailed than before.
He recalled Ghost Hand's sarcastic words before he died.
" Blood Feeding Formation? Such crude technique is an insult to this art."
Rough...
Su Yu's divine sense began to mimic the operation of the " Purple-Gold Prison-Suppressing Scripture," analyzing the energy flow of the distorted runes on the altar from a higher-dimensional perspective.
He quickly discovered the problem.
This is not a complete " Blood Feeding Formation " at all!
It's more like a... cobbled-together temporary device for converting and transporting life energy.
The life force and soul of those who were sacrificed were not absorbed by some unknown entity, but were transformed into an extremely pure life energy through these "crude" runes.
Then... it was continuously transported to the deepest part of the cave.
It was delivered to that so-called "ancestor," Zhao Wuji.
Why would a powerful cultivator at the Earth Realm who has lived for two hundred years need to prolong his life in this way?
A terrifying yet perfectly reasonable guess suddenly took shape in Su Yu's mind.
This patriarch of the Zhao Clan was not practicing "self-cultivation" at all.
He's trying to prolong his life!
This Bone-Eroding Abyss is not his training ground, but his life support pod!
This altar is his respirator!
The Ink Abyss Bone Crocodile, a Earth Realm Fifth Level cultivator, was the only "hand" he could use to attack from a great distance!
He drove the crowd away not because he was magnanimous, nor because he had any reservations.
Rather, it's because he simply cannot leave the energy supply range of the altar!
He dared not let Su Yu and the others get close to his true form, because that would expose the truth that he was already exhausted and outwardly strong but inwardly weak!
The forceful attack he just exerted by manipulating the bone crocodile was already a huge burden for him, which is why Yao One was able to detect that moment of spiritual weakness.
Everything makes sense now.
"Hehe..."
A very soft laugh echoed in the silent stone chamber.
Su Yu slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing through the deep darkness, as if he could see the frail, outwardly fierce but inwardly weak old figure hiding behind the scenes.
"I see..."
"It's not that I don't want to kill, it's that... I can't kill."
He stretched out his finger and gently brushed it across the cold, viscous blood on the altar, a cold smile curving his lips.
"A living target is much more interesting than a cold corpse."