A Chance Encounter with Devil Cultivators!

After being away for more than half a year, I'm eager to return home.

Shi Jian took the same desolate path he had come by, avoiding official roads and towns, and specifically choosing to traverse the sparsely populated mountain ridges and forests.

Sun Lin followed behind, his steps much more steady than when he came, his aura restrained, and he had applied three layers of Aura-Concealing Talisman to minimize his presence.

The Lord Rat scouts ahead.

Its figure is like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace, and its aura is completely invisible. This is the bloodline talent of the rat demon, which lies in this method of concealing its breath!

Ordinary Qi Refining would have no way of detecting its presence...

Even if Foundation Establishment cultivator were to arrive in person, they would hardly be able to detect the rat demon's presence unless they carefully probed with their Divine Sense. The ability to hide is the greatest use of the rat demon!

The moonlight was dim.

The mountain wind, carrying moisture, surged from the valley floor, emitting a sweet, slightly fishy smell.

Shi Jian's nostrils twitched, and he paused in his steps.

The wind carried a sweet, metallic scent.

It wasn't the smell of animal blood, nor the smell of rotting vegetation; it was the smell of human blood, though not sour or foul.

On the contrary, it's very sweet!

The quantity was very large and the concentration was extremely high; you could almost squeeze red into the air.

The Lord Rat turned back from the front, scurried onto Shi Jian's shoulder, and whispered, "Ancestor, there's something strange in the valley ahead."

"There were many people, a lot of blood, and traces of a magic array in the valley."

"Several?"

"Seven are alive, and the dead... are countless."

Shi Jian didn't speak, his limbs landed silently, and he crept towards the valley.

Sun Lin followed closely behind, his hand already reaching for the talisman pouch at his waist.

After crossing a mountain ridge, the view suddenly opened up.

Below lies a natural concave valley, surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides, with only one narrow exit...

Red Scale mineral powder was scattered at the bottom of the valley, and together with a set of array flags, a rather complex blood sacrifice array was set up.

The array patterns twisted and turned, eerily sinister, yet possessing a strange and beautiful quality.

In the center of the formation stood a large black iron vat.

The jar wasn't filled with water, it was filled with blood.

The thick, dark red, almost black blood slowly rotated under the activation of the magic array, with a layer of viscous foam floating on its surface.

Each time a bubble bursts, a wisp of blood-red Spiritual Qi, as thin as a spider's thread, escapes!

Scattered around the vat were about a hundred corpses, men, women, and children, their faces withered, their skin shriveled and sunken, as if they had been drained of blood.

Seven living people stood around the magic circle.

They were all dressed in black robes, their faces mostly hidden by hoods, exuding a gloomy aura. The leader was the most powerful, at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, while the other six ranged from the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

The black-robed cultivator at the head of the formation sat cross-legged at the core of the array, his hands Hand Seals and his mouth chanting incantations to activate the array.

As the blood spun faster and faster, a fist-sized, dark red Blood Pearl gradually floated to the surface of the vat.

The surface of the Blood Pearl was as smooth as jade, its Spiritual Qi contained within, indicating its extremely high quality.

This is a demonic and Evil Method, used to refine Blood Pearl.

Shi Jian glanced at it and understood immediately.

A large amount of human blood is purified using Evil Method, and the meager essence of life is extracted and condensed into beads.

This kind of thing is forbidden to righteous cultivators, but it is a valuable commodity for many Devil Cultivator who cultivate the Blood Dao, Corpse Dao, and so on.

It takes hundreds of lives to refine just one.

Shi Jian scanned the valley floor and roughly estimated the number of corpses.

The number is far more than two hundred; it's easily in the thousands.

The blood in that black iron vat was probably concentrated from the blood of thousands of people.

"Those beasts."

Sun Lin's voice came from behind him, very low, but his hands were already trembling. It wasn't fear, it was anger!

Shi Jian glanced back at him. "Kid, don't be impulsive, just watch the show."

He didn't rush to make a move.

It's not that I'm soft-hearted, it's that I'm waiting.

Once the Blood Pearl completely solidified, the semi-finished product was smashed. What a pity, considering he accepts anything offered, and the Blood Pearl was a great tonic for him.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The blood in the vat had completely dried up, and the dark red Blood Pearl floated in the air, already formed, radiating an alluring luster.

The leading black-robed cultivator reached out and beckoned, and the Blood Pearl fell into his palm.

It's done.

The black-robed cultivator's voice was hoarse, filled with barely suppressed excitement:

"This one is the best quality; it's worth at least three or four Spirit Stone, enough to last us until we reach our next stop."

"Senior brother, we need to hurry. This is, after all, Wei Kingdom territory. It would be troublesome if we were discovered by the cultivators here..."

What's the panic?

"Where would a cultivator come from in this godforsaken place?"

"Pack your things, we'll travel through the night."

Before he could finish speaking...

A thunderous roar followed as it tumbled down the ridge.

The seven people in the valley looked up at the same time and saw a dark shadow leap down from the cliff top, blocking out half of the moonlight.

Bang!

The ground exploded, and debris flew everywhere.

A black bear landed in the very center of the magic circle, its four paws digging three inches into the ground. The large black iron vat was shaken and tilted to one side.

The seven black-robed cultivators instantly became alert and scattered, channeling their spiritual power and drawing their Law Artifact.

The leader's pupils constricted sharply, his eyes filled with fear.

"Demon Beast! Foundation Establishment Demon Beast! Retreat!"

Unfortunately, it was all too late.

Without saying a word, Shi Jian struck down with his palm.

The Spiritual Qi in the valley suddenly stopped, as if even the air itself was compressed by the weight of that palm strike.

The two closest black-robed cultivators didn't even have time to react before they were slammed into the ground by the palm strike. The sound of bones shattering was muffled and short, and they died instantly...

The other five people took off running.

Shi Jian did not pursue.

He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of Yao Qi black energy. The powerful force of the energy was like a whip, sweeping across the valley floor. Three people were caught in the blast, crashing into the stone wall and spitting out blood.

He then slid down, his internal organs were shattered, and he stopped breathing completely...

The last two, including the leader who was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, had already rushed to the valley entrance.

The Lord Rat emerged from the shadows and blocked the valley entrance, causing the two to stop in their tracks, momentarily hesitant...

It only delayed things by half a breath.

Half a breath is enough!

Shi Jian exerted force with all four limbs, his body shooting out explosively. He slapped one to death with his left palm, crushing him into a pulp. With his right palm, he pressed down on the leader's head, clenching his five fingers together and burying his entire face into the ground.

Why are you running?

"I don't eat people."

The leader struggled desperately, his spiritual power surging wildly, and a blood-red flying sword shot out from his sleeve, aiming for Shi Jian's eyes.

Shi Jian tilted his head slightly, and the flying sword grazed his earlobe, merely shaving off a few charred hairs, without causing the slightest ripple...

Seeing that this person was courting death, he tightened his grip on the bear's paw.

Click.

The skull was fractured.

Shi Jian flicked the blood off his palm, glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever, regarding them as mere ants...

For him, killing was no different from hunting; the only difference was the prey and whether it was worth the effort.

"Sun Lin, come down and clean up."

Sun Lin slid down the ridge, quickly walked to the corpses of the black-robed cultivators, and began rummaging through their Storage Bag...

Shi Jian walked up to the dark red Blood Pearl, his nostrils flaring.

Pure.

Extremely pure!

The life essence of hundreds of people is concentrated in a bead the size of a fist; it is truly a delicacy and a great tonic.

Shi Jian stuck out his tongue and rolled the Blood Pearl into his abdomen.

The moment it entered the abdomen, a warm flow of Qi and Blood and blood slowly dissolved in the Dantian. The Blood Qi were thick and long-lasting, unlike Spirit Stone which required meditation to transform.

Instead, it directly integrates into the Qi and Blood, nourishing the body's meridians...

It's comfortable and even better than I expected!

"Ancestor, take a look at this."

Sun Lin's voice came from the side, holding a palm-sized black gold token in his hand, with a twisted rune engraved on the front.

The back is inscribed with three small characters: Blood Sha Sect!

There were also several letters, a Jade Slip, and three dark red Blood Pearl of the same quality, with an alluring color.

Shi Jian took the Jade Slip and probed it with his Divine Sense.

The content was brief, but it immediately caused his pupils to shrink slightly...

"Interesting!"