Yuan City · Celestial Curtain Pavilion.
Tiny red blood flowers slowly drifted down from the sky.
Standing by the window, Zhang Rongfang reached out to catch a red blood flower the size of a fingernail, allowing it to slowly melt in his palm, decompose by body heat, and evaporate into a blood mist.
"This is the legendary ’blossoms rain down, the earth surges with blood lotus’."
He turned to look at Chang Yuqing and Ding Yu, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Only then can it be considered a paradise on earth... where has the team from Chana Tower reached?"
Chang Yuqing stepped forward.
"Master, they’ve already reached the vicinity of the Red River Mountains."
Now, through the collection of maps from three sides, plus the data sharing from La’s side, Zhang Rongfang already had an overall understanding of the entire Black Sandland. He has also named some of the landmark terrains.
"Master, are we really going to take action?" Ding Yu asked hesitantly. "The three Evil Kings are leader-level figures of Chana Tower. Acting so rashly, what if it provokes Long’s malice...."
"Do you think that Long is unaware of this? Does he not know that I want to collect more flesh samples?" Zhang Rongfang replied.
"....Are you saying that Ophelia was originally the bait sent by Long or perhaps a probe? He...wants to test our foundational strength?" Chang Yuqing, indeed, was quite smart.
"That’s part of it. Since it’s bait, if we don’t swallow it, wouldn’t that be wasting their good intentions?" Zhang Rongfang smiled with his hands behind his back.
"But... Ophelia’s strength is extraordinary... those Evil Spirit Elephants are already so powerful... as one of the Three Evil Kings, she surely surpasses the Evil Spirit Elephants significantly...." Chang Yuqing said solemnly.
"I cannot act carelessly, to avoid Long seeing through my trump card. So...." Zhang Rongfang gently turned his gaze toward the doorway.
Click.
The door slowly opened.
A person unfamiliar to the few walked in slowly, dressed in white, and stood still.
This person had a white long knife at his waist, as slender as a longsword, with a blood-colored tassel hanging from the handle. Together with his waist-length white hair, it was a striking contrast.
White, red, at a glance, so pure it was almost glaring.
"Long time no see, Brother Fan." Zhang Rongfang showed a gentle smile. "I’ll have to trouble you this time."
"Just a transaction." The handsome man had no expression on his face.
"Yes... just a transaction. Brother Fan, you’re in charge of the Eternal Palace’s group," Zhang Rongfang instructed. "As for Ophelia, someone else will go there."
"Can you tell me who it is?" Fan Qianyu asked softly. He was once the Red List expert, Silver-faced Cicada. Now, after becoming a Bloodline, he had completely stepped into the Extreme Realm, specifically the Extreme Mind.
The horror of the Extreme Realm, coupled with the enhancement from the Bloodline, caused his power to surge sharply.
His talent was extraordinary, so in the Four Institutes, he became the fastest to advance from the Human Character Institute to the Ground Character Institute, achieving Grandmaster and then quickly advancing to the Celestial Character Institute.
Compared to the Celestial Maiden, he was a year behind in achieving Grandmaster, but still quite swift.
"This is not something you need to ask." Zhang Rongfang replied, "As you said, it’s a transaction, and it doesn’t involve other matters, right?"
Silver-faced Cicada Fan Qianyu remained silent, then nodded and turned to leave.
"Master... who is he?" Chang Yuqing, having never seen this person, asked. To be sent to intercept the Eternal Palace’s group for samples, he must not be an ordinary person.
"A pitiable person," Zhang Rongfang said simply, "His problem is quite troublesome, entirely different from the other Extreme Realms."
"Aren’t most Extreme Realms able to have the side effects of the Bloodline diluted?" Ding Yu asked naively.
"Most can, but it still depends on the obsession. The Extreme Realm is fundamentally driven by the desire to obtain what is seemingly unachievable, propelling oneself with an unmatched terrifying will and resilience to move forward, towards the goal, thus reaching or even breaking through physiological limits," Zhang Rongfang briefly explained.
"But Fan Qianyu’s problem is different from others; he longs for sincerity and honesty but is highly suspicious by nature."
"I see, so Master communicates with him through transactions because, for someone extremely suspicious, a transaction is the most reassuring way," Chang Yuqing realized suddenly.
"Is that so?" Ding Yu asked naively.
"Qing’er is right," Zhang Rongfang praised. "The Extreme Realm constantly excavates their limits, so the greater their potential, the stronger they become. This is also why, after becoming a Bloodline, the Extreme Realm’s strength suddenly surges."
"After receiving Master’s generation bloodline, they have maximized the inner Human Immortal power of your bloodline, right?" Chang Yuqing said earnestly.
"Precisely so. Besides Silver-faced Cicada, there are two others involved in this sampling. Therefore, consider it as the Great Spirit’s formal debut on this land," Zhang Rongfang remarked.
Zhang Rongfang gazed out the window, where blood flowers were drifting around Yuan City, blood lotuses creeping, and a hazy blood mist lingered.
Hundreds of people were constructing a large rocky Tai Chi Diagram in the city center.
This Tai Chi Diagram would serve as the place for him to engrave the Daos and Martial Arts of the Human Immortal Dao.
In the future, methods of achieving immortality such as Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Gathering at the Source would be open to all Bloodlines within this interior.
This represents the limitless Dao of the Taiji Pavilion.
’Mid-July... time flies so quickly...’
Looking at the open attribute panel, the usable attributes had reached a perfect hundred again.
Silently, he allocated all the points to vitality. Soon, a new trait talent appeared in the trait list.
’Soul Calling Howl: Your voice can attract the soul of life, with the strength of the attraction corresponding to the volume.’
This ability seemed of little use at first glance, but it was a component of the Nine Phoenixes Bloodline.
Initially making the voice capable of touching the spiritual consciousness was evidently a prelude for the subsequent abilities.
"Speaking of which, what exactly is the soul?" he asked softly.
"The soul.... A dwelling for divine thought? A righteous dwelling of the heart?" Chang Yuqing, clearly someone who often read Daoist scriptures, responded.
"Flesh and blood gather, thus giving birth to divinity. When divinity gathers, it forms shape, and through a single thought, one becomes human. Could this thought perhaps be life?" Zhang Rongfang uttered softly.
Gazing at the drifting blood flowers, he suddenly found himself lost in thought, pondering the connections between flesh, blood, and soul.
*
*
*
Di Mo and Sandra led their team, sprinting rapidly across the black land.
This speed, which would be considered a full-speed sprint to ordinary people, was merely their normal traveling pace.
If nothing goes wrong, in half an hour, they will arrive at the location of the Eternal Tower.
With the explosive speed of the Heart-Burning Furnace, they can travel continuously for five days and nights without rest.
Had it not been for the speed of the ordinary team members, Di Mo and Sandra could have returned to the Eternal Palace earlier.
The whole group was draped in black cloaks for disguise, occasionally avoiding pockets of black smoke rising from the ground and the falling beams of light from the sky.
As they passed through a canyon between two small mountains, Sandra suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed on the side of a mountain wall.
"Who’s there?!"
The others quickly halted, alertly scanning their surroundings.
"Not just one," Di Mo tied up her long hair with one hand, a trace of seriousness in her beautiful eyes.
As soon as she finished speaking, three blood-red figures suddenly appeared simultaneously from behind, in front, and to the left of the group.
Leading them was a white-haired man wearing a silver mask.
He held a white long knife, slender as a longsword.
"According to the agreement with Palace Master La, Lady Sandra, please provide a portion of your blood sample." The man was none other than Silver-faced Cicada Fan Qianyu, who had hurriedly arrived from behind.
"Blood sample?" Di Mo asked, looking at Sandra, remembering that La had mentioned this request before.
If they needed sampling, it was agreed to take and deliver it to them.
However, what she didn’t expect was that Sandra’s expression turned extremely unsightly upon hearing about the sampling.
"I’m merely employed by the Eternal Palace, not selling myself! You have no right to take my sample!" Sandra’s reaction was noticeably off.
"Lord Di Mo, please cooperate," Fan Qianyu slowly unsheathed his long knife, stepping down the slope.
Di Mo frowned, looking at Sandra. They had been close friends for years and understood each other’s every move deeply.
She was sure that Sandra was indeed herself, not replaced. But why was her reaction so intense? After all, La had indeed promised this. Could it be that he didn’t tell her?
"Isn’t your Blood Alliance a bit too overbearing? We are here as spectators, and you even want to interfere with the spectators’ team?" Sandra said harshly.
"Then forget about it." Fan Qianyu lowered his knife tip, pointing diagonally toward the ground.
"I heard you are one of the two leaders of the Eternal Palace’s statue troops, please enlighten me."
Swoosh!
He raised the blade upright, holding it before his nose.
*
*
*
On the other side.
The mighty Evil Spirit Army was marching, surrounding Ophelia and several demons, moving away into the distance.
Beams of heavenly light occasionally fell, smashing into the army, blocked by layers of rising evil spirits using their bodies.
Suddenly, Ophelia raised her hand, the entire army abruptly stopped, with over a thousand evil spirits restlessly fidgeting in place, refusing to proceed.
"Someone’s blocking the way." A purple crystal demon raised its head to look forward, clearly seeing a figure quietly standing on a black hill ahead, gazing into the depths of the army.
The figure was draped in tiger skin, with delicate blood-colored patterns visible on the exposed skin.
Their face seemed perpetually furrowed, despite an extremely strong build, giving off a contradictory sense of weakness.
"You are too noisy...." The person wore black and red leather gloves, with stark white bone spikes protruding at the joints.
"You’ve disturbed my rest...."
Ignoring the vast number of evil spirits in the distance, they moved forward step by step, flexing the gloves.
"So, to make up for my lack of sleep," as they strode step by step, their figure rapidly expanded, growing larger.
"I’ve decided....to kill you all!"
Hiss!
In an instant, their figure surged from three meters tall, straight upward.
Five meters, eight meters, ten meters!!
A blood-red vertical pupil cracked open at their brow, while simultaneously all the skin on their body began to take on a faint metallic sheen.
This familiar sensation caused Ophelia within the Evil Spirit Army to furrow her brows deeply.
She sensed the aura of the King of Bloodline.
This giant form’s power was identical to the King of Bloodline!
According to Long’s calculations, it’s highly likely the bloodlines would inherit the progenitor’s blood power.
Now it seems, she finally witnessed a bloodline truly obtaining the progenitor’s power....
"Delin, I’ll leave it to you." She said in a low voice.
One of the demons who had previously been intimidated by Zhang Rongfang stepped forward.
"No problem! To dare stand against so many of us alone, this person is either a madman or seeking death!"
It’s known that while evil spirits lose consciousness, leading to reduced martial prowess, demons are different.
Demons awaken their original consciousness, retaining their entire martial arts realm experience unchanged, even becoming stronger through years of accumulation and study.
Among the Thirteen Demons, each one is an absolute Grandmaster in martial arts realm.
Each has emerged powerful from countless battles amongst evil spirits.
No exceptions.
The martial arts realm of a Grandmaster, plus the terrifying pollution radiation post-Spiritualization and the strong evil spirit body.
All this combined grants them far more frightening power than before.
So....