Chapter 259: King of the World (28) Treading the Path of Blood

Hongce shook his head, watching the three streaks of escape light vanish into the vast mountain mist.

He turned to Bai Xuanyi, his voice heavy. "What Myriad Manifestations said is true. In the struggle for the Great Dao, fortune and opportunity are never handed out as charity—they are seized by defying the heavens. Sitting idly in comfort will never lead to the Dao. That holds especially true for that old ghost Yuan Huang. Back when I broke through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage, he had already stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage, his lifespan nearing exhaustion even then."

His tone was flat, yet it hid a trace of lament. "The three of them have made up their minds. Their obsessions are deep-rooted, and any further persuasion would be futile. We might as well let them go."

With that said, Hongce turned and gave Jiuyou a slight nod, his expression peaceful.

Jiuyou remained where he was, his expression unruffled. He had no intention of following them. Possessing a long lifespan of a thousand years that far exceeded everyone else present, he had absolutely no need to take such desperate risks or gamble his life for an illusory opportunity.

Bai Xuanyi and Hongce knew perfectly well that Jiuyou had once consumed a ten-thousand-year lifespan-extending spirit fruit, granting him a uniquely blessed foundation. They couldn't help but feel envious, though they harbored no genuine jealousy or resentment. Having cultivated for thousands of years themselves, it wasn't as if they had never consumed heavenly materials and earthly treasures to extend their own lifespans; they simply weren't as abundantly supplied as Jiuyou.

The three of them briefly discussed and finalized the plan to repair the Ancient Teleportation Array. They each took out their hoarded array materials and spiritual resources, piecing together most of the required supplies, though they still lacked a few exceptionally rare, top-tier items. Unwilling to delay, the trio immediately returned to the Heavenly Abyss Sea. Relying on the influence of the Three Alliances, they used both the carrot and the stick to forcefully borrow the required treasures, finally gathering a complete set of repair materials.

With the materials ready, the three carefully inspected the perimeter of the ruined array. Joining forces, they cleared out the demonic beasts and monster souls wandering the area to eliminate any hidden dangers. Ever meticulous, Hongce went a step further to ensure absolute safety, expending a great deal of mental energy to set up layer upon layer of overlapping restrictive formations. Balancing both offense and defense, he firmly locked down the entire area.

A mere few years was nothing more than the snap of a finger for Deity Transformation Cultivators with their lengthy lifespans. Jiuyou waited with complete patience.

Following that, the three excavated simple cave dwellings in a secluded spot at the foot of the mountain to temporarily settle down. During this period, Hongce threw himself entirely into the array's restoration. He deduced array patterns and patched the foundation day and night, barely ever returning to his cave dwelling to rest. After several years of relentless effort, the array's repair was already showing initial results, with faint signs of impending success.

Bai Xuanyi, on the other hand, was slightly more restless. Unable to endure sitting in meditation for long periods, he frequently traveled back and forth to the array site to check on the progress, the urgency on his brow never once fading.

Only Jiuyou maintained a clear state of mind, remaining firmly in his cave dwelling to devote himself to bitter cultivation. Day and night, he polished his cultivation base and diligently practiced the Mountain Moving Art taught by Xuan Zhenzi. In his free time, he would slip into his Qiankun Pouch to carefully cultivate various rare spiritual herbs. His days were stable and unhurried.

However, ever since Jiuyou's breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, Xuan Zhenzi had remained in a deep slumber. He had guarded the breakthrough back then and had yet to wake up, evidently having suffered a considerable toll.

Even in this peaceful situation, Jiuyou didn't relax his vigilance in the slightest. From the moment he stepped into the Mount Tianyuan Mystic Realm, he had faintly detected an omnipresent feeling of being watched, as if a pair of invisible eyes were secretly tracking their every move. Yet, despite fully expanding his divine sense multiple times and exhausting all his methods to search, he hadn't caught the slightest trace of anything unusual, leaving his mind swarming with lingering doubts.

The human heart was even harder to fathom.

Hongce and Bai Xuanyi were both top-tier Deity Transformation mighty figures of the current age. While they harbored no definite malicious intent, their thousand years of cultivation dictated that they prioritize their own Dao paths above all else. The two shared a profound friendship, but if they truly encountered a deadly crisis, abandoning others to escape alone was simply a cultivator's instinct. The cultivation world had always prioritized self-interest; a myriad of friendships would ultimately fail to outweigh one's own life and path. In all things, he could only rely on himself.

As for Myriad Manifestations and the other two who had climbed the mountain to risk their lives, Jiuyou didn't care in the slightest. His only worry was that if those three suffered a miserable defeat and died, only his own trio would be left stranded on the massive Tianyuan Mountain. By then, the difficulty of prying open the ancient Blood Demon's secrets and searching for the ascension pathway would only multiply, making the road ahead even more unpredictable.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

During these six years, the foot of the mountain remained peaceful and secure, free of the slightest disturbance. Occasionally, a low-tier demonic beast would foolishly wander in, but before it could even approach the cave dwellings, the three of them only needed to casually leak a trace of Deity Transformation coercion to make it instantly explode and die.

Over time, all the surrounding demonic beasts retreated in terror, never daring to set foot in this area again. The entire region fell dead silent—almost excessively peaceful.

The more ominous and bizarre a mystic realm was, the more a dead, peaceful silence hinted at hidden dangers. This anomaly caused Jiuyou, who had weathered countless deadly tribulations, to feel a faint sense of unease.

Tianyuan Mountain was inherently a perilous dead zone occupied by the Blood Demon, with killing intent hidden at every turn. Six years of calm was far too unnatural. However, seeing that the Teleportation Array's years-long restoration was finally complete, the three of them temporarily suppressed these inexplicable doubts.

As Hongce cast his incantations, the Ancient Teleportation Array, which had gathered dust for ten thousand years, erupted with spiritual light. A dazzling white light shot into the sky, shrouding the surroundings. Jiuyou and the other two hesitated no longer, leaping into the array. Amidst the swirling, radiant curtain of light, the three figures vanished from where they stood.

The next instant, they landed firmly on their feet, already standing within an ancient corridor deep inside the mystic realm.

The surrounding halls and pavilions were ruined and collapsed, with broken walls and debris scattered everywhere, radiating a sense of desolate antiquity. The air was thick with a dense, oppressive stench of blood that hadn't faded over the years.

This was Jiuyou's second time setting foot here. Compared to when he had first entered the mystic realm a thousand years ago, the dilapidation was even worse. The profound transformation, like the blue seas turning into mulberry fields, couldn't help but evoke a sense of lament in his heart.

The three had no desire to linger. Just as they were about to step forward, a violently freezing gale suddenly swept toward their faces. This wind carried a fierce, malicious hostility; an ordinary cultivator's physical body would collapse upon contact with it. Before three Deity Transformation mighty figures, however, it was completely useless, easily blocked and neutralized by their protective spiritual light.

However, the sight before them caused both Hongce and Bai Xuanyi to furrow their brows, their expressions turning grave.

The four distinct pathways that had once branched out in the four directions deep within the mystic realm had long since been thoroughly jumbled and fused together into a single, profound passageway. Within this tunnel, four incredibly violent powers—ice and snow, startling thunder, raging flames, and ferocious winds—intertwined and coiled. The chaotic, churning energy emitted a monstrously savage, terrifying aura capable of destroying everything.

Faced with the power of such violently chaotic laws, if Jiuyou had still been in the Nascent Soul Realm, he absolutely wouldn't have dared to rashly take a single step inside. The slightest misstep would mean being torn apart by demonic beasts, resulting in his body perishing and Dao vanishing.

Bai Xuanyi stared at the chaotically churning passageway and spoke in a deep voice, his tone full of suspicion and wariness. "It seems this Blood Demon still hasn't given up. To secretly alter the formations and terrain here, turning this place into a domain of absolute death—it is clearly waiting for the right moment to break the seal and emerge again. Just what kind of world is the Upper Realm to breed such a terrifying monstrosity? What kind of foundation does this demon possess in the Upper Realm, and what higher realms exist beyond Deity Transformation?"

Endless mysteries swirled in their minds, with no one capable of answering them.

Jiuyou reined in his thoughts, his expression indifferent as he said, "Fellow Daoists, we shouldn't stay here for long. The most urgent matter is to cross this chaotic passageway and reunite with Myriad Manifestations and the other two. I don't know if they've already arrived by now."

Hearing this, Hongce and Bai Xuanyi nodded in tacit agreement, hesitating no further.

Three majestic streams of divine light suddenly erupted as the trio threw themselves into the chaotic passageway. Hearing the commotion, the countless Blood Demons hiding along the way lunged at them with murderous intent, their shrill roars echoing all around. But these monsters, enough to strike terror into an entire region, couldn't withstand a single blow from three Deity Transformation Cultivators.

Divine light crisscrossed in every direction. With every swing of their sharp blades, demonic heads tumbled to the ground one after another. The three swept through like a crushing force, forcefully carving a blood path straight through the sea of monsters. Countless massive corpses crashed to the floor, drenching the entire deep passageway in blood.