Chapter 85: Blood Demon Valley

Jiuyou vaguely felt that these blood-colored mists were somewhat familiar.

That aura was remarkably similar to the blood mist that had erupted from Heavenly Abyss Mountain. Though not as violent as that of Heavenly Abyss Mountain, it still carried a corrosive intent that low-tier cultivators would never be able to withstand.

The moment he stepped into the blood mist, he took out the white-jade bottle and urged out a milky-white light barrier to protect himself before flying in.

But he hadn't flown for long before he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

An overwhelming sense of exhaustion swept through his entire body.

He had burned too much Essence Blood, and his body was about to give out.

Jiuyou hastily fumbled out a bottle of Healing Pills and stuffed them into his mouth, his gaze sweeping around as he searched for a safe place.

If his magical power ran out, he could use Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk to recover. If his soul power was depleted, he could always capture living beings later to extract their souls and refine their spirits. Only Essence Blood, once lost, could never be reversed. With such a massive consumption, even decades of arduous cultivation wouldn't be enough to recover it fully.

No, if this continued, he would surely die.

He felt his mind growing increasingly groggy, on the verge of passing out at any moment. He abruptly bit down on the tip of his tongue, forcing himself to stay awake. If he blacked out in this strange and sinister place, he would most likely truly die.

Another mouthful of blood sprayed out.

He could no longer hold on, and his entire body began to plummet downward.

Jiuyou forced out one last breath, pouring all his remaining magical power into the white-jade bottle. The spiritual light within the bottle flickered unsteadily, teetering on the edge as if it might extinguish completely at any moment.

Boom!

He slammed heavily into the depths of the valley below, dust billowing up and fragments of rock flying everywhere.

Jiuyou staggered to his feet, leaning against the icy-cold stone wall as he painfully swept his Divine Sense across his surroundings.

He confirmed there was no immediate danger.

Bracing his feeble body, he stumbled forward step by step to investigate.

Finally, he discovered a moderately sized cave on the stone wall ahead. The entrance was narrow, just wide enough for one person, and from within came a faint, ferocious aura, somewhat similar to those demonic beasts of the Tianyuan Sea.

He extended his Divine Sense inside and found a bear demon sound asleep within.

The bear demon was entirely brown in color, but a faint, eerie blood-red glow shimmered across the surface of its fur. Its aura was chaotic and irritable. Fortunately, it was only a third-tier demonic beast, hardly a threat.

Jiuyou released a Golden Core stage Soul Wraith Puppet, which silently slipped into the cave. With a single swipe of its sharp claws, the fight was over in moments, and it dragged the bear demon's corpse off to the side.

Only then did he feel at ease and crawl into the cave.

Afterward, he forced himself to set up several concealment and isolation formations, temporarily blocking the blood-colored mist outside.

Once all that was done, he could no longer hold on. He slumped down against the cave wall, his face alternating between pale and flushed, his breathing unsteady and uneven. He looked terrible.

Since blood demons existed here, it meant that within this entire valley, there were likely many bear demons like the one before. Though not as frenzied as those in the Tianyuan Sea, they were still considerably dangerous.

Blood Demon Valley.

This was most likely it.

According to the memories he had extracted through soul-searching from the Lingchuan cultivator, this Blood Demon Valley was extremely perilous and had existed for tens of thousands of years. It was said to have been brought forth when the Heaven Demon descended upon the world, and it contained demonic beasts comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators in strength.

After the Heaven Demon was sealed and taken to the outer sea, these blood demons were left without control. Tens of thousands of years passed, the blood mist gradually calmed, and thus formed the Blood Demon Valley of today. Danger lurked everywhere in this place; even Nascent Soul cultivators dared not venture in recklessly.

Jiuyou's expression turned grim as he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"The Blood Abyss Sect... This old man will remember you."

Even as he spoke, he dissolved the Face-Altering Technique, restoring his true appearance.

This technique was meant to conceal his identity, especially during the recent pursuit, to prevent the enemy from learning his true face. Now that they hadn't followed him and there was no one around to witness it, he might as well remove it and save his magical power.

Over the next several days, Jiuyou focused entirely on recovery.

Fortunately, he had brought an ample supply of Healing Pills with him. Combined with the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk that quickly restored his magical power and helped refine the medicine's effects, he barely managed to survive. But maintaining his current cultivation realm was nothing short of wishful thinking.

The massive burning of Essence Blood had left even his Nascent Soul looking dim and lusterless. His entire being was weakened to the extreme.

Thankfully, the Mid-Nascent Soul of the black-robed burly man was still there.

For the next half year or more, Jiuyou drank an entire bottle of Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk. While fully refining that Nascent Soul, he also worked to stabilize his own cultivation realm. What would normally have taken years or even longer to refine, the Mid-Nascent Soul's origin essence, aided by the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk and driven by the life-and-death crisis, unleashed his astonishing latent potential.

In just over half a year, he had refined seventy to eighty percent of it.

He barely managed to maintain his cultivation at Mid-Nascent Soul, teetering on the edge of falling a level.

But that was all.

His Essence Blood deficiency was too severe. The strength he could currently exert was less than half, at most thirty percent, of his peak. If he ran into any more danger, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Recovering his Essence Blood would require decades of arduous cultivation, but Jiuyou wasn't foolish enough to stay in this strange and perilous place for decades.

Earlier, he had opened the black-robed burly man's Storage Pouch, hoping to find some recovery pills, even hoping to find spiritual herbs that could restore Essence Blood.

Unfortunately, he found nothing.

But unexpectedly, he did find a Myriad Spirit Pill.

It was exactly the same as the one Dan Xuanzi had given him, with no reduction in potency whatsoever. Who knew which poor fellow cultivator had died at this man's hands? Either way, it was a windfall for him.

There was also the ancient relic the black-robed burly man had used in battle, called the Ghost Arrow Banner. Though it wasn't as top-tier as the Golden Sun Mountain, it was superior to the Green Leaf ancient relic he had thrown out to stop the middle-aged man earlier. So he hadn't taken a loss after all.

While organizing the miscellaneous items, he also discovered something unexpected.

The terrain depicted on the bamboo slip on which the young man surnamed Ye had recorded his map matched the Blood Demon Valley with remarkable precision.

That map was pointing directly at the Blood Demon Valley.

After studying it repeatedly, Jiuyou decided to use the map to attempt crossing the Blood Demon Valley and reach other regions.

As for returning to Lingchuan or Yi Feng Valley, he had no desire to do so.

All his belongings were on him. Aside from the sect he had managed for centuries, there was nothing else worth worrying about. It was just a pity about the materials he had raised for so many years. If he had known, he shouldn't have left a single living soul behind.

The Abyssal Sea Allied Forces had already lost their momentum. Going back would be walking into death.

There was also that Late Nascent Soul cultivator from the Blood Abyss Sect staring intently at him. Where that Blood Abyss Sect had come from, he had no idea, but they actually had a Late Nascent Soul cultivator sitting in command. It seemed the foundations of this continent ran deeper than he had imagined.

He should have thought of it earlier. When he first captured that young man surnamed Ye's Nascent Soul, he should have performed soul-searching first instead of rushing to refine it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been caught so completely unprepared, so humiliated, and nearly lost his life.

Jiuyou shook his head, pulling his thoughts back.

By now, he had already restored his youthful appearance, and his gaze fell once more upon the map.

His face was shrouded in gloom, his expression dark, and his eyes cold and sinister. His icy pupils rolled about ceaselessly as he calculated a rough route in his mind.

Then, he concealed his aura to the extreme limit, suppressing every trace of magical power fluctuation until he was like a lifeless rock.

He turned and vanished into the cave entrance.

He headed deeper into the valley.

The blood mist surged and swallowed his retreating figure.