Chapter 358: Divine-Demonic Blood

Although Qingchen was ranked sixth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, it was only because he lacked a record of significant accomplishments.

Since entering the Endless Immortal Palace, his actions hadn’t revealed overwhelming power. He only let others see his proficiency with arrays and his profound reserves of strength.

In truth, for Qingchen’s skill in the Array Dao to be so much greater than that of a specialist like Cui Xuanye was a terrifying prospect.

A person’s energy is finite. For Qingchen to possess such a deep cultivation foundation on top of his powerful mastery of arrays, one could only imagine the extent of his talent.

Furthermore, Qingchen had previously fought relying solely on his foundational power, without using many Daoist Secret Techniques.

But Chen Yuan refused to believe that Yellow Court Temple, as one of the Four Daoist Courts, would be without its own powerful secret techniques.

In short, Qingchen was the first young talent Chen Yuan had met since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower whom he couldn’t quite see through.

However, they were currently allies. Since Qingchen wasn’t an enemy, Chen Yuan naturally didn’t overthink things.

At this time, the array’s power was almost ready. Gu Lichuan and Luo Lie were clearing the path ahead. The closer they got to the portal, the more the pressure on them increased.

Dozens of Flesh Puppets even swarmed to block their path.

The other Martial Artists present weren’t idle either, engaging the Flesh Puppets on the perimeter.

However, their strength was not particularly great, so they could only hold back a limited number of Flesh Puppets.

By the time they neared the portal, the space before Gu Lichuan and Luo Lie was already filled with a dense mass of Flesh Puppets, so much so that the portal itself was obscured.

Gu Lichuan’s Qi Blood burned fiercely around him, and all six of his swords shot out.

Previously, he had obtained the Sword Dao inheritance of the Sword-Holding Bright King in Militan Temple. Now, he wore six swords, his strength becoming even more formidable.

Based on Chen Yuan’s experience fighting with the many talents on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, Gu Lichuan’s current combat power under normal circumstances had already far surpassed Shangguan Moyuan’s.

Moreover, Gu Lichuan was the type of person who grew stronger from adversity. Once he was pushed into a desperate situation, he would surely erupt with overwhelming power. His potential was astonishing.

Therefore, in a life-or-death battle, the evaluation of Gu Lichuan’s combat prowess would have to be raised by several notches.

As for Luo Lie, although he was a step weaker than Gu Lichuan in foundational power and Cultivation Techniques and Secret Arts, he was a natural-born general. He might be relatively average in one-on-one fights, but in situations like this, fighting many with few, he grew ever fiercer. The sheer ferocity of his physical combat at this moment made everyone around look on in awe.

‘There are countless geniuses and prodigies in the Jianghu,’ Qingchen couldn’t help but feel as he watched Gu Lichuan and Luo Lie. ‘Not just on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, but innumerable others below it as well.’

‘The strange thing is, all these remarkable figures seem to have some connection to Chen Jiutian. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or something more.’

With Gu Lichuan and Luo Lie clearing the way, Qingchen and Cui Xuanye also quickly approached the portal from which Flesh Puppets were continuously pouring out.

Just as their array came within thirty feet of the portal, the portal’s own defenses must have sensed a threat. A divine light suddenly blazed from within it, and in an instant, a countless, dense mass of Flesh Puppets surged out.

At that moment, Chen Yuan and Ming Chong attacked simultaneously.

Ming Chong’s Qi Blood burned with frantic intensity. A dazzling golden Buddha Light shone, condensing behind him into a hazy Vajra phantom.

As Ming Chong formed a Buddha Seal, the Buddha Light, which had almost solidified, transformed into a Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle in his hand.

With a thunderous roar, Ming Chong wielded the Demon-Subduing Pestle and smashed it down toward the portal. It was the Vajra Descent, to suppress evil and execute demons!

Violent fluctuations of Qi Blood and Buddha Light erupted. The golden light on the Demon-Subduing Pestle instantly exploded, and the powerful shockwave blasted all the Flesh Puppets into a mangled pulp!

Chen Yuan, meanwhile, drew his bow and nocked an arrow. His Qi Blood also began to burn violently as a vast amount of Nether Blood Fiend power poured into the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow, transforming it into a pitch-black arrow that pulsed with astonishing power.

And that wasn’t all. Chen Yuan had previously absorbed a massive amount of Vitality from the Endless Divine Tree. This time, he directly used a part of the force-channeling method from his Nine Deaths Nether Slash to convert that Vitality into the ultimate intent of death, infusing it into the arrow. This caused the black arrow to emit rings of black ripples that actually devoured Spiritual Qi and annihilated life force.

An arrow of such power caused the flesh on Chen Yuan’s arm to tear, revealing a web of bloody gashes, but it was quickly repaired by his own potent Vitality Power.

As Chen Yuan released the arrow, a shriek like the roar of a Hell Ghost King suddenly rang out. The arrow shot from the string, leaving a pitch-black trail in its wake.

The Flesh Puppets that Ming Chong had just blasted into pulp with his Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle were about to surge out of the portal again, but they were utterly annihilated by Chen Yuan’s arrow. Not even scraps of flesh remained; they all turned to nothingness!

“Set the array!”

Seizing the opportunity, Qingchen shouted and immediately placed the Array Plate over the portal.

Cui Xuanye also hurried to act. The two worked together to activate the array. In an instant, the light of the Array Dao surged and flashed. It was the Taiyi Sealing Array, reaching to the heavens and penetrating the earth!

A series of thunderous booms echoed as the Flesh Puppets inside the portal frantically slammed against the array, but they were all suppressed by the Taiyi Sealing Array.

Qingchen let out a long breath and said in a low voice, “The arrays within the Endless Immortal Palace are incredibly powerful. Even the Taiyi Sealing Array cannot seal this portal for long.”

“But no matter. The power of this Taiyi Sealing Array is enough to seal it for a day, and one day is more than enough time for us to explore the Longevity Hall.”

Just as Qingchen finished speaking, the great doors of the Longevity Hall actually began to tremble and open on their own.

A look of joy appeared in the eyes of the other Martial Artists present.

They knew they couldn’t possibly compete with top experts like Qingchen and Chen Yuan.

But if Chen Yuan and the others got the meat, surely they could have some of the soup, right?

Qingchen had a good reputation and had never said he intended to monopolize the Longevity Hall.

And while Chen Yuan had offended many people, those he offended were disciples of the Major Sects; he’d never said anything about driving away Independent Martial Artists like them.

At this moment, however, Qingchen’s brow furrowed. He sensed that something was wrong.

‘The portal that stored the Flesh Puppets is part of the Longevity Hall’s defense mechanism.’

‘Now that the portal is sealed, logically, a higher-level defense mechanism should activate and lock the main doors even more tightly. Why are they opening on their own?’

‘A defensive array designed this way feels… off. Something isn’t right.’

Just then, the doors to the Longevity Hall suddenly accelerated, and a brilliant golden radiance burst forth from within.

One of the Independent Martial Artists, a bit too clever for his own good, had relied on his decent Lightweight Skill to get a little too close.

The next moment, a golden light flashed, and he was instantly sliced in two. Blood and guts spilled across the ground in an instant.

Only when the doors opened completely did the crowd see what had attacked.

They were six Flesh Puppets that looked like giants, each several dozen feet tall. They were clad in golden Battle Armor and wielded weapons like sabers, swords, and axes. They even had four golden-feathered wings sprouting from their backs, allowing them to fly.

The aura of these six Flesh Puppets was completely different from the previous ones. Chen Yuan sensed a somewhat familiar power emanating from them.

A moment later, Chen Yuan realized what it was. ‘This power… it seems to be Red Lotus Willpower.’

A grave look appeared in Qingchen’s eyes. “These six Flesh Puppets were forged using the blood of an Ancient Demon God as their foundation. They are called Palace Guardian Divine Generals.”

“What flows in their veins is not Spiritual Liquid, but diluted Demon God’s Blood!”

“Ancient Demon Gods bleed?”

Gu Lichuan was astonished.

‘Those beings from ancient legends wielded Divine Artifact Demon Soldiers and were practically invincible. They could be wounded and bleed?’

“Of course they do,” Qingchen said gravely. “Otherwise, why would there be shattered Divine Artifact Demon Soldiers in this world?”

“This is trouble. Be careful of these things. You can think of them as Divine Artifact Incarnations that can move and attack at will.”

As soon as Qingchen finished speaking, the six Palace Guardian Divine Generals, empowered by Divine-Demonic Blood, instantly transformed into six streaks of golden light and charged into the crowd.

In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere. The Independent Martial Artists present were no match for them, unable to withstand even a single blow!

Forget the Independent Martial Artists; even the weaker prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings were not their opponents.

Cui Xuanye was targeted by one of the Palace Guardian Divine Generals. As the golden light closed in, his heart leaped, and he instantly formed a Seal Technique to conjure an array in mid-air.

But the array’s glow had just appeared when he was sent flying by a tremendous force. The array shattered instantly, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing this, Lu Chuanshan immediately rushed to help, but he had just charged forward when he, too, was sent flying by a slash from its Giant Sword.

Luo Lie and Yue Ling’Er also rushed forward upon seeing the situation. The four of them combined were still knocked about like a rubber ball, but they managed to stabilize the situation for the moment and were not in mortal danger.

Chen Yuan stared at the Palace Guardian Divine Generals, a tremor running through his body.

This time, it wasn’t the Human Skin Evil Book trying to speak. Instead, a feeling of intense craving was coming from the three Seven Kills Stele Fragments.

Divine Artifacts have spirits; they are beings with their own intelligence and emotions.

But ever since Chen Yuan had refined the Seven Kills Stele, it had always been calm. Once refined, it was just… refined.

Chen Yuan had assumed this was because its spirit was incomplete, a result of the stele being shattered into seven pieces.

But now it seemed that wasn’t the case. It was simply that nothing had been able to stir the Seven Kills Stele’s emotions.

Feeling the craving emanating from the Seven Kills Stele now, Chen Yuan instantly understood. The Seven Kills Stele was craving the Divine-Demonic Blood within these Palace Guardian Divine Generals!

Fusing the Seven Kills Stele didn’t require blood sacrifices; such sacrifices only produced a superficial Blood Fiend Power.

But in reality, the blood sacrifice the Seven Kills Stele required wasn’t the blood of ordinary commoners or Martial Artists. What it truly wanted was the blood of an Ancient Divine Demon!

As a natural-born Divine Artifact that contained the Killing Intent Origin, how could ordinary blood possibly stir any emotion within it?

Only Divine-Demonic Blood was worthy of being a true blood sacrifice for the Seven Kills Stele!