Chapter 41: Blood Drenched City

  Bloody Mountain, in front of a canyon.

  "Four fellow Taoists, please stay for a moment. In this Blood Valley Gorge, there is a group of over a hundred fierce beasts hiding inside. Let's form a team to hunt and kill them together, and we'll divide the obtained beast pearls equally among us. What do you say?"

  A dozen or so monks gathered around, and the thin middle-aged man who had spoken first bowed his hands and suggested.

  "Sorry, we still have something on." Du Qingxi said coldly, without any intention of stopping.

  "Hold on, young lady, don't refuse just yet. What's more important than making money? With our strength, taking down those ferocious beasts is a piece of cake. I see that the four of you are all extraordinary talents, joining us will definitely bring in a substantial reward." The thin middle-aged man continued to persuade them gently.

  Chen Xiao looked at this group of surrounding monks and couldn't help but feel a hint of sympathy.

  Du Qingxi didn't say any more, and Tan Muzi, dressed in a white robe with a smile on his face, walked forward voluntarily. He smiled and said: "Everyone, unfortunately, I have to tell you that this time you've chosen the wrong target for robbery."

  "Pah, what nonsense! You don't drink the toast, you'll be punished with a penalty cup!" The thin middle-aged man's face changed in an instant, and he coldly smiled as he snapped his fingers. Those surrounding cultivators' faces suddenly turned ferocious, their eyes revealing a fierce glow.

  "I'll give you one last chance, hand over all the spirit beads on your body and get out of here quickly. Oh, and leave that woman behind, it's just right for me to vent my anger." The thin middle-aged man let out a strange laugh and issued his final ultimatum.

  "How dare you insult Qingxi! You're asking for death!"

  This emaciated middle-aged man actually caught Du Qingxi's attention, Duanmu Ze's face turned cold, and a colorful long sword appeared in his hand out of thin air.

  Buzz!

  The Qixing Lianhuan sword emitted an aura that was unmatched in its sharpness, and it quivered slightly in Duanmu Ze's hand, as if eager to drink the blood of his enemies.

  In an instant, Du Mu Ze's demeanor changed, the smile on his lips turned into a cold arc, and he charged forward like a sharp sword out of its scabbard!

  "Up! Let's kill this little beast together!"

  Feeling the change in Tanmu Ze's breath, the thin middle-aged man's pupils contracted, knowing he had met a tough opponent. Not daring to hesitate, he let out a loud roar, holding double knives, rolling up waves of knife light, and covering Tanmu Ze's head.

  "Kill!"

  Other samurai also drew their own swords and closed in on Taira no Tsunemori.

  Faced with this situation, Du Qingxi's expression was calm, Song Lin was drowsy and confused, while Chen Tai looked at those robbers with pity in his eyes.

  Are these little guys in cahoots? How could he die alone? The thin middle-aged man glanced sideways, saw Du Qingxi and the other two standing by with their arms crossed, and couldn't help but pause for a moment.

  "Shake it!"

  Just as he was momentarily stunned in his thin and weak middle age, a low hum suddenly sounded beside his ear. When he came to, he saw thousands of sharp sword lights surrounding him, and the fierce and ferocious aura rushed towards him.

  Ding ding dang dang......

  A series of dense, bean-like metallic cracking sounds suddenly rang out, and the weapons in the hands of the besieging monks were all cut off at the roots.

  Is this guy's sword in his hand a low-grade magic treasure?

  The gaunt middle-aged man inside, those monks who came up all showed a look of astonishment, and were immediately overwhelmed by endless fear and chill. At such a young age, he already possessed a stage treasure, could it be that he was the core disciple of one of the great sects' aristocratic families?

  "Die!"

  Du Mu Ze disdainfully swept a glance at the group of 'stupid geese', his wrist slightly moved, and in an instant, more than ten sword lights burst out like matched exercises.

  Pffft...

  A string of blood flowers burst and splashed, the thin middle-aged man who was still extremely confused about Endo's identity only felt a pain in his chest, a blood hole had appeared at the position of his heart, and he immediately opened his eyes wide and fell to the ground with a loud noise.

  "With such a cultivation level, you still dare to rob others of their dao? It's truly laughable." Du Mu Ze disdainfully shook his head, turned around with a flourish, and didn't even glance at the corpse on the ground again. He calmly ordered: "Someone, clean up the battlefield."

  Chen Xiao quickly walked forward and began collecting the evil pearls from the cultivators with a skilled hand.

  As soon as they entered the Bloody Mountain Range, they encountered groups of blind monks who robbed them. These monks came up with all sorts of excuses, but their goal was to snatch the evil pearls from the four people.

  Facing this situation, Gongzi naturally cannot sit idly by.

  Of course, the main thing is to show off his elegant demeanor and powerful strength in front of Du Qingxi. Those enemies were all taken down by him alone, not even giving Chen Yao and the others a chance to intervene. Single-handedly fighting solo, relying on the top-grade martial skill "Northern Dipper Sword Classic" passed down through his family, and the entry-level treasure Seven-Star Rainbow Sword in his hand, he easily annihilated all the enemies, making quite a name for himself.

  As for those extremely formidable characters, the four of them didn't encounter a single one, and that's considered extremely lucky.

  Duanmu Gongzi didn't bother to get rich from the dead, and left the cleanup work to Chen Tai. For the sake of the Xiezhu, for the sake of the mysterious and dark energy within, Chen Tai had no reason to refuse. After several cleanups, his technique of plundering the wealth of the dead became more and more skilled...

  "This gorge is called Bloody Gorge, and behind it lies a simple fortress where we can rest. We must hasten our pace to arrive there ahead of time. Otherwise, when night falls, the ferocious beasts hiding in the dark will emerge one after another, rampaging across every inch of this land. Even if one's cultivation is high, they will still be overwhelmed by the sea of ferocious beasts, a truly terrifying prospect."

  Du Qingxi looked at the jade map in his hand and saw that Chen Yu had finished sweeping the battlefield without any delay, and immediately headed towards the depths of the gorge.

  "Is there still a city?" Chen asked on the way.

  "It's been nearly ten thousand years since the Southern Barbarian Dark Domain first appeared. In order to survive the terrifying nights of the Blood-soaked Mountains, many cultivators gathered together a thousand years ago and jointly built defensive camps. After being repaired, reinforced, and expanded by later generations of cultivators, these camps eventually formed the city as it is today."

  "So it was."

  Chen Yao nodded, hunting and killing fierce beasts would inevitably consume true yuan. Due to the spiritual energy drought in the Nanman Ming domain, the evil energy was overwhelming, and replenishing true yuan not only required carrying Yuan Shi Dan medicine but also a safe environment and time to extract and refine it. The appearance of cities undoubtedly solved this problem very well.

  They went all the way without saying a word, and soon Chen Xiao's four people passed through the canyon that was thousands of miles long and came to a vast plain.

  On their way, Chen Yao and his group also encountered some other cultivators. However, as soon as they met, before Chen Yao and the others could react, those cultivators retreated far away, like startled birds, with a dense color of vigilance in their eyes.

  "The cultivators who can make it here have undoubtedly gone through numerous tribulations and fierce battles, their strength must be extraordinary. Judging from the direction they're heading, they're also eager to enter that city as soon as possible... With so many cultivators gathering together, I wonder if there will be any bloody conflicts when they arrive..."

  Chen Xiao was deep in thought, but his feet didn't slow down at all. Under Du Qingxi's lead, they ran for almost another hour before finally seeing the outline of a city in the far distance.

  "This is the first city of Xue Shan, Bloody City. According to my calculations, there are at least 5,000 cultivators gathered there this time. These cultivators come from different places and are mixed together like fish and dragons. When we go in, we must be careful."

  Looking at the city that exudes an ancient and rustic charm, Du Qingxi slowed down her pace slightly, and a clear and cold voice had already entered Chen Suo's ears.

  Chen Ting nodded slightly. Where there are people, there is struggle. Everyone was fighting for the evil bead, and once a conflict broke out, it would be a life-and-death situation.

  However, Chen Ting was not afraid of anything. With his current strength, even if he faced a Zifu Cultivator, he could retreat unscathed. Not to mention that this was the Nanman Ming Domain, where cultivation was restricted, and the highest level of cultivation was only at the Xiantian Round Completion Realm.

  Before long, the four of them arrived in front of Bloodlust City.

  Unlike cities in the outside world, Bloody Castle, despite having a 'castle' character, is roughly the size of a village. The high and hard castle walls surround it on all sides, with only one heavy iron gate for entry and exit at the central location.

  However, at this moment, the city gate was congested, and it seemed that a dispute had occurred in front, attracting many monks to stop and watch.

  "Li Hua, what are you going to do? Kill him and silence him?"

  A furious voice came from the crowd, Chen Xiao was taken aback by the words, Li Hua? This guy has also arrived in Bloodshed City...

  He walked forward, took a glance, and Chen Tang indeed found Li Hua. In the position opposite to Li Hua, he saw three familiar faces - Lu Shaocong, Qu Cheng, and Duan Ying from Hongye Academy.

  At this time, all three of them were furious, but their eyes looking at Li Hua were filled with a cautious color.

  Thinking about it, when Chen Yao first met the three of them, they only had the cultivation base of the Post-Heavenly Realm. In just a few short months, even if they advanced to the Pre-Heavenly Realm, they were still no match for Li Hua, who had already advanced to the Purple Mansion Realm.

  "Hmph, have you forgotten what happened three months ago? Not only did you ruin a big deal for my Li family, but also caused us to lose something precious. Do you think I'll let you off?" Li Hua said with a cold smile.

  "What's this big deal about the Li family? Are you talking about how I drove off Wu's men at Linggu Lake and rescued those people the Lis wanted to offer as 'tribute'? At the time, I had Lu Shaocong and three others escort those 'tributes' away. I suppose they were discovered by the Lis after entering Songyan City..."

  Chen Xiao's mind suddenly lit up, and he finally understood what was going on. A surge of anger rose in his heart as he realized that this matter had started because of him, but it had implicated Lu Shaocong and the others. The Li family's methods were too despicable!

  "Since there's nothing more to say..."

  Just as Chen was lost in thought, Li Hua suddenly took a step forward, his right hand grasping the hilt of his sword tightened slightly, and a sharp killing intent burst out from his entire body.

  "Then die!"

  With the sound, Li Hua drew his sword and moved forward. The tip of the sword whistled with a cold and sharp edge, suddenly transforming into a vast expanse of clear light, like billions of green pine needles about to drip, tearing through the void, and swooping down towards Lu Shaocong and the other two.

  The true yuan converged, the sword's edge was like a needle, Li Hua's swordsmanship had also reached the 'knowing micro' realm. With just a light stab of his sword, the atmosphere was boundless, the law was strict and severe, instantly locking down all retreat paths for Lu Shaocong and his two companions.

  Lu Shaocong and the other two did not expect Li Hua to be so ruthless and decisive, saying that he would take action and then taking action, instantly catching them off guard. They stared blankly at the flying sword lights shooting towards them from all directions, and had even forgotten to dodge...

  Is this really how it ends?

  At the moment of life and death, three people's minds simultaneously flashed with the same thought.