Chapter 262

Deep in the earth's core, deathly silence shrouded the winding passage.

Wang Ping's body flickered with spiritual light, his eyes solemnly fixed on the ever‑writhing blood‑membrane barrier ahead.

This barrier seemed alive, countless twisted faces struggling and wailing within it, yet making no sound; only a despairing aura that struck the soul spread silently.

The thick bloody smell almost solidified, each breath making one want to vomit.

Wang Ping felt a jolt in his heart. He could clearly sense the terrifying power contained in the barrier—far beyond what a False Infant cultivator could reach; it must be the ancient evil spirit itself acting, as recorded.

Just as he was fully on guard, the blood membrane suddenly surged violently, and a dark‑red figure slowly separated from it.

At first it was merely a hazy blood shadow, but as the blood light gathered, it gradually solidified into a middle‑aged man wearing an ancient blood‑colored robe.

This man's face was handsomely beautiful to the point of eeriness; beneath his pallid skin, bluish‑black vein patterns could be faintly seen.

Most terrifying were his eyes—completely pitch‑black, with no white visible, like two bottomless pits. His body exuded a nauseating bloody odor, yet also bore an ancient majesty, as if a demon god had awakened from slumber.

"Sun True Fire…" the evil spirit spoke, its voice hoarse like countless dead souls whispering at once, each syllable carrying power that corrodes the soul.

"I never expected to see such pure Sun True Fire in this era. Kid, offer it to me, and I'll spare you the agony of having your soul scattered."

Wang Ping's expression remained unchanged, but he was rapidly communicating with the Transcendent Senior in his sea of consciousness: "What's the origin of this evil spirit? How strong is it?"

"Not a small problem." The Transcendent Senior's voice carried a rare gravity.

"This is a blood‑fiend evil spirit sealed here since ancient times, living by devouring cultivators' essence blood and origin."

It has taken a liking to your Sun True Fire, wanting to devour its origin power to purge the evil qi within its body, turning from evil to righteous.

"Judging by this aura, though it's only one‑ten‑thousandth of its peak strength, it's still beyond what you can handle now."

"Can my Minor Teleportation Talisman break this barrier?"

"I'm afraid not. This blood‑fiend barrier differs from ordinary formations and barriers; it's forged from the opponent's blood, extraordinarily weird." The Transcendent Senior replied.

"What about that Transcendent Senior?" Wang Ping asked.

"Heh heh, are you joking? Not even now—even at his peak, I could easily break his barrier!" The Transcendent Senior's tone was full of arrogance.

Wang Ping felt somewhat relieved, but then the Transcendent Senior's words left him speechless.

"However? I'm not at my peak either, heh heh—if we need to break the barrier, we'll need a huge amount of spiritual power!"

Wang Ping wanted to roll his eyes, but he managed to hold it in.

Their spiritual communication was completed in an instant.

Seeing Wang Ping silent, the evil spirit's eyes flashed with a blood‑red gleam as it slowly raised its right hand.

His hand was pallid without a trace of blood, yet his nails were eerily black, three inches long, flashing with a dark light.

"Since you won't willingly hand it over, I'll take it myself."

Before his words finished, the evil spirit flung its five fingers wide open.

Five pitch‑black blood‑like lines shot out, wherever they passed even space emitted a "sizzle" corrosive sound.

This blood line contains the utmost filthy power, specifically breaking all kinds of body‑protecting divine light; even the body‑protecting spiritual light of a Spirit Transformation cultivator cannot withstand it.

Wang Ping dared not delay; five‑colored divine light flowed behind him, and the illusory Golden Crow reappeared.

But this time, the Golden Crow did not launch an attack; instead, it folded its wings, enveloping him entirely.

Pure sun‑true fire burned on the Golden Crow's feathers; its utmost yang and rigid aura formed a stark contrast with the yin‑evil power of the blood line.

"Sizzle—"

The blood line struck the Golden Crow's illusory form, emitting a piercing corrosive sound. As the bane of all evil, the sun‑true fire continually purified and melted the blood line within the golden flames.

But the evil spirit's power was too terrifying; although the blood line was constantly being purified, it was also slowly eroding the Golden Crow's illusion. Wang Ping could feel the illusion dimming at a visible rate.

"Huh? Interesting." A flicker of surprise crossed the evil spirit's eyes. "Your sun‑true fire has actually begun to show spirituality; it seems you've entered a rudimentary spiritual state. Excellent—devour it, and I shall at least regain thirty percent of my power!"

He formed seals with both hands, and bloody light surged all around him.

The stench of blood in the passage suddenly intensified severalfold, and the blood membrane began to contract inward, obviously intending to trap Wang Ping to death here.

The wails of the human faces on the blood membrane grew ever more shrill; the whole passage trembled violently, as if it might collapse at any moment.

"Lord Transcendence, now!" Wang Ping shouted in his mind.

"Ready! Remember, be quick—I have only one strike's worth of power!"

Without hesitation, Wang Ping sent all the low‑grade spirit stones he had exchanged and stored in his bag into the silver stone gate.

At the same time, he flipped his left hand, and an ancient‑looking token appeared in his palm—the Chancellor's Token bestowed by Chancellor Jiang Mingyuan.

"Hum—"

The Chancellor's Token emitted a soft white light, and an invisible barrier instantly unfolded, shielding Wang Ping within.

At that moment, the evil spirit's second wave of attack arrived—countless blood‑colored ghost claws reached from all directions, each claw containing the terrifying power to rend souls; where the claw wind passed, even the stone walls were corroded into deep gullies.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The ghost claws struck the white barrier, emitting a deep, muffled boom. The barrier shuddered violently, ripples spreading across its surface, yet it steadfastly blocked every attack. As expected of a token forged by a Void‑Refining expert, its defensive power is indeed formidable.

The evil spirit's face darkened: "A Void‑Refining‑grade talisman? You seem to have quite a background, but… hum, let's see how many strikes you can block!"

He spat out a blood‑red pearl the size of a pigeon's egg. Its surface was covered with fine blood‑red patterns; the moment it appeared, the temperature in the passage plummeted by dozens of degrees, and even the stone walls grew a layer of blood‑colored frost.

The pearl slowly rotated in mid‑air, exuding a heart‑pounding evil aura.

"Blood Soul Pearl! Be careful—this is refined from the essence of a Spirit Transformation Nascent Soul cultivator, specifically designed to break all kinds of protective treasures!" Lord Transcendence warned urgently.

Wang Ping's face grew solemn; he could feel the power within the Chancellor's Token rapidly depleting.

At this rate, it could block at most two more strikes before the Token failed completely; and just then, Lord Transcendence finished his preparations.

"It's broken! Go!"

The silver stone gate burst forth with brilliant light; a silver beam shot from Wang Ping's forehead and struck the blood‑slaughter barrier directly.

Wherever the silver light passed, the blood membrane dissolved as if encountering its nemesis, revealing a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to pass. Beyond the gap lay the passage leading to the surface.

"You think you can leave?" The evil spirit exploded in rage; the Blood Soul Pearl turned into a bolt of blood light that shot straight at Wang Ping's back. This strike was as swift as lightning, its power several times greater than before, and wherever it passed, even space showed fine cracks.

Wang Ping had prepared for this; this time he did not use the Chancellor's Token, but pointed a finger, activating the Wood‑Thunder Technique, and the Yin‑Wood Divine Thunder descended from the void.

The two forces are not comparable, but the Yin Wood Divine Thunder's suppression of evil demons is stronger than the Sun True Fire.

When the two met, the opponent's blood essence pearl was actually blocked for a moment; in that moment, the blood essence pearl's light had already dimmed by thirty percent, and Wang Ping had already vanished without a trace.