Chapter 220: The Supreme Lord's Scheme

Dead silence.

The massive beast carcass blocking the cave entrance was like a black mountain range that had stood since ancient times, its breathing so faint it was almost inaudible.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei were frantically sorting the items from Wan Tiande's storage ring; the glow of spirit stones lit their tense faces, while the two children huddled together, still shaken as they gazed at that towering, terrifying back.

Everything seemed to temporarily return to calm with Wan Tiande's complete demise.

However, deep within Wang Shan's consciousness ocean, layered with bestiality and pollution, a piercing alarm blared, its soul‑shredding sharp frequency exploding madly.

【Alert! Alert! Highest threat protocol activated!】

【Detected unknown high‑dimensional beacon response……beacon source locked onto: "Supreme Lord".】

【Target Wan Tiande's soul imprint dissipated, judged as "pawn" destroyed.】

【"Supreme Lord" attention increased……permission changed……target "Wang Shan" threat level raised to: Extinction Level.】

Crimson characters, like a branding iron, were seared fiercely into Wang Shan's chaotic consciousness.

Supreme Lord?

Again, this "Supreme Lord"!

These rats hiding in the sewers, when will they ever quit?

Wang Shan's bestial‑governed thoughts instinctively welled up a bloodthirsty rage, but the next message projected by the system hit like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing all his fury, leaving only bone‑chilling cold.

【Project "Ten Thousand Beasts Origin" critical node activated.】

【Identity redefined: you have been deemed the sole compatible entity capable of opening the Whirlwind Trap Zone's Core seal—the "Flesh‑and‑Blood Key".】

Flesh‑and‑Blood Key?

These four words seemed to carry some kind of magic, causing Wang Shan's massive beastly body to shudder uncontrollably.

"Crack."

A scale plate emitted a crisp sound as the muscle tensed instantly.

"Old Master?" Li Hu was startled by the movement and looked up.

Wang Shan did not respond.

His consciousness was fixed tightly on those four words.

A key? He certainly knew what a key was for, but adding the two words "flesh and blood" changed everything—it wasn't for unlocking, it was… for sacrifice!

They weren't trying to capture him, weren't trying to interrogate his cultivation method; they wanted to use his flesh and blood, his soul, his very being, to open that dreadful place that could twist even a Golden Core cultivator into a monster!

【Alert! Detected high‑energy space fluctuation!】

【Location: Weeping Blood Valley.】

【A Shadow Guard squad has set out, carrying the specialized treasures "Soul‑Binding Lock" and "Demon‑Suppressing Stake", with a clear target aimed at your coordinates. Estimated arrival time: two hours.】

【"Shadow Guard": a special execution unit under the Supreme Lord, with a minimum cultivation of mid‑Golden Core, mastering the "Void Concealment" divine ability, which can largely exempt them from the spatial law disturbances inside the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin.】

A series of messages, icy, brutal, devoid of any emotion.

Li Hu was still busy over there, trying, according to Wang Shan's earlier intent, to find any clue about the Supreme Lord among Wan Tiande's relics.

"Mei Zi, how about your side? Do you have any jade slips or tokens with special markings?"

"Nothing, Hu Ge!" Zhang Mei's voice trembled with tears, "It's all spirit stones, pills, some ordinary cultivation arts, and a few treasures… regarding that 'Supreme Lord', not a single word can be found! This person is far too cautious!"

Not found?

A wave of bitterness rose in Wang Shan's consciousness.

Of course it couldn't be found.

Wan Tiande's ilk, in the so‑called Supreme Lord's eyes, probably didn't even rate as a dog—at most a disposable pawn—how could he possibly be allowed to touch the Core's secrets?

Killing Wan Tiande didn't solve the problem—it was like kicking a hornet's nest. A insignificant pawn died, yet the hidden player discovered that he himself was a more valuable "key", so they sent out a more professional "locksmith" with specialized "tools".

"Weeping Blood Valley..."

Wang Shan searched his chaotic memory for that name. It was an extremely perilous dead zone on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, said to be perpetually suffused with blood‑qi, to the point that even Nascent Soul old monsters avoid setting foot there. From there to here, even a Golden Core cultivator flying at full speed would need several days.

But the system said the enemy could arrive in just two hours!

What does this mean? It means the enemy is not only stronger and better equipped, but even their understanding of this area, regarded as a Forbidden Zone—the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin—far surpasses anyone's! They must have special routes, or rather… special "permissions"!

An unprecedented sense of helplessness, like a tide, flooded his consciousness.

When facing Wan Tiande before, even if hunted to the point of having no way out, he harbored a fierce determination; if he couldn't win, he would fight desperately, always leaving a chance for a turnaround.

But now?

What he faced was a massive shadow he had never even seen. The opponent understood him even better than he understood himself. His proud mutant flesh, in their eyes, was merely a suitably shaped key; his life‑or‑death struggles, to them, were just a test of that key's quality.

All of his struggles seemed like a script written in advance.

How could he still fight?

He could even imagine the mood of those Shadow Guard members now—like hunters who finally spotted a sufficiently sized prey in their trap, rushing over eagerly with cages and ropes.

He was neither hunter nor prey.

He was…… a sacrifice.

A sacrifice meant to usher in a greater horror.

"Howl..."

A stifled low roar rolled out from the depths of his throat, full of reluctance and despair.

"Grandfather!"

Wang Zhitao and Wang Zhe were startled by that howl, both children's faces filled with worry.

And that very cry of "Grandfather" was like a lightning bolt, splitting the heavy fog in Wang Shan's consciousness.

He abruptly "looked" toward those two small figures.

He could be regarded as a key, as a sacrifice, could be thoroughly corrupted, turning into a beast that knows only slaughter.

But he could not let these two children become the continuation of someone else's plot! He could not let them also fall into the hands of that sneaky, contemptible lot!

Yes!

There's still a chance!

Wang Shan's reason, which was about to be devoured by despair, was forcibly pulled back by this obsession stemming from his bloodline.

He cannot leave; this contaminated body is the enemy's 'coordinates'—no matter where he goes, he cannot escape pursuit. Staying here means death; charging out also means death.

But if he dies, the children must not die!

Two hours!

He must, within these two hours, before those Shadow Guards arrive, create an opportunity for them to escape and survive!

An opportunity so slim even the master wouldn't count it as a chance!

Wang Shan's consciousness spun wildly, squeezing every trace of human clarity. His gaze—or rather his perception—swept past Li Hu and Zhang Mei, locking firmly onto the pile of glittering spoils dumped from the storage ring.

Wan Tiande is dead, but all his wealth is right here!

A plan crazy to the extreme rapidly formed in his half-human, half-beast mind.

His massive beastly form stirred again.

He was no longer rigidly blocking the cave entrance; instead, he slowly used his mountain-like body to completely seal the entrance, leaving not a single gap.

Immediately after, a mighty and chaotic thought surged toward the dazed Li Hu.

Li Hu!

Li Hu shuddered all over, as if hearing the master speaking to him inside his head.

Listen to my command!

That thought carried an unquestionable resolve.

Take out all offensive magic treasures and talismans! Aim them at me!

"What?!" Li Hu was stunned on the spot, doubting whether he had misheard.

"Master, what did you say? Aim at you?"

"Carry out the order!" Wang Shan's thought thundered like a bolt of lightning, "Use the strongest force to blast open the rock wall behind me! Now! Immediately! At once!"