Chapter 203

Ling Xiao's figure faded within the blood mist, like a drop of ink merging into an even darker night. He did not charge directly toward the Blood Prison location Su Qing had described, but veered toward a cliff face where the blood Qi surged with particular violence.

This was one of the Weeping Blood Valley's "Corrupt Meridians," an outlet where the earth vein's yin sha converged with the Blood Lake's filth, like the diseased blood vessel of a giant beast. Ordinary cultivators approaching it would have their bones eroded and souls dissolved in mere moments. But a layer of formless, substanceless sword Qi rose around Ling Xiao — not scorching, but the ultimate "Void" and "Sever," pushing away and severing all the viscous blood Qi and the wailing of the soul-eroding shrieks. He placed his hand on the dark-red, nearly black cliff face; sword intent exhaled and inhaled from his palm like the most delicate engraving knife, inversely eroding along the natural grain of the earth vein's sha Qi.

"Using this place as the guide, sword Qi as the meridian, temporarily acting as Patrol Heaven."

He left an extremely shallow sword mark on the cliff face that pointed straight at the earth vein's core. This was not destruction, but "grafting" and "diversion." If the plan went smoothly, this sword mark would, at the critical moment, divert a portion of the yin sha Qi and blood surging toward the Blood Lake's core cauldron into a harmless place, or even cause it to backlash against the formation. This was an unorthodox method he had comprehended from the vast ancient archives of the Patrol Heaven Division, the cost being the continuous consumption of his own divine soul and spiritual power.

With the arrangements complete, he only then flashed toward the Blood Prison direction like a ghost.

The Blood Prison was located at the edge of the middle region, backed against a cliff that constantly seeped viscous blood water. The prison was not built of brick and stone, but directly carved out of countless holes inside the cliff; every cave mouth shimmered with the light of blood talismans, forming a massive "Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Formation." The formation not only sealed the prisoners' cultivation, but also continuously extracted their life essence and soul power, channeling it through underground veins to the Blood Lake. Outside the prison gate, two squads of black-robed guards patrolled in crossing shifts, and there was even a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator with a cold aura and a bone-armor-covered face sitting in command — precisely one of the Earth Erosion's four Protectors, "Blood Skull."

Ling Xiao lay prone behind a jagged strange rock; his spiritual sense like silk, instantly probing the gaps in the guard rotation changes, as well as several talisman nodes in the formation that were not weaknesses, but "joints." A forced rescue would surely land him in a heavy siege; his purpose was to manufacture a "fire" large enough and chaotic enough.

His gaze locked onto the area above the Blood Prison, where blood water continuously dripped and condensed into small blood pools. The blood water came from the overflow of the upper blood pools; though the violent energy within was guided by the formation, it was extremely unstable.

Silently, three strands of sword Qi fine as cow hair, their color nearly transparent, flicked from his fingertips. One strand sank into the depths of a blood pool, lying dormant; one strand clung to the cliff wall, circling toward a corner behind the Blood Prison piled with discarded bones where yin Qi was stagnant; the last strand, like a swimming fish, burrowed underground, following the earth vein's sha Qi toward the area beneath where the Blood Skull Protector sat in meditation.

The opportunity was fleeting. Precisely at the instant the two patrol squads crossed paths and turned their backs to each other —

Puff!

That strand of sword Qi in the depths of the blood pool suddenly erupted — not a violent explosion, but a rapid rotation and vibration, instantly stirring the relatively calm blood water into a chaotic vortex. The violent energy in the blood water was provoked, clashing with the formation's guiding force, instantly arousing a stretch of scarlet blood light and a dull, heavy rumbling.

"What's going on?" The guards looked back in shock.

The presiding Blood Skull Protector let out a cold snort, a flash of blood light in his eyes; he did not rise, his divine sense already sweeping toward the blood pool. In his view, this was merely an occasional blockage and restlessness of the earth vein.

However, the moment his divine sense brushed past the blood pool —

Boom!

The second strand of sword Qi beneath the bone pile at the rear detonated the accumulated yin sha death Qi; ghastly white bone powder mixed with ink-green phosphorescent fire soared skyward, forming a ferocious ghost shadow that let out a silent shriek, pouncing straight at several nearby guards.

"Enemy attack?!" The guards finally panicked, one after another summoning blood-colored magic treasures.

The Blood Skull Protector frowned, his figure shifting slightly, about to make a move to suppress this "minor trouble." Just in the hair's breadth where his mind was drawn away by the bone-powder ghost shadow and his subordinates' commotion —

Underground, the third strand of sword Qi, three inches beneath his seat, gently "tapped" once. This tap was not an attack, but precisely "stimulated" a tiny vortex point in the flow of the earth vein's sha Qi.

"Hm?!" The Blood Skull Protector's expression changed drastically; he felt a trace of extremely unnatural stagnation and counter-surge transmitted from the earth vein beneath him. Though it did not injure his body, it caused his Qi and blood to momentarily falter, his protective spiritual light fluctuating for a thousandth of an instant.

For Ling Xiao, this was already enough.

He moved.

No dazzling sword light, no ear-piercing shriek tearing the air. His whole person seemed to transform into a "fault" that defied common sense; from his hiding place to the Blood Prison's main gate, a distance of thirty zhang, space seemed to be cut and folded by an invisible blade — he took one step and was already standing three chi before the Blood Skull Protector. The Dragon Chant Sword at his waist remained sheathed, but that sword intent that froze the myriad ancient cold abysses and severed karmic destiny, like the tide of an ice-sealed universe, descended with a boom, completely "locking down" the Blood Skull Protector along with the three zhang of space around him!

The Blood Skull Protector's pupils shrank to needle points, his soul scattering in terror. He had never felt such terrifying sword intent — not mere sharpness or power, but carrying a kind of lofty, adjudicating "order," as if facing not a cultivator, but the incarnation of the Patrol Heaven Division's statutes themselves! He let out a mad roar, his whole body bursting with thick, substantive blood-colored skull phantoms; his Nascent Soul frantically churned, a blood-colored bone shield instantly blocking before him.

Clang—

The Dragon Chant Sword still had not left its scabbard; only the tip of the scabbard touched the center of the bone shield.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The next moment, with the contact point of scabbard tip and bone shield as the center, a layer of crystalline "frost traces" instantly spread out, covering the entire bone shield, and rapidly climbing up along the Blood Skull Protector's shield-holding arm! That was not frost, but the "concept" manifested by sword Qi condensed to the extreme — "Sealing"! The blood-colored skull phantom wailed and collapsed; the Blood Skull Protector only felt his own spiritual power, divine sense, and even his connection to the Blood Lake's grand formation all being forcibly frozen and severed by this sword intent!

"Patrol... Heaven..." He squeezed out two words from between his teeth, his eyes full of shock and venomous hatred.

Ling Xiao did not even look at him; his left hand formed a sword-finger gesture and swept backward.

Swish swish swish!

Dozens of fine sword Qi scattered like a fishing net, precisely severing the "joints" of those blood-colored runes at the Blood Prison cave mouths. The rune light flickered violently, wavering unsteadily; the meridians constituting the Soul-Devouring Formation instantly fell into disorder and broke. The hundreds of prisoners sealed inside immediately felt their whole bodies loosen; that power which had been extracting their vitality at every moment vanished.

"The formation is broken! Run!" Cries of shock and wild joy rang out from within the prison.

"What audacious villain dares intrude Weeping Blood Valley!" In the distance, three more powerful Nascent Soul auras erupted violently, rapidly closing in — precisely the other three Protectors who had sensed something amiss. Deep in the valley bottom, within that black jade palace, a will terrifying as a nine-nether cold pool, unfathomably deep, also slowly awakened, coldly casting its gaze over.

Ling Xiao knew, You Quan Venerable had been alarmed.

He no longer lingered in battle; his right hand maintained the sword intent suppressing the Blood Skull Protector, while his left hand wrote in the air — a complex talisman constructed of pure sword light took shape in an instant, imprinting itself onto the Blood Prison cliff face.

"Patrol Heaven Borrows Law — Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Ancestor — Void Form."

The talisman's light blazed brilliantly; it did not shoot out substantive sword light, but emitted a vast, boundless sword dao pressure, as if drawing upon the power of the surrounding stars, enveloping the four directions. In the perception of the three rushing Protectors, this was no different from the prelude of a sword dao grandmaster unleashing a heaven-shaking spell with full force right here.

"Careful! Is it a trap or a forced assault?" The three were alarmed and suspicious, their speed involuntarily slowing; they each summoned defensive magic treasures, divine senses wildly sweeping, trying to find the "hidden" sword formation or ambush.

Seizing this opportunity, Ling Xiao shouted toward the Blood Prison: "Head east, follow the blood stream upstream three zhang, jump into the rock crevice on the left!" His voice was not loud, but clearly entered every prisoner's ears. That was a narrow natural crevice covered by blood water he had discovered when infiltrating, leading to a relatively safe underground dark river tributary outside the valley.

Immediately after, he withdrew the sword intent suppressing the Blood Skull Protector, his figure drifting backward. The Blood Skull Protector let out a muffled groan, half his body covered in crystalline "sword frost," movements sluggish, shocked and furious yet not daring to pursue immediately.

Ling Xiao cast a deep look toward the black jade palace at the valley bottom, the corner of his mouth hooking a trace of a cold arc. He did not flee toward the outside of the valley, but instead his figure shook, transforming into a hard-to-capture phantom, actively heading toward the direction of the three alarmed Protectors — that is, the direction closer to the valley core ritual area — "escaping." At the same time, he deliberately released a strand of pure, stern sword Qi, like a lighthouse in the dark night.

"He's going to strike the ritual core!" A Protector cried in alarm.

"Intercept him! Absolutely cannot let him near the core cauldron!" Another Protector roared in anger.

The three Protectors, together with the Blood Skull Protector who had barely dispelled the sword frost and was burning with rage, no longer cared about those prisoners scattering in flight (ordinary disciples would pursue them), all drawn away by Ling Xiao, chasing after him with murderous Qi soaring. Alarms blared throughout the valley; countless patrol squads were mobilized, converging toward this direction.

Chaos, achieved.

Almost at the same moment Ling Xiao triggered the blood pool anomaly, on the other side of Weeping Blood Valley, closer to the Blood Lake, in a dark corner.

Shi Ran moved like a wisp of light smoke, pressing close against a moss-covered rock wall emitting a rotten, fluorescent glow. The Patrol Heaven Token in her embrace emitted a continuous warm gentleness, not only resisting the omnipresent blood sha erosion, but also faintly pointing toward a certain direction — that was the rendezvous point where Gu Yu Sheng and Mei Ruo Xue were, and also faintly resonating with the most massive and bizarre ritual force field at the valley bottom.

She was worried for her Master in her heart, but forcibly suppressed it, focusing on the present. The opportunity her Master created for her must not be wasted.

An inconspicuous crack appeared in the rock wall ahead, only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. The Patrol Heaven Token's resonance was strongest here. She flashed inside; the crack wound downward, the temperature plummeting, the yin sha Qi actually thinning, but gaining a more ancient, stagnant sense of "filth," as if millions of years of sin had settled here.

Penetrating several dozen zhang deep, the view suddenly opened up — unexpectedly a small underground stone cavern. In the center of the cavern, a miniature purification formation emitted a soft clear light, dispelling the surrounding filth. Gu Yu Sheng and Mei Ruo Xue were meditating within the formation; their complexions still somewhat pale, but their auras had stabilized considerably.

"Shi Ran!" Mei Ruo Xue opened her eyes first, a flash of lightning vanishing in her pupils.

"Where is Master?" Gu Yu Sheng asked at the same time, expression concerned.

Shi Ran quickly explained the situation, focusing on Master single-handedly charging the Blood Prison to create chaos, and that You Quan Venerable might have been alarmed. "Master ordered us to follow the original plan, investigate and destroy the ritual core."

Gu Yu Sheng's expression was heavy: "We have also made discoveries lurking here. This Weeping Blood Valley underground has long been managed by Earth Erosion into a massive 'Blood Flesh Melting Furnace.' The five outer perimeter nodes are just a smokescreen; the true core gathering Qi, blood, and soul power, besides the valley bottom Blood Lake core cauldron, there are three other 'Auxiliary Cauldrons,' located respectively at 'Resentful Soul Blood Cliff,' 'Rotten Marrow Deep Pool,' and 'Flaying Skin Plaza.' The four cauldrons connect via earth veins, forming the 'Four Symbols Guide Nether Formation,' jointly drawing the power of the Nine Nether Blood Lake. The New Moon Festival is to use tens of thousands of living sacrifices as fuel, ignite this formation, and forcibly pry open a 'keyhole' between the present world and the Nine Nethers."

"Keyhole..." Shi Ran recalled the Nether River's roar of "Key that Breaks the Lock."

Mei Ruo Xue continued, voice cold: "Correct. The so-called 'Key that Breaks the Lock' is not a physical object, but a 'concept,' or rather, a summoned 'existence.' Based on Nether River memory fragments and analysis of this earth vein's movement, what Earth Erosion attempts to summon is most likely a strand of projection of the legendary 'Blood Lake Great God,' or a 'Rule Avatar' of the same origin. It symbolizes 'Devouring,' 'Depravity,' and 'Negation of All Order'; its descent itself is the most violent impact on the heavenly laws' shackles maintained by the Patrol Heaven Division."

She paused, looking toward a hidden crack at the depths of the stone cavern leading further down: "The secret passage we are in was accidentally discovered by Ruo Xue using thunder arts to probe the earth veins; it seems to be a remnant of ancient sacrifices, not fully controlled by Earth Erosion. It might bypass some guards and lead directly near 'Resentful Soul Blood Cliff.' That place is one of the four Auxiliary Cauldrons, and also where soul bodies are imprisoned and tortured to produce ultimate resentment — the primary source of 'Resentment' power in the ritual."

"Can destroying the Auxiliary Cauldron interrupt the ritual?" Shi Ran asked.

Gu Yusheng shook his head: "Complete severance is very difficult. The Four Cauldrons and the Core Heart Cauldron form a whole; destroying one would severely weaken the ritual's power and delay its completion, but Venerable Youquan sits guarding the Main Cauldron and could at any moment mobilize the power of the other cauldrons to compensate, even launching an incomplete summoning prematurely. Our best strategy is to infiltrate the Auxiliary Cauldrons, leave a 'backdoor' or 'counter-talisman' at their formation cores, and detonate it at the ritual's most critical moment, causing their power to backlash, or at least creating massive disruption, buying an opportunity for Senior Brother Lingxiao, and for the possible arrival of Patrol Heaven Division reinforcements."

"No time to delay." Shi Ran gripped the Patrol Heaven Token, its clear light seeming to grow even brighter, the "Ancient God's Residual Will" within conveying a clear urging and battle intent.

The three spoke no further, led by Mei Ruoxue, they infiltrated that deep fissure. The fissure's inner walls were no longer dark red flesh-and-blood matter, but a kind of pitch-black, light-absorbing rock, carved full of indistinct ancient totems depicting bloody sacrificial scenes from an era even more ancient than the Earth Erosion. The Patrol Heaven Token's clear light shone upon them, and those totems actually writhed slightly, emitting faint unwillingness and wailing.

"Careful, the residual wills lingering here are very chaotic." Gu Yusheng warned, formation patterns already flowing with light at his fingertips, ready to lay down protection at any moment.

Descending for roughly the time of one incense stick burning, faint, endless, miserable howls and weeping sounds came from ahead, the dense, indissoluble resentment Qi almost forming a black breeze. They knew, the "Resentful Soul Blood Cliff" was nearly upon them.

Just as they were about to exit the fissure mouth, all three figures simultaneously stalled, holding their breath.