Chapter 529: Stained Blood Pool

Hoo!

Yan Buji let out a long breath, shouldering the Sea Kun Hammer as he watched the shattered blood shadows around turn into a pool of blood, and wiped the bloodstains from his face.

"Luckily I reacted in time; otherwise getting tangled with these strange things would be trouble," Yan Buji said, though he also didn't know why so many blood shadows had appeared here.

But these blood shadows seemed to have an extremely strong desire to fight, with terrifying killing intent, unlike mere blood‑killing aura.

"And many of these blood‑killing auras... seem not to be formed from human blood, yet why are they all human silhouettes?" Yan Buji wondered. The higher a being's spirit, qi, and cultivation, the more it manifests its most primal form. A human remains a human, a beast remains a beast; cultivation doesn't alter their essence. If something could arbitrarily change its own essence, it would be beyond his ability to oppose.

Precisely because the origins are easy to discern, Yan Buji was curious why some of these blood shadows, whose blood‑killing auras weren't produced by humans, still took human shapes.

"Moreover, they don't seem to be controlled; if they're not controlled, why would they alter their own fundamental nature?" Yan Buji mused.

It's like a person who dies becomes a ghost, and a demonic beast that dies also becomes a ghost, yet their original forms remain unchanged. To cultivate a great power that can alter one's own essence is akin to Yan Buji's former complete transformation into a Dragon Person; however, he never fully became a Dragon Person, so after surviving the Martial Immortal Thunder Tribulation he reverted to his original form.

That is the crux of the problem.

If they're neither controlled nor have an easier essence, how could they become something non‑essential?

Curious, Yan Buji followed the area where the blood‑killing aura was strongest.

After a while, Yan Buji found the answer within a blood‑red cloud.

"What a blood pool!" Yan Buji exclaimed, staring ahead in surprise.

The blood pool lay calm and still, like solidified blood ice with no ripples, yet beneath it seemed to be a presence that even Yan Buji felt as a mortal danger, as if gestating.

Turning his head, he saw a huge, vague shadow in the distance; Yan Buji thought that might be the place Yu Fei had mentioned as the location of the Broken Sword.

"What's going on with this blood pool?"

He watched as the pool suddenly rippled, and blood‑colored human silhouettes reappeared.

At that moment Yan Buji realized the power sources of the blood‑colored silhouettes were entangled; human and demonic forces were indistinguishable, becoming quite bizarre.

Because of this strangeness, the blood shadows seemed to have grown stronger, each possessing Nascent Soul‑stage power.

"What a hassle,"

Yan Buji drew the Sea Kun Hammer and smiled.

"Roar!"

A multitude of blood‑colored silhouettes surged from the pool; Yan Buji felt little fear, having learned much about them from earlier battles.

Then Yan Buji first activated Shocking Wave Fire, and the icy wind that swept the sky fell with condensed raindrops, forming blades of ice‑flame that descended!

Immediately after, he fully opened his Blood Heaven Ascension Degree, invoking the Purple Thunder Divine Art to unleash the power of thunder seeds!

Sss— sss— sss!!

Accompanied by the Purple Sky Divine Thunder affixed to the Sea Kun Hammer, Yan Buji swung fiercely!

Boom—!

Like an unstoppable general, like the heavens striking with thunder; the great hammer swung, cleaving wind and lightning, moving left and right as if strolling in a courtyard, its massive force pressing all directions. He turned, his form flashing, boundless Immortal Essence soaring into the clouds, a single hammer erasing countless blood shadows, shaking the pool into surging waves, while Yan Buji stepped forward like a meteor!

Bang!

In an instant, the incoming blood shadows were all eliminated by Yan Buji, who then stared at the churning pool, brow furrowed, gripping the hammer tightly and staring ahead.

"Here it comes."

"Roar— roar!!!"

A more solid blood shadow appeared; unlike the previous ones, it already had a face, its posture like a normal person, clutching a dripping‑blood bone sword, its mad eyes terrifying.

"Interesting, at least it's late‑stage Nascent Soul?"

Yan Buji's expression changed; it seemed that by interrupting the opponent's final cultivation key, part of its body had not yet solidified.

But if this Blood Man were to become solid, Yan Buji would probably have to flee in panic, unable to stay.

Yet the blood shadow before him, though terrifying in aura, was still incomplete; Yan Buji was confident that with his current strength he could handle it.

"Come!"

Whoosh!

Bang!

Before Yan Buji could react, he hurriedly raised the Sea Kun Hammer in front of him; the clang of metal rang, and a terrifying force hurled him hundreds of meters back, making him regret.

Underestimating that Blood Man!

After Yu Fei and Gu Yue entered the Broken Sword, their searching accidentally triggered some still‑functional mechanisms, trapping them in a pit.

"Quick, quick!!" Yu Fei widened his eyes, watching the surroundings compress with mechanisms that could pierce a golden body, urging anxiously.

"Why are you shouting so loudly?!" Gu Yue snapped, glancing at Yu Fei.

Yu Fei inhaled deeply: "Fairy Gu, please hurry, I admit I shouted loudly just now."

Gu Yue frowned; a few Gu Worms suddenly emerged from cracks in the wall, and she, delighted, activated Gu Technique to smash a hole in the adjacent wall!

"Quick, combine forces to break through here!"

Yu Fei acted swiftly, and at the moment the trap sealed, the two escaped.

"Hoo—hoo—hoo..." Yu Fei panted, looking around: "Where is this?"

Gu Yue picked up a jade slip from the ground and examined it: "Filthy Blood Shadow?!"

Yu Fei raised an eyebrow: "Is this a jade slip recording the method for refining Filthy Blood Shadows?"

Gu Yue laughed, putting away the slip: "Indeed, no wonder we haven't encountered any powerful Filthy Blood Shadows—they're all nurtured in a single blood pool."

Yu Fei smiled: "I'm not interested in the refining method, but Fairy, could you explain what these Filthy Blood Shadows actually are?"

"Hm? Didn't you say you weren't interested?"

"We have to figure out what these Filthy Blood Shadows are; as you said, we might encounter even stronger blood shadows after we leave, right?"

Gu Yue thought for a moment, considering they still needed to cooperate with Yu Fei to leave the secret realm, and said: "These Filthy Blood Shadows are forged from human and demonic blood‑killing auras, their sinews and bones broken, souls boiled, then mixed with fresh human and demonic blood to cultivate a corrupt blood essence that creates a Stained Blood Pool. The Filthy Blood Shadows emerge from that pool, and can be controlled with a secret technique."

"Oh, I see. So the Fairy can't control the Filthy Blood Shadows outside?"

Gu Yue smiled: "But this Stained Blood Pool chooses its master; unless one can find the pool, defeat its guardian, and obtain the Blood Seal, no one can wield the technique even if they acquire it."

Yu Fei nodded: "It turns out to be like this.... It seems that the Filthy Blood Pool outside may still give birth to a Nascent Soul-level Filthy Blood Shadow."

"Exactly, let's not think about that for now. Since we've come in here, how should we proceed?"

"Let's explore first; the fragments of the Slaying Person Sword might be in the core area."