Chapter 247: The Trial

"Boom!" Chen Mo's Giant Hammer slammed down violently, the 1.2 million jin of vibrational force erupting in succession.

It carried the surrounding air along with it, causing it to resonate and emit bursts of crisp sounds.

"Bang!" An extremely dull sound came forth; the wild ox's skull was smashed into a depression by Chen Mo's hammer.

"Moo!" It had not expected this, and not yet being fully dead, it let out a painful, mournful cry.

The wild ox's fur turned blood-red in an instant, its flesh on the verge of burning up.

Boundless firelight rose up, illuminating the entire underground cavern.

Chen Mo took a step back, looking at the flames staining his hands.

These flames were extremely peculiar; they did not harm the flesh, their fuel being a certain inexplicable force of rules within his own body.

Chen Mo sensed it carefully and understood in an instant: this was Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Anyone who possesses karmic debt and comes into contact with it shall be consumed by the raging fire.

In the Ancient Heaven and Earth era, there was simply no such thing as the karmic debt of living beings.

The reason it became so was that the karmic debt of living beings was created by many powerful figures working in unison.

Because whether it was evil cultivators, demonic cultivators, or the slaughter committed by those demon clans, all were destroying the order of the entire world.

Yet, Heavenly merit could not affect the karmic debt of living beings at all, and naturally, it could not have any effect on the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

"Boom!" Chen Mo's twin hammers smashed down again; the karmic debt had been burned away by the karmic fire, and this wild ox no longer had any means to harm him.

For instance, destroying earth veins or damaging the Boundary Wall—such people are often not tolerated by the world and must suffer Heaven's condemnation and execution.

Now, Red Lotus Karmic Fire was indeed rising up within his body, burning his essence, energy, and spirit—the three treasures—from the inside out.

Although the fire was intense, it had no subsequent fuel and was extinguished in an instant; Chen Mo was not significantly affected.

But if he were to accumulate karmic debt again after some time, the power of the next burning would be far more ferocious than this one.

The Compass was archaic in style and bronze-colored throughout; the front was engraved with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, while a few lines of small characters could be vaguely seen on the back.

It is precisely because of this that no Martial Artist in the Demonic Path practices the method of Red Lotus Karmic Fire, as they would have to burn themselves every so often to incinerate their own karmic debt.

From then on, whenever any living being slaughtered the masses, they would inevitably be accompanied by karmic debt.

Being blessed with Heavenly merit allows one to have things go smoothly.

Therefore, those who practice this technique often come from the righteous path and must frequently deal with the Demonic Path to have anything to practice.

If karmic debt accumulates to the extreme, the karmic fire will spontaneously rise and burn.

Since Chen Mo began his cultivation, he has killed quite a few people and other living beings, so naturally, he has karmic debt piled up on him.

This signifies that he has survived this Catastrophe; even if the karmic fire burns again in the short term, it will be unable to cause him harm.

Several Ancient Heaven Supremes naturally did not wish to see such a situation occur.

And if they were to manage it one by one, it would be too much of a waste of time and manpower.

Given his strength, this level of Red Lotus Karmic Fire was truly far too little.

Aside from Heavenly karmic debt, there is another type of karmic debt: the karmic debt of living beings.

People who possess Heavenly karmic debt are very rare, because the vast majority of people cannot cope with the targeting and malice of an entire world, unless their strength is greater than that world itself.

Of course, this fire has one very obvious drawback, which is that if someone has no karmic debt...

But in an instant, it transformed into a Compass of a peculiar style.

Although he possesses a fair amount of merit, the two simply cannot offset each other.

As the Red Lotus Karmic Fire burned through, the karmic debt on Chen Mo's body naturally dissipated along with it.

One type is Heavenly karmic debt; those who possess this karmic debt have mostly disturbed the normal operation of the world or caused extremely serious damage to the world.

They might even imprint the Dao they practice thoroughly into the world.

Then, the Red Lotus Karmic Fire can be said to cause them no harm at all.

So-called karmic debt is divided into two types.

And the Red Lotus Karmic Fire only began to exist at that moment; later, Martial Artists began to practice this fire to use against enemies.

However, Chen Mo's expression was quite calm; he had indeed killed quite a few people, but not many.

When a Martial Artist reaches the In-Charge Realm, they themselves symbolize a part of the Heavenly Dao, and after their cultivation advances further, they can influence the Heavenly Dao.

And if one accidentally becomes stained with karmic debt, it will instead damage oneself.

Before Chen Mo's Giant Hammer could fall, the wild ox's form dissipated with a boom.

From then on, although the world was still not exactly peaceful, the acts of mass slaughter decreased by an unknown amount.

Therefore, several top-tier powerhouses joined forces to preserve the method of the karmic debt of living beings within the world.

"Moo!" Only this time, when the wild ox saw him attacking, it did not dodge, but instead looked up to the sky and let out a thunderous roar.

Ordinary livestock absolutely do not count; only humans, demon clans that have awakened their intelligence, or other beings born of Heaven and Earth fall into this category.

Many demonic and evil cultivators slaughtered living beings wantonly to cultivate, and even more powerful demon clans would devour their own kind in large numbers to refine their bloodlines.

The karmic debt of living beings is obtained by slaughtering living beings, but the living beings here must possess complete intelligence.

It was just too blurry and unclear to distinguish exactly what the characters were.

The characters appearing on the Compass were all Heavenly Divine Script; these few lines of small characters being blurry meant that in the endless Guixu Storm, the Compass's own wondrous uses were gradually dissipating.

The most obvious manifestation of this was these characters that had begun to blur.

Chen Mo grabbed the Compass and reached out to look in the other direction.

The Lord of the Blood Sea was fighting that strange bird, but this bird was indeed odd; it did not linger in battle, and with a flap of its wings, its speed was extremely fast.

"Gagaga..." The strange bird let out successive cries, its pair of wings vibrating constantly as its form twisted and shifted.

It was evident that being constantly hunted down made this strange bird appear incomparably anxious.

The strength the Lord of the Blood Sea could erupt with at the Postnatal Realm was absolutely not weak, surpassing an unknown number of Martial Artists at the same realm.

Yet, facing this strange bird at this moment, they were still at a loss for what to do.

She launched attack after attack, yet the strange bird was able to dodge every single one.

"Boom—!" A sound suddenly came from the deepest part of the cave.

A narrow mountain path opened up; seeing this, the strange bird hurriedly flew to the side of the path and squawked loudly.

It no longer dodged, but stood by the mountain path and flapped its wings, as if signaling for Chen Mo and the Blood Sea Lord to approach it.

"It seems to be guiding us?" The Blood Sea Lord stared fixedly at the strange bird, walked to Chen Mo's side, and whispered.

"Gaga." The strange bird seemed to understand the Blood Sea Lord's words and hurriedly flapped its wings in response.

"Let's follow it and see; you walk behind me," Chen Mo whispered a warning, handing the Compass he had previously obtained to the Blood Sea Lord.

"Take a look, is this the supreme treasure you are looking for?"

The Blood Sea Lord carefully took it and looked it over again and again, then immediately handed it back to Chen Mo, saying, "It is not this one. According to my estimation, those two supreme treasures should both be in the innermost layer of the secret vault, and can only be seen after passing the trials."

Her words were actually just a rough deduction; this secret place had been suppressed from the fourth layer of the Return Ruins all the way into the second layer of the Return Ruins.

Many changes must have occurred within, and there were many possibilities that were completely unpredictable.

Chen Mo took back the Compass and said no more; being extremely cautious, he came to the side of the strange bird and stood still.

Seeing the two of them arrive, the strange bird hurriedly walked into the mountain path.

This mountain path still had no changes, except that it went deeper underground.

The two eventually arrived at another underground cavern; this place looked as if there was no difference from before.

Chen Mo was constantly observing his surroundings with caution, ensuring that no strange creatures appeared.

Everything here was normal—so normal that it was somewhat abnormal.

No matter how Chen Mo looked, he did not perceive any danger.

However, the next moment, a dull sound rang out, and the mountain path they had just walked through closed completely, leaving not even a sliver of space.

Immediately following this, an irresistible force struck; Chen Mo felt the life force within his own body draining away rapidly, and his physical body began to wither.

Fortunately, having undergone countless sessions of cultivation, his physical strength had long since reached an unimaginable realm.

Myriad rays of divine light blazed within his body, and endless brilliance circulated to resist the external force.

His surging Blood Qi was like a great river, constantly churning within his body.

The Blood Qi rose, extending three zhang from his body, like the smoke of a signal fire.

However, this only caused the force to weaken slightly; Chen Mo felt his own life essence still draining away continuously.

Life essence is the foundation of a Martial Artist; once it drains away, it signifies the beginning of aging.

Logically speaking, whether it was Chen Mo or the Blood Sea Lord...

Relying on the life essence from their cultivation, under normal circumstances, it would be absolutely impossible for it to drain away.

Although they could not yet achieve eternal life and exist forever between heaven and earth...

With Chen Mo's current physical cultivation, his lifespan would certainly far exceed that of a Myriad Phenomena Warrior of the same realm; living for tens of thousands of years would not be difficult.

The Blood Sea Lord went without saying; as a creature of Shape Transformation from the Blood Sea, her lifespan would only be longer than Chen Mo's.

Yet at this moment, a force was constantly plundering their life essence, and at an extremely fast speed.

Chen Mo's body had become sanctified and now contained myriad laws, enough to resist this force.

The Blood Sea Lord, however, was far from being able to do so; in just the time it took to breathe, Chen Mo could feel her life force slipping away continuously.

And this speed showed signs of getting faster; Chen Mo cautiously scanned his surroundings, wanting to find a way to break the situation.

If it did not work, he and the Blood Sea Lord would have no choice but to retreat for the time being.

He could use the Gui Xu Gate to teleport himself, and of course, he could take the Blood Sea Lord with him.

Just at this moment, a point of light appeared on the other side of the underground cavern; this light was faint at first, then became extremely intense.

The entire cavern was instantly dyed a vast, blinding white.

Chen Mo looked carefully; the object emitting the light was a palm-sized Jade Slip.

Three characters were carved on the Jade Slip, but they were likewise blurry and unclear.

The Blood Sea Lord's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said, "This is one of the two supreme treasures I am looking for. It is the Judge's Record used by the judges of the ancient Netherworld. Within a realm, all sentient beings' good and evil deeds are recorded within it."

"As long as we obtain it, this trial should be considered over."

Chen Mo's brow furrowed slightly; he first looked at the Blood Sea Lord, then looked at the Judge's Record.

"I can go and retrieve this object, but can you hold on for now?"

He could feel that the life essence within the Blood Sea Lord was draining away at an ever-increasing speed; even though she had attained the Dao through Shape Transformation from the Blood Sea, if things continued like this, she likely would not last long.

"It is fine, go ahead boldly," the Blood Sea Lord said with a calm expression, without a hint of panic.

Because she believed that the trial her elder sister had set up here was merely to test the younger generation.

After all, if one did not master the Secret Technique, one would not even have the qualifications to step into this secret place.

Thus, in the worst-case scenario, it would be nothing more than failing the assessment; it should not endanger their lives.

Therefore, even though these things might have changed within the Return Ruins, now that the supreme treasure was right before her eyes, she was absolutely unwilling to give it up so easily.

Seeing this, Chen Mo did not hesitate; he took long strides and continued to approach the Judge's Record.

The Blood Sea Lord remained in place, doing her best to slow the rate at which her own life essence was draining.

As Chen Mo drew ever closer to the Judge's Record, he could feel that the rate at which his own life essence was draining was also accelerating.

At first, he was still able to resist, but as he drew closer to the Judge's Record, this force became stronger and stronger.

Even for him, his life essence began to drain away.

It was fortunate that the Blood Sea Lord did not try to retrieve it herself; otherwise, given her strength, she likely would not have been able to get anywhere near the Judge's Record.

Chen Mo stepped up to the Judge's Record; at this moment, wisps of Blood Qi and dots of golden light were constantly scattering outward from his body.

These were signs that his life essence was dissipating; Chen Mo could even feel his own physical body slowly withering.

It was just that this process was extremely slow.

However, the situation of the Master of the Blood Sea was far inferior to his; although her body also surpassed that of experts in the same realm, it contained no inherent laws and showed no signs of the flesh becoming sanctified.

Now, facing the situation where her life essence was being extracted, she was naturally having as much taken away as there was to take.

Her physical body had already begun to show obvious decay, and even her face was gradually becoming aged.

Chen Mo reached out and gripped the Judge's Record tightly; this Jade Slip was only an inch wide and approximately six or seven inches long.

The material of the entire object was unique, and it felt quite cool to the touch.

As he gripped the Judge's Record, in a mere instant, all the light within the cave at the bottom of the mountain vanished completely.

Chen Mo saw the surging life essence pouring out continuously from the Judge's Record.

Much of this power originally belonged to him, and now, as it merged with him once more, it replenished the life essence he had previously consumed.

And a greater portion of the life essence went to seek out the Master of the Blood Sea.

This power originated from within the two of them, so there was naturally no difficulty in absorbing it.

At this moment, Chen Mo also sensed that his own life essence had already undergone a refinement, becoming even purer.

Absorbing this life essence could allow his strength to improve further; of course, the increase was not very much, merely ten thousand jin of force.

Aside from the life essence, Chen Mo also understood the purpose of this trial.

This trial was to test the conviction and courage of a Martial Artist, to see if, under the circumstances of life essence constantly draining away and the physical body decaying, the Martial Artist had the courage to continue forward.

Under normal circumstances, the life force of a Martial Artist capable of approaching this Judge's Record would have already been consumed to its limit.

Their internal organs, tendons, bones, and Blood Qi would all be on the verge of collapse, and it would even be highly likely for them to die suddenly at any next moment.

Seeing this situation, whether a Martial Artist would show hesitation—if there was even half a moment of indecision, then the trial would inevitably end in failure.

Of course, there would be no danger to life after failure; the Judge's Record would still return the previously consumed life essence to the Martial Artist.

It was just that the normal trial would be declared a complete failure, and this secret realm would close accordingly, waiting for the next Martial Artist to come and open it.

It was just that this secret realm, or rather, Fengdu Niangniang who had originally set up the trial, had not anticipated this.

That there would be a freak like Chen Mo coming to accept the trial; he already possessed some signs of the flesh becoming sanctified, enough to resist these forces.

But perhaps Fengdu Niangniang had also considered this point; if such a Martial Artist truly came to take the trial, then by virtue of his talent, he would naturally be qualified to pass this test.

Chen Mo took the Judge's Record and immediately handed it over to the Master of the Blood Sea.

"Gaga!" The seven-colored strange bird cried out excitedly again at this moment, flapping its wings incessantly.

Although it had been here previously, it had not been affected in any way.

Because it was not a living creature at all and possessed no life essence, so how could it be affected?

"Gagaga!" The seven-colored strange bird began to run again, walked to the side of a newly opened mountain path, and called out loudly, urging Chen Mo and the Master of the Blood Sea to follow it.

(End of this chapter)