Chapter 1217 - 1214: The Third Tower Layer
This was a very strange feeling; Lin Chuan clearly did not lay a hand. Yet he placed a constraint on the old man that felt like a band tightening around his head, until the old man's skull cracked, blood soaking his entire body, and he collapsed to the ground and died in defeat. The few people behind him evidently did not realize the danger would come so quickly. At this moment aside from shock, they didn't know how to respond. Everyone was so frightened they lost their ability to react, staring blankly at Lin Chuan.
The people from Maoshan Tao who existed like gods and demons had empty eyes, their gaze bloodshot, when they locked eyes with you, a streak of red light flashed by, making people's hearts race with fear. Everyone secretly lamented that their fate was doomed, their vision blurred, and Lin Chuan disappeared. The four people from Maoshan Tao scrambled to their feet, enduring their injuries, no longer caring about anything else, lamented in pity, and immediately rolled as far as they could, taking the old man's corpse, returning to their lair to seek aid from their sect.
The mountain wind blew in, bringing not a hint of peace, but instead a sense of unprecedented heroism. Lin Chuan stood at the top of Jade Mountain, now controlled by the Blood Nether Evil God, his eyes covered in a blood-red hue. He looked upwards, clouds rolling, demonic smoke encompassing, True Qi and Spiritual Energy gradually forming a massive vortex above Lin Chuan's head. A cold smile hung at the corner of Lin Chuan's mouth; he suddenly raised a finger towards the sky; under the shroud of demonic smoke, a thunderclap echoed, and dark clouds enshrouded the entire mountain.
Evil God! Now looking at Lin Chuan, a face filled with demonic allure, he looked at the heavens, mockingly laughed and said, "Ancestor Yuan, you still love to act mysteriously, setting up several enchantments and Spiritual Energy Valley, then fooling people to come here to cultivate, yet don't know what the hell all this is for!"
His words were incredibly disrespectful towards heaven and earth! He waited for a moment; the black cloud vortex gradually attracted the Spiritual Energy inside. Lin Chuan, no, it should be said the Evil God, coldly laughed, tore open a spatial crack, poured Spiritual Energy inside, and then a few bolts of lightning struck down, splitting away half of the entire mountain.
A gray figure appeared and carried Lin Chuan, separating from Jade Mountain. When Lin Chuan woke up, he found himself in a cave. This cave was truly a wonder, with natural caves within caves, and traces of artificial excavation, which were worlds apart compared to the Immortal Snow Palace's cave.
"Awake?" A familiar face appeared before Lin Chuan.
"It's you." Lin Chuan's eyebrows stretched out, realizing his savior was the old man with eyes like copper bells.
"What, Tian Mang, seeing this old man, you didn't even greet me," the old man glared with eyes like copper bells as he looked at Lin Chuan and said.
Lin Chuan also looked at the old man and said, "Thank you, sir, for saving me. May I ask your name, sir?"
The old man laughed and said, "You can call me Xu Ji."
Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Xu Ji, right, how exactly did I get here?"
Xu Ji sighed, "Do you really not remember?"
Lin Chuan cluelessly shook his head, saying, "I only know that my Evil God powers erupted at the time. I was completely out of control. Later, my head got hot as if I'd fallen into an erupting volcano, and then I passed out. It's really strange."
Xu Ji nodded: "Think carefully about your situation; don't go anywhere until you've figured it out."
Lin Chuan slowly took a deep breath, nodded, while his mind immersed itself in piecing together fragments of memory. What kind of feeling was that? As if the whole person was dreaming, both real and illusory. Just thinking about it excited him.
But for some reason, whenever he thought of these beautiful things, he remembered the vow he made at the Immortal Snow Palace and the painful imprisonment suffered by Fang Jing. Deep in his heart, another voice seemed to echo. That voice made him very uneasy; apparently, conflicting emotions were the source. Lin Chuan carefully reviewed everything he'd seen and encountered in recent days.
It was only now he realized the Evil God's control over his mind had reached a pervasive extent. Whenever he had a kind thought, an evil thought would arise simultaneously. But as the Evil God's power rose from the depths of his heart, respect and cherishing of life became boundless contempt, as if there were two rulers inside one body, and many times, he couldn't tell whether he belonged to the former or the latter.
"If you can't figure it out, don't overthink it. Anyway, the facts are already set; some things are beyond human power." Xu Ji's words hit the nail on the head. Indeed, what Lin Chuan most wanted to do now was to change the part of his destiny he could grasp. If he wanted to alter his fate, besides human effort, he'd also need external assistance. And the unbreakable Blood Tower remained a worry in his heart.
"The cultivation world once discovered many ancient secret realms, inadvertently unlocking seals within them; array formations have focal points, seal solving requires opportunity. If faced with difficulties, ponder why this seal was formed, why this matter started…" After Xu Ji finished speaking, he left directly.
Suddenly, Lin Chuan's mind lit up, muttering to himself: "Then why don't I re-enter the Purple Jade Star to seek useful seal formations."
When Lin Chuan's body was possessed by Blood Nether, he could feel its madness. Such a person had his memories sealed before and was betrayed, leading Lin Chuan to trap it within the Blood Tower. The hatred in his heart is imaginable. The three-layer sealing method might finally be undone today! Xu Ji, oh Xu Ji, you have been a great help to me!
Blood Nether, now inside the Blood Tower, sighed helplessly when he saw Lin Chuan appear. Blood Nether laughed, saying, "Blood Nether, since you have already betrayed the Demon Lord, don't be so conflicted every time you see our king."
"Although that's true, being a traitor doesn't feel good. I said, the secret lies at the Demon World's gate. Find it, and I'll help you unlock the seal!" Blood Nether said helplessly.
"Why not replace him?!" Lin Chuan looked at Blood Nether. "What is a Demon Lord? A true strong person won't depend on others. For me to use them, they must be sincere."
Blood Nether nodded vigorously, showing his agreement with his boss's words.
Lin Chuan turned his head and looked at him with disdain. "So, do you also want to replace him?!"
Upon hearing this, Blood Nether immediately knelt before Lin Chuan and solemnly said, "Ksitigarbha, your subordinate vows to die loyal to my king, and will never have a thought of betrayal!"
Lin Chuan nodded and said, "Stand up, Blood Nether. If I didn't trust you, you'd still be just like a ten-year-old child now!"
At this moment, Lin Chuan led Blood Nether to the legendary gate of the Demon World. Lin Chuan had already used a talisman to unlock the seal in front of him, and the stone door slowly opened to each side, revealing everything inside to the crowd!
Mirage Pool! Blood Nether was shocked upon seeing this place! He rushed to the edge of the pool and looked at his reflection inside. Suddenly, the water surface started to ripple, and his reflection was replaced by a scholar who appeared graceful and innocent. The reflection seemed to come alive, turning into a peaceful mirror, showing everything so vividly as if it were happening right in front of them.
The scholar suddenly reached out his hand, as if he saw something strange. Hesitating, he stretched his hand toward the water surface but seemed to hear a call from someone nearby, quickly withdrew his hand, stood up, and ran off without looking back. The scene changed, and the scholar appeared by the pool again, but this time he looked disoriented, holding a baby, while behind him, a disheveled woman cried out and ran over, but dared not come close, only desperately cried and pleaded with him.
The scholar was unmoved. He glanced at the woman's crying face, suddenly smiled, and made a knife appear out of thin air, ruthlessly stabbing it into the baby's heart. Blood splattered all over the woman's face and body. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth gaping, but no sound came out, not even a cry. After a while, the woman dashed over madly, and the scholar laughed coldly, stabbing the bloodstained knife into the woman's chest.
The woman slowly collapsed, her eyes staring blankly ahead, filled with unwillingness! Blood flowed into the pool, turning the water red, and the scholar, holding the dead child, jumped into the pool. At this moment, the calm water surface suddenly changed, layer upon layer rippling out. The previously clear water instantly turned blood red. Blood Nether knelt on the ground in pain, blood tears streaming down his pale face. Killing his child and wife, the blood of his kin paved his path to demonic cultivation.
"Swayed by the Demon Lord, his mind was corrupted by demonic wrath, Blood Nether. You chose this path, you must face it yourself. Thousands of years in the Blood Tower, have you not felt the slightest regret? You were destined not to defeat the Demon Lord from the start..." Whether demon or human, when a heart turns to demon, even close kinship cannot save it.
"I promised you, and I'll never break that promise. I must eliminate the Demon Lord!"
Demonic wrath grew, now facing a common challenge. It should never have provoked Lin Chuan. He looked at Blood Nether and sneered, saying, "Blood Nether, the Mirage Pool seal has been touched, I think the Demon Lord will soon appear. You'd better prepare in advance!"
After speaking, he activated the heart mantra, and the three of them retreated back into the Blood Tower together. In the three-layer Blood Tower, Lin Chuan looked coldly at the demons struggling in the Blood Soul Prison and said, "These dare to claim to be ancient demons? Hmph, just a bunch of idiots!"
His hand slashed down fiercely, the talisman imprints shot out like arrows from the edge of the blood pool, directly diving into the pool. Instantly, colossal waves surged in the Blood Soul Prison, sweeping up and down, with ghosts wailing in unison, the third layer of the tower like a purgatory!
The creatures struggled desperately. Red blood hands reached out of the pool, blood-red skeletons constantly floated and sunk, their twisted shapes showing clearly their immense suffering.
Lin Chuan coldly observed it all, the screams eliciting no trace of pity from him. Turning his head, he looked at Blood Nether, a mocking smile hanging on his lips, eyes causing pain to Blood Nether. Intrinsically, that fear kept him cautiously following Lin Chuan. The cultivation level of each demon far surpassed his own, and without Lin Chuan, encountering any one of these would likely spell his demise.