Soul Emperor Awakening

The stench of blood and desiccated corpses filled the air, making the place look like a mass grave. If it truly were a mass grave, it would be the most extravagant one in existence. After all, this was the magnificent Imperial City, so beautifully decorated, yet it had been turned into a boneyard.

As they advanced, they scattered flames to burn the desiccated corpses in their path, hoping to help these poor souls finally rest in peace. Once turned to ash and scattered by the wind, they would have found their final rest.

Upon entering the Imperial City, they found it completely deserted. There wasn't a single person in sight; it was as if it had become a ghost town. They had expected to see some guards or powerful experts on patrol, but it now seemed no one was left.

Perhaps Xu Qianlong had been too tyrannical. Who would dare remain? If they stayed, they might be sucked dry by him one day without ever knowing why.

And so, everyone had fled, not daring to linger. The Eldest Prince and his brothers were nowhere to be found, their whereabouts a complete mystery. At the very least, not a single soul could be seen, making it truly feel like a ghost town.

"Why is no one here?" Lin Xuan scanned his surroundings. He couldn't see a single soul and had no idea what was going on. It really was like a ghost town.

"Indeed. There's basically no one left. It's as if they've all disappeared," Qing Deyun said gravely. "We have no news of the Eldest Prince or the others. It's like they've vanished from the face of the earth!"

'He wasn't wrong. All the Princes were gone. They should have surfaced by now, so why had they disappeared? Could it be that Xu Qianlong had gone into hiding, fearing retaliation?'

They immediately began to search, hoping to find someone. If Xu Qianlong had already relocated, their trip would have been for nothing. It was possible that the approaching army had scared him off.

After a thorough search, they regrouped. Everyone reported that they hadn't found a single person. The Imperial City was truly empty.

"Did they really flee?" Qing Deyun said grimly.

"Mansion Master, we found a staircase beneath the throne up ahead," Qing Piaoyun reported, rushing over. "A thick wave of Evil Qi is rising from it. I wonder if they're down there."

"Beneath the throne?" Qing Deyun's eyes lit up. "Let's go take a look now!"

They hurried over and, sure enough, found a staircase leading down from under the throne. Peering down, it seemed unfathomably deep. More importantly, the stench of blood wafted up from below. The smell was so thick it was as if a Blood Pool was waiting at the bottom.

Even without descending, they could see the stairs were stained crimson, with fresh blood still trickling down them as if it had just been spilled. The sight was sinister and terrifying. They frowned, wondering just how many people Xu Qianlong had killed.

They wasted no time and hurried down to see what lay below. As they burst out from the bottom of the staircase, a vast expanse of crimson met their eyes. The floor was covered in blood, a truly horrifying sight.

Lifting their gaze, they saw a massive Blood Pool. A figure was floating in its center—it was Xu Qianlong!

He appeared to have grown younger. Blood from the pool flowed ceaselessly into his body, turning his skin crimson. His blood vessels were clearly visible, and they could see the blood coursing just beneath his skin.

A tide of Evil Qi and the stench of blood billowed out from him, filling the chamber with an eerie presence. The room itself was not massive, but it was large enough—at least several dozen meters across—to easily accommodate all of them.

Other than Xu Qianlong, there was no one else here. This meant he intended to fight them all alone.

"So you've finally come?" Xu Qianlong slowly opened his eyes. As he looked at them, his crimson pupils were filled with a greedy light. "I've been waiting for you. I'm just one step away, just one tiny step... from breaking through to a new Realm!"

The moment he finished speaking, THUD! A heavy Stone Gate slammed shut over the staircase behind them, trapping them inside. Those who hadn't yet entered had narrowly escaped disaster.

They never expected that not only had Xu Qianlong not fled, but he had locked the gate to prevent them from leaving. It was hard to tell if he was cutting off his own retreat or was just supremely overconfident.

"Where's that Sea Pig Head!" Qing Deyun scanned the area but didn't see Hai Tiansheng. He'd assumed Hai Tiansheng had fled back to the Divine Seal Sect, but they had already uprooted the entire sect and still hadn't found a trace of him.

"Are you talking about him?" Xu Qianlong gave a faint smile and waved his hand. A corpse floated up from the Blood Pool. Even with only half the face visible, they immediately recognized the man as Hai Tiansheng!

"You killed him!?"

They were all dumbfounded. Wasn't Hai Tiansheng on Xu Qianlong's side? Why would he kill him? As they looked closer, they saw other familiar faces floating in the Blood Pool besides Hai Tiansheng—it was all of the Princes!

Shock. Absolute, utter shock. As the saying goes, even the most vicious tiger won't eat its own cubs, yet Xu Qianlong had actually murdered his own sons. He had thrown all of them into the Blood Pool to serve as fuel for his Cultivation.

"Yes. The useless trash couldn't even capture a single person. What was the point of keeping them around?" Xu Qianlong said dismissively. "You have quite a few experts with you; no wonder you were able to hold out. But since you've delivered yourselves to my doorstep, I won't be polite. Once I merge all of you into this Blood Pool, I can break through to a new Realm!"

A red glint flashed in his eyes, a bloodthirsty light erupting from his pupils.

"You think you can defeat all of us by yourself? You're delusional!" Qing Deyun snorted. Their side had four or five Core Formation Stage experts and even more at the Spirit Pill Stage, yet Xu Qianlong dared to make such an outrageous claim.

'Xu Qianlong's Cultivation had indeed improved, and he was much stronger than he was at his peak. But he was still at the Core Formation Stage—at the Peak Level, at most. Taking on so many of them at once was practically impossible.'

'Tuo Shengfeng himself was at the Core Formation Late Stage Level. Even if he was no match for Xu Qianlong alone, with Tuo Zhanhong added to the mix, how could Xu Qianlong possibly hold out?'

"Delusional?" Xu Qianlong let out a laugh, his gaze burning as he stared at them. "I think you're the ones who are delusional! The moment you entered this room, the only thing awaiting you was death! Why do you think I stayed here? I was waiting for you."

The moment he finished speaking, Xu Qianlong's aura surged into the Blood Pool. Suddenly, all the blood in the chamber began to churn, rapidly forming a massive Domain!

There was nowhere to run. They were instantly enveloped by the Domain. At once, they felt their Essence Blood being drawn out, as if it were about to be torn from their bodies. At the same time, it felt as though they had sunk into a mire, their bodies becoming heavy and difficult to move.

"Now that you're inside my Demon Blood Array, death is your only escape!" Xu Qianlong snarled, his eyes bloodshot.