Chapter 833: Demonic Blood
Max’s feet slowed as he approached the crystalline wall of ice, his eyes narrowing sharply. At first glance, it seemed like another section of frosted cavern. But as he looked closely, he noticed something strange—inside the ice was an entirely different space, like a hidden world encased in frozen time.
It was an enormous cave with jagged stalagmites rising from the floor like teeth, and massive stone pillars holding up the ceiling like the remains of an ancient temple.
Dragon-shaped coils were etched into the icy rock, and phoenix-like carvings adorned the sides of the walls—artifacts or statues, he couldn’t tell. Their presence was grand, almost sacred, but they weren’t what caught Max’s attention.
In the very center of the cave, glowing with a pulse that seemed to beat like a living heart, was a massive mound of lava. But it wasn’t like any ordinary lava. It was shaped like a peach—smooth, round, thick, and glowing from within with a dark crimson light. It exuded intense heat even through the cold air.
Suspended above it, drops of red liquid fell slowly from an unseen source above, each drop landing into a shallow bowl-shaped dip at the top of the peach-shaped lava. This bowl was now filled with a thick, viscous red liquid, and each drop made it glow even more brightly. The mana in the air surged from that liquid—it rippled like waves through the cavern, intense and powerful, almost oppressive.
"What... is this?" Max muttered, genuinely stunned. His instincts told him this wasn’t just some random blood pool—this was something ancient, something beyond precious.
"Blood?" he whispered again, narrowing his eyes.
Behind him, a gasp echoed through the chamber.
Senior Brother Mack had finally caught up, only to stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened the moment they landed on the glowing red liquid. "Oh my God..." he breathed. Then his voice rose, full of disbelief and hunger, "Is this... the Ten Thousand Year Old Demonic Blood?"
Max turned his head slightly, catching the tremble in the man’s voice. That name alone confirmed what Max had already sensed—this treasure was no ordinary treasure. The mana leaking from it was enough to make any Legend Rank cultivator lose their composure.