Chapter 83: Blood Sky Takes the Fall

Liu Zhongdao coughed up blood furiously, desperately trying to flee at once, but how could Chen Mu allow him to escape? The Sha Yuan force sphere continued to batter him, making Liu Zhongdao’s figure freeze again. Chen Mu, having caught up, unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks upon him.

Chen Mu was growing anxious, for if he did not finish Liu Zhongdao quickly, the time limit of his “Burning Blood Transformation” secret technique would soon expire.

His expression was grim—there was no choice but to use his ultimate killing move.

At that moment, Chen Mu was ruthlessly drawing upon every ounce of his vital energy, gathering it from both the Divine Crimson Palace and his elixir field, merging it all outside his body.

The power of thunder roamed around him, and the phantom of a thunder flood dragon, ten meters long, coalesced and wrapped itself around him. Violent arcs of electricity crackled, bringing a tremendous sense of peril to Liu Zhongdao. He was terrified—Chen Mu still had hidden reserves.

The thunder flood dragon phantom hissed with lightning, and the instant it solidified, it wound itself around Liu Zhongdao. The raging thunder tore at his already mangled flesh, splitting it open anew.

Liu Zhongdao raged and cursed Chen Mu, but Chen Mu paid him no heed. The thunder flood dragon, seeing the delicious prey ensnared before it, did not hesitate; it swallowed Liu Zhongdao in a single gulp.

Thunder engulfed Liu Zhongdao completely, annihilating his body within its electric fury.

With Liu Zhongdao dead, Chen Mu’s vital energy was utterly depleted. He stood weakly in place and finally let out a bitter laugh: “At last, victory is mine.”

Just then, a venomous voice came from the place where Liu Zhongdao had perished: “You demonic brat, dare destroy my physical form? If I must suffer, don’t think you’ll have it any better!”

It was Liu Zhongdao’s nascent soul speaking. His soul, residing within the nascent infant, immediately fled the verge of annihilation, intent on possessing Chen Mu.

Chen Mu’s face grew grave; he remembered that the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda could restrain souls, so he summoned it at once. Exhausting the last trace of his vital energy, he activated the pagoda, trapping Liu Zhongdao’s nascent soul and spirit within. With a miserable shriek, Liu Zhongdao fell silent.

Having done all this, Chen Mu finally collapsed, fainting on the ground.

His unconsciousness attracted the attention of the three demon beasts. The Swiftwing Beast signaled to Chihuo and Yuanshan to continue their tasks, while it went to guard Chen Mu.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, nearly all the elders and disciples of the Bright Moon Saber Sect had been slaughtered—none escaped.

The three demon beasts remained steadfastly by Chen Mu’s side, awaiting his awakening.

Chihuo and Yuanshan clicked their tongues in amazement. That Chen Mu could single-handedly slay a nascent soul realm cultivator while only at the foundation establishment stage—such a feat was surely unique on Yuanyao Continent.

In truth, there was one other person capable of such a thing: Blood Heaven. At this very moment, Blood Heaven was also causing chaos throughout the Great Xia Empire, but Chihuo and Yuanshan, fresh from seclusion, knew nothing of Blood Heaven’s identity.

Three days later, Chen Mu finally awoke from his deep sleep. Alarmed, he forced himself upright, but seeing the three demon beasts guarding him, he relaxed his vigilance.

The beasts, noticing Chen Mu’s return to consciousness, breathed a collective sigh of relief. They had feared for his life and had not moved from his side for three whole days.

Upon waking, Chen Mu immediately sat cross-legged to regulate his condition, his Divine Crimson Palace and elixir field frantically absorbing the world’s vital energy.

Once his body had recovered enough for free movement, Chen Mu stood and recalled how, at the last moment, he had used the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda to capture Liu Zhongdao’s nascent soul and spirit.

The pagoda stood motionless on the ground. Upon examining it, Chen Mu found the nascent soul of Liu Zhongdao lying inside, utterly feeble.

During this period, the pagoda had been continuously refining Liu Zhongdao’s soul, leaving it so withered.

Having absorbed a great deal of soul force, the pagoda now stored a considerable amount of spiritual energy in one of its inner spaces. As soon as Chen Mu touched the pagoda, pure soul energy surged toward him, flooding into his being.

Chen Mu’s soul grew stronger and stronger, its power now rivaling that of an early nascent soul cultivator, and of the purest kind at that.

After absorbing all of Liu Zhongdao’s soul energy, only a pure, will-less nascent infant remained inside the pagoda. Chen Mu was unsure what use it might serve, but it would be a shame to simply discard it.

He turned to Rou’er for advice, asking what use a will-less nascent infant might have.

When Rou’er learned that Chen Mu had captured a nascent infant and erased its soul and will, she stared at him for a long time before finally saying, “The demonic clans and devil cultivators have methods to devour nascent infants for cultivation, but you don’t practice such arts, so don’t bother. Demon beasts can also consume human nascent infants for cultivation, but I don’t need it. For me, it’s useless—I’m only sealed, not weak. You could let one of the three demon beasts with you consume it; it would surely allow them to advance a minor realm.”

Hearing this, Chen Mu looked apologetically at Rou’er. He had thought the nascent infant might aid her, but it seemed he was mistaken.

He asked the three demon beasts, “I have here a will-less nascent infant. Who among you would like to absorb it?”

At his words, their eyes blazed, but none spoke, waiting for Chen Mu to make the decision—after all, he had personally slain Liu Zhongdao.

Seeing their expectant gazes, Chen Mu understood their meaning. He turned to the Swiftwing Beast and said, “You have followed me the longest, always helping me in battle and escape. This nascent infant shall be yours.”

The Swiftwing Beast’s eyes lit up, and it nuzzled Chen Mu with its great head. Though at the early core formation stage, it could convey only simple thoughts, not yet converse deeply.

So Chen Mu resolved to further empower the Swiftwing Beast, hoping it would soon be able to communicate like the others.

After giving Liu Zhongdao’s nascent infant to the Swiftwing Beast, it swallowed it in one gulp and began its refinement.

Chen Mu left it undisturbed and said to the other two beasts, “Come, let’s collect the spoils! Let’s scour the battlefield and unearth the Bright Moon Saber Sect’s treasury!”

He had little interest in foundation establishment cultivators’ storage pouches; instead, after gathering all the storage rings from the core formation elders, he and Chihuo and Yuanshan set about searching for anything of value.

Manuals and tomes, rare herbs, blood elixirs, weapons and magical tools, gold and silver—Chen Mu turned the sect upside down. The loot exceeded the capacity of a single storage ring.

Thankfully, he’d acquired several such rings, or it would have been impossible to carry everything.

After an hour or more of looting the sect treasury, Chen Mu had become fabulously wealthy. He had originally thought to rely on the alchemists from the Pill Pavilion to revive Starwatching Valley, but never expected to amass such riches so quickly. Destroying a sect brought unimaginable wealth. The prospect of making a living this way almost tempted him.

He calmed himself, then exited the treasury to find the Swiftwing Beast refining the nascent infant. By now, its eyes had opened and its aura had surged, reaching the mid core formation stage.

Seeing the beast break through a minor realm so swiftly, Chen Mu could not help but envy it.

Just then, a telepathic voice entered his mind: “Thank you, master, for granting me this nascent infant. With this advancement, I, Little Yu, am finally able to communicate with you.”

Chen Mu was startled—was this the Swiftwing Beast communicating telepathically? He looked at it excitedly and said, “Your name is Little Yu? All this time, I never knew. It’s wonderful to finally speak with you.”

“Master, my full name is Brown Feather, but Little Yu is my nickname. It’s more affectionate, and I like it when you call me that,” the beast replied, somewhat clumsily.

Chen Mu was briefly at a loss for words—what a roundabout explanation. Clearly, the Swiftwing Beast’s intelligence still had room to grow.

Nevertheless, it did not diminish his fondness for Little Yu. He patted its head, and the beast nuzzled him contentedly, after which he returned all three demon beasts to his beast bracelet.

Looking at the ruined remains of the Bright Moon Saber Sect, Chen Mu knew it was time to depart.

...

Half a month after Chen Mu’s departure, people finally discovered that the Bright Moon Saber Sect had been annihilated.

Upon hearing the news, the Yan family and those former Yan family guards who had fled and gone into hiding were all filled with dread. Since the guards had not reported back, the family had no idea what exactly had happened.

Those guards who did know about the nascent soul-level threat had fled, fearing retribution from the sect. But now that the sect was wiped out, a new question arose: who exactly was that young man who had once hidden among their ranks? Their guess was that he must have at least reached the nascent soul realm.

To have survived in front of such a powerful figure was fortune indeed, and as for the details, they would never dare to speak a word.

With the sect destroyed, many came to scavenge, but aside from a few storage pouches from foundation establishment disciples, everything else was gone. The looters could only complain that the one who destroyed the sect had left nothing for them.

Still, they only dared grumble in their hearts—if the perpetrator found out, they feared they might be the next to perish.

The annihilation of the Bright Moon Saber Sect caused a great stir, and somehow, the blame was pinned on Blood Heaven. Upon hearing this, Blood Heaven was momentarily stunned—who had done this, and so ruthlessly, pinning the crime on him as well?

Though he cared little for morality, he was displeased to be made the scapegoat. Still, he couldn’t be bothered to explain and instead set out to find his next target to absorb blood and energy, restoring his strength.

The entire Great Xia was now in a state of panic; even in broad daylight, commoners dared not leave their homes.

Partly due to Blood Heaven’s fearsome reputation, and partly because, although the sect’s destruction was blamed on him, some astute observers noted that the sect had been slaughtered, not drained of blood and energy.

Misfortune plagued Great Xia, and public trust and confidence in the empire had begun to erode.

Yet the imperial authorities could only smile bitterly—what could they do? Every time they dispatched troops, they found nothing. Knowing the truth, that a demon clan member was responsible, they realized sending troops was tantamount to sending them to their deaths. What could be done?

Only if a nascent soul-level expert personally intervened would there be a sliver of hope.