Chapter Fifty-Five: The Blood Demon Emerges
When a hazy white light suddenly illuminated the ground and a dazzling array appeared, both Chen Jiu and Su Jiu were visibly shocked.
Su Jiu glanced at Chen Jiu with a broad, mocking smile and teased, “You’re rather clever, my friend! You’ve got at least half my talent!”
Chen Jiu curled her lip. “The matter of activating the formation is all yours, then.”
Su Jiu nodded with a smile, then waved her hand grandly. Three streaks of golden light shot from her sleeve.
The three beams circled in the air for a moment, then drifted down lightly onto the formation.
Chen Jiu looked closely and saw they were three small jade talismans.
“These are Array-Breaking Jades. They can forcibly activate formations that have been sealed with restrictions,” Su Jiu explained. Her hand formed a new seal, and she extended two fingers, pointing at the array from a distance.
“Begin!”
As the command sounded, the three jade talismans simultaneously emitted a crisp chime, then burst forth with a blinding golden light.
Chen Jiu’s expression changed slightly. Instinctively, she raised a hand to shield her eyes. At the same moment, a sudden sensation of weightlessness washed over her.
The teleportation array had activated!
The scene before Chen Jiu blurred, and her heart skipped a beat.
A few breaths later, the world around them began to solidify, the weightlessness fading away.
Chen Jiu’s gaze was sharp and wary as she scanned their surroundings.
They appeared to be inside an underground palace.
Lofty, blood-red halls rose several stories high. Hanging above was a lacquered golden plaque inscribed with three characters: “Hall of Demon Suppression.” The atmosphere was imposing and grave.
Su Jiu’s sword-shaped brows arched. He spoke solemnly, “The blood aura here is overwhelming…”
“Indeed, the energy emanating from this hall is like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. It’s hard to imagine what horrors lie within,” Chen Jiu replied deeply, a worried furrow forming between her brows.
Every inch of this blood-stained hall was drenched in gore, the stench so thick it threatened to make one retch.
Two stone lions, each more than ten feet tall, stood guard at the entrance. Lamps burned atop their heads, casting a flickering, perpetual light that made the place feel even more eerie and terrifying.
Beyond the wavering lamplight, the great doors of the hall stood open—but within, it was pure darkness, impossible to see what lurked inside.
Su Jiu released the glowing sphere used to track the Insect Master.
Freed, the light darted away like a hunted animal, shooting straight into the depths of the hall.
“As expected, the Insect Master is inside,” Su Jiu said, tightening her grip on the ancient mirror in her hand.
At that moment, the two lanterns outside the hall began to flicker!
A foul, putrid wind, heavy with the stench of rot, surged from within, blowing outward.
A cold, sinister voice echoed from deep inside: “Heh heh, you two are persistent as maggots clinging to a corpse. You actually managed to find me here.”
Both Chen Jiu and Su Jiu fixed their eyes, sharp as blades, on the entrance.
There, the Insect Master slowly emerged from the shadows, his stride steady, his aura composed.
“Young man, in the past, I spared your life only because of your extraordinary origins. Now you come here courting death—don’t blame me for what happens next,” the Insect Master said, his gaze settling on Su Jiu.
Then his eyes shifted to Chen Jiu, and a glimmer of interest appeared. “You, boy, are even more intriguing. I didn’t expect you to be a remnant’s descendant!”
At these words, Chen Jiu’s heart suddenly sank.
So, the Insect Master knew about her “Heaven’s Eye.”
But what did he mean by “remnant’s descendant”? Chen Jiu didn’t even know who her own parents were, let alone the roots of her lineage.
Clearly, there was more to the Heaven’s Eye than she’d ever guessed.
Su Jiu glanced at Chen Jiu, surprised. “I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but I wouldn’t mind making sure he never speaks again.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Chen Jiu replied, nodding. She took the sword pouch from her waist, preparing herself.
The Insect Master’s expression darkened. He knew these two were not his equals in cultivation, yet he dreaded the items they carried.
The sword pouch Chen Jiu held was dangerous enough, but it was the ancient mirror in Su Jiu’s hand that truly unsettled him.
The moment he saw the mirror, he realized the handsome youth’s identity.
Only a few within the Bureau of Civil Order could possess that mirror…
“I risked everything—betrayed my order, murdered and stole souls and blood—all to resurrect the Blood Demon King!”
“Today, the blood sacrifice is complete! No one can stop me now!”
With that, the Insect Master slapped the cloth pouch at his waist and began chanting.
Moments later, his gaze went cold. Both hands shot forward.
A rustling sound erupted.
The pouch snapped open, and a torrent of grotesque insects poured forth, swarming toward Chen Jiu and Su Jiu like a living tide.
Su Jiu snorted coldly. The ancient mirror in his hand shimmered with silver light, unleashing a fan of white brilliance.
The harsh radiance swept over the insect tide, and wherever it touched, the creatures were incinerated, vanishing as if they’d met searing lava.
In mere moments, half the swarm was gone.
Seized by panic and rage, the Insect Master slapped his pouch again and shouted, “Where is the Insect King?!”
A flash of black light, and a massive, eight-foot-tall armored beetle appeared before him, brandishing razor-sharp pincers as it charged Su Jiu.
Chen Jiu tensed, preparing to unleash her sword pouch, but Su Jiu acted first. The ancient mirror quivered, silver light swirling, transforming into a long spear that shot forward at lightning speed—impaling the giant insect with ease.
Chen Jiu’s jaw dropped in astonishment.
What godly treasure was this? She nearly cursed aloud.
The Insect Master’s “Insect King” was slain in a single strike. Bound to his spirit, the Insect Master spewed a mouthful of blood, his face draining of all color.
“Where is the Vermillion Jade Fruit?” Su Jiu demanded, her expression shifting.
Of course—her true purpose was never to kill the Insect Master.
Yet Chen Jiu never took her eyes off him—if he tried to escape, the sword pouch would show no mercy.
This man could not be allowed to live.
She was desperate to ask what he meant by “remnant,” but with Su Jiu present, the question would have to wait.
Blood began to ooze from the Insect Master’s lips, thick and black as ink.
He sneered, “Heh, the Vermillion Jade Fruit was eaten long ago. You’ll never find it now!”
Suddenly, his face twisted with ferocity. “I offer my flesh and blood to you, mighty Blood Demon King!”
Realizing what he intended, Su Jiu’s face paled. The ancient mirror flashed again, this time morphing into a silver sword. With a piercing whistle, it spanned the distance in a blink, unleashing a storm of sword energy that shredded the Insect Master on the spot.
A cloud of blood mist burst forth as the silver sword energy tore his chest apart. He died instantly, unable even to scream.
At that exact moment, as the Insect Master fell, a blinding red light erupted within the great hall!
Chen Jiu’s eyes glinted.
As the blood glow intensified, the hall’s interior was revealed.
In its center sat a shriveled figure, cross-legged.
Thick iron chains pierced through its limbs and torso, binding it tightly to a dozen dragon-carved pillars.
Golden talismans were plastered over every chain, and as the iron clanked, the seals shimmered with spiritual light.
Arranged around the shriveled figure were numerous porcelain jars.
From within each jar, misty blood vapor drifted upward, streaming into the withered form.
“That’s the flesh and souls the Insect Master stole…” Chen Jiu’s face turned cold.
The Insect Master’s crimes were unspeakable, his evil beyond reckoning.
For his own selfish ends, he’d extended his claws to innocent civilians!
“Is that… the Blood Demon?” Su Jiu stared at the withered figure seated in the center of the hall, shrouded in a bloody haze, unable to suppress a cry of astonishment.