“Sacred Blood?”

Ji Yida repeated the phrase subconsciously, his eyes widening in shock. “The Demon Blood Sect!”

“Indeed, it is the Demon Blood Sect,” Senior Sister Li murmured. “They never refer to themselves as ‘demonic,’ but rather as ‘Sacred Blood’…”

She paused, her voice trailing off. “But why are they here? Why not the Spirit Beast Sect?”

Had the Sect Leader and the Supreme Elder truly fallen?

“It would have been better if it were the Spirit Beast Sect,” Hua Qi whispered, his voice trembling. “At least then… we might have had a chance to survive.”

Han Yu, Senior Sister Li, and Ji Yida remained silent, but they shared the sentiment.

If the Demon Blood Sect breached the valley, every disciple within would be reduced to mere cultivation resources—no different from Spirit Stones or spirit rice. There would be no escape.

A Wanchun Valley Elder’s voice thundered from the Guardian Formation array: “Remnants of the Demon Blood Sect, silence your tongues!”

“You seek only to exploit our Sect Leader’s absence with your vile schemes to slaughter our disciples!”

The Saint Blood Perfected One let out a chilling, high-pitched giggle. “You are mistaken!”

“Both Golden Core cultivators of your Wanchun Valley are dead. What remains is a valley filled with the old, the weak, and the feeble. Is it not pitiful to leave you at the mercy of others?”

“I have come today to invite you all to transform your bodies into essence blood and enter my belly to aid my cultivation! In this way, you shall join me as I bathe the Southern Region in blood and dominate all living beings. You will never face oppression again. Is that not the best of both worlds?”

“I pray you do not be stingy, lest you suffer the agony of being skinned and deboned!”

“Utter nonsense!” the Elder’s voice roared from the array. “How can Wanchun Valley tolerate such insolence!”

“All disciples, heed my command! Harbor no illusions of luck against the Demon Blood Sect. They will drain you dry for their cultivation. There is absolutely no path to survival!”

“Wrong, wrong!” The Saint Blood Perfected One laughed again. “Am I truly so heartless? At most, I will make you into blood slaves. A path to survival remains!”

He clapped his hands lightly. “Bring them up!”

Twenty or thirty Demon Blood Sect cultivators appeared, standing on a twenty-zhang expanse of blood-red silk that floated near the Guardian Formation. They escorted a group of captives, displaying them to the valley below.

The sect members were shrouded in black cloth, revealing only malicious eyes and blood-red hair. The captives, however, were painfully recognizable to Han Yu and his group inside the barrier.

“Steward Hu?” Senior Sister Li whispered.

Disciples on the main peak might have struggled to see from that distance, but the Elders controlling the formation saw everything with crystal clarity.

The captives were Steward Hu Biao and the staff of the Green Grain Market.

The market outside the formation had already been breached and sacked.

“People of Wanchun Valley, look closely! Submit as blood slaves, and you may live like this!”

At the Saint Blood Perfected One’s words, Hu Biao and the others trembled violently. They threw themselves flat against the red silk, kowtowing repeatedly.

“Master!”

The Saint Blood Perfected One nodded in satisfaction. “But if you refuse… this is the alternative!”

He waved his hand. Hu Biao and the slaves were dragged back, replaced by five others.

Among them stood a plump disciple in blue robes—Wang Hui, the former Steward of the Spirit Field Department.

“Senior Brother Wang?” Ji Yida and Hua Qi cried out in unison.

Senior Sister Li’s expression filled with pain. “After recovering at the market, he took up duties there. Who knew he would be the first to suffer?”

“And who knew that a man who once bullied Laborer Disciples would show such resolve in the end?”

Han Yu narrowed his eyes. He didn’t have time to admire Wang Hui’s courage. His gaze locked onto the two executioners flanking the fat steward.

Though their faces were masked, their forms were familiar.

One moved like Old Li the Daoist. Upon closer inspection, the other resembled Hong Liang.

Of course. Even if Wang Hui begged, those two would never spare him.

Old Li had finally, officially, joined the Demon Blood Sect.

The Saint Blood Perfected One spread his fingers.

Wang Hui and the four rogue cultivators screamed in agony. Their bodies withered instantly, drained of all vitality. Their desiccated corpses tumbled from the sky, sliding down the energy barrier of the Guardian Formation leaving long, gruesome streaks of blood.

Five orbs of essence blood, varying in size, floated up into the Saint Blood Perfected One’s palm.

The villain giggled grotesquely, crushing the five orbs into a single blood-red pellet.

“Little brats, listen up! Each of you, offer five drops of essence blood! I will shatter this tortoise shell in one strike!”

The Demon Blood Sect disciples obeyed instantly. Each condensed five drops of vital blood and hurled them toward their leader.

A thick, bloody aura erupted from the Saint Blood Perfected One. He merged the offerings into the pellet, his hands weaving rapid seals to infuse a specific technique. The red glow of the sphere intensified until it outshined the sun itself.

Is he attacking the formation?

As the thought crossed Han Yu’s mind, he felt a sudden, violent stirring in his own blood. It pulsed in rhythm with the blood-sun in the sky.

Hm?

What is this attack? A remote resonance targeting Blood Refining practitioners?

Han Yu’s mind spun. He instantly suppressed the minor agitation in his blood, maintaining a calm facade.

His essence blood was too pure for an outsider to control.

At the same moment, two laborers burst from a stone hut in the Spirit Field Department, their eyes glowing crimson.

“Blood! I want to drink blood!” they roared, foaming at the mouth.

“Why are there still people cultivating the Blood Refining Art?!” Hua Qi screamed.

“The more desperate the sect’s situation, the more anxious people become about breaking through. That gives the demonic cultivators an opportunity!” Senior Sister Li said, glancing anxiously toward the main peak.

The Guardian Formation was strong enough to withstand external attacks, but if chaos erupted on the main peak…

Without hesitation, Han Yu, Senior Sister Li, Ji Yida, and Hua Qi unleashed their spells, instantly striking down the two frenzied Laborer Disciples.

Suddenly, red lights began to flash from the direction of the sect’s main peak. As expected, the chaos had begun among those secretly cultivating the forbidden art.

Outside the barrier, the Saint Blood Perfected One laughed maniacally.

He flashed forward and hurled the blood-red pellet.

It did not strike the Guardian Formation. Instead, it arced through the air and slammed into the colossal Ancestral Tree at the mountain gate.

BOOM!

A soundless scream of fury seemed to erupt from the ancient tree.

A massive, invisible shockwave built up within the wood, then surged outward, crashing against everything in its path.

“Ancestral Tree, calm your wrath!” the Elders screamed from the array core.

“The enemy is attacking you! Do not strike the Guardian Formation and give them an opening!”

“Too late!”

The Saint Blood Perfected One transformed into a streak of bloody light. He dove toward the exact point where the Ancestral Tree’s shockwave collided with the Guardian Formation—a momentary gap created by the internal clash.

He was about to break in.

Suddenly, a massive branch, two zhang thick, whipped around. It swept horizontally with terrifying speed.

Thwack!

The “branch” carried the weight of a mountain. The Saint Blood Perfected One was swatted out of the air, tumbling back in a cloud of dust.

He scrambled to his feet, gritting his teeth. “This turtle shell is hard! Even knowing the trick to provoke the tree, I couldn’t break it fully…”

His eyes darted to the gap.

Though he had been repelled, over a dozen Demon Blood Sect disciples had utilized the chaos of the Ancestral Tree’s attack to slip through the mountain gate.

They were inside the Guardian Formation.

The Saint Blood Perfected One’s face lit up with savage joy. He roared, “Little brats, kill them all! Gather the essence blood!”

“Strike from the inside and outside! Tear down this Wanchun Valley formation!”