Swallowing a Million Essences

Qin Huai’s terrifying speed was much faster than before. Almost in an instant, Wang Kun turned, raising his phantom-like fist to block Qin Huai’s blow.

Bang!

The resulting sound resembled a roaring tsunami, shaking the expansive sea. Wang Kun grunted and spat out blood.

Unyielding, Qin Huai continued his pursuit, his fists crashing down like mountains. Momentary errors led to glaring wounds on Wang Kun’s body.

“It’s useless! You can’t kill me like this!” Wang Kun spat out fresh blood, pounding his fists into Qin Huai’s body with wrath.

What he found most shocking was the uncertainty. Initially, he believed that persistence would guarantee him victory. However, now he was unsure if he would make it to the next phase.

Not only did Qin Huai have a deep understanding of the blood heart technique, but he could also cast the techniques he had devoured. Although these techniques were quite unrefined, combined with Qin Huai’s already formidable physical prowess, Wang Kun felt an unimaginable pressure.

There was a moment when Wang Kun couldn’t tell who the real master of the blood sea was – himself or Qin Huai. Who was the real monster?

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a golden flame appeared in Wang Kun’s sight. Despite seeing Qin Huai’s deadly move, he didn’t dodge. In his view, this move was the same as Qin Huai’s previous ones, offering him the perfect opportunity to end Qin Huai.

To him, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity to kill Qin Huai. He can’t let this guy continue to stall for time!

Wang Kun steeled his heart, and the blood tide on his fists turned into blades. Even the scarlet blood that remained in the black dragon world turned into thousands of weapons and charged at Qin Huai.

Suddenly, Wang Kun noticed a hint of white appear in Qin Huai’s originally black hair. Was the emperor’s domain about to dissipate?

“You’ve finally reached your limit!” Wang Kun laughed manically. He had placed the right bet! The energy required to use the emperor’s domain was indeed immense. Even a creature like Qin Huai couldn’t sustain it for long.

But in the next moment, the golden flame turned into a golden sea of fire, swallowing Wang Kun like a tiger seizing its prey.

“Flame longevity technique, hundred lives tiger!”

“Ah! Is this also part of your plan…” Wang Kun let out a piercing scream before completely vanishing.

Qin Huai looked at the golden flames that flickered and then died. His expression was calm. As he was about to turn and leave, a speck of light caught his eye. He caught it with a swift move — a thumb-sized, diamond-shaped, blood-colored crystal.

“This is…the true core of the blood sea array?” Qin Huai could sense the potent power within. “The essence of a million beings…” he muttered to himself. He considered using this as the fourth guardian spirit item, as it would be perfectly compatible with the blood heart technique.

Suddenly, Qin Huai deactivated the black dragon world. His body swayed, and visible exhaustion took over his features. He staggered mid-air, nearly falling into the blood sea.

“The consumption of the black dragon world… It’s a bit more than I expected.” Qin Huai hadn’t considered this during the battle. Instead, his mind was solely focused on finding a way out. He had forgotten to consider his body’s limits.

Looking at the light filtering through the clouds, he noted, “Already four hours?”

He sat cross-legged on the sea of blood, surrounded by the palace. This time, there were no more vengeful souls trying to drag him down or kill him.

Holding the blood sea core in his hand, Qin Huai felt like a deity of the blood sea. All living things retreated.

“This is it,” he murmured. Deciding to use the core as the fourth guardian spirit item, he hesitated for a moment before leaping into the sea of blood. It remained still and silent, ignoring Qin Huai’s intrusion.

Qin Huai took a deep breath in the sea of blood, only absorbing the oxygen within. “As expected, holding the blood sea core is like holding a water-repellent pearl. It lets me move freely in the blood sea.”

Feeling weak, he recognized the toll the black dragon world had taken on him. His sudden loss of a hundred years of lifespan made recovery difficult, even with the blood heart technique. The destruction of the Kun Peng clan wouldn’t be easy.

He quickly navigated through the blood sea, reaching the original battlefield. The battle was over, and the Kun Peng clan was nowhere to be seen — it was already impossible to determine their location under the sea of blood.

“Forget it, I’ll first advance to the fourth-level visceral prefecture realm.” Giving up on locating them, Qin Huai lowered his eyes, his mind slowly sinking into his dantian.

…

Far above, at fifty thousand feet, Tang Pi stood, covered in blood. He held Jin Jianghong in his hand, but the Kun Peng clan leader was barely breathing. On the other hand, Tang Pi was covered in blood, but his eyes were shining bright.

“Thanks to you guys, I finally took the final step,” he exclaimed, feeling the power surging in his body.

“True purebloods, huh? That’s a bloodline refined through countless life and death battles, breaking free from the chains of lineage.” Tang Pi laughed out loud, his laughter echoing around. “We’re ultimately beasts, needing our basic instincts to evolve.”

He glanced down at Jin Jianghong in his hand. The old clan leader was now lifeless.

“Too bad,” he said, flinging the lifeless body down from the sky.

“Sect Master, next we return to the blood sea, right?” asked Gao He. Behind them, the clan members were eager to test their new power.

“Can’t go back yet,” Tang Pi replied in a serious tone. “You’ve felt the weird vibes from the blood sea. Either the Emperor of Qingzhou’s got a new plan or the Sacred Heart Sect’s grabbed what they wanted.”

Gao He looked disappointed. “So, what’s next?”

“We can’t go above the blood sea, but we can hit Qingzhou City within its reach,” Tang Pi answered with a chuckle.

“We’re going to compete with the Sacred Heart Sect for their prey?”

Tang Pi just smirked. “Let’s just take them out quietly. That white-robed king is too full of himself.”

And with that, under Tang Pi’s command, the Kun Peng clan, flocking the sky, surged towards Qingzhou City again.

…

In the Heart Eye Pavilion, the white-robed king finally opened his eyes. Yue Yang and Zhou Chuanyong, who had been waiting for him, quickly rose.

“Master, did we win?” Yue Yang asked anxiously.

“We did. The blood sea has settled down. No more crazy fluctuations,” he replied.

Yue Yang breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. “That Qin Huai is quite something, huh? Fighting against a million souls’ power for half a day?”

“The potential of a king is truly unmatched,” the white-robed king murmured, gazing at the sky. “If he could grow fully, not even I would stand a chance against him…

“But then, there are no ‘ifs’ in this world.”