A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 151 The Blood God's Punishment

The blood waterfall was enveloped in lightning. Whenever a blood spirit rushed out, it would be cut down by the lightning. The flow of the blood waterfall gradually slowed down. Under the constant encroachment of the lightning, the blood waterfall began to slowly shrink.

The Blood God, hidden deep within, sensed something was wrong and was greatly alarmed. If the blood waterfall condensed into a single mass, his space for maneuver would be greatly reduced, which would be tantamount to trapping himself in a trap.

With less than 60% of his strength remaining, if he were to leave the Bloodfall, he would be deliberately giving up his greatest advantage. Gu Xu outside would certainly not let this opportunity pass, and in the end, he would still be doomed.

Currently, hiding in the bloodfall still offers a fighting chance; actively trying to escape would mean certain death.

Thinking of this, the Blood God's face twisted in a ferocious grimace, and he uttered a hateful swear, "If I hadn't been careless, how could this have happened?"

He reached out and grabbed his chest, tearing off a piece of flesh formed from blood and qi. He opened his mouth and spat out a ball of vital energy, which he then injected into the flesh. The flesh quickly transformed into a humanoid figure similar to himself, but with dull eyes and no self-awareness, just like a perfect puppet.

The Blood God looked at the puppet before it and nodded in satisfaction. This was its innate divine ability, called "Blood Essence Creation," which used its life essence to create an avatar. The avatar's strength was seventy or eighty percent of its original body, but it could only exist for half an hour. Moreover, if it could not obtain enough blood essence to replenish its damage afterward, its original body would suffer all the injuries from the avatar.

This was originally Blood God's trump card, meant to decide the outcome of the battle at a crucial moment, but now it has been forced out by Gu Xu.

After issuing an order, the Blood God, whose vital energy was greatly depleted, watched as his avatar flashed with blood light and emerged from the Blood Waterfall, rushing towards the Valley Void.

This time, having acquired the fighting spirit of the Blood God, upon seeing Gu Xu, he immediately unleashed a blood-red torrent, pressing down on Gu Xu. At the same time, he gestured with his hand, and hundreds of blood arrows rained down like a storm. The two moves were launched simultaneously, one gathering momentum and the other launching an attack, creating a formidable display that made Gu Xu take notice.

Upon seeing the incarnation of Zou Wei, the Blood God, hiding deep within the Bloodfall, immediately moved, intending to take advantage of Gu Xu's entanglement to instantly return to the depths of the isolated island. Once he returned to the depths of the earth's veins, he could use his blood energy to connect with Nanling Prefecture, devour the spiritual energy of the entire prefecture, and easily restore himself to his original state. At that time, the world would be so vast that even Gu Xu would be unable to do anything to him.

However, just as it was about to act, it did not notice that a bolt of lightning suddenly extended, pierced through the blood waterfall, and struck it directly. The Blood God was shocked and froze. As it looked at the lightning sword light emerging from its chest and reached out to grab it, the sword energy and lightning suddenly shone brightly, and the Blood God's whole body exploded. Even the blood waterfall was blown apart.

The scattered blood energy floated freely in the air, while the Blood God avatar fighting in the distant Valley of Desire suddenly lost its spiritual light and its aura continued to decline the moment the blood waterfall was destroyed. After only a few breaths, the Blood God avatar had become a pure blood essence.

Gu Xu glanced at it, reached out and grabbed, and the Blood God Avatar was instantly condensed into a ball of blood. Gu Xu tapped it a few times to seal it, and then came to the scattered blood waterfall.

Seeing the scattered blood-fiend power, Gu Xu summoned the Soul-Purifying and Mind-Cleansing Mirror, while continuously gathering blood energy. Under the light of the mirror, the blood-fiend power was peeled away layer by layer and vanished instantly when illuminated by the mirror light. Gu Xu intentionally left the pure blood energy outside. Although he left 90% of it, the remaining blood energy was enough for the mirror to refine.

Several hours later, Gu Xu retrieved the Soul-Cleansing and Mind-Clearing Mirror and looked at the blood moon in the sky.

Meanwhile, on the distant island, Yin Zhong and the others noticed that the intense blood aura that had previously permeated the entire Xiyuan Prefecture seemed to have vanished all at once.

Moreover, the blood-red curtain in the sky faded, leaving only a blood moon hanging high.

“The blood moon hasn’t faded, so the Blood God must not have completely disappeared,” Ning Dao said with certainty upon seeing this.

Yin Zhong nodded in agreement, while Elder Zhao, standing to the side, showed no concern whatsoever.

"With the Supreme One making a move, the Blood God is certain to die. We can see the clues behind this Blood Moon, so how could the Supreme One not? Let us wait patiently."

Gu Xu looked at the blood moon in the sky, reached out and made a gesture. Several frost blades condensed from the Ice Soul Mystic Light and shot out. But the moment they touched the blood moon, the frost blades melted quickly, and the dripping water vapor carried a trace of bloody smell, which made Gu Xu frown.

"Does Your Excellency truly intend to leave no way out for him?"

A sharp, piercing sound came from the blood moon, and at the same time, a figure suddenly appeared in the blood moon. Gu Xu looked closely and saw that its appearance was no different from the previous Blood God.

"Cholera has ravaged a province, slaughtered countless lives, and turned the world upside down. A scourge like you must be eradicated at its root."

Gu Xu sneered and said nothing more. The Azure Thunder Sword behind him flashed and shot away, splitting into dozens of sword lights along the way, stabbing at the Blood Moon from all directions. The Blood Moon was not willing to sit and wait for death. Suddenly, the Blood Moon lit up, and ripples of blood appeared on its outer edge.

When the sword light made contact, it was like being trapped in a quagmire. Just when the Blood God thought he had succeeded, a ball of crimson fire suddenly ignited on the sword light, burning along the blood patterns and constantly approaching the Blood Moon.

Upon seeing this, the Blood God's eyes flashed with malice, and a shower of blood shot out from the Blood Moon, splashing onto the crimson flames in an attempt to extinguish them. However, the Blood God's expression changed immediately. The crimson flames were not extinguished by the blood rain, but instead burned even more fiercely. Under the control of Gu Xu's will, they had transformed into a massive fire dragon, raising its head and roaring, carrying intense heavenly fire as it charged toward the Blood Moon.

Looking at the Blood Moon being attacked by the Crimson Fire, Gu Xu felt calm. This "Samadhi Pure Yang Fire" was the nemesis of all Yin Sha. The Blood God did not understand its principle and made a foolish move on the spot. Now the initiative had fallen into Gu Xu's hands.

As the Pure Yang True Fire continued to burn him, the Blood God's expression changed drastically. He had already lost a life when the Blood Waterfall was destroyed, and if the Blood Moon were destroyed as well, he would be condemned to eternal damnation.

"I cannot die like this! I have poured so much effort into getting to where I am today, Gu Xu. Since you are so aggressive, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Seeing the increasingly thinning blood energy outside the blood moon, the Blood God hardened his heart, gathered his last bit of energy, and shouted. A dazzling blood light shone through the sky, instantly obscuring the brilliance of the stars. A condensed blood cloud appeared in front of Gu Xu. Before Gu Xu could make a move, the blood cloud suddenly split apart and went in all directions.

Seeing this, Gu Xu snorted coldly. The fire dragon formed by his pure Yang true fire quickly caught up with the largest blood cloud, surrounded it, and refined it into a piece of blood jade. The remaining blood clouds did not run far before they suddenly crashed into an invisible light shield with runes flashing on it. When the blood clouds tried to escape, the runes turned into chains and bound them all.

The blood clouds struggled fiercely, but the more they struggled, the tighter the chains bound them. After a flash of golden light, all the blood clouds came to a standstill. Gu Xu reached out and grabbed them, and the blood clouds disintegrated into pieces of blood jade of varying sizes.

With a flick of his sleeve, the Blood Jade fell into Gu Xu's sleeve, only a sliver of red light remaining bound by chains. Meeting Gu Xu's gaze, the Blood God roared, "Gu Xu, though it is fate that I have fallen into your hands, I still have a chance to be reborn during the great calamity of heaven and earth five hundred years from now. How will you then turn the tide?"

"If I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time. Although the great calamity of heaven and earth is a calamity for all living beings, it is also an opportunity to prove oneself. If you can survive, the future will be bright."

Upon hearing Gu Xu's words, the Blood God's mind jolted, then he sneered a few times, "That sounds nice, but when I was absorbing the blood essence of those soldiers and generals, you didn't make a move. You had to wait until I came out of seclusion to act. You're truly a hypocrite. You even dare to dream of ascending to the Heavenly Dao? It's utterly laughable."

"Today they die at your hands, but little do they know that in the future they will not be able to take revenge themselves. In that case, I will save myself a lot of trouble."

Upon hearing this, the Blood God opened his mouth as if to say something, but Gu Xu waved his hand, and the last bit of the Blood God's essence shattered with a bang. The crimson light floated in front of Gu Xu. Looking at the Blood Essence in front of him, which had no trace of blood evil power, Gu Xu put it into the Treasure Mirror.

With this, the Blood God was dead, and the blood moon in the sky had disappeared, replaced by a cold moon whose cold light shone down, nourishing the remaining isolated island of Xiyuan Prefecture.

Looking at the shattered Xiyuan Prefecture, Gu Xu sighed. Although this calamity originated in Xiyuan Prefecture, the other prefectures also suffered the same fate. Nanling Prefecture was one of the only two prefectures tainted by the blood demon. Although the situation was slightly better, it had become a dead land, with miasma everywhere and the blood demon invading the earth's veins.

Although the Blood God's calamity has been resolved, the damage it caused is extremely serious. The ley lines of Xiyuan Prefecture have been destroyed, and the prefecture has collapsed. It will be difficult to restore it to its original state without hundreds or thousands of years of recuperation.

"However, every loss has its gain. With the elimination of the Blood God's threat in Xiyuan Prefecture, the Heavenly Dao has shown its favor, and the great calamity of heaven and earth will naturally not befall this place again. It can be said that there is still a glimmer of hope in the dark."

According to Gu Xu's calculations, the great calamity five hundred years from now will be even more devastating than it is now. At that time, not only will Tianhua Prefecture be unable to escape this calamity, but even Pengyuan Prefecture, which is isolated overseas, will not be able to escape it either.

With this thought in mind, Gu Xu flashed his escape light and headed in the direction where Yin Zhong and the others had left.

On a deserted island of rubble, Yin Zhong was resting with his eyes closed when suddenly his mind stirred. He opened his eyes and saw that the blood moon in the sky had disappeared. He was greatly alarmed and immediately woke up everyone.

"The Supreme One must have already eliminated the Blood God, otherwise the Blood Moon wouldn't have disappeared like this."

Elder Zhao gazed excitedly at the night sky. Hearing this, Ning Dao nodded in agreement. The Blood God's power was unparalleled, yet it hadn't lasted long against Gu Xu. Its overwhelming cultivation was truly astonishing. "Although the Blood God's calamity has been averted, the conflict between the Supreme Dao and the True Martial Hall has only just begun."

Ning Daoxin had already calculated that with the Blood God destroyed and their common enemy gone, the two sides, even if they didn't turn against each other on the spot, would not be as close as before. Moreover, the ten-year agreement that Gu Xu and Dao Zhu had made was about to expire, and the situation after that was still shrouded in mystery.

Just as Ning Dao was deep in thought, a streak of light suddenly appeared and swept away the group before they could react. They felt their bodies lighten and were then carried away by the light.

After an unknown amount of time, when Yin Zhong and the others regained consciousness, the magic technique had already reached a hundred miles away from Jiushan City, and the magnificent outline of Jiushan City was faintly visible.

"It seems that the Supreme One brought us here."

Elder Zhao looked at the jade bottle left beside him. Its design was unique to the Zhenwu Hall. When he opened it, a fragrance wafted out, and everyone present felt refreshed. After taking a breath, it seemed that a lot of the turbid air in their bodies was expelled.

Elder Zhao poured out the pills, about twenty in total, more than enough for one pill per person.

"Chief Ning, Master Yin, here you go."

Ning Dao and Yin Zhong took the pills and swallowed them immediately. The others also took the pills. In less than half a breath, Ning Dao and Yin Zhong felt their depleted true energy begin to recover. After another half hour, their true energy had recovered by more than half, and they finally had the power to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, Elder Zheng, who had been unconscious, regained consciousness after taking the elixir.

"Elder Zhao, the Blood God..."

"They've already been wiped out by the Supreme Being; we're now outside Nine Mountain City."

Elder Zheng nodded upon hearing this. After examining his body, he found that the situation was quite bad. He had lost most of his cultivation. If it weren't for some special treasure, his path to enlightenment would have ended there. However, Elder Zheng felt that the current situation was well worth it.

"All I ask for is peace of mind. Elder Sun was willing to sacrifice himself for the common people; I am already very fortunate to have achieved this outcome."

Elder Zhao remained silent upon hearing this, while Ning Dao looked on with admiration. Although he himself could not do such a thing, he greatly admired Elder Zheng's actions.

Seeing this, Yin Zhong said, "Nine Mountain City is just ahead. Gentlemen, let's go into the city and discuss the rest."

Ning Dao and Elder Zheng nodded in agreement, and the group then headed towards Jiushan City.

Lianyungang, Zhenwu Temple, underground secret cave
Gu Xu threw the blood jade into the furnace, along with many other precious materials, and continuously smelted and refined it nine times. The blood jade gradually melted and merged with the other precious materials, slowly taking shape and becoming a blood-red ruyi. It was covered with cloud patterns, had a lingzhi-shaped head, and colorful beads at the tail. It was about half an arm long, and its whole body shimmered with red light, with the patterns clearly visible.

Nine days later, the furnace fire went out, and the Ruyi was fully formed. This treasure was made of superior materials and was not far from the Purifying Soul and Cleansing Heart Mirror. Although Gu Xu tried to open the spiritual aperture by gathering spirit and condensing talismans, he ultimately failed to succeed in making this treasure.

"This is fate, what can be done? So be it, it's just a matter of regular nurturing. It'll take a few hundred years anyway, I can handle that."

With a wave of his hand, he took the Blood Ruyi in his hand. It was warm and smooth to the touch, like a piece of warm jade. With a gentle wave, clouds of auspicious clouds appeared out of thin air, which soon condensed into mist, covering the entire secret cave.

Gu Xugong focused his eyes, but could only see the situation three zhang away, and he couldn't help but feel happy.

This treasure is perfect for setting up illusion arrays and mazes. Moreover, at a glance, besides the ability to condense clouds into mist, the Blood Ruyi has other wonderful uses. Among them, what interests Gu Xu is the technique of condensing blood and refining essence and the technique of dissolving all forms.

Using the Blood Ruyi to perform the Blood Coagulation and Essence Creation technique, anyone touched by the blood light will have an identical clone created, but only with 80% of the original's power. However, the Blood Ruyi is already extremely rare for this technique alone.

The technique of dissolving all forms is even more powerful. Whether it is a tangible or intangible object, it can unleash the power of Ruyi with true qi. As long as the true qi is abundant, it is enough to dissolve external forces and even break seals and imprisonment.

"Now that we have this treasure for attack, along with the Azure Thunder Sword and the Soul-Purifying Mirror, we are more than capable of dealing with the great calamity of heaven and earth. As for the Supreme Dao and the Demon Race, the ten-year agreement is approaching, and we'll see who has the superior skill."

In the following period, Gu Xu began to go into seclusion to refine the Blood Ruyi, leaving all other matters to Elder Gu. When Elder Zheng and the others returned to the True Martial Hall, Elder Gu personally greeted them.

“Zheng Changlai, there’s no need to say more. I already know the matter. The souls of those disciples who died in battle have fragments here, and the Supreme One has personally reincarnated them. As for Elder Sun, the Supreme One has already made arrangements for him.”

Upon hearing this, Elder Zheng and Elder Zhao felt reassured and bowed in the direction of the Zhenwu Hall. After they finished their bows, Elder Gu handed the two jade boxes to Elder Zheng and Elder Zhao respectively.

"This is a Spirit-Replenishing Pill personally bestowed by the Supreme Being, perfectly suited to Elder Zheng and Elder Zhao's injuries."

After the two elders accepted the gifts, Elder Gu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Both of you elders have been in seclusion to recuperate recently, so all your needs will be handled by the sect."

Zheng and Zhao bowed to him, then nodded solemnly. After saying a few more words, they returned to their residence, opened the restrictions, took the pills, and went into seclusion to heal their injuries.

The remaining surviving disciples were all seriously injured, whether by divine weapons, elixirs, magical artifacts, or cultivation techniques. For a time, many who had not participated in the battle were filled with regret, realizing that this missed opportunity had widened the gap between them and the other disciples.

Thinking deeper, those disciples who participated in this battle will surely have their names recorded with the Supreme Being, and their future will undoubtedly be bright.

Elder Gu remained silent about these phenomena and continued to manage the mundane affairs of the Zhenwu Hall in an orderly manner.

Tianhua Prefecture, the headquarters of the Supreme Dao

After listening to Ning Dao's words, Qi Feng pondered for a moment and said, "I never imagined that Daoist Gu Xu's cultivation was so profound. I am truly inferior to him. Ning Dao, the agreed date is in three years. Issue the order that all disciples of the Supreme Dao must return within two years. Anyone who disobeys will be expelled from the sect."

"Disciple obeys."

Ning Dao glanced at Qi Feng and cautiously asked, "Dao Master, the relationship between Daoist Gu Xu and the Tong clan is unpredictable. How should we conduct ourselves in the future?"

Not to be pessimistic, but Gu Xu alone is enough to destroy the entire Wushangdao. Our life and death are entirely in someone else's hands. How can we not be worried? Moreover, this person has a great relationship with our enemy, which is even more alarming.

"There's no need to worry about this. Master Gu Xu is not a man of indiscriminate killing. The previous conflict between our sect and the Tong clan was merely a contest of Daoist arts; it was a matter of the victor taking all. Now that the Tong clan has gone into seclusion, this grudge should be put aside. Master Gu Xu will not deliberately target us because of this. The ones who should be most worried are Lord Qingshan and the other demons."

At this point, Qi Feng paused, then looked at Ning Dao and said, "The demon race didn't send anyone to this battle. Whether they're protecting themselves or believe we can resolve this, in any case, we should stay away from these people in the future. Master Gu Xu's words are very true: 'Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts.' They certainly haven't given up their plan to create a false god these past few years."

"Creating gods is no easy task. Most of the gods that Wei Feng and his group eliminated before were transformed from the spirits of demons, and their combat power was negligible. Dealing with them wouldn't be difficult."

Ning Dao dismissed the plan to create a false god as utterly disdainful, considering it a heretical and unorthodox approach.

"You handle this matter as you see fit. You've done very well this time. You're permitted to cultivate on the Guiyuan Platform for five years. Go."

As soon as he finished speaking, a token landed in front of Ning Dao, who respectfully accepted it. Watching Qi Feng's figure slowly blur, Ning Dao bowed again and left the hall.

(End of this chapter)