This assassin is upright

Chapter 349 Gods as Blood Food

"Pfft-"

With a sound like a blade piercing flesh, the troll's swing of his massive bone club abruptly froze. He let out a painful and desperate howl, and his enormous body rapidly shrank like a deflated balloon, while at the same time, a large number of dark orbs sprayed out.

In the end, the troll became indistinguishable from an ordinary demon. His body crashed to the ground and turned to ashes, leaving behind only pieces of exquisite equipment that shimmered with precious light.

With the troll's fall, the other trolls around him instantly collapsed. However, this time Udyr was prepared. Before they could use their old trick to sneak into the darkness, arrows pierced their limbs, rendering them unable to move an inch.

"A great harvest!" Helmod smiled and quickly stepped forward to take over the equipment left behind by the trolls. After disassembling it, he began to forge equipment for Yu Zhun and his group of five, while Yu Zhu skillfully began to collect the beads.

Yu Zhun, Lu Wen, and Udir quickly stepped forward and tied up each of the struggling and howling demons to prevent them from escaping. Then, like three big gray wolves, they kept a close eye on these demons.

"Is there any way for us to communicate with them smoothly?" Yu Zhun suddenly asked. "Judging from the fact that they called for reinforcements just now, these demons should have a way of communicating."

Upon hearing this, Udir and Luwen both shook their heads.

They were quite skilled at killing, but communicating with demons... that was outside their area of ​​expertise.

"I'll try!"

Having collected all the orbs, Yu Zhu ran over excitedly, took Yu Zhun's dagger, and unceremoniously dug a large chunk of flesh from the wound of one of the injured demons. He also collected a vial of dark purple blood. Ignoring the demon's painful cries, he squatted down and began to prepare a potion.

Lu Wen's eyes twitched at the sight of Yu Zhun's ferocious appearance, and he couldn't help but lean closer to Yu Zhun and ask, "Are you sure your sister will be a deity in the future?"

"I feel like her temper is more like a demon's than yours!"

Yu Zhun: "..."

Soon, Yu Zhu held a bowl of light purple medicine in his hand and excitedly handed it to Yu Zhun, saying, "I don't have any bottled medicine, so this will have to do."

"One sip for each person, and you'll be able to communicate with the demon!"

Yu Zhun took a sip, and frowned as he tasted the strong, fishy smell in his mouth. He then quickly handed it to Lu Wen, who was standing to the side.

"You're stupid, drink more."

"Hey!" Lu Wen ripped off the black ribbon covering his eyes. "I'm not blind just because I'm covering my eyes. Do you think I didn't see you frowning?"

"And what's wrong with me? Come back here! Explain yourself!"

“You really are stupid.” Udyr said quietly, snatching the bowl from Luwen’s hand, taking a sip of the potion, and then putting it back in his hand.

"I won't drink what you've drunk from, I'm afraid of getting infected."

Lu Wen: "..."

He tilted his head and stared wide-eyed at the two people walking towards the demon, then muttered, "Fine, I'll drink it, but... I'll vomit!"

"It tastes terrible!"

With a quick glance, Lu Wen handed the remaining potion to Helmod, who was standing not far away. "Little Helmod, want a sip?"

"roll!"

"…oh."

Ignoring Lu Wen's antics, Yu Zhun plopped down in front of one of the demons, slowly opened his mouth, and spoke a language that was no longer the one they used, but a more obscure and ancient one.

"Tell me why you attacked us."

“You…” The demon looked at Yu Zhun in fear, “You have the smell of blood on you, very strong, very tempting.”

"We thought you had obtained the blood food ahead of time, so we wanted to come and snatch it together. We didn't expect you to be so powerful. Even Cell is no match for you."

"Blood food?" Yu Zhun raised an eyebrow slightly. "What is blood food?"

"Blood food is..." The demon opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to explain, but he had no idea how to explain it.

Suddenly, he looked up at the sky behind Yu Zhun, his eyes filled with intense longing, "That's the blood food, the blood food has arrived!"

Almost at the same moment the demon spoke, Yu Zhun sensed a subtle change in the surrounding space.

He suddenly raised his head, and in the next instant he saw a figure shining with holy light being dragged down by hands formed of dark demonic energy, slowly being pulled from the sky to the earth.

That was… Yu Zhun’s expression changed instantly, and even the others present stopped what they were doing and stared at the scene.

“A third-tier god-level expert,” Helmod said in a deep voice. “Judging from his aura, he is at the level of a first-stage god.”

Although Helmod himself is not yet a third-tier powerhouse, he has seen too many third-tier powerhouses in the Fourth Divine District, and even some weaker third-tier powerhouses would treat him as an equal.

Therefore, his assessment of the strength of a third-tier expert was very accurate.

“A divine transformation…” Yu Zhun’s eyes flashed with a thoughtful expression.

Although he was a third-tier expert, his strength was not even as good as Black Cat's, so he was nothing special.

Seemingly sensing Yu Zhun's thoughts, Hermod calmly said, "The Divine Demon Palace, the Netherworld, and the Heavenly Ruins Divine Palace are all powerful forces."

"Since there are powerful forces, I believe there are also smaller forces in other places, and even some scattered third-level powerhouses."

"Those who cannot obtain more resources and can only improve slowly and painstakingly at the third job advancement level are probably the majority in the outside world."

"Perhaps this third-tier expert in front of us comes from a small place."

“You’re right.” Yu Zhun nodded in understanding, calmly watching the figure struggling in the hands of countless demonic energies.

Those demonic hands didn't just simply drag him down; each time they swept over his body, they would reappear with a golden-red orb in their hands.

Those orbs looked very similar to the black orbs they obtained after killing the demon, but the surging energy within them made Yu Zhun and the others instinctively feel a desire to snatch and devour them.

Clearly, this is the blood food that the demon spoke of, which is the divine power that Yu Zhun had previously guessed was periodically released into the Netherworld.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhun glanced at the demon at his feet.

The other party just said that they smelled of blood, but they could not sense it from each other and were certain that they had not received any blood.

Therefore, there is only one answer.

The Netherworld somehow imbued them with the scent of blood, so that whenever they entered any level of the Netherworld, they would be subjected to indiscriminate and frenzied attacks by demons.

“It seems like no one is attacking us anymore,” Lu Wen scratched his head. “Could it be that these bloody prey are more tempting than us?”

“Definitely.” Yu Zhun spoke softly, looking at the figure of the third-level expert in the distance. At this moment, the opponent was almost falling to the ground. He who had been struggling was now a corpse that could not move, completely drained of all his strength, and even his life was taken away.

Countless demonic hands swept across, scattering the blood harvested from the opponent's body across the Netherworld, thus beginning a blood feast.

Countless demons hidden in the darkness revealed themselves, their numbers hundreds or thousands of times greater than those who had previously surrounded Yu Zhun and his group. Driven by the deadly temptation of blood, they slaughtered each other like wild beasts.

Yu Zhun witnessed one of the demons tear another into pieces, and he himself had one arm torn off. He limped forward and used his remaining arm to pick up the bloody food, stuffing it into his mouth.

The next moment, the demon's body suddenly swelled, and countless purplish-black veins rapidly roamed across his body, causing his physique, which was originally only two meters tall, to instantly soar to over three meters. Even his lost arm grew back, and his strength increased several times over.

He let out a frenzied roar, then charged into the areas where other prey were, joining the new battles.

“This Netherworld…” Helmod frowned as he looked at the scene, and after a moment slowly spoke, “Yu Zhun, should we make a move?”

"No rush." ​​Yu Zhun shook his head. "This is the first level, and also the easiest one."

"We'd better figure out the rules as clearly as possible here before going deeper, otherwise the difficulty will increase significantly at higher levels."

"Although I don't know how the Netherworld captures these third-tier powerhouses, I believe this is by no means an isolated case."

"Keep waiting, there will definitely be new blood food."

"So this time we'll wait and see what happens after these demons fight over the blood."

"The period of blood sacrifice is a rare period of peace for us. Between us and blood sacrifice, the demons will choose the latter. As long as we do not actively participate in the competition for blood sacrifice, they will not have time to pay attention to us."

Upon hearing this, the other four nodded in unison.

There was no other way; this campaign would likely be the most difficult one they had ever undertaken, and they couldn't afford the consequences of failure.

The last time I entered the [Heavenly Ruins Sacred Realm], at least the master of the Divine Demon Palace was there to protect me. As long as they still had value to Him, I was safe.

As for this time...

If I'm not mistaken, the previous intervention by the master of the Divine Demon Palace was already the full extent of their help.

They really have to rely on themselves now.

Time passed slowly, and the millions of blood delicacies scattered on the ground were decreasing at a visible rate. The demons who were still fighting for them were at least three meters tall, meaning they had devoured at least one blood delicacy.

As for those ordinary demons, they had already become cannon fodder.

Yu Zhun's gaze was fixed on one of the giant monsters, which was nearly ten meters tall. Looking around, the monster was the most terrifying in terms of size and aura.

On the surface of his purplish-black skin, clear purplish-black veins shimmered between light and shadow, like the contraction and expansion of blood vessels.

Suddenly, after devouring another piece of blood food, the creature stopped fighting for it, let out a frenzied roar, and charged towards the other trolls who were also fighting for blood food.

In an instant, he tore a troll about five meters tall in half, grabbed the blood-stained black bead from its body, swallowed it whole, and then charged toward the second one.

“He’s about to break through to the third stage.” Helmod said calmly. “If I’m not mistaken, the effect of blood food is equivalent to a fragment of mythology, except that it is a fragment of mythology diluted countless times.”

"Only by absorbing blood food equivalent to a fragment of mythology can one break through to the third stage of transformation."

"As for why it continues to devour demons..."

“Experience,” Yu Zhun continued, picking up where Helmod left off. “He’s currently equivalent to a second-tier player with X1-level talent. He needs to raise his experience points to the maximum before he can advance to the third tier.”

As the two were talking, the ten-meter-tall demon had already devoured seven or eight giant demons. He looked up and let out a deafening roar, and then his aura changed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His body shrank little by little, but no demonic energy leaked out. Instead, he compressed the demonic energy to the extreme, eventually becoming like an ordinary demon. He was no longer huge. His skin was still purplish-black, but it became more profound, and his aura became extremely dangerous and terrifying.

A true third-stage demon has been born.

As if sensing Yu Zhun and the others' prying eyes, the third-level demon turned his gaze toward Yu Zhun.

Almost instantly, Yu Zhun and his group of five sensed a terrifying life-or-death crisis enveloping them.

But in the next instant, the third-level demon vanished from his spot under the sweep of a black light, his aura also disappearing completely.

"They must have been teleported to another level." Helmod breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then his expression turned serious again.

No matter which floor they are teleported to, as long as they continue to descend, they will inevitably encounter the other party and other third-level demons.

It seems there is only one way to survive in front of these third-level demons: to become a third-level demon yourself.

But... is that even possible?
"Can we also reach the third level in the Netherworld?" Helmod murmured, his expression somewhat complicated.

“Even if we reach the third stage here, it’s fake.” Yu Zhun said in a deep voice, seeing through Helmod’s thoughts.

"Don't forget, this is a copy!"

"In previous dungeons, haven't you ever experienced a situation where your strength temporarily increased due to dungeon buffs?"

"Here, the blessing is just a little stronger, but it's fake and will disappear the moment you leave."

At this point, Yu Zhun's expression gradually became serious.

He had already realized the true danger of the [Netherworld].

As they progress step by step, their strength also increases with the blessing of the [Netherworld Land], reaching the ninth level of divinity or even comparable to gods. Can they really remain calm and clear-headed, and not get lost in this false yet sweet candy?
“You’re right.” Helmod suddenly snapped back to reality, his eyes clearing instantly, and his expression turned slightly serious as he looked around.

After the third-level demon left, the remaining trolls continued to fight for food and devour each other.

Even if they devoured until only one remained, the power they gained was still insufficient to allow the second troll to break through to the third level. It only allowed it to reach a terrifying height of nine meters, with its aura infinitely close to the third level.

The other party let out a unwilling roar, and then seemed to sense something, turning his head to look at Yu Zhun and the others.

After the aura of blood and food completely disappeared, Yu Zhun and the other four, who possessed the aura of blood and food, became conspicuous again.

"Damn it." Yu Zhun sighed and slowly raised the dagger in his hand. "Prepare to face a real formidable enemy. This guy should be more difficult to deal with than that big guy from before."

After the safe period following the arrival of the blood sacrifice, the most dangerous period begins.

"Roar--"

With a roar that almost materialized and swept across the entire world, the nine-meter-tall giant charged towards the five people.

(End of this chapter)