You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

child time.

When the sound of the water clock pierced through the heavy palace walls and faintly reached the abandoned southeast garden, it was as if some evil switch had been flipped precisely on time.

The already intense chill and oppression in the world were suddenly torn apart and replaced by a more primal and violent aura.

"Woo-hoo-hoo-!!!" "Roar-hoo-hoo!!!"

Almost simultaneously, several extremely shrill and terrifying roars erupted from the east, west, and north directions of Jinling City.

The sound contained endless pain, madness, and greedy desire, instantly piercing the silence of the night and spreading throughout most of the city.

Immediately following were the deafening crashes of collapsing buildings, the horrified screams of the people, the crackling of flames, and the dense sounds of bones shattering and flesh tearing apart.

The "demon blood" meticulously planned by Yuwen Qing and Liu Daoling was simultaneously "detonated".

Three giant monsters, each with a strength approaching that of a Xiantian martial artist, broke free from their pre-prepared lair and rushed into the nearby streets and alleys, instantly causing immense panic and casualties.

Almost at the same time that the roars of demons echoed outside the city, a strange change occurred inside the palace.

Abandoned garden, Demon-locking well.

Lu Zuo and Liu Gonggong secretly made their way to the shadow of the artificial hill about twenty feet away from the dry well.

Just as midnight arrived, the heavy iron cover over the silent, dry well suddenly shook violently, making a loud clanging sound.

Immediately afterwards, the strange marks drawn with special "magic ink" around the well suddenly lit up with a dark red, evil light.

The light converged and collapsed towards the center of the well, forming a constantly rotating, dark red vortex that exuded a strong aura of blood and resentment.

A blurry figure in red robes, dressed in the attire of a previous dynasty, slowly "emerged" from the vortex.

It is the vengeful spirit of "Consort Duanjing".

At this moment, her figure was more solid than ever before, and the overwhelming resentment and coldness swept through the entire abandoned garden like a real cold wave.

Lu Zuo's eyes narrowed, and he let out a low shout. The true energy of the "Imperial Ultimate World-Suppressing Technique" instantly flowed throughout his body, while he simultaneously activated the "Spiritual Rhinoceros Forging Divine Method" to lock onto the red-clothed evil figure.

The "woman in red" hovered above the vortex at the well's mouth, tilting her head back and letting out a sharp shriek that could pierce eardrums.

With her sharp cry, the dark red vortex at the wellhead suddenly accelerated its rotation, beginning to draw in countless gray-black negative emotions from the depths of the abandoned garden and even the entire palace area.

This is a sign that the "Blood Array of Ten Thousand Spirits" has been activated.

At the same time, the entrance to the underground palace near the abandoned greenhouse of Donghua Gate opened on its own, and a thick, blackish-red mist of blood and evil energy surged out like a volcanic eruption.

Inside the palace, two key nodes of the array were activated simultaneously.

Lu Zuo quickly ordered Eunuch Liu to take people to the underground palace to set up an array to seal off the evil energy, while he stayed behind to deal with the "woman in red".

Eunuch Liu gritted his teeth and accepted the order, then staggered and ran towards the Donghua Gate.

In the abandoned garden, only Lu Zuo and the "woman in red" frantically extracting soul power above the well remained.

A deafening roar and towering flames also came from the direction of the old workshop, along with the faint sounds of clashing internal energy and shouts of battle. Yan Qingfeng and his group had made their move.

Lu Zuo knew he had to interrupt the "woman in red's" ritual and disrupt the key point of the formation.

He took a deep breath, pushed the "Spiritual Rhinoceros Forging Divine Technique" to its limit, and his figure lunged towards the dry well like a gray lightning bolt.

"Demon! Prepare to die!"

Lu Zuo roared, and his right hand wielded a short sword that transformed into a cold light, piercing straight towards the "woman in red" in the chest. The blade was infused with innate true energy and a trace of spatial cutting intent.

The woman in red raised her hand and gently flicked it, and a chilling and powerful evil force repelled Lu Zuo, neutralizing most of the attack attached to his sword.

Lu Zuo used the momentum to flip and land, shooting out several lightning-struck jujube wood nails with his left hand, which pierced into the evil shadow and vortex, emitting blue smoke. The evil creatures let out painful screams, but the damage was limited.

The "woman in red" spread her arms, and her blood-red palace dress transformed into a blood mist that blotted out the sky, enveloping everything. Within the blood mist, countless distorted faces carried mental attacks and corrosive properties.

Lu Zuo maintained his mental clarity and used the Dragon Step to weave through the gaps in the blood mist, but his true energy and spiritual power were rapidly depleted.

His gaze fell upon the "Demon-Locking Well," the well's opening being the connection point between the array's core and the earth's veins. If the well's structure could be destroyed...

A crazy idea popped into my head.

He raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, aiming at the edge of the well. He frantically compressed and poured his true energy into the well, while simultaneously activating the "Void Blade" from the incomplete "Void Seal Technique".

"Feint Blade - Sever!"

A tiny yet incredibly sharp spatial rift silently slashed out, cutting across the edge of the well.

The incredibly hard well edge and the well wall below were smoothly severed, and the remaining force of the "illusory blade" disappeared into the dark red vortex at the wellhead.

The "woman in red" let out a shrill scream, the blood mist contracted violently, her body became extremely unstable, the vortex at the wellhead became chaotic, and the connection with the earth's veins was severely disrupted.

Lu Zuo coughed up blood after unleashing the "Phantom Blade". He collapsed to the ground, completely incapacitated.

The woman in red shrieked with malice, transforming into a bloody light as she lunged at Lu Zuo, her sharp claws piercing straight for his heart.

Just as the claws were about to strike—

"Clang!"

A clear, melodious sword cry rang out from the night sky behind Lu Zuo, and a dazzling, pure silver sword light struck the Blood Shadow.

The woman in red screamed, her afterimage rapidly shrinking back into the whirlpool of the dry well and disappearing.

Lu Zuo turned his head with difficulty and saw three figures dressed in dark, close-fitting outfits and wearing metal masks standing on the broken wall.

Black-Clad Guards!

The leader sheathed his longsword and said, "We have come to protect Your Majesty on the orders of our ancestor. The evil influence in the palace has been temporarily suppressed. Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."

With the help of the elixir, Lu Zuo regained a bit of strength and looked towards the direction of Donghua Gate.

The leader of the Black-Clad Guards said that his colleagues had already dealt with the underground palace, and the most urgent task was to prevent the old master of the array from activating and to kill the "chief priest".

Lu Zuo asked them to escort him to the old town and sent someone to inform Han Lie, the commander of the Golden Scale Guard, to stabilize the defenses.

Two guards in black robes led Lu Zuo away from the palace.

At the same time, chaos erupted completely in Jinling City.

The three-headed demon wreaked havoc, causing heavy casualties to the Five Cities Garrison, and the main forces of the Demon Suppression Division and the Demon-Pacifying Platform were redeployed.

Countless civilians fled and died, and the "Blood Array of Ten Thousand Spirits" frantically absorbed the aura of fear, despair, and death.

In the Prime Minister's residence, Liu Daoling gazed at the flames in the city with a cruel smile.

At the Marshal's Mansion, Yuwen Qing led the Black Armor Cavalry and the Broken Army towards the Imperial City, ostensibly to "purge the court of corrupt officials," but in reality to seize power.

Jiufang, a shantytown in the southwest.

The original courtyard has disappeared, leaving behind a huge pit with a diameter of more than ten zhang and a bottomless depth.

At the bottom of the pit was a pool of viscous, churning dark red blood, and in the center of the pool was an altar made of white bones and flesh.

On the altar, a figure draped in a blood-red robe and with blood-red hair was looking up at the sky with outstretched arms; it was none other than the "Blood Rakshasa".

At the edge of the pit, Yan Qingfeng was covered in blood, his left arm twisted, and he was panting heavily, leaning on a chipped steel knife.

The bodies of two of his colleagues lay beside him, and further away, the bodies of seven or eight "blood slaves" were scattered.

"Scarface" lay in a pool of blood, the "bloodstain" on his chest slowly fading away.

"Insignificant ants... how dare you disturb my altar..." The Blood Rakshasa's voice echoed in everyone's minds, "The blood vengeance of all spirits has gathered, the gate to the sea of ​​blood is about to open. You will be the first sacrifices!"

The pool of blood churned, and countless crimson tentacles lunged toward the edge of the pit.

Two guards in black robes protected Lu Zuo. One of them swung his sword to sever the tentacles, while the other formed a hand seal to create a pale golden protective shield.

Yan Qingfeng was both surprised and worried when he saw Lu Zuo.

Lu Zuo channeled his remaining true energy and proclaimed loudly, "Blood Rakshasa, tonight is your death night!"

Blood Rakshasa slowly turned around, revealing an eerily beautiful face and crimson eyes.

She chuckled softly: "Once my Blood Demon True Form is fully realized, I will become the Heavenly Dao!"

She raised her hand and pressed down lightly, and a huge pillar of blood shot into the sky, shattering the protective barrier and engulfing everyone.

Lu Zuo's vision went black from the impact, two of the black-clad guards were injured, and Yan Qingfeng was thrown into the air.

Blood Rakshasa formed hand seals, and the sky turned dark red as a massive blood cloud vortex slowly took shape, covering the entire city.

"Blood Sacrifice of All Spirits, Gate of the Blood Sea—Open!" she roared to the sky.

Two black-clad guards attempted to attack the altar, but were blocked by the blood wave.

Lu Zuo lay in the blood, his consciousness blurred, enveloped by the coldness of death.

A surge of resentment and anger, originating from the depths of his soul, erupted suddenly.

The dim light of divine thought at the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows burst forth with dazzling golden light, and the fragment of the "Void Seal Technique" in his arms emitted a silver radiance on its own.

A fragmented, forbidden technique surfaced in his mind: using all of one's spiritual power, true energy, and life essence as a guide, drawing upon spatial turbulence to unleash a devastating attack, at the cost of near-death.

Lu Zuo used his last bit of strength to kneel up, placed his hands on his chest, and poured all his will into them according to the incantation.

"I offer the blood of the true dragon, the soul of the Son of Heaven, and the will of the mountains and rivers as a sacrifice... I summon you—Wrath of the Void, to annihilate this fiend! Forbidden Technique: Return to the Void!"

Centered on him, the space within a radius of ten feet underwent a terrifying distortion and collapse, and a thin, twisted spatial rift suddenly formed.

Ignoring the blood pool's obstruction, the rift instantly appeared on Blood Rakshasa's chest and pierced through him.

Blood Rakshasa's body began to disintegrate and dissipate inch by inch from her chest, along with her evil energy, soul, and all connections to the array, turning into nothingness.

"No—!!!" These were the last syllables she uttered in this world.

The Blood Rakshasa has fallen.

Without its core, the "Myriad Spirits Blood Array" collapsed with a roar, the blood clouds in the sky dissipated into blood rain, the blood pool dried up and solidified, and the altar collapsed.

The three demons in the city lost their evil power, and their aura plummeted.

The evil aura within the palace subsided.

The armies of Liu and Yuwen were thrown into brief chaos.

However, at the edge of the old workshop's deep pit.

After Lu Zuo unleashed the "Return to Emptiness" attack, his body fell backward like shattered glass, his life force extremely weak.

The leader of the Black-Clad Guards lunged forward and caught him. After examining him, his face turned extremely grim: his meridians were shattered, his dantian was depleted, his soul was scattered, and his life force could be extinguished at any moment.

Yan Qingfeng struggled to crawl over, his tiger-like eyes filled with tears.

The leader of the Black-Clad Guards picked up Lu Zuo and urgently ordered his companions and Yan Qingfeng: one person should return to the palace to inform Han Lie and the guards to activate the highest level of alert, and the other should try to contact the Demon-Suppressing Platform and the City Defense Division to eliminate the remaining demons and stabilize the situation.

Holding Lu Zuo in his arms, he used his movement technique to its fullest extent and rushed madly towards the palace.

The bloody night seemed to be coming to an end, but the deepest darkness before dawn and the aftermath of the catastrophe were just beginning.

The young emperor sacrificed himself to save the city, but in doing so, he brought himself to the brink of death.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.

This isn't a joke, it's a recommendation for the treasure book "Wandering Among the Heavens as a Tyrant, You Don't Understand My Happiness":

The bloody night seemed to be coming to an end, but the deepest darkness before dawn and the aftermath of the catastrophe were just beginning.

The young emperor sacrificed himself to save the city, but in doing so, he brought himself to the brink of death.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.

The young emperor sacrificed himself to save the city, but in doing so, he brought himself to the brink of death.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.

His fate hung on the faint, dying flame of life and the last vestiges of hope and strength within the deep palace.