Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

The sound of bones breaking was particularly jarring in the silent pile of rubble.

Chu Chang lay amidst the cold rubble, the gruesome sword wound on his chest almost cleaving him in two. Dark red blood mixed with golden fragments of true essence gushed out, staining the rocks beneath him mottled and fragmented.

The light of the Purple Mansion Dao Embryo was dim, and its meridians were in a state of disrepair.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of footsteps, at this moment, was like the death knell, slowly echoing through the canyon.

Lin Wuwen, carrying a blood-red demon sword and followed by two ferocious-looking blood demon puppets, walked step by step with a cruel and mocking smile on his lips.

"Chu Chang, your struggle has truly amazed me."

Lin Wuwen's voice was cold and calm, "With your cultivation at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm, you actually managed to destroy one of my demonic puppets. But, this ends here. Your true essence is exhausted; you can't even stand up now, can you?"

Looking at Lin Wuwen, who was only a dozen feet away from him, Chu Chang took a deep breath, a hint of extreme madness and restraint flashing deep in his eyes.

Can't do it?

"System, activate the [Slide Tackle] skill!"

Chu Chang let out a heart-wrenching roar.

boom!

Just as Lin Wuwen was about to raise the demonic sword in his hand and completely end Chu Chang's life, Chu Chang's body suddenly slammed against the ground at an extremely strange angle that defied the laws of physics.

Instead of retreating, he moved along the rocky slope, his entire body like a golden fish swimming at lightning speed on ice, shoveling through the gap between Lin Wuwen's crotch and the two demonic puppets' defenses at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye!

"What?!"

Lin Wuwen felt a blur before his eyes as a faint yet incredibly gentle pure yang wind swept past his feet.

When he suddenly turned around and slashed down with the demonic sword, all that remained on the spot was a trail of rubble that had been forcibly torn apart.

Chu Chang's body, aided by the terrifying absolute speed of the [Slide Tackle] ability, instantly slid over a hundred feet away. Even as he rose, he used the momentum to transform into a streak of light, frantically fleeing towards another exit of the canyon!

"How is this possible?! What kind of movement technique is that?!"

Lin Wuwen's refined face instantly turned into an extremely ferocious expression. How could a cultivator who was clearly on the verge of death and whose bones were shattered possibly use such a bizarre and fast movement technique that even he couldn't react to?

"You little bastard! You can't get away!"

Lin Wuwen roared in exasperation, his figure transforming into a crimson streak as he frantically chased after it.

"Huff... huff..."

The wind howled past my ears like a knife.

While frantically urging the last bit of true essence remaining in his body to maintain his escape light, Chu Chang kept taking out healing herbs from his storage bag. He swallowed them whole without even chewing them, using his "Taiyin Taiyang Chaos Body" to forcibly transform the medicinal power into a few strands of cool vitality, barely sustaining his crumbling body.

However, while the [slide tackle] ability helped him avoid a fatal blow, it couldn't conjure up magic power out of thin air.

The price of his forced breakout was that blood gushed from his wounds again, and even his vision began to blur and overlap.

"You little beast, stay here!"

Behind them, Lin Wuwen's furious roar grew closer and closer.

"Blood Curtain Seals the Heavens, Nine Netherworld Barrier!"

To prevent Chu Chang from using that strange movement technique again, Lin Wuwen bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The essence of blood swelled in mid-air, transforming into a thick, viscous blood mist that surpassed Chu Chang at an alarming speed. It then transformed into a massive, blood-red, hemispherical bowl that descended from the sky, completely sealing off the surrounding area for miles.

Bang!

Chu Chang crashed headfirst into the blood-red light barrier, which was as hard as iron. He was bounced back and fell heavily to the ground.

He struggled to stand up, but at that moment, a parched, excruciating pain shot through his dantian.

The meridians were completely empty, and not even a trace of true essence could be squeezed out.

"Thump."

Chu Chang collapsed to the ground, his clothes soaked with cold sweat and blood, as the scene before him gradually faded into darkness.

He was completely exhausted.

Lin Wuwen landed gracefully in front of him, his face somewhat gloomy, clearly indicating that the journey and the use of barriers had taken a toll on him.

Looking at Chu Chang, who was lying on the ground panting like a dead dog, Lin Wuwen sneered and slowly sheathed his demonic sword.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you."

Lin Wuwen used his toes to lift Chu Chang's chin, and looking at Chu Chang's still cold and unyielding eyes, a burning greed flashed in his eyes.

"Your physical body is simply the most perfect creation I have ever seen. Not only does it contain pure Yang energy, but it also faintly possesses a supreme law that even I cannot fathom. I happen to be lacking some powerful puppets. If I were to refine you into a 'Blood Yang Demon Puppet,' I am even confident that I could ambush and kill a late-stage Purple Mansion Realm expert!"

Lin Wuwen reached out and placed dozens of restrictions on Chu Chang's body, completely sealing Chu Chang's meridians and divine sense.

Then, he picked up Chu Chang like he was carrying trash, and with the remaining two demonic puppets, he transformed into a streak of bloody light and flew towards a secluded, desolate mountain behind the Divine Sword Sect.

About half an hour later.

Chu Chang slightly opened his eyes amidst the violent jolts.

He found himself led by Lin Wuwen into an extremely secluded underground cave.

The air here was filled with a nauseating stench, and the walls were lit by eerie green lamps, which made every inch of the stone wall look like the deepest hell.

In the very center of the cave, there is a huge stone pool with a diameter of about five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

The pool was not filled with water, but with a thick, dark red liquid.

Huge bubbles kept rising and bursting on the surface of the liquid, releasing a ghastly green toxic mist.

What's even more chilling is that the bottom of the pool is piled with countless skeletons, including those of cultivators and mortals, and even countless limbs that are not yet completely decomposed are floating in it.

This is the "Myriad Spirits Blood Marrow Pool" that Lin Wuwen used to refine the Blood Fiend Demon Puppet!

"For this pool of 'Myriad Spirits' Blood Essence,' I secretly captured tens of thousands of mortals and thousands of cultivators, and it took me ten years to successfully concoct it." Lin Wuwen stood by the pool, a fanatical smile on his face. "Chu Chang, it is your honor to be the main ingredient in this pool!"

After saying that, Lin Wuwen picked up Chu Chang and, without the slightest hesitation, threw him directly into the medicinal pool that was churning with poisonous mist and demonic blood.

Pfft!

The moment Chu Chang fell into the pool, the viscous, dark red liquid seemed to come alive, frantically drilling into his body through his mouth, nose, wounds, and even pores.

"ah!!!"

Even with Chu Chang's iron will, he couldn't help but let out a painful scream at this moment.

The pain was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

It wasn't a simple tearing of flesh; it was as if millions of highly venomous insects were simultaneously gnawing at his bone marrow, and countless vengeful spirits were frantically tearing at his soul!

"Hahahaha! Struggle! Suffer! The more you suffer, the stronger your resentment, the more powerful the demonic puppet you create will be!"

Lin Wuwen laughed wildly by the pool, then sat down cross-legged and began to form extremely complex blood-red hand seals with his hands, which he then cast into the medicinal pool.

As the hand seals were integrated, the pool water boiled even more violently, and streaks of blood-red demonic patterns began to spread across Chu Chang's skin, attempting to erase his consciousness and seize control of his body.

pain.

Boundless suffering.

Chu Chang felt his consciousness being swallowed by an endless darkness.

Every moment, countless wronged souls who had died tragically at the hands of the Xiao family and Lin Wuwen echoed in his ears with mournful curses and wails, trying to drag him into this abyss of no return.

"Are you going to give up?"

"Just like that, he became a soulless killing machine?"

"No... absolutely not!"

Chu Chang let out a deafening roar from the depths of his heart.

"My constitution is special; how dare these mere demons and heretics presume to refine me?!"

At this critical juncture of life and death, Chu Chang's previously dormant extreme yang constitution, which had been sealed in his meridians, was intensely stimulated by the demonic poison and finally began to instinctively resist.

He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his teeth so hard that he even broke his gums, and blood mixed with demonic blood flowed down.

Lin Wuwen's restriction sealed off the flow of his true essence, but it could not seal off the fundamental nature of his physique!

"Chaos arises, heaven and earth reverse! Refine!"

Chu Chang's consciousness desperately guarded the last vestige of clarity in his mind.

He began to actively release his body's defenses, allowing the essence of all spirits to flow into his bone marrow and flesh.

Lin Wuwen thought that Chu Chang had given up resistance, and a look of joy appeared on his face, but the next moment, his expression changed.

Because he discovered that Chu Chang's body did not begin to wither and become demonized like ordinary demonic puppets, but instead emitted an extremely mysterious gray light.

Wherever the gray light passed, the violent demonic energy and sinister resentment within the blood essence of all spirits were forcibly stripped away, turning into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into the air. Meanwhile, the pure energy contained within, condensed from countless rare treasures and the life essence of cultivators, was greedily absorbed and transformed by Chu Chang's body.

He was using Lin Wuwen's medicinal pool to heal his injuries!

He is using Lin Wuwen's resources to hone his physical abilities!

"This...how is this possible?!"

Lin Wuwen suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

He could feel that the corpse control mark he had implanted into Chu Chang's body melted away completely the moment it touched the gray light, just like ice and snow melting away.

Not only was Chu Chang not refined, but his aura began to recover at a strange speed, even becoming more profound and terrifying.

"Damn it! What kind of monstrous physique does this little beast have? It can even purify the Myriad Spirits Blood Marrow Pool?"

Beside the stone pool, Lin Wuwen's refined face was already distorted beyond recognition.

He stared intently at Chu Chang, who was emitting a faint gray light in the black and red liquid, and the horror in his eyes gradually turned into ruthlessness.

He cannot tolerate any factor that is out of his control.

"Hmph, I'd like to see how long your physical body can hold out!"

Lin Wuwen snorted coldly and suddenly patted the storage bag at his waist.

In an instant, dozens of white bone jade bottles carved with skull patterns flew out.

Lin Wuwen formed a sword with his fingers and slashed through the air. The jade bottles shattered, revealing the highly poisonous liquids inside, which ranged in color from dark green and deep purple to pitch black.

These are all highly poisonous magical medicines that he has spent decades collecting, such as "Nine Netherworld Bone-Corroding Poison" and "Ten Thousand Calamities Soul-Devouring Powder," each drop of which can turn an ordinary Purple Mansion Realm cultivator into a thick liquid.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

As these highly toxic potions were poured out, the already churning "Pool of Myriad Spirits' Blood and Marrow" instantly turned into a strange dark purple, as viscous as silt.

The violent and insidious demonic laws intertwined in the pool water, transforming into illusory, blood-red vengeful ghosts that frantically burrowed into Chu Chang's seven orifices.

In the pool, Chu Chang was deeply shaken.

The moment these highly toxic potions were added, his meridians, which had just begun to show signs of improvement, were once again wracked with burning pain.

"No... continuing this direct confrontation will be extremely disadvantageous for me!"

Chu Chang calmly analyzed the situation in his mind.

His extremely yang constitution is indeed the nemesis of these insidious and poisonous drugs.

Given enough time, he could grind down and refine the medicinal properties in the pool little by little, like a millstone, and turn them into his own.

However, Lin Wuwen, a demon in the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion Realm, was guarding the pool!

If he showed too much resistance and demonstrated any ability to purify the medicinal pool, Lin Wuwen would definitely spare no effort to personally kill him on the spot.

With his true essence not yet fully recovered and his physical body severely injured, he had no chance of winning against a crazed mid-stage Purple Mansion demonic cultivator.

"In that case, let's feign weakness and use their strategy against them!"

A resolute glint flashed in Chu Chang's eyes.