Chapter Fifty-Six: Mastery Over the Divine

A faint stirring rose in Chen Jiu’s heart. For reasons he could not explain, he felt an inexplicable attraction to that withered figure—almost as if something of utmost importance was drawing him near. Yet the impulse lasted but a fleeting instant before he ruthlessly suppressed it. Now that the Worm Master was dead, it was time to leave this wretched place.

“Fellow Daoist, since we’ve already slain the Worm Master, I suggest we make our way home,” Chen Jiu proposed. At the same time, his gaze swept over the corpse lying on the ground, and a thought flickered in his mind: the cloth pouch at the Worm Master’s waist, brimming with bizarre insects, might prove a valuable treasure.

Without hesitation, Chen Jiu shifted from palm to claw. Channeling his spiritual power, he unleashed a sudden force of attraction that drew the pouch from the corpse’s belt straight to his hand.

Su Jiu paid his actions no heed. Though he had killed the Worm Master himself and Chen Jiu had played no part, he had no interest in that insect-filled relic, nor did he have any use for it. “Now that you’ve claimed your prize, our journey hasn’t been in vain. Let’s take our leave,” Su Jiu said, casting a deep, lingering look at the blood-red hall and the shriveled figure before retreating.

Chen Jiu was already eager to depart, so he nodded slightly and made his way toward the teleportation array through which they had come.

But at that moment, disaster struck.

A streak of blood-red light shot from the depths of the hall, twisting through the air before plunging straight into the distant array. In an instant, the light exploded, utterly destroying the formation.

Chen Jiu’s face drained of color and his heart plummeted. “It seems that entity has no intention of letting us leave…” Su Jiu remarked coolly, though his voice betrayed neither fear nor panic.

“Flesh… I want flesh… Give me blood and souls…” Suddenly, a horrible sound—like the bellows of a forge—howled in their ears, grating and unbearable.

Chen Jiu readied himself for battle. Should the Blood Demon break free, neither of them stood a chance against such a fiend. After all, the creature had been sealed away in this hidden underground chamber rather than destroyed—clearly for a reason. The great formation containing it suggested that, at the height of its power, the Blood Demon had been at least the equal of a second-tier immortal of the human race. In the worst-case scenario, it might even rival the top cultivators of the third tier…

A chill ran down Chen Jiu’s spine, and all curiosity about the Blood Demon vanished at once.

Suddenly, Su Jiu’s robe billowed as though filled with a fierce wind. “Come to me quickly!” he shouted to Chen Jiu. From his sleeve, a jade talisman flew forth, radiant with golden light, floating up and down.

As a wave of spatial power slowly rippled outward, Chen Jiu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be—a spatial transference talisman?

Such a device, capable of transporting its user across space, was far beyond the means of ordinary cultivators. At the very least, there was none to be found in the “C Building” or “D Building” markets…

He sprang to Su Jiu’s side just as the demonic voice echoed once more from the hall: “To think there are still Chen clan remnants in this world! Prepare to die!”

No sooner had the chilling words fallen than a blood-red radiance flared from the hall, transforming into countless bloodied hands that shot toward Chen Jiu with terrifying speed.

“Hurry up!” Chen Jiu urged.

Su Jiu’s expression was grave as he pressed his fingers to the jade talisman. With a resonant hum, a ring of golden light surged forth; the talisman gleamed ever brighter. Immediately, the space around them began to distort, and Chen Jiu’s form grew insubstantial.

At last, escape seemed within reach—or so Chen Jiu thought.

But fate is ever unpredictable. Just as their bodies were about to vanish completely, a blood-soaked hand exploded from the ground beneath Chen Jiu’s feet, clamping around his ankle like an iron vise.

Chen Jiu’s face contorted in alarm, and without hesitation he slashed down with his flying sword.

The blade rang out as it struck, leaving only the faintest mark on the blood hand—barely a scratch.

Meanwhile, Su Jiu, with a look of utter shock, vanished from sight as the teleportation completed.

Chen Jiu, pinned fast by the blood hand, was left behind, unable to escape.

Despair welled up within him. But as wave upon wave of blood hands closed in from all sides, he dared not falter. With a breath, he spat forth the Azure Lotus Platform, which spun into a blossom of petals to shield him within.

One after another, the blood hands pounded mercilessly against the lotus, sending ripples of green light shimmering outward.

Chen Jiu’s face darkened. The Blood Demon was clearly bent on keeping him here.

Moments later, as though the demon’s strength had waned, the surrounding hands slowly faded and vanished. Silence returned.

From the blood-stained hall, thick crimson liquid flowed, trickling down from the high eaves to spatter on the ground.

The two stone lions at the entrance glowed with a baleful red light, and the bright, dazzling lanterns now flickered a deep scarlet. The entire hall exuded a chilling, sinister air.

“What is it you want?” Chen Jiu cried in anger.

The red lanterns swayed, their light flickering, and a demonic wind carried a voice to his ears: “Wasn’t your Chen clan once glorious? Not only did you capture me, but you enslaved my kin… Now you have been wiped out—ha! Poetic justice!”

These were stories Chen Jiu had never heard, yet the words struck him like a storm.

The Chen clan? Wiped out?

Could it be that those with the “Heaven’s Eye” had once formed a true family lineage? If so, were his birth parents also “Heaven’s Eye” bearers? And where were they now?

Why had the Chen clan been exterminated?

One question after another flashed through his mind.

“How do you know I possess the ‘Heaven’s Eye’?” Chen Jiu forced himself to remain calm.

Though trapped, he was not yet without hope. The Blood Demon spoke only through the hall’s echoes, never appearing in person—proof it was still bound. Its attacks, fierce as they seemed, had failed to breach his Azure Lotus Platform. All signs pointed to the demon’s continued imprisonment.

Clutching his sword pouch tightly, Chen Jiu stayed alert for any movement.

Sure enough, after a moment, the Blood Demon’s voice returned, brimming with hatred: “Because that wretch back then branded me with the Soul Control Seal. As long as a Chen clan member with the Heaven’s Eye approaches, I can sense it!”

Chen Jiu’s expression shifted.

The Soul Control Seal? What was that?

Inside Chen Jiu’s “Heaven’s Eye” was a space containing a stone stele inscribed with the “Heaven’s Eye Divine Ability” and eight mysterious runes. To unlock new powers, he needed to perform the Soul Control Technique and harvest more souls…

Indeed, the Soul Control Technique was the greatest power of the “Heaven’s Eye.”

Chen Jiu did not withdraw the Lotus Platform; instead, he held it in his palm as he approached the hall’s entrance.

If the Blood Demon truly bore the Soul Control Seal, perhaps there was a way to use his own “Heaven’s Eye” to his advantage…

The thought emboldened him. Was the Blood Demon truly so foolish as to reveal its weakness before him?

Surely it must know that the “Heaven’s Eye” could command souls through the Soul Control Technique…