Immortal Martial Emperor

In the desert, the night was bleak and desolate.

But this brightly lit town was like a dazzling pearl in the darkness.

The town wasn’t small by any means; in fact, it was a decent size, capable of housing twenty to thirty thousand people.

But when Hong Yu entered, he found the entire town eerily quiet.

Though every house was brightly lit, not a single person was in sight.

The entire town was deathly still; the silence was terrifying.

Hong Yu couldn’t help but frown as he walked along the town’s streets.

The main street, which ran from one end of the town to the other, remained completely deserted. Hong Yu had no choice but to approach the houses on either side and push open their doors.

The doors were all ajar. The interiors were spotless, clearly cleaned often.

But there was still not a soul to be found.

A sense of unease crept over Hong Yu. He pushed open a dozen more doors, and the scene inside was identical every time. They were clean, and some even had steaming hot food on the dining tables, yet there was still no one there.

’Strange. This food was clearly cooked just a short while ago. Where did the owners go?’ Hong Yu wondered.

Just then, he suddenly heard a faint noise in the distance.

"Hm?"

Hong Yu’s eyes shifted, and he silently followed the sound.

In an alley at the edge of town, three mysterious figures in blood-red robes were swinging long iron chains they held in their hands.

The chains flew through the air, leaving deep gashes in the ground with every strike.

"BOOM!"

A chain smashed down, and the ground split open, revealing a cellar-like space.

"JIE JIE JIE, so you were hiding here!"

One of the blood-robed figures cackled piercingly.

"N-No..."

"You Demons, get away! Don’t come over here..."

"Please, let us go! You’ve already taken everyone else in our town. These few children are our last hope. I’m begging you, let them go..."

A white-haired old man pleaded desperately.

Behind him were about thirty young boys and girls. The oldest was no more than eleven or twelve, while the youngest was still a swaddled infant.

But the blood-robed figure just snorted coldly. "Enough of your crap. Get the hell out here."

"Please, don’t..."

The old man wailed in anguish.

An impatient look crossed the blood-robed figure’s face. As he stepped forward to drag the children out by force, the old man scrambled to hug his leg, screaming at the children behind him, "Run! All of you, run!"

"Old Town Head..."

"No! Please, spare the Old Town Head..."

The children cried and pleaded.

The blood-robed figure snorted again. "Damn it, you shameless old bastard." As soon as the words left his mouth, he whipped the bloody chain in his hand, wrapping it around the old man’s neck. With a flick of his arm, the chain severed the old man’s head, sending it flying high into the air.

Blood gushed like a fountain.

Seeing this, the young boys and girls let out screams of terror and grief.

The blood-robed figure, however, was as indifferent as if it were a common sight. He coldly ordered the other two, "Drag these little bastards out. Senior Brother Qi is getting impatient!"

"Alright!"

The two blood-robed figures immediately moved forward.

The dozens of children tried to resist, but how could they be a match for these remorseless killers?

In a few swift moves, the two subdued them. They wrapped chains around the children’s necks and dragged the thirty or so of them out of the cellar.

"WAAH! WAAH!"

The swaddled infant was crying.

One of the blood-robed figures’ faces turned cold. "Damn thing, what’s all the noise about?"

With that, he waved his hand, and a powerful suction force surged out, pulling the infant into his grasp.

"JIE JIE JIE, a three-month-old baby boy? Such fresh Essence Blood. Senior Brother Qi will definitely like this! JIE JIE JIE..."

Then, the three mysterious, blood-robed men left with the group of children.

Watching the entire process from the shadows, Hong Yu frowned slightly. ’Just who are these people? From the looks of it, everyone in this town was captured by them and sent to that Senior Brother Qi?’

Puzzled, Hong Yu decided to follow them and see.

It wasn’t just to get to the bottom of things; if the situation allowed, he wanted to save those children.

The three mysterious men in blood robes walked quickly. When the boys and girls behind them couldn’t keep up, they were dragged along the ground like corpses.

The path was marked with the scuffs and scrapes left by the struggling children.

After walking for a full hour and a half, they finally arrived before a sand dune.

"We’re finally here. With these few, we’ve gathered exactly twenty thousand people. It should be enough for Senior Brother Qi’s Blood Demon Scripture to reach the next level!" one of them said.

Another one nodded. "Senior Brother Qi is already ranked seventh among the Eight Great True Dragons of the Ice Kingdom. Once his Blood Demon Scripture breaks through this time, he’ll be able to advance to the Primordial Embryo Realm. With his talent as a Second Transformation Heavenly True Dragon, once he reaches the Primordial Embryo Realm, besides that dame from the Xu Family, the Royal Family’s Crown Prince from the Han Yi Sect, and Second Senior Brother, only our First Senior Brother will be able to suppress him!"

"JIE JIE JIE, at that point, our Blood Demon Palace will hold three of the top four True Dragon seats."

The three conversed as they crossed over the sand dune.

Hong Yu waited a moment for them to leave before following, silently concealing himself atop the dune and peering inside.

When he saw the scene behind the sand dune, even with his mental fortitude, he couldn’t help but tremble.

This long stretch of dunes had actually been excavated by hand.

It formed an oval-shaped basin in the center of the dune range.

In the middle of this basin was a blood-colored altar, built entirely from a mountain of piled-up corpses. Judging by its size, it must have been made from the bodies of at least ten thousand people.

At the center of the corpse altar, flickers of bloody light could be seen.

This bloody light came from a pool stained red with blood—a Blood Pool.

Around the altar stood rows of stone pillars, and tied to each one was a naked figure.

Every one of them was completely bound and unable to move.

However, two tubes were inserted into the soles of their feet, from which thick blood flowed out and into the Blood Pool, which emanated a bloody glow and a foul Evil Qi.

Once their bodies were drained of blood, the Blood Robe Powerhouses would take their corpses down from the pillars and toss them onto the nearby altar.

Then they would tie a new, living person to the pillar and repeat the bloodletting process.

"A Soul-Refining Blood Pool?"

Little One’s surprised voice echoed in Hong Yu’s mind.

Hong Yu asked, "What’s a Soul-Refining Blood Pool?"

Little One explained, "There are all sorts of strange Cultivation Techniques in this world. Some are known as heretical and demonic arts. They are incredibly powerful, sometimes even stronger than orthodox Cultivation Methods, and allow for rapid advancement in one’s cultivation. However, because their cultivation process is extremely vicious, they are classified as heretical."

"This Soul-Refining Blood Pool is one of them."

Little One clicked its tongue. "A Soul-Refining Blood Pool has nine Levels. The first Level is a thousand-person Blood Pool, the second is a ten-thousand-person Blood Pool, and the highest Level is a hundred-million-person Blood Pool. That is, a Soul-Refining Blood Pool created from the blood of a hundred million people. Legend has it that a Blood Demon Venerable once used a hundred-million-person Blood Pool to achieve his Venerable status. The one before you should be a second-Level, ten-thousand-person Blood Pool!"

’Using mortal blood to increase one’s cultivation?’

Hong Yu gasped.

A hundred million living souls... even if they were just lined up in front of him to be killed, it would still take a very, very long time.

That Blood Demon Venerable actually sacrificed a hundred million living beings, draining their blood just to break through to a higher Cultivation Realm?

"Hong Yu, if it’s possible, you should seize this Soul-Refining Blood Pool!" Little One said.

Hong Yu was taken aback. "Seize it?"

"That’s right! You’re unwilling to slaughter innocents to gather Essence Blood for Xingtian’s breakthrough, but this is a ready-made Blood Pool!"

Seeing Hong Yu’s hesitation, Little One tried to coax him, "Think about it. All these people were killed by those bastards. If you kill them, you’ll be avenging the innocent. And revenge naturally comes with rewards. Besides, it’s a waste to just leave this Soul-Refining Blood Pool here. Why not use it to help Xingtian improve his strength..."

Little One’s words did make some sense.

After all, Blood Ginseng Fruit was far too difficult to find. Even with the power of the Underground Alliance, there was no guarantee they could locate any.

Xingtian’s awakening and breakthrough seemed a long way off.

This was a godsend, arriving just when it was needed most.

But...

Hong Yu had his own principles. These people had died innocent, wrongful deaths, and those Blood Robe Powerhouses certainly deserved to die. But he would never absorb the power of this Soul-Refining Blood Pool himself.

Otherwise, wouldn’t that make him no better than those mysterious, blood-robed men?

Shaking his head, Hong Yu said flatly, "I will certainly help avenge them, but I will absolutely not take this Soul-Refining Blood Pool!"

"But..."

Little One tried to persuade him further, but Hong Yu waved his hand, cutting it off.

He then scanned the basin, searching for the group of children.

Nearly all the townspeople were already dead; only those few dozen children were still alive.

Suddenly, Hong Yu’s eyes narrowed. He had finally spotted the three men from before.

They were leading the thirty-odd children to a young man who was enveloped in a dense, bloody light. The three said something to him, then handed over the wailing infant they were holding.

’This must be that Senior Brother Qi!’ Hong Yu murmured to himself.

Just as he was pondering how to rescue the innocent children, his eyes suddenly locked on the scene, and a furious killing intent erupted from within him.

Down in the basin, the man, Senior Brother Qi, had a savage, blood-soaked glow on his face. He grabbed the swaddled infant’s arms and legs, lifting it high in front of his chest.

Senior Brother Qi licked the corners of his lips with a scarlet tongue. A hideous expression crossed his face as he let out a "JIE JIE" laugh and opened his crimson mouth.

A row of pearly-white, sinister teeth glinted with a cold light.

His eyes glowed with a bloody light as he prepared to bite down on the neck of the three-month-old infant.

If that bite landed, the baby would surely die.

To treat a swaddled infant with such cruelty—this had crossed Hong Yu’s bottom line.

He snorted coldly. A powerful fluctuation of Primordial Gang surged from his body as he leaped into the air. He instantly unleashed Gale Fury, shooting toward Senior Brother Qi like a bolt of lightning.

His movement was accompanied by a furious roar that rolled like thunder...

"You animal, stop!"