Chapter 644: Going Back (II)
Black winds howled through the air, whipping up clouds of sand and stone. Within the pitch-black demon god barrier, an elegant middle-aged woman and a vigorous old man followed the trail all the way here.
Standing at the edge of the demonic river, Fifth Elder Woo Jin frowned slightly. "The aura ends here."
Using a secret technique, he had tracked the traces left behind by the bloodline curse all the way to this place. Gazing at the foul, malevolent demonic qi energy flowing through the demonic river, a flicker of disgust flashed across his eyes. Merely standing nearby filled him with an intense sense of revulsion. He could hardly imagine what it would feel like to step inside.
"Are we going in?" asked Woo Tongyu, the woman beside him, raising the one question he least wanted to hear.
She had no idea why the man afflicted with the bloodline curse had entered the demonic river. Still, since he had gone in, they could simply follow and drag him back out. Their strength was more than sufficient. It allowed them to ignore the overwhelming yao will and demonic energy permeating the river.
"No need. We'll wait for him to come out," Woo Jin said, shaking his head.
Inside the demonic river, their secret technique would be heavily suppressed, making it impossible to detect the bloodline curse. Rather than searching blindly within the river, it was far better to wait outside.
After all, once someone had been afflicted by the Woo Family's bloodline curse, there was no hiding their trail. The curse itself had an extraordinary origin. It had been created in ancient times by a powerful expert researching how to fuse the bloodlines of mighty Desolate Beasts with those of humanity.
The bloodline curse was incredibly formidable, capable of invading both the body's bloodline and the very origin of the soul. Removing it was extraordinarily difficult, as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Even Deity Transformation cultivators had to expend tremendous amounts of time and effort to purge it completely, let alone anyone weaker.
Woo Jin refused to believe his target could remain hidden within the demonic river forever. Even someone with strength comparable to a Nascent Soul realm cultivator would not dare stay there for too long.
"I suppose so. But could that person be using the foul energy within the demonic river to wear away the bloodline curse?" Woo Tongyu asked with a frown.
She had heard that yao energy was exceptionally effective at suppressing the Woo Family's bloodline curse.
"Heh, impossible. Unless he's tired of living and wants to become a mindless demon puppet that knows nothing but slaughter, there's no way he'll completely erase the bloodline curse," Woo Jin replied with a dismissive sneer.
As an elder of the Woo Family, Woo Jin understood the bloodline curse better than anyone. The Woo Family's bloodline curse fused directly into its victim's bloodline. To remove it, one either needed heaven-defying means to cleanse every trace of bloodline energy within the body, or replace the bloodline entirely.
Beyond infiltrating the bloodline, the curse could also invade the origin of the soul within the sea of consciousness and lie dormant there. Extracting it from the soul's origin required astonishing attainments in the art of the soul, to an almost unimaginable degree.
"Very well. Then we'll wait. I'd like to see exactly who had the audacity to lay a hand on the Woo Family's prodigy." Woo Tongyu's voice turned icy as a cold glint flashed through her eyes.
The black wind howled relentlessly. The two remained quietly outside the demonic river, periodically using their secret technique to search for the aura of the bloodline curse. Yet their target seemed to have vanished from the face of the world. After entering the river, he never emerged again.
"Strange... What's that fellow doing in the demonic river for so long? Could there be some hidden secret inside?" Woo Tongyu asked, her brows knitting together.
"That's actually possible," Woo Jin replied after a moment's thought.
With the invasion of the demon realm, the erosion of yao will and demonic qi could expose hidden secret realms, ancient ruins, and even the entrances to blessed grotto-heavens. The chances of such a thing happening, however, were vanishingly small.
But the great calamity of heaven and earth was drawing near. In its effort to save itself, the will of the Heavenly Dao was subtly influencing the world, causing ancient ruins and secret realms to emerge one after another and creating opportunities for cultivation. If that were truly the case, then even the most infinitesimal possibility could become a certainty.
As the two conversed through voice transmission, a faint ripple spread across the surface of the demonic river several kilometers away. It was so subtle that neither the nearby yao nor the cultivators noticed it.
Lin Zheyu stepped out of the river and flew straight into the air. Concealed by the Heaven-Deceiving Art, while his divine patterns absorbed demonic qi and condensed it into yao energy as camouflage, his presence was nearly impossible to detect.
Just as Lin Zheyu's figure blurred and shot toward the edge of the demon god barrier, he suddenly paused. Two familiar yet well-concealed auras entered the range of his perception.
"Hm? Those two... experts from the Woo Family? Impressive. They actually managed to track me all the way here." Looking down at the pair below, Lin Zheyu's lips spread into a faint smile.
What uncouth brutes. What good is all that strength? The person you're looking for is right here, and yet you can't even find him. Truly uncouth. Uncouth to the core... Lin Zheyu mocked inwardly.
From his perception, both of them harbored a terrifying power that made even Lin Zheyu's heart skip a beat. They were undoubtedly formidable. Then again, that only made sense. Whoever had been able to kill both Woo Yiyan and Woo Shuo, while leaving Woo Yiyan's many secret treasures unused, was clearly an exceptionally powerful foe. If the Woo Family had sent anyone too weak after such a person, they would simply have been throwing their lives away.
Woo Jin suddenly spun toward Lin Zheyu's direction and shouted in a low voice, "Hm? Who's there?"
A powerful phantom fist blasted forth in an instant, tearing through the spot where Lin Zheyu had been only a moment before.
So it's a martial artist's instinctive sense for danger? As expected of someone comparable to a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. He does have some skill. Not quite as uncouth as I imagined... Lin Zheyu silently remarked as he materialized from the void some distance away.
Just now, he had inadvertently let slip a trace of killing intent toward the pair below, and Woo Jin and Woo Tongyu had sensed it. That was all. After quietly shifting to another location, Lin Zheyu watched as Woo Jin continued staring at his previous position with eyes wide in fury, an overwhelming killing intent erupting from his body. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought a terrifying expert was truly hiding there.
How boring. I can't beat them yet, so I'll be off. Once I've broken another two shackles, I'll come back and have some fun with you, Lin Zheyu thought to himself. His figure flickered and vanished from where he stood.
The black wind howled past, making Woo Jin's robes snap noisily. His expression remained grim as killing intent poured from him, his eyes fixed on the spot where Lin Zheyu had first revealed himself. The power of his bloodline churned within him, and his blood qi rumbled like thunder. Yet no matter how he probed, the hidden expert refused to show himself, leaving Woo Jin looking more than a little awkward.
"Was someone really there?" Woo Tongyu asked quietly after a moment's hesitation. She was somewhat weaker than Woo Jin and had sensed nothing unusual at all.
"Yes! Just now, I felt a warning from my instincts. Someone hidden in the darkness directed killing intent at me!" Woo Jin replied solemnly.
He did not believe it had been an illusion. At his level of strength, there was no such thing as a false warning.
"Could it have been the one who killed Yan'er?" Woo Tongyu's expression turned serious.
Her hands quickly formed seals as she activated a secret technique to sense the aura of the bloodline curse. Yet she detected nothing whatsoever.
"No. He didn't carry the aura of the bloodline curse," Woo Jin said gravely.
That was what truly concerned him. It was not the person they were hunting, yet this mysterious individual had still directed killing intent at him. Woo Jin suspected it might be an old enemy from his past who had resurfaced.