Chapter 599: Abyss Palace
You work sixteen or seventeen hours a day, get fed only spoiled food, and when you die you're just thrown into a pit. Trying to escape? The entire plane is under the Nightmare Lord's rule, where do you think you're going?
The tall, thin man lowered his voice as he spoke: "In a place like that, life is worse than death."
The group remained silent for a moment.
"Damn, this trip to escort the blood crystals was tiring, but at least we were alive." A slightly overweight Awakened One rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
"What if our lord fails to conquer the Blue Star plane?" the young awakened one suddenly asked.
No one responded.
After several breaths, the dark-faced man said in a muffled voice, "I'm afraid he's already tied to a pillar, waiting to be 'transformed' by them."
Another silence followed.
"Living is tiring, but it's better than dying." The old soldier patted the truck bed, stood up, and said, "Let's go, deliver the goods quickly, and we can get a hot drink when we get back."
The group fell silent, pushing the carts laden with blood crystals, their feet treading on the broken bricks and blood-soaked ground, towards the supply depot outside the west city.
...
The Blood Abyss Palace's gate is ten meters high and carved from a single piece of obsidian. At this moment, it is half-open, like a giant mouth filled with blood.
Lin Feng walked at the front, followed by a group of core members of the Beacon Fire Territory.
Outside the palace, squads of soldiers were moving back and forth, escorting prisoners and carrying supplies, their commands and the sound of wheels mingling together.
"This Demonic Sect is really good at putting on airs; they even made their main gate look like the entrance to a haunted house."
Iron Dun, carrying the Mountain Shield on his back, looked up at the two huge obsidian doors and kept clicking his tongue, "Who built such eerie doors? People passing by at night have to take a detour."
“What do you know? This is called prestige.” Wang Wu walked beside him with his longbow on his back, glancing at him indifferently. “If you don’t put on a show, how can you intimidate those servants below?”
"What nonsense! In front of our lord, no amount of prestige matters." Tie Dun waved his hand and raised his voice even higher.
“Look at my lord, just two days ago he was fighting a defensive battle at his doorstep, and today he’s already standing right here in the city center.”
"With my current aura, I bet I could slam my fist on the table with a viscount in Eternal Night City, let alone a branch clan."
"You're getting more and more absurd." Jiang Yelan rarely spoke, his tone was cold, "If word gets out that you said something like that, before the lord even slams his fist on the table, you'll be hanging on the city wall first."
Tie Dun shrank back and lowered his voice: "I'm just saying this in front of our own people."
Lin Feng turned around and glanced at them.
"Alright, stop joking around."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
"Taking Blood Nest No. 10 is just the beginning. The main force of the Blood Abyss Demon Sect is still behind."
Lin Feng's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight: "Within three months, we must take over the entire Blood Abyss Plane."
As soon as he said this, everyone looked at him.
"Three months?" Wang Wu frowned. "Lord, isn't that too tight a timeframe? We just broke through Blood Nest No. 10, and the troops need a breather."
“Yes.” Lin Feng nodded. “But we only have three months. Once the seal is broken, the enemy’s Celestial Realm combat power will be fully restored. At that time, the difficulty of advancing will at least double.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces: "So, three months, before they recover their full strength, to finish this war."
There was a moment of silence in front of the hall.
Tie Dun was the first to grin: "Three months? That's enough! Lord, don't worry, even if it's just one month, let alone three months, with you here, we can beat those bastards from the Blood Abyss Demon Sect to a pulp!"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Lin Feng didn't laugh. He reached out and pressed his hand against the palace door, then pushed it open with force.
The heavy obsidian doors slid open slowly to the sides, and a chilling aura emanated from the hall.
The crowd filed in.
The hall is rectangular in shape, with the terrain gradually rising from the entrance, and the seating on both sides ascending the steps in layers.
A wide, longitudinal passageway is left in the center, leading directly to the deepest part of the hall. The main seat is located on a half-person-high stone platform at the deepest part, which is the highest point in the entire hall.
Behind the stone platform, a huge blood-red screen stood silently, with a ferocious beast carved on it. Its ruby eyes gleamed in the darkness, as if looking down on every intruder.
Lin Feng walked up the stone platform step by step along the central passage.
He stopped, turned around, and glanced at the crowd below.
Then he sat down.
"Please sit down." He gestured with his hand.