Chapter 348: The First Drop of Blood!
The top powerhouses of the Nine Hells fell silent, their gaze deep and turbulent as they watched the clash of these two rulers in the Genesis Spirit Realm, their hearts awash with undercurrents. Especially notable were the Primeval Demon Hell and the Endless Netherworld!
These two hells had yet to declare their stances when the Wick Devil made his move against the Reverie Abyss, sending a clear warning. This left the land demon and Yin Devils in a complex state of mind.
BOOM! The Yang Devil's combat style was brutish and fierce, and with the addition of the Dragon Wick Seal, the Wick Devil gained the upper hand almost immediately.
"If this were the sea, you might stand a chance against me. But on land, what hope do you have?" the Wick Devil sneered. His Yang Devil blood art conjured a world ablaze with a blood-red inferno!
BOOM! The land trembled and cracked under the suppression of the Dragon Wick Seal!
The Talisman Emperor deployed a barrier technique to contain the commotion, lest it be heard from the distant Eight Trigrams arena.
BUZZ! The Siren Empress summoned a tri-colored tidal wave, forming a vast sea orb.
With her formidable physical strength, she initially withstood the Wick Devil's assault. But soon, the blood-red flames overwhelmed the tri-colored tide, and the Dragon Wick Seal descended from the heavens, nearly shattering the Siren Empress's spine!
The Wick Devil was a whole stage above her!
The Siren Empress's defeat was unsurprising to all.
BOOM! The Dragon Wick Seal left her bloodied, her arms nearly broken, hanging by threads of flesh.
"Your bones aren't so tough, are they?" The Wick Devil's wicked laughter filled the air as he grasped the Siren Empress by the neck, lifting her for all to see.
Pale-faced yet with a fiery gaze, the Siren Empress retorted coldly, "What's there to be proud of? You couldn't defeat me in the Reverie Abyss."
"Ha ha" The Wick Devil chuckled, conjuring the Blood Oath Curse in his other hand.
"Your Exile Yun will thank you for this first drop of blood essence."
As expected, despite the Siren Empress's resistance, the Wick Devil proceeded to forcibly draw her blood!
SIZZLE! SIZZLE! SIZZLE! The Blood Oath Curse, like a crimson beast, latched onto the Siren Empress, drawing out her life force amidst her tremors!
The Wick Devil's sneer was a cold slap to the face of any woman in power, questioning their sense with a scorn that could freeze hellfire.
"What good does it do you to grovel before that fiend, Yun Xiao?" he jeered, his words a thunderbolt that left not just the Siren Empress but the Phoenix Empress stung by its venom. This was his brutal way of teaching a lesson, a warning to all who dared to cross him.
The Siren Empress, battered and bruised, was caught by her kin, barely clinging to life. Tears glistened in the eyes of her people, but she silenced their cries for vengeance with a weary shake of her head. In that moment, they knew the folly of rash action.
In the eerie silence that followed, the Wick Devil wielded the forming Blood Oath Curse with a grin that could curdle blood, his voice cutting through the air like a knife, I believe the rest of you have more sense than to waste your blood in vain. So, make it quick! he commanded, and the merfolk, with eyes red as the deepest sea, had no choice but to comply, their pride bleeding away with each drop.
"Now, that's more like it. With this blood, we're all brothers of the Nine Hells, no need for roughhousing." The Wick Devil laughed, a sound as grating as the scraping of bones.
With no one to stop the Blood Oath Curse from reaching its vile fruition, the atmosphere shifted, heavy with despair. The Yin Devils of the Endless Netherworld felt the chill of their own hell, and the Primeval Demon Hell's denizens found a twisted purity in the ordeal, unbothered by the thought of betraying their sword wielding contemporaries.
Moon Fairy chuckled. "The Siren Empress is wise."
"Indeed." The Phoenix Empress mused, her voice a haunting melody. "She made her stand, and now, can Yun Xiao really blame her for her forced sacrifice?"
"Why don't you take a leaf out of her book?" Moon Fairy suggested, his gaze sharp and knowing.
The Phoenix Empress's laughter was a cold gust, "If it were me, I'd tear the Wick Devil limb from limb, the ugly bastard that he is." Unlike the Siren Empress, she was a demon of the land, the Wick Devil's equal in power.
"Who do you think they'll coerce next?" Moon Fairy shifted the conversation, his words light as feathers but heavy with implication.
The Phoenix Empress pondered, then shook her head. "They wouldn't dare try the same trick twice. We're not as easily bullied as the merfolk, and without any open allegiance to the Sword Cultivators, they'd be fools to provoke us."
"But in the end, you'll still have to bleed. It's the mark of allegiance," Moon Fairy pointed out, his voice tinged with inevitability.
"So be it," the Phoenix Empress replied, her gaze fleeting, "Or are you saying your friend can't handle a curse fueled by a few hundred strong?"
"Why don't you try bearing the curse of all the realm's mightiest."
"And what would you have me do? Flip the table?" the Phoenix Empress asked, her spirit unyielded, ready to upend this whole charade at a moment's notice.
Moon Fairy, about to speak, caught sight of someone in the crowd and pursed his lips, suggesting a pause. "Let's hold off on flipping tables for now, and watch how things unfold."
By this point, all the demons of the Reverie Abyss had been forcibly bled, their essence fueling the Blood Oath Curse which morphed into a blood-red siren, its visage twisted in a snarl that sent shivers down the spine of all who beheld it. The curse, fed by the blood of merely twenty demons, was already dauntingits potential for terror was unimaginable if amplified tenfold.
"What do we do? What do we do?" the War Princess fretted, her face paling, hands clutching her chesta gesture misunderstood by her father and uncles as a sign of physical pain.
"Silence is your best recourse," came a cold voice from her heart, its tone seething with anger yet oddly reassuring to the War Princess. A glint of resolve flashed in her eyes as she glanced at the Wick Devil and the Talisman Emperor, her intent to retaliate barely concealed.
In a hushed tone, the Netherworld Emperor inquired, "What's the plan, my little chili pepper?"
Arms crossed, the War Princess exuded confidence, "Just keep quiet. That'll do!"
Subsequently, the sea dragons of the Leviathan Ravine volunteered, with one stepping forward to bleed next. The addition of their blood transformed the curse into an even more grotesque entity, with the upper body of a dragon and the lower body of a fish, its roar now mingled with the sea dragon's cry, intensifying its menace.
Post-sacrifice, the sea dragons appeared visibly weakened, their vitality drained, hinting at a significant reduction in their combat effectiveness by 10-20%a setback that could hinder their performance in the upcoming round. But if bleeding was the solution, who was to complain? After all, if everyone was bled, the playing field was leveled.
"Any objections?" the Wick Devil asked, post-Leviathan Ravine's contribution, looking towards the Netherworld Emperor and the Phoenix Empress, who responded with dismissive smiles.
"Bold!" the Wick Devil commended.
"The Yang Devils should lead by example," the Phoenix Empress quipped with a smirk.
"Agreed." The Wick Devil chuckled, and forthwith, forty Yang Devils stepped up to contribute their blood. Their essence, compatible with the curse and imbued with sacred power, augmented the curse's potency far beyond the combined contributions of the previous groups.
With the integration of the Yang Devils' blood, the curse underwent another transformation, now embodying a bloodthirsty flame devil with the tail of a fish and the head of a dragon, its ferocity chilling to the bone.
"Not bad, as expected of the strongest devil clan." The Phoenix Empress smiled. With a curious tilt of her head, she turned her gaze to the Inscription Cultivators and remarked, "I wonder how the blood essence of humanity's strongest will transform the Blood Oath Curse?"
The Inscription Cultivators bristled at the Phoenix Empress dictating the order, as if the land demons held power over them. But in truth, the order of things mattered little in this grim ritual; what mattered was the commitment it symbolized.
"Proceed," the Talisman Emperor commanded, eager to expedite the process.
Over 40 or so venerable Inscription Cultivators stepped forward, each contributing their blood essence to the curse. The act drained them significantly, their advanced ages making the sacrifice all the more taxing.
Infused with human blood, the curse took on a more humanoid form, its malevolence tempered, yet its intent to kill seemed only to sharpen.
"I wonder how the addition of the resentment demons will transform the curse. After all, their inherent grudges have a fundamental affinity with blood arts," the Phoenix Empress speculated.
Her words rankled not just the resentment demons but the Yang Devils and Inscription Cultivators too. Despite her strength, none appreciated her presumptuous orchestration of events, a role not even the Wick Devil had assumed.
"Go." But before any protest could escalate, a ghostly whisper from Pale Revenant quelled the brewing discontent, prioritizing efficiency over ego.
With a collective glare at the Phoenix Empress, the resentment demons made their contribution. As eternal foes of the Sword Cultivators and indifferent to the Phoenix Empress's ambitions, they were unconcerned by her machinations. The appearance of Moon Fairy, however, introduced an element of unpredictability, prompting the Wick Devil's caution.
In the eyes of the three dominant factions, neither land demons nor resentment demons could alter the inevitable course, the latter's contribution marking a profound transformation in the curse. It morphed into a grotesque amalgamation of human, devil, and demon, standing as tall as a man and exuding the presence of a living flame of blood.
Its mere existence sent a chill through the crowd, a silent testament to its lethal potential, seemingly sealing Yun Xiao's fate.
With the curse nearly complete, only the contribution from Pale Revenant remained, the final piece of this dark puzzle.
In that moment, all eyes from the seven hells were riveted on Pale Revenant. There she stood, barefoot before the Blood Oath Curse, her gaze lost, her complexion pallid, her aura otherworldly, like a little girl who had drowned.
Yet, this girl was one of the supreme rulers of the Nine Hells, commanding a mix of fear and respect from demons, devils, and humans alike.
"Pale Revenant grows more formidable by the day," they whispered amongst themselves. "A demon of her caliber would never tolerate the presence of an Exiled Sword Immortal."
The Wick Devil, with a warm smile, turned to her, "It's all yours, Pale Revenant."
With a slight nod, she stepped forward to confront the curse, marveling at its divine might even before its activation.
"Indeed! Once unleashed, not even a true Immortal can save Yun Xiao," the Wick Devil said with a sinister laugh.
Pale Revenant cast a final glance at the Talisman Emperor, who seemed consumed by his own vendetta, fixated on the curse.
"How intriguing," she murmured, reaching into the curse's core to grasp the single strand at its heart.
In an instant, the curse's power surged up her arm, scorching it to a charred skeleton.
In any other scenario, such a daring act would have resulted in instant incineration. But not for Pale Revenant, whose regenerative abilities were nothing short of miraculous. As her bones resisted crumbling, flesh burgeoned only to be devoured by flames anew, a sight that struck awe and terror in equal measure.
The Blood Oath Curse was formidable, but the spectacle of the deep-sea resentment corpses resilience was equally so.
The Wick Devil, alarmed, trembled as he cautioned, "Pale Revenant! Release it at once. We must not disturb the primer before the curse is activated!"
With an indifferent glance, she ignored the advice. Bending forward, she swiftly plucked the strand from the curse's core.
SPUTTER! That single strand, absorbed by her flesh, left the Wick Devil staggering, blood spewing from his mouth in shock.
BUZZ! Deprived of its core, the curse disintegrated into a cascade of murky blood, flooding the ground and silencing the crowd in stunned disbelief.
All eyes, wide with shock, were fixated on Pale Revenant, including those of the 40 plus resentment demons, all at a loss for words...
In the eerie silence, Pale Revenant turned around. Known for her stoic demeanor, her lips unexpectedly curved into a slight smile, a rare display of amusement. With disdain in her voice, she uttered two words, "Mere ants."
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