Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 183 Infiltrating the Earth's Veins, A Shocking Blood Array

The inside of the dry well was pitch black.

Hua Moyang's body plummeted rapidly through the narrow shaft.

The sound of the wind in my ears was like a ghostly shriek.

She hadn't yet learned to use her spiritual power to slow her descent, so she curled her body into a ball in an attempt to fall even faster.

The moss on the well wall, mixed with the cold moisture, brushed against her cheeks.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of rushing water came from below.

Just as Hua Moyang was about to hit rock bottom, the drop of dark red demonic blood within her body suddenly began to circulate.

Her body twisted and contorted in mid-air before her feet landed firmly on a protruding black rock.

When she looked up, she realized that she had reached the deepest part of the imperial city.

The air was thick with the stench of decay and the smell of mud.

A three-zhang-wide underground river flowed slowly beneath my feet, its water a deathly, inky black.

On both sides of the riverbank are smooth bluestone roads carved by hand.

White lichen grew in the cracks of the bluestone slabs.

Every ten feet, a bronze lamp is embedded in the stone wall.

The lamp oil burned with a ghostly green flame, illuminating the entire passageway in a sinister and eerie way.

Hua Moyang took off her cloth shoes and stepped barefoot onto the cold bluestone slabs.

Her body temperature dropped rapidly under the operation of "Blood Shadow Escape," becoming as cold as the surrounding stone walls.

She even suppressed her heartbeat to a state of suspended animation, where it only beats once every half cup of tea.

She groped her way forward along the passageway.

The deeper you go, the more spacious the space becomes.

Half an hour later, the passageway came to an end.

Two massive bronze gates, each ten feet tall, blocked the way.

The surface of the giant gate is engraved with the great achievements of the emperors of the Great Yan Kingdom throughout history, as well as a five-clawed golden dragon representing imperial power.

This is the underground ancestral hall of the Great Yan royal family. Only emperors of all dynasties were qualified to enter this place to worship heaven and earth upon their ascension to the throne and upon their death.

At this moment, the two bronze doors, which should have been tightly closed, were forcibly pushed open from the outside, creating a gap about ten feet wide.

The pungent smell of blood gushed out from under the door.

Hua Moyang held her breath, pressed herself against the edge of the cold bronze door, and silently slid inside.

The sight before her caused even Hua Moyang, who was used to seeing mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Fengling City, to have her pupils suddenly contract involuntarily.

Behind the bronze door lies a vast underground cavern.

At the center of the cave was originally a white jade altar for royal sacrifices.

Now, the altar has been completely destroyed, leaving only a huge pool of blood, hundreds of feet in diameter.

This blood pool is ten or even a hundred times larger than the one in the Fengling City Lord's Mansion.

The blood churned wildly in the pool, emitting a deafening roar.

Countless agonizing and distorted human faces floated in the blood waves; these were the souls of millions of mortals, forcibly imprisoned in the blood pool, suffering torment day and night.

Around the blood pool stood nine thick stone pillars with coiled dragons.

The stone pillar was wrapped with countless blood-red chains. The other end of the chains was firmly embedded in the void at the center of the blood pool.

There, space seemed to have been torn open by an invisible hand, leaving a black rift tens of meters long.

The edges of the crack shimmered with violent spatial turbulence.

But pulled by the nine blood-red chains, the crack not only failed to heal, but was instead corroded and widened little by little by the blood.

At the other end of the crack, an ancient demonic aura emanated, making Hua Moyang's heart tremble.

That was the spatial barrier separating the Central Continent from the Eastern Continent.

This Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Changing Array clearly intends to use the lifeblood of millions of mortals to forcibly corrode a spatial passage in this boundary wall, allowing the Central Continent Demonic Sect army to advance unimpeded.

Caves have been carved into the rock walls surrounding the karst cave.

Hundreds of demonic cultivators from the Central Plains, dressed in long purple-black robes, sat cross-legged in the cave, continuously injecting their demonic energy into the blood pool below to maintain the operation of the formation.

Hua Moyang completely merged her body into the shadow of a huge stalactite, even ceasing to breathe.

She knew that in this place, if she revealed even the slightest trace of human life force, she would be instantly blasted into mincemeat by these hundreds of demonic cultivators.

Just then, space distorted on a dragon-carved stone pillar above the blood pool.

A middle-aged man clad in pale white bone armor appeared out of thin air.

His face was gaunt, his eyes were sunken, and he exuded an undisguised aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The moment he appeared, the hundreds of meditating demonic cultivators below all opened their eyes and respectfully lowered their heads.

"Greetings, Protector of the Underworld."

The synchronized sounds echoed within the cave.

The bone-armored man, known as the Guardian of the Netherworld, nodded slightly, looking down at the churning blood pool with a slight frown.

Beside him, a wisp of black smoke billowed, and a black-robed old man at the peak of the Golden Core stage materialized, bowing and standing to the side.

"How is the formation progressing?"

The Guardian of Darkness spoke coldly.

The old man in black robes immediately replied:

"Reporting to the Protector, twenty-eight of the thirty-six secondary array eyes within the Great Yan Kingdom have already been destroyed. The essence of the blood and food is continuously flowing into the main array eye of this underground ancestral temple. Currently, the corrosion of the boundary wall has reached ninety percent. In at most ten days, the great array will be fully formed, breaking open a stable passage large enough to accommodate Nascent Soul cultivators."

A sinister glint flashed in the eyes of the Guardian of Darkness.

"Ten days? That's too slow. The Holy Sect Master is already getting impatient over there. Send down the order to speed up the harvesting of mortal blood. Anyone who dares to obstruct it will be killed without mercy."

The old man in the black robe looked troubled.

"Guardian, it's not that I've failed in my duties. It's just that two days ago, the natal soul lamp of Envoy Ji Wuyue, who was in charge of guarding the secondary array eye of Fengling City, suddenly went out. The blood pool and array there were also completely destroyed. I sent people to investigate, and there were terrifying lightning tribulation auras and sword intents remaining at the scene. I suspect that a Nascent Soul cultivator from Dongzhou happened to pass by and meddled in other people's business."

Upon hearing the news of Ji Wuyue's death, Protector Mingku snorted coldly.

"That fool Ji Wuyue always acted arrogantly, relying on being a true disciple. His death outside was his own fault. However, since the local forces of Dongzhou dared to kill people from our Zhongzhou Holy Sect, we really cannot afford to be careless."

The Guardian of Darkness looked at the spatial rift that was not yet fully opened, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"However, even if they realize something, it's too late. This Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Changing Array is only one-tenth of the way through. And for that one-tenth, ordinary mortal blood essence is not enough. We need higher quality cultivator blood essence, especially the blood essence of Golden Core and Nascent Soul level cultivators, to melt through the boundary barrier."

Upon hearing this, the old man in black robes showed a hint of realization in his eyes.

"Does the Guardian mean those sect cultivators from the Eastern Continent?"

The Guardian of Darkness burst into laughter, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the underground cavern.

"Indeed, a few days ago, I deliberately spread rumors, causing the Cangxuan Sect and the Guixu Sect to fight to a standstill. Now, I have had my spies deliberately expose the presence of demonic cultivators in the Great Yan Kingdom. Given the self-proclaimed leadership of the righteous path in the Eastern Continent, those two sects will surely send their elite elders and core disciples to investigate."

The Dark Guardian stretched out his hands, which were like withered bones, and suddenly clenched them in front of him.

"They thought they came to eliminate demons and uphold justice, but little did they know that I had already laid a net of heaven and earth over the entire capital of the Great Yan Kingdom. As long as they dared to step into this imperial city, I would activate the Nine Netherworld Trapping Immortal Array and annihilate them all. I will use the blood of these elites from the Eastern Continent as the final sacrifice to open the spatial passage."

The old man in black robes bowed deeply, his face full of admiration.

"Your Excellency's strategic planning is truly remarkable; I am no match for you. This plan of using someone else to do the dirty work and luring them into a trap will surely allow the army of my Central Plains Holy Sect to successfully conquer this desolate land."

Hiding in the shadow of the stalactites, Hua Moyang overheard every word of their conversation.

A storm raged within her.

How vicious are the thoughts of this demonic cultivator from Zhongzhou!

Not only will they have to sacrifice the lives of millions of ordinary people in the Great Yan Kingdom to pave the way, but they will also have to wipe out the most powerful forces in the cultivation world of Dongzhou.

If the elites of Cangxuan Sect and Guixu Sect were to fall into this trap, the entire Eastern Continent would be doomed.

Hua Moyang's state of mind was slightly disturbed.

In this vast, silent cavern, such a slight fluctuation would be utterly insignificant to an ordinary cultivator.

However, the Netherworld Protector standing on the Panlong Stone Pillar is a powerful being in the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

His consciousness was constantly immersed in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, making him extremely sensitive to the vital energy of any living person.

The Dharma Protector Mingku suddenly paused in his speech.

Two eerie green flames suddenly shot out from his deep-set eyes, fixed intently on the huge stalactite where Hua Moyang was hiding.

"Who's hiding there! Get out here right now!"

The Guardian of Darkness roared.

An overwhelming pressure from a Nascent Soul cultivator, like a tangible black gale, swept directly toward the stalactites.

Wherever the gale passed, the bluestone ground cracked inch by inch.

Hua Moyang felt as if she had been struck hard in the chest by a heavy hammer, and a strong taste of blood rose in her throat.

Danger.

Extremely dangerous.

She knew that if she made the slightest move or showed even a hint of fear and retreat, the raging demonic energy would instantly tear her to shreds.

At this critical moment of life and death, Hua Moyang displayed a ruthlessness and decisiveness that is difficult for ordinary people to match.

She neither dodged nor defended herself.

Instead, he yielded to the tyrannical nature of the Blood Demon Technique within him, directly dispersing all the protective spiritual power in his body, allowing the pressure of the Nascent Soul to crash heavily onto him.

"Click."

Hua Moyang's ribs broke instantly.

Her body was flung away like a rag doll, crashing heavily against the rock wall behind her before falling into a shallow ditch flowing with foul blood.

The moment her body was thrown into the air, the blood demon essence within her was activated.

Without hesitation, she bit off the tip of her tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence containing royal origin and demonic energy.

The essence of blood rapidly vaporized in mid-air, perfectly blending with the rich aura of the surrounding blood pool.

The divine sense of the Guardian of Darkness swept across the shallow ditch like radar.

He could not sense the heartbeat of a living person, nor could he sense any fluctuations in spiritual energy.

He only sensed a lifeless, ordinary corpse that had just been shattered by his pressure, and the decaying blood aura emanating from that corpse, which shared the same origin as the underground ancestral hall.

"Guardian, what's wrong?"

Upon seeing this, the old man in black robes immediately summoned his magic weapon as if facing a formidable enemy.

The Guardian of the Netherworld withdrew his divine sense, and the ghostly fire in his eyes gradually subsided.

He glanced coldly at the shallow ditch.

"Nothing much. Just a stray cat that wandered in from who-knows-where, its heart meridian shattered by my oppressive aura. This underground ancestral hall is filled with malevolent energy, so it's not surprising that some evil creatures occasionally arise here."

The old man in black robes breathed a sigh of relief and offered a compliment.

"Your divine power is unparalleled; no villain can hide before you."

The Guardian of the Darkness ignored the corpse that looked completely dead and turned to give instructions to the old man in black robes.

"Strengthen vigilance during this period. If any cultivators from Eastern Continent sects are discovered entering the city, immediately activate the Immortal-Trapping Array. I need to go to my meditation room to recuperate and prepare for the arrival of the sect leader. Do not disturb me unless it is extremely urgent."

After saying this, the figure of the Netherworld Protector transformed into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated on the coiled dragon stone pillar.

The old man in black robes accepted the order and began directing the demonic cultivators below to continue injecting demonic energy into the blood pool.

In the shallow ditch, Hua Moyang lay sprawled in the filthy blood like a rag doll.

Blood was flowing from all seven orifices of her body, and with each breath, her broken ribs brought excruciating pain.

She succeeded.

She deceived the consciousness of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator by self-harm and faking her death.

This method is something that no righteous cultivator could possibly achieve, because righteous cultivation techniques cannot perfectly simulate this decaying and despairing aura of death.

Only Hua Moyang, who inherited a drop of pure demonic blood from the Blood Swordsman, could truly deceive everyone in this environment.

Three full hours passed.

Only after confirming that there were no signs of divine sense probing around did Hua Moyang, like a soft, boneless snake, move slowly and inching towards the bronze gate she had come from, clinging to the dark ditch.

The return journey was more difficult than the way there.

Despite her injuries, Hua Moyang used the stealth effect of "Blood Shadow Escape" to spend two full hours climbing out of the dry well in the side courtyard.

As the massive stone slab at the wellhead closed again, the eastern sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

A chilly morning breeze swept through the plum grove.

Hua Moyang, dragging her heavily injured body, quietly slipped back to the shared dormitory room.

Dozens of gray-clad palace maids remained asleep.

Hua Moyang crawled into her bed, curling her cold body up in the thin quilt.

She knew that time was running out for Dongzhou.

She had to tell her master about this shocking plot immediately.

Hua Moyang bit her fingertip and quickly drew a complex blood-red rune on her coarse cloth.

This was a one-way communication technique left in her mind by the Blood Swordsman.

Using the caster's life essence as a medium, the memory image is directly transmitted to the target.

The moment the rune was drawn, a flash of blood-red light appeared, then faded away.

After Hua Moyang finished doing all this, everything went black before her eyes, and she completely fainted.

Hundreds of thousands of miles away.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated on the back mountain of Liuyun Sect.

Gu Yan, who was sitting cross-legged inside the bamboo building, suddenly opened his eyes.

Suddenly, images of memories transmitted by Hua Moyang through the secret method of blood essence flooded into his mind.

A massive underground cavern.

A churning pool of blood from millions of mortals.

A void rift pulled by chains.

And that Netherworld Protector clad in bone armor, and his arrogant and vicious scheme to lure the enemy into a trap.

All the images replayed in Gu Yan's mind with unparalleled clarity.

Gu Yan looked at these images without the slightest fluctuation in his eyes.

"What a brilliant scheme to steal the sky and change the sun! What a brilliant way to lure the enemy into a trap!"

Gu Yan stood up, walked to the bamboo window, opened it, and let the morning air blow on his face.

"I was just worried about not having a suitable stage and enough nourishment to condense my nascent soul, and the Central Plains Demonic Sect is like a pillow delivered to my sleepy head."

In the plan of the Dark Protector, the elites of the Cangxuan Sect and the Guixu Sect were lambs to the slaughter, sacrifices for him to open the boundary.

In the eyes of the higher-ups of the Cangxuan Sect and the Guixu Sect, the Great Yan Kingdom was a battlefield for eradicating the remnants of the demonic sect and defending the dignity of the righteous path.

In Gu Yan's game of chess.

Whether it's the demonic sect of Zhongzhou or the righteous path of Dongzhou.

They were all just stepping stones for Gu Changsheng on his path to the pinnacle of the Great Dao.

"Zhou Tianqi relayed the message back to the two sects yesterday. Given the strength of the two sects, the Nascent Soul stage elders and Golden Core stage core disciples will secretly arrive in the capital of the Great Yan Kingdom by tomorrow at the latest."

Gu Yan silently calculated the time in his mind.

"When the elites of the two sects step into the imperial city and the Nine Netherworld Immortal Trapping Formation is activated, it will be an unprecedentedly fierce battle. At that time, Nascent Soul cultivators will perish, Golden Core cultivators will shed blood, and the essence and fragments of countless high-level cultivators' magical treasures will fill the entire capital of the Great Yan Kingdom."

Only in the extreme chaos where even the sky is obscured can he release the Divine Demon Golden Core without restraint, devouring all the energy on the battlefield.

The blood pool in the underground ancestral hall, which gathers the essence of millions of mortals' flesh and blood, is an invaluable treasure.

If his Blood Swordsman clone can infiltrate it and absorb and refine it, the clone's cultivation will definitely break through the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, or even reach the late stage.

Gu Yan turned around, a thought flashing through his mind.

Inside a secluded cave, the Blood Swordsman's clone, which had been in seclusion to consolidate its cultivation, suddenly opened its scarlet eyes.

The dark red, ungripless Blood Sword emitted a cry that seemed to yearn to drink blood.

"Now that the stage is set up, let's make this performance even more lively."

Gu Yan gently waved the folding fan in his hand, sat back on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

Meanwhile, the blood swordsman's clone, as powerful as a god or a demon, transformed into a hidden streak of crimson light, bypassing the formations and eyes and ears of the various sects, and sped off towards the capital of the Great Yan Kingdom.

The renowned author, "A Monkey from Huaguo Mountain," has joined the platform with his new work, "Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman!"