Chapter 164: The Slaughter Egg (1)
Chapter 164: The Slaughter Egg (1)
Chapter 164: The Slaughter Egg (1)
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Two more weeks had passed by quickly. Ja Sun, while staying within the Slaughter City didn't just use his clone to reveal his true identity. He kept a close watch of his teammates outside. His identity was known by Redstar whose background was intricately related to Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji and he also confirmed that Qian Daoliu was well aware of his identity. Yet Qian Daoliu continued to teach and provide benefits. This was a fact and also the reason why Ja Sun was willing to maintain the status quo.
After all, his master may have something in mind by nurturing him. This could be either beneficial for him or disadvantageous. However, if he revealed his identity now, there was a great chance that everyone else would go along except for Bibi Dong. Even if she does come around, Ja Sun was almost sure that his identity will end up being exposed to Qian Daoliu one way or the other and if Redstar's story was any indication of the man's deviousness then Ja Sun didn't want himself exposed just yet.
Not to mention the fact that the clone outside was merely a failsafe. There was a chance for Redstar acting out of spite and revealing his information. But this was a risk worthy of four spirit bones each with the cultivation of over 50000 years. So, if there was any inkling that his identity might be exposed, the best option was for it to come out of himself instead of a third party.
But the matters of the outside world were not Ja Sun's greatest priority.
Slaughter City is his greatest priority as of this moment.
*Phk*
A muffled sound echoed as a fatal bullet pierced the opponent's head.
"Awawawawawa!"
"Hulululululu!"
"Wooooohhhh--"
Crazed noises and shouts simply drowned Xie Xan's senses as he looked at the 9 men and women coldly. He was surrounded by a magnificent blood-red arena and the stage itself was made of strange material. Once again, as the lifeless body of his opponent turned cold, Xie Xan saw a cold white streak rush towards him. The strange slaughter energy gripped his heart but it soon phased into the giant stage through his feet, disappearing mysteriously.
His expression turned dark and he walked towards the fallen victims. Belting the pistol, Xie Xan began to cut his opponent's necks with his Moon Blades. Although spirit rings and spirit bones are not usable, the spirit energy by itself could be used and the martial soul could be invoked.
As Xie Xan sliced off the opponent's necks, many viewers began to holler.
"There it is! Blood Drowner's bloody ritual! Whoo-hoooo!" Cheers began to echo while the arena rumbled with Xie Xan's name.
Not paying any attention to the demonic spirit masters that filled the city in droves, Xie Xan picked the corpse by shoulder and waist and showered in blood. He kept his face up, letting the blood directly hit his eyes as the veins around his eyes on the face began to bulge while his eyes, too, turned crimson.
Bibi Dong had said that the cultivation of Asura Sight would be best done with human blood because Xie Xan himself is a human. However, this technique in itself would be considered evil. Ja Sun couldn't cultivate it. He had hoped to try it since his physique could complement yin with yang and vice-versa but his eyes were similar to yang treasures instead. It couldn't accommodate yin energy or he would end up ruining a technique that was his greatest assurance and trump card at the moment.
Meanwhile, should Xie Xan use it in the outside world, he would be labeled as an evil spirit master. Of course, Bibi Dong and others could look things at a more rational view because it concerned their own teammate and thus Bibi Dong wanted Xie Xan to enter Slaughter City so that he could cultivate this technique to its peak using the blood of evil spirit masters and other criminals present within.
As one would expect, with the number of deaths and puddles of human blood almost everywhere, Xie Xan's progress in this technique was divine. Not to mention the fact that with each death, the slaughter energy that resided within him, too, purified the yin of his eyes strangely. In Xie Xan's terms, the Slaughter City was a holy land to cultivate the Asura Sight Technique. And as he had explained this to Ja Sun, the man's expression couldn't help but turn thoughtful.
After absorbing the blood essence of the other eight corpses on the stage, Xie Xan walked out while gripping the holster on his waist with a cold expression. His current visage could only be considered frightening. Due to his act of showering in blood to hide the cultivation of his eyes, Xie Xan had gained the monicker Blood Drowner. He who drowns in blood.
While Xie Xan reached the exit, he found a Dread Knight waiting for him.
"Have you considered his Highness' words?" The Dread Knight spoke coldly and Xie Xan frowned. But soon his expression twisted into a manic one while the craze in his eyes made the Dread Knight step back in fright, "Hehe," his voice was purposely shrill, "Of course! Of course! Just seven matches are hardly enough! You want me to help you create my special weapon, right? Blood! I will do it for blood! One special weapon for ten gallons! I also want specimens!" Saying this, Xie Xan licked his lips, "The stronger the better! I want to slice some necks! Hehehe!"
The Dread Knight looked away as he felt exposed under Xie Xan's gaze.
This was due to the effects of the Asura Sight Technique.
Like Fiery Golden Pupils, Asura Sight Technique had an effect on mental energy and similar natured attacks but its greatest advantage at the third level was known as Asura Sight.
Xie Xan's sight would strip his opponents off of its flesh and would allow him to gaze at the opponent's weak points of any entity he faces! Body or attack.
Meanwhile, the first two levels of the technique had only slight effects on resistance to illusions and charm and enhancement of mental energy. While Fiery Golden Pupils' effects were overt, the benefits of the Asura Sight Technique were simply the opposite and that is why Ja Sun, too, wanted to try it.
After all, with such covert benefit, the consumption of spirit and mental energy was barely worth noticing that could allow Xie Xan's own attacks to reach their highest efficiency.
As the Dread Knight left, Xie Xan sauntered into a large blue-tiled mansion with ghostly lanterns illuminating it and instantly crumbled with cold sweat seeping from his entirety.
"You're back?" Ja Sun peeked out of his room.
"Man, it's getting harder to control myself. Although the Asura Sight Technique is curbing the effects of the impurity, it's still hard to actively phase killing intent."
"You just need practice," Ja Sun snickered.
Ja Sun was the one who had created the gun for Xie Xan to effectively take out his opponents. Without any spirit rings, even the opponent with defense-type martial souls would end up dying sooner or later.
"You needs a refill?" Ja Sun inquired as Xie Xan thought before shaking his head.
"I'm not going into matches anymore. I was able to use the reputation of your gun to bait the so-called Slaughter King into a trade... if successful, I will have enough 'resources' to complete the technique."
As Xie Xan said this, a look of envy flashed through Ja Sun's face. This place was indeed the best location to cultivate the Asura Sight Technique. The sheer volume of blood and slaughter energy would force the spirit master to gain greater mastery of the technique and Xie Xan, too, was astute enough to gain benefits without losing out at all.
"It's going to be a great scam so... are you prepared?" Xie Xan inquired.
Ja Sun looked back at the contents of his room and nodded with a smile.
"Come on, let me show you the greatness of the city," Ja Sun beckoned Xie Xan in as he rolled his eyes, "I'm taking a shower first."
"Sure, 'shower,' Ja Sun emphasized with a disgusted expression.
"What was that? Are you 'sleeping' again?" Xie Xan's expression turned wicked. Clearly, the stress of the city and the fact that the two were rather well-off in the department of female partners, they had to physically reveal how much they 'missed' their loved ones. Something that the duo walked in on each other...
Both of them snorted coldly and separated while shivering.
Those were gruesome moments.
Ja Sun sighed deeply. He looked at the formation he had drawn on the room. It was without spirit energy and was merely a prototype. As Ja Sun had suspected, the Slaughter City was based on a piece of land similar to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. In other words, the base of Slaughter City's creation was another blessed land. And after many points of investigation, Ja Sun had come to many conclusions.
First, this blessed land and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were somehow connected. Ja Sun had studied the outer and inner sections of the city. On the surface, the runes and inscriptions covered the city in the shape of a bat with the Slaughter Arena as its center. However, within this formation was suppressed another one in the shape of a dragon's claw extremely similar to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Another blessed land connected to dragons, almost half of his tomes coming from the ancient masters with the names and monikers connected to dragons, and the Yin Yang Petals' words in the Ice and Fire well regarding two Divine souls being suppressed had already made Ja Sun a little apprehensive that the unknown history of this world was deeply connected to dragons.
Presently, dragon-type beasts and martial souls were also considered quite great, too, but this level of fawning did not compare to having formations of blessed land mimicking parts of a dragon.
With this revelation came the matter of effect. What was the original effect of the Blessed Land?
It was related to spatial elements and the source of energy itself. This land, the original blessed land i.e., had the function of nurturing items, individuals, beasts, you name it. The crimson moon high in the sky is part of the original blessed land. The moon, in tandem with the underground 'lake', would refine anything and everything within this blessed land.
However, it is not contaminated by another formation with equal force and strength. The 'bat' formation affected the blood and the metaphysical energy stated as slaughter energy. The impure killing intent infects this pure slaughter energy because there is yet another, sneaking formation on the surface of 'bat' in the form of a scythe.
'Three formation... the first one is based naturally, again due to some strange events of the past. The second one is clearly formed to use the effects of refinement to bolster slaughter energy to its purest state. However, the third one is an intentional blockage. A virus, to speak of.'
Ja Sun pondered internally.
There was another interest in this land.
As Ja Sun had figured out, this land is made for refinement. The underground world beneath the city absorbs impurities while the pure origin of any failure is absorbed by the crimson moon. Right now, the city was refining humans. To be precise, the city was refining a group of humans. Pure slaughter energy is the primer and despite the impure killing intent, the humans act as materials.
Redstar once explained that the city is a trail grounds. In terms of refinement, the 'finished' goods are once again processed underground for finalization. What marks an individual as a 'finished' good?
100 victories in the Slaughter Arena.
What marks as a failure?
Death.
When a 'product' fails, the materials disperse. The soul origin of the human is absorbed by the crimson moon, the slaughter energy, and blood and killing intent is refined underground.
In other words, to Xie Xan, currently, the underground world would be the greatest resource for his eyes. Not to mention the fact that any individual who passes these grounds will be blessed by a domain.
Meanwhile, to Ja Sun, the moon hanging in the sky represented a great deal of fascination. It was a giant soul origin. He had yet to completely comprehend the Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique, but he was clear on the fact that the moon represents plenty of benefits.
But he couldn't touch it for now. He was on the cusp of breaking the restriction on the formations.
Due to the spatial element of the original formation, nobody can get out within the first thirty days. This left Ja Sun with a week.
He wasn't planning to idle around in the city for years as Bibi Dong and Tang Hao did to finally complete 100 victories. Rules are meant to be broken and especially since a Rank 99 Spirit Master as strong as Qian Daoliu if not stronger resides in this world.
Keep a low-key for now and then leave with a band.
It was also because of this Slaughter King that even Redstar dared not face that Ja Sun had to curb his greed for the Crimson Moon that was simply a storage for god knows how many units of soul origin.
Xie Xan, meanwhile, had attracted the Slaughter King's attention due to the gun Ja Sun refined for him.
"I'm here," Xie Xan could be called the second person after Ja Sun to keep his mind in check despite the infectious killing intent.
Ja Sun cackled as he began explaining his plan. Due to his mission, even if leaving in the first six months meant the same rewards, he still had the outside world to worry about. Redstar had simply hinted that his life would soon come to an end, which was astonishing since every time he is killed, he would only reappear stronger than before. And now, should he be killed, his strength... Ja Sun fell ponderous before shaking his head eventually. Redstar was simply a classic example of a divine being marred by unfortunate circumstances.
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The final week went by easily. In the outside world, the final completion had begun and as expected, with the round-robin system of completion, every faction had the chance to gain something from others. 33 teams in a round-robin competition meant one team getting a free card while the remaining 32 teams duking it out. Each winner will get a point and the losing team will have a point deducted. Of course, due to a large number of teams, the battle almost took more than 3/4th of a day each round. Only seven rounds have been completed and 26 rounds still remain.
By now, Ja Sun felt a little well that he didn't have to participate in such a gruesome lineup. Of course, he still wanted to return as quickly as possible. Each match meant various rewards from his trait so he was going through a phase of opportunity loss.
"Mmgh, Aangh~"
Sweet moans made Ja Sun's and Xie Xan's lips quiver as they both raised their pistols equipped with silencers to take out the love-making shriveled couples with extreme prejudice. It was a sore sight for their sore eyes.
Blood began to flow from the corpses while Ja Sun crouched and drew a rune out of the ground with the blood of the victims.
The duo moved around the inner city stealthily and then exited it to break the rules of the outer city and commit genocide. Everything was done silently. Efficiently, too. While Xie Xan comforted himself by thinking that all the individuals present were already criminals, Ja Sun held no such thoughts. He refrained from killing because oftentimes, it brings even more trouble and it isn't worth the benefits but in Slaughter City, killing by itself equated to benefits.
He was calm, cold, and collected. Xie Xan was honestly surprised to see this side of Ja Sun again. After all, they had similarly hunted the group of bounty hunters after them during the Dragon Rising City. With Ja Sun leading so calmly, even Xie Xan was the least affected by the killing intent. In fact, he was beginning to slowly phase it through his body naturally and felt that he was at the greatest limits of his control of various energy and had touched on a vague aspect of his own abilities.
Finally, the duo entered the inner city once again but this time they entered the slaughter arena. After destroying his own token, Ja Sun simply robbed a poor corpse of his token and participated in the match alongside Xie Xan.
The fact that Xie Xan was participating attracted plenty of attention. He was a popular underdog who took out his opponents with a strange weapon that left no life in its wake.
However, the hundreds and thousands of viewers were definitely surprised to see another individual wielding the same weapon and then drawing strange scriptures on the arena using the blood of the corpses. He then used his own and Xie Xan's blood, too.
"What... are they doing?"
"Fight! Kill!"
"I didn't pay a cup of my blood for this! Fuck each other!"
"Yeah! Stabby stab!"
"Whoo-hooooo!"
Loud and obnoxious cheers only made Ja Sun snicker as the blood showed strange signs. As if alive, the scriptures finally glowed and instantly connected with each other using a red glow. Meanwhile, a terrifying totem of a bat began to glow and the blood followed its pattern instantly.
Ja Sun was reversely activating the formation. Usually, a formation needs materials first to be activated but with preparations and enough material at hand, the formation itself would complete its task and devour the materials. In this case, the preparation was many corpses right on the nodes of the formation across the Slaughter City. The materials in question were the viewers.
And the function...
The arena twisted in a bloody vortex that first drowned Ja Sun and Xie Xan before spreading out wildly. Everywhere the wave of blood passed through, the citizens of the city would be corroded and absorbed within seconds and as if sensing the disturbance in the force, an extremely enraged howl rang that shook the entire Slaughter City. Alas, the perpetrators never thought of staying.