Word Count: 3,054 Words
******
Early morning.
Ling Bai and Ning Tian rose and dressed as they always did. Wu Feng slept on, her red hair in a wild tangle across the pillow, the faint pink flush on her exposed skin not yet faded. The upward curve at the corner of her lips refused to flatten no matter what.
Ling Bai glanced down at Wu Feng, who had wedged herself firmly between them at some point during the night, and pinched her perky little nose in mild irritation. Those crimson eyes barely cracked open a slit as she mumbled, voice thick with sleep:
"You bullied me all night… let me sleep a little longer…"
She had gone to bed thinking she would be the one holding left and right, living out a life without regrets. Instead, under Ling Bai's practiced hands, she had been teased until her mind all but shut down. She had dared to say anything, willing to twist herself into any position he asked for.
Her thoughts had gone completely blank as she surrendered to him entirely. By the time awareness crept back, the young couple was already curled together, sleeping sweetly. Still, it wasn't a real problem. She could always squeeze into the middle. That still counted as fulfilling her lifelong wish of 'Bai on the Left, Tian on the Right.'
Ning Tian sat at the edge of the bed, combing out her waterfall of platinum-blond hair, and spoke softly:
"Bai-ge, let's go have breakfast and let Xiao Feng sleep a bit longer."
"Mm."
Ling Bai stretched lazily. He had long since grown tired of the past month at sea. The Black Pearl was only a pirate ship with the plainest of accommodations, whereas the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan offered every comfort, with friends and family close at hand and beautiful wives and concubines all around him.
"This girl finally got what she wanted."
He tucked the quilt around Wu Feng to cover the alluring stretch of bare skin. Ning Tian raised her hand, and the engagement ring sparkled in the reflection of her sapphire-blue eyes as she smiled:
"She hid it so carefully, only for the Sea God to expose everything out of nowhere. Xiao Feng was under real pressure. I brought her here hoping she could relax. To me, she's special."
Her position as main wife was as steady as a mountain, and there were certain things Ning Tian chose to overlook. She had come from a clan with ten thousand years of history, and even without firsthand experience, she had heard enough from her elders about the marriage politics of nobles. Someone as clever as she would never actively disrupt the balance. All she needed to do was guard what she treasured.
…
"Ning Fengyu!"
In the dining hall of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Ning Fengya's temper flared the instant she saw how sloppily her younger sister was lounging in her chair. Her willow-leaf brows shot upward, and the dignity of an elder sister pressed down from every direction.
"Have you forgotten every scrap of etiquette you learned growing up? You're not even as refined as Guyi. One look and anyone can tell she's a noble young lady of excellent upbringing."
Ye Guyi blinked her large, guileless eyes, the very picture of purity and innocence. She had only come downstairs for breakfast and somehow ended up cast as the positive example.
Ning Fengyu ignored every word of her sister's scolding and gave her full attention to a piece of pastry. Ning Fengya nagged her every single day, and by now it amounted to little more than mouth exercise. The Azure Emperor Douluo's heart was broad enough to sail a boat through. She was not about to bicker with a mere Spirit Douluo!
"Mom / Aunt Ya, Auntie / Aunt Yu, Guyi, good morning."
Ling Bai and Ning Tian entered the dining hall together. Ning Fengya noted their tightly interlaced fingers and gave a small nod of approval.
"Xiao Bai, Xiao Tian, since you two are already engaged, you should both put in a little more effort each day. Both the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Seraphim need heirs to carry on their bloodlines."
"These Martial Spirits of ours…"
Even on Douluo Continent, no one escaped the pressure to have children. Ling Bai and Ning Tian turned to look at each other, and each caught a trace of helplessness in the other's eyes.
The Seraphim passed down only one heir per generation, and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had failed to pass down at all. When the time came for them to conceive, there was no telling how much effort it would take.
"Right, Xiao Bai, we've located the old site of Slaughter City," Ning Fengya said. "Following the guidance from ten thousand years ago, the entrance corresponds to Blood Desolation Town, outside Huntian City."
Between the foundation of slaughtering countless Holy Spirit Cult Evil Spirit Masters and layering on the evil spirit beast Sea-Swallowing Evil Dragon Whale, Ling Bai had accumulated more than enough spirit power for his Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores.
The second Death Abyss Spirit Core would open in his chest. To be safe, he ideally needed to absorb a torso spirit bone whose attributes closely matched the Death Abyss Spider Emperor's beforehand.
Compared to the 490,000-year Sea-Swallowing Evil Dragon Whale, Ling Bai leaned more toward another prize altogether. The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King had once served under the Rakshasa God as the true mastermind behind Slaughter City.
Second Spirit Core + torso spirit bone + breaking through to Titled Douluo + the Death Abyss Spider Emperor's ninth spirit ring + shattered Angel God Position. The importance of the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King needed no further explanation.
"Huntian City…"
Ling Bai fell into thought. "If I remember right, that's fairly close to the Body Sect."
"Exactly, exactly! Slaughter City is dangerous, and the location's close to the Body Sect. You should ask the old man to go with you!" Ning Fengyu chimed in, her face brimming with sincerity.
Ling Bai sneered inwardly. He knew Ning Fengyu's lazy streak all too well. Safety was only part of the excuse. Within the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Jianmu Douluo and Ning Fengya loomed over Ning Fengyu like twin mountains. If she could send Jianmu Douluo away, half of her supervision would vanish overnight.
"I won't trouble Teacher. I'll bring the Bone Dragon King."
Damn it, that bastard Xiao Bai…
Ning Fengyu huffed and gnawed at her pastry, channeling all her grief and indignation into pure appetite.
"Guyi, when I get back, I'll take you to that place. Is that all right?"
"It's fine. I'm not in any hurry."
Ye Guyi shook her head, though a flicker of conflict passed through the depths of her lowered turquoise eyes.
The Bone Dragon King had been Holy Spirit Cult Master Zhongli Wu's bonded beast soul. She burned to know how a single utterance of "vile beast" from Ling Bai had been enough to bring a Limit-rank evil creature to heel and force it to abandon wickedness entirely. At the same time, Zhongli Wu's dying words, thick with hatred, kept replaying in her mind.
The Seraphim is Death Abyss Douluo.
Ye Guyi did not want to doubt Ling Bai. The Seraphim was her faith. If the Seraphim truly were an Evil Spirit Master, her whole worldview would collapse in an instant. But until she got to the bottom of it, a knot would remain in her heart.
'When he returns, I have to get an answer,' the Holy Angel silently promised herself.
There was no time to waste. Ling Bai decided to depart at once. Although Ning Tian was reluctant to see him go and would gladly have kept him for a few more days, she understood how impatient he must be after half a year stuck at Rank 89.
They chatted a while longer. When Ling Bai learned that Ning Fengya's spirit power had reached Rank 89, he brought out a 100,000-year sea spirit beast overlord frozen in ice.
The Spectral Demiplane held more than a dozen sea spirit beasts, all reserved as spirit ring resources for those close to him. Given Ning Fengya's status, she was more than qualified to receive one.
With everything settled, Ling Bai unfurled his angelic wings and shot toward Blood Desolation Town.
…
Blood Desolation Town lay within the Heavenly Soul Empire. With the Seraphim's terrifying speed, Ling Bai flew at full power and reached his destination that very night.
The town didn't look large, but the moment he touched down, the Bloodsea Heart in his chest began to pound violently. Even the Seraphim and the Death Abyss Spider Emperor stirred with excitement. Both Martial Spirits had sensed something of irresistible allure.
'Looks like I've come to the right place.'
Ling Bai followed his Martial Spirits' instincts into a tavern within the town. Every fixture inside was dyed blood-red, as if the whole place were a gaping bloody maw waiting to devour the unwary.
Night had fallen, and the tavern was packed to the brim. Every patron could only be described as hideous and menacing. Cups of dark, murky red liquid crowded the tables, and the reek that rose from them was thick and metallic, as pungent as fresh blood.
"Some dogs really never stop eating shit."
The cups contained human blood laced with an addictive poison. Ling Bai remembered the concoction was called Bloody Mary. Slaughter City may have been destroyed by the Snow Swan Kiss, but the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King clearly hadn't learned its lesson. Its influence still seeped through Blood Desolation Town in secret.
That remark cut through the noise like a thrown gauntlet. A burly man jerked to his feet like a cat with its tail stepped on. Without a word he released his Martial Spirit, and a spiked mace wrapped in four spirit rings came smashing down toward Ling Bai's skull.
The brave were always the first to enjoy everything. Eight Death Abyss Spider Lances burst from Ling Bai's back. The mace shattered against them with a teeth-grating crunch, and the lances punched clean through the man's heart.
"Tough bastard! All together!"
Not a single patron backed down. One after another, their eyes gone bloodshot, they lunged forward. Ling Bai strolled ahead at an unhurried pace while the Death Abyss Spider Lances skewered one body after another.
Fresh blood stained the floor a ghastly red. The stench grew so thick it felt almost solid. No one could withstand the edge of those lances. Corpses hung impaled upon the eight of them, the madness frozen in their pupils never given the chance to turn into fear.
Ling Bai walked to the counter with dozens of corpses still dangling behind him. The tavern's sole waitress didn't so much as flinch at the massacre of her clientele. Her placid expression made it clear that scenes of carnage were nothing new to her.
"Great Inheritor, the Blood Emperor requests your presence."
A tremendous crash split the air. The service counter broke apart, and a bottomless pit yawned open in the floor. A cold, dank wind gusted up from the darkness below.
The waitress bowed at a ninety-degree angle and leaped into the blackness without hesitation. Ling Bai followed right after her, the chill wind sweeping past them both as they descended.
At the end of the passage lay a blood-red city. Its walls were thick and broad, pressing down with a crushing weight, and a blood moon hung overhead that bathed everything in an eerie glow. Two words had been carved into the massive city gate:
Slaughter City.
Fallen Ones wandered its streets, faces a sickly, unnatural white. Manic laughter, wrenching sobs, and every manner of hair-raising noise tangled together in the air.
"What a boring illusion. Do you miss Slaughter City that much, Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King?"
A trace of black-red bled into Ling Bai's brilliant golden pupils as his external spirit bone, the Demon Eye, flared to life. A cold, eerie aura of pure malice spilled outward in an instant, and Spiritual Annihilation swept across the whole of Slaughter City.
Everywhere his gaze touched, Fallen Ones and city walls alike disintegrated under the destructive spiritual wave. The illusion peeled away, and the true face of Slaughter City emerged. A boundless Bloodsea stretched in every direction, its waters churning with poisonous crimson bubbles.
The waitress was gone, as if the Bloodsea had melted her back into itself. Its waves surged a thousand feet high, and blood-red bats burst from the churning waters to circle madly overhead. Each bat was roughly a foot long, yet its wings, once unfurled, spanned more than three feet across.
Thousands upon thousands of them filled the sky. Fangs jutted sharp from every maw, and the collective beat of their wings whipped up a reeking gale. The Bloodsea heaved and churned beneath them.
Deep within the Bloodsea, fissures suddenly split open. The waters boiled like heated blood. An ancient, powerful evil presence stirred awake. The cracks widened as a tremendous energy erupted and sent tremors through the entire sea.
A grotesque, massive body rose slowly from the depths. Dark-red scales covered it from head to tail like molten lava cooled into armor. Nine heads crowned its hulking form, each wearing a different expression. Some twisted with savagery, others sly, and still others radiated an unfathomable, calculating intelligence. Devilish wings spread wide and blotted out the blood-red moon overhead!
The Lord of the Bloodsea. The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King!
Every flap of those wings whipped the Bloodsea into towering waves. Demonic fire burned in nine pairs of blood-red beast eyes. Blood bats and Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat Kings filled the air, their countless screeches tearing through the sky. The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King opened all its massive mouths and spat bolt after bolt of blood-colored light like streaks of lightning, each one a proclamation of its absolute dominion over this sea.
Then all nine heads dipped, and an inscrutable gaze settled upon Ling Bai. A voice layered with different pitches and tones rumbled forth:
"Twin God Inheritor, welcome to Slaughter City."
"Not bad. You can recognize the Seraphim on sight." Ling Bai sounded mildly surprised.
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King burst into laughter. "I did occupy the Angel God Position for a thousand years, after all. An angel's holy aura cannot be hidden from me."
"At least you have some self-awareness. You know what you did counts as 'occupying.'"
Ling Bai lit up his gray spirit ring. The Spectral Gate rose from the center of the Bloodsea, and the Bone Dragon King came roaring out, unleashing its dragon might without restraint. The swarm of bats scattered in a panic.
"Hey now, we share a bond with the Rakshasa God. I am the Rakshasa's guardian beast, and you are the God Position inheritor. There is no need for fighting and killing. It would only hurt the harmony between us."
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King beat its wings and settled onto the Bloodsea's surface. Even with the Bone Dragon King seething with malice beside it, the bat king showed no interest in a fight to the death. Its tone remained calm.
"What did you come to me for? Whatever you want, we can discuss it."
"Is that so?" Ling Bai folded his arms across his chest. "You're an evil spirit beast bold enough to ambush the second-generation Rakshasa God and tear the Angel God Position right out of her hands, and now you want to talk about being 'fated' with the Rakshasa God?"
"Who hasn't made mistakes in their youth?" The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King heaved a wistful sigh. "To survive the tribulation, I had no choice but to absorb the divine power of the Angel God Position. But that holy energy was diametrically opposed to my very essence. My body took irreversible damage from it, and I no longer have the strength to endure the seventh great tribulation.
When a beast is about to die, its words grow gentle. To recognize one's mistakes and correct them is the greatest of virtues. Inheritor, I was wrong. I was truly wrong. I failed the trust of the first-generation Rakshasa God, and I failed the second-generation Rakshasa God as well. Please convey my apology to her."
Ling Bai leaned back. An evil spirit beast confessing its sins... why do I have so much trouble buying that?
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King caught the doubt Ling Bai made no effort to hide. Its central head opened its enormous maw, and a sun-bright golden sphere of light drifted slowly down into Ling Bai's waiting palm.
The instant it touched his skin, the Seraphim origin within him surged with an excitement unlike anything he had ever felt. Ling Bai knew at once what he was holding.
The Angel God Position!
Bibi Dong had set the Rakshasa First Trial before him, yet until this moment Ling Bai had never truly come into contact with an actual God Position. The golden radiance thinned and drew inward, revealing its true form. A miniature Seraphim, three of its six golden wings shorn away, the loss marking the God Position as shattered.
To obtain the Angel God Position he had so long coveted, and with such ease, stirred even Ling Bai. The Angel God Position sensed his pure Seraphim bloodline and actively merged into the First Angel Spirit Core between his brows.
A flicker of feral malice slipped across the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's expression, too subtle to catch. Outwardly, it kept its posture low and its voice gentle.
"Inheritor, can you forgive my past mistakes?
As compensation, I am willing to sacrifice this ruined body of mine. From this day forward, I will become your spirit ring and spirit bone, a small stepping stone along your road to Godhood..."
The map had unrolled to its end, and the hidden dagger stood revealed at last!
Ling Bai had finally seen through its ambition. A cunning, brazen evil spirit beast. No wonder it had once reduced a Limit Douluo to a puppet.
Sacrifice?
Of course not!
With the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's spiritual talent, there was only one thing this fellow truly intended...
To seize his body!