Chapter 284: Qian Renchuan—This Continent Has Chosen a Path to Death
At the end of the Hell Road, Qian Renchuan sat cross-legged, unmoving. He resembled an ancient fossil. At this moment, his entire body was soaked in blood-red. He looked like a crimson statue.
A full hundred days passed. The fresh blood covering his body had turned purplish-black and hardened into a thick crust on his skin. As the hundredth day drew to a close, cracks started to appear in that dark-purple scab, producing a tearing and shattering sound.
More and more breaks formed. Gradually, pieces of purplish-black crust began to peel away, exposing beneath it faintly blue-gold skin. While the scab fell, Qian Renchuan's hair also came away—stuck to the hardened crust and slipping off with it.
"Mm—"
A light groan echoed; Qian Renchuan softly grunted, stretching both arms to either side. An immediate burst of metallic bone-crack sounds resounded through his body.
Qian Renchuan let out a sharp cry, fully conscious again. After fully absorbing the God-bestowed Spirit Ring, his spirit rings were once more suppressed by the Slaughter City, so they didn't show. However, the Eight Spider Spears behind him, which had shattered, regrew.
The Eight Spider Spears looked the same size as before, still transparent, but now their coloration was much brighter. Originally shining with a blue-gold luster, after absorbing the God-bestowed Spirit Ring they now released a sacred aura of pure gold. Unfolded behind Qian Renchuan, they appeared like eight brilliant golden arms. Radiant beams flickered, and in their faint glow, one could see a golden ring of light projected behind them.
He sensed that his Eight Spider Spears had undergone certain changes. Releasing the Blue Silver Domain and pouring spirit power inside, the Eight Spider Spears emanated golden filaments that spread throughout the red world at the end of the Hell Road, down into the lake of blood formed by countless years of residue.
The blood-river's soul power was steadily drawn away, assimilated by the newly evolved Blue Silver Domain, then filtered through the Eight Spider Spears, converted into his own spirit power.
"So this is a God-bestowed Spirit Ring, producing a ring supremely suited to my martial spirit. I wonder what my Martial Spirit Avatar can do now?"
Qian Renchuan sighed. He believed that if he'd continued hunting spirit beasts to gain spirit rings, his Eight Spider Spears could slowly have evolved to this level alongside the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit.
Yet spirit rings obtained by hunting were hardly comparable to a God-bestowed hundred-thousand-year spirit ring for which you literally gambled your life. If it had been a hundred-thousand-year ring from a hunted beast, perhaps he'd have been unable to absorb it.
After putting away the Eight Spider Bone and retracting his Blue Silver Domain, Qian Renchuan noticed that he was entirely naked—his hair, eyebrows, and body hair all gone. Hastily, he dressed and drank some water. Once he left the Slaughter City, he'd rely on the Blue Silver Emperor's healing powers to regrow his hair.
"It's time to leave. I'm not sure how long I spent absorbing that God-bestowed Spirit Ring, but by now my cultivation should be around rank seventy-five and a half. Coming here to the Slaughter City, I never expected to break through ten ranks, nor push the Two-Winged Angel to the Four-Winged level."
Just as he manifested the Four-Winged Slaughter Angel to depart, he recalled something Qian Xunji had told him before sending him here:
Spirit Hall had promoted the Slaughter City as a "paradise for the fallen," a final refuge. This prevented wicked and desperate criminals from launching suicidal counterattacks or forming underground factions to fight Spirit Hall, leading to more casualties across the continent.
He certainly knew about Bloody Mary, a drink in the Slaughter City containing a neurotoxin that suppressed one's killing intent but fostered addiction. Overindulgence magnified one's murderous nature. Once addicted, escaping this Hell Road, flooded with heat and slaughter, grew drastically harder.
Over a thousand years, the Slaughter City consumed well over a hundred thousand degenerates. Very few spirit masters, fewer than a handful, managed to leave. Among them were two Clear Sky Clan geniuses—Tang Chen and Tang Hao—who ended up innate enemies of Spirit Hall.
Qian Renchuan closed his eyes and ran through various information in his mind: Qian Daoliu's teachings, Qian Xunji's teachings, the deeds of the two empires. Slowly, he opened his blood-red eyes, radiating coldness and boundless killing intent.
"This continent truly has chosen a path to death! The Divine Ancestor once quelled the evil spirit masters' chaos, granting peace to all living things and laying a foundation for them. Generation after generation, Spirit Hall's predecessors exterminated evil spirit masters. And after all these years, people have completely forgotten the Divine Ancestor's name!"
"The two empires believed slander without evidence, targeting our Spirit Hall!"
He forced himself to calm somewhat, recalling Qian Daoliu's lessons in childhood, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. "When the Divine Ancestor rose to godhood, gathering the faith of all living beings, it was because he led the masses in wiping out evil spirit masters. Now, no one remembers his name, presumably because Spirit Hall's devotion was carried out quietly in the background."
"My Angel Spirit can slaughter fallen spirit masters to raise my cultivation and strengthen the spirit further. Besides me, very few in our clan could survive the Slaughter City. If I didn't have twin spirits or the Holy Son identity, how could I have gotten these resources? If I lacked father's support, I would never have had such an opportunity."
He then recalled Qian Xunji's training after the Tian Dou Auction House incident and the name Ning Fengzhi had made for himself as a paragon of virtue.
"On the surface, he pretended not to interfere with the auction house, but behind the scenes he worked with the Tian Dou royal family to set it up. Then the aristocracy profited from it. Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan made deals with those extravagant nobles, also making a fortune—yet it never left them with a bad reputation, letting them rake in maximum benefits at minimum cost."
"Likewise, the Slaughter City depends on Spirit Hall for supplies, for food, for transporting in degenerates, for building its reputation, and so it has grown so large. If I, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, decide to destroy this place, that's perfectly reasonable. This continent that has chosen a path to death no longer deserves our Hall's generosity!"
"By leaving evil spirit masters nowhere to hide, they'll rage all around, maybe form factions to oppose Spirit Hall. Then our clan will annihilate them, reaping more kills. This, in turn, will allow more clansmen to receive the same trials I did, sharpening themselves, boosting their martial spirits, and strengthening our clan overall. The Divine Ancestor's name would again spread among the populace, as it did ten thousand years ago—and his faith would be unending!"
"I alone shall bear the crime of wiping out the Slaughter City, ensuring our clan's everlasting glory! Father, you'll understand my actions, right?"
Whispering those last words, Qian Renchuan once again employed Mysterious Jade Hand, his soul tool shining. A pure white immortal herb appeared in his hand—crystalline white, every leaf brimming with water-like droplets, slender and curved, resembling a swan's neck.
This was the immortal herb known as "Snowy Swan Kiss," which Qian Renchuan had received from Qian Xunji soon after he obtained the Eight Spider Spears.
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