Chapter 25: A Necessary Sacrifice
A full year had passed. In that time, Qin Xuan had become the most dazzling, terrifying existence in Slaughter City.
He was a phantom of death in the arena. He seemed forever uninjured, forever untired. His enemies broke themselves against his defense, and his blade reaped victories with inhuman efficiency.
Most frighteningly, he never seemed to lose himself to the maddening interference of the murderous aura. He just... killed.
In just one year, he had achieved 99 consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Field.
Such a terrifying winning streak completely broke the norm. The fallen of Slaughter City were used to desperate, bloody struggles. Qin Xuan's matches were executions.
If he were to achieve his 100th consecutive victory and pass through the Hell Road, he would break the record held by the first place for nearly a thousand years.
He would become the person who spent the shortest time to become a Slaughter God in the entire, bloody history of Slaughter City.
Compared to when he first arrived, Qin Xuan was a different man. The initial, almost naive aspirations—punching Qian Xunji, stepping on the Clear Sky Sect, and gathering the beautiful heroines of the Douluo Continent—felt distant.
The raw, unfiltered cruelty of survival had hammered those softer dreams into something harder. It gave him a new, chilling understanding of the Douluo Continent.
A hint of permanent coldness now lingered in his expression. His dark pupils, once clear, were now tinged with a bloody red.
Even his body, despite his best efforts to cleanse it, emitted the faint, coppery scent of old blood. A cold aura of slaughter quietly permeated the air around him. It was an aura that encompassed almost every dark word in the world: bloodthirsty, brutal, merciless.
This was not something he deliberately put on. It was the inevitable stain left after killing thousands of people in the hellish miasma of Slaughter City.
Although the [Phoenix Fire] could insulate his physical body from most of the murderous aura, his Martial Soul could not avoid it. Every time he manifested the Changming Sword, it soaked in the corruption.
When the Spirit was retracted into his body, it brought that taint with it, which, in turn, affected his mind.
It might not be a critical problem for a few years, but he knew the risk. If it continued long-term, if he kept on killing, he would eventually lose his mind to the slaughter and become just another degenerate, a beast walking in human form.
Fortunately, all of this was almost over. He was about to achieve his 100th consecutive victory.
In one year, his strength had improved significantly. As early as the third month after entering Slaughter City, his spirit power had broken through the Level 60 bottleneck, officially making him a Spirit Emperor.
Although his rank had not visually improved since then—because he had not obtained a 6th spirit ring—his accumulation was immense.
According to his estimation, his raw spirit power behind that bottleneck had increased by at least two or three full levels.
In about 9 months, on the foundation of a Spirit Emperor, to increase by nearly 3 spirit power levels without a new ring was previously unimaginable.
Even the "Xiao Bie San" in the original work, Tang San, without the cheats of Seagod Island and Spirit Beast Sacrifices, could not have reached this level.
[Inorin's Note: "Xiao Bie San" (小瘪三) is a derogatory Shanghainese slang, roughly meaning 'little punk' or 'brat', which the protagonist uses to refer to Tang San.]
This was all accumulation without a new spirit ring. If he obtained one, and the upper limit suppression was released, his cultivation speed would be even faster.
But spirit power was secondary. What truly benefited Qin Xuan the most was the tempering of his other skills: the Longitudinal and Horizontal Swordsmanship and the Ghost Valley Breathing Technique.
[Inorin's Note: The swordsmanship and breathing technique originate from the Qin's Moon (The Legend of Qin) franchise.]
Qin Xuan used a full year of constant life-and-death battles to integrate the two opposing sword arts. He could now, by consuming most of his spirit power, simultaneously unleash a combined attack: the Longitudinal School's Hundred Steps Flying Sword and the Horizontal School's Traverse the Eight Directions.
He had also utilized the Ghost Valley Breathing Technique, a superior internal cultivation method, supplemented by the Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum he had absorbed. This combination had allowed him to open up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians throughout his body.
He had cultivated a protective True Qi that even the masters Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang did not possess in the Qin's Moon world.
It was no exaggeration to say that, among those of the same level, he had almost achieved the indestructible body that Tang San once theorized could be cultivated from the Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.
Spirit power holders of the same level would now find it almost impossible to break his protective True Qi.
The moment Qin Xuan, still cloaked in his black robe, walked out of the Hell Slaughter Field's exit, the originally passionate, screaming degenerates in the stands suddenly fell silent.
A wave of cold fear washed over the arena. Some of the fallen who were closer to the exit scattered, stumbling over each other, fearing they might provoke this walking Slaughter God and lose their heads. They cleared a large path for him.
Qin Xuan had no interest in dealing with these degenerates lost in slaughter and strode away.
The Hell Slaughter Field no longer posed any threat to him.
Most of the true experts had already been slaughtered by him before his 80th consecutive victory, including the few Spirit Douluo and Spirit Saint level powerhouses who had been trapped here.
All of them had died under his Traverse the Eight Directions or his Hundred Steps Flying Sword.
His most urgent task now was to adjust his spirit, energy, and mind to their optimal state.
Additionally, there was the "big turntable lottery"—his system draws—to see if he could win anything good in preparation for passing the Hell Road.
In the inner city center of Slaughter City, within the tallest, most menacing building.
A dark and spacious room sat at its peak.
The Slaughter King leaned leisurely on a huge, dark red chair made of crystal and skulls. He rested his right hand on his chin, holding a cup of viscous, bloody liquid in his left hand, gently shaking it. He was resting with his eyes closed.
"How is that fellow... 'Black Dragon'... doing?" He suddenly opened his eyes, and a crimson, bestial light flickered within them.
"Great King, Black Dragon has just won another victory. He now has 99 consecutive victories."
A cold yet pleasant female voice echoed from the shadows.
A charming woman in black robes, who looked to be about 20 years old, emerged from the darkness. She carried a silver vessel containing more of the Bloody Mary.
It was none other than the Slaughter Envoy who had first received Qin Xuan upon his arrival.
"Heh," the Slaughter King sneered, the sound like grinding gravel. "As expected. Do you think that boy can actually leave Slaughter City?"
The Slaughter Envoy pondered for a moment, her voice respectful. "His 100th consecutive victory should not be difficult. But passing the Hell Road... I am afraid he doesn't have that ability."
She elaborated, "Although his combat skills are supreme in the Hell Slaughter Field, the Hell Road is different. His spirit power is still too low. If he were a Spirit Saint, there might be a chance."
"Is that so?" The Slaughter King's voice dropped, becoming dangerous. "How come I remember you said the exact same thing about that Clear Sky Sect disciple... Tang Hao... last time?"
He narrowed his eyes, and a fierce, blood-red light flashed in his pupils.
Bang!
The silver vessel slipped from her trembling hand and crashed to the ground. The Bloody Mary spilled everywhere, a thick, dark pool on the stone.
The Slaughter Envoy was startled into a cold sweat and immediately fell to her knees, begging for mercy. "Please, Great King, forgive me! Your subordinate knows her sin! Your subordinate will never speak out of turn again!"
"Since you know your sin, then this King will give you a chance to atone. Raise your head." The Slaughter King's lips curled into a slight, cruel smile.
Has this day finally come? The Slaughter Envoy bit her red lip tightly, a tremor of fear and resignation passing through her. She raised her head.
"From a human perspective, your looks are indeed good," the Slaughter King mused, reaching out to pinch her chin, his armored gauntlet cold against her skin.
Then, as if thinking of something, he paused. A wisp of faint blood light drifted from his eyes, momentarily forming two long, bloody fire snakes in the air.
He said something that made the Slaughter Envoy inexplicably confused: "Don't worry. This King is temporarily not interested in human women's bodies. I want you to do something else for this King."
Even if he were interested, his body couldn't do anything. This body still belonged to Tang Chen.
[Inorin's Note: The Slaughter King is actually Tang Chen, Tang Hao's grandfather. He is being corrupted by a parasitic Spirit Beast, the Nine-Headed Blood-Red Bat King.]
The Nine-Headed Blood-Red Bat King had only been parasitic for a little over 10 years.
The degree of erosion was far less than it would be by the time Tang San entered Slaughter City in the future. He still couldn't fully control this powerful vessel.
If he were to try that with Tang Chen's body, given Tang Chen's lingering, powerful obsession with the Seagod's High Priest, Bo Saixi, something... unfortunate... would probably occur.
The Slaughter Envoy was stunned. "Please command, Great King!"
"Each opening of the Hell Road brings a great disaster to Slaughter City. It drains my power," the King growled. "This King does not wish for what happened last time to happen again. I will not have another Tang Hao."
The Slaughter Envoy heard this as if granted a great pardon. This was a mission, not a punishment. "Great King, your subordinate understands! I will go and contact 'Black Dragon' now. I will dissuade him."
As she spoke, she scrambled to pick up the silver vessel from the ground and was about to walk out of the dark room.
The Slaughter King called out to her. "Wait."
The Slaughter Envoy paused, her body rigid with renewed fear.
She then heard the Slaughter King say, "Dissuade him. But if he cannot be dissuaded... at the necessary moment, you can offer your body to... weaken him before he enters the Road."
"Great King, what if... what if that person doesn't agree?" The Slaughter Envoy's expression dimmed, and after a visible internal struggle, she asked with some hesitation.
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