Chapter 72 The Asura's Secret Realm, The Second Trial of Asura
The Asura Realm.
As the feeling of weightlessness dissipated, the scene before Su Mo's eyes suddenly changed.
A faint red mist drifted in the wind, enveloping the surrounding fields.
Beneath his feet lay cracked, black earth, littered with broken swords, shattered spears, and withered bones—a scene of utter devastation, resembling an ancient battlefield.
Above the sky, a scarlet blood moon hung high, its cold red light pouring down, dyeing the entire world a suffocating dark red.
A pitch-black road led straight down beneath the blood moon.
Beneath the blood moon, the red mist was so thick that it was impossible to see anything within.
Su Mo tried to probe with his Spiritual power, but was completely blocked by the red mist, so he had to give up.
Then, he stepped forward.
He had only been gone for a few moments.
The surrounding red mist surged and twisted violently, and countless remnant souls condensed from the mist to take shape.
They roared and charged madly at Su Mo, carrying an aura of endless ferocity.
Su Mo frowned slightly, and a red light suddenly appeared in his palm as the Asura Demon Sword materialized.
With a flick of his wrist, a crescent-shaped crimson sword aura slashed through the air, fierce and unparalleled, covering an extremely wide area.
These remnant souls were only at the Soul Elder level, and they couldn't withstand the power of his sword at all.
As the sword energy swept past, all the remnant souls in the sky were annihilated.
Immediately, countless strands of crimson energy surged out from where the remnant souls had dissipated and entered Su Mo's body.
"This is... murderous intent," he murmured.
He felt a sudden surge of murderous intent within him, but fortunately it was still within a controllable range.
After a moment of contemplation, he continued walking along the ancient path for several dozen meters.
The crimson mist surged once more, and a new batch of remnant souls condensed, their aura stronger than before, but their numbers significantly reduced.
Su Mo cleared away the remnant souls once more, but the murderous aura that surged in was even more violent, almost causing him to lose control on the spot.
"I see…"
Su Mo instantly understood the requirements of the second trial of Asura.
He needed to keep going along this road until it ended.
Along the way, remnant souls would continuously appear, their strength increasing layer by layer, and he must constantly kill them.
With each killing, an even greater surge of killing intent would flow into his body.
He needed to stay true to himself amidst endless slaughter and not be corrupted by the murderous aura.
After all, if one could not even control their killing intent and their mind was corrupted, they were only fit to become a killing machine, let alone become a god of slaughter and judgment.
Su Mo immediately sat cross-legged, calmed his mind, and forcibly suppressed the surging killing intent within his body.
...
Time flew, and he did not know how much time had passed.
Here, the sky was always blood red, and time seemed to lose its meaning.
It might have been three months, or it might have been six months.
Su Mo had already traveled more than half the distance, slaying countless remnant souls, and his killing intent had surged several times over.
Previously, he could suppress it by willpower alone.
However, over time, the murderous aura became too immense to be suppressed by willpower alone.
At this moment, his aura was chilling and bone-chilling, his body trembled slightly, and the murderous intent accumulated within him was uncontrollably overflowing outward.
And in Su Mo's Spiritual sea.
He stood facing a figure who looked exactly like him, swords in hand.
The difference was that the figure had bloodshot eyes, white hair, and exuded a violent aura.
The two had been locked in combat for quite some time.
They were like two peas in a pod.
Their moves, soul skills, and even the faint divine power within their bodies were completely identical.
The only difference was that the white-haired Su Mo was entirely formed from the will to kill.
Judging from the killing intent Su Mo had accumulated so far, the white-haired Su Mo's strength was slightly higher than his.
Therefore, Su Mo was already showing signs of weakness at this moment.
Once he was defeated by the white-haired Su Mo, his will would be completely replaced by the other party, his mind would be eroded by the killing intent, and he would eventually become a killing machine.
At this moment, the white-haired Su Mo wore a lazy and unrestrained smile and spoke in a seductive tone.
"Why do you have to suppress your murderous intent so painstakingly? Enjoy the killing, embrace the killing.
Put down those pointless shackles. Rules and order are nothing but excuses for your self-comfort.
I am you, and you are me. Let me take your place.
At that time, you will have the power to crush everything, and you can kill whomever you want in this world."
Su Mo did not answer, but stared at the white-haired Su Mo.
Suddenly, Su Mo smiled.
"You're right. I have indeed enjoyed killing, that thrill, that sense of power. I've never denied it.
But you've got one thing wrong.
What I enjoy is not the killing itself, but bringing those who deserve to die to justice and making evil pay the price.
You are killing intent born from murderous intent. You only see the pleasure of killing, but you don't know why I kill."
He raised the Spiritual sword in his hand and said in a deep voice, "I do crave power, but I will never become a slave to power. Instead, I will become its master.
And I am your master!"
He understood now that what the white-haired Su Mo said was indeed true: killing intent did not necessarily have to be suppressed.
Instead, he should take control of it and make it his own power.
Just like a continuous flood, simply trying to block it would only lead to a more violent breach.
Killing intent was not a shackle or a burden, but rather the power of Asura.
It should not be forcibly confined within the body, but should be transformed into his own power.
This was the way of killing.
Suddenly.
A murderous aura surged from Su Mo's body, and a huge Asura phantom appeared behind him as if shattering the void, wielding the same greatsword.
The murderous aura that was originally meant to devour him flowed like rivers into the sea, all converging on the giant sword in the Asura phantom's hand.
Su Mo raised his sword above his head.
The phantom of Asura moved in perfect sync with him.
The next moment, Su Mo swung his sword down.
The phantom of Asura behind him also slashed down, the giant sword carrying an overwhelming killing intent.
The white-haired Su Mo tried to resist, but it was all in vain.
This blow shattered the sword in his hand.
His body suddenly froze.
Su Mo said calmly, "You are just a part of me. Now, it's time for you to come back."
The white-haired Su Mo's body began to disintegrate, turning into countless blood-red light spots, all of which fed back to Su Mo.
The sea of the mind returned to calm.
Inside the Asura Secret Realm, Su Mo opened his eyes.
The murderous aura that had been radiating wildly around him suddenly subsided and returned to silence.
It didn't disappear; it was completely brought under control.
At this moment, Su Mo showed no murderous intent whatsoever, as if he were someone who had never been tainted by blood.
"This move is called... Heart Slayer."
"Heart Slayer" meant to sever the inner demons formed by the will to kill.
The more killing intent used in this move, the stronger its power.
If Su Mo were to unleash his full killing intent, even an ordinary Title Douluo would find it difficult to withstand it.
Soon.
Su Mo continued forward.
Along the way, the number of remnant souls decreased, but their strength steadily increased.
But even the strongest were only at the Contra level.
At this stage, slaying remnant souls was not the core objective; mastering killing intent and tempering one's mindset were the key points.
Therefore, those remnant souls were not powerful enough to be difficult to deal with.
Half an hour later, he finally arrived deep within the red mist.
A dark red palace stood before him, its gates tightly shut.
Su Mo walked to the door and tried to push it open, but the door did not budge.
Even when he used all his strength, it was still to no avail.
"It must be that my current progress in the divine examination is still too shallow, and I am not yet qualified to enter this hall."
Su Mo had a general idea in his mind.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang in his mind:
"The second test of Asura has been passed with excess completion. An additional 5% Asura affinity will be awarded, for a total of 15%."
The current total affinity was 20%.
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