The Strong

Chapter 185: The Strong

When Han Li found a thick tree at the edge of the woods and leaped up to recover his strength, the first great wave of slaughter in the Blood Forbidden Trial swept through the forbidden land.

All manner of formidable figures bared their fangs, beginning a purge of the weak in their vicinity. The closer to the central zone, the more frequent and bloody the killings became.

Occasionally, two “experts” of roughly equal strength would meet. They would tacitly ignore each other and pass by without a word. Now was not the time for them to clash.

Broadly speaking, the various sect disciples inside the forbidden land could be divided into three categories.

The first category were the extremely weak—those whose cultivation had only reached the eleventh layer or even the tenth.

The reasons they had entered the forbidden land varied. Some were forced in by circumstances beyond their control. Others harbored a slim hope of scraping by in the chaos and reaping some benefit. But regardless of their intentions, they occupied the lowest tier of the Blood Forbidden Trial. Their role was simply to be killed.

By the end of the first day, aside from the few who were the cleverest or possessed some special means of self-preservation, most of these weaklings had already been eliminated.

Of course, an exception existed—someone like Han Li, who could rely on a strange treasure to trade blows directly with the most ruthless opponents.

The second category were people like the bearded man—those whose magical power was not weak, but who knew they were far inferior to the true experts and had no hope of obtaining spirit herbs. Unwilling to risk their lives against the peak combatants of the forbidden land for the sake of medicine, they instead turned their attention to those in the first category or to others like themselves, hoping to kill and seize treasures in the chaos, making a quiet fortune.

These people were most active in the first two days of the trial. But from the third day onward, the survivors among them would silently vanish from the forbidden land.

They knew very well that the last three days were for the “experts” to engage in their mad clashes. If they ran into such a fight during that time, death would be certain.

Of course, a few were arrogant or had misjudged their own strength. They would blunder into the vortex of the struggle for spirit herbs and end up with their bones scattered. But most of them saw the signs early and withdrew quickly. They were often the ones who survived the Blood Forbidden Trial in the greatest numbers. It was an irony that the truly strong often died first, while these middling types lived on.

The third category were the fewest.

They stood at the very top of the pyramid—the most elite disciples each sect had sent into the forbidden land. They were the ones in whom the sect’s upper echelons had placed their real hopes. The other fellow disciples were nothing more than cannon fodder to distract the attention of rival sects.

These elites possessed profound magical power and were equipped with top-grade magical tools of terrifying might. Their single objective was to kill the disciples of other sects and seize enough spirit herbs.

This first large-scale slaughter had begun in tacit coordination among them—a purge to eliminate the riffraff who wanted to muddy the waters, lest these annoyances cause complications later.

As for the fact that some people had already entered the central zone ahead of schedule, they were neither anxious nor alarmed. After all, getting in was easy. But getting out with the spirit herbs—that was the true difficulty.

The slaughter continued steadily. Because Han Li was still some distance from the central zone, it did not reach him while he recovered his magic power.

But the other weaklings were not so lucky. Many were dragged into the killings, struggling desperately to break free and preserve their lives.

One such person was Xiao Er of the Carving Knife Dock.

Now, Xiao Er’s face was pale as death. He stared in terror at the man before him—a barefoot giant with a silver greatsword strapped to his back.

This man, before Xiao Er’s own eyes, had already killed two other Carving Knife Dock disciples who had banded together. Under the giant’s silver greatsword, no top-grade magical tool or defensive barrier had been able to withstand even a single blow. Each one was shattered like thin paper, and the disciples themselves were cleaved in half.

It was only thanks to the distraction those fellow disciples had provided that Xiao Er, seeing the situation turn dire, had managed to slip away and flee.

But unfortunately, the giant seemed unwilling to let him go. He had pursued Xiao Er for several hours and finally cornered him here. Xiao Er was utterly despairing.

“If you take your own life, I’ll grant you a whole corpse,” the giant said coldly, his gaze utterly indifferent.

“You… go to hell!”

Knowing death was imminent, Xiao Er erupted in a desperate burst of ferocity. He sacrificed the last two top-grade magical tools he had on him, launching them both at once.

“Foolish.”

The giant spoke the single word with contempt. Then the silver greatsword soared from his back, effortlessly smashing the two magical tools to pieces before slicing Xiao Er in two.

After finishing, the giant did not even glance at Xiao Er’s corpse. He turned and walked away without a word, showing no interest in the storage pouch. For him, the silver greatsword alone was enough. Other treasures would only distract his mind and harm his cultivation.

…

By a small stream near the central zone, a female disciple of the Moon-Masking Sect was drenched in sweat. She commanded a handkerchief-like magical tool, struggling desperately to fend off two crimson flying blades. She was clearly on the verge of collapse.

“Senior brother of the Carving Knife Dock, won’t you spare your little sister?” she said, throwing away all shame in the face of death. “I am willing to serve you for the night.”

She had used a woman’s greatest bargaining chip to tempt him. But whether it would succeed—after witnessing his skill—she had no confidence at all.

“Fine. Put away your tool, and I will agree.” The speaker was a handsome young man of eighteen or nineteen, dressed in a blue robe. He had delicate features, red lips, and white teeth—a picture-perfect pretty boy.

As he spoke, he halted the two flying blades in midair and smiled at the woman.

The Moon-Masking Sect woman was overjoyed. She threw him a few flirtatious glances, hesitated briefly, then slowly lowered her handkerchief and withdrew it into her hand. She arched her chest and was about to speak.

But before her ruby lips could part, the handsome man’s face suddenly twisted with murderous intent. He pointed his finger, and the two crimson blades shot down like lightning, crossing in a single scissors motion. The woman fell silently to the ground, blood pooling around her.

“Worthless slut. Did you think you could seduce me, Han Tianya, with such cheap looks?”

The handsome man’s voice had turned sharp and shrill, his expression full of disgust. He pulled a perfumed handkerchief from his waist and fastidiously wiped the dust from his face, his movements soft and effeminate, like a gentle lady.

“I’d better hurry. Maybe I’ll run into a few more to entertain me along the way.”

Muttering to himself, he tossed the handkerchief onto the woman’s face and walked away, swaying his hips.

…

In the mountain forest, a disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain lay dead on the ground. Nearby stood a middle-aged man in a yellow robe. He was shaking his head, muttering to himself as he stared at the sky. Behind him, several ferocious spirit beasts lay motionless on the ground, as if they had lost all signs of life.

…

On a barren hill, a hideous man in a green shirt was madly driving a swarm of giant bees to besiege several cultivators in Daoist robes.

…

And so it went throughout the forbidden land. Incidents of the strong slaughtering the weak were everywhere. Though Han Li did not witness them all, he could faintly sense the scent of blood hanging in the air.

But he could not afford to investigate. He sat motionless in the crown of the tree, letting his magic power gradually recover.

Time passed quickly. The first night within the forbidden land was already more than half over. To Han Li’s surprise, the darkness here was as bright as daylight. The entire sky remained a hazy gray, a sight that made him somewhat uneasy.

Just as his magic power had mostly recovered and he felt a secret relief, the sound of urgent footsteps and heavy panting gradually drew near from a distance. Someone appeared to be running toward the very tree where Han Li was meditating.