The Blood River and the Giant Devil

"Space overlapping!" Liu Mu exclaimed, his eyes blazing as he witnessed the Time Divine Law-Principle slow the yin soldier's movements. Spatial force surged forth, merging with the power of time in a blinding explosion of radiance. The combined might was far greater than anyone had imagined.

"Boom!"

The sound of shattering erupted as the ancient armor on the yin soldier cracked and split, nearly half of it falling away. His muscular, bronze-skinned body was exposed to the air, dark mist seeping from his flesh.

At that moment, Xiao Chen struck. He soared into the air, then dove headfirst toward the yin soldier, his Soul-Slaying Divine Hand tearing down with fierce, blazing divine light. Simultaneously, Dugu Jianmo swung his iron sword at the soldier, and Yizhen conjured a massive, radiant Buddha hand that pressed forward like a mountain.

The yin soldier sensed the danger. With his armor half-shattered, much of his power seemed to drain away. He brandished his bronze spear to fend off the attacks, but under the blinding light, the remaining armor utterly disintegrated, and the spear shattered. His bronze body was completely exposed, then began to age rapidly, deep wrinkles forming and muscles withering.

"Finally, a living one, not a ghost," Dugu Jianmo said coldly. He appeared to have encountered ghosts before, and the claw marks on his body were ghastly.

The yin soldier's eyes filled with profound confusion, as if he had lost his soul. Faint soul-fluctuations within him faded, and his robust form decayed until he became a skeleton wrapped in parchment-thin skin. Ghostly flames flickered in his eye sockets, and a murderous aura exploded from his body.

A cultivator exclaimed in shock, "How could this happen? He's lost his life force... turned into a ghost!"

As if on cue, a low growl escaped the yin soldier's throat. He seemed reborn in a new, twisted form, charging at the group with a hideous grimace. Xiao Chen, descending from above, was the first in his path. But Xiao Chen was not afraid. He had seen ghosts before; as long as those from the ancient mansions did not emerge, or that sinister shroud did not empower them, ordinary ghosts were manageable.

His Soul-Slaying Divine Hand struck out fiercely, his hands transforming into a pair of heavenly blades, unstoppable and razor-sharp. Blazing light tore down, shattering the ghost's arms in an instant. Then Xiao Chen somersaulted, stamped the ghost's head to pieces, and flipped away.

The ghost was far weaker than the armored soldier, no longer a threat to the cultivators. Dugu Jianmo struck with his sword, splitting the headless corpse in two.

Thus the battle ended. Through real combat, the group understood that to kill a yin soldier, they had to break through his armor; otherwise, victory was impossible.

A heavy silence fell. Everyone looked grim, for it had taken their combined strength to kill a single yin soldier. And when they first entered the Death City, they had seen hundreds of yin soldiers and celestial soldiers. If all of them attacked at once, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Coupled with the roving ghosts and even more terrifying giant spirits, their situation was dire indeed. In the Death City, there were far too many horrors, and the yin soldiers were hardly the most fearsome threat. The unknown spirits were what they truly dreaded.

"Why did the yin soldier seem alive, but once his armor was stripped, he quickly died and turned into a ghost?" a cultivator asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"This ancient city has existed for endless ages, and those yin soldiers must have endured the same span of years. The reason they remained undying and ageless is likely because of their armor, which preserved their bodies in their original state," someone speculated.

The theory might not be correct, but it held some merit. Certain cultivators began to entertain thoughts—perhaps they should seize a set of yin soldier armor, or at least collect the broken fragments from the ground.

Before they could ponder further, the earth suddenly rumbled with a thunderous roar, trembling violently. A fierce yin wind howled, shaking the nearby buildings. A savage, murderous aura surged, and a low roar rumbled like thunder, making even their souls quiver.

Without hesitation, the young cultivators dashed into a narrow alley, swiftly retreating from the ancient street. The moment they distanced themselves, they felt an immense terror charging through the area. The ground shook as if in an earthquake.

"This is far more powerful than a yin soldier. And who knows how many unknown horrors await! Even a god walking into this ancient city might not survive!" a cultivator exclaimed in terror, on the verge of despair.

The mysterious woman, veiled in colorful mist, spoke in a voice like celestial music: "No matter what danger arises, do not try to hide inside the ancient mansions."

Everyone nodded. Many who had ducked into those houses had never come out. Xiao Chen felt this even more keenly; he had personally seen a legendary immortal enshrined in one of those dead mansions, serving as its master. He suspected the mysterious woman in the mist had also uncovered such secrets.

"Aooo!" Ghastly cries rang out overhead. Three skull birds dove toward the group, their skin-and-bone bodies and giant wings making them appear savage and monstrous.

"Heh, these ghosts again!" Dugu Jianmo snorted, his iron sword slashing skyward. Space warped as if about to shatter. A 'domain' carved out by his immense power enveloped two of the skull birds, and with the sound of cracking bones, ghost feathers flew in all directions, shattered skeletons plummeting down. It was clear just how powerful Dugu Jianmo was—even Liu Mu admitted he was no match.

The remaining skull bird was caught by Yizhen's giant conjured Buddha hand and crushed to the ground. The three birds were destroyed, but the mysterious woman in the mist said with a helpless sigh, "I fear we are in grave danger."

The group tensed. Those skull birds had seemed to call out to something in the distance before attacking. Everyone rushed into another alley, trying to escape, but it was too late. A chilling yin wind gusted down from the sky, and an icy coldness enveloped them. Against the blood-red sky, a vast flock of skull birds darkened the heavens like storm clouds—at least a thousand of them.

How could they fight this? This many horrors could drown them even by sheer mass, and each one was vicious.

"It's over. We're doomed!" a cultivator despaired, finally dashing into a nearby ancient mansion. But the moment he entered, screams rang out, followed by the crunching sound of bones cracking, as if some creature was devouring the corpse.

Everyone's face went pale. No one dared enter the surrounding mansions. The cultivators rushed forward, trying to flee the deadly threat from the sky.

But even the flying spiritists and spellmasters found it futile. The skull birds were too fast, stirring up bone-chilling winds as they encircled and blocked the way out. The sky was filled with shadows and howling gales, their piercing shrieks making everyone's scalp tingle and their spines run cold.

Qin Guangwang, Yanluowang, and Lunhuiwang tugged at Xiao Chen's robe, pointing to the blood river ahead, its mist roiling crimson. Then, with a clatter, they disassembled themselves into scattered bones on the street and began to play dead.

"Should I jump into the blood river?" Xiao Chen muttered. He knew the river was no safe haven—it might hide even more ferocious ghosts. But they had no choice; they had to head that way.

The skull birds swooped down, unleashing blasts of netherworld death-light. At this point, everyone had to unleash their strongest techniques, for a single misstep could mean death.

The woman in the mist struck with her Time Divine Law-Principle, freezing a swath of skull birds in midair. The cultivators below blasted them with brilliant light, tearing apart the frozen horrors. Dugu Jianmo's sword-light shot skyward, his invisible domain enveloping the ghosts, producing the sound of shattering bones as skeletons rained down.

Xiao Chen's Soul-Slaying Divine Hand, Liu Mu's Spatial Law, and Yizhen's great Buddhist divine power all flared. Blazing radiance swept the sky, and skull birds fell one after another. But there were too many; they could not be killed quickly. Several cultivators were struck by the death-light, suffering terrible wounds. The group fought as they retreated, slowly moving toward the blood river.

The rushing blood river stank of rot, its crimson mist thick with the foul odor of corpses, enough to make one want to vomit. If not the river, where else could they flee? A badly wounded cultivator could hold out no longer and leaped first into the surging river. But a terrifying sight followed: a massive shadow rushed beneath the surface, and a ghostly claw as large as a millstone grabbed the man, snapped him in half at the waist, and dragged him under.

It was a soul-shaking, blood-curdling scene. Everyone felt a chill of dread; it was simply too terrifying. They had not even seen what it was, only that ghastly giant claw... The Death City was simply too horrifying.

Yin winds howled from the sky, and the thousand skull birds kept diving to attack. But now no one dared even try to jump into the blood river. Even Xiao Chen, Liu Mu, and Dugu Jianmo were wounded. Yan Qingcheng and Liu Ruyan, protected by the mysterious woman in the mist, would have perished long ago had she not guarded them.

For some reason, Xiao Chen felt a strange familiarity about the woman who wielded the Time Divine Law-Principle, but he had no time to dwell on it. The flying ghosts brought him perilously close to death. Under these circumstances, his Soul-Slaying Divine Hand grew ever more refined, unleashing terrifying power. Blazing divine light tore at the sky, and all around him lay the shattered remains of skull birds.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The earth trembled. Buildings near the blood river shook as a colossal figure approached, casting a vast shadow. Every step made the ground quake.

It was a truly terrifying giant devil, thirty meters tall. Its humanoid body was covered in white bone scales, except for its skull-like head, which had no scales—just dry, shriveled skin clinging to the bone, with a few sparse yellow hairs fluttering in the wind. Deep in its hollow eye sockets burned twin beams of blood-red light, fierce and brutal.

From the end of its spine trailed a tail over ten meters long, also covered in bone scales, like an enormous crocodile's tail. As it walked, the earth shook violently, and a murderous aura swept across the land. Even the skull birds above fled higher into the sky, startled by its presence.

For Xiao Chen and the others, it was truly 'a leak in the roof meeting a night of rain.' A thousand skull birds had already trapped them in a hopeless situation, and now this colossal devil arriving left them no chance of survival.

"Damn it!" Even the arrogant Dugu Jianmo cursed, because he felt fear. He sensed death closing in—there truly seemed to be no way out.

"We're dead... we can't survive..." someone moaned in despair.

Indeed, under these circumstances, all hope was lost.

As he struck down the diving skull birds, Xiao Chen remained calmly observant. Faced with death, he felt no proper fear—only a regret that he had not yet set foot on the legendary mainland of immortality. To die here in this ancient city... it was a pity and a defiance.

The earth shook violently as the thirty-meter devil drew near. Its massive shadow fell over the ground, and it raised its foot to trample the group.

"Roar!" Suddenly, a dragon cry shook the heavens, and a blinding golden light exploded in the sky!