Chapter 0176

Chapter 176: All That Is Lofty, I Despise!

A nightmare voice rolled from ahead as Zhou Tong spoke the spell: “Break, Mirror Flower, Water Moon.”

Cracks spread across the air. Space itself looked shattered, yet what followed was even worse. With a sharp crack, everything in front of the Blood God Sect turned to a mirage. Without knowing when it happened, Zhou Tong and his group had already moved behind them, while the Blood God Sect had walked on their own into the largest blood pool.

“You… you used illusions,” the Blood God Sect captain shouted, glaring at Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong answered with a cool smile: “This is not some cheap illusion. This is domination of the five senses. Your sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste are all under my control.”

Little White showed himself with a proud grin and said: “Ta-da.”

As the embodiment of the Formless Realm, stopping time was only one of its many faces.

The enemies went pale. If Zhou Tong held this power, did that mean he could not be beaten?

“Do not be so shocked,” Zhou Tong said with a teasing tone: “Against someone far stronger than me, this move does nothing. That is why I used it on you.”

“Then… when did you find us?” someone from the Blood God Sect asked through clenched teeth. They had been wiped out before they could lift a hand. It felt unbearably humiliating. They would not accept it.

Zhou Tong laughed and asked in return: “What you should ask is this: when did you first get the wrong idea that I had not already found you?”

Despair washed over the Blood God Sect.

Gurgling bubbles rose as the blood pool began to churn. The sacrifice ritual had started.

Screams broke out. The Blood God Sect disciples thrashed in terror, trying to escape their fate. They were too weak. Their struggle was useless.

“Children, do not give up. Do not be afraid. We old men will protect you,” a Blood God Sect elder said, teeth clenched, as he used up his strength to shove several young disciples out of the blood pool.

Zhou Tong froze for a breath. If those elders burned their cultivation, they might have had a small chance to break free and live. Instead, they risked their lives and even burned their blood to save the sect’s disciples. That choice left them only one road, a dead end. [Since when did the Blood God Sect become this noble?]

“You think I will let you have your way?” Zhou Tong lifted his hand, ready to cut down the ones who had reached the shore.

“Young man, please show mercy,” the Blood God Sect captain cried with blood-streaked tears: “These children just joined the sect. They have no grudge against you. They are innocent. Please, spare them.”

“Old man, easy for you to say,” Zhou Tong said coldly: “The seed of hatred is already planted.”

“Wait,” the old man yelled again: “I am willing to use my life to place a curse so they will never be able to take revenge on you. Only kill us. Let the children go.”

Zhou Tong fell silent.

With everyone watching in shock, he stepped into the blood pool. Ripples spread from his feet, yet the foul blood could not stain him. He walked straight to the Blood God Sect captain.

“I will ask only one question,” Zhou Tong said: “Where did you get your information. How do you know this place so well?”

“At my age, with death near, I have nothing to hide,” the captain answered: “It was the sect master of the Tempered Flesh Sect who told us.”

Zhou Tong’s eyes narrowed. [This smells like a plot.]

“How does the Tempered Flesh Sect know so much?” he asked.

“I do not know,” the old man said: “He only told us a key was here and told us to take it. The people of the Tempered Flesh Sect would look for a treasure that matches the key. When we found the secret treasure, we would split it fairly.”

“Then your wish is doomed to fail, because I already ruined the team they sent,” Zhou Tong said with a cold smile. Yet his heart tightened. [They might have sent more than one team. Others could be hiding in the secret realm, waiting to act.]

Zhou Tong’s brow twitched. He snapped: “Rise. Everyone, into the air.”

With one sweep of his hand, he lifted the people in the blood pool into the sky. The Upper Clarity Sect flew up with them.

“You…” the old elder tried to speak, but the ground below shattered. The whole secret realm collapsed at once and became a massive blood pool. Those who failed to rise in time were swallowed and turned into sacrifices.

“How can this be?” The Blood God Sect trembled, looking at Zhou Tong with a mix of fear and shock. None of them had expected Zhou Tong to become their savior.

“Young Master Zhou, I will remember this great favor all my life,” the old elder said at last. His face twitched hard. Clearly, owing Zhou Tong this favor disgusted him. Still, without Zhou Tong, they would already be dead.

“I see something interesting,” Zhou Tong said with a small smile as he plucked a wisp of gray aura from the back of a man’s neck.

“What is that?” the man gasped, anger flaring in his chest.

“A tracking mark,” Zhou Tong said: “If you all died as sacrifices, the Tempered Flesh Sect would follow this thread and come to collect the spoils.”

“Those beasts dared to set us up,” a Blood God Sect elder roared, eyes red. He looked to Zhou Tong and said: “I heard that in three days you plan to destroy the Tempered Flesh Sect. We will help you kill those rats.”

“Good,” Zhou Tong said, satisfied. He tossed the gray wisp into the blood pool, then laid a phantom array that made the land look like a flat plain.

“Young Master is wise,” the old man said with a thumbs-up. Like this, if the Tempered Flesh Sect came to reap the profits, they would end up in the Hall of Yama.

A dragon’s roar shook the sky. Everyone tensed.

“This place has drunk more lives than we can count. The key should appear,” Zhou Tong said.

The ground split open. A water dragon surged out, more than a hundred yards long, scales dark blue, its violent aura pressing down on them.

“Look at its eyes,” Shang Guan Wu Gou said in a small voice: “The key is in its eyes.”

“It is true,” Zhou Tong said, face turning grave. He stepped onto empty air and moved toward the water dragon.

“Humans, do not act wild,” the water dragon roared as a blast of dragon breath rushed at Zhou Tong.

“Five-Dragon Divine Talisman, Dragon in the Field,” Zhou Tong cried. He shattered the breath with a punch and hung in the air, eye to eye with the dragon.

“Hand over the key and we leave now,” Zhou Tong said.

“Humans,” the water dragon snarled: “You are food. You have no right to command me. You have already committed the sin of pride. Whatever is grand, I despise it all.”