I am Master Maoshan

Chapter 2288 Blood Pool Formation

The three set off again, heading towards the Blood Pool, an underground city within the Heavenly Capital. This underground city was said to hide endless treasures, but in reality, it wasn't as teeming with riches as the legends suggested. It was dark, damp, and filled with danger and the unknown.

They proceeded along the winding path, carefully avoiding various traps. Liu Yuan and Peng Cheng constantly kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, fearing any unexpected events. Liu Jun, on the other hand, pretended to look around, as if he were genuinely searching for the best spot to set up the formation.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance to the blood pool. It was a vast underground plaza with a huge blood pool in the center. The water was a deep, blood-red color, emitting a pungent, metallic stench. The surrounding area was filled with complex runes and magic arrays, clearly indicating that this was a very important place.

Looking at the scene before them, Liu Yuan and Peng Cheng couldn't help but feel a little nervous. They knew that the next step in setting up the formation would determine whether their temple master's plan would succeed.

"What is this?" Liu Jun frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on the dozen or so figures floating in the blood pool before him, a strange unease rising in his heart.

The liquid in the blood pool had an eerie dark red hue, and human figures appeared and disappeared within it, as if drawn by some mysterious force, making it seem exceptionally strange.

“The assassins trained by our Heavenly Lord’s Temple,” Deputy Temple Master Liu Yuan explained, “require a large amount of spiritual energy to reach their full potential. The reason we invited Brother Long here is to have you set up a super spirit-gathering array, like the one from the Saintess Pavilion before, which can gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to provide these assassins with a continuous source of energy.”

“Yeah, training assassins, huh? That definitely requires a lot of spiritual energy.” Liu Jun nodded.

These assassins, cultivated at the cost of spiritual energy, possess astonishing combat power, but the price they pay is often extremely heavy.

He pondered to himself, this must be the legendary God-King Creation Project of the Heavenly Lord's Temple. It is said that this project aims to cultivate selected individuals into puppets with the strength of a God-King through special means. Although these puppets may not live long, the combat power they can unleash in a short period is enough to terrify any force.

"Brother Long, may we begin setting up the formation?" Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan's voice interrupted Liu Jun's thoughts. His eyes gleamed with anticipation, as if he had complete confidence in Liu Jun's abilities.

“Yes, anytime.” Liu Jun smiled faintly, then changed the subject, “But setting up such a super spirit-gathering array requires a large amount of high-grade spirit stones and top-grade spirit stones as support.”

“No problem,” Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan readily agreed.

With a wave of his hand, a deep rumble seemed to echo in the air, and dozens of boxes appeared out of thin air on the ground. The boxes opened, revealing them densely packed with spirit stones of various qualities, gleaming with an alluring light.

Looking at these spirit stones, Liu Jun couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The Heavenly Lord's Palace had really gone all out for this God-Creating King plan.

However, for him, this was actually a good thing. Now that he was here, it would be much easier for him to do something shady.

So, Liu Jun stopped thinking about it and began to set up the super spirit-gathering array. He was skilled and his spiritual power surged. Soon, a huge array took shape in his hands.

As the formation slowly activated, the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to respond to some mysterious call, and began to converge wildly, forming visible vortexes of spiritual energy that roared and surged toward the assassins in the blood pool.

Nourished by spiritual energy, strange patterns began to appear on the bodies of those assassins, as if they were undergoing some kind of transformation.

The two deputy hall masters, Liu Yuan and Peng Sheng, exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with barely concealed joy.

Liu Yuan narrowed his eyes, his voice low and full of anticipation: "At this rate of spiritual energy gathering, the God-Creating King Project might actually succeed ahead of schedule."

Upon hearing this, Vice Hall Master Peng Cheng nodded in agreement, his face full of smiles: "That's right. Even if we waste several times more medicinal herbs and spirit stones, we won't feel a penny of heartache for the sake of the Hall Master's great cause."

At this moment, Liu Jun was concentrating on setting up the formation, while the two palace masters were also watching intently, completely unaware of the unusual activity taking place in the Heavenly Palace's Heavenly Treasure Vault.

Inside the treasure vault, a triangular metal object suddenly appeared at the entrance, its body shimmering with an eerie light. It spun around once, seemingly observing its surroundings.

Immediately afterwards, a powerful suction force suddenly appeared, so strong that it seemed as if space itself was about to be torn apart.

The metal object was like a giant vacuum cleaner that had been activated, moving forward relentlessly and sweeping away all the treasures in its path. Whether they were precious pills, magical artifacts, or rare materials, none were spared.

The elder on duty outside the treasure vault suddenly sensed something was wrong. He abruptly raised his head, his gaze piercing as he looked into the vault, his expression instantly turning serious.

"Oh no! The treasures inside have been disturbed!" he shouted urgently, his voice filled with fear and unease.

This sudden turn of events plunged the entire Catholic Temple into chaos.

Meanwhile, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan and Vice Hall Master Peng Cheng, who were located next to the blood pool in the underground city, were watching intently as Liu Jun manipulated the formation.

Suddenly, the tranquility was shattered by a series of hurried footsteps, followed by the shocking news that the Heavenly Treasure Vault had been stolen.

"What? You said the Heavenly Treasure Vault was stolen?" Peng Cheng's eyes widened, his gaze filled with disbelief as he stared at the guard who had come to deliver the news. His voice betrayed his shock and anger.

The guard trembled, as if intimidated by Peng Sheng's imposing aura, his voice shaking slightly: "Yes, yes, the elder on duty has rushed into the treasury to check the situation, but... the situation doesn't seem good."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuan's face instantly darkened, and he darted off towards the treasure vault. "Let's go check it out!"

However, just as he was about to take a step, Liu Yuan seemed to remember something, paused, and turned to Peng Cheng, saying, "Wait, Peng Cheng, why don't you accompany Brother Long for a while? It's not convenient for him to be underground by himself. After all, this matter is too strange, and we need to be careful."

Upon hearing this, Peng Cheng was slightly taken aback, then a look of understanding flashed in his eyes. He naturally understood the deeper meaning behind Liu Yuan's words—this "Dragon Emperor" had just visited the Heavenly Treasure Vault with them, and the treasure vault had been robbed in the blink of an eye. The suspicion surrounding this was so great that no one could ignore it.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the blood pool, Liu Jun, who was controlling the massive formation, curled up a barely perceptible sneer at the corner of his mouth.

He naturally sensed Liu Yuan and Peng Cheng's suspicions, but remained completely unmoved. From the very beginning of the plan, he had considered all possible scenarios, and everything was now under his control.

Once Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan's imposing figure had completely disappeared into the deep passages of the underground city, Liu Jun's actions also gradually came to a halt.

He lightly patted non-existent dust off his hands, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, seemingly extremely proud of the work he had just completed.

"Huh? Brother Long, why did you stop? Aren't we at a crucial moment? Keep going!" Peng Cheng was watching with great interest when he saw Liu Jun suddenly stop. He was taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward, asking with a puzzled look on his face.

Liu Jun smiled and shook his head, explaining, "The formation has been set up, and there's nothing more for me to do. This formation will operate automatically, continuously gathering the surrounding spiritual energy to supply the blood pool."

Upon hearing this, Peng Sheng looked up and saw that the massive spirit-gathering array was still emitting a faint light even without anyone controlling it, as if an invisible force was guiding the surrounding spiritual energy to continuously converge into the blood pool.

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly, and he was even more impressed by Liu Jun's mastery of formations.

"Is there anything else?" Liu Jun asked when he saw Peng Sheng staring blankly at the Spirit Gathering Array.

Peng Sheng then came to his senses and quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, it's nothing. Brother Long is really amazing; you can handle such a complicated formation with ease."

Liu Jun smiled slightly and was about to turn and leave when Peng Cheng suddenly called out, "Wait! Brother Long, you can't leave yet!"

His voice carried a hint of urgency and tension, as if he had something important to say.

Liu Jun stopped, turned around, looked at Peng Cheng with a puzzled expression, and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"Um, um," Peng stammered, unable to get the words out.

"If you're not going to tell me, then I'm leaving," Liu Jun said, frowning.

Upon hearing this, Peng Cheng swallowed hard and said with a solemn expression, "Brother Long, you are a suspect in the theft of this top-tier treasure vault, and I certainly believe you. But if you just leave like this, I won't be able to explain it to Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan when he returns!"

"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll stay a little longer." After saying that, Liu Jun slowly walked back to the blood pool, casually found a relatively clean rock to sit on, and looked quite relaxed.

Seeing this, Peng Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If this "Dragon Emperor" really insisted on leaving, he would probably have to resort to some less-than-honorable, even extreme, methods to keep him there.

"Since you won't let me leave, I can at least eat something here, right?" Liu Jun suddenly turned his head and looked at Peng Sheng with a playful smile on his face.

Peng Cheng was surprised—beside this eerie and dangerous blood pool, this "Dragon Emperor" actually wanted to eat? The scene seemed rather out of place, even a little strange.

But then I thought, since they've already decided to stay, it would seem petty and heartless of me not to even meet this small request.

"Brother Long, please do as you please." Peng Cheng forced a smile, but in his heart he was thinking: This guy's way of doing things is really unique and unpredictable.

Before he finished speaking, Liu Jun deftly pulled out an exquisite barbecue grill from his storage space and gently placed it on the ground.

Then, as if by magic, he produced a bunch of barbecue utensils: charcoal, fans, seasoning bottles... and even several skewers of meat that had been marinated and smelled delicious.

This series of operations was so smooth and seamless that Peng Cheng was dumbfounded and secretly amazed: Good heavens, the preparations were so complete, it was as if it had been planned in advance!
"Hey, Brother Peng, want some?" Liu Jun asked Peng Sheng while he was busy, as if he were having a barbecue in his own backyard, without any formality.

Peng Sheng was taken aback, then shook his head with a wry smile: "Thank you for your kindness, Brother Long, but I..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: in this kind of environment, he really couldn't muster any appetite.

Liu Jun didn't insist, just chuckled and continued to focus on his barbecue business. The charcoal fire roared, and the meat skewers sizzled under the flames, the enticing aroma quickly spreading and adding a touch of life to the once deathly still blood pool.

Peng Sheng watched Liu Jun's focused and skillful movements and couldn't help but feel speechless. This guy had actually started barbecuing. That was amazing.