Fighting: Practice makes it real, start with a poisonous body.

Just as everyone in the Dan Tower council hall was gripped by fear by Xiao Xuan's words.

Beyond the Dan Domain, in the heart of the Central Plains, that vast human territory has become a living hell, and an unprecedented catastrophe is quietly spreading.

"No! Please, please let me go!"

A piercing cry pierced through the clouds and echoed over a bustling metropolis.

This city, named Yong'an, was once a famous commercial town in Zhongzhou, housing a million people. It was usually bustling with activity and noise. But now, it was completely shrouded in a pitch-black spatial barrier.

"Buzzing..."

Strange purplish-black patterns flowed across the barrier, completely isolating the entire city from the outside world. No matter how much the people inside struggled and cried out, not a single distress signal could be heard.

"Why are you killing me! I have done you no wrong!"

"what!!!"

The cries of children, the screams of women... countless sounds intertwined, forming a tragic song of despair.

The city's guards had already taken up arms to fight back, but their fighting spirit was as fragile as paper in the face of that terrifying power. They couldn't even get three steps closer to the enemy before they all fell into pools of blood.

At the highest point of the city, three figures stood suspended in mid-air, looking down at the tragic scene below. Their expressions varied, but none of them showed the slightest pity.

Standing in the center was Gu Yuan. Despite his broken arms and legs, his battered body still exuded the aura of a superior.

Gu Ming stood to the left of Gu Yuan, his gray robe fluttering without wind, his face expressionless, only his eyes as deep and indifferent as an ancient well.

He slowly raised his right hand, and from his palm, a twisted black holy power suddenly erupted, transforming into countless tiny black threads that darted towards the crowd below like venomous snakes.

"Tear-!"

Each thread that pierces a human body will bring up a spray of blood, and those who are pierced will instantly shrivel up, like puppets whose life force has been drained, and collapse to the ground with a thud!

"Om-"

As Gu Ming gently retracted his hand, a bizarre scene unfolded. The blood splattering everywhere below seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, defying gravity and flowing towards his palm like a stream.

The blood contained a faint trace of life essence and fighting spirit, which Gu Ming poured into a simple bronze bottle in his hand. The bottle was engraved with ferocious beast head patterns, which emitted an eerie red light under the stain of blood.

Seeing this, Gu Yuan's lips curled into a cruel sneer, his voice icy and chilling: "Our ancient imperial clan is now being relentlessly targeted by that scoundrel, the Son of the Dragon and Phoenix, living in constant fear and facing the imminent threat of annihilation."

Yet these lowly people are able to live and work in peace and enjoy tranquility here?
"Now that they can contribute to my grand plan and become a sacrifice to resurrect the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, it's a bargain for them!"

"Ahem... The clan leader is wise."

Gu Jian coughed lightly. His injuries had been mostly healed thanks to Gu Ming's medicinal pills, and he was now able to barely activate his holy power.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time here."

Gu Yuan waved his hand impatiently: "Although there are many people in this city, it's still far from enough. Let's attack together and finish this quickly!"

"Yes!" Gu Ming and Gu Jian replied in unison.

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yuan's golden holy power surged suddenly. Despite losing one of his arms and legs, he was still able to unleash powerful holy power.

“Buzz buzz—!”

He opened his mouth and spat out a torrent of golden holy power, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly submerging most of the city. Wherever it passed, houses collapsed, flesh and blood were mangled, and countless people were crushed into mincemeat by the holy power before they could even scream. Blood and bone fragments mingled together, creating a horrific scene.

Gu Jian held an ancient longsword, which, under the infusion of holy power, burst forth with dazzling light.

He swung his sword, and a massive sword aura descended from the sky, cleaving the entire city wall in two. Countless people hiding behind the wall were instantly engulfed by the sword aura, their blood staining the inside and outside of the city wall.

"Ahhh!"

Desperate screams echoed through the city before fading into complete silence. Half an hour later, this once bustling metropolis of millions had been reduced to ruins.

Amidst the ruins, corpses and bloodstains were everywhere, and the air was thick with the nauseating smell of blood and burning.

At this moment, the bronze bottle in Gu Ming's hand was filled with blood, and the beast head patterns on the bottle seemed to come alive, flashing with an eerie red light.

He raised his hand to recall the small bottle, held it in his hand and examined it closely, but his brows furrowed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Not enough, still far from enough."

The ancient alchemy method he obtained was incomplete.

Over the past thousand years, he has devoted countless efforts to consulting numerous ancient books of the ancient clans, only managing to barely fill in the gaps and thus be able to perform the technique.

However, precisely because the supplement is not perfect, although the power of this alchemy method remains, the amount of sacrifices it requires, especially human blood, has increased several times compared to the original method.

To obtain the ninth-grade golden elixir capable of reviving the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, the blood of these million people is merely a drop in the ocean.

Gu Yuan had anticipated this. He sneered and cast his gaze across the other cities in the heart of the Central Plains, his eyes filled with cruelty: "It doesn't matter. Humans are like weeds, they're everywhere. We can have as many as we want."

Yong'an City is just the beginning; we have many more places to visit.

Walk! "

"Yes!"

Gu Ming and Gu Jian nodded and carefully put away the small bottle. Then, the three of them transformed into three golden streaks of light and disappeared into the distance.

Less than an incense stick's time after the three left, several more streaks of light flew in from afar and landed in the sky above Yong'an City.

As the light faded, the figures of Xiao Yan, Xiao Xuan, and Yao Lao were revealed.

As soon as the three landed, they were shocked by the horrific scene below, and a chill ran from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

Looking around, the entire city was in ruins. There were mutilated corpses everywhere among the broken walls and ruins, and blood flowed in streams on the streets. The smell of blood in the air was so strong that it was almost suffocating.

Xiao Xuan looked at the ruins below, his eyes filled with shock and anger.

He had lived for countless years and witnessed countless killings, but such a large-scale and cruel massacre still chilled him to the bone.

These are all innocent human civilians, unarmed, yet they have suffered such a cruel fate!
"Gu Yuan! I will never let you get away with this!"

Xiao Yan clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, and blood dripped from his fingertips, but he was completely unaware of it.

"We were too late after all."

The old physician sighed deeply, his expression incredibly complex. (End of Chapter)