A Compendium of One Hundred Demons: My Path to Immortality in a World of Demons and Monsters

As Xu Yuan finished speaking, the phantom of the starving ghost behind him eagerly opened its gaping maw.

That exaggerated arc was like a hunger that had been suppressed for millions of years finally finding delicious food.

Xu Yuan could feel his vital energy, soul, and even lifespan rapidly draining away—

The Hungry Ghost Compendium seems to be overdrawing his life force to complete this illogical devouring.

But Xu Yuan still had a smile on his face.

Because everything he is giving now will be returned the moment the devouring begins.

The phantoms and the bloodstains intertwine, the ancient and the hungry resonate.

Xu Yuan stood at the center of the vortex of two forces, yet his figure remained as steady as a rock.

At this moment, the ten-zhang-tall Eternal Heaven Blood Shadow finally moved.

He no longer maintained his superior, overlooking posture, but instead faced a formidable enemy. He clasped his hands together, and the blood-red light around him almost solidified into a three-zhang-long blood spear, which he then thrust fiercely at Xu Yuan!

This is a full-force attack from the projection of a deity, enough to pierce through city walls and annihilate thousands of soldiers!

But Xu Yuan showed no intention of dodging.

The phantom of the starving ghost floated forward from behind, its mouth opened to its limit—an angle that a normal cervical spine could not support, as if its entire face had cracked open.

The blood spear pierced its mouth.

There was no explosion, no impact.

It was like a river of blood flowing into the deep abyss of the sea, silent and clean.

The three-foot-long blood spear vanished in an instant.

The illusory image of the Eternal Heaven then let out a silent wail.

It's starting to fall apart!

From fingertips to arms, like weathered sand, it peeled away bit by bit, transforming into the purest divine soul power, which was then completely devoured by that insatiable maw of the abyss.

Seven zhang, five zhang, three zhang...

The ancient shaman knelt on the altar, his bone staff slipped from his hand, and blood seeped from his seven orifices.

"No..." he murmured unconsciously, "Eternal Heaven... the guardian deity of the grasslands... how could it be... how could it be..."

He looked at Xu Yuan in utter horror.

The boy before them was now completely enveloped in phantoms and blood-red light, his skin cracked, and his wounds glowed with a bewitching crimson, as if his entire body was on fire.

But his eyes were incredibly clear!

[Devouring the projection of a divine soul...]

Conversion rate: 12%...34%...67%...

[My body is currently at its limit... Forced breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Realm...]

[Warning: Breaking through the bottleneck requires a surge of Qi and blood; current Qi and blood reserves are insufficient!]

A flood of information rushed into my mind, and my body seemed to have reached some kind of limit.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yuan bit his tongue, using the intense pain to stay awake.

He then looked at the three-legged bronze cauldron in the center of the altar—the core of the entire blood sacrifice, and also the prison for countless wronged souls.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and grabbed it.

An invisible suction force instantly drew the blood plasma in the bronze cauldron, along with the struggling vengeful spirits within, into the abyssal maw of the hungry ghost phantom.

Guzasa's eyes widened in fury: "Damn it! That was my life's work—"

Xu Yuan still ignored him.

[Absorbing a large number of bloodthirsty vengeful spirits... Transforming...]

[Current Qi and Blood Reserves: Abundant!]

[Beginning the breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage!]

"boom---!"

A pale golden wave of energy exploded from Xu Yuan's body, instantly sweeping across the entire altar area.

Of the three hundred Xiongnu wolf guards kneeling around, half were thrown over by the shockwave, bleeding from their seven orifices.

The warhorse beneath Toto Bukha reared up, throwing him off its back.

Beneath the city wall, Chen Hanchuan clenched his fists, staring intently at the figure in the distance, his tiger-like eyes filled with tears.

On the city wall, Shen Qingyi covered her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face.

At this very moment, on the altar, the meridians within Xu Yuan's body were constantly collapsing and being rebuilt.

In the Blood Refining Realm, one's blood and qi flow like a river, surging endlessly.

When the Qi and blood condense in the acupoints, they transform into true essence and gather there.

The first acupoint, called "Shen Ting," is located between the eyebrows. When this acupoint is opened, the spirit and soul become solid, and one can introspectively observe oneself.

Xu Yuan felt a clear ringing in his mind, and his senses expanded a hundredfold in an instant.

He could clearly "see" the flow of every meridian and every drop of blood in his body, and even "see" the outline of his own soul—a tiny person indistinguishable from his physical body, sitting cross-legged, holding a black iron plate with a faint glow in his hands.

The Netherworld Guide had already merged with Xu Yuan's soul.

The second acupoint, called "Shanzhong," is located in the chest. When this acupoint is open, qi and blood transform into true essence, which can be released to injure enemies.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath and felt the surging blood and qi in his body rapidly contracting and solidifying, eventually turning into a drop of golden liquid.

True Yuan!

One drop, two drops, three drops... nine drops of true essence gathered into a trickle, circulating along the meridians. Wherever it passed, old wounds were healed and new strength was generated.

The third acupoint, called the "Sea of ​​Qi," is located in the dantian. When this acupoint is opened, true essence flows like a spring, endlessly.

Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, the depths of his pupils were no longer simply black and white, but rather a mixture of deep blue and golden light, as profound as an abyss.

Condensing Aperture Realm, accomplished!

He has opened three of the thirty-six acupoints.

For ordinary martial artists, it takes anywhere from three to ten years to go from the ninth level of Blood Refining to the Qi Condensation Realm.

During this period, one needs to accumulate a massive amount of Qi and blood, and go into seclusion to break through the barriers. If one is not careful, the meridians will be completely severed and all previous efforts will be wasted.

The shaman Guza collapsed to the ground, watching this scene, his resentment gradually replaced by despair.

He cultivated for sixty years before barely stepping into the Condensation Stage, and is still lingering in the Seed Stage.

The young man before them went from the ninth level of Blood Refinement to the condensation of the three apertures in just... thirty breaths!

He looked down at his severed arm, then at the Eternal Heaven Blood Shadow in mid-air, which had disintegrated into nothing but an outline.

"So that's how it is..." the shaman Guza murmured. "I've devoted my life to worshipping the gods, but in the end, I'm not even as good as a demon that devours gods..."

He laughed maniacally and staggered to his feet.

"You little beast, you think you've won?"

Xu Yuan finally looked at him.

But then the shaman Guza made a hand seal with his single arm, and the blood-red light around him began to collapse inward. It wasn't an attack, but an attempt to cast a spell—self-destruction!

A self-destruction at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm is enough to level an area of ​​thirty feet in radius.

"Shaman!" Toghtok Bukha shouted sternly.

The shaman Guza seemed not to hear, only staring intently at Xu Yuan: "Even if I die, I will drag you down with me!"

However, Xu Yuan's expression remained unchanged; he simply looked at him calmly, as if stating a fact: "You can't pull it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he slowly raised his hand.

The Netherworld Guide quietly flew out from between Xu Yuan's eyebrows, hovering in his palm, its eerie light swirling.

The self-destruction of the Guza shaman melted away instantly upon contact with the ghostly light, like snow meeting boiling water.

"A spirit artifact recognizing its master?!" The shaman Guza's voice trembled with despair. "Who are you?!"

Xu Yuan did not answer.

He put away the Netherworld Guide and drew his sword.

The longsword was plain, without any inscriptions, and was not a spiritual weapon; it was just an ordinary weapon forged in a blacksmith's shop.

But at this moment, in Xu Yuan's hand, the blade was swirling with a layer of pale golden true essence.

Xu Yuan stepped forward and swung his sword.

The blade flashed like a bolt of lightning, sweeping across the altar and slicing through the blood, illuminating the shaman's face, a mixture of horror and resentment.

There were no screams.

Only the dull thud of a head hitting the ground.

The shaman's body lay on the altar, no blood flowing from his severed neck; all his vital essence had been drained by the blood sacrifice.

The blood-red light on the altar was completely extinguished at that moment.

The incomplete phantom of the Eternal Heaven let out a mournful cry that transcended space before finally transforming into countless specks of light and dissipating into the night sky.

Xu Yuan sheathed his sword and stood there.

He stood in the center of the altar, his true energy flowing around him, and the cold light emanating from his blade reflected a bewitching blood red under the moonlight.

Three hundred Xiongnu wolf guards stood around the perimeter, and not a single one dared to move.

Tuotuo Buhua desperately reined in his frightened warhorse. This fierce general of the grasslands, who had won three battles in the northern border, was now just staring blankly at the figure of the young man on the altar.

He inexplicably recalled his first time on the battlefield, the fear and helplessness he felt as a new recruit facing the elite border troops of the Great Qian Army.

But that fear was far less than one ten-thousandth of what I felt at that moment.

This is not just a fear of death.

It also inspires awe for the "invincible" unknown.

All because this boy in front of us swallowed "God"!