Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

"Although the goal is to find that so-called Demonic Saint, there are no other clues right now. Staying in Broken Wood City, we can also get some information from the demonic cultivators who come to attack the city."

Zhang Ruoxue would not stand idly by while Fang Yan stood by.

She still remembers the young man who deliberately lowered his cultivation level to compete with her at the Ten Thousand Sects Competition that year—after all, they had fought each other, and the two could be considered friends.

She would never stand idly by when a friend was in trouble.

Fang Yan glanced at the two of them, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes: "I appreciate your kindness, but this time... you don't need to interfere."

"It's alright." Zhang Ruoxue thought Fang Yan felt that she was not strong enough, so she punched her palm, her spiritual energy flowing in her body. She showed a confident smile and said majestically, "Although I haven't crossed the Saint realm yet, I now have at least the cultivation of the Lesser Completion of the Void Realm. At least I can be of help."

Gu Xingzhuo chimed in, "I am at the entry level of the Void Realm, which is a bit lower than Junior Sister Ruoxue, but I am still considered a Void Realm cultivator and a viable combatant."

The meaning behind their statements was very clear.

They can help.

Even so, Fang Yan remained unmoved.

He sighed deeply, as if lamenting his own incompetence, or as if lamenting that Zhang Ruoxue and the other person's good intentions were meaningless.

After pondering for a long time, Fang Yan got up again, grabbed the helmet beside him, and turned to walk out the door.

"Come with me."

After leaving those words, he pushed open the door and walked out of the council chamber.

Zhang Ruoxue and Gu Xingzhuo didn't understand Fang Yan's strange attitude, so they followed him with some curiosity.

Surprisingly—

Fang Yan did not lead the two to the outside of Broken Wood City, nor did he even leave the open space. Instead, he turned around and led them into the back of the council hall, where there was a dark passage leading underground.

As soon as Fang Yan stepped into the passage, the candles on both sides suddenly lit up. Fang Yan didn't say anything, but simply led the two of them down.

Zhang Ruoxue looked around. As she descended deeper, she found that the surroundings were becoming colder and colder. Gradually, the candles on both sides were extinguished by the cold wind that came from nowhere. In their place, there were bright circular arrays.

The steps beneath my feet had somehow transformed into translucent, luminous jade-colored bricks, and the surroundings were almost pitch black, with only a small area illuminated by the circular array visible.

In the end, what appeared before the two was a pure purple array floating in a pitch-black world.

The formation is circular, with eighty-eight inner rings. The gaps between each ring are inscribed with numerous formation runes, and at the core of the formation are three prism crystals, which shimmer with extremely rich spiritual energy.

Fang Yan stepped on the edge of the formation, and then walked along the formation to the center.

"here it is……"

While marveling at the vast underground area, Zhang Ruoxue and Gu Xingzhuo stepped onto the magic array together.

The moment their toes touched the edge of the magic circle, a bone-chilling cold, accompanied by wisps of demonic chill, seeped into their very bones, startling Zhang Ruoxue so much that she almost summoned her magic weapon.

What... happened?

Zhang Ruoxue's steps suddenly stopped; she could even feel the elixir hanging around her neck trembling violently.

Xiao Han's elixir is a demonic elixir; the closer one gets to a place with concentrated demonic energy, the more intense it becomes.

Zhang Ruoxue had never seen anything like this before.

She turned around in surprise to look at her senior brother, only to find that Gu Xingzhuo also looked bewildered.

Clearly, he didn't know what had happened either.

However, in the distance, Fang Yan was already standing in the center of the magic array.

They had no time to adjust, so they came to Fang Yan's side with some confusion and astonishment, bearing the chill that swept over their bodies.

The general of the Lantian Empire looked at the two men with a calm expression, as if he had expected their reaction.

He took a deep breath, and then pointed to his right, which was the direction the three crystals were facing.

"See? That's why I said you don't need to get involved."

The two stared blankly in the direction Fang Yan pointed.

next moment.

The two of them, without prior arrangement, immediately had their pupils shrink as if they had seen a demon.

In the distant darkness... there is a boiling sea of ​​blood.

Yes, a sea of ​​blood.

The boundless, blood-red ocean bubbled and steamed, filled with the vapors of blood and the surging of demonic energy. Countless corpses floated on the surface, seemingly possessing their own consciousness, rising and falling, struggling and wailing incessantly within the pool of blood.

Above that sea of ​​blood, there were four extremely conspicuous crimson pearls, which were emitting an extremely strong, cold demonic aura. In terms of concentration, they were no less than any demonic cultivator in the Void Realm.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that the four blood-red orbs seem to be absorbing the demonic energy rising from the sea of ​​blood. With each bit they absorb, they become more crystalline and smoother, and one of them even emits a rather dazzling red light.

cold.

A bone-chilling cold.

Just standing so far from the sea of ​​blood, Zhang Ruoxue felt every cell in her body being invaded by a chill called fear, and she subconsciously shivered.

“What is that…” she asked.

Fang Yan glanced at him, then turned around and stared at the sea of ​​blood with the same unavoidable fear, murmuring softly, "Four Blood Purgatory... Demonic Cultivator Forbidden Array."

"This Four Blood Purgatory covers an underground area of ​​dozens of miles around Broken Wood City. Once any living being dies in this area, its corpse, essence, blood, and even soul will be absorbed by the Four Blood Purgatory."

"And once it absorbs to a certain extent, something extraordinary will probably emerge, and at that time... it will be more than just a demonic cultivator."

……

Any living being.

A rare ripple appeared in Gu Xingzhuo's usually calm eyes. He understood Fang Yan's meaning, but still asked uncertainly, "All living beings will be absorbed... which means..."

"Yes."

Fang Yan nodded and explained the reason for his long-standing troubles, which had even brought him to the brink of despair.

"If the Demon Dynasty really attacks, then whether it is our cultivators or the demon cultivators of the Demon Dynasty... as long as someone dies, they will be absorbed by the Four Blood Purgatory."

"Even if we kill all the attacking demonic cultivators, it will only make the Four Blood Purgatory awaken faster. But if we don't kill the demonic cultivators... our people will probably be wiped out as well."

In other words.

Either way, it's all the same – death.

This is a hopeless dead end.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

No, does the Moe Wars really not vote for that old rogue...? Although I know that avatar is really annoying.

But once they make it into the top eight, their profile picture will be redrawn... So, does anyone want to give the old rogue a makeover?

14. Disagreements are bound to lead to trouble.

If faced with an enemy, killing them would lead to even greater disaster, but not killing them—regardless of whether there would be enough time to evacuate—would certainly not be able to save the city.

Unfortunately, Broken Wood City is a place that the Lantian Empire will almost never concede to. After Broken Wood City, the Demon Dynasty will have countless ways to attack the Lantian Empire from different angles. Once Broken Wood City is breached, the Lantian Empire will be in imminent danger.

This is why Fang Yan, a general who protects the country, would appear here.

The Lantian Empire knew that Broken Wood City could not be let go, so it deliberately sent its generals there to defend this city, which was not considered very important in the past.

Of course.

On the boiling sea of ​​blood, a crimson pearl gleaming with scarlet light was constantly absorbing and devouring the rising blood energy. Once the Four Blood Purgatory had absorbed enough of the blood essence and souls of many people, what awaited Zhang Ruoxue, Fang Yan, and the others would likely be a true purgatory.

Dead end.

For a defensive game, this is a truly hopeless situation.

"I see……"

Having witnessed the horror of the Four Blood Purgatory firsthand, Gu Xingzhuo, braving the intense demonic chill surrounding him, slowly closed his eyes.

Countless thoughts and memories flashed through his mind. He exhaled a breath of stale air, pondered for a long time, then turned away, no longer looking at the boiling sea of ​​blood.

His gaze fell on the three crystals in the center of the purple circular array, and he said thoughtfully, "In that case, General Fang, have you tried to attack directly from this sea of ​​blood?"

Fang Yan's expression remained unchanged: "You mean to find a way to destroy the Four Blood Purgatory, or prevent it from absorbing blood energy, right?"

"Yes."

“We did think about it, and in fact, we did try it.”

Fang Yan sighed and then turned to the three prism crystals that were shimmering with a faint light.

"The magic array you are standing on now was obtained by me from thirteen senior masters in the Empire who are proficient in array formations. It has the ability to suppress demonic energy. Otherwise, even with our cultivation, we would have difficulty resisting the demonic energy within the Four Blood Purgatory just by standing here."

"Unfortunately, this magic array can only barely weaken the Four Blood Purgatory, but it cannot stop it at all."

The strong smell of blood filled her nostrils, and Zhang Ruoxue shivered as she felt the chill in the air around her.

She tried to ignore the demonic aura surrounding her, and then asked, "If that's the case... is there any way to create two magic arrays? One magic array can only weaken it, but if two magic arrays are stacked together, wouldn't that give us a chance to deal with this so-called Purgatory?"

Zhang Ruoxue's suggestion made Fang Yan give a wry smile.

—After all these years, Ms. Zhang's way of thinking is still so simple and interesting.

The fact that his old friends hadn't changed was a comforting thing for Fang Yan, but he couldn't smile at the moment.

"Just setting up this one formation has consumed a lot of resources, manpower, and time. The formation under our feet took nearly half a month to build its core."

"Judging from the recent increase in the number of demons around Broken Wood City and the activity of the Demon Fiends... I'm afraid they will definitely attack within ten days."

Gu Xingzhu frowned, took a deep breath, and said, "So, there's not enough time?"

"Yes……"

At this point, Fang Yanjun's handsome face was filled with worry.

The Lantian Empire is currently under attack from all sides. Not only is Broken Wood City suffering, but almost all of the empire's border regions are being ravaged by the Demon Dynasty. Because of this, his teacher Chu Xin is also unable to leave, not to mention the eldest prince and the rest of the royal family...

If they were here, they might be able to discuss tactics together, but now only Fang Yan is there.

Although he was used to taking on the main responsibility and directing everything alone, he still felt somewhat powerless at this moment.

After much deliberation, Fang Yan finally compromised: "It seems the only solution right now... is to retreat."

This is the best way, as it won't harm anyone's life, and the Four Blood Purgatory won't be triggered—unless the Demon Dynasty kills their own people as a blood sacrifice. But Fang Yan doesn't think they'd be that stupid, since the Four Blood Purgatory requires too many people, and killing their own people alone might not be enough.