In a direction diametrically opposite to the group from Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, a contingent from the Demon Blood Sect was picking its way cautiously through a stretch of dense jungle. At their head strode a man wreathed entirely in bloody light, his expression taut with vigilance. Though his divine sense had swept the area and detected nothing amiss, a vague, unpleasant feeling lingered at the back of his mind—as though some tremendous danger lurked just beyond his senses.
This area could be considered the right flank of Dragon Cave Mountain, not terribly far from its center. The entire mountain wasn't all that large to begin with—nothing more than a speck of territory.
Without warning, several piercing screams drifted in from the distance, followed by the thunderous din of combat. Moments later, violent energy fluctuations washed over them from far away.
The Demon Blood Sect cultivators behind the lead man exchanged uneasy glances. One of them—a Return Void Realm, First Stage martial artist—spoke in a grim tone: "Senior Brother Wu, that's coming from the direction of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain. Looks like they've run into something. This little hill really can't be judged by common sense."
"Mm." The martial artist surnamed Wu turned his head and issued a flat command. "It may look harmless here, but everyone stay sharp. Don't walk into any enemy traps or formations."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
"Huh? What's that?" Suddenly, one of the disciples seemed to spot something odd and called out in confusion. But before Senior Brother Wu or the other Return Void Realm cultivators could move to investigate, a terrified shriek erupted from that direction—cut short with a muffled *pff*. The stench of blood spread through the air.
*Crack, crack, crack…* A sound like grotesque, bone-chilling mastication filled the clearing. Senior Brother Wu and the others whipped around, faces ashen, and saw that where the disciple had been standing just moments ago now stood a bizarre plant—blood-red, three zhang tall. It had coiled around a corpse, its surface writhing and undulating as though a mouth were savoring a delicious meal.
That teeth-aching crunching sound was coming from inside the plant itself.
Even more horrifying, as it chewed and drew the body inward, the Demon Blood Sect disciple's corpse withered at a speed visible to the naked eye—as if every last drop of blood and flesh essence had been sucked dry. In the span of a single breath, nothing remained but a desiccated husk.
And after absorbing all that vitality, the strange plant turned an even deeper shade of crimson. Its sword-long leaves glowed with a light the color of fresh blood, sending chills down every spine.
*Shoo—*
Those leaves, which had looked as hard as steel, suddenly lashed out like whips, whipping forward more than a dozen zhang and snaring another Demon Blood Sect disciple who had been frozen in shock.
That disciple's reflexes weren't bad. Screaming in terror, he hurriedly summoned a dark-gold shield—a rather unremarkable artifact, but at least a defensive one—and held it before him. With the shield in place, the man couldn't help but breathe a momentary sigh of relief. He was about to leap backward at full speed when his eyes went wide with disbelief, staring at the shield before him.
*Crack—*
The seemingly indestructible shield couldn't withstand the force of the leaf's sweep. It split cleanly in two, its glow dying instantly. The leaf's momentum undiminished, it drove forward like a blade, piercing straight through the martial artist's abdomen, skewering his entire body, and dragging him backward.
"You dare!" Senior Brother Wu bellowed. He could hardly stand by and watch his sect's disciple be butchered before his eyes. The reason he hadn't reacted sooner was simply that the scene before him was too incomprehensible—he had never seen a plant so savage, so bizarre.
As he roared, his right hand flickered and a streak of sword-like energy slashed down at the retreating leaf.
Energy clashed, sparks flew, and a sound like metal grinding against metal rang out in his ears. But the leaf merely trembled slightly, its speed hampered for just an instant—there was no sight of it being severed cleanly as he had expected.
It was that hard? Senior Brother Wu sucked in a sharp breath. His strike just now may have been a casual one, but he was still a Return Void Realm, Second Stage martial artist. The idea that he couldn't even cut through a single leaf—no one would believe it if he told them.
A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. With a snap of his fingers, he sent a thread of darkness shooting forward—black as ink, emanating an extremely sinister aura, with wisps of dark energy roiling along its surface.
The Demon Blood Thread Secret Art!
Unlike the rudimentary version that Yang Kai had cultivated, this was the true Demon Blood Thread—a technique virtually every high-ranking member of the Demon Blood Sect had mastered. It could transform in a thousand ways, was nearly impossible to guard against, and possessed the miraculous ability to shatter force domains.
The black thread vanished in a flash, and even the leaf—still dragging the disciple's body backward—couldn't withstand its power. With a crisp snap, it severed cleanly in two. One half retracted back toward the plant; the other, still wrapped around the disciple's corpse, dropped to the ground.
What made everyone's scalps tingle was this: from the clean-cut surface of the severed leaf, bright crimson blood oozed freely. Even after being sliced in two, the fallen half writhed and struggled on the ground—undulating as though it were alive.