The blood-red lake, the stone stele at its shore, warriors gathered in crowds — and still more were converging from every direction, having either heard the news or stumbled upon the unusual disturbance here.
Beyond all this, Yang Kai noticed three small islands in the lake, each separated by over a hundred zhang, positioned neatly between the palace at the lake's center and the shore.
In other words, if one wished to reach that central palace, these three islands could serve as stepping stones to rest and gather strength.
Yet despite the sizable crowd that had assembled along the bank, not a single person had attempted to make their way toward the palace. Most had gathered beneath the stone stele — some standing with hands clasped behind their backs, others sitting cross-legged, and still others nodding and muttering to themselves, doing who knew what.
"Hahaha, the Blood Demon Divine Palace!" A burst of laughter suddenly rang out as a burly figure came charging in from the distance. Without slowing for an instant, he barreled straight toward the central palace, shouting boisterously along the way: "The Blood Demon inheritance belongs to me! All of you, get out of my way!"
Yang Kai turned his head to look and watched the man sweep across the surface of the blood-red lake, heading straight for the first island closest to the shore. But before he had flown very far at all, the lake — which had been utterly still, like a pool of stagnant water — suddenly churned, and a massive wave rose up and crashed down upon him.
The warrior roared in fury and immediately activated his Emperor Yuan in defense. Brilliant colors blazed across his body as fierce waves of power radiated outward.
This fellow was evidently a Half-Step Open Heaven who had condensed a fifth-grade power — just one step away from attempting his breakthrough. Such foundation was nothing to scoff at. Given time, and so long as he didn't perish during his advancement, he was bound to become a formidable power in his own right.
Yet against that blood-colored wave, this burly warrior couldn't mount even the slightest resistance. The wave swept over him, and the layers of protection across his body melted away like ice under a blazing sun, failing to hold for even a single breath.
The man's face went pale with shock. Before he could do anything further, blood-red water drenched his head and face.
Having been caught so suddenly, how could he not realize that his reckless charge must have triggered some kind of restriction? Cold sweat poured down his body as he froze in place, not daring to move a muscle.
The wave subsided, and the blood-red lake returned to its former calm, as though the whole scene had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Hahaha! I'm fine!" The man burst out laughing again, because after waiting a moment, he found himself completely unharmed. He had assumed he'd triggered some deadly restriction and that things looked grim, but in the end, it seemed he had been worrying over nothing.
"Idiot!" Along the shore, someone regarded him with cold disdain, a look of contempt and mockery on their face.
Yang Kai found it strange too — if the man had been drenched in that blood-red water, how could he possibly be unharmed? Just as he was puzzling over it, the man declared: "The restrictions here have long fallen into disrepair and have probably lost all their power! Yet you lot keep cowering here — how laughable! Watch me go claim the Divine Lord's inheritance!"
With that, he shifted his figure and once again sped toward the island in the lake.
But the moment he set off, cries of alarm erupted along the shore. Many of the women gasped in horror, hands flying to cover their red lips, eyes going wide as though they were witnessing something utterly ghastly.
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed as well, fixed on the figure above the lake.
As the man surged forward, his flesh began sloughing off in chunks, falling into the blood-red water below. In the blink of an eye, his head had become a bare skull, and his entire body had been stripped of all flesh and blood. His loose robes draped over his skeletal frame, flapping in the wind as he flew onward.
Yet the man seemed utterly oblivious, continuing forward as though nothing were wrong — a sight that made every onlooker's skin crawl.
Moments later, his skeletal body fell apart completely, tumbling straight into the blood lake and vanishing silently beneath its surface. On the calm lake, it was as though nothing had happened at all.
"The Blood Demon Divine Lord was an eighth-grade Open Heaven cultivator. Even if the restrictions he set during his lifetime have deteriorated over the ages, do you really think some random nobody can waltz through them?" The warrior who had called the man an "idiot" let out a cold laugh. This was clearly not the first time he had witnessed such a thing. Others must have already met their end on this blood lake, which was why so many people had gathered here — doing absolutely nothing about the palace in the center.
Yang Kai turned his gaze toward the speaker, and his eyes narrowed involuntarily. He had noticed that the man's body was suffused with an aura of demonic energy that felt extremely familiar.
After a moment's thought, he realized he had once felt a similar presence from the Great Demon God.
This fellow is from the Myriad Demon Heaven? Yang Kai mused. As far as he knew, the Great Demon God Mo Sheng had very likely come from the Myriad Demon Heaven!
Perhaps sensing Yang Kai's gaze, the Myriad Demon Heaven disciple turned his head and looked back, a savage grin spreading across his face. "Kid, what are you looking at? Got a death wish?"
Yang Kai offered a faint smile and calmly shifted his gaze away. It wasn't that he was afraid — he simply couldn't be bothered to start a conflict.
But the other man was not about to let it go. His eyes swept up and down Yang Kai's figure, and a look of keen interest appeared on his face. He shifted his stance and suddenly appeared three zhang away, stroking his chin as he said, "Kid, I just realized — you look a lot like someone I know."
Yang Kai turned to face him and said evenly, "Senior Brother, is there something you'd like to say?"
The Myriad Demon Heaven disciple studied him intently, nodding again and again. "It really is you!" The instant he uttered the last word, demonic energy surged violently around him. He raised his hand and struck down toward Yang Kai, sixth-grade power erupting from his palm and spiraling into a vortex, as though intent on dragging Yang Kai in and grinding him to dust.