Blood Demon Divine Lord had been well-versed in both the blood dao and the dao of beast taming in life, and that was abundantly evident throughout the entire Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven. The Blood Lake was a testament to his mastery of the blood dao, while the demon beasts of every shape and size here embodied his command over beast taming.
Why should inheriting the blood dao legacy automatically grant one dominion over the entire Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven?
Another thing nagged at Yang Kai's mind: the Blood Lake's location wasn't particularly well-hidden. The map the Landlady had given him included the very region where this lake lay.
In other words, predecessors had absolutely traversed this area before.
Yet there had been no notable markings on the map!
If the Blood Lake had existed all along, why had no one spoken of it in all these years? After all, a blood dao legacy was no small matter — even the slightest rumor would have spread like wildfire.
In truth, aside from this particular opening of the Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven, nobody had ever heard of a Blood Lake, nor of any blood dao legacy such as this.
That left only one explanation: the Blood Lake and its blood dao legacy had only appeared recently. They had never existed before, which was why all the predecessors who had entered the Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven in the past knew nothing of them, and why the map bore no indication.
The cultivators who had entered this time were the first to encounter this blood dao legacy.
But if that was the case, something still didn't add up.
Blood Demon Divine Lord had set up this trial here, hoping to pass on his blood dao to a worthy successor. It made no sense for him to have hidden it for so many years, only revealing it during this particular opening of the grotto-heaven.
If he truly wished to find an inheritor, the Blood Lake should have appeared in the world's view long ago. Concealing it too deeply could only result in his legacy being lost forever.
Yang Kai couldn't make heads or tails of it… He shook his head and returned to contemplating the second half of the Blood Radiance Scripture.
Regardless, the Blood Radiance Scripture was genuine — such an exquisite cultivation method was virtually impossible to find anywhere in the world. For now, Yang Kai could only take things one step at a time.
Time flowed onward. Blood-colored mist curled around every cultivator seated before the skeletal remains as they immersed themselves in the mysteries of the Blood Radiance Scripture, unable to extricate themselves. Without anyone noticing, a faint wisp of light suddenly flickered to life within the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton. The glow was dim, like a candle flame on the verge of guttering out. It drifted silently from the sunken orbits, circled the skeleton once, then floated over to Qu Huashang.
The wisp hovered and bobbed as though searching for something. It lingered only briefly before Qu Huashang before darting toward the next cultivator — the short, unassuming man who had hidden his strength earlier. The light seemed to possess its own intelligence; it observed him for a moment, then moved on.
One by one it examined each cultivator until it arrived before Zhou Yi. It seemed to sense something and paused there the longest, but ultimately drifted toward another person seated nearby.
Soon the light had circled the entire group and came to rest before Yang Kai, who sat right beside Qu Huashang.
The dim glow erupted with sudden, brilliant radiance — like a ravenous beast that had finally found the most delectable prey. Without the slightest hesitation, it plunged straight toward Yang Kai's mind. Despite its flickering, candle-like appearance, it met no resistance whatsoever and vanished in an instant.
Yang Kai had been wholly absorbed in contemplating the second half of the Blood Radiance Scripture when his body jolted. A chill spread through him from head to toe. Before he could even process what was happening, he felt his sea of consciousness breach, as though something had charged inside. Then a cold, sinister voice echoed in his mind: "Brat, surrender your body!"
Yang Kai was shaken to his core. He immediately plunged his awareness into his sea of consciousness and manifested his spiritual form — and at once he saw a shadowy figure hurtling toward him. The apparition looked feeble, yet radiated a terrifying sense of power. It detonated in an instant, dissolving into a cloud of grey mist that surged to engulf him.
He retreated hastily, dodging the grey fog, and bellowed: "Soul possession?!"
The phantom that had burst into his sea of consciousness was unmistakably a divine soul!
The shock that gripped him was beyond words. Earlier, even while fully absorbed in the Blood Radiance Scripture, he had maintained a thread of awareness directed outward, watching for any potential sneak attack from Pei Wenxuan. Yet he had detected absolutely nothing before this soul had torn into his mind.
The only possible explanation was that this person's divine soul vastly surpassed his own — powerful enough to deceive his perception entirely.
Who was this?
Yang Kai's thoughts instantly turned to the jade-white skeleton seated in meditation, and a chill ran down his spine.
Could this be Blood Demon Divine Lord's soul? If so, then he was finished today. Blood Demon Divine Lord had been an Eighth-Order Open Heaven in life — even after countless years of death, the strength of his divine soul was far beyond anything Yang Kai could hope to match.
The grey mist pressed closer and closer. Gritting his teeth, Yang Kai pointed a finger and roared: "Sever!"
A blade of light descended in absolute silence — the Soul-Severing Saber that had been nourished within his sea of consciousness all this time. Augmented by the Heaven-Shattering Strike that Tian Yan had once taught him, this single strike was nothing short of earth-shattering.