From the other end of Heaven’s Pit, the fatty cried out, “I know who he is! That’s Butcher! He’s an expert of the Bloodburn Realm and is second only to Di Fa!”
Over on the stone pillar, Butcher pressed both of his hands against the ground as his imprint appeared behind him. For Lu Yin, Butcher’s imprint was much clearer than the fatty’s, Yan Xiaojing, or any other that he had seen—even its facial features could be made out. Under everyone’s overwhelmed expressions, countless bony spikes stabbed out from inside the stone pillar. They then all shot out in a sharp thrust, piercing straight through all three of the retreating attackers. The trio was left impaled on the stone pillar as their blood flowed down along the stone, staining it red.
At this moment, many of the onlookers discovered that those three were not the only bodies hanging from the pillar; there were actually ten other corpses hanging there already.
In the area surrounding Heaven’s Pit, everyone who saw this scene fell silent, and they all looked at Butcher in horror. He had just eliminated three experts in the blink of an eye.
Lu Yin was amazed, as those three youths definitely had not been weak. Every single one of them had been stronger than the fatty, but they could not even retaliate against Butcher.
Butcher stood tall on the pillar. The white spikes vanished from his body. At that moment, it could be seen that these spikes had extended from his body, which meant that his own body had also been pierced through by these bones, and his clothes were stained red with his own fresh blood.
“Harming enemies 1,000 times while harming oneself 800 times,” Miss Qing commented.
Huang San said, “That’d be correct if it was someone else, but he’s Butcher. He has an innate gift of absorption, so he can increase the efficacy of medication by thousands of times. Just watch.”
The four youths glanced over and saw Butcher pull out a pill and swallow it. Right after that, the bloody holes covering his body visibly fused back together at a speed that even surpassed someone with an innate gift of recovery.
“That’s Butcher. He unintentionally acquired the Dismemberment bloodline, which allows him to use his skeleton as a weapon. That, combined with his innate gift of absorption, makes it so that there are extremely few youths in the entire Bloodburn Realm who can fight against him. Even Autumnfrost Qing might not be his opponent, as the imprint that Butcher just used is from someone on a level similar to Elder Autumnfrost: a World Imprinter, Ancestor Mo Jiang.” The fatty was clearly envious.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. This person had instantly killed three experts whose strengths were comparable to people ranked around sixtieth on the Top 100 Rankings, which meant that Butcher’s strength could match up to those within the top ten.
Anybody who could enter the Daosource Sect’s ruins was one of the Sixth Mainland’s elites; otherwise, they would not be able to obtain a futon. However, there were too many elites here, as Lu Yin’s group had already passed at least fifty to sixty such individuals on their way to Heaven’s Pit. There were definitely more than just a few hundred people scattered throughout the entire ruins, and these numbers did not even account for all of the Sixth Mainland’s elites. There were many who had not obtained a futon, and many others had not come to visit the Daosource Sect either.
The Sixth Mainland had its own Daosource Sect, and their top-tier elites would also assemble there. Following this line of reasoning, even if the Sixth Mainland’s older generation powerhouses were disregarded, the Sixth Mainland’s cultivators’ bloodlust would not be sated by the sum of the Ten Arbiters and everyone within the Top 100 Rankings, and this was even with the Neoverse added in.
Although Lu Yin had not visited the Neoverse, he was certain that the average standard of their cultivators was also far inferior to the Sixth Mainland’s.
Butcher’s power didn’t only cause those around Heaven’s Pit to grow apprehensive, as even the people atop the other pillars became nervous. Soon, everyone was keeping a vigilant eye on him.
“Mr. Bai, I think that we should seize a different pillar, as the middle one is too close to Butcher. Let’s-” the fatty hurriedly spoke up, as he was rather afraid.
However, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly looked in another direction with a dumbfounded expression on his face. The other three turned to look as well and saw that a man with white clothes was standing there, and none of them had any idea how long he had been there for.
Seeing the fatty’s blank face, Miss Qing shoved him. “What were you going to say? Spit it out!”
Huang San pointed at the man in white clothes. “He- he-”
Miss Qing looked over at the man and then back at Mr. Bai.“Is that your brother?”
Their wardrobe was rather similar.
The fatty quickly gestured for her to be silent, and his face went deathly white. “Stop spouting nonsense! We’ll be killed!”
Miss Qing felt that the whole thing was a bit strange. “So he’s very powerful?”
Lu Yin looked over at the man in white, and his gaze trembled. His domain had abruptly paused when it touched the man in white, as Lu Yin instinctively did not want to make contact with this person. His instincts for danger had led to a snap decision.
Mr. Bai glanced over. “He is indeed dressed rather similarly to me, and he is only missing the fan.”
The fatty was about to cry. “Stop blabbering! Do you guys know who he is? Don’t provoke him! That’s Shang Rong!”
Mr. Bai and Miss Qing were both taken aback. “Shang Rong? The Blackblood Realm’s Realmling?”
The fatty hurriedly nodded and then carefully glanced back over at the man. Upon seeing that the man in white had not reacted to their presence, he finally relaxed.
Lu Yin was amazed. This person was the Realmling, and although he could not see Shang Rong’s rune lines, he could instinctively sense an intense aura from the Realmling. This was a judgement formed through many years of battle, and Lu Yin could tell that this person was extremely strong.
Mr. Bai was surprised. “I never thought that a Realmling would appear here. It seems that the invasion of the Fifth Mainland is being hastened along.”
The fatty took a careful look at Shang Rong, fearing that the Realmling would notice their attention. “What day is it? First it’s Butcher and now a Realmling! Are the Daosource Three Skies going to show up later on as well?!”
Miss Qing rolled her eyes. “You’re overthinking things. The Daosource Three Skies wouldn’t deign to come to this place.”
“I’m only thinking aloud,” the fatty mumbled as he looked over again. Shang Rong had suddenly vanished, causing Huang San’s hair to all stand on end as he glanced around. He then finally saw Shang Rong reappear at the bottom of the middle finger’s stone pillar.
“He’s going to take the middle finger’s stone pillar,” Mr. Bai commented solemnly.
In the distance, atop the peak of the middle finger’s pillar, one person softly said, “Someone’s coming.”
“Just one person?”
“Be careful. It’s more dangerous if it’s just one person.”
Butcher’s bloody massacre had terrified them, and right now, they would rather face four to five opponents rather than just one. If one person had the courage to seize control of a stone pillar, then it meant that they were either mentally unstable or a true freak.
Shang Rong leaped up towards the top of the pillar, but before he even reached the peak, attacks from the five already there fell upon him as everyone watched on.
Suddenly, a scene that was a hundred times more shocking than Butcher’s earlier one appeared. The five attacks vanished the instant they came into contact with Shang Rong. Then, those five defenders dissolved as well. Regardless of if it was their flesh and blood or even their clothing, everything was the same. They all completely vanished from sight; it was as if the five youths had never existed.
Everyone who saw this scene from around Heaven’s Pit felt their scalps go numb, even Butcher.
Many mouths gaped open; what the heck had they just witnessed? They had not seen anything at all, but where had the five defenders gone? Why were those people missing?
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank, and he stared at the middle pillar in shock. How had those five people disappeared? Had they directly disintegrated into nothingness?
This was an unexplainable event, but multiple people had just witnessed it happen.
Shang Rong sat down atop the stone pillar completely peacefully. Then, he calmly studied the palm lines, as if he had just done something of no consequence.
But the shock that he had given everyone else was unforgettable.
“I- I- I said that we shouldn’t provoke him. We can head somewhere else.” The fatty shuddered.
Mr. Bai and Miss Qing exchanged glances, and they saw the alarm in each other’s eyes.
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Those people had actually been broken down extremely thoroughly. While the method seemed similar to manipulating rune lines, it definitely was not a technique that involved rune lines.
“Seventh Bro, let’s go! That guy’s a freak. It’s best that you don’t mess with such a person right now. You can’t even use any of your external aids here, so let’s hurry up and leave!” The Ghost Monkey was also frightened.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. If he could see rune lines, then he would be able to understand how Shang Rong had caused those people to disintegrate. It was not possible for the Realmling to have not attacked, so the only other option was that they had not been able to see his attack.
During Lu Yin’s last visit to the Daosource Sect, some had placed him on the same level as a Realmling, but if all the Realmlings were at Shang Rong’s level of strength, then those people who had evaluated him as such simply had no clue as to how terrifying the Realmlings’ strength truly was. Only by witnessing it for themselves could they understand it. It was no wonder why when Xing Kai had shaken the Sixth Mainland when he had killed a Realmling. The Realmlings definitely had the strength to stand up to the Ten Arbiters.
This person was likely a Hunter.
“Rumor has it that the Blood Progenitor sealed three unrivaled bloodlines within three sculptures and that only the Realmlings have the ability to retrieve them. Shang Rong received one of them,” the fatty explained in alarm. “Every realm has countless cultivators, but there’s only one Realmling that stands at the peak of each realm. Shang Rong has even received a bloodline that was deemed valuable by the Blood Progenitor. That is a true unrivaled bloodline.”
“So, shall we retreat or try to seize a pillar? I’ll allow you guys to choose,” Mr. Bai said.
The fatty was stunned at these words. “Shang Rong’s here, and you guys still want to take one?”
Miss Qing rolled her eyes. “We’re not going to take his, so what are you afraid of?”
Huang San felt conflicted.
Lu Yin suddenly looked up and pointed at the stone pillar that was at the tip of the ring finger. There happened to be four people atop that stone pillar, which was the same number as their group.
Mr. Bai clapped his folding fan. “Alright, since brother Deaf-mute has decided, then we shall seize that one.”
The fatty’s mouth gaped open, and his eyes went blank. He whirled around to excitedly gesture at Lu Yin, but Lu Yin had already dashed forward, and Mr. Bai and Miss Qing were right behind him. Huang San was left with no choice, and he could only follow them closely. If he backed out at this moment, then he would not be able to travel with these companions again in the future.
All around Heaven’s Pit, everyone else was still stunned by how shocking Shang Rong’s move had been just now. But then, someone else suddenly moved to seize control of another stone pillar.
The four cultivators on the ring finger’s stone pillar were already afraid of Shang Rong turning on them. Now that there were others trying to seize their location as well, the four instantly reached a mutual understanding after glancing at each other, and they silently retreated.
The two parties did not exchange any blows.
“That was too easy,” the fatty muttered.
Mr. Bai smiled. “Perhaps they were already about to leave.”
“I think that they were too frightened,” Miss Qing said.
Huang San cautiously glanced at Shang Rong and saw that the Realmling was staring intently at the palm lines. The fatty quickly gestured for everyone to be quiet. “Let’s study these palm lines and not bother anyone else.”
Lu Yin also glanced at Shang Rong before turning his attention towards the palm print.
Heaven’s Pit fell into silence for the moment.
One day passed, during which Lu Yin continued to stare at the palm. Unfortunately, he was unable to see anything.
Two days passed, but nothing changed.
He glanced over at Mr. Bai, who seemed to notice his gaze. The man helplessly spread his hands open and waved his fan, as if he was a gentleman on a leisurely stroll. It went without saying that he had gained no harvest either.
Then, Lu Yin looked over at Miss Qing, who rolled her eyes at him. Her mood was evidently not very good either.
Finally, Lu Yin looked at the fatty, who was incessantly gesticulating at him, though Lu Yin could not even be bothered to try to guess the youth’s intentions.
The situations at all of the other pillars were about the same, and there had been not many changes during these past days. Nothing extraordinary had occurred either.
On the third day, some people appeared one after another, and they began to seize control of the pillars. These people were very smart, and they did not try to attack Butcher or Shang Rong. Instead, they went straight for the pillar at the tip of the little finger, and they successfully gained control of it after a drawn out battle.
Perhaps their success had encouraged everyone, as another group soon began their own attack. They targeted the ring finger, which happened to be the pillar that Lu Yin’s group was occupying.
The fatty shrieked, “There’re enemies!”
Mr. Bai waved his fan to indicate something. “There are four of them as well as four of us. How nice.”
The fatty was stunned. “Don’t count on me! I’m just passing by.”
Huang San’s voice was quickly drowned out by the sounds of battle. The four opponents intended to face off against one opponent each, and the fatty was attacked by a skinny man who looked like a bamboo pole. One was fat while the other was thin, and it was a rather eye-grabbing matchup. The comparison only became more ridiculous when the fatty’s Sky-Eater Pig appeared, at which point even Shang Rong glanced to the side.
