Chapter 146 – Secrets of Demon-Sealing Pass, The Slaughter Battlefield! (5k)

Su Xing raised an eyebrow at what he saw.

“The Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe… Sure enough, among these foreign races, there are many different tribes, and the gap between them is enormous!”

Su Xing recalled that in a previous simulation, Luo Shuying had once mentioned the Shadow Tribe to him. The Shadow Tribe also seemed to be one of these foreign races.

“I wonder which is stronger — the Shadow Tribe or the Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe?”

Su Xing murmured thoughtfully, “The strength of these foreign races really isn’t as simple as it appears on the surface. That Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe demon beast said the massive ones are just low-grade fodder?”

Su Xing didn’t agree with that assessment. Perhaps the ordinary Demon Emperors on the battlefield, hundreds of meters tall but lacking intelligence, were indeed cannon fodder among the demon race.

But that colossal beast that descended at the very end was absolutely an extremely powerful existence, even among the foreign races.

Capable of swallowing an entire continent in a single gulp…

Its size was absolutely comparable to a planet!

Sometimes, when size reached a certain threshold, it triggered a qualitative transformation!

“However, the royal tribes among the demon race are quite formidable. More importantly, they can provide more abundant and purer blood essence… I’ll need to keep that in mind going forward!”

Su Xing nodded slightly.

Clearly, for him, the blood essence produced by these royal tribes had far superior effects!

His gaze returned to the simulation panel.

【You extracted the Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe’s blood essence. After consuming merely three jin, you felt your abdomen satisfied and your body’s energy fully replenished.】

【Moreover, compared to ordinary demon blood essence, the Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe’s blood essence contained a trace of flame power that continuously stimulated your physical body, accelerating the advancement of your Body Tempering cultivation!】

【Over the following period, you consumed Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe Demon Emperor Blood Essence daily, feeling your Body Tempering cultivation improve steadily.】

【Year Twenty: News of your killing the Fierce Rhinoceros Tribe’s Demon Emperor quickly spread throughout all the foreign races at Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Ordinary Demon Kings and Demon Emperors rarely dared to challenge you anymore, but the Demon Emperors from the royal tribes began issuing challenge after challenge.】

【Through battles with these royal demon beasts, your combat techniques grew increasingly refined, enabling you to handle different types of enemies.】

【Year Twenty-One: Over the course of more than a year, you killed over ten ordinary Demon Emperors and several Demon Emperors from different royal tribes, including but not limited to the Crimson Feather Tribe, the Spirit Swallow Tribe, the Golden Lion Tribe…】

【Though these enemies were troublesome, your strength grew ever greater, and you always managed to prevail by narrow margins.】

【While injuries after battle were inevitable, the gains in combat experience were even greater.】

【Furthermore, the blood essence from these royal tribes allowed your cultivation to maintain a high rate of growth.】

【Year Twenty-Two: Your reputation had spread among all the royal demon beasts at Demon-Sealing Pass. These beasts considered defeating you an honor, hoping to kill you to avenge the demon race’s humiliation and make a name for themselves.】

【But to you, these royal tribes were merely delivering more blood essence to your doorstep.】

【Year Twenty-Three: Gradually, even the royal tribes realized you were not easy prey. Fewer and fewer Demon Emperors came to challenge you.】

【So you began taking the initiative, hunting down a couple of Demon Emperors to replenish your stock whenever your blood essence supplies ran low.】

【Year Twenty-Four: After a full eight years of cultivation, supplemented by royal tribe blood essence, your Body Tempering cultivation finally advanced another step!】

【Congratulations on becoming a seventh-level Divine Power Realm cultivator!】

Su Xing nodded slightly at this, unable to suppress his excitement.

“I never expected a single simulation to raise me by three minor realms!”

When he had first broken through to the Divine Power Realm, Su Xing had assumed that advancing two levels in a single simulation would already be quite good.

But the Demon Emperor Blood Essence turned out to be unexpectedly effective, and the blood essence from the royal tribes among the foreign races was even better.

Combined with the constant slaughter at Demon-Sealing Pass, Su Xing’s physical strength and Body Tempering cultivation were both in a period of rapid growth.

“Excellent. I’ll push forward in one go and raise my Body Tempering cultivation to Divine Power Realm Perfection first, then find a way to advance my Qi Refinement cultivation!”

A plan gradually took shape in Su Xing’s mind.

Although the blessed land was now rich with spiritual energy, advancing Spirit Transformation stage cultivation was still difficult — breaking through two levels in a single simulation would already be respectable.

By that calculation, he would need to waste five or six opportunities to bring out simulation rewards just to push his Qi Refinement cultivation to Spirit Transformation stage Perfection.

In comparison, advancing his Body Tempering cultivation clearly provided a far more dramatic boost to Su Xing’s overall strength.

After all, every three levels of Body Tempering advancement multiplied Su Xing’s power by 2.2 times!

“So next, those Legendary-stage demon beasts should be preparing to destroy Demon-Sealing Pass entirely… It’s time to go exploring!”

Su Xing knew that if he wanted to infiltrate the Demon Realm from Demon-Sealing Pass, he absolutely couldn’t stay there and wait for death.

Even venturing into the endless wilderness battlefield was better than remaining at Demon-Sealing Pass!

【Year Twenty-Five: Although you had performed valiantly over these years, your strength alone could not turn the tide.】

【More and more soldiers at Demon-Sealing Pass perished. The number of Heavenly King and Martial Emperor-stage Class Users dwindled steadily.】

【You knew the demon race’s full-scale invasion was not far off, so rather than wait for death, you began making preparations.】

【You spent a month refining a batch of Fasting Pills, Bone Regeneration Pills, and large quantities of Disguise Pills and Tortoise Breath Pills.】

【These pills would ensure your long-term survival deep in the wilderness.】

【Afterward, you stockpiled a considerable amount of Demon Emperor and Demon King blood essence, along with a large supply of healing medicines, dungeon props, equipment, and other necessities for emergencies.】

【On the evening before your departure, you said goodbye to Luo Shuying. She seemed to sense something was off about your mood, but you said nothing more.】

【After that one night, you departed in silence.】

【You leaped from the thousand-zhang-high walls of Demon-Sealing Pass, channeling spiritual energy into your feet, riding the wind as you slowly descended to the ground.】

【After taking a Tortoise Breath Pill and a Disguise Pill, you suppressed your aura to avoid detection by the demon race.】

【Looking around, the ground beneath your feet was nothing but bleached bones and the stench of blood.】

【Human corpses and demon corpses littered the landscape everywhere!】

【In the dim light, you could even make out by the moonlight several low-level demon beasts gnawing on the flesh of demon carcasses.】

【You made no commotion, continuing to conceal your aura as you sprinted at astonishing speed in the direction opposite Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【After running for several hours, you were already over a thousand li from Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【At this point, the surrounding scenery began to change.】

【Looking ahead, it was still an expanse of wilderness, but the corpses of demon beasts and humans had all but vanished. Instead, the moon overhead grew ever redder.】

【Gazing up at that blood moon, a chill ran down your spine.】

Su Xing paused briefly at this, contemplating whether to activate the immersive simulation function.

After all, once activated, he would be able to see with his own eyes what lay beyond Demon-Sealing Pass.

After a moment’s hesitation, Su Xing thought silently:

“Activate immersive simulation, duration six hours!”

【Ding. You have successfully activated the immersive simulation function. Duration: six hours. Cost: 600,000 simulation energy. Remaining energy: 64,350,000 points.】

“Seeing it with my own eyes should give me a deeper understanding of the Demon-Sealing Pass dungeon, right?”

That was Su Xing’s thought.

A flash of white light, and the scenery before his eyes began to slowly transform.

When Su Xing opened his eyes again, he saw an endless wilderness stretching before him.

Barren earth, scattered rubble — even weeds were scarce here.

Looking out across the boundless wasteland, everything was covered in a faint layer of red. The air carried a subtle stench of blood.

Su Xing looked up. Above him hung a blood-red moon as large as a millstone.

This blood moon cast the earth in crimson, lending the entire wilderness an eerie, sinister air.

“So this is the dungeon where Demon-Sealing Pass is located?”

“Rather than calling it a dungeon, it’s more like an entire world unto itself! I just wonder… how vast is this world exactly?”

Su Xing focused his mind, and his spiritual sense spread outward like a tide.

But to his surprise, his spiritual sense — normally extending over three thousand zhang — could only reach three hundred zhang at most here!

“There’s something strange about this world! My spiritual sense has been weakened by ninety percent?”

Su Xing frowned slightly. The secrets of Demon-Sealing Pass ran deeper than he’d thought.

Maintaining his spiritual sense at a hundred zhang around him, Su Xing continued forward.

He maintained a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour — not fast, but enough to ensure his safety while allowing him to better observe this world.

After sprinting for several hours, Su Xing finally stopped, a puzzled look on his face.

“Strange. I’ve already covered over a thousand li, and along the way, forget about a demon beast army — I’ve barely even seen any scattered demon beasts…”

Su Xing had sprinted over a thousand li, and the demonic beasts he detected within his spiritual sense ranged from Silver-stage all the way to Demon Emperor level. But most were scattered across the battlefield, acting alone.

“So then… how exactly did the demon tribe’s beast army reach Demon-Sealing Pass?”

Su Xing pondered this question.

“Could it be that they didn’t travel on foot, but possess some means similar to a teleportation array?”

When the human race entered the Demon-Sealing Pass dungeon, they certainly didn’t walk there from Earth.

Instead, they were directly teleported into Demon-Sealing Pass from a special teleportation array point.

Su Xing suspected the demon tribe possessed similar means.

Beyond that, Su Xing had another lingering doubt.

He raised his head and gazed at the moon in the sky. The farther Su Xing traveled from Demon-Sealing Pass, the closer that moon seemed overhead, and the deeper its blood-red hue became.

The blood moon’s light falling upon Su Xing actually stirred faint irritability and various other negative emotions within him.

Had Su Xing not already passed the “Five Trials of Heart Tempering,” he would likely have been bewitched by this blood moon, transformed into a mindless killing machine…

“Also, this world is far too vast — its area is probably no smaller than all of Earth, right?”

“And Demon-Sealing Pass, the region it occupies, seems to span only a few hundred kilometers in radius… In the blueprint of this world, it takes up only a tiny fraction?”

Just as Su Xing was deep in thought, his spiritual sense suddenly detected an aura approaching.

Su Xing immediately went on alert, gripping the spirit sword Blackice.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Su Xing frowned and barked.

To his surprise, a figure actually emerged not far away.

He focused his gaze — it was actually…

“Luo Shuying, what are you doing here?”

Su Xing’s voice carried surprise and a touch of excitement.

But Luo Shuying was silent for several seconds, her eyes fixed straight on Su Xing. After a long pause, she said:

“You shouldn’t have left me behind alone…”

Su Xing froze for a moment, feeling a pang of guilt, but still explained: “Demon-Sealing Pass has your clansmen after all. I was afraid you couldn’t bear to leave them… Besides, where I’m going is certain death — extremely dangerous. I didn’t want to drag you into it…”

Luo Shuying was silent for a few seconds before speaking:

“I’d rather be with you… Wherever you go, I go…”

Su Xing felt warmth flood his heart.

At that moment, the blood-red moonlight shrouded Luo Shuying’s form.

She wore a flowing dark robe, her hair cascading over both shoulders.

Without her mask, the red moon bathed Luo Shuying’s delicate features, making her look extraordinarily refined and ethereal, like a perfect work of art — Su Xing’s breath caught in his throat.

Su Xing gazed deeply at Luo Shuying and said: “Following me could mean death…”

Luo Shuying stepped forward, her expression utterly serious: “Death is merely a matter of time… Given the current situation, Demon-Sealing Pass isn’t far from falling anyway.”

Su Xing gave a slight nod, gestured to Luo Shuying, and the two of them headed deeper into the wilderness.

Along the way, Su Xing’s extended spiritual sense detected quite a few demonic beasts.

But most of those beasts had lost their minds, wandering aimlessly across the wasteland. Even their eyes had turned scarlet, brimming with killing intent.

Luo Shuying, who had been following behind him, suddenly asked: “Su Xing, are you really not affected by the Slaughter Moon?”

Su Xing paused, confused. “The Slaughter Moon?”

Luo Shuying pointed toward the moon high above and said: “That moon — it’s called the Slaughter Moon.”

Seeing that Su Xing was still puzzled, Luo Shuying continued to explain: “The world we’re in right now is called the Slaughter Battlefield… Demon-Sealing Pass is merely what you humans of Earth call it, and it only refers to the small area near the fortress…”

Su Xing grew even more curious. The Slaughter Battlefield — this was the first time he’d heard that name.

Compared to Su Xing, Luo Shuying clearly knew far more.

She explained steadily: “The Slaughter Battlefield is said to have been created long ago, when a supremely powerful being waged war against a foreign race. No one knows the outcome of that battle…”

“All that’s known is that this once-vast world was shattered to pieces, with countless half-planes and broken worlds scattered throughout the spatial turbulence. These fragmented worlds scattered across the void came to be known as the Slaughter Battlefield!”

“Earth isn’t the only place with a Slaughter Battlefield. In my homeland, beyond the world where the Spirit Clan resides, there is also a Slaughter Battlefield… Our battles against the foreign races take place in that one.”

“Legend has it that the Slaughter Battlefield conceals an enormous secret, and it also serves as the corridor through which foreign races invade various worlds!”

She paused, then turned her gaze to Su Xing.

“So you’re actually searching for a path to other worlds, aren’t you? You want to find the spatial turbulence within the Slaughter Battlefield… To be honest, the chances are slim.”

After hearing Luo Shuying’s words, Su Xing fell into deep thought.

Combining this with the information he’d obtained from Old Dog Zong during the previous simulation, Su Xing now had a general understanding.

The Slaughter Battlefield was both the corridor through which the demon tribe invaded worlds and the only exit for the human race to escape an invasion.

After a moment of silence, Su Xing asked another question: “Then why is the moon in the sky called the Slaughter Moon?”

Luo Shuying explained: “I don’t know the specifics, but legend says that an evil god once perished on the Slaughter Battlefield, and after their death, they transformed into the red moon in the sky, influencing all living creatures upon the Slaughter Battlefield…”

“It’s said that once it has influenced enough living beings, it will be able to revive…”

Su Xing nodded and said: “The reason I’m not affected is probably because my mental fortitude is strong enough? But you don’t seem to be affected much either?”

Luo Shuying shook her head and explained: “Although I’m of the Spirit Clan and naturally possess stronger spiritual power, the Slaughter Moon still affects me. It’s just that as a… Legendary-stage cultivator, I can resist these negative emotions to a certain degree.”

“But if we go much deeper, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold out much longer…”

Su Xing asked again: “Then, what lies at the very end of this battlefield?”

Luo Shuying shook her head. “I don’t know either. But if you want to find a passage to escape this battlefield, my guess is it’s most likely at the deepest point beneath the red moon.”

Su Xing committed every word Luo Shuying said to memory.

The two continued forward for a while.

Along the way, Luo Shuying’s complexion grew increasingly pale, as though she was desperately fighting against the red moon’s influence.

Su Xing thought for a moment, then took out two Mirror Pills and handed them to Luo Shuying.

“Take these. They should help you right now.”

Luo Shuying swallowed them without hesitation. Before long, her complexion had noticeably improved.

The Mirror Pill had the effect of stabilizing emotions and clearing the mind like a mirror, providing some defense against the red moon’s influence.

But Su Xing knew that there was a mid-grade pill called the Tranquility Pill that worked even better — one specifically designed to calm emotions.

Su Xing and Luo Shuying continued forward for some time.

Then, a notification appeared in his mind: the immersive simulation time had ended.

Su Xing considered it for a moment. Continuing forward probably wouldn’t yield much more, so he temporarily exited the immersive simulation.

Back in the real world, Su Xing gazed at the simulation text before him and murmured: “The Slaughter Moon, the Slaughter Battlefield… The only escape route, huh?”

Su Xing took a deep breath and looked at the simulation panel.

【Luo Shuying found you. You walked together across this desolate battlefield.】

【There were no directions on the Slaughter Battlefield — only the red moon overhead.】

【You pressed ever forward, and the red moon overhead grew ever larger, its negative influence on living creatures growing ever stronger.】

【Along the way, the foreign races you encountered grew increasingly powerful, and some even began launching attacks against you.】

【These foreign races came in all shapes and forms, but their eyes were uniformly crimson, as though slaughter had consumed their reason.】

【Fortunately, with Luo Shuying assisting at your side, dealing with them was not too difficult.】

【Several days passed like this. As you ventured deeper, Luo Shuying had to devote more and more of her energy to suppressing her own emotions, leaving her unable to fight at full strength.】

【Thus, you could only shoulder the burden alone, fighting off the red-eyed foreign races wandering the Slaughter Battlefield under mounting pressure.】