The battlefield had fallen into an eerie silence.Not a peaceful kind of quiet—more like the kind that comes right before something snaps. Only the chaotic surge of energy tearing through the air kept breaking it apart. The ground was already a mess, cracked and burned from repeated clashes. Dust and broken stones drifted upward like ash in a dead sky.Right in the middle of it all stood Bai Zhongtian.And something about him had changed.A lot.He didn’t feel human anymore. That was the first thing everyone noticed. His aura was thick, heavy… soaked in something blood-like and corrupted, as if some ancient, forbidden force had woken up inside him and decided to take control.His eyes slowly locked onto Elira Frostveil.A crooked smile crept onto his face.“Such a beautiful face,” he said, almost savoring the words. “I can already smell your blood… It’s intoxicating.”Elira didn’t answer.Not a word.She just stood there, calm and cold like frozen moonlight. A soft jade flame circled a

Bai Zhongtian’s face changed—just for a split second. Barely even noticeable. But in that instant, something sharp flickered deep inside his blood-red eyes. Unstable. Almost like it wanted to break out.Then it was gone.He forced it down. Clean. Smooth. Like nothing ever happened.A cold, mocking smile returned to his face.And just like that… he looked at Darian Kaelthorn as if he were already looking at a corpse.“Darian Kaelthorn,” he said slowly, dragging each word out like he was enjoying it. “You really are something… special. People like you—when there’s no way out, they still walk straight into hell.”He tilted his head slightly, amused.“And now look at you. You came here all by yourself. Shaking. Desperate. Thinking you can actually change anything.”His laughter echoed across the strange, hollow space above the giant pit.“Walking into death without even realizing it… Honestly, it’s funny.”But Darian didn’t answer right away.He stood at the edge of the enormous abyss, ey

“Courting death… completely beyond saving.”Darian Kaelthorn’s voice came out calm. Almost too calm. He stood over the shattered remains of Bai Zhongtian like it was nothing more than debris on the ground. His eyes were sharp, cold, steady—no hesitation, no emotion, nothing that would give away even the slightest discomfort.For most people, killing someone for the first time would shake them. Shock, nausea, fear… something like that.But Darian didn’t feel any of it.Bai Zhongtian had made his choice the moment he betrayed humanity. A man who accepted the Blood Demon inheritance had already thrown away any right to mercy. Even killing him a hundred times wouldn’t have been unfair.Darian simply observed the situation in his mind.No surprise Bai Zhongtian fell so fast.First, his body had already collapsed inward. The backlash of his own life force had wrecked his foundation, dragging his cultivation down hard. He was nowhere near his peak anymore—more like a broken shell than a figh

The sky had already turned wrong.That bloody, surging light up there kept twisting like something alive—as if it were trying to tear its way through the world from the other side. It didn’t feel natural at all. Honestly, it felt like reality itself was groaning under pressure.Even the air was weird. Heavy. Suffocating. Like every breath had weight to it.And then—Everything changed in an instant.Under the stunned, terrified eyes of everyone below, that chaotic blood light finally started to condense.A shape formed.A figure.At first glance, it looked humanoid… but that was where any resemblance to a human ended. The body was nothing but flowing crimson energy, as if countless rivers of blood had been crushed and forced into a single existence. Just looking at it made your mind sting—like invisible needles of killing intent were stabbing straight into your thoughts.And no, this wasn’t that earlier blood shadow clone.This was something else entirely.Something far worse.The rea

That strange owl-like voice of the Fallen Blood Demon echoed again through the broken heavens.But… it didn’t feel the same this time.Something was off.The usual creepy laughter was gone. No more “heh heh” mocking tone, no playful cruelty.Just silence… and something else underneath it.Hesitation.Maybe even fear.Up in the void, that massive blood hand that once covered the sky had already disappeared completely. Not blocked. Not shattered in a big, dramatic clash.Just… erased.Gone.A single light punch from Darian Kaelthorn had done it.No explosion.No shockwave tearing the sky apart.No dramatic aftermath that you’d expect from something like that.Nothing.It was like someone had just wiped dust off their sleeve.And honestly… that was the scariest part.Down below, Elira Frostveil stood frozen.Her face didn’t change much—still cold, still calm—but inside, everything had already flipped upside down.Her eyes stayed locked on the figure floating in the void.Darian Kaelthorn