THE DEMON EMPEROR REBORN AS A SERVANT

Chapter 9: The Illusion Master's Blood Formation

A damp fern leaf trembled slightly. A black shadow crouched on it without breaking the smallest twig. A hand in a leather glove touched a drop of dark black blood that hadn't completely dried on the leaf.

The man brought his finger to his nose, sniffing the metallic scent mixed with a foul odor. His scarred eyes narrowed sharply.

"Death Root Poison," the man muttered. His voice was as hoarse as scraping metal. He was Gou Yan, Advisor Zhao's trusted executioner. Behind him, six men dressed in black landed silently, like a flock of carrion crows. "Lei Tie's blood. They passed through here less than half an hour ago. The old dog is on his last legs."

Gou Yan stood up. A thin layer of internal Qi flowed through his leg muscles, making his burly body as light as a feather. "Move out. Don't let our prey find a place to hide. Bring me the heads of those Lin children tonight!"

The seven shadows shot through the forest canopy. Their movements radiated the deadly efficiency of Grade 2 Warriors. In the mortal realm, Grade 2 cultivation meant one's internal Qi was dense enough to strengthen muscle endurance and manipulate body weight to a certain extent. They were not low-level hired killers like the previous group; they were an elite tracking squad, specially trained to hunt prey in the wild.

Two miles from Gou Yan's position, Xiao Chen jumped down from a mossy rock, landing silently on sandy ground. He raised his left hand, signaling for the group behind him to stop.

Before them, the dense forest landscape was suddenly cut off, replaced by two giant rock cliffs that rose vertically for dozens of meters, forming a narrow gap in the middle. It was a rocky canyon, just wide enough for two horses to pass side-by-side. Dark, silent, and smelling of dead moss.

Lei Tie, who was limping while pressing the wound on his side, stared at the canyon with wide eyes. As a veteran soldier who had been through dozens of battlefields, his brain immediately evaluated the terrain.

"A choke point," Lei Tie whispered, looking at Xiao Chen's back with a completely different expression than before. His suspicion was now mixed with an undisguised awe. "A natural chokepoint. The cliff sides are too slippery to be climbed from below, and the path restricts the enemy's movement. If we're attacked here, the enemy can't use their numbers to surround us."

Lei Tie swallowed. This escape route was no coincidence. The servant in front of him was not only an expert in killing and poison anatomy, but also had the eye of a high-level military strategist.

Xiao Chen turned, looking at Lei Tie with a condescending gaze.

"So your eyes aren't completely blind, General," Xiao Chen said coldly. "Take the Young Miss and hide behind that boulder at the end of the canyon. Don't make a sound, and don't you dare emit that cheap killing intent of yours."

"What are you going to do, A'Chen?" Xuanyin asked worriedly. Her hand was still tightly gripping her brother, Lin Tian's, fingers.

"I'm going to welcome our guests."

Xiao Chen didn't waste time. He walked to the middle of the narrow canyon path. His Demon Emperor's mind began to map the terrain. Facing seven Grade 2 Warriors head-on with a Grade 1 body whose meridians were still injured was suicide. If he was ganged up on, his martial arts wouldn't be able to compensate for the difference in stamina and speed. He had to divide their focus.

He started picking up nine fist-sized stones with jagged edges.

'Without Qi that I can project, I can't draw a formation seal in the air,' Xiao Chen calculated. 'I'll have to use a trash-tier physical medium, blood as a Yin energy catalyst, and a passive formation.'

Xiao Chen took out the rusty sword he had used to kill the previous group. The sword was still stained with the fresh blood of his enemies, as well as Lei Tie's black, poisoned blood from when he had cut open his wound. He sliced the tip of the sword across his own left palm, mixing his Grade 1 blood essence into the bloody mixture.

With a mathematical precision that defied mortal understanding, Xiao Chen smeared the blood mixture onto the nine stones, drawing ancient symbols from the Scripture of 9 Hells. He then buried the stones at specific points in the canyon's rocky ground, forming an invisible hexagonal pattern.

After the last stone was planted, Xiao Chen knelt in the middle of the path. He placed both his palms on the ground.

Basic Illusion Sutra: Blood Veil of the 9 Hells.

Xiao Chen forced the gray Qi vortex in his Dantian to spin aggressively. He channeled his internal Qi forcefully into the ground through physical contact. The meridians in his arms screamed in protest. His face instantly turned as pale as paper, and cold sweat drenched his temples. Creating an Array, even the lowest level one, with a Grade 1 foundation was like trying to squeeze water from a rock.

BZZT!

A very low sonic vibration, inaudible to the ear but felt at the top of the head, swept across the mouth of the canyon. The nine buried stones resonated, binding the natural cold air of the canyon and transforming it into a thin illusionary field. The air at the mouth of the canyon seemed to ripple slightly before returning to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Chen coughed softly, pulling back his trembling hands.

"Done," he muttered, catching his breath. He looked at the formation he had just created. "Trash materials. Trash foundation. This illusion will only mess with the enemy's optic and auditory nerves for five minutes at most before their Grade 2 Qi circulation breaks it. But in the world of cultivation..." Xiao Chen smiled like the angel of death, "...five minutes is more than enough time to reap seven souls."

Xiao Chen immediately leaped to the right side of the cliff, hiding himself in a dark crevice behind a giant rock, just fifteen feet from the formation's entrance. On the other side, Lei Tie was already in position, holding his breath and gripping his sword tightly.

Less than ten breaths later, the silence of the forest was broken.

Seven black shadows shot out from behind the dense trees and landed simultaneously in front of the canyon's entrance. Gou Yan, the tracker leader, raised his hand. His squad stopped instantly.

Gou Yan's eyes scanned the narrow, pitch-black canyon before him. There were no bird calls, no crickets. The canyon was too quiet.

"A perfect ambush point," Gou Yan muttered, his scarred face hardening. He sniffed the air, but the wind blowing from inside the canyon no longer carried the scent of blood. The trail had been deliberately erased.

"Boss, are they hiding in there?" one of the trackers whispered, drawing his twin swords.

"They must be. But walking blindly into this narrow passage is like handing them our necks. Take two steps back. We'll wait until dawn, or smoke them out with fire," Gou Yan ordered cautiously. He wasn't going to take any foolish risks.

Behind the rock crevice, Xiao Chen clicked his tongue.

'A cautious tracking dog. This formation is passive, and the illusion will only activate if they step within six feet of the canyon's entrance. If they wait outside, the Qi I've embedded will just evaporate uselessly in a dozen minutes.'

Xiao Chen needed a trigger. He needed something that could shatter the enemy's caution and provoke their hunting instincts to move forward. Something weak, helpless, and their primary target.

Xiao Chen glanced down at the rock crevice below him.

There, Lin Tian stood trembling next to his sister. The ten-year-old boy was clutching the hem of Xuanyin's dress, his face as pale as a corpse, trying to hold his breath so he wouldn't make a sound. His left cheek was still red and swollen from Xiao Chen's slap in the cave.

Xiao Chen's black eyes met Lin Tian's terrified ones.

"If you can't stand the sight of your comrade's blood, then you will drown in your own. Turn your fear into fangs."

The words from his own lesson echoed back to him. Xiao Chen had not a shred of mortal sympathy in his heart. To a demon emperor, every piece on the chessboard had its function. Including this little master of his.

In one smooth, shadow-like movement, Xiao Chen slid down from his rock. Before Lin Xuanyin could react or open her mouth, Xiao Chen's left hand had already gripped the back of Lin Tian's collar.

"A'Chen! What are you—"

Xiao Chen pressed his right index finger to Xuanyin's lips, giving her a killing glare that instantly froze her vocal cords. He then looked at Lin Tian, whose eyes were widening in panic.

"Do you remember my lesson in the cave, brat?" Xiao Chen whispered right in Lin Tian's ear. His voice sounded like the hiss of a venomous snake.

Lin Tian nodded stiffly, tears of fear welling up in his eyes again.

"Good. Prove it."

Without a shred of hesitation, Xiao Chen forcefully shoved Lin Tian's small body out from behind their hiding spot.

The ten-year-old boy stumbled forward, tripped on a rock, and fell flat on his face in the middle of the canyon path, which was illuminated by the pale moonlight. He landed exactly two steps behind the invisible boundary of the 9 Hells Illusion Formation.

The sound of Lin Tian's fall echoed loudly at the mouth of the canyon.

Seven pairs of eyes from the tracking squad outside the canyon instantly locked onto the small figure huddled on the ground. Gou Yan's eyes widened. His primary target, the male heir of the Lin Family, was now lying defenseless right before his eyes.

From behind the dark shadow of the rock, Xiao Chen watched his prey take the bait. He smiled, then whispered with a chilling coldness that made the air tremble.

"Cry loudly, Young Master. Be a good bait."