Chapter 42: Blood Puppet

Just as Li Weixuan's fierce sword energy blasted that skull-headed centipede into bone powder, a group of people saw a flash of light before their eyes and realized they had reached the center of the ruins.

The crowded buildings formed a gap here, sinking downward to create a deep pit.

The pit was currently filled with a viscous, dark red liquid, resembling decayed and spoiled blood.

Even more exaggeratedly, the pool of blood was actually moving.

As if it were alive, the entire pool contracted and expanded at a unique frequency, resembling a giant slime.

With its movements, air bubbles of various sizes constantly emerged from within, and the released wave of putrid aura struck straight at the crown of their heads. A single inhalation made one feel as if their brain was rotting away.

They finally knew where all the blood had gone!

It seemed his imagination needed further refinement; this thing was far more surreal than blood tofu.

Even more unexpectedly, there was still a person in the middle of the blood pool.

This person was extremely tall, but with white hair and beard, looking advanced in age.

At this moment, his eyes were tightly closed, and he was motionless.

What was astonishing was that not only was his body intact, but his upper body was also immaculate, forming a sharp contrast with the stench beneath his feet.

Furthermore, in the old man's right hand, he grasped an exaggeratedly shaped halberd.

Just looking at the circulating luster on it, one could tell it was definitely a divine weapon.

However, upon closer inspection, one could notice that starting from the old man's calves, which were soaked in the bloody water, signs of corrosion had faintly appeared, and dark rust had spread to his waist.

"Wait here."

Li Weixuan dropped those cold words and immediately prepared to go down and investigate.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

The dark red浆液 (slurry) in the blood pool underwent a bizarre twitch, and then formed a vortex centered around the old man.

The stench instantly surged tenfold.

The speed of the vortex accelerated crazily from slow to fast, winding its way up the old man's legs in the blink of an eye and swiftly wrapping around his entire lower body.

The next moment, the top of the slurry contracted into a rounded column-like shape, and then shook like a snake, hoisting the old man high into mid-air.

The halberd in the old man's hand was raised high, descending from the sky like an executioner about to strike.

Clang!

Accompanied by a spark that tore through the sky, the old man crossed a distance of dozens of meters, and the halberd slammed fiercely onto the ground in front of the group.

And opposite him, Li Weixuan, who had been unscathed since the start of the battle, finally had tiny traces of blood appearing on his body.

Having failed to achieve success with a single strike, the old man stood back in mid-air, supported by the pillar of blood.

"Stay back."

Li Weixuan motioned for everyone to retreat.

The next moment, sword intent surged, and murderous intent was palpable.

This is the power of the peak fourth-tier.

Fu Qian muttered in admiration, his eyes fixed on the old man opposite him.

The might of that previous halberd strike was truly terrifying; if Li Weixuan hadn't blocked it, the exploration team would likely have been either dead or severely injured.

Pity that the latter, who launched this attack, still hadn't opened his eyes, moving sluggishly like a dead man.

As expected, is the thing on his lower body the main body?

Fu Qian looked at the lump supporting the old man.

Now that lump had completely taken the form of a slug, with most of the dark red slurry absorbed into its body, revealing a circular dome at the bottom of the pool.

The old man should have been standing on it just now.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to this battle, Fu Qian quietly walked to the edge of the pool.

There was something he had wanted to do for a long time.

Observing all the way here, he was certain that his deduction should be correct.

The flesh and blood of those who entered the furnace were refined by special rules, and then formed various twisted monsters.

This blood pool was obviously one of the products.

Then the question arose, why was this old man unaffected?

It looked like he had been here for quite some time.

Every abnormal occurrence must have a bizarre reason; only those not governed by the rules had a chance of walking out.

Looking at the dark red pool water, Fu Qian slashed a wound on his arm, then turned his palm downward, letting the blood flow into it in a stream.

Logically speaking, once blood left the body it was already a dead substance and should be rapidly absorbed.

However, unexpectedly, the blood Fu Qian shed into the pool not only failed to merge, but actually floated directly on the surface, just like oil and water being incompatible.

Does this mean I am not affected either? Fu Qian's eyes lit up.

What do I have in common with this elder? Besides both being male.

As Fu Qian was frowning and pondering here, he suddenly noticed that his blood in the blood pool had undergone a change.

As if guided by some force, the fresh blood floating on the surface of the blood pool began to move.

Very quickly, that cluster of fresh blood was drawn into a line of blood, flowing toward the direction of the old man hoisted high in mid-air.

Can it even be like this?

Fu Qian watched with his own eyes as the line of blood traveled all the way up along the blood pillar of the old man's lower body, finally disappearing into the old man's waist.

Because the color contrast was not obvious, no one else noticed this detail except him.

At this time, the battle between the two was also drawing to a close. Although the old man possessed infinite strength and a divine weapon, he ultimately seemed to be nothing more than a puppet, and his movements were far from flexible.

Under Li Weixuan's stormy attacks, he quickly fell into a disadvantage and was now struggling bitterly.

Li Weixuan also seemed to realize that the blood pillar beneath the old man's body was the true main body, so every sword stroke targeted the opponent's lower body, sending blood splashing and fluids flying.

With a final tearing of the blood pillar supporting the old man's lower body, the old man's whole body shook, a groan escaped his lips, and he opened his eyes.

He began to struggle violently, finally breaking free before the blood pillar closed up, and leaped onto the shore.

"Thank you for helping me break free from that nightmare."

Kneeling on the spot and panting heavily, a human look appeared in the old man's eyes for the first time.

"I never expected there would be such a day."

The old man spoke very slowly, his voice hoarse and grating, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

Seeing this, Li Weixuan also stopped his attacks, but still looked at him warily and posed the ultimate three questions.

"Who on earth are you? Why are you here? What is this place exactly?"

"I am..."

The old man grasped the halberd and slowly stood up, frowning in thought, a painful expression appearing on his face.

"I can't remember. I only remember being trapped in a place, unable to get out no matter what...
There were deformed monsters everywhere, my thoughts became increasingly chaotic, the time I stayed awake grew shorter and shorter, and sometimes I even felt like I was already dead..."

"Wait a minute!"

Suddenly, the old man seemed to have discovered something. He pointed at the chests of the students, his face trembling.

"You are people from the Academy?"

"You know the Academy?"

Many students had the Academy's emblem on their chests; now it was their turn to be startled.

"More than just remember... I clearly know, I am the fourth headmaster of the Academy!"

"I remember..."

Before the Academy members could express their shock, the old man's expression suddenly became solemn and dignified, planting his halberd on the ground.

"My name is Feng Yunhong!"