Chapter Forty-Four: Do You Know What Ambergris Is?

Except for Fu Qian, no one expected Feng Yunhong to launch a sudden surprise attack, let alone in such a self-detonating manner.

Li Weixuan took the brunt of it, with nowhere to hide, and was instantly engulfed.

The sweeping flesh-and-blood storm contained a terrifying, suffocating power, far surpassing the oppressive aura Feng Yunhong had previously exuded, sweeping everything away with an unstoppable momentum.

Li Weixuan's entire body shook violently, and countless wounds appeared in a mere fraction of a second.

However, the next moment, a grandiose sword aura pierced outward and collided directly with the storm.

Knowing that escape was impossible, Li Weixuan chose to face the impact head-on.

Wild, unbridled power surged everywhere. The sword radiance shattered, and Li Weixuan's body was instantly torn to pieces.

Taking advantage of this tiny buffer, Ji Liushuang and the others behind him used every ounce of their strength to escape the perimeter of the storm.

Aside from them, the entire exploration team was instantly wiped out, blasted into bloody mist under the impact of the storm.

The next moment, the storm subsided, leaving behind carnage in its wake.

The entire perimeter of the blood pool was smeared with a thick mixture of flesh and blood. Aside from Li Weixuan, not a single intact corpse remained.

Soon, as the storm calmed, the thick streams of blood converged and wound their way into the adjacent blood pool.

Fu Qian stood to the side, quietly watching the scene unfold before him, not missing a single detail.

The mixture of flesh and blood flowing into the pool once again displayed a stark and distinct separation.

Most of the flesh quickly dissolved into that foul-smelling mass, while Li Weixuan's shattered body was enveloped by a stream of fresh blood, dissolving and disappearing bit by bit, as a human-shaped blood shadow slowly began to form from within.

As expected!

Fu Qian felt he now understood the true nature of this crucible.

First of all, Feng Yunhong had not been entirely truthful.

Ever since he first dropped blood into the pool, Fu Qian had harbored suspicions.

Over all these years, plenty of high-tier transcendents must have fallen in here. If they remained unaffected after death, where did their bodies go?

Now, the answer was crystal clear.

Amongst the blood mist that had just exploded, aside from Feng Yunhong's head, there were far more than just one distorted face.

The owners of those bloody faces were those high-tier transcendents.

They had indeed been devoured, but not by this crucible—rather, by Feng Yunhong.

Just like Li Weixuan right now, they had all been "eaten" by this fellow Feng Yunhong.

Fu Qian had no doubt that a Feng Yunhong would soon grow out of this mass, while Li Weixuan would become just another one of those bloody faces.

As for why Feng Yunhong was able to achieve this, Fu Qian recalled a passage about ambergris he had studied in his essence and fragrance class.

It was said that giant squids possessed tough chitinous beaks and radulae that were extremely difficult to digest. After being swallowed by sperm whales, they would accumulate in the stomach and intestines, irritating the intestinal lining. Over time, the intestines would secrete a special waxy substance to wrap around the food remnants, gradually forming ambergris.

All transcendents who reached a certain level of strength were simply the indigestible impurities of this crucible.

And the Feng Yunhong they had seen earlier was the ambergris formed over long years of accumulation.

He was not an individual, but the mixed residue of all those transcendents.

When they first encountered him, that mass of flesh and blood at his lower body wasn't controlling him; it was wrapping around him to prevent him from affecting the crucible.

Thus, that fellow's earlier demented state was entirely an act.

"Why is this happening?"

In the distance, Ji Liushuang stood with blood at the corner of her lips, staring blankly and listlessly at the bloody scene before her.

Even the Dean...

She was among the luckiest. Being relatively far back and hearing Fu Qian's words beforehand—though not fully understanding them—she had subconsciously prepared herself mentally.

Therefore, when Feng Yunhong self-detonated, she managed to escape the storm's radius almost instantly, suffering only minor shockwaves.

Aside from her, the only survivors were five others, including Yuan Xin and Huang Zhaoyan.

They hadn't been nearly as fortunate. Although Li Weixuan had fought desperately to buy them a brief window for survival, every single one of them had been caught in the shockwave. The worst among them had half his body reduced to a pulp.

The once-sizable team was reduced to a mere handful in the blink of an eye.

"How did you know?"

Climbing up from the ground with great difficulty, Yuan Xin didn't bother checking his injuries. Instead, he stared fixedly at Fu Qian, speaking each word with deliberate hostility.

"Know what?"

Fu Qian looked at the other man's blood-stained face.

"Know that there was something wrong with him."

Yuan Xin pointed toward the blood pool.

"From the very beginning, you were the one who told us we were trapped... told us we couldn't rest... told us we had to go deep into the ruins to find a way out.

The entire team acted according to your arrangements, and this is what it got us.

Tell me, why did you know all of this?"

Yuan Xin's words were followed by a brief silence, after which everyone locked their gazes onto Fu Qian's face, deep in thought.

Indeed, upon closer reflection, there were numerous suspicious points. From start to finish, it seemed this fellow had been orchestrating the team's actions.

And then there was that bizarre action earlier.

Fu Qian's right hand now only had four fingers; his pinky had been cleanly torn off and thrown onto Feng Yunhong earlier.

"This is no time to dwell on such things. Let's figure out a way to get out of here first."

Ji Liushuang stepped forward, casting a stern look at Yuan Xin to stop him from continuing.

Though she also felt there were many secrets shrouding Fu Qian, she believed it was certainly not as Yuan Xin claimed.

Fu Qian's actions were much more akin to those of a completely rational survivor, with every move calculated solely to stay alive.

Let's not forget that Fu Qian had been the one to warn everyone to run just moments ago.

Rebuked by the goddess in his heart, Yuan Xin, his eyes bloodshot, lost his previous reverence. He merely sneered at her, refusing to yield an inch.

Oh, humanity! Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Most of the time, the only reason someone hates you is simply because you told them the truth.

And when they find themselves powerless against that truth, they often subconsciously wish to eliminate you—as if your absence would make the nightmare before them vanish.

Fortunately, when dealing with such people, Fu Qian possessed a very unique set of communication skills.

The next moment, a chilling murderous intent surged into the sky.

The fear of death gripped everyone's heart.

Fu Qian smiled as he looked at Yuan Xin.

"What on earth are you misunderstanding? Where on earth did you get the idea that I need to answer your questions?"

As soon as these words fell, Yuan Xin, who had been furious just a moment ago, turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

Not just him, everyone reacted the exact same way, falling into absolute silence.

That's right. In this time and place, did Fu Qian have any reason whatsoever to answer anyone's questions?

Leaving aside the fact that almost everyone besides him was injured, even if all six of them were in peak condition, they were no match for a Tier 6 transcendent.

Coupled with the peculiar traits of these ruins, whatever happened inside would never reach the outside world.

No matter how powerful their families were, it meant nothing here.

To die in this place meant dying for real, without leaving a single trace. The outside world wouldn't even remember they had ever existed, let alone seek vengeance for them.

Even the esteemed former dean of the academy had been trapped here for decades without causing a single ripple, ultimately reduced to this half-human, half-ghost state.

As far as Fu Qian was concerned, he and his group were completely fish on a cutting board.

If he truly decided to kill them, there wasn't a single thing they could use to threaten him.

No, wait—he had already killed one person.

Recalling that shattered assassin, the group's hearts sank even further.

Especially Huang Zhaoyan.

"Fu Qian, don't be impulsive."

Ji Liushuang's lovely face drained of color as well, her voice trembling as she tried to dissuade him, terrified that Fu Qian would fly into a rage and start a massacre.

"Relax, I'm never impulsive."

Smiling amiably, Fu Qian walked over to the blood pool, where the humanoid blood silhouette was slowly taking shape. He turned his head to look at Ji Liushuang.

"Do you know what ambergris is?"