Corrupted Lands-III (First Encounter with a Devil…!)

After executing his first Qi infused attack, Zhu Shen felt weak.

"Huff … Huff… Why am I feeling so weak…?"

Zhu Shen asked the golden heart while huffing.

"You just executed an attack that was impossible to execute in the Body Tempering realm… "

The golden heart rolled his eyes at Zhu Shen. Still, it explained everything to Zhu Shen.

"Your body is feeling weak because you have depleted the Qi inside your body. Just rest for a while and use dragon breath. After your Qi reserve is filled you will not feel weak anymore."

Listening to the golden heart, Zhu Shen sat in a lotus position and started using dragon breath. Although surrounded by corrupted Qi, as soon as dragon breath was executed, the corrupted Qi started rolling in spirals grinding against itself until pure white Qi remained.

This pure white Qi then entered Zhu Shen's body nourishing his flesh. As Zhu Shen had not reached the Qi sensing realm, he was unable to see the Qi but the dragon breath technique made the process of absorbing the Qi automatic.

---

After 10 minutes of circulating the Dragon Breath technique, Zhu Shen felt refreshed. He opened his eyes which were clearer than before. He then asked the golden heart,

"I am still in the 3rd level of the body tempering realm… and there seems to be no progress… how do I advance from my initial cultivation level…?"

After hearing Zhu Shen's words full of impatience, the golden heart felt funny. It rebuked Zhu Shen,

"Well, you only reconstructed your blood and flesh… if you can temper your bones and marrow, you will advance to the sixth level of body tempering. Then comes your organs, once you tempered your organs you will step into the 9th level of body tempering…"

Although like other cultivation realms, the body tempering realm is also divided into 9 steps, It is mainly divided into 3 major accomplishments. Blood-flesh tempering, bone tempering, organ tempering.

Some people would argue that tempering the 5 senses would also come under body tempering, it is more related to your mind than your body.

"You don't need to rush things… we will take it slowly… first we need to investigate this unnatural corrupted land…"

The golden heat reminded Zhu Shen to focus on the present situation.

Zhu Shen nodded seriously as he went towards the centre of the valley.

---

As Zhu Shen reached the centre, he saw a small cave emitting corrupted Qi. The inside of the cave was pitch black.

Zhu Shen cautiously neared the cave. Surprisingly there was nobody in the vicinity of the cave. Seeing that there was nobody, Zhu Shen entered the cave.

After walking inside, Zhu Shen felt tongue-tied as he looked at the blood-red altar in front of him. The altar was surrounded by a lot of human bones as well as animal bones.

Yet, that was not the most surprising thing Zhu Shen saw in front of him. As he looked up, what he saw made the blood in his body start churning madly.

Never before seen rage dwelled up in his heart as all the restraints in Zhu Shen's body were released.

"Roar~~"

Zhu Shen roared furiously as he saw a dragon body hung above the bloody altar. As the blood from the dragon's body tickled down on the altar the blood glow of the altar seemed to intensify bit by bit.

Zhu Shen clenched his fist so tightly that his fingers dug deep inside his flesh.

Although his body was releasing terrifying might in a feat of rage, Zhu Shen kept his mind cool. He first took out a talisman from his storage ring and activated it using his blood.

The talisman turned bright red as it flew into the sky. Soon a bright red star loomed illuminating the whole dragon world in bright red colour.

This was the signal of a dragon's unnatural death. All the other races inside the dragon world shivered as they saw a bright red star. They knew that bloodbath was imminent inside the dragon world.

All the elders as well as protectors inside the dragon palace looked at the red star with rage. All the normal disciples saw rows upon rows of dragons flying from the dragon palace heading in the direction of the red star.

---

Inside the cave,

After Zhu Shen gave out the signal, he walked towards the bloody altar. This time, Zhu Shen circulated his Qi towards his palm and heavily punched the altar.

"Crack… Crack…"

Cracks started appearing on the altar as it broke down into pieces. The red glow around the altar also disappeared.

"NOOOO….!!"

An enraged voice came from the dragon's body. When Zhu Shen looked up he saw a lot of bats coming out of the dragon's nose. These bats came down onto the altar and merged into a human-like figure with blood-red eyes.

It looked at the broken altar and then turned its head towards Zhu Shen.

"How dare you…!"

The devil-like figure directly flew in the direction of Zhu Shen attacking him with its claw.

The devil's speed was unlike what Zhu Shen ever experienced. Before he could move out of the way, the devil was right in front of him. Zhu Shen hastily bought his sword in a defensive position but, as soon as it made contact with the claw, the sword broke apart.

"Splach…!"

A deep wound appeared on Zhu Shen's chest as his body flew like a rag-doll and hit the wall of the cave.

"Cough~... Cough~"

Zhu Shen Coughed a mouthful of blood as his body slid down the wall of the cave.

"Mhmmm~ another one with dragon blood… jiejiejiejie~ this will make my sacrificial ceremony even more complete…"

The devil said in an unnatural voice as it tasted the blood on its claws. It then looked in the direction of Zhu Shen and said,

"Jiejiejiejie~ lucky me ~"

The devil started walking in the direction of Zhu Shen.

Zhu Shen could do nothing as he watched the devil come closer and closer. he could feel broken bones inside his body. The golden heart was beating madly trying to heal Zhu Shen's injuries and keep the corruption from spreading.

'Is this the end…?'

Zhu Shen thought as he saw the devil attacking him the second time.

But,

Before the devil's claw could reach Zhu Shen, the surrounding ground started vibrating as a massive pressure descended over the whole valley.

Before the devil could react, the whole cave was blown away by a massive claw. A dragon head as large as a mountain descended from the clouds and looked towards the bat devil.

"Kiyaaaaa~~"

The bat devil roared as it turned into countless small bats running in different directions. But, the dragon watching didn't even look at the bats as it released the dragon's breath.

"Fuuuuu~~"

Everything inside the valley turned to ashes. Even the corrupted Qi got incinerated by the sheer heat released by the dragon's breath.

Zhu Shen watched the devil's body get incinerated as he slowly lost consciousness.