Chapter 1275: Decisive

At that moment, Zu An, despite the immediate danger, simply smiled. He summoned a great wind and instantly teleported dozens of yards away.

Having just heard the two men's proposal, he had remained wary. After all, they had been fighting to the death moments earlier, and anyone who trusted them to cooperate now would be a fool.

Sure enough, the two did not disappoint his 'trust'.

The black-furred monster lost its target and instinctively turned its attention to Jin Shi, who was trying to escape.

It took a giant stride, catching up to Jin Shi from behind in what seemed like a single step.

The remaining onlookers felt a chill down their spines. Although Jin Shi had only demonstrated a rudimentary understanding of the Heavenly Peng's movements, his speed was still considerable. Yet, after running for so long, he was caught with such ease by the black-furred monster.

The monster's five fingers moved like lightning; its entire hand plunged directly into Jin Shi's back, then brutally ripped out his heart.

Jin Shi let out a bloodcurdling scream. His heart, still vividly beating after being torn from his chest, suggested the unimaginable agony he endured.

Yan Xuehen and the other women exchanged glances. They all simultaneously recalled the bones of the Pangolin Patriarch they had seen earlier on their journey; at the time, after examining the wounds, they had deduced that his heart had likely been torn out from behind.

They had found it somewhat inconceivable then, but now they were witnessing a similar scene with their own eyes.

The black-furred monster then shoved the blood-soaked heart directly into its mouth, biting into it with a gush of fluids.

"No!" Jin Shi, with some lingering consciousness, wished he had died earlier upon witnessing the scene.

Immediately after, he fell into darkness, tumbling directly into the blood pool below, where his flesh quickly corroded away.

Hearing the screams from behind, Ma Huang's hair stood on end. He had never expected the monster to deal with Zu An and Jin Shi so quickly.

However, at this point, he had no retreat, so he plunged directly into the blood pool.

Seeing this scene, the survivors on the stone platform were stunned. Kong Nanqing exclaimed in shock, "Is he trying to commit suicide?"

Yan Xuehen shook her head. "Don't forget he's a Blood Clan member," she said. "This blood pool might be lethal to others, but not necessarily to him."

Ma Huang had indeed planned this. When the platform first collapsed and he saw others suffering terribly as they fell into the blood pool, he had panicked slightly. But after a moment, he regained his composure, realizing he was a Blood Clan member!

Although the blood pool below was highly corrosive, it also contained various blood essences. For him, it was a potent tonic.

So he secretly made a plan: to let Zu An and Jin Shi openly engage the monster, while he would dive into the blood pool. There, he would absorb the blood essences to strengthen himself and simultaneously retrieve the Undying Flower.

He had clearly seen that ever since the blood pool began to surge, the mysterious array protecting the flower had vanished.

Once he had the Three-Three Flower, he planned to use a secret Blood Clan technique to escape under the cover of the blood pool.

The moment he entered the blood pool, a sharp pain spread through his body. As a Blood Clan member, he immediately realized this was the blood pool absorbing his vital essence, not corrosive poison.

When it came to absorbing vital essence, the Blood Clan was uniquely proficient.

On one hand, he activated his unique cultivation technique to prevent his own vital energy from leaking out. At the same time, he began to absorb the blood essences from the pool in return.

In that instant, he felt as if he were in paradise. The aura around him was incredibly sweet; this was the purest essence of blood, many times better than anything he had absorbed before.

Within a few breaths, the two-tenths of his vital essence that he had lost in his earlier fight with Zu An had completely recovered. It was even continuously increasing, quickly surpassing his lifelong peak.

If he were to cultivate in this blood pool for an hour, he was confident he could even directly break through to the Grandmaster realm.

It was widely known that it was incredibly difficult for cultivators to advance even a small stage in the later realms. Countless peak ninth-rank experts might spend a hundred years or more of their remaining lives yet fail to break through to Grandmaster.

What did it mean to be guaranteed a breakthrough in this blood pool within an hour?

However, he knew he didn't have much time, so he quickly swam towards the Three-Three Flower in the center of the blood pool.

Perhaps because some of its blood essence had been absorbed by him, the petals of the flower, which were supposed to be blooming, appeared somewhat wilted.

The black-furred monster also noticed this and let out a sky-shattering roar.

A terrifying pressure swept over him, making Ma Huang feel as if his guts were twisting. He reluctantly glanced at the Three-Three Flower, which was now within reach, but his life was more important.

He twisted his body, transforming into a slippery leech. He instantly sank to the bottom of the blood pool, quickly swimming away under its cover.

The black-furred monster stood above the blood pool, looking down and observing it. From the perspective of the people on the stone platform, there was no sign of anything unusual beneath the blood pool.

However, the black-furred monster, as if possessing x-ray vision, suddenly let out an inhuman roar and extended its palm downwards.

A spectral hand plunged directly into the blood pool. When it lifted, it was clutching a continuously squirming leech.

Ma Huang was terrified. He couldn't understand why his Blood Clan's secret technique had been seen through so easily by the opponent.

He struggled frantically, releasing a strange viscous fluid from his body. It was not only poisonous but also extremely slippery. Combined with his desperate writhing, he actually managed to free most of his body.

The black-furred monster snorted and tightened its grip. The immense pressure made Ma Huang's eyes roll back, nearly causing him to faint instantly.

Feeling as if many sharp spikes on the giant hand were piercing his body, rendering him unable to move, he bit down on the monster's hand in despair. Simultaneously, he activated his Blood Clan's evil cultivation technique, attempting to drain the monster's cultivation.

Since ancient times, many Blood Clan predecessors had slain beings more powerful than themselves, even across realms. This was precisely because of their unique cultivation methods: if an opponent was careless, their vital essence would be drained.

However, this time, he was filled with despair, as he discovered that no matter how much he tried to absorb, the monster's fundamental essence remained unyielding!

The black-furred monster was clearly annoyed by him. It lifted him upside down and, with its other hand, began to strip him downwards from his tail.

Ma Huang didn't even have time to scream. His entire body... simply exploded.

Countless internal organs and intestines were squeezed directly out of his mouth. He had dominated for decades, draining countless experts of their cultivation, and had never imagined he would die such a gruesome death.

Upon witnessing this scene, the women on the stone platform rushed to the side, covering their mouths and dry heaving. The sight was simply too visually impactful.

Even someone as unperturbed as Zu An felt his eyelids twitch.

The monster seemed to disdain the large mass of filth, not wanting it to contaminate the blood pool. With a casual wave of its hand, a stream of black energy enveloped the organs and entrails. In the blink of an eye, they were refined away, leaving only a few drops of pure, vivid blood beads that fell into the blood pool.

The Three-Three Flower, which had been somewhat wilted, instantly regained its vibrant, budding appearance.

Yan Xuehen looked at Princess Siren. "Is this monster a demon?" she asked.

Princess Siren shook her head. "That black energy just now did resemble the demonic black flames," she said, "but I didn't sense any aura of my kin on him. On the contrary, this black energy is filled with a sense of death, like... like..."

Yun Jianyue, standing nearby, completed her sentence: "Like he should have been dead a long time ago."

Yan Xuehen frowned. There were indeed some cultivation methods in this world that specialized in necromancy, but they generally involved refining skeletons and decaying corpses into weapons or puppets. How could a skeleton or decaying corpse itself possess consciousness?

At this moment, Kong Nanqing's terrified voice rang out: "That flower hasn't opened yet. Is it possible that it still needs more blood essence...?"

Hearing his words, everyone's heart sank. Only a few survivors remained in the area; if more blood essence was needed, it would naturally have to come from them.

The black-furred monster seemed to have been reminded; its head turned directly towards the stone platform.

At this moment, Qiao Heng stepped forward with his bow and arrow. "Brother," he said, "I don't know why you saved me, but it's a fact that you've saved me several times. A true man distinguishes clearly between kindness and grievance; you saved my life, and I will repay you with mine. And to the two princesses, if you have a chance to escape, please take care of my people in the future."

After speaking, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow. A jade-green light flickered on the arrowhead, his face filled with grim determination. "I'll hold back this monster," he declared. "You all get out of here!"

The moment his words fell, a streak of green light, like a shooting star, shot towards the black-furred monster. As it passed, even the blood pool was sliced into two by the powerful surge of energy.

"Tears of the Green Wild!" Princesses Siren and Changning exclaimed in unison. As members of the demon race themselves, how could they not know about the Elf Clan's deadly move?

Elves were renowned as divine archers, firing countless arrows throughout their lives.

However, there was one type of arrow they could fire a maximum of three times in their entire lives, and only those with exceptional talent could master it: the Tears of the Green Wild.

This move burned all of one's potential and could only be used in a desperate situation, as it resulted in severe injury at best, or paralysis and death at worst. It often signified the fall of a genius.

The price paid was so great that even the Emerald God worshipped by the Elf Clan would shed tears, hence the name.

Zu An, however, did not run. He let out a long sigh. "You can't hold him back," he said.

As expected, Qiao Heng's last-resort arrow was directly caught by the black-furred monster. The green light spun continuously in its palm, even rubbing the black fur until faint smoke appeared. Unfortunately, the green light grew dimmer and dimmer until it completely vanished.