Chapter 262: Chapter 261: Blood Encircles the Mountain

「A moment ago, at the foot of the mountain.」

Wu Chen looked at the mountain peak shrouded in mist after the light rain, then turned to Sun Yuting beside him and spoke slowly:

"Captain Sun, this mountain should be a Blood Palace encampment. It will undoubtedly be fraught with danger."

"I’ll go ahead and scout out the situation on the mountain first. I need to see how many Blood Palace fiends are here and what they’re planning."

"Just wait for me at the foot of the mountain. After I’ve assessed the situation and come back down, we’ll make a detailed plan."

"..."

Hearing that Wu Chen intended to enter the mountain alone, Sun Yuting’s expression became slightly conflicted.

She was a Golden Eagle Captain, and although she came from an extraordinary background, she was no stranger to life-or-death situations. It wasn’t that she was necessarily afraid of these fiends.

But she wasn’t indecisive, nor was she someone who couldn’t grasp the priorities of a situation.

She knew her strength was far inferior to the young man beside her. If she entered the mountain and her presence was accidentally revealed, she would surely face a siege of hundreds, or even thousands, of fiends.

At that point, she would only be a burden to Wu Chen.

With this in mind, she nodded and said:

"Alright, I’ll wait for you here. But you must be careful on the mountain. These fiends have treacherous methods. Even as a Grandmaster, you must be on your guard."

The young woman’s voice was gentle, her tone filled with concern.

Seeing Sun Yuting agree, Wu Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t say much more, however. He just gave a slight nod, his feet tapped lightly, and he instantly transformed into an afterimage, darting into the mountain forest.

’Assess the situation, then make a plan?’

Amidst the forest, Wu Chen looked at the traces of aura ahead and gently shook his head.

What he had just said was merely a pretense to placate Sun Yuting.

For him, this trip into the mountain had only one objective:

Kill!

Kill every single Blood Palace fiend on this mountain!

He knew that once the two fiends returned to their encampment, his and Sun Yuting’s identities would quickly spread among the fiends, and from there to other encampments.

This would not only alert the Blood Palace but also very likely lead to them being hunted down and besieged by Blood Palace experts and their hordes.

He himself had little to worry about. Even setting aside his strength, he had the Disguise Skill and Breath Concealment Skill to protect him. The Blood Palace couldn’t touch him.

But Sun Yuting was only at the Blood Coagulation Realm. If she were to face a siege by the fiends, saying she had a one-in-ten chance of survival would be an overestimation of her abilities.

Therefore, slaughtering all of them was the best course of action.

And there was another, more important point:

Wu Chen needed ’Blood Qi’.

He needed an extremely large amount of Blood Qi!

He needed enough Blood Qi to bring the ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body’ martial art to the Perfection realm!

This meant Wu Chen could not afford to be merciful.

’So they’re on alert, just as I thought...’

Stepping into the misty mountain and following the tracks, Wu Chen soon heard the voice of a Blood Envoy from within the fog ahead.

Just as he had expected, the Blood Envoy was methodically arranging for his subordinates to send a message to the Blood Palace, reporting his and Sun Yuting’s arrival.

If they actually succeeded in sending that message, the danger level of the Cold Rain City mission would skyrocket.

’Killing is still the only way!’

’The more I kill, the safer we’ll be!’

Through the mist, Wu Chen saw the traces of countless auras converging. They were densely packed—over two hundred people in total.

And their auras were not weak.

’All of this is high-quality Blood Qi!’

At this thought, Wu Chen licked his dry lips, his eyes glinting with murderous intent.

Seeing the group of Blood Palace fiends about to disperse and set up a perimeter under the command of the red-robed Blood Envoy, he had no choice but to speak up:

"No need to go to all that trouble. I’m right here. Come and kill me if you can!"

As he finished speaking, he clenched the five long, pale fingers of his hand into a fist.

With this motion, several white glimmers rapidly condensed around his body, emitting a turbulent aura.

Blood Evil True Gang!

"Go!"

Facing the densely packed group of Blood Palace fiends, he unhesitatingly hurled the condensed Gang Qi forward, testing out this martial art he had only recently learned.

The effect was, in truth, merely passable.

After all, his opponents were living fiends, not inanimate objects that would just stand there and let the Gang Qi fall on them.

Moreover, these individuals had distinguished themselves from the various Blood Slaughter Sects to become part of the Blood Palace. Besides their considerable talent, they had all survived countless battles. Their reactions were far beyond what an ordinary Martial Artist could compare to.

As a result, only fewer than ten people who reacted a bit too slowly were struck squarely by the Gang Qi, exploding into a mist of blood.

Wu Chen continued to walk at an unhurried pace. With each step, he covered two zhang, landing in the middle of the large cloud of blood mist.

The pulsing panel he could see also quietly changed:

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Minor Achievement) Proficiency +10]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Minor Achievement) Proficiency +10]

[...]

By getting close to the blood mist created by the Blood Evil True Gang, the proficiency on his panel increased tenfold!

’A pity... still too slow...’

’And...’

Even with the tenfold increase, Wu Chen was still dissatisfied with this speed. His eyes calmly swept over the surrounding figures as he muttered to himself, ’And there are too few of them!’

Mastering the Minor Achievement stage of Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body takes six days. Great Success would likely take ten to twelve days.

If there was a Perfection realm beyond that, it would probably take fifteen to twenty days.

His previous calculation of just over half a month had been a bit too optimistic.

So, looking at the two hundred-plus people, Wu Chen made a quick calculation and knew it was far from enough.

"Everyone, attack together! Kill this hound of the imperial court!"

"Kill!"

As his mind raced, the surrounding fiends who had dodged the Gang Qi also reacted.

The Demon Suppression Guard Captain was here to kill them!

Following a few shouts, five sharp blades silently slashed toward Wu Chen from the side.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!—

The five blades, some chopping, some slashing, some thrusting, some flicking, came from all angles. Their coordination was airtight, completely enveloping the young man’s figure.

But faced with these vicious killing moves, Wu Chen just swayed slightly and easily dodged the five fatal attacks, positioning himself outside the group.

At the same time, in that brief moment, the inky Blood Qi that had been enveloping his right palm solidified, forming a thick, black gauntlet.

Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body: Minor Achievement!

Activate!

Because this martial art was currently only at Minor Achievement, it could only cover his entire body with a paper-thin layer, which wasn’t very effective. Therefore, Wu Chen concentrated all his Qi and Blood onto his right hand.

The once-soft palm now looked as if it were forged from Profound Iron, a sharp, cold glint flashing between its five fingers.

His fair skin had also turned a deep, inky black.

Looking at the fiend beside him, Wu Chen thrust his sharp hand toward the man’s chest without hesitation.

RRRIP!—

His five fingers, like the claws of a wild beast, easily tore through the fiend’s clothes, then his skin and flesh. Effortlessly, they smashed through the ribs and finally seized the warm, beating, Blood Qi-rich heart.

Wu Chen could clearly feel the heart miss a beat before it stopped pulsing altogether.

SQUELCH!

As he closed his fingers, the Blood Qi-filled heart was crushed into a pulp. An aura surged from his palm, madly sweeping up and devouring every wisp of Blood Qi.

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Minor Achievement) Proficiency +326]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Minor Achievement) Proficiency +163]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Minor Achievement) Proficiency +65]

[...]

Wu Chen slowly withdrew his hand from the fiend’s chest cavity. The warm, Qi and Blood-filled pulp in his hand rapidly converted into a large amount of proficiency.

But as the flesh and blood in his hand was continuously refined, the proficiency gain shown on the panel plummeted at a visible rate. By the time the pulp had completely turned to ash and dissipated from his terrifying palm, the proficiency gain had returned to normal.

’A single heart from a Perfection Organ Refining Realm expert is only worth ten minutes of proficiency?’

Wu Chen roughly calculated the time based on the numbers flashing on his panel. He was still a long way from finishing the Minor Achievement stage!

’If I want to reach Great Success...’

Then, Wu Chen’s gaze indifferently swept past the Early Stage Blood Coagulation Realm fiends, then the Mid Stage ones, finally landing on the being with the most vigorous aura.

The red-robed Blood Envoy!

’A pity that one must eat a meal one bite at a time...’

Wu Chen wasn’t in a hurry to attack the red-robed Blood Envoy first. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the few fiends closest to him.

After all, if he really killed the strongest one first, the remaining lackeys would surely scatter and flee.

That would only create more trouble and would be detrimental to absorbing Blood Qi for his martial art’s advancement.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Wu Chen tapped his toes on the ground, his figure streaking by like an afterimage. His beast-like right hand shot out repeatedly, clawing at the chests of the fiends around him.

His moves were simple, without any complex or dazzling techniques.

But in the face of his extreme speed, no one could defend against him.

In the blink of an eye, the chests of the four fiends around him were empty, and their bodies fell limply to the ground.

This time, Wu Chen didn’t have time to see how much his proficiency had increased before a black shadow suddenly lunged at him.

Looking up, he saw it was the strongest of them all—the red-robed Blood Envoy!

"Hound of the imperial court, die!"

Seeing fifteen or sixteen of his men die on the spot in a single exchange—either vaporized into blood mist or having their hearts ripped out—the Blood Envoy found his opponent’s methods not only extremely cruel but also familiar.

How could the red-robed Blood Envoy just stand by?

His face contorted with rage. With a loud roar, he brandished his saber and leaped fiercely toward the tall, slender figure.

At the same time, he unleashed his strongest killing move!

Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body: Perfection! Activate!

In that instant, his body underwent a terrifying transformation.

Countless strands of Deep Red flesh and blood oozed from his skin. Like living things, they writhed and fused together. In the blink of an eye, they formed a palm-thick, nauseating, flesh-colored armor over his body.

Empowered by this layer of flesh, his figure shot up from six or seven chi to over a zhang in height. Like a giant, he lunged forward, his Blood Qi surging with overwhelming momentum.

But the transformation wasn’t over.

The saber in the red-robed Blood Envoy’s hand was also enveloped inch by inch by the flesh seeping from his palm. Within a few breaths, it had transformed into a seven-chi-long, crescent-shaped blood blade.

SWOOSH!

The giant of flesh and blood descended from the sky. Its blade swung down, carrying a foul, bloody stench as it viciously chopped toward the young man’s figure.

’This smell...’

Wu Chen frowned and held his breath, deftly sidestepping the attack. While doing so, he took the opportunity to rip out the hearts of the nearest few fiends and refine them, causing his proficiency to surge again.

"Hah! You imperial hound, you’re quick to dodge!"

Seeing the figure dodge aside, a sneer came from within the flesh armor. The Blood Envoy now knew his opponent wasn’t as invincible as he seemed.

’If he really had the strength, he would have drawn his blade and met me head-on. Why would he have to dodge in such a panic?’

"Take another one of my strikes!"

Filled with confidence, the red-robed Blood Envoy twisted his body and strode toward the young man’s lean figure.

He raised the flesh-entwined blade in his hand once more, and a second blood-red saber gleam slashed toward Wu Chen.

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