Apex War God

The bloody hand coalesced from the condensed bloody aura had already taken on physical form. This was no ordinary apparition. If it were, it would not have been able to crush Zhao Changdao’s saber with such little effort or capture Wan Tianlong.

The man had the evil-warding bead, but Wan Tianlong also wore King-class armor, albeit damaged. These were the only reasons he had not become another of the bloody specter’s casualties.

Yang Wu was focused on his growing strength and recovering injuries, which meant the bloody hand’s appearance could not have come at a better time.

“Run, Little Brother! The bloody hand has returned!” Without a second thought, Wan Lanxin screamed a warning.

Zhang Xiong’s grip tightened on his trident, fully prepared to drag Wan Lanxin out of danger at a moment’s notice.

However, Yang Wu did something odd. He stood on tiptoe, arching his back. He looked like some kind of steady sea turtle. He stretched out one hand, open and fingers stiff, while clenching his other into a fist. Through its numerous pores, the peach-pit dantian emitted forceful streams of energy, his body circulating the earthly spirit spring’s essence through his twelve major meridians. The flood of energy forced open more acupoints in his body, exploding from him.

Crack!

With the impact, an unknown meridian burst open, enhancing the majesty and power of the surging energy. The power multiplied until it was ten times greater or more.

Dragon Turtle Sea Flipping Art...!

The young man had long ago imprinted this amazing, peculiar art on his mind. He had worked hard to master it. With the help of the Supreme Nine Profound Art, he had comprehended the Dargon Turtle Water Suppression Stance’s essence, despite only being a Foot Soldier. Now, after encountering the earthly spirit spring, his peach-pit dantian had expanded greatly, allowing him to absorb and circulate even more Profound Energy. Yang Wu’s strength had increased exponentially as a result. Thus, he could now execute this astounding attack.

His palm-fist art resembled a dragon turtle bursting forth from the ocean with a roaring splash and surrounded by tumultuous waves.

Boom!

The manifested bloody hand collided with Yang Wu’s form and exploded with a dull sound. Although his turtle form crumbled, he successfully dispersed the bloody aura. He fell into the earthly spirit spring, and blood began to pool around him, staining the spirit water red.

Wan Lanxin picked up her spear and made to charge to his side when Zhang Xiong stopped her. “Let’s go, Young Miss!” the larger man barked, holding her back.

Although he looked like a reckless warrior, the opposite was true. This caution was what had earned him his place as Wan Tianlong’s most trusted confidant. There was no way he would allow the warden’s daughter to sacrifice her life.

“Uncle Zhang, I have to save him!” the young woman argued, utterly resolved.

When the two captains looked up, however, they saw a figure darting out of the earthly spirit spring, speeding toward the bloody altar.

“Bring it on! This viscount is invincible!” Yang Wu howled.

Although the young man’s blow had reduced the impact, the bloody hand’s overwhelming power had inflicted substantial wounds. Fortunately, his peach-pit dantian had absorbed quite a bit of the spirit spring’s essence, and the energy it had returned to his body had incredible restorative effects. He recovered rapidly, granting him the strength to return to his feet.

It felt like Immortal Energy surging through him, rapidly repairing his wounded muscles and organs. Calling him “undying” at this moment would not be a stretch.

After the bloody aura’s relentless attacks within his body, the newly opened minor meridian was more active than the rest. This allowed him to circulate all of the power within him, connecting to and opening more than ten new acupoints. He now had thirty-eight open acupoints, including the sixteen in his feet he had opened previously. Energy spiraled at each, sparkling with exceptional light.

Typically, only Warriors could open their acupoints, as it was a characteristic of reaching that realm. Of course, there was more to reaching the Warrior Realm. Once opened, a cultivator’s energy could circulate through the acupoints like a whirlwind.

Although he had yet to become a Warrior, Yang Wu had accomplished two of these characteristics. He had yet to advance only because his twelve meridians had not rung twenty times in total and resonated.

Meridians and acupoints were the foundations of cultivation. They actualized a cultivator’s infinite potential, connecting to their internal organs. When meridians’ and acupoints’ vibrations synchronized, the physical body underwent qualitative changes.

Yang Wu had not achieved this synchronization yet, though he had opened one minor meridian, hence his incredible strength, which was no less than a true Warrior’s. Now, reaching one cauldron of force would not be difficult.

One cauldron of force was the equivalent of one hundred stones. Inferior Grade Warriors typically could only wield fifty stones of force. With a hundred stones, he was now as strong as a Medial Grade Warrior.

With a minor meridian open, his senses grew sharper by leaps and bounds. Jumping over the bone piles, he hopped onto the bloody altar. The terrifying aura immediately surrounded him, attempting to corrode his flesh as it had so many others.

But with his newfound immunity to the corrosion, the bloody aura became no more than a supplementary source of energy for Yang Wu’s dantian.

The young man did not have time to refine the energy, however, as his gaze fell on two human figures buried under the bloody aura.

One had not moved from his cross-legged position. At this point, he was nothing but skin and bone; Yang Wu could even vaguely see a crystalline skeleton under the flesh. Strips of crimson energy crisscrossed around his body, securing him to the ground. There were no signs of life left in the figure as if he had been dead for some time.

The other figure, in a suit of armor, lay collapsed on the ground. He had an evil-warding bead between his brows, but it had dimmed. This man’s life force had reached its limit under the bloody aura’s relentless assault. He was none other than Wan Tianlong.

“Uncle Wan!” Having seen the older man several years ago, he recognized Wan Lanxin’s father immediately. When he tried to reach the warden, however, he found he could not move.

“What’s happening?!” Yang Wu shouted.

An intense force pressed down on him as if a great mountain had rested on his shoulders. He struggled against it, even activating the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression stance, but could not break free.

Frantic, the young man circulated the Supreme Nine Profound Art. He hoped combining the two would be enough for him to free himself.

Held captive on the bloody altar, Yang Wu sensed a distant beckoning, hope sparking within him.

Could the bloody altar contain Profound Essence? he wondered to himself. He could sense something calling to him, and the only thing he could think of that would do such a thing was Profound Essence.

Even now, the young man had no idea how he had learned the Supreme Nine Profound Art, but he did know that he needed nine different Profound Essences to reach the Accomplished stage with the art. Each Profound Essence was an incredibly rare, natural energy.

He still practiced the Supreme Nine Profound Art’s foundations, which, at most, were on par with a Warrior-class profound art. Although that was an extraordinary profound art, he might end up stuck in the Warrior Realm, unable to progress, if he could not secure one of these Profound Essences to advance.

One could say that profound arts determined a cultivator’s future.

Yang Wu continued to circulate the Supreme Nine Profound Art, absorbing more of the bloody aura surrounding him. His first goal was to counteract the stifling pressure holding him in place, but he also wanted to confirm his suspicion.

True enough, a wisp of energy, unlike the aura filling the pit, slowly drifted from beneath the bloody altar, seeping into his body. The power did not immediately boost his cultivation but increased the speed of his Supreme Nine Profound Art circulation.

Suddenly, the skin-clad skeleton, chained by the bloody aura, opened its eyes, glaring sharply at Yang Wu. Its piercing gaze seemed to try to tear the young man apart, causing unbearable pain and interrupting his profound art circulation.

“Are…are you human or a ghost?” Yang Wu asked, astonished and unable to meet the skeleton’s gaze.

“Rascal, get me out of here, and I’ll bestow upon you an opportunity of a lifetime!” the skeleton hissed, its voice hoarse and unpleasant as if it had not spoken in decades.

“How can I help you when I can barely survive myself?” Yang Wu replied with a bitter laugh.

He was now convinced that this figure was still alive and was quite curious to learn how powerful the being’s cultivation was for him to survive in such a hostile environment.

But as he finished his sentence, he discovered he had regained movement in his limbs.

“In here, you live or die by my will, just like that fellow, who will die soon,” the skeleton uttered coolly.

Yang Wu now realized the shackling pressure bearing down on him was this skeleton’s doing. But he was not angry. After all, if the skeleton was correct, his very survival lay in his enemy’s hands. He did not doubt that.

“How can I save you?” Yang Wu finally asked.

“Destroy the bloody ritual array, and I’ll be able to free myself!” explained the skeleton.

“Sadly, I’m not that strong. How do I destroy the ritual array?”

“The fact that you no longer fear the bloody aura indicates that you have the ability to destroy it.”

“Then tell me! How do I do it?!”

“Move one hundred ten centimeters to the south, and extract the animal spirit core at the node. Then, move one hundred ten centimeters to the north of the ritual array, and extract the superior-grade profound spirit stones….”

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This blood aura formation was exceptional, and it must have been set by a powerful ritualist.

Yang Wu could not tell how long the being had been held captive, but he must have been meticulous in establishing each array node’s location with his senses. Now, the skeleton hoped to use him to break free from the imprisonment by sharing each crucial point.

However, Yang Wu felt a headache after listening to the being’s instructions. There were eighty-one locations in total, and he already struggled to locate the cardinal directions. He was at a loss.

But he did not act rashly. Recognizing that this skin-clad skeleton was no friend and ready to kill, a plan began to form with a twinkle in his eye. “I can help you break this ritual array, but I require three conditions.” Yang Wu knew this skeleton would not spare their lives once it was free.

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