Tap tap tap!

The semi-transparent little lizard stretched its long neck, its four slender legs scrambling frantically, covering thousands of zhang across the thick Blood Sea in an instant, then standing alert while looking around…

It had been spotted by something.

In a blur, a black shadow burst forth from beneath the Blood Sea, a bloody maw swallowing the little lizard with a ‘whoosh’, leaving only a shallow vortex and a few faint chewing sounds…

Due to the Blood Sea’s viscosity, the vortex quickly returned to stillness.

The successful predator stealthily swam away, not daring to reveal the slightest trace of its aura, swiftly sinking into the Blood Sea’s depths.

A hundred li away, Li Changshou, watching this scene while disguised as an identical little lizard, looked down at himself…

These days, even being a bottom-dwelling creature of the Blood Sea wasn’t easy.

Dismissing stray thoughts, he pushed the Wind-Speaking Spell’s thousand-li-seeking wind to its limit, opening sixty percent of his divine consciousness to distinguish the various messages he heard.

This was the place—where the Dao trembled and Asura clan masters gathered, right below…

The Blood Sea, where heaven and earth’s polluted springs converged, was the ultimate in turbidity.

In the early Ancient Times, the Blood Sea had been nearly boundless, and its innate powerful being, Ancestor Minghe of the Blood Sea, had become famous throughout the primordial world, creating the Asuras and founding the ‘Killing’ teaching, claiming the Blood Sea would never dry up and he would never die.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t kept up with the times.

When Lady Houtu was about to transform into the Six Paths Disk, a certain active Grand Magister from Ancient Times who wished to remain unnamed, wielding several supreme treasures of the Human Teaching, had joined forces with Lady Houtu and the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder to eliminate Ancestor Minghe.

The legend that “the Blood Sea won’t dry up and Minghe won’t die” was thus dramatically shattered.

Afterward, Lady Houtu transformed into the heavenly treasure Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, divided the Netherworld, established the Underworld, and formed the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.

The Blood Sea had evaporated by more than half, with only remnants remaining on the western side of the Netherworld, still occupying nearly half of it…

Heaven and Earth separated clear from turbid, Yin and Yang intermingled by half—the Blood Sea couldn’t possibly disappear completely.

The Asura clan and fierce beasts surviving in the Blood Sea hadn’t gone extinct, gradually recovering some vitality by the present day.

Though the Asura clan could never be as powerful as they were in the late Primordial or early Ancient Times, they still barely qualified as one of the great races of Heaven and Earth, occupying a place in the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, and gained another breath of fate after joining the Western Teaching.

Time waited for no one, and long nights bred many dreams.

Li Changshou’s lizard forms dove into the Blood Sea, activating water escape techniques, completely concealing his aura fluctuations while exploring deeper into the Blood Sea.

Inside the Blood Sea was truly another world entirely.

As Li Changshou traveled through, he saw numerous ‘bubbles’ existing within the Blood Sea, with ‘islands’ of various sizes floating inside them, upon which many Asura clan tribes were distributed.

Many Asuras wandered about as well.

The Asura clan’s distinguishing feature was that all their women were beautiful while the men freely expressed themselves—devastatingly gorgeous women could be seen everywhere, while ‘brothers’ who could scare crying children next door came in all varieties.

The entire Asura clan embodied this principle—

Beautiful shells were all alike, while ugly souls weren’t necessarily interesting.

If the Skyrim Pavilion were to recruit people here…

His thoughts had wandered too far; time to rein them in.

Li Changshou naturally wouldn’t look too much at these Asura clan women, after all, Fairy Yunxiao was in the glazed pagoda, watching his every move.

After gathering sufficiently detailed and comprehensive intelligence, he continued diving deeper, silently approaching the deepest part of the Blood Sea.

After descending countless li, the viscous turbid blood around him began to thin;

Continuing downward, the turbidity completely faded, and below, strands of immortal spiritual energy appeared!

In a daze, Li Changshou seemed to have entered a celestial realm hidden in the earth’s deepest depths.

As they say, all things carry Yin and embrace Yang, pure Yang cannot give birth, lone Yin cannot grow, and at their extremes, Yin and Yang transform into each other…

All these principles were hidden within a simple Taiji diagram.

Slowing his movement and analyzing the local aura, Li Changshou changed his concealment method without rushing forward.

The source of the Dao tremors he had felt earlier was within ten thousand li.

Inside the glazed pagoda, the various Dao School masters were also investigating the surrounding environment, taking the opportunity to share their insights and inadvertently displaying their Dao realms.

Senior Kongshen, alone on his level, now stood at the pagoda window, gazing at the Blood Sea’s scenery.

Several thousand li below showed no abnormalities, but Li Changshou suddenly stopped…

He hid within a stream of seven-colored flowing light, maintaining the Wind-Speaking Spell and transferring what it heard into the glazed pagoda.

—Letting the masters help translate.

Strange voices of “guli guli, muda muda, oba oba” rang out in the pagoda.

This was the ancient Asura language.

Treasure Master Dao smiled slightly, rummaging in his sleeve before taking out a tortoise shell-shaped treasure that emitted pale green immortal light.

The gibberish dialogue immediately transformed into human speech:

“…They just sent word that that Water God has already involved himself in this matter. Everyone be careful, absolutely don’t let your guard down.”

“The Water God is full of schemes, endless in transformations, with a heart filthier than the Blood Sea and hands blacker than the Ancestor’s. We’re no match for him. Alas, when all is said and done, we’re just being used by the Western Teaching now.”

“The Western Teaching is using us, and we’re using them too. At least Western Teaching has Sages. Without the Ancestor’s protection, we can only be pushed around in the primordial world. This time is our Blood Sea race’s last chance. Even if it costs our lives, we must preserve a final place of survival for our descendants!”

“Say no more, the Water God might be listening. Watch all areas carefully, don’t miss any movement, better to kill wrongly.”

“Better to kill wrongly.”

“Even clansmen can’t trespass!”

In a corner of the pagoda, Yunxiao quietly said something to Golden Spirit Holy Mother, and the two fairy powerhouses simultaneously formed hand seals, mutually concealing each other’s Dao rhythm fluctuations before pointing forward together.

Their jointly cast Cloud Mirror Technique revealed the source of the conversation.

It was above a great city ruin covered in the formation of light walls at the bottom of the Blood Sea. Outside the formations stood several hundred figures, each wrapped in faint black killing intent.

Eight-armed Asuras could be seen everywhere, along with some two-armed Asuras with dense killing energy—not to be trifled with, these Blood Sea fierce gods.

They seemed to be guarding something.

Below these figures were layer upon layer of grand formations, and beneath the formations, there seemed to be hidden arrangements.

Treasure Master Dao transmitted what the Cloud Mirror showed to Li Changshou, who listened carefully again while quietly approaching the city below.

In the glazed pagoda, Master Yellow Dragon pondered:

“These Asura clan masters guard so strictly, and the formations here are not simple. How can we enter?”

Master Tayi smiled and said: “How could formations of this level stop the mighty Water God? He’s always been good at infiltrating formations.”

Wanting to say more but not daring to speak carelessly.

Senior Zhao said: “Could this place being so obvious be a trap?”

“It’s eighty percent likely. This matter concerns the Western Teaching’s fate and their long-term calculations. They absolutely wouldn’t let us find it so easily…”

Treasure Master Dao stroked his chin in careful thought, reaching this conclusion.

The assembled masters pondered carefully, also feeling this possibility was highest—something displayed so openly was likely problematic.

But thinking deeper, they felt this might be intentional, making reality and illusion indistinguishable…

Master Yuding said solemnly: “Brother Changshou absolutely won’t fall for such a simple trap, we can rest easy.”

Just as these words fell, the glazed pagoda shook slightly.

It was Li Changshou, carrying the pagoda, using the Taiji Diagram to enter the ‘outside painting’ void again, diving toward the ruined city below.

Senior Zhao smiled and said: “It seems our considerations still aren’t as deep as Brother Changshou’s.”

The assembled Daoists all agreed.

But Master Tayi quietly said: “Why do I feel like we’re overthinking this? That fellow Changshou seeks stability in everything he does, he definitely won’t pass up investigating this place…”

Master Yellow Dragon asked: “Then what if this place is a trap?”

“Isn’t that why we’re here?”

Master Tayi smiled calmly, and the various Dao immortals all revealed slight smiles.

Indeed, with them joining forces, there was nothing to fear here.

And next, Li Changshou’s actions continued to refresh their understanding of the word “stability.”

The Taiji Diagram’s power was unfathomable—the Grand Magister had once used it to directly traverse space and walk freely in the ‘outside painting’;

Though Li Changshou’s realm was insufficient, he could barely manage to jump outside the painting.

He opened a Taiji door and slipped inside, carefully taking three probing steps for everyone forward, passing by several old Asuras as he entered the city’s bounds.

The surrounding world appeared hazy, with figures and buildings twisted and distorted. Li Changshou could faintly see the intertwining Dao veins.

The Taiji Diagram had brought him into what seemed to be a mysterious layer between Heaven-Earth and the Dao principles…

Unfortunately, Li Changshou couldn’t use this method to investigate thoroughly.

The opposition had considered this point or knew of the Taiji Diagram’s power. Using the Taiji Diagram, Li Changshou passed through more than ten protective grand formations in the ‘outside painting,’ causing his spiritual intuition to tremble slightly.

Master Diagram’s voice arose: “Can’t go further.”

Ahead, Dao markings intersected as a grand formation sealed the space inside and out. It seemed both a killing formation and a trapping formation—whoever laid it had extraordinary skill in formation arts.

To be able to stop the Taiji Diagram…

A Sage’s formation?

Li Changshou’s lizard form lay quietly in the void outside the painting, contemplating. He quickly abandoned thoughts of forcing his way through and quietly retreated.

A voice transmission also sounded in Li Changshou’s heart, from Treasure Master Dao:

“There’s Sage Dao rhythm here. It’s eighty percent likely to be a trap. Brother Changshou, be very careful.”

The little lizard nodded slowly but didn’t change course.

He continued searching in the outside painting, going back and forth several times and turning the ruined city upside down before finally identifying a safe corner within the city, quietly slipping back into the realm of Heaven and Earth…

This place was arranged with numerous killing formations, with the broken palace at the city’s center being where all the killing formations’ coverage overlapped.

Moreover, during Li Changshou’s ‘outside painting’ search of the city, his careful investigation of the formation arrangements revealed a crucial detail…

All the killing formations’ spiritual power flow—the direction in which the grand formations would release their power—was inward, not outward.

All the trapping formations’ spiritual power distribution also emphasized the interior rather than the exterior.

In other words, whoever arranged this place intended to use the formations to eliminate any being that entered that broken palace…

“It’s a trap.”

In the pagoda, Master Yellow Dragon couldn’t help but sigh: “A Sage’s hand in arranging formations, the Dao disturbance drawing Brother Changshou’s attention—this place’s arrangement must be specifically targeting Brother Changshou… Such malicious intent is truly beyond words.”

Li Changshou’s divine consciousness transmitted into the glazed pagoda: “Perhaps it’s not so simple.”

“Be careful, self-preservation comes first,” Senior Zhao cautioned thus.

Li Changshou agreed, dispersing the ‘little lizard’ transformation and becoming the gourd-carrying old Daoist.

He maintained a faint state, sitting cross-legged in a corner of a broken house in this great city. He then removed the ‘Seven Emotions Grass Ring’ from his wrist, placing it in a treasure pouch but leaving it unsealed.

Sighs drifted about as strands of light blue ripples dispersed around Li Changshou, waves of sorrow spreading outward.

“I’m so miserable, finally getting out once only to be thrown into this cold bag, can’t even see outside, and being used as a magical treasure…”

Li Changshou: …

Better maintain silence for now; this level of sorrow was just right.

The group of Asura clan masters above the city hadn’t noticed these Seven Emotions waves at all.

Shortly after, these male and female Asuras became dejected, each sighing, none escaping the effect.

An Asura clan woman muttered softly: “Are we truly an abandoned race?”

One stone created a thousand waves, and immediately a tearful roar came from nearby:

“I won’t accept this! What kind of heavenly mandate is this? What kind of fate!

Our Asura clan will never be slaves! Never be… Ah… What’s the point of shouting this, who’s even listening?”

“Why suffer? Why bother? What’s the meaning?”

“What are we struggling for? If Heaven and Earth want us to die by our own hands, why not just do it?”

Muttering and crying sounds arose everywhere.

The Asuras, all sinking into this state, couldn’t detect they were being manipulated, each overcome with sorrow.

Suddenly, a shout rang out as an eight-armed Asura raised all eight palms, moving in perfect unison to strike his head.

“Ancestor, I’m coming to join you!”

With a bang, eight palms, eight impacts, and the headless Asura’s corpse slowly fell.

Immediately, more than ten Asuras were influenced, falling into extreme sorrow and committing suicide on the spot.

Gradually, Asuras began having such negative thoughts, constantly shouting and muttering, seemingly trying to convince themselves.

The suicides increased.

Most Asuras were crying uncontrollably, remembering life’s miseries and various hardships. They rarely cultivated their Dao hearts, leaving them with almost no resistance to the Seven Emotions’ power.

Li Changshou formed hand seals and said to the treasure pouch: “Might I request the Anger Avatar to join the attack?”

“I don’t care about you!”

“Eh? Brother Tayi, why did you come out?”

“Where’s that bastard!”

Seven-colored light flowed across the grass ring as another shadow appeared in the treasure pouch, looking left and right.

Layers of light red ripples spread through Heaven and Earth.

Little Sorrow sighed: “We were all born in the grass, yet you still scheme how to use us, to deal with us. Doesn’t your conscience hurt?

I’m so miserable, why did I become friends with you…

I’m even more miserable, I’ve lost my only friend.”

Anger Avatar: “You’re playing me!”

Li Changshou: …

Sorrow and Anger, two Seven Emotions avatars formed from the power of all beings and Lady Houtu’s cultivation realm, attacked simultaneously!

In an instant, outside the ruined city, the Asuras raised their heads in fury. Heaven and Earth seemed filled with hundreds of dying fierce beasts, releasing unwilling roars…

“Asuras never die! The Blood Sea never dries!”

“We must avenge the Ancestor, we must avenge the Ancestor!”

“The Western Teaching is using us!”

“Living like this, what’s the point anymore!”

Li Changshou quietly watched these scenes, resisting the Seven Emotions’ power with his void-clear Dao heart.

In just moments, the situation completely lost control;

Asuras began falling into killing intent, gradually going mad, attacking clansmen, attacking local formations, raising knives against themselves…

Li Changshou pondered briefly, observing the local Asuras’ reactions before selecting a two-armed Asura with relatively high power but the most unstable mindset, beginning divine consciousness transmission.

[Trump Card: Guiding Voice]

“Child, do you… desire my power as the Ancestor?”

Ugh, why did this feel like déjà vu of an evil overlord?

In the pagoda, Master Yellow Dragon was stunned by the situation outside, opening his mouth but speechless.

This was the power of Seven Emotions?

Fortunately, the Seven Emotions’ power hadn’t entered the glazed pagoda, sparing the assembled immortals from having to resist it.

Treasure Master Dao smiled and said: “However troublesome matters become, they all seem so simple in Brother Changshou’s hands.”

Just as Treasure Master Dao’s words fell, the two-armed Asura that Li Changshou had ‘bewitched’ suddenly turned, recklessly breaking through the wavering formation before him, charging toward the stone palace at the city’s center where the Sage’s Dao rhythm existed!

One stone created a thousand waves—at least thirty or forty-eight-armed and six-armed Asuras followed closely behind, like comets crashing toward the palace ruins!

The killing formations triggered, golden light burst forth, thousand-zhang sword qi crisscrossed, and the city filled with bloody rain and wind.

Li Changshou’s figure had already vanished from that corner at some unknown time…