"My lord, what brings you here?"
The stench of blood lingered in the air of the dark cave.
Scattered on the ground were corpses, each one lying face up, their expressions either pain or despair.
The only thing these corpses had in common was their age.
Their young, still-developing faces are now stuck at an age when they should be enjoying time with family and friends.
Until the two of them entered the cave.
Deep inside the cave, something suddenly stood up.
"Be careful, sir!"
The man in black armor immediately drew his sword from his waist, and with a gentle swing, sword energy condensed into a giant wave in front of him, rushing forward.
“Don’t panic.” The handsome young man, dressed in a dark blue robe with waist-length black hair, raised his hand.
There was a dark line on his face, which suddenly lit up when he muttered incantations.
Immediately, ten stone pillars rose up around them, surrounding them like a special barrier.
The only survivor in the cave was not tall and was probably just a child.
But when the sword energy came, he managed to dodge it entirely thanks to his keen senses.
As he drew closer, the man in black armor instinctively tightened his grip on his sword.
However, he immediately realized that his actions were actually questioning the sect leader's strength, and he immediately knelt down in fear:
"My lord, I...I didn't mean to."
The sect leader shook his head. He didn't even glance at the man in black armor, but instead focused all his attention on the boy who seemed like a wild beast.
That face was so beautiful.
If you're only captivated by his beauty, be careful, because he's a dangerous animal.
After all, all the corpses in the cave were his spoils.
"Perfect." The sect leader praised, "How can you be so perfect? Killing is just instinct for you, isn't it?"
The boy did not answer him, but suddenly jumped onto the stone pillar and reached out his hand, trying to shatter the pillar.
However, when the boy poured his spiritual power into the stone pillar, he found himself being blasted away by the pillar.
The boy's two black eyes darted around, he could hardly believe what he had just encountered.
From the day he was born until now, he has been constantly fighting.
His lack of defeats gave the boy a long-lost sense of excitement and trepidation.
"Excited, aren't you?" The sect leader smirked. "Such a strong competitive spirit, I like it very much. But what I need to see now is your ability to withstand it. I heard that he has already passed the trial of 12 tortures."
“Yes,” the man in black armor said with some pride, “We shattered every bone in his body, pulled out all his tendons, and threw him into a pack of wolves. He still survived.”
“We also threw him into the fire to roast him. Oh, and I suggested we sprinkle salt on him. I almost couldn’t resist cutting off a piece of his flesh and eating it!”
"Hmm, these are just trials for ordinary people. For a cultivator, they are not difficult." The sect leader moved his finger, and suddenly a beam of light fell on the boy.
The boy tried to dodge, but he didn't expect the beam of light to be soft. It turned into a rope and immediately tied the boy up.
The immobilized boy gritted his teeth and stared ahead, a look of extreme pain on his face.
He hates being tied down.
"Good boy, this is just the beginning." The sect leader opened his palm, and a black droplet appeared.
It flew to the top of the boy's head, landed on his forehead with a thud, and was then absorbed by his body.
As soon as the boy resisted, he discovered that his strength and spiritual energy were being devoured.
"Don't move," the sect leader reminded him. "This is the stagnant water of the Yellow Springs. If you exert force, it will absorb your strength. If you don't resist, it won't harm you. See, isn't it simple?"
The boy gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at the handsome man with dark lines on his face, but he still subconsciously stopped resisting.
Unexpectedly, the water droplet stopped absorbing his power.
He pricked up his ears and heard the sect leader continue, "Next, I will attack you with heavenly lightning. Remember, do not dodge, because you have the Yellow Spring Dead Water that I planted in your body."
The sect leader laughed, no longer looking at the boy's expression, and resolutely unleashed a bolt of heavenly lightning.
After the lightning struck, the boy's body began to tremble violently. Then his pupils turned white, and he even foamed at the mouth.
Not long after, the boy fainted from excessive pain.
How the boy wished he could just die like that.
But he still woke up because of the curse that had been placed upon him.
He still remembered what he said when he first saw the man with the dark tattoo, standing in the air:
"Children, I have infused you with a Heaven-level cultivation technique, the Heavenly Demon Sacred Body! The future of the Heavenly Demon Sect rests in your hands!"
...
No! Don't!
After Ye Bugui left the town, only he and Lu Shi remained in the instance.
He held Lu Shi in his arms, observing the other's sleeping expression.
But Ye Bugui never expected that Lu Shi would suddenly erupt.
He suddenly broke free from Ye Bugui's embrace and immediately pushed Ye Bugui away.
"It's me. Lu Shi, it's me, Ye Bugui." This was the first time Ye Bugui had seen Lu Shi like this.
Irritable, fragile, sensitive, and dangerous.
This wasn't the danger Lu Shi faced when he used the Dead Water of the Yellow Springs, but rather the danger Ye Bugui felt he might die immediately.
But he knew he could neither run away nor back down.
Just as when he was lost in the illusion of the small town, Lu Shi had come to wake him up.
Ye Bugui knew that it was now his turn to go and awaken Lu Shi.
With each step he took, he would stop and glance at Lu Shi's expression.
Only after realizing that Lu Shi was not angry did Ye Bugui take another step forward.
“You…” Lu Shi’s memory was somewhat confused.
All he knew was that he had used the Dead Water of the Underworld.
It was his most hated move.
This move is actually not very useful in a major battle, and cultivators of the same level will avoid it.
But this trick works incredibly well when interrogating "criminals".
"Do you remember me?" Ye Bugui asked softly, already standing in front of Lu Shi. If he bent down, his hand could touch the top of Lu Shi's head.
"Um."
Lu Shi stood up, unsure of what he had just done. But since Ye Bugui was still alive, it meant he hadn't done anything wrong.
"I'm sorry, I just..."
"I know, there's no need to apologize." Ye Bugui interrupted Lu Shi, opened his arms, put his arm around Lu Shi's shoulder, and said in his ear, "You're too tired, just get some sleep."
"Let's leave the instance first!" When Lu Shi's body touched Ye Bugui, he smelled Ye Bugui's scent and felt his body temperature, which made Lu Shi sober up.
That's just a memory.
"Yes. We cleared the game perfectly again this time," Ye Bugui said with a smile. "And we also got a lot of rewards."
These many rewards include pollutants, gold chests, and surprise boxes.
Of course, Lu Shi also gained 20,000 points, which propelled him into the top 500 on the leaderboard.
Of course, Ye Bugui also set a new record, which was the highest heat value in the Bronze Hall.
After all, no one else could perfectly clear an A-level dungeon in the Bronze Hall like him.
Ye Bugui, with his newly added 14,000 points, also entered the top 800 of the leaderboard.
However, Lu Shi did not immediately log out of the game using the game console, but instead turned around and walked out of the room.
"You want to..." Ye Bugui thought for a moment and decided to follow them to see.
Lu Shi explained to Ye Bugui, "I'm going to say goodbye to someone."
"Oh, I see." Ye Bugui scratched his head, suddenly feeling that he should also say goodbye to Wang Qifan. "As expected of the Demon Lord, his thoughts are much more profound than mine."
Lu Shi arrived on the second floor and immediately stood in front of room 205.
Before he could even knock, Gao Yang pushed the door open himself.
"Are you leaving?" Gao Yang asked bluntly.
"Well, I'm leaving here." Lu Shi didn't know what to say; he didn't even know if Gao Yang knew his true identity.
"Brother, you must live well." Gao Yang thought for a moment, then could only give Lu Shi a firm hug. "I will live well here too."
"Okay." Lu Shi nodded vigorously. He thought for a moment, then, imitating Ye Bugui, patted Gao Yang's head. After his hair became short, it felt a little prickly to the touch. "If I have the chance, I will come back to see you."
"Then maybe we shouldn't?" Gao Yang's eyes welled up with tears after he noticed Lu Shi's body suddenly turning pale. "Brother, you, you should leave now!"
Ye Bugui had finished speaking with Wang Qifan, and he had to remind Lu Shi, "We have to go, the instance is about to close."
Before leaving, Ye Bugui saw Gao Yang stuff something into Lu Shi's clothes.
Before he could ask what it was, they disappeared into the instance.
Gao Yang sighed, and the moment he stepped out of the Hao Ren Jia Apartment, the apartment instantly turned to dust.
...
"What gift did he just give you?" Ye Bugui stepped out of the halo; his wounds had already healed.
Lu Shi looked up and found that there were many people watching them again.
However, unlike last time, this time almost everyone just watched quietly and didn't dare to get close.
Clearly, both Lu Shi and Ye Bugui have proven with their strength that they are not pushovers.