"By the way, Mu Yang, didn't the Pope pass through Hell Road before? With the situation in front of us, can Hu Liena even make it through?"
Suddenly, Shui Bing'er turned to Mu Yang and asked.
At this moment, Shui Bing'er seriously doubted whether Hu Liena truly had the ability to clear Hell Road.
The bat swarm and the strange serpent from before were still manageable. However, as far as she knew, Hu Liena didn't possess the ability to fly.
Adding the corrupting evil aura into the equation, if Hu Liena had to attempt Hell Road alone, this Pope's disciple would likely meet her end here.
"Maybe the Hell Road that Bibi Dong went through was different from the one we're experiencing?"
Mu Yang replied, not entirely sure.
"Alright, let's leav—what?!"
Just as he was about to leave through the exit with Shui Bing'er, Mu Yang's expression changed drastically.
The blood-red sea ahead churned violently, and from within the boiling blood lake, a ferocious beast's head emerged.
Judging solely by its aura, this partially revealed creature wasn't particularly powerful—at most, it matched an ordinary 50,000 to 60,000-year-old soul beast from the outside world.
It was still within their range of handling.
However, Mu Yang felt deeply uneasy.
Because he clearly remembered that in the original story, when Tang San and Hu Liena crossed Hell Road, this thing absolutely did not exist.
'Is someone targeting me?'
That was Mu Yang's first thought.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
If someone was intentionally making things difficult for him, this unexpected beast was far too weak—it posed no real threat.
After all, just the strength he had displayed within the Slaughter City was already enough to easily deal with this creature.
'Could it be that because there are more people passing through Hell Road this time, and our soul power levels are higher, the difficulty has increased?'
Mu Yang couldn't help but ponder the possibility.
Compared to the original scenario, where five-ring Tang San and Hu Liena attempted Hell Road, the current situation was vastly different:
The number of trial takers had increased from two to three.
Both Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er were at the six-ring level, meaning that two Soul Emperors and one Soul King were attempting the trial together.
It seemed reasonable that the trial difficulty would scale accordingly.
After all, the Slaughter City was established by the God of Asura as a place to choose outstanding soul masters for divine inheritance.
The strength of those who completed a hundred consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena would naturally vary.
If Hell Road's difficulty remained static, it would fail to serve as an effective selection process.
Otherwise, there was a risk that exceptionally talented low-level trial takers would be unable to pass, while mediocre high-level soul masters could clear it with ease.
The more he thought about it, the more Mu Yang became convinced that his theory was spot on—perhaps even the absolute truth.
"Roar—"
At that moment, a beastly roar resembling a dragon's cry echoed, and the scorching blood lake surged once more.
A large portion of the creature's body was finally revealed.
It was a serpent-like beast, its body as thick as a massive water tank, entirely covered in dark red scales the size of a palm.
Two branched horns protruded from its head, and from the front of its underside, two huge claws, each three meters long, extended outward.
Even just the exposed portion of its body was over twenty meters long.
'A dragon? No… a flood dragon!'
Mu Yang's pupils contracted as he realized that this serpent-like beast, radiating fire-attributed energy fluctuations, perfectly matched the legendary flood dragons from his past life's mythology.
As for the dragons of Douluo Continent?
Regardless of strength, purely in terms of appearance, every single one of them was either a dinosaur-like species, a Western-style winged dragon, or an ocean-dwelling creature that resembled a serpent far more than a dragon.
"Soul Capture!"
With a low shout, Mu Yang activated the secret art of Soul Capture.
A vast surge of spiritual power erupted, instantly invading the flood dragon beast's spiritual sea.
The next second, the flood dragon beast was unable to resist and had its consciousness controlled by Mu Yang.
"Mu Yang, something is wrong with Hu Liena. I'll take her out first."
Shui Bing'er called out to Mu Yang.
"Alright."
Mu Yang nodded slightly.
If he recalled correctly, after passing through this light screen in Hell Road, the next phase was where the accumulated killing intent within the body would transform into the Killing God Domain.
It seemed harmless, so leaving first shouldn't be an issue.
Immediately after, Shui Bing'er's soul armor wings flapped, carrying the still-unconscious Hu Liena into the white light screen above the blood-red ocean.
"Now, be honest. Where did you come from?"
Mu Yang questioned the flood dragon beast.
Compared to the Ten-Headed Fierce Sun Serpent from earlier, this flood dragon beast was significantly stronger and far more intelligent.
It might even hold secrets regarding Slaughter City or Hell Road.
After all, just looking at the environment inside Hell Road, aside from the initial bat swarm, there was a major issue regarding the food chain for both the Ten-Headed Fierce Sun Serpent and the flood dragon beast.
It was unlikely that the bat swarm survived solely on the vast amounts of blood within the river, while the Ten-Headed Fierce Sun Serpent and the flood dragon beast fed on the bats.
"Roar—"
Now under Mu Yang's mind control, the flood dragon beast obediently responded through spiritual transmission.
"You're saying you know nothing? That you lost all your past memories and suddenly appeared in the blood lake just now?"
Mu Yang asked in surprise.
"Roar—"
The flood dragon beast nodded.
'So it was placed here by someone… and just moments ago, too.'
Raising an eyebrow, Mu Yang fell into deep thought.
The God of Asura?
Hmm, probably not. A dignified God-King wouldn't have so much free time.
To even catch the attention of a major figure in the Divine Realm, at the very least, one would need to obtain the Killing God Domain first.
But this flood dragon beast was only just placed here, which meant that someone—or something—was constantly monitoring Hell Road's situation.
And based on their group's strength… No, more accurately, based on their soul power levels rather than strength, someone had selected this flood dragon beast from an unknown location and placed it inside Hell Road as an additional trial.
Suddenly, Mu Yang realized something crucial.
Perhaps, there existed an unknown secret realm within Slaughter City, and within that secret realm, there was a being that served a role similar to a High Priest for the divine trials.
Both the Sea God and the Angel God had High Priests stationed within Douluo Star.
Mu Yang wasn't sure if the Rakshasa God had one, but the Rakshasa Secret Realm definitely existed.
If there was a Rakshasa Secret Realm, then it would be reasonable for there to be an Asura Secret Realm as well.
Moreover, divine trials required a priest to oversee them, so perhaps this flood dragon beast was one such priest.
Seeing that the three of them had fairly high soul power levels, the original trial difficulty was deemed too low, so a stronger challenge was specially added.
'Not bad. If my theory proves correct, then unlocking the Asura God Trials in the future will be much easier.'
Having worked through the reasoning behind this unexpected development, Mu Yang nodded in satisfaction.
"Well then, since you're a flood dragon, you must have a flood dragon core, right?"
Mu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on the flood dragon beast.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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