After leaving the ruins of the Slaughter Castle, Ye Yu turned around and prepared to return to the Slaughter City.
On the way, he encountered Hu Liena.
"An Lan, are you alright?"
Seeing Ye Yu, Hu Liena immediately asked with concern.
Earlier, after Ye Yu left with the black-robed Spirit Master sent by the Slaughter King, Hu Liena had secretly followed out of worry for him.
But after exiting Slaughter City and reaching the forest where the Slaughter Castle was hidden—since this was the Slaughter King's base of operations—it was naturally heavily guarded by many Fallen Spirit Masters under his command.
Hu Liena had to carefully avoid them, circling through secluded paths and slipping into the forest, heading toward the distant castle under the blood moon.
Before she could arrive, however, she saw a massive blood-red tree, with a trunk over ten meters thick and towering hundreds of meters tall, erupting from within the castle and blowing it apart into rubble.
The explosive noise made Hu Liena's heart tighten, and she rushed forward at full speed—only to run into Ye Yu along the way.
Seeing Hu Liena had trailed him all the way here, Ye Yu was a bit surprised, and also somewhat moved.
Under the crimson moonlight, Ye Yu's long silver-blue hair fluttered in the wind. A faint smile appeared on his handsome face as he said:
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
"That Slaughter King tried to recruit me. When I refused, he attempted to kill me."
"We fought. But in the end, he couldn't do anything to me."
Ye Yu didn't elaborate further.
Hu Liena, hearing this, assumed that Ye Yu had fought the Slaughter King to a draw.
"That Slaughter King is just like the other Fallen Spirit Masters in Slaughter City—vile and treacherous!"
She clenched her fists in anger.
"This is Slaughter City. It's to be expected," Ye Yu replied calmly. "Once we complete a hundred consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena, he'll have to send us to the Hell Road. Slaughter City isn't a place to linger."
"According to the rules left behind by the god who broke through level 100 here long ago, any Spirit Master who wins a hundred consecutive battles in the Hell Slaughter Arena is qualified to attempt the Hell Road. The Slaughter King cannot violate this."
"Otherwise, he wouldn't have summoned me at all."
While Ye Yu and Hu Liena made their way back toward Slaughter City, she couldn't help but recall the enormous blood-red tree she had seen earlier. It reminded her of the Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul summoned by a youth named Ye Yu during the finals of the Continental Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Though that tree had been a clear silver-blue like blue crystal and no more than a hundred meters tall—completely different in appearance from the towering blood-red tree she saw today—they were both semi-transparent and crystal-like.
She asked:
"An Lan, earlier… I saw a towering blood-red crystal tree erupting from the castle and blowing it apart. What was that?"
A blood-red crystal tree?
Ye Yu paused briefly before realizing what she meant.
His Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul must have appeared red from a distance due to the illumination of the crimson blood moon that always hung above Slaughter City's underground world. The Slaughter Castle just so happened to be directly beneath it, so the moonlight was especially intense.
"That was a Spirit Douluo under the Slaughter King," Ye Yu explained calmly. "His Martial Soul is a blood-red crystal tree. Though Spirit Abilities can't normally be used in Slaughter City, it seems the Slaughter King can grant his loyal followers special permission."
"That Spirit Douluo activated Martial Soul True Body and some abilities, which caused the Martial Soul to grow into what you saw. But I've already dealt with him."
Ye Yu casually fabricated a story about a blood-red crystal tree Martial Soul user to deflect the question.
Months passed.
Eventually, Hu Liena succeeded in achieving her 100 consecutive victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena.
Ye Yu, naturally, chose to enter the arena on the same day, and also achieved his hundred-win streak.
On this day, countless Fallen Spirit Masters flooded into the arena, having sensed that both Hu Liena and Ye Yu were about to accomplish the feat.
When Ye Yu followed right after Hu Liena and achieved his 100th win, the Slaughter King appeared.
In the air above the arena, clad in blood-red armor, towering in stature with long silver hair and a pair of small blood-red horns, the Slaughter King descended slowly. His face was marked with sinister blood-red lines, twisted in an arrogant grin.
"Slaughter King!"
"Slaughter King!!"
"SLAUGHTER KING!!!"
All around, the fallen audience screamed fanatically.
The Slaughter King landed atop the Duel Platform, and, surveying the crowd with smug satisfaction, spoke in a loud voice:
"I am pleased! After decades, our Hell Slaughter Arena has finally produced not one, but two challengers who have achieved one hundred consecutive victories."
He was preparing to continue with his speech when—
"Slaughter King, just send us to the Hell Road already," Ye Yu interrupted flatly.
In front of the thousands of Fallen Spirit Masters, Ye Yu cut the Slaughter King off mid-sentence.
The Slaughter King's twisted smile froze. Anger and humiliation filled his heart.
But then he remembered—his life now hung in Ye Yu's hands.
The Slaughter King's pride crumbled, and he dared not show anger. He glanced at Ye Yu cautiously, then forced a smile and said:
"It seems the Doombringer is in quite the hurry."
"Very well. Let us begin."
Blood-red mist erupted from the Slaughter King's body, quickly enveloping the entire arena.
Under the fog's influence, the audience's expressions turned vacant. Then, all at once, they began screaming in agony, clawing at themselves.
"It itches!"
"It hurts! I can't stop scratching!"
They shredded their own skin, blood flowing freely.
That blood was collected through hidden channels into the Sprit Arena, forming a massive blood-red bat-shaped magic array.
With a wave of the Slaughter King's hand, a pillar of blood-red light shot into the air.
"You two, please step into the teleportation array. It will take you directly to the Hell Road."
With Hu Liena present, the Slaughter King couldn't bring himself to call Ye Yu "Master" again. But he still forced a respectful smile and bowed.
Ye Yu didn't mind.
(He'll be food for my cultivation eventually, Ye Yu thought.)
(If he had truly submitted and been loyal, I might have spared him. But now, with his constant back-and-forth, I'll feel no guilt when I devour him.)
With Hu Liena by his side, Ye Yu stepped into the pillar of light.
The next moment, the two vanished.