Qin Shuang's figure drifted as though she were a celestial immortal. With a light tap of her toes upon the jagged rocks, she carried Liu Meng to the edge of a wide, precipitous cliff.
The moment they landed, an overwhelming stench of blood surged up, so thick it nearly made one retch.
Liu Meng quickly circulated her spiritual power to dispel the suffocating odor, before focusing her gaze downward.
Beneath the cliff lay a massive basin, hemmed in on all sides by sheer cliffs. Its terrain was almost identical to the trial grounds where Shen Qingyun had once fought—like a natural prison.
Every inch of ground was soaked in blood, flowing into winding rivulets, pooling into crimson lakes in the hollows. Severed limbs and shattered organs littered the earth. Nearly a hundred mortal corpses were piled together in grotesque contortions, forming a gruesome tableau that seared itself into the eyes.
The blood-qi that surged skyward was so dense it had almost solidified, weaving a faint red mist above the valley. Even standing atop the cliff, Liu Meng could clearly feel the resentment, unwillingness, and hatred that lingered from so many deaths.
Amidst that sea of blood and corpses, four figures still stood.
Their bodies were drenched in gore, their wounds so deep that bone showed through, though it was impossible to tell which blood was theirs and which belonged to their foes. The hands clutching their weapons trembled. Their chests heaved violently. Even though they were frantically circulating their Blood-Feast Technique, their strength had long since been spent.
Yet in their eyes still burned a feral wolfish gleam. They stared at the three across from them—locked in wary opposition, unwilling to make the first move to shatter the fragile balance.
With their cultivation equal and their strength equally exhausted, an eerie equilibrium had formed.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Qin Shuang's cold voice sounded beside her, entirely unshaken by the carnage below. In fact, there was even a trace of amusement in her tone as she turned to Liu Meng. "Frightened by the Blood-Feast Valley's entrance trial?"
"Our Xuanpin Sect's trials may be strange, but never this cruel. After all, we pursue the harmony of yin and yang, the dual cultivation of essence—slaughter and bloodshed are ultimately inferior paths."
Strange?
Liu Meng sneered inwardly. To be trapped in that cave-dwelling forever, unable to break past the first stage of Qi Refinement unless one absorbed the yang-qi of corpses—that was far more than "strange."
Still, compared to this bloody, cruel trial of a hundred mortals forced to kill each other, even Xuanpin Sect's twisted methods seemed gentle.
Blood-Feast Valley… what kind of disciples are they really trying to cultivate?
Would anyone who walked out of that sea of corpses still be a human being at all?
Her thoughts flickered back to her own discarded incarnation—Shen Qingyun.
"Senior Sister," she asked with feigned innocence, "I heard that within the sect, though there is cooperation among the peaks, there are also strict barriers and mutual vigilance. Why then is the Blood-Feast Valley's trial being overseen by us of the Xuanpin Sect? Aren't they afraid we might secretly manipulate matters to insert our own people?"
Qin Shuang gave a light, melodic laugh, as though hearing something amusing.
"You know only half the truth, little sister. This so-called 'entrance trial' is merely a task issued by the Blood-Feast Valley. It isn't exclusive to them. Any peak that has the ability may take it up.
"And we of Xuanpin… are unmatched in ensnaring mortals, in bewitching their minds and leading them into the trap. Thus, many of these trials are conducted under our supervision. No one finds it unusual."
"As for meddling? That is impossible. The Valley Master of Blood-Feast holds a most fearsome treasure. Before every trial, before every gathering of mortals, he uses it to set a condition—harsh beyond belief."
"This time, for instance…" Qin Shuang gestured at the bloody valley below. "The requirement was men under thirty, and still virgins. So long as we strictly adhere to that condition, there will never be a mistake. The Valley Master has absolute faith in that treasure."
Liu Meng's heart stirred. She recalled Shen Qingyun's trial, where the requirement had been same name, same surname—just as impossible to fake.
Feigning curiosity, she asked softly: "But… what if someone still managed to tamper with the chosen mortals?"
"Impossible." Qin Shuang shook her head, utterly certain. "For nearly a hundred years, no such thing has ever occurred. The Valley Master even declared: should anyone truly deceive his treasure and bypass its rules, he would concede defeat and never pursue the matter."
Never pursue it?
So when Shen Qingyun had been restrained and slaughtered by others, that too was "not pursuing"?
Or did it mean the Valley Master would not hunt the culprit—but pawns like Shen Qingyun would still be doomed to die?
Outwardly calm, Liu Meng continued her act of naïveté. "But if the condition is known in advance, couldn't I just find such a man, control him, and send him into the trial?"
"You think too simply, sister." Qin Shuang's smile now carried a trace of helplessness. "If it could be broken so easily, that treasure would not be so revered. The truth touches upon 'causality' itself—an unfathomable principle. I can only tell you this: no matter what methods you imagine, they will all fail.
"You will either never find a man who meets the condition, or he will die of some bizarre accident, or by coincidence he will miss the trial entirely.
"That treasure aligns with Heaven's own laws of cause and effect. Its restrictions go far beyond merely preventing tampering. Its power is something neither you nor I could hope to resist."
Causality… irresistible?
Yet Shen Qingyun had infiltrated so easily—until his cultivation of the Xuanpin Technique exposed him.
Perhaps this so-called supreme treasure was not so flawless after all.
And clearly, Qin Shuang knew nothing of that mishap—the Valley had silenced it completely.
In that case…
A daring thought rose again in Liu Meng's heart. Perhaps she could once more send in another incarnation. So long as that incarnation was not tied to her, there would be no danger. If he became a formal disciple of Blood-Feast Valley, it would give her a window into that demonic sect—and another layer of protection for herself.
But at that very moment, Liu Meng suddenly felt a crushing aura appear silently at her side.
Before she could react, Qin Shuang was already bowing deeply, her tone utterly respectful.
"Senior Brother Zhou."
Liu Meng's heart jolted, and she hurriedly bowed as well.
It was none other than the sect emissary of the Mission Hall.
Senior Brother Zhou merely nodded faintly, acknowledging them. His emotionless eyes fell upon the bloody valley, watching the four blood-soaked survivors still locked in their standoff. His voice was calm, almost indifferent:
"Nearly over?"
Just a few flat words. Yet they sent a chill down Liu Meng's spine.
Suddenly, she realized—back when Shen Qingyun had fought desperately for survival in the Blood-Feast Valley, these cultivators of the sect had no doubt stood here as well, high above, watching coldly…
Enjoying this blood-soaked banquet.