The heart-wrenching pain brought about by Xiao Wu's sacrifice did not diminish with the passage of time; instead, it clung to Tang San's soul like gangrene, gnawing at him day and night. After burying Xiao Wu's physical body in a place of picturesque beauty, he left, not knowing where to go.
The world was vast, yet it seemed there was no longer a place for him. Shrek Academy? He had no face to return, and he feared bringing disaster upon his teachers and companions. The Tuoba Family was strange and distant to him, and besides, he was in such a state now...
He walked aimlessly like this, a walking corpse. When thirsty, he drank from mountain springs; when hungry, he gathered wild fruits or hunted the lowest-level soul beasts to fill his stomach; when tired, he curled up for the night in a tree hollow or a rock crevice.
His eyes were hollow, his clothes tattered, and the extraordinary aura brought by his Crimson Gold Dragon and Man Faced Demon Spider martial souls had long been buried under bone-chilling grief and numbness. Most of the time, his mind was a blank slate, his feet moving purely by instinct.
Occasionally, when he had a moment of clarity, the scene of Xiao Wu's sacrifice would reappear with agonizing vividness. The pain would cause his entire body to spasm, and he could only suppress that near-crushing despair by frantically pounding against trees and rocks until his hands were mangled.
He did not know that a cold and obscure divine sense was quietly steering his direction within his muddled subconscious, like an invisible pair of hands. Whenever he stood at a fork in the road, an inexplicable pull would always make him choose the path leading toward more desolate and darker regions.
This was a contingency left behind by the Asura God. From the very day Tang San was born, that sliver of divine sense, containing the Golden Dragon Bloodline and the seed of killing intent, had been lying dormant, waiting for the right timing to guide this carefully selected chess piece to the predetermined trial ground—the City of Slaughter.
It was a paradise for the Fallen Ones and a purgatory for the strong. Only there could the killing intent and potential within Tang San's heart be thoroughly ignited, adding a crucial stroke to the Asura God's layout.
A month later, Tang San unknowingly walked into a mountain range shrouded in gray mist all year round. The air was damp and chilling, permeated with a faint scent of sulfur and decay.
The vegetation was sparse and strange, appearing in an unhealthy purplish-black. Instinctively, he walked toward the source of the most intense dead silence and bloody stench deep within the mountains.
Finally, at the end of a barren valley, he saw a peculiar castle built entirely of dark, massive stones.
The castle stood there in isolation, without any flags or markings, save for a massive metal gate covered in eerie patterns that remained tightly shut. Standing before the gate was a knight entirely encased in black armor, his face hidden beneath a helmet.
The knight held a massive knight lance, its tip dark red as if congealed with countless blood, and he rode a skeleton warhorse with ghost-fire flickering in its eyes. There was no life aura, only the pure will of death and slaughter permeating the air—this was the entrance and guardian of the City of Slaughter, the Death Knight.
Tang San walked toward the gate with a numb expression. The Death Knight moved, the skeleton warhorse let out a silent neigh, and the knight lance whistled as it tore through the air, thrusting straight at Tang San's heart! The speed and power of this strike far exceeded that of an ordinary soul sage!
Had Tang San been in a clear state of mind, he might have dodged or parried. But with his heart turned to ash, he neither dodged nor blocked, simply raising his Crimson Gold Dragon claw to meet the lance tip.
"Clang—!"
The deafening clash of metal echoed through the valley. Tang San was jolted back several steps, his arm numb, but the momentum of the Death Knight's lance was also stalled. Two points of scarlet light flickered beneath the knight's helmet, seemingly surprised by the prey's strength.
"To enter the City of Slaughter, one must pass a test," a cold, rigid voice emanated from beneath the helmet. "Defeat me, or drink this cup."
The knight raised his other hand, and a rough clay cup appeared in his grasp, filled with a viscous, dark red liquid that emitted a pungent, metallic scent—Bloody Mary.
Tang San looked at the liquid, the bloody stench lingering at his nose causing his numb nerves to sting. He frowned in disgust, and without a moment's hesitation, he charged at the Death Knight again.
He needed pain, he needed battle, he needed something to fill the void in his heart!
Under the stimulation of his killing intent, his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track Steps became even more eerie and elusive than before. The Death Knight's attacks were heavy and powerful, but his technique was relatively rigid.
Relying on instinct, Tang San used his Crimson Gold Dragon claws and Eight Spider Lances (which had recovered after Xiao Wu's sacrifice) in tandem, avoiding head-on impacts to strike at joints and gaps in the armor. His combat method carried a reckless madness, a style of trading injury for injury.
In the end, Tang San risked his left shoulder being pierced by the knight lance to have his Crimson Gold Dragon claw savagely tear open the armor connection at the Death Knight's neck! No blood sprayed out; only a wisp of black mist dissipated.
The Death Knight's movements came to an abrupt halt, and then, along with his horse, he turned into flying ash and vanished, leaving only a black token engraved with a hideous skull lying on the ground.
"Click, click, click..." The heavy metal gate slowly opened inward, revealing a deep, dark passage behind it, from which an even more intense scent of blood and depravity surged forth.
Tang San picked up the token, clutched his bleeding shoulder, and stepped into the passage with a blank expression. The darkness swallowed his figure, and the gate slowly closed behind him.
The passage was long and sloped downward, with stones emitting a ghostly green light embedded in the walls on both sides, providing dim illumination. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the view opened up, but the sight made even his deadened heart twitch slightly.
This was a massive underground city. The sky (if it could be called a sky) was dark red, like congealed blood, with no sun, moon, or stars, only eternal red light providing dim illumination.
Most of the city's architecture was dilapidated and strange, looking like a chaotic pile of ruins from various eras.
The air was filled with a nauseating mixture of odors: heavy blood, the stench of rotting corpses, cheap alcohol, and an indescribable, sour, putrid scent belonging to desperate souls.
The streets were filthy, with dark brown stains and scattered white bones visible everywhere. Some gaunt figures with numb, hollow eyes huddled in corners, like corpses waiting to rot. This was the outer city of the City of Slaughter.
According to the information obtained from the guide upon entry and the short "protection period" for newcomers, Tang San learned that private fights were forbidden in the outer city, with order maintained by the King of Slaughter's Enforcement Squad, but one had to pay two cups of "Bloody Mary" every month to earn the right to survive.
The inner city, however, was a true lawless land where only the strong could survive, but one had to participate in a life-and-death battle in the Hell Slaughter Arena at least once a year.
As a newcomer, although Tang San's heart was dead, the moral values formed over years in the normal world had not been completely extinguished. This caused him to suffer greatly.
Once, while out looking for food (food was extremely scarce here and had to be exchanged for Bloody Mary or slaughter value), he saw a gaunt, shivering little girl curled up in a corner, looking at him with pitiful eyes that reminded him of Xiao Wu. Tang San's heart softened, and he tossed a piece of black bread to her.
The girl accepted it with profuse thanks and devoured it greedily. The moment Tang San turned to leave, a fierce glint appeared in the girl's eyes, and a poisoned dagger slid silently from her hand, stabbing lightning-fast toward Tang San's back! The movement was vicious and tricky, certainly not that of an ordinary child!
Fortunately, Tang San's Purple Demon Eye had remained vigilant, and he dodged sideways in the nick of time. The dagger slashed his sleeve, drawing a trail of blood. Tang San was both shocked and furious, backhanding her away.
The girl hit the wall, spat blood, and fell to the ground, a twisted smile curling the corner of her mouth as she rasped, "Hehe... a new rookie... soft-hearted... is just asking for death... here... only the strong can survive... kindness... is the most useless thing..."
Looking at the girl's twisted face and crazy eyes, Tang San felt a chill in his heart. Everyone here was a fallen beast; compassion was the deadliest poison in this place.
Although this sneak attack was not fatal, the poison and injuries forced him to hide for half a month, relying on his Eight Spider Lances to devour a few low-level Vampire Bats he encountered by chance to barely recover.
During this time, he was targeted several times by lurking Fallen Ones who took advantage of his weakness to steal his already meager resources, making him endure the most difficult period since entering the City of Slaughter, nearly dying in the outer city due to his wounds and hunger.
Relying on his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone skill and the environment of the City of Slaughter that suppressed soul skills, Tang San resolved the crises one after another. During this period, he endured the excruciating pain of the poison and the hunger, truly experiencing the cruel laws of the City of Slaughter: there was no kindness, no trust, only naked greed and betrayal.
This lesson was like the final straw, activating his survival instinct and causing him to no longer be muddled; his eyes became cold and sharp, like a poisoned dagger.
With his sanity restored, the flames of revenge burned wildly in the depths of his heart—for his mother, for Xiao Wu, and for everything this world had inflicted upon him!
"Power... I need power!" Tang San clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms until blood seeped out, yet he felt nothing, his eyes flashing with a crazed light. "No matter the cost, no matter how cold I become, I must become stronger! Only with enough power can I take revenge, can I protect, can I be qualified to stand at the peak and make all my enemies pay the price!"
He knew that the only way to leave this place was through the Hell Road, and that he could also obtain the Slaughter God's Domain. This was perfectly compatible with the prototype of his own killing intent domain, undoubtedly a powerful aid on his path of revenge.
But he also knew that with his current strength, winning a hundred consecutive matches in the Hell Slaughter Arena was nothing but a pipe dream. He needed to become stronger faster, by any means necessary!
From then on, Tang San's figure appeared more often in the inner city. He never participated in the slaughter arena lightly, only completing the minimum required entry once a year to maintain his inner city qualification (the inner city did not require paying Bloody Mary, but it was more dangerous). After all, this was where he could obtain more "nourishment" to rapidly improve his strength.
He spent the vast majority of his time hunting "Fallen Ones."
His External Soul Bone, the Eight Spider Lances, and his Man Faced Demon Spider Martial Soul both possessed the ability to devour, allowing him to enhance himself by consuming flesh, blood, and soul power.
However, back in the outside world, Dean Flender had repeatedly warned him that this method of devouring the soul power and flesh of others was the path of a Fallen Soul Master. It was a practice forbidden by the rules of the Douluo Continent; once discovered, he would face severe punishment and certain execution without mercy.
Therefore, even with such a powerful ability, Tang San had never used it in the outside world, always strictly adhering to his bottom line. But now, trapped in this hellish City of Slaughter, for the sake of revenge and survival, he no longer cared about so-called bottom lines or rules.
At first, he had some psychological resistance, but when he used his Eight Spider Lances to pierce a Soul Ancestor who tried to ambush him, and felt the surge of power that came from devouring the opponent's flesh and soul power, a twisted pleasure replaced his discomfort. He stopped holding back and convinced himself with the logic that "the Fallen are not human."
The devouring abilities of the Eight Spider Lances and the Man Faced Demon Spider were practically a cheat code tailor-made for him in the City of Slaughter, a place overflowing with "nutrients."
He became increasingly skilled and increasingly cold-blooded. From his initial forced counterattacks, he moved to active hunting. He was like a venomous spider lurking in the shadows, meticulously selecting his prey.
His methods grew crueler; he no longer sought a swift kill, sometimes intentionally torturing his opponents to savor their fear and agony before death, as if this were the only way his numb heart could feel a shred of being alive.
Over four years, Tang San, like a venomous spider lurking in the darkness, devoured over a thousand Fallen Ones. Under the influence of vast amounts of flesh and soul power, his Soul Power Level rose rapidly. In those four years, he never left the City of Slaughter, yet his hands were stained with the blood of a thousand souls. His cultivation level soared, breaking through the bottleneck of level sixty.
As for his Fifth Soul Ring, two years ago, a thirty-thousand-year-level Death Demon Spider "accidentally" wandered into the outer perimeter of the City of Slaughter and "happened" to be encountered by Tang San, who was in urgent need of a fifth soul ring at the time.
After a fierce battle, Tang San successfully hunted it down and obtained the fifth soul ring for his Man Faced Demon Spider Martial Soul. Everything went as smoothly as if it had been arranged, but Tang San, blinded by bloodlust, had no time for deep reflection.
After reaching level sixty, his soul power growth stagnated due to the lack of a suitable sixth soul ring. In truth, the long-term slaughter and devouring had caused Tang San's psyche to undergo a complete distortion.
He became irritable and prone to anger, viewing everything with deep malice. He hated those who could still feel happiness and envied everything beautiful in the world.
Xiao Wu's smile remained clear in his memory, but in contrast, everyone and everything else in his memories seemed incredibly ugly.
Flender's teachings became shackles that bound him; the camaraderie of his Shrek companions became tools in his hands; even his mother's dying wish became an excuse for his revenge.
He was no longer gaining power for the sake of revenge; slaughter and devouring themselves seemed to have become the only meaning of his existence. The power of the Asura God circulated quietly within him, constantly amplifying the dark side of his heart and pushing him toward a deeper abyss.
"It's time to end this." Tang San looked toward the Hell Slaughter Arena, where frantic cheers and roars were echoing. He decided to begin his quest for a hundred-match winning streak.
The King of Slaughter, having received a signal from the Divine Sense of the Asura God, did not make things difficult for Tang San's participation, even secretly instructing the Enforcement Squad to provide convenience. This made Tang San's path to victory, while still bloody, free of many troubles from outside the rules.
A year later, when Tang San used his Eight Spider Lances to pin the head of his final opponent to the ground in the center of the Hell Slaughter Arena, the entire venue fell into a deathly silence, only to erupt into even more fanatical shouts. A hundred-match winning streak! A new record had been born!
High upon the throne, the King of Slaughter, shrouded in black robes, announced in a hoarse voice that Tang San had earned the right to challenge the Hell Road. No one saw that the gaze beneath his black hood was filled with awe and submission toward a higher will.
The trials of the Hell Road were filled with illusions, Fierce Beasts, and deadly killing intent. But for Tang San, who was already psychologically twisted, had hands stained with blood, and possessed the prototype of the Killing Intent Domain along with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone skill, these trials, though perilous, were eventually overcome one by one.
As he stepped out of the end of the Hell Road and breathed in the relatively "fresh" air of the outside world once more, a vast will of slaughter descended from the sky, merging completely with his own nascent Killing Intent Domain and sublimating it!
An dark red domain expanded with him at its center, filled with cold killing intent that could greatly suppress an opponent's strength and will—this was the complete Slaughter God's Domain!
However, the moment the Slaughter God's Domain took shape, another dark purple halo suddenly spread out from Tang San, filled with the aura of corruption, evil, and curses! It polluted the pure slaughter and judgment of the Slaughter God's Domain, transforming it into the Rakshasa Domain, infused with resentment, curses, and evil!
At the same time, a low, seductive, and evil voice echoed deep within Tang San's mind:
"With slaughter as the guide, with resentment as the fuel, with a fallen body, inherit my God Position... Rakshasa Spirit Trial, initiated!"
A complex, dark purple Rune was quietly branded onto the back of Tang San's right hand, emitting an ominous glow.
Far away, in a secret chamber within the Purple Blazing Dragon City, Yu Yuanchen, who had been keeping a strand of his Divine Sense focused on Tang San, slowly opened his eyes, a flicker of surprise crossing his gaze.
"Rakshasa Spirit Trial?" He frowned slightly, his fingertip tapping unconsciously on the jade armrest, producing a crisp sound. "This is somewhat unexpected."
"Although, under normal circumstances, given Tang San's current state of world-weariness, violence, and resentment, inheriting the Rakshasa God Position is logical. After all, in the original story, although Tang San's actions were controversial and his thinking flawed, he eventually inherited both the Asura God and Sea God positions and had the last laugh, with a stable mental state."
"But the current Tang San, having suffered the blow of Xiao Wu's sacrifice and wallowed in the City of Slaughter for five years, his hands stained with blood, his psyche is already completely twisted. He is a madman dominated by hatred and slaughter. Such a person is indeed a perfect fit for the essence of the Rakshasa God's position—a position of corruption, evil, and power derived from slaughter and resentment."
"However, a mere successor to a first-level god like the Rakshasa God is definitely not enough to make the Asura God personally intervene, leaving behind contingencies and guiding him step-by-step into the City of Slaughter. The Asura God must have a very important scheme involving Tang San."
Yu Yuanchen's fingers paused slightly, a gleam of light in his eyes as if he had grasped the key: "But since the Asura God has not intervened to stop this, it means Tang San's development has not fallen outside his expectations..."
"Unless—" He furrowed his brows, his gaze growing deeper, "the Asura God doesn't care at all whether Tang San ultimately inherits the Asura God position or the Rakshasa God position!"
"Becoming the Asura God is naturally the best outcome, fitting his original layout; but now that I exist on the Douluo Continent, he must be wary, fearing that overly obvious interference would be detected by me and disrupt his plans. In this way, Tang San becoming the Rakshasa God is enough to satisfy his fallback objective."
Whether it is the Asura God or the Rakshasa God, both are god positions with slaughter as their core. They are of the same origin but different branches, with similar essences of power.
As long as Tang San can become a god, no matter which position it is, he can become an important piece in the Asura God's layout. This, perhaps, is the true calculation of the Asura God.
Yu Yuanchen's gaze turned once again toward the direction of the Douluo Continent, his eyes deep and unfathomable, as if he could pierce through the barriers of space to see the young man bearing the Rakshasa Spirit Trial, radiating an aura of slaughter and evil.
From the moment the Rakshasa Spirit Trial began, Tang San's fate had completely deviated from its original trajectory, turning from the path of dual godhood toward an unknown and dark abyss.
And all of this seemed to remain within the precise calculations of a certain God King, from which no one could escape.
Tang San stood at the end of the Hell Road, feeling the evil power emanating from the rune on the back of his hand, feeling the dual forces within him—one filled with the will of slaughter, the other mixed with evil curses. There was no confusion in his eyes, only a more fanatical flame of revenge.
Whether it was the Asura God or the Rakshasa God, as long as they could give him enough power to exact his revenge, he did not care whose god position he inherited, nor did he care what abyss he fell into.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan