293: Slaughter

"What? Are you afraid?"

The Nine Nether Supreme's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a pressure that pierced the Soul, making Duan Yulong's Divine Soul tremble.

"The struggle for the Great Dao is inherently a Heaven-Defying act! Success makes you a king, failure makes you a bandit; the weak are prey for the strong—this is the eternal, unchanging law of the iron fist! Those ant-like Mortals were born to be resources for the strong! It is their honor that their Souls and essence can help you forge a supreme Saint Body and step onto the path to the Peak!"

"Have you forgotten how the Di Clan humiliated you? Forgotten the bone-deep hatred of your demon body being destroyed and your Cultivation Technique being stolen? Forgotten the suffocating Saint pressure behind them? Without this Saint Body, how will you take your revenge? How will you reclaim everything that belongs to you? How will you dominate your own destiny?!"

Every word was like a heavy hammer, ruthlessly striking the most fragile and unwilling parts of Duan Yulong's heart.

Di Jintian's cold face and the Di Clan's unfathomable might surfaced like a nightmare.

Fear, humiliation, resentment... all sorts of negative emotions grew wildly like poisonous vines, instantly swallowing that tiny, insignificant bit of hesitation.

"No! I refuse to accept this! I want power! I want revenge!" Duan Yulong let out a beast-like roar within his Sea of Consciousness, his eyes completely bloodshot with madness and greed.

"Senior is right! Those who achieve great things do not sweat the small stuff! As long as I can become stronger, as long as I can take revenge on the Di Clan, what does it matter if I slaughter a few ants?! Please, Senior, teach me the method to refine the Saint Body!"

"Very good! He who understands the times is a wise man!" The Nine Nether Supreme's voice carried a hint of satisfied deviousness.

"Remember, the fresher the Soul and the deeper the resentment, the purer the Origin will be after refinement! Go, start with the Mortal villages outside the mountains! Use their fear and despair to light the first fire on your path to becoming the strongest!"

...A small village named Liuxi Village was currently shrouded in a deathly silence.

The afterglow of the setting sun barely managed to pierce through the thick dark clouds, casting a dismal blood-red hue over the dilapidated thatched huts and withered trees.

The few chickens and dogs in the village had long since gone silent; even the usually noisy crows had vanished without a trace. The air was so thick it was suffocating, permeated by a bone-chilling cold.

"Daddy... Mommy... I'm scared..." A little girl with pigtails curled up in her mother's arms, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, her small body trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Her young mother's face was pale as she tightly covered her daughter's mouth, her terrified gaze fixed on the winding path at the village entrance.

At the village entrance, Duan Yulong's figure looked like an evil ghost emerging from the netherworld.

His long robes fluttered in the dark wind as he paced slowly. With every step he took, the withered yellow weeds beneath his feet instantly lost all vitality and turned to ash.

His cold gaze swept across the tightly shut doors and windows, his lips curling into a cruel and delighted arc.

He could clearly smell the fragrance of fear emanating from the countless living beings behind those doors and windows.

"What a wonderful scent..." he whispered to himself, sticking out his tongue to lick his somewhat cracked lips, the ghostly green fire in his eyes flaring up.

"A... A demon is here!"

No one knew who let out the first shrill scream, but like a giant stone thrown into stagnant water, it instantly shattered the suffocating silence!

"Run!"

"Help!"

Cries, screams, and the sounds of panicked running suddenly erupted!

The villagers, like ants from a disturbed nest, burst through their doors in terror, pushing down fences as they fled for their lives toward the dark mountain forests outside the village.

Old people fell, children cried—it was a scene of apocalyptic chaos.

A morbidly blissful expression appeared on Duan Yulong's face, as if he were enjoying a symphony composed of fear.

He slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread wide toward those fleeing, vibrant lives.

"Soul Snatch!"

Chi! Chi! Chi!

"Argh—!"

A shrill wail that didn't sound human rang out!

Several villagers' bodies suddenly stiffened, then began to twitch violently. Wisps of grayish-white vapor seeped from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses—those were their Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits!

These Soul currents were forcibly torn from their Physical Bodies by invisible ghostly claws, surging frantically toward Duan Yulong's palm like iron filings attracted to a magnet!

Visibly, the strong bodies of those villagers shriveled and withered like plants drained of water. Their skin lost its luster, becoming gray and loose, until they finally turned into mummified corpses frozen in running poses, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces!

"No! My son!" An old woman, witnessing this scene, let out a heart-wrenching wail and actually turned to lunge at Duan Yulong.

"Hmph, overestimating yourself!" Duan Yulong didn't even look as he casually waved his left hand.

A cold palm wind swept past, and the old woman's body was tossed into the air like a broken ragdoll, slamming hard against a nearby millstone. Her bones were crushed, and she died on the spot.

Her remnant Soul didn't even have time to seep out before it was directly pulled away by the suction emanating from Duan Yulong's palm.

More and more soul essence， Like a trickle flowing into the sea， Flowing into Duan Yulong's body。

The Netherworld Death Qi swirling around him grew thicker, and the demonic patterns beneath his skin flickered with an eerie light. A surging sense of power filled his limbs and bones, making him let out a long, pleasurable groan.

"Not enough... still far from enough!" Ghostly fire leaped in Duan Yulong's eyes as he looked greedily at the villagers who were still fleeing.

"Ten Thousand Souls Devouring Spirit, swallow!"

He threw his hands open, and an invisible, massive vortex suddenly formed with him at the center!

A terrifying suction instantly enveloped the entire village!

The fleeing villagers, regardless of age or gender, all stiffened as expressions of extreme pain and despair appeared on their faces!

Wisps of Soul essence, like smoke caught in a gale, were uncontrollably and forcibly extracted from their seven orifices and pores, merging into grayish-white torrents that surged frantically toward Duan Yulong!

"Ugh... Argh..."

"Devil... You are a devil..."

Screams, curses, and desperate sobs intertwined, only to come to an abrupt halt a few breaths later.

The entire Liuxi Village fell into a deathly silence.

Over a hundred withered corpses, their expressions frozen in extreme terror, lay scattered in various distorted poses throughout the village.

The vegetation withered, and even the ground lost its color, turning a desolate gray. Resentment and Death Qi, so thick they wouldn't dissipate, permeated and rolled through the air like physical substances.

Standing in the center of the corpses, Duan Yulong closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the air filled with the scent of death, his face full of intoxication and satisfaction.

He could clearly feel the dormant power within him growing frantically; he was only one step away from the seventh level of the Heaven-Reaching Realm!

The demonic patterns beneath his skin became clearer, faintly emitting a heart-palpitating pressure.

This was power! A stairway to the strongest, built from countless lives!