The alley behind the Celestial Pavilion was deserted, shielded from prying eyes by the restaurant's privacy formations. Chen Haotian stood confidently in the center of the space, his spiritual pressure radiating outward like waves of heat.
"Well?" he demanded. "Where is this mysterious test of yours?"
Wei Liang's blood-avatar form began to shift subtly, taking on a more predatory aspect. "The test is simple, Young Master Chen. Survive the next ten breaths."
Before Chen could react, Wei Liang exploded into motion. The Heavenly Demon Blood Spear materialized in his grip, its crimson blade seeking the young master's heart with surgical precision. This was no elaborate duel—this was assassination, pure and efficient.
Chen's reflexes proved better than expected. He twisted away from the killing blow, his own weapon—a lightning-wreathed dao—appearing in his hands with practiced ease. The blade crackled with Heaven-Stepping Realm energy as he parried Wei Liang's thrust.
"You dare attack Chen Haotian?" the young master roared, his handsome features twisting with rage and disbelief. "Do you know what my family will do to you?"
Wei Liang's only response was to activate his spear techniques. Conceptual Consumption—First Form: Soul Devouring Strike!
The Blood Spear's blade became translucent, passing through Chen's physical defenses to target his spiritual essence directly. But the young master's cultivation proved more resilient than expected. His Heaven-Stepping Realm foundation blazed with protective energy, deflecting the soul-seeking attack.
"Impossible!" Chen gasped, recognizing the technique's nature. "Soul attacks of that caliber require Saint-level cultivation! Who are you?"
"I am Death," Wei Liang replied, his voice carrying the weight of countless consumed souls. "And you are my first meal in this realm."
Blood Sovereign Technique—Seventh Form: Crimson Tide Drowning!
Wei Liang's form exploded into a torrent of liquid blood that engulfed the narrow alley. Each drop carried a fragment of his consciousness and will, seeking to penetrate Chen's defenses through sheer volume. The young master found himself fighting not one opponent but millions.
Chen's lightning dao blazed with desperate power as he carved through the blood tide, his Heaven-Stepping techniques creating brief safe zones in the crimson storm. But for every drop he destroyed, two more took its place. Wei Liang's blood-avatar transformation was revealing its true horror—he could exist as liquid, gas, or countless separate entities while maintaining unified consciousness.
"Thunder Cloud Dynasty Secret Art—Nine Heavens Lightning Judgment!" Chen roared, channeling his family's most powerful technique.
The alley filled with blinding light as nine separate lightning bolts descended from the sky, each one carrying enough power to level a small mountain. The precise strikes targeted specific points in Wei Liang's blood form, seeking to disrupt his spiritual cohesion through overwhelming electrical damage.
The attack was devastatingly effective. Wei Liang's blood-avatar form scattered as the lightning tore through his distributed consciousness. For a moment, Chen thought he had won—until he realized the blood wasn't dispersing. Instead, it was reforming into something more concentrated and deadly.
Iron Blood Manual—Ninth Stage: Avatar Compression Breakthrough!
Wei Liang pulled his scattered essence back together, but instead of resuming human form, he compressed his blood-avatar into a weapon. His consciousness merged completely with the Heavenly Demon Blood Spear, creating a semi-sentient weapon of terrifying power.
The spear moved with inhuman speed, its blade seeking Chen's vitals with relentless precision. The young master's dao techniques, impressive as they were, couldn't match a weapon that could think and adapt to his defensive patterns in real-time.
Chen's left arm opened in three places as the spear found gaps in his guard. His spiritual energy began leaking out, weakening his overall cultivation base. But instead of despair, his eyes blazed with desperate inspiration.
"If I'm going to die," he snarled, blood running from his wounds, "I'm taking you with me! Thunder Cloud Dynasty Forbidden Technique—Heavenly Tribulation Summoning!"
The young master began burning his own cultivation base to fuel a technique that should have been impossible at his level. Wei Liang felt the air itself become charged with tribulation lightning—the cosmic force that tested cultivators during their breakthroughs.
Clever, Wei Liang admitted grudgingly. He's trying to trigger an artificial breakthrough tribulation that will strike us both.
The technique was suicidal but effective. Tribulation lightning didn't distinguish between friend and foe—it would strike down anyone in the vicinity who possessed significant cultivation. Chen was gambling that his family's lightning-based techniques would help him survive what should kill Wei Liang outright.
Unfortunately for the young master, Wei Liang had survived conceptual erasure by the Council of Architectures. Mere tribulation lightning was a pleasant massage by comparison.
The artificial tribulation descended with earth-shaking force, multiple lightning bolts seeking to reduce both cultivators to ash. Chen's protective techniques blazed around him as he weathered the storm of cosmic judgment. For a moment, he thought his desperate gambit had succeeded.
Then Wei Liang's spear-form pierced through the lightning storm as if it weren't there, its blade seeking Chen's heart with inevitable precision.
"How?" Chen gasped as the weapon entered his chest. "Tribulation lightning should have—"
"I have been judged by powers you cannot imagine," Wei Liang's voice emerged from the spear itself. "And I was found wanting. But I survived anyway. Your lightning is nothing compared to cosmic erasure."
Chen's cultivation base began draining into the spear as Wei Liang activated his consumption techniques. The young master's carefully refined spiritual energy flowed into Wei Liang's essence, along with his accumulated insights and memories.
Through Chen's dying consciousness, Wei Liang learned much about the Crimson Void Realm. The Thunder Cloud Dynasty was indeed a major power, controlling dozens of worlds and commanding millions of cultivators. Chen himself had been groomed from birth to inherit this vast empire, his every need satisfied by armies of servants and retainers.
Spoiled, Wei Liang concluded as he drained the last traces of Chen's cultivation. Powerful but soft. These realm-born cultivators have never known true hardship.
Chen's body crumbled to dust as his spiritual essence was completely consumed. Wei Liang reformed his blood-avatar shape, feeling the pleasant warmth of absorbed power flowing through his meridians. The young master's Heaven-Stepping cultivation had restored some of what he'd lost during his escape from the Architect's domain.
But more importantly, Chen's memories had provided him with crucial intelligence about local power structures. The Thunder Cloud Dynasty's heir had possessed detailed knowledge about treasure locations, cultivation resources, and the identities of other powerful young masters throughout the realm.
Perfect hunting grounds, Wei Liang thought as he examined Chen's spatial ring, which contained a fortune in pills, weapons, and spirit stones. And now I have the resources to blend in while I hunt.
His first kill in the Crimson Void Realm had been successful. But Wei Liang knew that Chen's disappearance would eventually be noticed. The Thunder Cloud Dynasty would investigate, and when they did, they would find traces of his techniques.
Good. Let them come. Wei Liang had learned long ago that reputation was a weapon in itself. The stronger his enemies believed him to be, the more they would fear his approach. And fear made even powerful cultivators easier to consume.
He melted back into the city's shadows, already planning his next hunt. The Crimson Void Realm contained countless worlds and endless opportunities for advancement.
Wei Liang intended to devour them all.
Three days after Chen Haotian's disappearance, Wei Liang attended the Thunder Cloud Pavilion auction the young master had mentioned. Using Chen's spatial ring and knowledge, he had acquired appropriate clothing and documentation to blend in among the realm's elite cultivators.
The auction house was a marvel of architecture that defied conventional physics. The main hall could somehow accommodate millions of bidders while maintaining intimate acoustics. Floating platforms held VIP seating for the most prestigious attendees, while common cultivators filled the ground level seats.
Wei Liang had purchased a mid-tier booth using Chen's resources, positioning himself where he could observe the truly powerful without drawing excessive attention. His blood-avatar form had been carefully modified to appear as a relatively normal human cultivator in the Soul Formation Realm—strong enough to justify his presence, but not so strong as to attract scrutiny.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the auctioneer announced, her voice carrying clearly through formations that amplified sound. "Welcome to tonight's Celestial Treasure Auction. We begin with a collection of Earth-grade spirit pills refined by Master Alchemist Dong..."
Wei Liang paid minimal attention to the early items, instead focusing on the auction's VIP boxes. Through Chen's memories, he could identify several important figures: Fairy Moonlight of the Celestial Sword Sect, Young Master Liu of the Golden Dragon Clan, Princess Yan of the Fire Phoenix Empire, and dozens of other young prodigies who represented the realm's next generation of leaders.
So many potential meals, he thought, watching their casual displays of wealth as they bid on items worth small kingdoms. But which one to target first?
The answer came when the auctioneer announced the night's centerpiece: "Lot 847—the Nine-Transformation Dragon Pill, capable of advancing even Heaven-Stepping cultivators toward the Saint Realm. Bidding begins at one hundred million spirit stones."
The reaction was immediate. Every major power in the auction house began competing for the treasure, their bids escalating rapidly. But Wei Liang's attention focused on one particular bidder—a young woman in elaborate robes who radiated an aura of untouchable authority.
Princess Yan of the Fire Phoenix Empire.
Chen's memories identified her as one of the realm's most talented prodigies, possessing both peak Heaven-Stepping cultivation and a bloodline that granted her control over cosmic flames. More importantly, she was known for her collection of rare treasures and her habit of traveling with minimal security, confident that her personal power was sufficient protection.
Perfect, Wei Liang decided as he watched her bid climb toward the billion-spirit-stone range. Powerful, wealthy, and arrogant. Everything I need in a target.
The Princess ultimately won the Dragon Pill for 1.3 billion spirit stones, a sum that would have bankrupted most sects. As the auction concluded and attendees began dispersing, Wei Liang shadowed her movements through the city, his blood-avatar form maintaining careful distance.
Princess Yan traveled with only two companions—bodyguards in the peak Soul Formation Realm who were clearly more for ceremony than protection. Her confidence in her own abilities was evident in every gesture, every casual dismissal of potential threats.
She led them to the Floating Garden District, where the wealthiest visitors maintained temporary residences. Her chosen manor was a masterwork of formation arrays and spiritual energy optimization, but Wei Liang could see the defensive patterns clearly through Chen's inherited knowledge of high-level formations.
Impressive barriers, he admitted, observing the overlapping layers of protection. But designed to stop conventional attacks, not someone who can exist as living blood.
He waited until the deepest hours of night, when even cultivators preferred to rest and meditate. Then he began his infiltration.