Chapter Thirty-Six: The Blood-Colored Stele

  Thick fog, like locking mountain passes.

  Zhou Heng's gaze pierced through the mist, pointing directly at the depths of the valley, striding forward without hesitation.

  Only after a dozen or so minutes, the front suddenly opened up, and the mist disappeared in vain, revealing a clear starry sky once again.

  Still mountains, still water, deep and serene.

  "This is... the second half of the mountain valley!" Han Yulian's beautiful eyes sparkled, but this obviously wasn't the exit, as the terrain was different and she didn't see Lu Qing and the others.

  Zhou Heng nodded, his heart filled with curiosity. What secrets lay hidden in this mist-shrouded mountain?

  Isn't there a treasure? But why didn't the black sword react?!

  Zhou Heng furrowed his brow, looking at the situation in the valley which was far from simple. If he said there were no heavenly treasures or earthly riches, how could that be convincing?

  Then let's keep moving forward, how can we be at peace if we don't reach the end?

  He took a step forward and walked for two steps before hearing Han Yulian's footsteps also sounding, walking shoulder to shoulder with him.

  "What smell?" After walking for another seven or eight minutes, Zhou Heng and others simultaneously smelled a strange smell.

  The two of them exchanged a glance and continued walking forward. As the distance narrowed, this strange smell became stronger and more pungent.

  "Corpse stench!" Han Yulian suddenly stopped in her tracks, her beautiful eyes flashing with an unusual color, which was more excitement than disgust and fear.

  Why so excited?

  Suddenly, he had a few points of clarity in his mind after grinding through it for a while.

  This mountain valley is like a devil's lair that swallows people without spitting out their bones, and it's unknown how many people have died inside. The bodies naturally can't come out either. Those who died inside must have had something on them, some of which are extremely valuable!

  Finding their bodies is equivalent to finding a treasure!

  No wonder she insisted on following him in, indeed, with Zhou Heng's "special ability" she was not afraid of getting trapped inside. But just after crawling back from the brink of death, she could think of such a distant thing, it had to be said that this woman's mind was very deep!

  Zhou Heng's heart was icy, and a sense of vigilance arose in him. Although the other party had to rely on themselves to get out, it was hard to guarantee what would happen afterwards. What if they really found the so-called treasure? If she were to have greedy thoughts, she could completely kill off the others and swallow it all by herself, then go back and simply say that they encountered a Blood Refining realm demon beast, and only managed to escape alone.

  It's better for you to worry about it yourself!

  He thought so in his heart, walking forward with big strides, he was really curious about what secrets this valley was hiding.

  After walking for a while, the valley became very narrow, like a winding mountain path with nine bends and eighteen turns. After walking for nearly half an hour, the front suddenly opened up, revealing a large platform.

  And this is also the bottom of the valley.

  Zhou Heng and the other person appeared at the westernmost part of the platform, facing a steep cliff. They had to turn around in order to see the entire platform. But when they turned around, what they saw was an incredibly shocking scene.

  In the middle of the platform, there is a crimson stone monument. The pillars are painted with strange patterns that resemble both characters and paintings. It's about 10 meters high and two feet wide. Around the monument, there are layers upon layers of corpses, neatly arranged in circles, totaling four layers.

  The corpse closest to the monument had rotted away to only leave white bones, while the outermost circle of corpses were relatively "fresh", with no bones visible.

  The eerie scene made both Zhou Heng and Han Yulian feel a chill in their hearts.

  It's nothing to see dead people, every warrior has seen dead people before, but who would still have the mood to arrange a pattern when they die? Is it that there are still living people in the valley, and they arranged these corpses like this?

  If there really is such a person, then what is his intention?

  Zhou Heng just finished eating and immediately walked towards the stone tablet, possibly...the answer was on the stone tablet.

  The platform was only about 100 meters in diameter, and Zhou Heng quickly walked to the front of the outermost corpse. This "corpse array" had four circles, with a total of over 300 corpses. Placed together, it was extremely shocking and made one's hair stand on end.

  Zhou Heng held his breath and took a step towards the center.

  Buzz!

  At this moment, the Bloodstone Monument suddenly shook and released a blood-red light wave that spread to every corner of the platform.

  A strong sense of despair suddenly surged up in Zhou Heng's heart, and he almost wanted to die, but the black broken sword in his dantian shook at the right time, and he suddenly came back to his senses, shocked in his heart!

  The outermost fog has the effect of bewildering one's mind, and this light wave is the same! Moreover, its power is even greater. Before, he could wake up with his own will, but this time if it weren't for the Black Sword's might, he really wouldn't know whether he would wake up again or not!

  As soon as he woke up, Zhou Heng hurriedly swept his eyes around and saw Han Yulian walking over like a zombie, her eyes dull and lifeless without any spark, coming to the empty space of the outermost corpse, lying down straight and motionless!

  Hiss!

  Is this the secret of the corpses arranged in a circle? It's not that outsiders moved them after death, but rather their minds were bewildered and they walked this path themselves!

  So simple!

  Zhou Heng walked over to Han Yulian's side, only to see that the woman had her eyes wide open, but her pupils were not focused at all, and looked terrifyingly dull.

  Did those people who strayed into the valley just lie there until they died?

  A strong sense of chill rose involuntarily in Zhou Heng's heart. Who could accept such a way of dying!

  What kind of power can make people go to death without any resistance?

  "Teacher Han! Teacher Han!" Zhou Heng shouted loudly, but Han Yulian didn't react at all, as if she had lost her soul. If not for the aura of the Refining Blood Realm still emanating from her body, she would have looked like a corpse.

  So bizarre, just one wave and the cultivators in the Blood Refining Realm died without any resistance!

  "Don't blame me later, this is all for your own good!" Zhou Heng muttered to himself, and with a slap, he hit Han Yulian's face.

  No reaction at all.

  Pak pak pak, Zhou Heng slapped seven or eight times in a row, but it was still the same. Han Yulian was like a living dead person, or to say, only an empty shell remained.

  Zhou Heng's tricks were all used up, hitting, fanning, pinching, none of them worked.

  Obviously, the usual method doesn't work.

  Zhou Heng's heart skipped a beat as he realized that the Black Severing Sword was what had brought him back to his senses. At least this treasure had the power to counteract that mysterious force. If he could summon it, would he be able to bring Han Yulian back?

  The key is how to mobilize the power of the Black Sword to save Han Yulian.

  Let's give it a try then; man proposes, God disposes.

  He carefully communicated with the Black Sword of Dantian, again and again, humming, this strange treasure finally reacted, releasing a supreme wave.

  This vibration was transmitted into the opponent's body along Zhou Heng's hand holding Han Yulian's.

  "Ah——" Han Yulian let out a cry of surprise, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare, her upper body suddenly straightening up, her face pale as paper, but her charming eyes eventually regained their luster.

  Zhou Heng let out a sigh of relief, and indeed it was effective!

  "I...I..." Han Yulian stared at Zhou Heng, suddenly embracing him tightly, her voice trembling as she said, "I feel like I'm trapped in a cage, no matter how hard I struggle, I can't escape, until there's a ray of light that breaks through everything!"

  The beautiful woman had already fully ripened, and with this hug, Zhou Heng only felt that his chest was pressed against two soft and fluffy balls of flesh, feeling indescribably comfortable.

  "It's okay!" Zhou Heng hastily pushed her away, now this beautiful woman didn't seem like someone who was seven or eight years older than him, but more like a frightened little girl. He wasn't the kind of person to take advantage of others in their time of need, so he stood up straight and gazed at the blood-red stone monument.

  "Don't go any further!" Han Yulian hastily pulled Zhou Heng back, her hand still shaking.

  She was really scared and didn't dare to think about those corpses on the ground again, she just wanted to get out of there alive!

  "It's nothing!" Zhou Heng shook his head, his eyes fixed firmly on the front, once he made up his mind, it was unstoppable.

  The black broken sword is enough to suppress the evil of the Bloodstone Monument!

  He strode forward in big steps, and with a humming sound, the Blood Red Stone Monument once again emitted a wave of light that shot out in all directions.

  However, this time, Zhou Heng was not affected at all, and Han Yulian was the same, as if they had both developed immunity.

  Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

  Wave after wave of blood-colored waves surged out, as if a shocking wave, and Zhou Heng and the two were the most solid embankment, standing still.

  Zhou Heng continued forward, passing through the first layer of corpse circles and then the second layer.

  But at this moment, the Bloodstone Monument emitted a wave of fluctuations again. This time, however, the fluctuations were not directed towards Zhou Heng and Han Yulian, but instead towards the corpses on the ground.

  An even more bizarre scene appeared, and those corpses actually crawled up one by one!

  A martial artist cultivates himself solely for the purpose of becoming the strongest, and does not believe in ghosts or gods!

  Even a corpse that has long since turned into a skeleton can stand up, completely overturning the understanding of Zhou Heng and others!

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Every skull's eye sockets were flashing with green flames, and a layer of red fur grew on their bodies, eerie to the extreme.

  "What...what is this thing?!" Han Yulian's voice trembled uncontrollably, anyone who saw this scene would have their hairs standing on end.

  Zhou Heng's hair stood on end, and his corpse revived, which was beyond his imagination!

  "Uh......uh......" These corpses all let out a dry and hoarse growl, with green flames jumping in their eye sockets, making them even more terrifying.

  Han Yu Lian was already terrified, this had nothing to do with her cultivation, but rather it far exceeded the limits of what she could endure!

  These corpses slowly turned around and surrounded Zhou Heng.

  Inside two layers, outside two layers, they surrounded him so tightly that water couldn't get through!

  Zhou Heng let out a long whistle, his waist sword unsheathed, the sword intent of Ling Tian Jiu Shi opened up, he swung his long sword continuously.

  Ding ding ding!

  The long sword scraped against the skeleton's bones, producing a string of sparks. Several pieces of bone were instantly severed and reduced to powder - even the skeleton of a high-ranking Blood Refining Realm cultivator couldn't withstand the power of time, unless they had reached the Gathering Spirit Realm.

  Zhou Heng's swordsmanship improved, his confidence naturally increased, but the sword intent of Ling Tian Jiu Shi seemed to have no effect on these skulls, and their movements did not show any signs of slowing down.

  It's also true that once you're dead, there's no more fear.

  Fei Yun Bu unfolded, Zhou Heng strode through the sky, his feet tapping on the skulls of the corpses, instantly breaking free from the encirclement of dead bodies, making Han Yu Lian's heart almost jump out.

  The corpses moved very slowly, but Zhou Heng didn't dare let them touch him at all, because he saw that these corpses all retained long fingernails, as black as coal!

  Obviously toxic!