"Grahhh! Grahhh!"
The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent let out a furious screech. From the nine ruptured tumors on its back, streams of golden-red liquid violently burst forth and rapidly converged in front of its open maw. In an instant, they compressed into a golden-red orb that radiated with such intensity that all other colors on the Hell Road seemed to vanish, leaving only this dazzling hue behind.
The serpent opened its jaws wide, ready to swallow the orb back into its body.
"Now's the time!"
"Slaughter God's Blade—One Slash!"
Just as it opened its mouth, Xu Yang acted. His soul power erupted in full force. The azure wings of his Windchime Wings instantly expanded to twice their original size. At the same time, soul power surged beneath his feet as he unleashed Cloud Treading Step at maximum capacity. In a flash, his body soared above the serpent.
His twin soul pistols vanished at some unknown moment, replaced by the over-two-meter-long Sun Sacred Blade. Gripping the weapon tightly in both hands, he activated his soul bone technique, compressing a massive portion of his sun-attributed soul power and spiritual energy into blade aura. With killing intent and slaughter intent entwined, he slashed downward with one devastating strike!
Under the oppressive force of his killing intent, the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent stalled, unable to complete the act of swallowing its core. At that moment, a dark-golden blade light descended from above, slicing through its body. With no internal core to shield it, its defense plummeted. The blow split it cleanly in two.
Not only that, but the weakened blade light continued down past the shattered bridge and into the blood pool far below, leaving a gash over two meters deep and a hundred meters long. Above the blood pool, seven or eight yellow and purple spirit rings hovered faintly in midair.
It was only now that Xu Yang noticed: the blood pool wasn't just toxic—it was teeming with countless mutated soul beasts resembling piranhas. Judging by their numbers and aggression, any living creature that fell in would be devoured in seconds, leaving only a skeleton behind.
Unfazed, Xu Yang unfolded his Windchime Wings, caught the falling soul core of the serpent midair, and stored it in his spatial soul tool. Then he descended smoothly back onto the narrow bridge and began advancing again. The first two trials were now behind him—only the final and most dangerous one remained.
But for someone who could fly like Xu Yang, that last trial posed no threat at all.
The temperature kept rising, the air growing increasingly oppressive. A strange pressure permeated the atmosphere, agitating his killing intent and stirring up an involuntary sense of restlessness and anxiety.
Xu Yang immediately diverted his focus, visualizing the sun in his spiritual sea. There, the radiant golden sun within his mind shone brightly, dispelling mental distractions and restoring clarity.
"This isn't just poison—it's likely a manifestation of the Asura Domain," he muttered. "My Sun Martial Soul's purification effect probably masked it until now. These emotions must have been stirred up by the domain!"
"As expected of the third trial… even that ancient variant, the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, avoided this place. I really almost underestimated it."
Xu Yang's heart lingered with a trace of lingering fear. It now made sense—this third trial didn't need any guardian beasts. The sheer ambient hostility, the lava-like blood pool, and the pervasive pressure were challenge enough.
This stretch of the Hell Road was long—longer than the previous two trials combined. Even at full speed, Xu Yang took nearly an hour to reach the end.
He stood now on the final platform, surrounded by what looked like pools of molten blood. A dense aura of malevolence saturated the air, continuously attacking his spirit.
The exit was carved into a stone wall a kilometer away. Once he reached it, he could finally leave this cursed place known as Slaughter City.
"I'm almost out…"
Even though Xu Yang kept meditating and reinforcing his spirit, his expression was now tinged with excitement.
He pushed his spiritual energy to its limit to stay focused. With the Windchime Wings deployed, he shot forward as a streak of azure light toward the exit. Just as he neared the stone portal, the killing intent in his body was suddenly drawn outward, forming a white light barrier at the entrance.
"Farewell, Slaughter City."
Xu Yang turned his gaze downward one last time at the blood pool, his eyes devoid of nostalgia—only disgust remained. Without hesitation, he dove into the white barrier.
The world around him shifted.
In the span of a single breath, he found himself within a realm of endless whiteness. It was formless, silent, and cold—eerily cold. But the pressure that had stifled his Sun Martial Soul for so long finally vanished, allowing its power to return fully to his core.
And as his Martial Soul's strength retracted, countless strands of icy killing intent from the surroundings surged toward him. Simultaneously, the killing intent within his body radiated outward. The two forces clashed within him as if he were their battleground, wracking him with unbearable pain.
For the first time since awakening his Martial Soul, Xu Yang truly felt cold—not from temperature, but from the chill of killing intent itself. This entire white space… was composed of the purest killing intent.
These murderous energies flowed like rivers, eating away at his body. Even as he activated his meditation technique, his mind began to freeze. His awareness blurred.
Yet even in the final moments of consciousness, his expression remained calm. He understood—this was the process of forming the Deathgod Domain, and it would not truly harm him.
Meanwhile, within Slaughter City…
At the very moment Xu Yang emerged from the Hell Road, the Slaughter King abruptly rose from his throne and turned toward the direction of the passage.
"Impossible… He actually made it through?!"
In the last thousand years, many had won the Slaughter Arena championship. But only eight had ever completed the Hell Road.
The Slaughter King knew all too well how perilous those three trials were. That a mere pseudo–Spirit King like Xu Yang had succeeded—was simply unthinkable.
He had the sudden urge to exit the city and eliminate Xu Yang with his own hands. But just as the thought arose, an overwhelming pressure slammed down upon his consciousness. He didn't doubt for a moment: the moment he defied the rules, that pressure would crush his soul.
Xu Yang didn't know how long had passed before he awakened.
He was lying on soft forest soil, the Windchime Wings retracted into a backpack strapped to his back. Above him, the sun shone bright, and under its rays, warmth flowed into his body, dispelling the last traces of chill in his heart.
His pain had vanished completely—only a refreshing comfort remained.
Just as he was about to stand, Xu Yang noticed that the external spirit bone on his right arm was still deployed. Strangely, it now bore faint white patterns across its surface.
"Why did the Deathgod Domain attach to the external spirit bone instead of my Sun Martial Soul?" he wondered aloud.
"Could it be… an elemental incompatibility?"