Chapter 13 -- Sands of Blood and Ambition
Outside the secret realm…
Across the Lower World, strange phenomena erupted.
In different regions, beams of light shot into the sky.
Many sects, kingdoms, clans were alerted
In hidden sects and hidden clans, alarms rang.
"The Fallen Immortal Domain has opened!"
"It's happening again!"
"A once-in-a-century chance!"
Cultivators rushed from every direction.
Floating ships soared.
Spirit beasts were summoned.
Talismans burned.
At several massive portals that had opened across the Lower World, countless young cultivators gathered.
"This domain contains the legacy of fallen immortals!"
"Whoever rises to the top will be known across the world!"
"Only those under one hundred years old may enter… this is the battlefield of the young generation!"
Powerful sect disciples stood proudly in formation.
Talented princes and princesses from kingdoms arrived with entourages.
Hidden geniuses stepped out from the shadows.
"The Azure Sky Sect has sent their number one disciple!"
"That's the Sword Marquis of the North Kingdom!"
"I heard a heaven-chosen from the Ten Thousand Flame Valley and the proud daughter from the Ice palace are coming"
"are you talking about the most beautiful women from north region"
Ambition burned in every gaze.
Soon—
The portals fully opened.
One by one, cultivators entered the light.
Like a storm of fate pouring into the Fallen Immortal Domain.
—
Inside the secret realm…
Su Xiaoyao stepped out of his cave.
He felt it instantly.
The Qi had grown thicker.
The air more violent.
The land… more crowded.
"So others are also coming" he murmured.
His lips curved faintly.
"Good."
then he started travelling and picking many precious treasures that have appeared
it's just that he was confused as to where the core formation realm beasts went,as cultivators are exploring everywhere
just as he was exploring he saw many cultivators fighting and killing each other for treasures
He ignored it and continued forward Not far away, he noticed something glowing softly between the trees.
A plant.
A Crimson Spirit Grass—an Earth-Grade herb that could strengthen cultivation and restore blood essence.
He walked over calmly and plucked it.
Then he heard footsteps, he shook his head slightly
Ten figures emerged from the forest.
Loose cultivators.
Most at Foundation Establishment Realm. and some qi refining and the person leading them was at foundation establishment 2nd stage
Their eyes locked onto the herb in Su Xiaoyao's hand.
The leader sneered. "Oi, brat. Hand that over."
They noticed that he was only Qi Refining Realm… 8th Stage and he didn't seem to have any background.
Another laughed and echoed the same words
Su Xiaoyao looked at them quietly.
"Leave."
They burst into laughter.
"You hear that? The bug is telling us to leave."
Their killing intent rose.
Su Xiaoyao sighed.
Shadow-Soaring Movement.
He vanished.
Before they could react—
Seven flashes of blue light.
Seven heads fell.
Blood sprayed across the forest.
Their bodies collapsed without even understanding what had happened.
Su Xiaoyao flicked the blood from his blade then he picked there space rings then stored them in system space.
Far above, more cultivators continued pouring into the Fallen Immortal Domain.
Su Xiaoyao continued forward soon he reached at the end of the forest and in front him appeared a desert and the air became hot
Su Xiaoyao continued forward as he was sprinting suddenly he sensed something from underground and he leaped upwards and the ground under Su Xiaoyao started trembling
The sand beneath Su Xiaoyao's feet exploded.
A massive, armored body burst out of the desert floor like a living siege weapon.
A giant crimson-scaled sand wyrm erupted into the air, its body dozens of meters long, ringed with jagged plates that glowed with faint heat. Its mouth opened wide, revealing spiraling rows of fangs dripping with corrosive saliva.
BOOM!
The shockwave sent dunes collapsing and dust clouds soaring into the sky.
Su Xiaoyao twisted midair, Shadow-Soaring activating beneath his feet as he barely avoided being swallowed whole. The wyrm slammed back into the sand and vanished instantly, as if it had never been there.
The desert became quiet.
Too quiet.
Su Xiaoyao's eyes narrowed. His Heavenly Truth Eye flickered faintly.
"…An underground predator."
The sand around him shifted almost imperceptibly.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The wyrm erupted again, this time from behind.
Its enormous body whipped forward like a living battering ram.
Su Xiaoyao turned in midair and slashed.
Moon-Severing Sword Technique.
A blue crescent carved through the sand and struck the beast's armored scales.
CLANG!
Sparks flew—but the blade only left a shallow scar.
The wyrm screeched and dove back underground.
The sand instantly smoothed over.
Su Xiaoyao landed lightly, his feet sinking slightly into the hot grains.
"Tch… thick armor and hit-and-run tactics," he muttered.
The Heavenly Truth Eye activated fully.
Beneath the surface, a massive red outline moved like a shadow, circling him rapidly.
The sand suddenly rippled in a wide radius.
Su Xiaoyao leapt just as three enormous spikes of hardened sand burst upward where he had stood.
The wyrm launched again, this time spinning its body like a drill, trying to tear him apart.
Su Xiaoyao twisted in midair, barely dodging as the beast's fangs grazed his sleeve, ripping cloth and drawing a thin line of blood.
The wyrm dove again.
The desert shook.
Su Xiaoyao inhaled slowly.
"So you want to fight from underground…" His eyes flashed coldly.
Shadow-Soaring Movement.
He suddenly sprinted in a zigzag pattern, deliberately leaving footprints and disturbing the sand. His Qi surged as he pretended to slow down.
The wyrm took the bait.
The ground beneath him bulged—
NOW.
Su Xiaoyao spun and slammed his sword downward.
Moon-Severing Sword Technique.
A massive crescent of sword light tore into the sand just as the wyrm burst out.
BOOOM!
The blade slammed into the beast's exposed head, carving deep through its scales. Black-red blood sprayed across the dunes.
The wyrm screamed, thrashing wildly.
Su Xiaoyao didn't give it time to recover.
He dashed forward, his form blurring as he jumped onto its back and drove his sword again and again into the cracked armor.
Each strike released explosive Qi.
The beast tried to dive underground—but Su Xiaoyao stomped down, pinning it with overwhelming force.
With one final thrust—
He pierced straight through its skull.
The wyrm convulsed… then went still.
Sand slowly settled.
Su Xiaoyao stepped off the corpse, breathing lightly, his blade stained dark.
"Annoying," he muttered.
The desert stretched endlessly before him.
Su Xiaoyao continued forward then he saw a group of cultivators in blue white robes fighting a wyrm, he saw many corpses and only three were barely hanging.
The wyrm was weaker than the one he fought previously this one was at Foundation Establishment 7th stage even one was at Foundation Establishment Realm 4th stage and two other were at Qi Refining Realm 6th stage.
The wyrm had terrain advantage and as a beast it's body was obiviously more thicker and it seems they were ambushed from the ground and couldn't react in time.
"Junior Sisters, You Run!"
"i will buy you both time"
"No Senior sister Jing we will also fight and die together we will not escape"
Su Xiaoyao seeing this tragic scene didn't feel any particular feeling as this world is cruel, as strong pry on weak
Su Xiaoyao doesn't know why, even in his previous life when people died he did not feel anything, only for those some close acquaintances did he feel anything.
Su Xiaoyao moved to save them not because he was saint or took pity because they were women but because he didn't much about the this Domain and outside world and they will be filled with gratitude and women who were saved by hero are easier to control
The sand wyrm reared up, its massive body coiling like a living fortress. Jagged crimson scales glowed faintly as heat and Qi surged beneath them.
It sensed Su Xiaoyao.
It let out a shrill screech and slammed its tail into the ground.
BOOOOM!
A shockwave of sand and shattered stone blasted outward. Jing Xue and the two juniors were thrown backward, coughing blood.
The wyrm's mouth opened wide.
A vortex of spinning sand and razor-sharp gravel formed inside its throat.
A Sand Devouring Breath.
Su Xiaoyao's eyes narrowed.
Shadow-Soaring Movement.
His body blurred and vanished just as the breath erupted.
The attack tore through the battlefield, carving a deep ravine through the dunes and pulverizing several giant boulders into dust.
Su Xiaoyao reappeared above the wyrm, sword flashing.
Moon-Severing Sword Technique.
A crescent of blue Qi slammed downward.
CLANG!
The blade struck the wyrm's armored head, sparks flying—but the scales only cracked slightly.
The beast roared and lunged upward, jaws snapping shut where Su Xiaoyao had been a moment before.
Su Xiaoyao twisted midair, barely avoiding being bitten in half, then landed on the wyrm's back.
The creature thrashed violently, trying to shake him off.
Heavenly Truth Eye activated.
The world slowed.
Through the shifting layers of sand and scales, Su Xiaoyao saw it—
A thin glowing line running beneath the armor near the base of its skull.
Its Qi circulation node.
"There."
The wyrm slammed itself into the ground, trying to crush him.
BOOOOM!
Sand exploded everywhere.
But Su Xiaoyao had already leapt, appearing beside its neck in a blur of shadows.
Moon-Severing Sword Technique — Second Form.
His blade glowed with deeper blue light as he thrust.
CRACK!
The sword pierced through the cracked scale and drove into the glowing node.
The wyrm let out a shriek so loud it rattled the heavens.
Its body convulsed wildly, smashing the ground again and again, trying to dislodge him.
Su Xiaoyao held on, Qi surging through his arm.
"Die."
He twisted the blade.
BOOOOM!
The internal Qi of the wyrm collapsed.
Its body stiffened.
Then, like a severed puppet, it fell heavily into the sand.
Dead.
Dust slowly settled.
Su Xiaoyao pulled out his sword and stepped back, breathing lightly.
The desert was silent again.
Then…
He turned calmly toward Jing Xue and the others.