Begrudgingly, the two moved towards the sect's altar.

There, they saw hundreds of red hooded Cultivators making all kinds of dances, and strange rituals.

Some were firm believers of some evil 'Gods', they made their tributes and sacrifices.

Immediately, the skies darkened, strong wind currents appeared.

There was higher concentration of Yin Qi through the air, a strange chill extended through their bodies.

The people who were arriving, had different expressions on their faces.

Most of them were worried, about becoming the next sacrifice or losing a loved one in this 'tradition.'

Gu Ten Long however, simply rolled his eyes while thinking.

"Yes, yes, very cool, sect leader.

You're oh, so magnificent and powerful...

Do you really need to remind us of this daily?"

As if noticing his disdainful expression, the husky man coughed and said.

"PAY YOUR RESPECTS TO THE GRAND SECT LEADER."

Immediately, many figures appeared.

Their bodies were shining intensively with a crimson aura.

But there was an aura that outshined the others by hundreds of times.

A giant hunched old man that had a crimson hair filled with white strands, was walking slowly towards them.

The giant looked like a terrifying beast, with thousands of heaped-up fang and teeth in his mouth, there were so many that they didn't even fit on his mouth.

They pierced his fragile flesh with ease.

His veins were bulging, constantly palpitating.

One could clearly see that his body was overflowing with blood, there was so much that his skin had a faint pinky tone, and just like with his mouth, there was so much blood that his veins couldn't hold it together, tiny drops of blood constantly leaked, before being absorbed again by his skin.

There was so much blood that no single heart could possibly circulate so much blood!

That was why, he had hundreds of hearts of many different wild beasts, and other Cultivators patched around his body.

The hearts were covered by multiple purple and dark veins, that were glued together forcefully.

Honestly, it was quite the wonder that he hadn't perished due to the drastic changes he had performed in his body.

His giant size, his absurdly freezing blood, his teeth.

None of that were things that came from an ordinary Cultivation Sutra, under the years he had modified his Cultivation Sutra so many times just to acquire a bit more of strength.

“Before We begin, I shall test how far have you progressed lately.”

His crimson aura skyrocketed, it shone brightly as the sun.

However, at difference from the sun he didn't transmit any warmness or heat.

Instead, it was like an ice spear that was aiming directly at their hearts.

The whispers of the fallen, the screams, their crying, his laughter...

Everything could be heard.

When this aura got close enough, their blood immediately cooled down, ignoring the skin completely.

Whether they wanted it or not, they all fell to their knees.

That was not something made of willpower suppression, no, no.

The sect leader by relying on his profound understanding of blood, it's flow, the heart and organs,

he took control over their bodies completely, if he wanted to, he could give them all a heart attack with

a mere thought.

This was the gap of their strength and the strength of their master.

"Good, Good, Good.

Most of you, haven't failed to meet my expectations.

Unfortunately, some of you have disappointed me.

Truly, a disgrace for you.

For you, heh, heh, heh.

Only one Fate awaits you."

He raised his index finger, pointing directly at a few figures among the crowd.

His fingernails were shattered brutally by his throbbing veins, that rushed

towards the unlucky cultists.

After catching their bodies, the sect leader chuckled lightly.

"I want you all to make all of you reminder this.

I am the king, you're my servants.

No matter what you do, you won't be able to fight, escape or hide.

No other place will accept you, for many of you have already tasted

and shed human blood, most of you're filled with depravity.

Even if you aren't one of whom have, who will believe you?

They'll put you down like a dog.

Therefore, you only have one hope of survival.

Play my games, and abide to my ways.

And I decree, those among you who betray the sect,

Those who try to flee, those who fall behind, those who

grow sick for too long, those who fail to meet my expectations.

All of you meet one end."

The sect leader, took his crimson crown and put it on the ground.

He began to recite in an strange language.

Suddenly, the skies and the ground began to tremble.

Tiny cracks appeared on the ground, and a strange scent of rotten blood filled their nostrils.

Beneath the ground, they saw the altar.

It was a transparent looking stomach.

Dozens of humans were thrown towards the stomach.

Everyone who fell there had a different reaction.

Someone tried to scratch his way out of the stomach by using his nails and

teeth, failing miserably.

Another simply gave up in despair and awaited silently for his end.

There was someone who took a dagger and directly stabbed his own heart,

to spare himself out of this torture.

As for those who weren't sacrificed.

They were all forced to watch.

Everyone, including the children and even baby who still didn't knew how to speak.

By using his masterful control over blood, he forced them to watch as this happened.

They couldn't turn their bodies, nor necks back.

They weren't even able to close their own eyes!

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The sect leader controlled their bodies, he even controlled the times they could wink.

Through dozens of methods of both physical and mental torture, he made all of them

give up their hopes of freedom, shattering their wills and molding their young minds.

How could anyone escape, when the sect leader had hundreds of methods, arranged around the whole area?

How could they fight back, when there was such an immense gap of strength?

This was Systematic cruelty.

By using those methods, the sect leader wanted to 'break' them.

To destroy their minds and reforge them as he liked to.

Distrustful, deceitful, backstabber, those were very important qualities for a Blood Cultivator.

Why?

It's simple.

No matter how talented someone is, they still require a certain 'mentality' to progress, how can

someone advance on Blood Cultivation if they're peaceful?

It would be like an Ice Cultivator that hates cold places!

To truly devote to their paths, and progress more efficiently, they not only have to be diligent, they must also love

what they do.

That is why most sects indoctrinate their students from a young age to love their respective pathways!

Fire Cultivate constantly create bonfires, they dance around the fire and often live close to volcanos

Some of them even learn to cook all kinds of food, to learn what is the best temperature to create the most

delicious food.

Water Cultivators, normally live around oceans and they frequently swim and even sink deeply in the water

to become one with it.

Blood Cultivators have to learn to embrace the madness.

Depredation, parasitization, survival and nourishment.

Those four were some of the most important aspects of blood path

That is not the only reason why he teaches them those 'values', just like he said before, he wants to make them

'irredeemable.'

By making them so twisted and cruel, he hopes that even if he were to be overthrown, they couldn't possibly join another

sect, they'd be forced to be fugitives for the rest of their live, or even become part of another demonic sect.

But in that case, why would they even overthrow him if their life would only get worse?

Another reason why he did this was simple.

Cruelty itself was the reason why.

After practicing for four and half centuries on the Blood Path, his mind was naturally twisted in an attempt to adapt to it.

The act of breaking the will of the weak, and making them bow was something thrilling for him.

Of course, there was another possibility.

He observed vaguely at Gu Ten Long with amusement on his expression.

Was he oblivious of that little brat's desire for freedom?

Obviously not.

But that little brat even though it was obvious that he would fail, his death wouldn't be in vain.

Through his desperate attempts to escape, he would naturally try to create his own trump cards, his own

tricks and even Sutras!

By observing his actions, he was able to safely thread into new horizons, to deepen his understanding of his Dao.

All while Gu Ten Long took all the risks for him!

Hell, even though that kid was young, he had already done so, by creating his 'fly leech', he innovated on Blood Path,

Across his long life, he had witnessed thousands of such prodigies, their Fates were all the same.

Their bloods were used to nourish him and to mend the cracks on his crown.

"HMM?" He raised his brows.

"How curious."

Beneath, Gu Ten Long's clothes there was a tiny figure crawling.

It was a leech.

The leech was moving in all kinds of patterns and forms, all

"Even now...

While witnessing the death of dozens, in front of my very aura and presence.

He still dares to practice with his little puppets?"

Gu Ten Long noticed the massive presence of the sect leader, he moved his eyes as much as his body allowed him to.

The two looked at each other.

No one said a word, but they could feel the other's intent.

Wu Yong was under a completely different predicament.

The words of the sect leader resonated through his head.

"I feel so empty.

In the first ten times I saw this scene, I cried in despair, in the first twenty, after leaving the ceremony I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth in absolute anger, with a burning desire of revenge.

In the first fifty, I grieved.

Yet now...

There is nothing.

Maybe is simply resignation, I already accepted that I'm inferior to the sect leader, that there's nothing I can do to stop his vile actions.

Yet, a part of me wonders, what if...

What if the sect leader was right?

Am I a monster now?

If I returned tomorrow, would my family still accept me?"

His body began to tremble, with realization he thought.

"If...If I knew without uncertainty, that my clan no longer wants me.

Would I still attempt to escape?

Life here it may be hell for most, but with my talent and the 'gift', my father gave me, chances are I'd still be able to become an elder, and live an almost 'peaceful' life here."

The two youths had two opposite mentalities.

Submission and opposition.

But those two mentalities were within the arrangements of the sect leader.

After looking at each of his lambs with hunger on his expression, he closed his eyes and touched his crown.

Feeling nostalgic.

The Twilight of The Blood Crown, that was the name of his sect.

But why was that so?

The sect leader, Zhen Yiyi had a long story with the 'crown.'

He could remember it as if it was yesterday.

More than four centuries ago, he used to be nothing more but an inner disciple of yet another sect, in another continent.

He once Cultivated solely Ice Path.

His abilities were rather remarkable, he was one in a hundred or so.

Still, he knew that he didn't had what it took to become a figure at the peak of the world.

Never he would become a figure like Bing Zhang Hung, the biggest prodigy ever born in the Bing Clan.

Even then, he never gave up.

He kept persevering, looking at the stories of hundred mythical figures in the past that despite having unremarkable beginnings, became top-figures in the world.

The most common factor among them was 'luck', absurd luck.

But, he knew that his luck was only average, chances were he'd never find a fortuitous encounter in his whole life.

Despite that, he didn't give up, if he wasn't born lucky, he'd create his own luck.

After many years of investigation and practice, he succeeded in creating his own technique.

A technique that could manipulate Destiny, that could give him a fortuitous encounter!

The cost of the technique was to burn his own luck permanently, and to bring the Heaven's rage upon him, but that didn't stop him.

After using the technique he had many visions, of a 'crimson crown', buried deeply in the depths of a cold sea.

Immediately, he realized that his fortuitous encounter was at the bottom of the ocean.

He only needed to find it...

Betting everything on this hope of acquiring his own luck, he gave up everything.

He escaped from his sect, and even though he was deemed as a traitor and was almost killed dozens of times, he still survived.

But no matter where he went, he couldn't find his crown.

Thus, he was forced to use many, many times his Destiny manipulating technique, which decreased his luck to negative values.

Anything he did, went poorly, everything that could go wrong went wrong, somehow he survived.

And after a whole decade, he finally found where the crown was located.

It was in another continent.

He travelled directly to the 'Golden Tortoise' continent, without any hesitation and finally, after almost losing his life once more he found it.

Upon putting the crown on his head, he realized something wonderful!

It had an unbelievable power, a power that could have no other origin but from an Immortal, someone at the 6th and last realm, the 'Divine Projection' Realm.

Who he was?

Why he died?

How many millenia had passed since the crown was buried at the ocean?

None of those questions went through his head, he only focused on what powers it had.

It granted the user a higher affinity towards Blood Path, it could strengthen the soul, the body, the blood purity, amplify Blood Path techniques, increase tremendously the speed of Cultivation of anyone who used them and more.

Awakening of a unique 'Bloodline Ability', huge healing capabilities, the capability to foresee and even counterattack Tribulations and even to raise his Lifespan!

Anything that you could thought of, the crown it would grant to.

But there was a catch.

Firstly to use the Blood Crown one had to be a Blood Cultivator.

Secondly, the crown was almost completely broken and it's powers were nothing of what they used to be.

Zhen Yiyi realized something, as an Ice Cultivator he would never be able to truly handle the crown's true power.

Therefore, there was only one possibility left.

To actively, remove his hard painstakingly gained Cultivation and replace it with Blood Cultivation.

The process was long and painful, like removing all the blood on your body and replacing it with the blood of another, or like removing your own nails and adding the claws of a tiger.

Finally, at his sixties he finally succeeded.

His Ice Cultivation had been removed almost fully, and at that point his Cultivation speed became ridiculous.

In five decades he reached the peak of the Mystical Condensation Realm.

Only one step more and he would reach the Void Realm.

The Void Realm was the 4th of the 6th Realms.

What it involved, it was simple.

To create a permanent aura, a never-ending self-sustainable force.

This process that seemed impossible had been successfully crossed by many in the past.

For example, a Time Cultivator that created an aura that was stuck into a 'loop' of time, and thus that it never ended.

Or like a Water Cultivator that divided his aura in three, one gaseous, another liquid and the last solid.

The ice melted, the water evaporated and then it raised towards the 'skies', becoming into many clouds that would then descend once more into the aura.

Or like a Space Cultivator whose aura was constantly 'falling' around his body, like an astral object constantly being pulled by gravity but never falling completely.

Of course, like there were successes there were also failures.

Like the founder of Explosion Path, he had the ambition to create an explosion that never ended.

And, well...he succeeded.

However his fragile body failed to sustain the never ending impulses, and after his body was thoroughly ripped to shreds, his aura still emergent, became stuck into a never cycle of implosions and explosions.

After his death, the place where he tried to succeed was renamed as the 'Crater, of the explosion that never ends', becoming a touristic attraction for the wealthy and powerful.

Zhen Yiyi was not a fool, he knew that he lacked the talent.

He merely was a cheater who used a powerful tool to get so far.

But he still had a trick to play, he activated his Destiny defying technique again and foresaw another possibility.

By repairing his crown fully, he could 'store' all kinds of Blood Qi in it.

Through this process he could create a constant flow of Blood through his body, slowly bringing the sublimation to him naturally.

To repair his crown, he made yet another crazy bet.

He became to kill hundreds of thousands in masse in massive sacrifices.

Naturally, he was pursued by many righteous groups, but he managed to escape from them for decades.

Until finally, after they created a massive coalition against him, they managed to caught him.

He was wounded profoundly, and was forced to retreat, knowing that the righteous sects would kill him if he entered once more into their areas, he was forced to hide on the forest.

There he founded the 'Twilight of The Blood Crown', for his crown was the only thing that had given him hope for so long.

Hundreds of years have passed since then.

Now?

He has outlived most of his peers, by using his crown he has managed to avoid death.

All for his ultimate goal.

A final sacrifice, a final ceremony.

Just another step...

He looked at all his 'disciples', with a wide smile on his face.

The ultimate sacrifice, by using the lives of everyone there he would be able to finally repair his crown completely and successfully ascend to the Void Realm.

Jokingly, he even said.

"Perhaps, in the future I shall rename my sect as the 'Dawn of the Blood Crown.'