In the blink of an eye, Ding Hao had flown dozens of li with several members of the Purgatory Demon Sect. Although those behind them were shouting with full force, Ding Hao knew that since they weren't sure whether the sword art was in Hateful - Earth's hands, they all had scruples and wouldn't care about the Purgatory Demon Sect's departure at all. On the contrary, the situation had been evenly matched before, but with the Purgatory Demon Sect's withdrawal, the balance was immediately broken. This battle would definitely end hastily!

Ding Hao led the group to the entrance of the cave where Yin Feng Zhenren had been last time and stopped. However, he found that he could no longer locate the exact position of the cave. But Ding Hao knew that Yin Feng and the others must still be here because the Infant - Locking Ring in his pocket was making a loud "ying ying" sound again.

After thinking for a moment, Ding Hao already knew the reason. After explaining what he had seen and heard last time to the group, he saw Nie Tian's eyes narrow slightly. Two faint white lights shot out from his eyes as he looked around. After a while, Nie Tian smiled slightly and said, "What a brilliant illusion technique!"

Then he waved his hands several times and sent out several white lights. After the white lights passed, the entrance of the cave appeared. Nie Tian thought for a moment and said seriously, "Judging from the technique of the person who set up the formation, this person's strength is by no means ordinary. Once we enter this cave, our lives will be in danger. Moreover, according to what the young man said, there should be many experts in the cave. I wonder what you all have decided?"

Although it was in an interrogative tone, from his expression, he had already decided to break in. Feng Xingran looked at Ding Hao as if seeking his opinion.

"How can you catch a tiger's cub without entering the tiger's lair? Although my strength is not enough, I have other means to protect myself. Don't worry about me," Ding Hao said indifferently when he saw that several people were looking at him.

Seeing that Ding Hao said so, Nie Tian didn't say more. He nodded and said, "In that case, let's give it a try. The Immortal - Realm Sword Art is worth the risk! You all follow behind me. If the situation is bad, leave immediately!"

After saying that, he was the first to enter the cave.

As soon as Nie Tian moved, the others quickly followed. Ding Hao started last and followed behind Feng Xingran. Ding Hao knew that among these people, only Feng Xingran was the most trustworthy. Although she usually had the worst attitude towards him, she might be the only one who could save him at a critical moment.

When they first entered the cave, they found that it wasn't as dark as they had imagined. Several night - pearls embedded in the cave ceiling made the cave unusually bright. The entrance of the cave was about two zhang high and three zhang wide. The further they walked in, the more spacious it became.

There were grotesque rocks in the cave, and the stalactites hanging from the ceiling were still dripping water, like demons with bared fangs and brandished claws dripping blood from their mouths.

To prevent the leakage of true essence and attracting the attention of those in the cave, none of them flew with their swords. Instead, they walked. Even so, after walking nearly a hundred zhang, there was no change except that the cave felt even more spacious.

"Do we need to be so cautious? This cave is so deep. At this rate, when will we reach the end?" Elder Wu of the Purgatory Demon Sect finally couldn't bear it. Although he had deliberately lowered his voice, it still sounded very loud in this silent cave.

Glancing at him, Nie Tian reprimanded softly, "Elder Wu, how can you be so impatient? You've cultivated for so many years, yet you're not even as patient as Ding Hao, the young man. I've already said that there must be top - notch experts hidden in this cave. We should be careful and cautious when dealing with the unknown!"

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Rebuked by Nie Tian, Elder Wu's face turned red. He chuckled and said nothing more, following Nie Tian silently. After walking another dozens of zhang.

"Elder Nie, wait a moment!" At this time, Ding Hao frowned and said.

"What do you want to say, young man?" Nie Tian stopped, and the others also looked at Ding Hao in confusion.

"I wonder if you all have smelled the faint smell of blood in the air. To be honest, before I cultivated, I was a hunter, and I'm most sensitive to this kind of smell," Ding Hao said seriously.

As soon as Ding Hao said this, the others sniffed hard several times. But from their expressions, it seemed that they didn't sense anything.

"Although I can't smell it, I believe in your sense of smell. Do you know what kind of animal blood it is?" Nie Tian said.

"It's not the blood of an animal. It's human blood. And they're people who died not long ago. There's still some heat in the blood smell, and there are more than one person. There are probably dozens of them," Ding Hao said seriously.

Everyone's expressions changed. Nie Tian said, "It seems that there are other changes in this cave. Since there's already a smell of blood, we must be close to the end. Take out your magic weapons and be on guard at all times!"

Everyone immediately took out their magic weapons. Ding Hao also grasped the Against - Heaven Demon Sword in his hand and communicated with the Eight - Winged Purple Python once. After walking another dozens of zhang, the smell of blood became stronger. Now, even ordinary mortals who hadn't cultivated could smell this pungent smell of blood.

Feng Xingran wrinkled her cute nose and seemed to mutter to herself softly, "Is someone a dog? His nose is so sharp even from such a distance!"

Nie Tian smiled wryly and said nothing. Ding Hao knew that the girl was scolding him, but at this time and place, he really didn't have the mood to be annoyed with her. He turned his head away as if he hadn't heard.

After walking for another half an hour, the blood qi in front exploded. The sky - high blood qi filled the whole space like thick fog. Finally, they reached the end of the cave. The scene that came into their eyes made them freeze on the spot.

They saw a blood - covered man sitting in the center of the cave. Because the blood fog around him was too dense, his face couldn't be seen clearly. In front of him was a blood pool about four zhang in size. At the four corners of the blood pool, there were seven corpses of cultivators lying in disarray. The positions of the corpses vaguely formed the Big Dipper, but it also seemed not quite like it.

The arteries in the necks of the seven corpses were torn apart, and blood spurted into the blood pool like fountains. At the four corners of the blood pool, there were four large columns of blood qi. Every once in a while, the blood columns grew a bit larger. In the middle of the air above the blood pool, the treasure armor containing the Immortal - Realm Sword Art was floating. The treasure armor was surrounded by blood qi and slowly rotating. The blood - covered man from time to time sent out triangular blood lights from his forehead towards the treasure armor. Every time the blood lights touched the treasure armor, the blood fog around it grew stronger.

Just when they were stunned for a moment, they saw this man take out various precious spirit herbs from his storage ring and put them into the blood pool. At this time, Ding Hao saw that the blood fog in the blood pool seemed to fade a little. Then this man took out another thing. Ding Hao recognized at a glance that it was the Infant - Locking Ring he had refined himself.

They saw this man catch a cultivator's Nascent Soul from the Infant - Locking Ring. The Nascent Soul's face was distorted in pain. In the deep eye sockets, blood - colored tears were flowing... It seemed to be begging for mercy from the Soul - Capturing Messenger, and also seemed to be writhing in unbearable pain, moaning with endless resentment and unwillingness. Although it struggled with all its might, it was firmly grasped by an invisible hand and couldn't escape. It was Yin Feng Zhenren whom Ding Hao knew.

This man didn't even look at it and directly threw Yin Feng Zhenren's Nascent Soul into the blood pool in front of him. Yin Feng Zhenren's Nascent Soul was extremely frightened but powerless. Once it entered the blood pool, it melted away, and the blood qi in the originally slightly weaker blood pool immediately grew stronger.

After doing this, the blood - covered man opened his eyes. His blood - red eyes didn't look human at all. With the opening of his blood - eyes, a cruel, murderous, blood - thirsty, and cold - blooded aura filled the whole world.

"After watching for so long, you should be satisfied. I'll send you all on your way now!" This man let out a wild cry that was both human and beast - like.

"Blood Demon Lie Shan! I should have thought it was you. I didn't expect you to be cultivating here. We accidentally entered this cave. We're all from the Demon Path. Can you show mercy and let us go?" Nie Tian said. This was the first time Ding Hao had seen Nie Tian show weakness since he had known him.

Hearing Nie Tian's words, except for Ding Hao, the several members of the Purgatory Demon Sect all had terrified expressions on their faces. Ding Hao had never seen them like this even when they faced the various sects of the Taoist Path. Although he didn't know who Lie Shan was, he immediately judged that this person must be a terrifying existence. Otherwise, these people wouldn't have such an abnormal expression.

"Hehe, you're the Heavenly Demon Nie Tian, right? Although we haven't met, your name as the Heavenly Demon is well - known. Your cultivation level is only one level lower than mine. With your status, how can you say such naive words? Everyone in the world knows what kind of person I, the Blood Demon, am. There's no need to say more!" Lie Shan's voice was like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves, truly extremely unpleasant!

"Lie Shan, I'm not afraid of you. Even if I'm not your match, I have the confidence to retreat unscathed. I just don't want the battle between you and me to affect the juniors behind me," Nie Tian said with a slight frown.

"I know what you mean. Usually, I wouldn't make things difficult for these juniors. But things are different now. The news of my obtaining the treasure must not be leaked. Enough talk. Today, you all will die here with regret!"

As soon as the Blood Demon's voice faded, several blood lights as thick as arms shot out from his hands and rushed towards Ding Hao and the others respectively!