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Bibi Dong fell silent.
She couldn't completely trust this cunning nine-tailed fox, but there were no major logical loopholes in his words.
Power is never gained out of thin air. The more you gain, the more risks you must bear.
but
Her eyes fell on Hu Liena's pale and forbearing face. The child's eyes showed dependence on the teacher and a hint of imperceptible pleading.
Nana is her disciple, not a tool.
She wanted her to be strong, but she wanted her to be safe even more.
"Your method is too risky." Bibi Dong finally responded coldly, "I won't gamble with her mind."
"Tsk, womanly kindness." The Nine-Tailed Fox seemed a little disdainful. "Well, since you can't bear to do it, let's try a gentler method."
"Speak." Bibi Dong said coldly.
"What you can't get will always make you restless. Once you get it, you will find that it's nothing special." The Nine-tailed Fox said slowly.
"As long as we can satisfy her a little bit and make her less obsessed with this desire, her obsession with wanting something will naturally diminish."
"But... there's a risk here."
"What risks?" Bibi Dong asked.
"A risk I'm not too sure about," said the Nine-Tailed Fox.
"She's not a real fox after all. I don't know if she would do that."
"However, if the Sky Foxes choose this method to overcome their love tribulation, then the person they choose will become indispensable to them."
"If this partner is gone, or doesn't want her anymore, she won't be able to live. Her heart will wither away, without any relief."
"To live by relying on others or to survive independently."
"I can't really say which one is good or bad."
"It depends on your choice."
A year passed quietly against the bloody backdrop of the Killing City.
Inside the stone house, the atmosphere was a bit more subdued and calm than it was a year ago.
Hu Liena sat cross-legged on the stone bed, a faint pink halo surrounding her body, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead, her brows furrowed, and she was obviously struggling hard with the surging power in her body.
Her breathing was sometimes rapid, sometimes long, and her body would occasionally tremble slightly, but she always managed to hold on to herself on the edge of losing control.
Xuan Ming sat quietly not far away, emitting a faint cold aura.
His existence itself is like a piece of soul-calming ice, always helping Hu Liena fight against the burning desire from the depths of her soul.
Occasionally, when Hu Liena's breathing became too disordered, a cool white light would pass by in time to help her calm her mind.
This year, with Xuan Ming's help, Hu Liena struggled to learn how to control the power that almost burned her.
The process was painful and long, and every suppression was like dancing on the edge of a knife, but her eyes were more determined than a year ago.
As for the Hell Killing Ground, under Bibi Dong's covert pressure and the "active cooperation" of the King of Killing, although no one dared to challenge Xuan Ming, they could always "coincidentally" find some desperate criminals who were coerced or bribed, or had just come in and didn't know why, and arrange a match for Xuan Ming every now and then.
His winning streak increased slowly and steadily in a strange tacit understanding.
During this period, Bibi Dong came several times. In addition to checking on the two people's conditions, she also brought news about the changing situation in the outside world.
The Spirit Hall has officially changed its name to the Spirit Empire, and has annexed several kingdoms on the border of Tiandou and Xingluo with lightning speed, rapidly expanding its territory.
After the demise of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan was also completely tied to the chariot of the Spirit Empire.
The two empires' vigilance against the Wuhun Empire has reached its peak. A large number of soul master families and sects who are unwilling to surrender have defected to Tiandou or Xingluo, forming a tense confrontation situation with three empires in a three-way confrontation.
In this turbulent chess game, some chess pieces also quietly changed their positions.
Yu Xiaogang appeared in the Tiandou Empire. By exposing the true face of "Xue Qinghe" and the identity of Tang San's teacher, and with the contrast of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect "surrendering to the enemy", he actually gained the great trust of Emperor Xue Ye and was appointed as the national teacher. He was able to gather the remaining disciples of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Sect and gained the strong support of the Tiandou Empire, becoming a banner of resistance against the Wuhun Empire.
Someone in the Elders' Hall proposed to assassinate Yu Xiaogang, but it was rejected by Bibi Dong.
In her opinion, it is far more cost-effective to keep such a "theoretical master" and "emotional leader" in Tiandou than to replace him with an unknown and potentially more difficult opponent.
As for Tang Hao and Tang San, they seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, and there was no news of them since then.
Dai Mubai was "sent" back to the Xingluo Empire by the Spirit Hall, and he must be causing new troubles there.
However, all these disturbances were overshadowed by a more pressing news during Bibi Dong's last visit.
"Qian Renxue has remained deep within the Elders' Hall, and Qian Daoliu has remained silent."
"The worship hall is almost completely speechless. I am 90% sure that she has begun to accept the angel's divine test."
"With Qian Daoliu's dedicated support, her progress may be beyond imagination. If I fail to achieve the Rakshasa Godhood before her... our previous agreement may be jeopardized. By then, not only me, but Gu Yuena and the others... may also face great danger."
Once Qian Renxue succeeds, the power of the Wuhun Empire will change hands in an instant.
The structure of the Wuhun Empire and even the entire continent will be completely overturned.
Xuan Ming doesn't care about the disputes in the outside world or the rise and fall of the empire.
However, he could not ignore the possible consequences of Qian Renxue becoming a god, especially the threat to Gu Yuena.
He glanced at Hu Liena who was still struggling with her own desires, and then felt the surging power in his body and the winning streak that had been stagnant for a long time.
It seems that the day of leaving the City of Killing must be brought forward.
Xuan Ming pushed open the bone door and walked into the eternal dim red night of the City of Slaughter.
Inside the house, Hu Liena was still in a state of meditation, fighting against the power in her body, seemingly unaware of anything happening in the outside world.
After nearly two years of living in the City of Slaughter, Xuan Ming knew this city of sin like the back of his hand.
He didn't need to look for it deliberately. Just walking on the twisted streets of the inner city, the cold murderous intent lingering around him, almost condensed into substance, was enough to make the lurkers in the dark tremble with fear and flee in panic.
But there are always some newcomers or desperate criminals who are forced into desperate situations and will rush forward with red eyes and become food for the blood spear.
Xuan Ming's figure was like a ghost, moving between the rugged rocks and bloody buildings.
He did not actively kill people, but was more like an indifferent harvester, clearing the weeds that came his way.
The blood spear did not appear, but whenever an attack approached or he locked onto a target, a dark red afterimage would flash by like a poisonous snake.
There was no earth-shaking sound, only extreme speed and precision, and the opponent's body instantly shriveled up after the attack was completed.
Killing now has lost all feeling to him and is as natural as breathing.
After nearly two years of non-stop killing, the number of fallen people who died at his hands has already reached an astronomical number.
The Messenger of Slaughter had personally approached him and vaguely revealed some information. Since his arrival, in less than two years, the population of the City of Slaughter, which had been accumulated for nearly a thousand years, had been reduced by nearly one third.
A huge amount of vitality and soul power was devoured and refined by the Blood Spear, causing it to reach a state that even he could hardly understand.
But what followed was an increasingly clear sense of stagnation.
Especially in the past six months, it has become increasingly difficult for him to fully unleash the full power of the Blood Spear.
It's not that the power has weakened. On the contrary, the energy contained in the blood spear has become so huge that even he feels palpitations.
The problem is control.
The blood spear that appeared with the awakening of his martial soul seemed to have given birth to some vague and extremely primitive will after devouring endless lives.
A pure desire to kill and devour.
It's like an overfed beast about to break free from its reins.
In the past half month, an even more peculiar change has occurred.
The blood spear's constant desire to devour and kill began to weaken.
Not disappearing, but becoming... lazy?
It's like a glutton who, after a long and uncontrolled binge eating, is finally approaching the critical point of satisfaction.
It still longed to kill, but that desire was no longer so urgent and difficult to suppress.
Xuan Ming could clearly sense that the vast ocean-like power within the blood spear was approaching a state of saturation and stability.
The energy fed back to him became more refined, but the amount was decreasing.
It is about to be "fed".
This realization made Xuan Ming feel complicated.
On the one hand, the stability of the Blood Spear meant that the possibility of him regaining full control over it increased, and he no longer had to worry about backlash when using it.
On the other hand, he was also curious about what kind of changes would happen to a martial soul that had devoured so many lives and was almost the most evil and vicious in the world after reaching saturation?
Will it fall into silence, or... give birth to something even more terrifying?
He stopped and stood on a watchtower made of bones, overlooking the inner city below which was like hell.
The smell of blood and the crazy roars never stopped.
He raised his right hand, his mind moving slightly.
Buzz——
A dark red spear, as if made of solidified blood, quietly emerged.
On the spear, the dragon scale patterns that were originally just faint black have now become clear and deep, with a faint glow rotating.
The tip of the spear is an extremely dark red, which seems to be able to swallow all the light. Even the soul will feel throbbing if you look at it for a long time.
The blood spear hovered quietly above his palm, no longer emitting the hungry humming sound as before. Instead, it exuded a deep, restrained, yet more disturbing aura.
Xuan Ming could feel that the slight barrier between him and the Blood Spear still existed.
It was no longer a complete extension of his body, but more like a symbiote... with a hint of instinctive reactions.