Stepping into the illusion realm, the first sight which entered Ace's view was the mountain of skeletons which were sprawled across the ground, stacked above each other chaotically.
Surrounding the skeleton corpses was an outer ring of blood.
The concentrated amount of blood created a rapid river.
Floating with the river were broken limbs and body parts which were severed.
The entire place was in shambles, littered with bodies which were abandoned here, forgotten by the cultivation world who will never remember them.
Ace's mind was crystal clear, he understood that this was only an illusion realm designed to be surreal.
But deep within his mind, he could hear a voice whispering into his head.
"This place is real."
That was the message the voice conveyed to him, having been given clues by his instincts constantly, Ace decided to believe in it as he surveyed the area.
After venturing north for some time, Ace finally arrived at another sect of the illusion realm.
What he saw was a projection of two cultivators being in a fight against one another.
The cultivator on the left was wielding a long spear.
The cultivator on the right was wielding a longsword.
The two cultivators were levitating in the air, above the vast ocean, staring into the eyes of their opponent as their grip on their weapons tightened.
The first clash ended up being a draw, sparks flashed in the air, the water beneath them exploding upwards, drenching their bodies which only raised their morale.
The sword and spear ripped the air apart, tore the space into pieces, creating their own space and dimension which is a strength that exceeds that of the cultivation world.
The battle was approaching its climax, the two cultivators unwilling to lose at this point of time, were swinging their sword and spear with their heart and soul, unwilling to bow down to their rival.
*Zwoop*
Before the final blow could be decided however, the projection was cut off.
On the surface above, a line of words created from blood in a cloud shaped speech bubble formed itself.
[If you want to proceed further, then prove yourself worthy by defeating the stone golem standing before you]
Stone golem?
*Crackle*
*Rumble*
Right when Ace was perplexed as to what the stone golem as all about, the sudden vibrations caught his attention.
The stones around him were gathering together into pieces, forming the body of the golem which he was supposed to be facing.
Yet, this was only the beginning.
The blood from the outer ring previously took on a gaseous form as they entered the body of the stone golem, dyeing it red while providing it with immense energy.
The golem did not have a mind of its own, but as though it was programmed to execute a series of actions, it clenched its fist and punched towards Ace.
It's fast!
That was the only reaction Ace had as he raised his sword to parry the fist away, his body sliding backwards with his feet trying to slow him down.
His arms were numb from the impact, his hand which was gripping the sword trembling in fear and excitement.
Gathering his slaughter law, Ace slashed towards the stone golem with a vertical slash while advancing towards the golem diagonally.
Making use of the timing which the golem used to destroy his sword wave, Ace leaped behind the golem and impaled his sword into its back.
The sword pierced through the thick skin of the stone golem, puncturing into its body which caused a large amount of blood to spill from its wound as Ace pulled his sword out, leaping onto the ground gracefully.
"Human cultivator, you've done well. I give you two choices right now."
The golem said as the wound on its back healed in a matter of seconds. More stones from the surrounding gathered around it, strengthening its defense while increasing its physical strength at the same time.
"What is it?"
Ace asked with the intention of ending this conflict before matters escalated.
Even though he might still be able to suppress the golem, the battle will be rough even if no other mishaps happen.
"The first choice is to continue this meaningless battle."
"The second choice is for you to prove yourself worthy as someone who awakened the slaughter law."
Ace was doubtful as to how he should prove himself, but still took on the second option.
"Since you have made this decision yourself, do not blame me for whatever pain you have to face next."
The golem said as it took out a ruby from the center of its chest, the ruby emitting a faint scent of blood which should have dissipated with the passage of time.
"Hold this ruby, crush it and it'll end my life which shouldn't have existed, as for what happens next, even I have no clue about it."
Ace hesitated for a moment as he picked up the ruby the golem had left on the ground, closing his eyes, he crushed the ruby with all his strength, only to realise that the ruby was too durable.
"What's going on? Wasn't I supposed to crush the ruby with raw strength?" Ace turned towards the golem who was seated on the ground, staring at him with those innocent eyes of his.
"All I know is that there's a certain message behind you having to crush the ruby and me, as for what the link is, the memory wasn't entrusted to me either."
The golem hinted before closing its eyes, not giving Ace the chance to gain any other information from him.
A message? What could it be?
I'm supposed to crush the ruby. By crushing the ruby, I would be ending the life of the person who had just helped me.
Is that what the message is? The fact that everything in this world comes with a price and that sacrifices…"
The moment Ace mentioned the magic word, the ruby he was holding in his hand suddenly glowed intensely as he crushed it easily without much effort.
Sacrifices must be made? Will that happen to my disciples one day? Ace couldn't prevent the birth of this idea within his mind as he trembled in fear, his attention diverted away by the golem which was crumbling away, returning to where it belonged.
"Thank you…" Ace mumbled towards the golem who would never hear his gratitude with a sunken heart before calming himself down.
The golem's death wasn't inevitable, if he had chosen to break his promise with the man, then the golem wouldn't have to face the need of experiencing death, he had brought this upon the golem.
Choices must be made in life, but I've already stepped onto the path of slaughter, is there any other choice besides cutting down those in my way?
The notion rose in Ace's mind as for the first time, he managed to awaken the final blood pool to form a hundred blood pools in total.
In the center of the first blood pool was a word.
Sacrifice.
Ace was surprised by this, the word was sacrifice for his first blood pool. He had expected it to be the word decision, but it seems that he has overestimated his own comprehension of the severity that every decision can cause.
For most cultivators who managed to even awaken the slaughter law, they were treated as treasured geniuses who were destined to contest against the demons of their generation, those weaker than the strongest are bound to become their stepping stones.
But even among those that awaken the slaughter law, the first word they achieved would usually be the word slaughter which strengthens the attack power, the most important aspect in the early stages of their cultivation compared to other diverse effects.
As for the sacrifice blood pool which Ace awakened, there was only one effect it provided. An increase of cultivation speed in mental energy while increasing the total capacity of his mental energy.
To put things simply, fifty blood pools he awakens now would be comparable to seventy blood pools he awakened in the future. Not to mention that the benefit was immediate.
With his mental energy already above most people, the seventy-two circle of the seed stage he has achieved right now was only slightly weaker than those who have stepped into the Origin realm of mental energy.
"Young boy, since you have already made it this far, would you have the guts to venture into the deepest parts of this place? I assure you that it'll be worth your time if you walk out from there alive. Remember, it's a decision between life and death."
A mysterious voice in the air asked, its voice sounding from the deepest parts of this realm as it called out to Ace.
"I have enough regrets in life. I'm afraid of death, but any other questions will be too much for me to handle. Wait for me."
Ace said towards the voice in the deepest parts of the realm as he advanced fearlessly, whatever comes his way, he would put up a fight regardless of the disparity in strength.
Ace was tired of giving up and being helpless. He had the system which gave him more than just an edge above those demons considering his innate cultivation talent.
"Hahahaha! Young boy, I'll wait for you patiently."
The voice laughed before dissipating, leaving Ace alone to venture deeper.
A step at a time in the deafening silence besides his quick footsteps.