"Alright, let's go down. We shouldn't let Sister Yan impulsively swallow the neidan."
Han Li turned his head to look at Dugu Bo, smiling as he spoke.
"Neidan? Are you talking about that golden-red bead just now? Is it similar to the poison core I made before?"
Glancing in Dugu Yan's direction, Dugu Bo started to descend and asked curiously.
"It's similar, but a bit different from your poison core. The neidan contains all its essence. Did you notice? None of the beasts we've killed here have produced soul rings."
Han Li landed in front of Dugu Yan and took the neidan from her hand, which she was reluctant to let go of.
"Let me use it first. I'll give it back to you later."
Han Li glanced at Dugu Yan's expression and then handed the neidan to Dugu Bo.
"Feel it? Does your martial soul react?"
Dugu Bo hesitated, then came closer, touching the neidan with his martial soul aura.
He was stunned.
"Such high quality? I feel my martial soul being suppressed. How come I didn't feel this when it was alive?"
"It might be slightly higher. As for the rest, I'm not sure. After all, it's a prehistoric beast. I'll study it and let you know."
Han Li was well aware that this wasn't the prehistoric world; it was likely from another world, but it was still stronger than the Douluo Continent, which was heavily restricted.
Seeing Shui Bing'er and Xiu'er approaching, Han Li continued to explain, "Prehistoric beast, Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent. Extremely poisonous, an adult can grow over ten meters long, possessing the strongest fire poison among snakes. After cultivating for ten thousand years, it forms neidan, hidden among the nine heads on its back. When the neidan appears, the world changes color. If you obtain its neidan, all snakes will avoid you, making you the supreme of snakes."
"Supreme of snakes, supreme, supreme is good."
Dugu Bo muttered to himself after hearing the explanation, then looked at Dugu Yan with joy. He no longer had to worry; his granddaughter would undoubtedly be much stronger than him in the future.
"Can this make my martial soul transform again?"
Dugu Yan poked the golden-red neidan with her finger, a smile spreading across her face.
"It can, and it can save you a soul ring. If you're lucky, it might even become your life soul ring."
"But let me study it first. I'll give it back to you once we're out."
Han Li played with the neidan for a moment, then put it away.
"Okay."
Dugu Yan nodded obediently. Although she was reluctant, she chose to trust Han Li.
Han Li found it amusing and pinched her nose.
"This concerns everyone's power growth. At most three days, no, five days, and I'll give it back to you."
Dugu Bo, standing nearby, had a thoughtful look. He had guessed a bit of Han Li's intentions.
"Alright, let's prepare to leave. I'm starting to miss the blue sky and white clouds."
Hearing his words, everyone's spirits lifted. It wasn't just Han Li; they all missed it dearly. The gray sky and bluish-purple environment of the City of Slaughter throughout the year were depressing.
Han Li looked at the spirited group, took out three dragon lotus leaves from his wristband, and handed one to each of the three girls.
"Hold it in your mouth to speed up soul power recovery. For the upcoming journey, remember to keep running the Blood Fiend Art. If anything feels wrong, speak up immediately. Don't be careless, understood?"
"Grandpa, if you have the strength, use your purification power on anyone who seems off."
Han Li's expression grew serious as he reminded everyone.
"Got it/No problem."
Everyone nodded, knowing they were nearing the end of the trial.
"Good, let's go."
This time, Han Li didn't take the lead but stayed at the back. That way, if anyone really couldn't hold on, his domain could provide a last resort.
For this final stretch, he hoped they could endure it themselves. Otherwise, even if they obtained the Deathgod Domain, it would be weak and useless against strong enemies.
They continued forward. The temperature kept rising, and the dark red liquid flowing in the abyss on either side became increasingly visible.
Fortunately, the group's strength wasn't weak. Except for Xiu'er, the others' martial souls had some resistance to this environment. With the dragon lotus leaves supplementing their soul power, Xiu'er also decisively maintained her soul power shield, not minding the slight soul power consumption.
As they walked and practiced the Blood Fiend Art, they gradually realized that the killing intent and negative emotions in the air here were much stronger than those in the City of Slaughter.
In this situation, the heat continuously stirred their emotions, making them increasingly irritable. Killing intent also surged, constantly interfering with them.
"Focus, slow down. Treat this as training. Don't worry about safety. Stimulate your mental power growth as much as possible. Once we leave, we won't have such a good environment."
Han Li's voice rang in their ears, stabilizing their somewhat drifting thoughts. The white killing intent tinged with red around them became orderly again.
Thus, a narrow path that should have been quickly traversed was turned into a training ground by Han Li.
With the blood pool below them now less than fifty meters from their path, Han Li realized he was also somewhat affected. However, the effect was still too weak. Han Li's mental power steadied quickly, and he continued to protect the group.
So far, among the three girls, Xiu'er performed the best. Perhaps it was because she had already killed many evil soul masters or her mind was the purest. Whenever she was slightly swayed by the killing intent, she would look back at Han Li, regain her clarity, and continue forward.
On the other hand, Dugu Yan and Shui Bing'er had to rely on Dugu Bo's purification power twice to catch up with Xiu'er's progress.
Thus, a not-so-distant path took the five of them nearly four hours to traverse until they stopped at the edge of the blood sea ahead.
The blood sea in front of them churned continuously, emitting high temperatures and a visible evil aura, making them feel like they had arrived in the legendary hell.
A thousand meters away, an oval-shaped curtain of white light stood quietly, waiting for the challengers to arrive.
Han Li checked the group's condition and found that only he and Dugu Bo still had the strength to move.
The three in front, at the edge of the blood sea, could barely stay conscious. Flying as before would be challenging.
Still, it wasn't too bad; at least they could stay conscious here, proving that their mental power had greatly improved, far surpassing their current level.
"Let's go, Grandpa. Staying here longer won't significantly improve Sister Yan and the others in the short term. We should leave."
Han Li looked at Dugu Bo.
"Okay."
Dugu Bo glanced at his still-persistent granddaughter, a smile flashing across his face. He used his purification power on the three again before picking up Dugu Yan and flying toward the light curtain.
Han Li also picked up two at once, flapping his green wings, and flew toward the other side.
Thus, what was an insurmountable distance for others was easily crossed by those with flying abilities.
In front of the white light curtain, Han Li glanced back at the hellish road still filled with blood energy and negative emotions, smiled at the group, and stepped through the oval door.
As soon as he crossed the threshold, Han Li felt he had entered a strange world.
The surroundings were a void of pure white, and then he felt all the void and coldness pressing in on him. During this process, the killing intent within him was fully activated and transformed by an unknown force, attempting to dye him white as well.
Han Li raised an eyebrow.
"Asura God, this is a bit much."
He simply mobilized his killing intent to clash with the white killing intent. With each tear, he used the Blood Fiend Art to devour it. Gradually, the white killing intent was at a disadvantage.
"Hmph."
A voice rang out in the void, seemingly displeased with his actions. Still, a pattern of pure white killing intent flew toward him, allowing him to completely seize it with his blood-red killing intent.
Han Li blinked, lowered his head, and began to comprehend the pattern and rules that now belonged to him.
After an unknown amount of time, Han Li finally mastered it, satisfied, forming a blood-red "Han" character. He cupped his hands toward the space above.
The next second, he felt himself being forcefully kicked out, returning to reality.
Opening his eyes, Han Li saw the others standing in front of him, looking at him with concern.
"Ha, I'm fine, just did some research."
Han Li smiled, and opened his right hand, revealing a unique mark.
Under their curious gazes, the blood-red characters in his hand transformed into their likenesses, lifelike, while his surrounding domain was a blood-red color.
"Is your domain the same as ours?"
Dugu Bo also activated his domain, white killing intent enveloping him, a small white sword appearing on his forehead. He looked at the constantly changing marks in Han Li's palm with some disbelief.
"More or less."
Han Li retracted his domain, chuckling, not wanting to dampen their spirits.
They didn't press further. Honestly, they just wanted to find a place to rest now.
Another issue was that even though they all had domains and the Blood Fiend Art to help control them if they walked the streets now, they would realize they were truly imposing, capable of scaring children with just a glance.
They didn't notice it themselves because they had been together constantly and couldn't sense the change.
"Rest first. According to the agreement, Master and Martial Uncle should be here soon."
Han Li murmured, then raised his right hand to the sky. A two-colored lotus flew into the sky, growing larger and larger.
...
In a nearby camp, Guang Ling sensed the energy fluctuation, looked up, and saw the two-colored lotus in the sky, a look of joy spreading across his face.
"Let's go, third brother, Xiao Li and the others are out! Let's go meet them!"
He said, not waiting for Azure Luan to stand, spreading his light wings, and flying toward the lotus's origin.
Azure Luan stood, shook his head slightly, and turned into a green light, following closely.