Blood carved patterns and intricate circles slowly took form, resembling the presence of some ancient, evil being.
Two eyes,identical yet unnatural,stared back from the blood stained ground.
Each eye had four pupils, and within them lay a terrifying complexity.
The first eye held intricate circles and runes, their meanings unfathomable.The second was lined with interwoven markings, stretching endlessly to connect at their ends, creating a divine yet sinister symmetry.The third was filled with countless ancient runes, each stroke exuding an eerie presence.And the last... a combination of all three circles, lines, and runes blended together into something beyond mortal comprehension.
A presence began to stir.
As Yuan continued his work, his knife danced across the blood streaked ground, carving a single circle between the two monstrous eyes, right at the center of where a forehead would be.
A simple circle… but at each end of the ring, more lines, more runes, more miniature circles formed.
Only the very core of the circle remained untouched.
With each precise movement of Yuan's blade, the cave grew darker.
The dim glow of spiritual essence vanished, swallowed by an overwhelming emptiness.
The only thing visible now…
Were those two blood red, four pupiled eyes… and the ominous circle resting between their brows.
A cold chill crawled down Yuan's spine as he etched the final strokes.
His azure eyes, usually indifferent, began to glow,an eerie radiance reflecting off the bloody altar.
He whispered.
Words that where unlistable.
A whisper without a beginning. A whisper without an end.
Ancient syllables, carried by breath, vanished into the air as though the cave itself devoured them.
The moment the final whisper left his lips…
Yuan rose from the ground.
His gaze, glowing with an inhuman coldness, shifted toward Wu Shen's motionless body.
Without hesitation, he gripped her by the neck, dragging her lifeless form toward the very center of the blood ritual.
There, between the monstrous four pupiled eyes, he laid her face up, forcing her empty gaze to meet the ceiling.
Then, carefully, he positioned her arms along the carved lines,aligning her wounds with the altar's markings.
His blade sank deep into her palms.
Scarlet liquid oozed, trailing from her fingertips.
The moment her blood touched the carvings, the runes came alive.
A slow pulse.
A faint shimmer.
As if something was breathing through the ritual itself.
With the final piece in place, Yuan turned to the Blood Fox Demonic Beast, still unconscious in his grasp.
Without hesitation, he lifted it by the throat, carrying it over to Wu Shen's limp body.
He dropped it directly on top of her.
With the final preparations complete, Yuan delivered a sharp strike to both Wu Shen and the Blood Fox,waking them from their forced slumber.
Pain instantly surged through their broken bodies.
Their eyes snapped open.
Wu Shen's eyes widened as she slowly became aware of her surroundings.
She could see the ceiling of the cave… not the ground.
Her body… had been moved.
Something was wrong.
A low, guttural growl.
The Blood Fox had awakened.
The moment its eyes snapped open, it snarled, attempting to move, but its body was far too exhausted.
Yet, as it struggled, it suddenly realized something.
It wasn't lying on the cold ground.
It was lying on top of something… someone.
Wu Shen.
Its black eyes flickered with confusion.
But before either of them could react further
A whisphern.
A cold, indifferent whisphern echoed though the cave.
And in that instant, the air shifted.
The cave's atmosphere turned frigid, a suffocating chill creeping into their bones.
Wu Shen hated this feeling.
The unnatural cold.
The suffocating darkness.
Everything about this place was wrong.
The Blood Fox did not hate it.
It liked this temperature.
Slowly… its black tail swayed, moving with delight.
It didn't understand why the air felt so… perfect.
The ground began to glow.
A deep, blood red light illuminated the cave, pulsating with an eerie rhythm, as if breathing.
Neither Wu Shen nor the Blood Fox could see what was happening.
Neither of them understood anything.
The Blood Fox's vision blurred.
A strange warmth flooded its body.
Instantly, its wounds vanished.
Its broken flesh regenerated at an unnatural speed.
It felt amazing.
A cry of pure joy erupted from the fox's mouth as it basked in the overwhelming bliss that consumed it.
It was paradise.
A paradise made just for it.
Its mouth drooled, its tongue flicking out hungrily.
Its gaze fell on Wu Shen.
A new hunger burned in its eyes.
Wu Shen, seeing the twisted glint in the fox's gaze, felt her heart shatter.
Terror engulfed her soul.
She screamed.
"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEONE! ANYONE! SAVE ME!!"
Her cries echoed through the cave.
Desperate.
Broken.
Hopeless.
But
No one answered.
No one listened.
Only the whispers responded.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
Then endless.
Unfathomable, incomprehensible whispers filled her mind, speaking in a language she could not grasp, could not understand, could not resist.
They swarmed her thoughts, drilling into her skull, gnawing away at her sanity.
Her breath hitched.
Her pupils dilated.
Her mind
It was breaking.
It was shattering.
And just as her very soul teetered on the edge of madness
The Blood Fox…
Heard something else.
Not whispers.
A melody.
A song.
The voice of a god.
A sound so perfect, so divine, it felt like the song of creation itself.
The fox's black pupils trembled, its entire being drawn to the voice, to the command hidden within the melody.
It did not resist.
It obeyed.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the Blood Fox turned its head…
Guided by the voice.
Led by the melody.
Its gaze locked onto Wu Shen's trembling arm.
Its mouth parted.
And then
It bit down.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Wu Shen's shrieks filled the cave as the Blood Fox's fangs tore into her flesh, sinking deep into her arm.
Blood erupted, spilling across the glowing ritual markings.
The fox did not hesitate.
It did not stop.
With each rip of its teeth, flesh tore apart.
With each bite, it devoured.
Its sharp fangs shredded skin, muscle, and bone, blood splattering across the ground, turning the altar into a twisted masterpiece of agony.
To the fox…
This was the best meal it had ever tasted.
Wu Shen watched in horror as the demonic beast began to eat her.
Her screams pierced the cave, raw and desperate, her voice trembling with unimaginable agony.
She begged.
She pleaded.
"PLEASE! HELP! SOMEONE,PLEASE!!"
But no one came.
No one listened.
Her cries faded into the cold darkness.
And the beast did not stop.
Its fangs sank deeper, tearing into her burned flesh, ripping apart the charred remnants of her body.
Pain.
Unimaginable, unrelenting pain.
Wu Shen twitched violently, her body writhing, yet she remained conscious.
That was the worst part.
She was still alive.
She could feel everything.
She could see everything.
Her own arm… gone.
Nothing left but bare bones, stripped clean by the fox's ravenous hunger.
And then…
It moved to the other arm.
Tearing.
Ripping.
Devouring.
Next, her legs.
Bone snapped, flesh was shredded, and her very existence crumbled under the relentless feast.
Wu Shen's vision blurred.
Her mind spiraled into madness.
Why?
Why must I experience this?
Why must I endure this hell?
Why was I am still alive?
Why couldn't she just die already?!
She no longer had any will to fight.
No will to resist.
No will to live.
She just wanted it to end.
She just wanted death.
Her torso was next.
The beast ripped open her chest, tearing through muscle, organs, bone.
Her body jerked, but she still felt everything.
She remained awake, her fading mind trapped in the nightmare of her own body being consumed.
Nothing was left but her head.
Her once proud face was now blank.
A hollow, empty expression.
Her eyes lifeless, yet tears still streamed down her face, wetting the bloodstained ground.
Yet the Blood Fox did not care.
It did not stop.
It had tasted something divine.
Something beyond hunger.
It continued.
First, it peeled away her skin, stripping her face down to raw muscle and flesh.
Then, it bit off her tongue, silencing her forever.
Next, her jaw.
Her cheeks.
Her eyes.
Her ears.
Piece by piece…
It ate her whole.
Until only a bare skull remained.
Wu Shen was dead.
And as the Blood Fox finished its feast, something began to change.
The blood soaked ground began to shift.
The scattered blood that had pooled around them moved.
It did not remain still.
It did not dry.
It began to rise.
A thick, blood red mist seeped from the ground, hovering just above the surface, twisting and writhing as if alive.
It surged forward, flooding toward the Blood Fox.
The beast let out a low snarl, instinctively trying to resist.
It thrashed, its claws scraping against the stone floor, its body twisting in protest.
But the mist did not stop.
It wrapped around the beast, coiling around its body, slithering into its open wounds.
The Blood Fox inhaled.
Its struggle ceased.
The moment the blood red mist entered its body…
It felt right.
Perfect.
Divine.
And so
It stopped resisting.
It accepted it.
And as the blood mist merged with the Blood Fox's very being…
Its body began to change.
It grew small horns began to sprout from the top of its head, twisting upward.
Its fangs sharpened, growing longer, more savage.
Its once sleek black fur transformed, shifting into a deep crimson black, pulsing like flowing blood.
Its eyes once dark and wild, now burned blood red, glowing with a newfound madness.
Its claws extended, its muscles thickened, power surging through its veins.
Underneath its neck, blood began to drip.
No…
Not blood.
Something else.
A crystal.
Blood red.
It formed, solidified, embedding itself within the fox's flesh.
Drip.
Drip.
The Blood Fox stood still.
At first, the blood red crystal was small, barely visible.
But then…
It grew.
Slowly…
Steadily…
Until it reached the size of a human nail.
Then, it grew further, its height doubling, its width expanding to two centimeters.
The once dim glow of the crystal intensified, its blood red hue growing brighter, with only faint traces of dark crimson remaining.
The fox, feeling the completion of its transformation, cried out.
A long, piercing howl that echoed through the lifeless cave.
It wanted the world to know.
To witness its rebirth.
But the moment its howl reached its peak…
A sharp, agonizing pain exploded behind its neck.
The fox's cry choked.
Its body shuddered violently.
And then it spat out blood.
More.
And more.
Until, at last…
Its body collapsed.
Its once mighty form, fell upon Wu Shen's bones, its black crimson fur drenched in blood.
It had died.
Just like that.
All of this was witnessed by Yuan.
His indifferent gaze had watched every moment.
Every change.
Every struggle.
Every death.
Even now, as the fox lay motionless, Yuan remained still.
His voice, which had been whispering chants for the ritual, finally ceased.
The blade in his hand, still dripping with fresh blood, slipped from his grasp, clattering onto the ground.
sudden, violent tremor wracked his body.
A wave of nausea surged from the depths of his stomach.
And before he could react
Blood.
He vomited blood.
His mind burned.
A sharp, piercing pain stabbed through his skull, as if something was clawing at his consciousness.
His eyes turned blood-red, veins bursting as thick streaks of crimson leaked from them.
His ears began to bleed, his hearing fading into numbing silence.
His nose, too, dripped with blood, staining his already soaked robes.
His body trembled, every muscle screaming in agony.
For a moment, it felt as if he was going to die right there.
The pain subsided.
His weakened arm, trembling yet determined, reached forward.
His fingers curled around the blood-red crystal, still embedded in the fox's flesh.
And with one swift motion
RIP!
Yuan tore the crystal from the fox's neck.
Blood splattered, staining his already crimson soaked hands.
And then…
Without hesitation
Without thought
Without fear
He brought the crystal to his lips.
And swallowed it whole.
Then the real pain began.
Yuan's body arched, his back slamming against the stone ground as a searing pain erupted in his chest.
His heart twisted
Convulsed
Burned
As if a thousand blades had pierced it at once.
His hands clawed at his chest, gripping tightly, as if trying to hold himself together.
His throat tightened, choked screams escaping through clenched teeth.
Tears thick, red, blood soaked tears streamed down his pale face, mixing with the blood already coating his skin.
He coughed.
A wet, horrid sound, thick with blood and suffering.
His body shook uncontrollably, every nerve screaming.
The pain was everywhere.
It was all consuming.
It was hell.
Hours passed…
But the pain did not end.
It continued.
A relentless agony that tore through his body, his bones, his soul.
Yet, something had changed.
The pain lessened gradually, but surely.
Hours turned to night.
Night turned to day.
And as the next morning arrived, Yuan's azure eyes still burned with endurance, his body still trembling from the lingering agony.
But beneath the pain…
His organs had become harder, more resilient, pulsing with an unfamiliar strength.
His breaths felt deeper, fresher, as if his lungs had been reborn.
His senses had sharpened
His ears could pick up the faintest shifts in the wind.
His eyes saw further, clearer, piercing through the dim cave light.
And the most shocking change of all
His blood.
Even after vomiting endless pools of crimson, even after coughing out more blood than any Bone Forging cultivator could survive losing,
His body still had blood left.
It was endless.
As the next day fully arrived, the pain finally vanished.
The agony, which had tormented him for countless hours, ceased.
Yuan took a breath,his first painless breath since the ritual had begun.
But just as he prepared to move, his body tensed.
A sharp, sudden cough escaped his throat.
And with it
Blood.
Not normal blood.
It was different.
Darker. Richer. Heavier.
Its deep crimson shade carried a shadowed tint, far darker than before.
Yuan's gaze fell upon the thick, dark red blood pooling at his feet.
A bloodied smile stretched across his face.
His lips curled upward, his breath ragged, his body weak, yet his eyes gleamed with triumph.
He knew.
He had succeeded.
His entire ritual,the suffering, the sacrifice
It had worked.
"Blood Fiend Lower Physique."
The words left his mouth in a low, rasping whisper.
He began to snicker.
Despite the pain wrecking his body, despite his limbs trembling,
He could not stop himself from laughing.
A quiet, eerie chuckle echoed through the ruined cave.
Then
Yuan stood.
Slowly. Steadily.
His gaze swept across the room.
The once oppressive aura had vanished, as if it had never existed.
Everything that had once stood within this cave was now destroyed, reduced to nothing but ruins and remnants.
The only thing left…
Was the drawing.
Two blood red eyes, each with four pupils, carved into the very foundation of the cave.
And between their brows, at the center of the ritual circle
The remains of Wu Shen.
Beside it…
The corpse of the demonic Blood Fox.
Yuan's gaze remained cold.
Then, with a single motion of his hand,
Fwoosh!
An azure snake slithered from his palm.
It flickered, twisting and coiling hungrily.
It devoured everything.
The flames burned away the remains, consuming bones, flesh, blood
Leaving behind nothing.
No traces.
No proof.
Until at last…
The cave itself began to collapse, as if it, too, wished to erase the memory of what had occurred within its walls.
And as the first cracks formed, Yuan turned away.
Without a single glance back he left.