Hengsha City.

Landlord Li’s Mansion.

In the main hall. A man in a white robe, wearing a Red Fox Mask, sat upon the Grandmaster’s Chair at the head of the room.

Kneeling before him on one knee was a middle-aged man in black martial attire, with upturned, slanted eyes.

"Sacrificial Envoy Li, how goes the matter I entrusted to you?"

The masked man’s voice was somewhat hoarse.

Sacrificial Envoy Li replied with a terrified expression:

"Reporting to Lord Sacrificial Minister, the Seven Stars Gang has been acting with extreme caution. Their Elder Level members have been hiding in Seven Stars Castle and haven’t left, so your subordinate has not found an opportunity..."

"Hm?" The Sacrificial Minister’s voice dripped with displeasure.

"However, your subordinate has learned that an Elder recently came out to assist the Government Office with a case! But that Elder is Ju Men Star Li Rushan, a Force Integration Artist. Your subordinate fears he is no match for him..." Sacrificial Envoy Li added hastily.

"Hmph, useless!" the Sacrificial Minister cursed.

Still, he considered that while Sacrificial Envoy Li was at the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm and a capable expert in his own right, Li Rushan was, after all, a Force Integration Artist. Although it seemed like only a fine line separated them, that line represented a gap that was incredibly difficult to overcome.

"Red Tiger, Lotus, you two will assist Sacrificial Envoy Li in killing that Li Rushan!" the Sacrificial Minister said in a low voice.

At that, two people walked out from behind a screen.

One of them was a bald, middle-aged man.

He had a thick beard, was bare-chested, and had an extremely muscular build.

His skin had a faint reddish hue, as if he practiced Iron Body Skills.

The other was a young woman.

She wore a long, cyan dress and held a round silk fan embroidered with a lotus. Her face was pure and delicate; she looked like the daughter of a noble family.

Sacrificial Envoy Li was startled. Unlike a Sacrificial Envoy like himself, who presided over sacrificial ceremonies, these two were Blood Slaughter Envoys, specially trained within the Blood Spirit Sect to assassinate their enemies!

Although, like him, both of them were at the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm, they were masters of various methods like Hidden Weapons and poisons. They were elusive and their methods were utterly ruthless!

Moreover, it was said they possessed a Secret Technique that allowed them to temporarily break through to the Pseudo-Entry Level!

Many experts had died at their hands, including quite a few Force Integration Artists!

Although being with them made his skin crawl, at least this mission was now basically guaranteed to be a perfect success!

"With the help of two Blood Slaughter Envoys, your subordinate will surely bring back Li Rushan’s head!" Sacrificial Envoy Li said, his face lighting up with joy.

The brawny man named Red Tiger walked over, grabbed his shoulder with one hand, lifted him up, and then sniffed him, saying:

"Your scent... stinks. I don’t like it!"

With that, he released his grip.

Sacrificial Envoy Li hurriedly steadied himself.

Just then, the woman named Lotus came forward, gently caressed his chest, licked her lips, and said, "You feel... quite delicious!"

Sacrificial Envoy Li couldn’t help but shudder.

Despite her delicate appearance, she was a heinous witch who had poisoned hundreds of people to death!

One careless move and you’d be poisoned by her!

"Alright, that’s enough!" the Sacrificial Minister spoke up.

"One month. I’m giving you only one month! Otherwise, you know the consequences!"

His voice was laced with viciousness.

"Your subordinates will not fail this mission!" the three said in unison.

"Of course, if you succeed, your rewards will be great! Upon completion, each of you will receive a drop of the Master of the Black Abyss’s essence blood!"

The Master of the Black Abyss’s essence blood?!

Joy appeared on all three of their faces at once.

For the members of the Blood Spirit Sect, they cultivated a Cultivation Technique known as the Blood Spirit Technique.

This Cultivation Technique allowed one to break through to new realms in an extremely short amount of time.

It was unlike other Martial Arts, which required the slow accumulation of Qi Blood.

The only caveat was that it required supplementing with large amounts of Martial Artists’ essence blood.

This was also the reason they captured Martial Artists in the city.

It wasn’t just for feeding the Blood Sacrifice.

They also needed it for their own training.

The higher a Martial Artist’s Realm, the more energy their essence blood contained.

To them, it was the ultimate tonic.

But none of that could compare to the essence blood of the Master of the Black Abyss!

This was Divine Blood! 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

It could give them the chance to break through their shackles and reach an even higher level!

In other words, to reach Force Integration!

"Thank you, Lord Sacrificial Minister!" the three exclaimed in unison, their eyes filled with fanaticism.

"Alright, you may go," the Sacrificial Minister said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes!"

Just as the three were about to leave, a terrifying howl suddenly echoed up from underground.

"It’s the Blood Sacrifice!"

"Let’s go, we’ll go down and see!"

The four of them immediately went through a secret door and down to the dungeon.

They arrived in front of the cage holding the Blood Sacrifice.

The Blood Sacrifice seemed to be experiencing something incredibly painful, clutching its head and screeching.

"What’s wrong with it? It’s not injured," Sacrificial Envoy Li said in confusion.

"This is... It seems the Blood Sacrifice in Lin Yuan City has been killed! They are connected by blood and are capable of Sensing one another," the Sacrificial Minister said grimly.

"What?! That Blood Sacrifice was extremely cautious. How did they manage it?" Sacrificial Envoy Li asked in shock.

"This is for the best. We couldn’t even catch that Blood Sacrifice. Now that it’s dead, the Black Abyss Flesh will have automatically separated from it and must have been taken by whoever killed it.

"However, without our Blood Spirit Sect’s Secret Technique, they won’t know how to use this Black Abyss Flesh, which gives us a chance to get it back!"

The Sacrificial Minister’s voice was tinged with joy.

The Black Abyss Flesh was the core item used to create a Blood Sacrifice.

It could only be activated by the Blood Spirit Sect’s Secret Technique.

Otherwise, it was just a piece of dead flesh that couldn’t be cut by a blade, burned by fire, or ever decay—completely inert.

According to the Blood Spirit Sect’s ancient texts, only a person with a soul of absolute purity could cause the Black Abyss Flesh to actively bond with them.

But such a person had never appeared in history.

He even suspected the ancient texts were mistaken. ’Such a person simply doesn’t exist!’

Of course, he could only think such thoughts, never daring to deny the ancient texts outright.

Before this, he had only ever been allocated two masses of Black Abyss Flesh in total.

When the Lin Yuan City branch was destroyed, one was lost, and he had already been reprimanded by his superiors for it.

Now that there was a chance to reclaim it, he was overjoyed.

"Sacrificial Envoy Li, Red Tiger, Lotus!"

"Your subordinates are here!" the three replied, bowing hastily.

"On this trip to Lin Yuan City, in addition to killing Li Rushan, you are to find out who killed the Blood Sacrifice and ensure you retrieve the Black Abyss Flesh!"

"Yes!"

...

...

After parting ways with Liu Hai and Li Rushan, Jiang Che quietly returned home.

Not daring to let Jiang Ling see his "battle-damaged" state, he secretly slipped into his room and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

He had gone through a vicious battle and even witnessed the Master of the Black Abyss.

On top of that, a Heart of the Black Abyss had inexplicably appeared inside his body.

He felt more and more that he could no longer make sense of this world.

His own future was becoming increasingly shrouded in mystery.

All he had ever wanted was to grow strong through Martial Arts Training, find his parents, and have a family reunion.

He didn’t ask for a life of luxury or a high status.

He just wanted to live an ordinary, happy life.

But why was that so difficult?

He couldn’t help but sigh.

Suddenly, his stomach rumbled.

’So hungry! No, I need to eat something, fast!’

In truth, he had been hungry for a while.

But he had been in such a state of high tension that he hadn’t even noticed.

Now that he had relaxed, the feeling finally registered.

He quickly pulled out a strip of Middle-grade Exotic Beast Insect Dry and started chewing on it.

After his strength had increased, he was now able to chew the Insect Dry.

Besides, he didn’t have time to grind it into powder and add seasonings, so he just ate it directly.

Soon, a warmth began to spread through his belly.

But the Qi Blood it generated didn’t flow to his organs.

Instead, it shot directly into the Heart of the Black Abyss inside him!

’What’s happening?!’ Jiang Che was alarmed.