Spiritual energy was swirling increasingly faster. It seemed as if it wanted to forcibly suck all cultivators in.
Chen Xia forcibly steadied his body and at the same time grabbed Ma Xiaohong's head so that Ma Xiaohong would not get sucked into the eye of the formation.
He was truly gentle.
"Ouch, it hurts so much!" Ma Xiaohong cried with tears flowing down her face.
Chen Xia paid it no mind. He squinted his eyes looking at the pitch black grand formation that was extremely far away. From his perspective, the formation looked like an eye.
An eye that seemed to be slightly squinted, and it also seemed to coincidentally be looking at Chen Xia.
Hmm...
It should be looking at the entire night sky.
While Chen Xia was observing, many cultivators had already followed the swirling spiritual energy to enter the eye of formation and rush into the Quasi-Saint Ruins.
Chen Xia was still observing carefully.
Behind the formation's eye was an enormous dead star. If this dead star was the Quasi-Saint Ruins, then it was truly majestic.
He slightly furrowed his brows because he knew these Quasi-Saint Ruins were not simple, but he didn't know exactly what made them not simple.
The Inner Demon had predicted that three Quasi-Saints had died inside, but there was no explanation as to why those three Quasi-Saints died.
The best possibility was that they perished together, which would mean fewer accidents.
He didn't know if any Heaven Mending Realm cultivators had gone in yet, but they should arrive soon too.
He could continue observing for now.
"It hurts so badly!" Ma Xiaohong let out another miserable cry. Her head being pinched by Chen Xia was truly unbearable.
Chen Xia was not rushed. To be safe, he waited for another two days.
Ma Xiaohong cried for two days straight.
The spiritual energy vortex was still continuing.
Suddenly, Chen Xia grabbed Ma Xiaohong's petite body and tucked it between his waist. He said in a low voice.
"Let's go."
His figure instantly flashed to the front of the eye of formation. Worried that the formation's teleportation would separate him and Ma Xiaohong, he suddenly had a stroke of brilliance. The instant they entered, he cast the Reincarnation Extremity on Ma Xiaohong.
Two different spaces began overlapping.
Crimson color spread as a blood moon rose in the horizon.
With a crimson crown on his head, Chen Xia stood high up as if he was an arrogant deity looking down condescendingly.
In contrast, Ma Xiaohong opposite him trembled with eyes brimming with terror.
It was clearly a stark contrast.
Chen Xia snapped his fingers and the crimson space rapidly receded.
He and Ma Xiaohong appeared in a greyish scene. The first thing he smelled when they came out was a strong bloody scent.
An extremely pungent bloody scent, as if someone had just died recently.
He turned his head to look behind.
A severed head hung high with eyes wide open and a dead stare.
Beside the head was a fallen sword with no trace of blood on it. This meant the sword belonged to the dead person and that the disparity in strength between the two sides was massive.
Ma Xiaohong blinked, and terror quickly filled her pupils. She opened her mouth but didn't utter a word. She only looked worriedly at Chen Xia instead.
"Don't panic." Chen Xia waved his hand and said, "We'll wait for a few days before doing anything. We're not here for opportunities anyway."
"Huh?" Confusion flashed between Ma Xiaohong's eyebrows. "If you're not here for opportunities, then why did you come in?"
"I already said..." Chen Xia repeated.
"I came in to kill."
"Can you really kill them?" Ma Xiaohong couldn't help asking. Although she knew Chen Xia was very powerful, that Great Elder was at the Twelfth Layer of the Heaven Mending Realm. And combined with the other Heaven Mending Realm geniuses, could Chen Xia really kill them all?
"I can kill them," Chen Xia nodded plainly in reply. "But I have to kill them slowly. There's no rush for this matter and the Quasi-Saint Ruins is not simple either. We don't need to explore hastily but just follow the paths others have taken."
"Mm," Ma Xiaohong nodded. She still hadn't realized the full extent of Chen Xia's lack of urgency.
Until one month later, she and Chen Xia were still sitting in the same spot.
The severed head behind them was still staring at them.
"Chen Xia..." Ma Xiaohong couldn't help but softly call out, "Are we really not going anywhere at all?"
"I've already gone out," Chen Xia plainly replied.
"Huh?" Ma Xiaohong was somewhat puzzled but didn't dare ask any further. She could only lower her head and continue spacing out.
Suddenly, Chen Xia spoke.
"Each flying sword is able to carry a strand of divine sense. That makes them like scouting envoys. And I happen to have a lot of envoys."
Ma Xiaohong raised her head and blinked, confused and puzzled.
Chen Xia didn't explain further. Through the probing of his flying swords, he obtained a lot of information about the Quasi-Saint Ruins, as well as how many people had died so far.
He had even seen Heaven Mending Realm cultivators.
As expected, the Heaven Mending Realm cultivators were not transported together. Some encountered each other along the way, but only two or three at a time.
If that spiritual vortex could be considered a confounding formation troubling cultivators, then these Quasi-Saint Ruins were a true labyrinth.
Chen Xia had sent out ten thousand flying swords carrying strands of divine sense, yet he still hadn't figured out the path.
Of course, it was also possible that he hadn't grasped the path but rather that the Quasi-Saint Ruins hadn't fully opened yet.
Afterwards, the number of deaths and injuries inside the Quasi-Saint Ruins decreased substantially because the weaker cultivators had been completely eliminated.
This was the first screening round of the Quasi-Saint Ruins.
Having waited boredly for a few months now, Ma Xiaohong started examining the hanging severed head behind them.
The head had already decayed and the white skull was revealed.
It was the ceaseless corrosion from the grey fog of the Quasi-Saint Ruins.
Chen Xia had explained to her that the grey fog was a type of altered death qi, even more domineering than the death qi from the outside Great Death Realm. It could erode the spiritual energy of cultivators.
Looking at the surrounding fog, she was somewhat afraid.
Still in waiting, with no changes.
Ma Xiaohong counted time. About a year and a half had passed with Chen Xia taking no action.
She felt this was good too. At least there was no danger nor need to worry about dying.
It was just that the gray fog made her feel slightly uncomfortable. It was like she had really died.
Perhaps death would feel just like this.
She chuckled softly. It should be the first time she voluntarily smiled since entering the Great Death Realm.
Two months later.
Chen Xia suddenly said he had something to do and left half a sword tip for Ma Xiaohong, telling her to keep it safe and not wander off alone.
Although not knowing what the half sword tip could possibly do, she still nervously took it and asked at the same time.
"Where...where are you going? Can I..."
"To kill," was Chen Xia's only plain reply before his figure disappeared without a trace.
Ma Xiaohong was alone in the middle of the gray fog. In front of her was the now skeletal head that had long become all white bones. She hugged the half sword tip tightly with her head down, not daring to look at the skull.
She was very timid and afraid.
Not far away from her, hidden within the fog, were over a thousand flying swords standing side by side!
The last cultivator fell down.
Yi Huo was covered with blood head to toe, madness shining in his eyes. He cursed,
"You dare fight me for opportunities? You trash also think yourselves worthy? All of you deserve to die here! Trash! You should all be dead!"
Still thinking it was insufficient, he directly blasted the other cultivators' corpses with spiritual power. Clutched in his hand was a shining gemstone.
It was a rare opportunity—a Minor Dao Fruit!
He was the final victor of this massacre. He needed to now find a place to hide, treat his injuries, and refine this Minor Dao Fruit!
"The teleportation of this formation is truly annoying. If the Great Elder had been with me all along, things wouldn't have been so difficult!"
He carefully examined the Minor Dao Fruit in his hand and mused.
"Perhaps coming in separately is better after all."
As Yi Huo was still in thought, his expression suddenly froze.
There were approaching footsteps.
Very close.
He turned to look up and his eyes instantly widened. Unknowingly, there was actually a flying sword that had been hovering high up!
A blurry figure walked out from the gray fog, their footsteps neither rushed nor slow.
He stood right in front of Yi Huo and grinned as the crimson radiance of his left eye flashed.
"Long time no see."
Yi Huo's body trembled. Although recognizing the arrival, he still couldn't believe it. Quickly steadying his expression, he said,
"So it's just you, little trash."
Buzz!
A sword cry rang out!
Chen Xia held the Bronze Sword, a vicious smile spreading.
"I've heard you have half of an unparalleled Supreme Bone. Let me verify its authenticity."
His sword kept crying out.
This was his first time striking out since entering the Great Death Realm.
And also the first time killing.
The swords cries were loud and resonant.
A blur of time.
Crimson color emerged amidst them as pure white Heavenly Dragon Qi coiled around Chen Xia's hand.
When a million flying swords manifested, Yi Huo's eyes shrank. All he saw were two flashed of crimson before it appeared right before his eyes.
Then there was a deafening sword blast.
The first sword strike sent Yi Huo crashing down three thousand meters with a massive cleft sliced into his chest!
Chen Xia held the bronze sword, standing on the staircase formed by millions of flying swords, and then laughed lightly.
"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you all, I'm not at the seventh layer of the Sea Inversing Realm..."
"I'm at the ninth."