The ground beneath his feet was still warm, as if the lingering warmth of the Primordial Witch God's heartbeat had not yet dissipated.
Gu Xuan took a deep breath. The sense of direction, tinged with the fishy sweetness from the Erosian Vine's memory, was clearer than ever in his mind.
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and stepped into that bizarre place known as the Thousand Corpse Forest.
The light in the forest was dim. Twisted, withered trees resembled skeletons, their branches hung with dried vines. At first glance, they looked like countless hanged corpses swaying in the wind, emitting a "shasha" friction sound, like the whispers of the dead.
The air was permeated with a foul stench mixing decay and blood. An ordinary person staying here for a moment would have their mind eroded and fall into madness.
But Gu Xuan's heart was like a rock. The faint light of the Demon Suppression Hall slowly circulated within his Spirit Sea, isolating all negative influences.
His steps were steady, precisely avoiding the hidden bones and traps beneath the ground with every stride.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the view suddenly opened up.
A massive collapsed basin appeared before him, as if the earth had been struck by a giant god's fist, creating a deep indentation.
In the center of the basin, a pool of crimson water, about a hundred *zhang* in diameter, was violently churning and gurgling, resembling thick blood plasma boiled by earth fire.
In the blood-colored mist rising from the evaporation, faint, shrill wails and unwilling roars could be heard, as if thousands of Wrathful Spirits were imprisoned here, unable to attain rebirth for eternity.
This was the fierce land recorded in the Hundred Prohibitions Map: the Blood Spring.
Legend has it that this spring was formed when the heart of the Primordial Witch God fell to the earth after his defeat.
Its Heart's Blood contained the supreme power of creation and destruction, capable of washing away mortal flesh and forcefully reshaping spiritual roots—a heaven-defying opportunity yearned for by countless cultivators.
However, opportunity comes with an equivalent exchange.
The Hundred Prohibitions Map clearly stated in blood-red vermilion ink: To obtain the creation of this spring, one must offer an "equivalent Life Destiny."
If the offered Life Destiny is insufficient, or if the Life Destiny does not match one's own, the spring water will transform into the most venomous curse in the world. The sacrificer will be torn apart by the Wrathful Spirits in the spring, their flesh and blood becoming part of the water, wailing forever.
Gu Xuan's gaze was calm. He took out a Life Lamp Token, which he had confiscated from a captive of the Chained Candle Association, from his robes.
This type of Talisman could briefly reflect a person's Life Destiny trajectory.
He exhaled a wisp of spiritual power from his fingertip and tossed the Talisman toward the Blood Spring.
The moment the Life Lamp Token touched the spring water, it did not sink. Instead, it hissed, ignited with a pale white flame, and instantly turned to ashes.
Simultaneously, above the churning surface of the spring, the blood mist condensed and actually transformed into a flowing projection of light and shadow.
In the image, a ragged young child was desperately fleeing through ruins engulfed in flames of war, with towering firelight and ferocious armor behind him.
That young, dust-covered face was exactly how Gu Xuan looked in his childhood.
The image was perfectly clear, but it lasted only three breaths before it violently dissipated, returning to the pervasive blood mist.
"Three breaths..." Gu Xuan frowned deeply, muttering to himself, "The reflection of an ordinary person's Life Destiny should last at least ten breaths or more. Mine... only three breaths?" He quickly calculated, "According to the conversion in the Hundred Prohibitions Map, this means my Affinity with this body... is only sixty percent?"
A terrifying thought arose in his mind: "This means that forty percent of the Life Destiny originally did not belong to me!"
This discovery sent a chill through his entire body.
Was his existence flawed from the very beginning?
Or perhaps... had something replaced it?
Just as his mind was violently shaken and he prepared to retreat first to reconsider his plans, an extreme chill suddenly exploded from the back of his neck, like a venomous snake's fangs pressing against his skin!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three almost inaudible sounds of air being pierced rang out. Three short darts, pitch-black and coated with a faint, dark glow, embedded themselves in the ground behind him in a triangular formation, precisely blocking all his escape routes.
The landing point of each short dart was extremely tricky and contained meticulous calculation, clearly indicating the attacker was a master.
From the shadows of the forest, a figure slowly emerged.
The newcomer was clad in a worn gray robe, his face covered by a pale mask devoid of any facial features. Only on his chest was a bizarre, inverted candle flame embroidered with crimson Soul Thread.
"Chained Candle Association business. Idle people, retreat," a voice, rough as sandpaper scraping bone, emerged from behind the mask, carrying an inhuman coldness. "We are only pursuing the Broken Covenant person. You should not have touched this Blood Spring."
Gu Xuan slowly turned, his gaze as sharp as a knife, staring directly at the pale mask: "Are you chasing the broken Life Contract, or a Teshin used to take the blame?"
Before his words even finished, the Gray Robe Guest seemed to have touched a taboo. His rough voice carried anger for the first time: "Seeking death!"
The Gray Robe Guest suddenly slapped the ground!
With a "boom," the earth beside him exploded, and two humanoid puppets wrapped entirely in yellowed Talismans burst from the soil, roaring as they charged toward Gu Xuan.
These two puppets were the so-called Substitute Execution Corpses. They were the remains of past cultivators who had attempted the Blood Spring's baptism but failed due to insufficient Life Destiny. They had been refined by the Chained Candle Association using secret methods, possessing immense strength and feeling no pain.
The battle erupted instantly!
The two Substitute Execution Corpses attacked from the left and right, rushing in with fierce winds tearing through the air.
Gu Xuan's figure flickered, narrowly dodging them.
The iron fists of the Substitute Execution Corpses smashed the spot where he had just stood, actually gouging two deep pits into the hard rock floor!
Something even stranger happened.
While evading, a gust from a punch grazed his left shoulder. He was clearly not directly hit, but the clothing on his left shoulder suddenly burst open, and a deep, bone-visible gash appeared out of nowhere, bringing intense pain!
"This is... damage transfer?" Gu Xuan's heart tightened.
He immediately understood: every time these Substitute Execution Corpses were injured, the pain, and even the actual damage, would be transferred through some bizarre contract to an innocent person somewhere far away.
That last strike meant some mortal, somewhere unknown, had just endured a fatal injury for him!
This battle absolutely could not be prolonged!
Gu Xuan's eyes sharpened. The Demon Suppression Hall in his Spirit Sea vibrated slightly, and a mysterious sense of premonition flooded his mind.
He sidestepped half a step ahead of time, perfectly evading a fatal claw strike launched by one Substitute Execution Corpse from a blind spot.
The instant both Substitute Execution Corpses missed their attacks, he seized that thousandth-of-a-second gap, flashed close to one of them like lightning, and flicked his finger, precisely shoving a Mayfly Remnant Core, which he had already refined, into the corpse's wide-open mouth!
"Explode!"
With a low shout, the Mayfly Remnant Core detonated under the impetus of his spiritual power!
A cloud of pitch-black corrosive mist exploded inside the Substitute Execution Corpse, instantly eroding the Talisman acting as its central pivot.
That invisible thread maintaining the Substitution Effect was momentarily severed!
Taking advantage of the moment the other Substitute Execution Corpse hesitated due to its companion's anomaly, Gu Xuan's target was not it, but the Gray Robe Guest in the distance!
"Demon Suppression Hall, seize!"
He violently activated the ancient bronze hall in his Spirit Sea. An invisible, overwhelmingly dominant suction force instantly locked onto an ancient compass worn at the Gray Robe Guest's waist.
That was the Life Chain Compass used by the Chained Candle Association to track targets!
The Gray Robe Guest was greatly alarmed. He hadn't expected Gu Xuan's target to be this!
He tried to reach out and protect the compass, but the seizing power of the Demon Suppression Hall was too dominant; he couldn't react in time.
With a "buzz," the Life Chain Compass vibrated violently. A phantom afterimage was forcibly stripped from it, transforming into a streak of light that plunged into Gu Xuan's brow!
【 Refinable: Life Chain Compass （ Sub Body ）】
【 Initiate Refinement? 】
Blood-Colored Runes flashed in Gu Xuan's Spirit Sea.
"Yes!"
The Spirit Sea shook violently, as if an entire galaxy had been poured into it.
Countless fragmented, chaotic information flooded his mind like a torrent.
Among these fragments, he shockingly saw a familiar figure—Ye Xi!
She was standing on a massive, ancient Altar, her expression cold and numb, holding three Life Contract Jade Tokens carved with intricate patterns high above her head!
"How dare you!" The Gray Robe Guest was furious and shocked. Sensing that the core information of the compass had been stolen, he prepared without hesitation to self-destruct the compass fragments, cutting off all clues.
But Gu Xuan was faster than him!
"Still trying to run?" His eyes were icy. He grasped with five fingers, and the power of the Demon Suppression Hall struck again, forcibly extracting a slender Soul Thread from the Gray Robe Guest's rapidly dissipating Soul Body, directly injecting it into the Demon Suppression Hall for interrogation.
"Ugh... Ah... Life Contract... has main and sub... main contract determines life and death... sub contract... can transfer..." Under the pressure of the Demon Suppression Hall, the Gray Robe Guest's Soul Thread wailed intermittently, "Your Life Destiny... was tampered with long ago... you are not you... you are... a Teshin..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Soul Thread could bear no more, and with a bang, it completely suffered Soul Dispersal.
Gu Xuan stood frozen, the phrase "you are a Teshin" echoing repeatedly in his mind.
His icy gaze slowly turned toward the churning Blood Spring, and he finally understood.
"So, during that massacre back then, I wasn't a survivor at all..." he muttered to himself, his voice laced with self-mockery and bone-deep coldness, "I was just... a carefully selected Container?"
Sixty percent Affinity. It turned out the other forty percent originally belonged to another child who had long since died.
Night fell, and everything was silent.
A figure slipped back to the edge of the Blood Spring like a phantom.
This time, there was no more probing in Gu Xuan's eyes, only resolution.
He didn't use any Talismans. Instead, he drew his dagger and cleanly sliced open his palm, letting his crimson vital blood drip onto the mysterious Bone Card he always kept close.
In an instant, the ancient patterns on the Bone Card seemed to come alive, and a blue light shot toward the sky!
Strangely, this blue light did not dissipate. Instead, it resonated intensely with the Blood Spring below.
The water in the entire Blood Spring pool stopped boiling and began to spin violently, forming a massive vortex.
Rumble—
At the center of the vortex, a floating crystal coffin slowly rose from the water surface.
The coffin was crystal clear, filled with a pale red liquid, and a youth lay quietly inside.
The youth's appearance bore seven to eight parts resemblance to Gu Xuan!
The only difference was that half of a broken Life Contract Jade Token was visibly embedded in the youth's chest.
The moment he saw that face, Gu Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks—it was his own face, but a past he had never witnessed!
Just as his mind was shaken, the crystal coffin opened on its own with a "crack"!
A dense surge of Wrath Energy mixed with the power of a remnant soul burst forth from the coffin, condensing in the air into the youth's distorted face, letting out a shrill roar toward Gu Xuan: "Give me back my life!"
However, before the remnant soul could approach, the Demon Suppression Hall in Gu Xuan's Spirit Sea automatically activated its protective mechanism.
A beam of bronze divine light shot out, like a net cast from heaven, instantly enveloping the charging remnant soul and forcibly sucking it into Gu Xuan's Spirit Sea!
【 Refinable: Life Contract Soul Fragment （ Sub Body ）】
Blood-Colored Runes flashed again.
"Yes!" Gu Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest.
This Refinement was completely different from before.
A soul-tearing agony instantly swept through his soul, as if millions of red-hot steel needles were simultaneously piercing every inch of his Spirit Sea.
It was the unwilling resentment of another soul, the memory fragments of the life he should have had, everything that had been stripped from him!
Gu Xuan gritted his teeth, allowing the intense pain to drown him, yet his consciousness maintained a sliver of clarity, forcefully operating the Demon Suppression Hall for stripping and fusion.
After an unknown amount of time, when Gu Xuan slowly woke from his unconsciousness, the sky was already turning pale white.
He looked down at his body and was astonished to find that countless crimson-gold mysterious patterns were slowly circulating beneath his skin, filling his every movement with unprecedented power.
His physique had undergone a world-altering transformation after merging with those forty percent of the Life Destiny.
Even more astonishingly, with a mere thought, he raised his hand and pressed down toward a large rock beside him.
He could clearly feel an invisible force of causality gathering at his fingertips.
As long as he wished, any damage that would descend upon him in the next moment could be temporarily transferred to that large rock!
He had actually mastered the Substitution Effect!
Just as he was savoring his newfound strength and preparing to leave this place of trouble, his peripheral vision inadvertently glanced at a stone wall by the Blood Spring.
On the stone wall, a few small characters, freshly carved, had appeared at some point. The handwriting looked as if it were written with fresh blood, the damp traces not yet dry.
"You stole his life, and you inherited his debt."
Gu Xuan's heart tightened, and he suddenly turned his head to look deep into the dense forest.
A hundred *zhang* away, under the shadow of a crooked-necked tree, a stooped figure slowly stood up.
It was a thin old man holding an old-fashioned weighing rod. He silently put away a bone knife that had just been smeared with fresh dirt. His cloudy eyes glanced at Gu Xuan from afar, muttering in a voice only he could hear:
"The seventh one... Heh, this Life Destiny is interesting; it actually managed to devour the Master. A bit different..."
The Old Scale Man's figure quickly vanished into the woods, as if he had never appeared.
Gu Xuan stood in place, his expression grim.
He did not pursue, because he knew he couldn't catch up.
He slowly unfolded the Hundred Prohibitions Map in his hand, his gaze passing the page about the Blood Spring, landing on the southeast direction marked on the map.
There lay an even vaster and more perilous unknown region.
Was the path ahead debt, Shen Yuan, or the only way to uncover the whole truth?
He did not know.
But he knew he had to keep walking.
His gaze became colder than the night and firmer than the dawn.
Folding the map, he discerned the direction and walked step by step toward the southeast, shrouded by the blood-colored mist, his figure resolute and solitary.
There, a completely different set of deadly traps and secrets awaited him.