Chapter 178: Blood Core
"Impossible..." Yu Xuan muttered under his breath, his grip tightening around the hilt of his sword.
Then he noticed it — an oddity.
Some of the hunters’ flesh bore faint scars, jagged cracks where old wounds had healed, yet their bodies moved with unnatural smoothness. Their blood-red eyes glowed brighter than the others.
Yu Xuan focused harder, and his eyes widened in realization.
Most of them are likely Core Formation realm, he thought, judging by their auras.
Even the ones whose skulls Lingluo had crushed were still standing. And the bodies of those at the Foundation Establishment realm were missing entirely; their clothes remained, but the flesh was gone.
’When...’ Yu Xuan thought, keeping an eye on the battle. They must have been absorbed by the stronger ones.
’Is crushing their skulls not enough?’ he wondered. Even at likely Core Formation, they hadn’t died from skull-crushing attacks. Perhaps their weak points are different for the stronger ones.
He was a little distracted when a kick slammed into his back, staggering him slightly. An enemy’s dagger lunged toward him, but he stopped it with [Telekinesis] and counterattacked immediately.
’Do they have blood cores or something?’ Yu Xuan pondered. He activated his trait [Soul Vision] and skill [Immortal’s Gaze] simultaneously.
His eyes stung a bit, but he endured it. Then he saw it, as if peering through their bodies; there was a massive concentration of blood energy at their abdomens, flowing through vessels connected to every part of their bodies.
’So that is both their source of power and their weakness,’ he realized. Now he understood why even those at Core Formation strength survived skull-crushing attacks.
That bloody energy was the key. They were likely using their comrades’ bodies to stabilize life-threatening injuries.
’What a demonic technique...’ he thought, though he noted that the method was very effective.
In the distance, the clash between Lingluo and the leader echoed like thunder. He had to act fast.
Hunters were closing in from all sides, and a few were rushing toward Lingluo to aid their leader. Yu Xuan decided it was time to stop playing.
Most of the attackers aimed for his face or heart, precisely the strikes he anticipated. With a calm surge of power, he activated [Immortal’s Gaze] — Annihilation.
A golden-red beam shot from his eyes, striking the skull of one hunter. Simultaneously, he swung his sword in a clean arc across the enemy’s abdomen, right where the core blood energy concentrated. With a sickening thud, the hunter’s body split in two.
This time, the enemy was truly dead. The others froze, a flicker of fear in their red eyes. This was no ordinary cultivator — this was Core Formation-level powerhouse.
The dead hunter’s blood hung suspended in the air. Instead of being absorbed by the other hunters, it latched onto their daggers, causing them to glow faintly.
’There are more than ten enemies at Core Formation strength,’ Yu Xuan noted.
The remaining hunters surged forward, more ferocious than before, their intensity radiating like a storm. He braced himself — the fight had only just escalated.
Another attacker swung from above. Yu Xuan twisted, deflecting the blow with telekinesis, sending him crashing into a comrade. Sparks flew as weapons clashed.
’They mostly rely on the blood core...’ Yu Xuan thought, targeting the pulsing red mass. He slashed downward precisely at the concentration point, severing the energy vessels. The hunter trembled violently, then fell still.
Three more charged in formation. Yu Xuan extended his telekinesis, flipping one hunter into another, and fired [Immortal’s Gaze] — Annihilation. Beams pierced skulls simultaneously, striking the cores in their abdomens. One by one, they fell, bodies splitting cleanly.
Hunters surged from every angle, but Yu Xuan’s movements were a blur. Sword slashes, telekinetic deflections, and annihilating beams created a deadly rhythm. Every Core Formation enemy that moved predictably became a target; every attack toward him was funneled into his counter.
***
After 10 minutes...
Yu Xuan was drenched in blood, scratches streaking his skin. Around him lay corpses, most split cleanly in half, horizontal slices marking the spot where their blood energy had been concentrated.
It had taken him some time to eliminate all the hunters. His method was precise: first, he obliterated their skulls with [Immortal’s Gaze] — Annihilation and then split them horizontally at the core of their blood energy.
The most troublesome were the ones with Foundation Establishment strength. Knowing they would die uselessly, the stronger hunters had sent them to their deaths, commanding them to self-destruct.
More than eight such cases had occurred. At first, the weaker cultivators seemed hesitant, but when someone spoke in an unknown language, a fervor ignited in them. They hurled themselves at Yu Xuan without hesitation.
Once he cleared those, the remaining weaker hunters were surprisingly easy to deal with. Though some tried to heal by absorbing fallen comrades, Yu Xuan’s pace was relentless. He decapitated the Foundation Establishment enemies before they could pose any threat.
Even so, Yu Xuan couldn’t understand why they had willingly self-destructed.
Bending down, he examined one corpse more closely. Blood energy still pulsed faintly in the abdomen. He plunged his hands into the corpse, feeling the warmth and the pulse, and then his fingers brushed something solid.
A small, orb-shaped blood core clung to the corpse. It was slightly cracked, but intact enough to hold power. Yu Xuan pulled it free, a slow nod of satisfaction crossing his face.
’So this is the source...’
He held the bloody orb up and studied it. It resembled a miniature blood moon, like the one suspended in the night, glowing faintly with a malevolent light.
Yu Xuan’s eyes narrowed. He had gained knowledge, power, and insight — but the battlefield was far from over, and the secrets of these blood cores hinted at threats even greater than he had imagined.
If what he assumed at core formation these hunters show such strength then what if their cultivation is increased.
There were still noises coming from where Lingluo had dragged the leader, so in a hurry Yu Xuan rushed towards that location.
Unaware that as he left, all the fallen blood and bodies was sucked in a certain direction towards the nothingness at the edge.