Chapter 86

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The tall chestnut stallion galloped, its hooves drumming like a great drum, kicking up dust as it rolled forward.

This breed of horse is called the Red Flame, known for its excellent quality, strong load-bearing capacity, robust physique, and great endurance. It can travel a thousand miles a day with ease, its mane a fiery red, and when it runs, it looks like a burning flame. Due to the difficulty of breeding, a single Red Flame can be worth tens of thousands of white jade coins.

Chen Zong could afford it, but such a fine horse requires more meticulous feeding and care, which is quite troublesome. Therefore, this Red Flame was rented from the Seven Radiant Martial Academy stables. It required a deposit of ten thousand white jade coins, with a daily rental fee of one hundred white jade coins, to be settled upon return.

There is also a breed of horse with beast blood, capable of easily traveling three thousand miles a day, and even five thousand miles is not impossible. It eats only meat and can fight with first-tier beasts, called the Crimson Pupil Crystal. Each one is worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of white jade coins.

The Hundred Affairs Pavilion has two types of missions: unique missions, of which there is only one, and group missions, which can be taken by many people.

Finding the Bloodstone is a group mission, and Chen Zong is just one of many who have taken it.

The Bloodstone is a type of jade that has absorbed blood and undergone years of sedimentation. It has a wide range of uses and is the primary material needed for the Seven Radiant Martial Academy's Blood Boiling Pool to produce pure blood qi.

After taking the mission, Chen Zong researched the relevant information and finally determined the location of the Bloodstone. It requires a place where a large amount of blood has settled over many years, and there must be jade present. Both conditions are essential.

During the kingdom's fall, human martial artists and beast armies engaged in fierce battles, resulting in countless deaths and bloodshed. However, the battles were mainly concentrated in a few areas. The closest to the Seven Radiant Martial Academy is called the Black Blood Battlefield, which originally had a jade vein.

After resting and camping out for three days, Chen Zong finally arrived at the Black Blood Town outside the Black Blood Battlefield.

"Sir, would you like to dine or stay overnight?" A waiter immediately came forward as Chen Zong stopped in front of a large inn called the Grand Inn, riding the Red Flame.

"I'll dine. Bring me a few of your best dishes. Also, take good care of this horse. I'll come back to settle the bill later." Chen Zong handed the reins to the waiter, speaking calmly.

"Sure thing, sir. Please keep your horse token. You can retrieve your horse with this token when you return." The waiter, skilled in his work, had the stable boy lead the Red Flame to the stables for feeding and grooming.

Chen Zong found an empty table and sat down, scanning the surroundings while waiting for the food.

The inn was half full, and everyone exuded waves of blood qi. They were all martial artists, mostly at the Blood Qi stage, with a few at the Strength Training stage. After all, while the Bloodstone is valuable, it is more useful for Blood Qi stage martial artists. For Strength Training stage martial artists, it is only valuable for selling, as it offers no significant benefits for cultivation.

Some were chatting and laughing, while others were drinking alone.

Chen Zong was observing others, and others were observing him.

"Little brother, are you planning to enter the Black Blood Battlefield?" A middle-aged man with a scar on his face sat down directly in front of Chen Zong, speaking boldly.

"Is there something you want?" Chen Zong glanced at him. The man had a scar on his face, looking somewhat fierce, but he was trying to force a friendly smile, which seemed a bit odd.

"The Black Blood Battlefield is not peaceful. It's dangerous to enter alone. If we join forces, we can split what we find." The scar-faced man said.

"Thank you, but I don't necessarily have to enter the Black Blood Battlefield." Chen Zong replied calmly.

Before coming, he had heard that the Black Blood Battlefield was chaotic and dangerous. Forming a team with strangers could be risky.

After a satisfying meal and a brief rest, Chen Zong paid and left the Grand Inn, heading towards the Black Blood Battlefield.

The scar-faced middle-aged man smiled sinisterly and followed him out of the inn.

"The innkeeper will get another horse sale." The waiter, seeing this, shook his head and muttered to himself. Although he had no cultivation, he had been there for several years and had seen many people come and go. He could tell that Chen Zong was a novice, and the scar-faced man was not a good person.

People like young masters or martial academy students, entering the Black Blood Battlefield for the first time without a companion, often lack experience and are easily targeted. As for the horse token, the Grand Inn has some background, and few bandits dare to use stolen tokens to retrieve horses. In the end, the horses become the innkeeper's, and he can sell them for jade coins.

He had seen such things too many times, and it was nothing unusual.

The Black Blood Town was not large, and the residents were all martial artists. Apart from the fixed inns and taverns, the population was highly mobile.

After walking out of the town for about ten minutes, Chen Zong noticed that the color of the ground was gradually changing. It was originally grayish-white but gradually turned darker, and further ahead, it became reddish-brown, like the color of dried blood.

Ahead, a few meters high green stone stele stood, with four blood-red characters inscribed: "Black Blood Battlefield."

Seeing these four characters, Chen Zong felt a strange sensation, as if he could see mountains of corpses and seas of blood, smell the intense scent of blood, and hear countless shouts of battle.

He instantly snapped out of the illusion, his forehead covered in sweat.

"A terrifying place." Chen Zong wiped away the sweat, his expression serious.

Passing by the green stone stele, Chen Zong immediately felt a change in the atmosphere. The stele seemed to be a dividing point between two worlds.

The pervasive scent of blood came from all directions, rushing into his nostrils, making him uncomfortable. Fortunately, a martial artist's body and mental will are stronger than those of ordinary people. If an ordinary person entered here, they would not last long.

The surroundings were desolate, with no signs of human habitation, a sense of desolation and loneliness.

"Little brother, didn't you say you weren't going to enter the Black Blood Battlefield?" A mocking voice came from behind. Chen Zong turned to see two people approaching quickly, one of whom was the scar-faced man who had invited him to form a team earlier, and the other was a man in black whom he had not seen before.

"Does it concern you?" Chen Zong countered.

"Of course it does. You lied to me, so you have to compensate me." The scar-faced man laughed, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

Chen Zong couldn't help but laugh. It was the logic of bandits, but he was not afraid of them. The blood qi fluctuations they emitted were at the eighth level of the Blood Qi stage. Even if they were stronger, he could still escape.

"Enough talk, kill him directly." The other man immediately spoke, his killing intent evident as he charged at Chen Zong like a leopard. His empty right hand suddenly held a black dagger, slicing through the air and stabbing fiercely at Chen Zong's heart without any mercy.

The scar-faced man also attacked, drawing a large cleaver from his back and charging at Chen Zong, delivering a heavy slash.

These two did not use any ranked martial arts, but their coordination was默契, clearly not their first time.

"Looking for death." Chen Zong coldly snorted, drawing his sword. The sword glinted as he thrust it at the black-clothed man, swift and rapid, like a star expanding in front of the black-clothed man's eyes. The third level of the True Sword Heaven's Utmost Skill increased the power of this strike by twenty percent.

The black-clothed man, experienced in combat, remained calm, his wrist turning to change the direction of the dagger, aiming for Chen Zong's neck.

Chen Zong's movements were even more agile. In an instant, his long sword changed five times, his body and steps moving in sync. Not only did he block the black-clothed man's dagger, but he also avoided the scar-faced man's cleaver, thrusting his sword at the black-clothed man.

Suddenly, the sword light transformed into a solitary star, and after disappearing, the black-clothed man's throat was pierced, and he fell dead.

"Stop." The scar-faced man immediately shouted and retreated.

"Die." Chen Zong's low voice echoed. In the world of martial artists, decisions are made swiftly and decisively.

One does not easily draw a weapon or kill, but once a weapon is drawn or a kill is decided, one must use all one's strength to eliminate the opponent to avoid leaving any lingering threats, unless there is a special reason.

Dazzling and stunning, a solitary star shone brightly, like a shooting star or a meteor chasing the moon, unmatched.

The solitary star shone!

The scar-faced man immediately unleashed his blood qi, performing a powerful knife technique. The knife light fell like a waterfall from the sky, fierce and continuous, but it could not withstand the solitary star, which pierced through it.

The solitary star disappeared, and the knife light dissipated. A clear sword hole appeared on the scar-faced man's forehead, blood gushing out.

A single strike through!

The two eighth-level Blood Qi stage men, who had malicious intentions, were thus killed by Chen Zong's sword.

They were experienced, having hunted novices several times, always working in perfect coordination. Even if their opponents were at the eighth level of the Blood Qi stage, they had always succeeded. But this time, they had met their match.

As the ancients said, "Always hunting geese, one day the goose will peck."

After killing these two, Chen Zong only felt the danger of the Black Blood Battlefield, with no sense of discomfort. In the world of martial artists, to move forward, one must either kill or be killed.

The dagger and cleaver used by these two were made of precious iron, which Chen Zong did not bother with. In the past, precious iron was rare, costing two to three thousand white jade coins, but now it was not valuable. Only rare iron weapons were truly rare.

If he were to leave the Black Blood Battlefield, taking the dagger and cleaver would not be a problem, but now, entering the Black Blood Battlefield, carrying them would only consume more of his energy.

Abandoning the dagger and cleaver, Chen Zong still found other items on the two men, such as over thirty thousand money tickets, a few energy pills, and Crimson Blood Pills, which were a form of gain.

Without paying attention to the two bodies, Chen Zong looked into the distance and continued forward.

The Black Blood Battlefield was vast, and the distribution of Bloodstones seemed to have no specific pattern. Those with good luck might find Bloodstone ore while walking and obtain Bloodstones by breaking it open. Those with bad luck might wander for days without finding any Bloodstone ore.

Since obtaining the mysterious sword tip, Chen Zong felt his luck had been good. Perhaps he would find Bloodstone ore and obtain Bloodstones soon.

If he could find more, his father's recovery would be hopeful.

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