Chapter 9

Zhu Jiu stepped into the Blood River, and as the water rose above his head, a profound sense of loneliness and silence washed over him.

The Blood River was not as dark and impenetrable as he had imagined; instead, a dim bloodlight permeated the water, allowing him to vaguely discern his surroundings.

Following the connection between the talisman in his mind and the strange beast, Zhu Jiu carefully took steps in the river. The riverbed beneath his feet felt as hard as iron, and the current was not as swift as on the surface.

He moved diagonally downward, advancing about a hundred zhang. Based on the river's width, he should have reached the middle of the Blood River, with a depth exceeding a hundred zhang.

The water pressure at the river bottom was clearly greater than in the shallower areas. The originally丈许大小的避水空间萎缩了一半有多，只剩下一米多大小。

前方更深处的河水中隐隐现出一丝莹绿色光芒，Zhu Jiu felt a surge of joy, sensing that the fierce and powerful strange beast should be ahead.

Just as he was about to take another step, he suddenly felt a dark current surge around him, as if something was swimming by, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

At this deep river bottom, movement was difficult, and even escape was impossible. If a fierce creature attacked, he would likely meet his end here.

He quickly drew the Corpse-Slaying Sword, and a blood-red sword light illuminated the small space around him, giving him a slight sense of stability. After standing for a moment and seeing no other movement, Zhu Jiu took another step, continuing to move forward.

The quiet river bottom was filled only with his own breathing and the faint sound of water. The greenish glow ahead grew brighter, and Zhu Jiu opened his eyes wide, looking toward the source of the light. He could vaguely make out the outline, which was extremely wide, about thirty to forty zhang, or about a hundred meters.

As he got closer, Zhu Jiu became increasingly surprised. The shape of the light turned out to be a massive beast skull. In this river bottom, filled with death and bones, there was a remnant of a beast skull, and its size was truly astonishing!

The outline of the light became clearer, revealing a truly massive skull. It appeared to be some unknown beast, with two eye sockets each about ten meters in size.

How large must this giant beast have been in life? Just the head was nearly a hundred meters, and if it included the body, it would have been at least six to seven hundred meters long.

Zhu Jiu walked around the massive skull at the river bottom and discovered that most of it was deeply buried in the riverbed. The part he could see, about a hundred meters in size, was only the part above the eye sockets, which was truly astonishing!

On the back of the skull, Zhu Jiu found a section of the neck bone exposed above the riverbed. The neck bone was extremely thick, with a hole about ten meters in size in the middle, which should have been the area for the beast's tendons and blood vessels. After countless years, they had decayed and disappeared, leaving only a hollow.

The break in the neck bone was uneven, as if it had been forcibly torn apart. What kind of force could have done this?

The aura of the demon corpse he was seeking emanated from deep within the skull. Zhu Jiu gathered his courage and boldly stepped into the neck bone cave. As soon as he entered, he found the cave to be unusually dry, and the Blood River water could not flow in.

At the same time, an indescribable pressure hit him, nearly causing him to lose his balance and fall to his knees. The talisman in his mind gently swayed, reducing the pressure, allowing him to勉强迈步走动。

奇怪的是在这骨质洞穴中竟失去了对异兽的清晰感应，一切感官都变得模糊起来。

Zhu Jiu felt a deep sense of shock. This river bottom remnant had been lost for countless years, yet it still maintained a residual aura, even the passage of time could not wash it away. The power it possessed in life was unimaginable. More terrifying was the question of who could have torn off its head?

Following the faint light from the bones, he walked forward, stepping on the giant beast's remains. The path first went downward, then slowly upward, leading directly to the center of the skull.

Zhu Jiu continued forward for several minutes, and the path suddenly narrowed into a corridor about ten meters long and three meters high.

Zhu Jiu hid in a gap between the bones and peeked at the area behind the corridor where the light was even brighter. He discovered a bone space about thirty to forty meters wide, which, based on its position, should have been the brain of the giant beast.

The strange beast he was seeking was quietly lying there. Perhaps because Zhu Jiu was now close, it had become alert, rising from its resting position and assuming a roaring stance. The crimson soul fire in its skull suddenly intensified, entering a combat state.

Seeing the beast, Zhu Jiu felt immense joy and quickly stepped out of his hiding place, drawing the last piece of soul-soothing green copper in his hand.

The strange beast tilted its massive bony head, as if recognizing Zhu Jiu's soul. It then sensed the green copper, which had a fatal attraction to it, and its soul fire immediately flared up, burning fiercely.

Zhu Jiu, holding the soul-soothing green copper, slowly approached the strange beast, feeling increasingly nervous. If he failed again, it would mean failing the test and the end of his life.

When Zhu Jiu was about ten meters away from the strange beast, the green copper in his hand flew out, quickly drifting to the top of the beast's skull, where it was immediately enveloped by the crimson soul fire and pulled into the skull. The process of the soul fire and green copper merging had begun.

Zhu Jiu, through the empty eye sockets of the beast, closely watched the green copper merging with the soul fire. He was deeply anxious about whether this green copper, transformed by the talisman in his mind, would fulfill his wishes.

The connection between the talisman in his mind and the strange beast gradually became clearer and stronger. Slowly, Zhu Jiu could sense the thoughts of the beast, which were a raw and fierce desire to devour, with no trace of any other thoughts.

When Zhu Jiu's consciousness connected with this fierce thought, he nearly became overwhelmed by its aggressive nature. Fortunately, the talisman in his mind swayed again, weakening the thought, but it remained completely out of his control, and he could not even communicate with it. Was it still not working?

Zhu Jiu was extremely anxious. This was a critical moment, a step between life and death. What should he do?

Suddenly, the red pill, which he had kept in his chest and was formed by the talisman in his mind, also floated up and quickly entered the beast's eye sockets, merging with the burning soul fire.

The soul fire instantly became wildly agitated, even expanding to envelop the entire head of the beast. From a distance, it looked as if the beast's skull was on fire.

Zhu Jiu was unsure whether this change was good or bad, and he stood there in shock.

In his line of sight, the burning skull of the beast began to change. First, the two sharp teeth at the front of its mouth elongated, becoming about a foot long, with small barbs covering them, making them look even more menacing. The other teeth also became sharper and more pointed. Then, the entire skull was remolded by the soul fire, becoming more angular and indestructible, filled with a sense of attack.

Finally, the crimson soul fire slowly turned into a deep, molten-like red. The beast had evolved to a higher level, becoming a high-ranking demon corpse with over seven hundred years of condensed death force among the red-souled corpses.

A fiercely evil thought surged into Zhu Jiu's mind, merging with the talisman. A small green image appeared on the blank yellow base of the talisman, clearly the shape of the strange beast.

Zhu Jiu felt immense joy, clearly sensing a new wave of respect for himself in the beast's fierce thoughts. As the burning soul fire gradually weakened and retreated back into the skull, the transformation was complete.

Zhu Jiu tried to issue commands to the beast, and it became extremely obedient, sitting, standing, and moving at his will. The task was indeed accomplished.

Looking at the strange beast before him, Zhu Jiu was overjoyed and said:

"When we first met, your soul fire flickered like a beautiful sunset. From now on, you will be called Sunset."

The beast Sunset stood proudly in place, giving no response. Zhu Jiu was not bothered by this and curiously examined the deep memories within Sunset's soul fire.

Sunset's memories were extremely simple, but they contained a secret about the giant skeleton at the river bottom and the origin of Sunset!