Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

As Liu Xing and the other two approached the right fork in the road, he immediately sensed his spiritual awareness was blocked. He exchanged a glance with the young man named Min and continued his exploration even more cautiously. Just as everyone had entered, a bald man eerily appeared at the cave's entrance. His body was ablaze with blood, his eyes a demonic crimson, and a strange, chuckled laugh emanated from his throat. He activated another, even more powerful, defensive barrier at the entrance, sealing it again, leaving the valley looking the same as before. He then slipped back into the cave, reached the fork in the road, sniffed fiercely, and lunged towards the left fork.

The bald man, possessing peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, quietly followed a group of cultivators on the left, heading deeper into the cave. At the left fork in the road was Madam Long and a young man surnamed Wang. They cautiously explored deeper and deeper, feeling a chilling sensation but no real danger. Suddenly, without warning, a streak of bloody light struck them from behind.

"Be careful!" Mrs. Long was the first to notice the sneak attack and quickly warned Fellow Daoist Wang. The two of them turned around and saw the bald man, unleashing his bloody magic power, suddenly attacking them.

"Blood Dao Magic?!" The two were horrified. This wasn't some Jindan-level cave dwelling; it was a massive trap. They'd fallen for the thief Luochen. They instantly understood what was happening. A vast blood-lit shield enveloped them. Unable to call for help or raise a warning, they each summoned their own magical instruments to attack the shield. But the bald man gave them no chance. Two blood chains descended upon them. Madam Long hurriedly flung her top-grade hairpin to meet the chains. But the hairpin was instantly tainted by the blood, its spiritual power shattered. Madam Long was horrified. This supreme artifact, which had accompanied her for decades, was destroyed in an instant. The young man surnamed Wang fared no better. His top-grade flying knife was also tainted by the blood chains. In a single round, the two were defeated, entangled in the blood chains. The bald man charged forward, sealing their magical powers. Madam Long and Fellow Daoist Wang rolled their eyes and passed out.

At the same time, Liaochen, who was at the fork in the road, finally showed his fangs. Arriving deep in the cave, he took advantage of the unpreparedness of Li Daoyou in front of him and instantly attacked him from behind with the whisk in his hand. Li Daoyou was also a cautious person and had been on guard against Liaochen, but he had not expected Liaochen to hide his strength. This time, his attack was far more powerful than he had previously displayed. Without intending to do so, he knocked Li Daoyou away, leaving a bloody mess on his back. He ignored the wound on his back and, without waiting for his body to hit the ground, he flipped over like a kite. The long spear in his hand, a top-grade magical weapon, rushed towards Liaochen like a long snake out of a cave, hoping to seize the initiative. Liaochen saw that his opponent was so fierce. Although he had successfully attacked by surprise, he was not able to knock him out of his fighting spirit, which was a pity. So the two of them fought fiercely in the cave, and it was difficult to determine the winner.

The bald man carried Madam Long and Fellow Daoist Wang to the end of the fork in the cave. It was a vast pool of blood. In the center, a raised platform resembled an altar, atop a magic circle. The blood energy within the pool was tightly connected to the circle. The bald man threw the two into the air above the pool. Suddenly, two blood chains appeared, trapping them and suspending them in mid-air. Simultaneously, their spiritual energy and blood were connected to the altar's magic circle and slowly absorbed.

"Waste!" The bald man seemed deeply dissatisfied with Le Chen's incompetence, having failed to capture the young man surnamed Li for so long. He vanished in a flash, reappearing in the middle fork in the road, while simultaneously launching a blood chain towards Fellow Daoist Li. Fellow Daoist Li had battled Le Chen for a long time and was severely injured. Now, facing the attack of a peak late Foundation Establishment expert, he was captured before long and, like Madam Long, was suspended above the blood pool.

Liu Xing and the young man surnamed Min had also reached the end of the right path, staring at the scene in horror. The blood pool, the altar, the demonic arts—they instantly understood this was a trap. They had been lured in and would be sacrificed in blood. The three fellow Taoists hanging in the air were their fate. Meanwhile, standing by the blood pool, Liaochen had undergone a dramatic transformation. His previous amiable demeanor was gone. His eyes were now bloodshot, his entire body brimming with blood, and a menacing aura filled him. Furthermore, a terrifying bald man, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, stood nearby, glaring at them intently.

Unable to bear the pressure, the young man surnamed Min swung his palm at Liu Xing, attempting to push him toward his enemy while he himself retreated rapidly, fleeing the same way he'd come. Liu Xing was surprised that Min would attack him, but with his strength, he easily dodged the attack. But then he remembered a story from his past life: two brothers encountered a lion in the forest. One of them quickly bent down to tie his shoelaces, while the other, looking utterly ashen, declared, "We can't outrun the lion." The other replied, "I just need to outrun you." In this situation, the young man surnamed Min clearly shared the same sentiment, using Liu Xing as a shield while sprinting away.

The bald man laughed strangely and rushed towards the young man surnamed Min. Due to the huge gap in strength between them and the fact that the young man surnamed Min was already scared, his fighting power was less than half of what it was before. He was captured alive in just a few rounds and hung above the blood pool.

Liu Xing was also a skilled and courageous man. He had been observing the blood pool and the altar, while checking for any stronger opponents. It seemed that only the bald man and Liaochen were here, but he wasn't particularly afraid. Based on his own guess and his understanding of demonic cultivators, this should be a demonic cultivator practicing the blood magic technique, using blood sacrifices to improve his cultivation or break through the realm. Liaochen was undoubtedly a demonic cultivator, and he lured him and the others in because he was attracted by their mana and blood essence. The bald man's mana was already at the peak of the late foundation building stage, close to the false pill realm. Could it be that he had captured so many people at once this time in order to break through the bottleneck of the core formation in one fell swoop? In just a moment, Liu Xing had guessed most of it.

After dealing with the others, the bald man finally turned to Liu Xing. The handsome young man before him, his expressionless and calm, gave him a vague sense of danger. Although he was only at the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage, his magical power seemed to rival his own. However, once they entered his lair, even those at the False Core stage wouldn't be able to escape. Today, he would utilize the full magical power and Qi and blood of these fresh blood slaves to achieve a breakthrough to the Core Formation stage. The higher the other party's magical power and the more vigorous their Qi and blood, the higher his chances of success. The bald man's thoughts grew increasingly excited, his eyes gleaming with a greedy, feral, and bloodthirsty glint.