This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

Whether they could escape was another matter. Xiao Xingchen was really scared. It was just three incense sticks, why was it so terrifying?

As the three incense sticks burned out, a sudden gust of cold wind swept through the first level of the Silent Temple. The hanging corpses that had already passed by drifted across the boundary with the wind and then all appeared in the sky above the Silent Temple.

Countless mummified corpses, wrapped tightly in cloth, hung in the air, completely obscuring the entire temple. This sight sent chills down Xiao Xingchen's spine.

"What did you do? Those mummies seem to have come alive; they're all floating around!"

Ruoxue rushed in anxiously.

"You're in? Is everything alright?"

Xiao Xingchen was stunned.

"It's alright now. The force that was repelling me just now suddenly disappeared, and the road we came from was covered with countless dried corpses floating around. What did you do to cause such a commotion?"

"It seems it really is related to those incense sticks. What exactly are those incense sticks?"

In his hand, he held three incense sticks that had not yet burned out; it all began when he plucked those three sticks.

"what is this?"

"There's no time to explain, let's go into the main hall first."

He dragged Ruoxue directly into the main hall. The mummies seemed to be afraid of something, floating above the temple before refusing to approach. However, the sheer number of mummies suspended in the air seemed inconsistent.

"Demon?"

Upon entering the main hall, Ruoxue saw the enshrined demon and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Yes, a demon. This temple is dedicated to a demon."

"How could it be?"

Ruoxue exclaimed in surprise, then looked at the statue, and said incredulously,

"She's bleeding?"

Xiao Xingchen looked back, and what he saw terrified him. Although there had been bloodstains in the cracks of the statue before, now, bright red blood was flowing from those cracks.

This caused the two to step back, staring intently at the demon statue.

"Is it because I pulled up these three incense sticks?"

"What have you done? I told you to find an exit, and you caused so much trouble! A demon statue is bleeding? I've never even heard of such a thing!"

Ruoxue was getting anxious. How could this man be so unreliable? Why did he touch the three incense sticks?

"Don't get excited, let me take a good look. Do you think this statue might be... fake?"

"Fake? You mean there's something alive inside?"

Ruoxue's face turned ashen. What kind of place was this?

"It's uncertain now, let me go and take a look."

Xiao Xingchen was exceptionally cautious this time. He gently touched the demonic elephant, and when he touched the blood flowing from the crevice, the divine embryo in his chest suddenly twitched.

"Thump",

His body jolted, and then he saw the blood flowing from the demon statue begin to trickle down his fingers and onto his body.

"this?"

He was terrified and quickly retreated, but the blood seemed to have found its target, changing direction and transforming into streaks of blood in the air as it attacked Xiao Xingchen.

"Not good!" Xiao Xingchen was about to leave the main hall when, with a loud bang, the demonic elephant shattered.

As the demonic elephant shattered, the blood lines increased again, each one like a chain, wrapping around his limbs and body, pulling him into the air.

His body was stretched into a starfish shape, and blood began to flow continuously into Xiao Xingchen's body.

"Ah!" A sharp pain shot through him as the blood entered his body. This blood was actually flowing along the eight extraordinary meridians towards the divine embryo in his chest. Within the divine embryo, the battle sword and saber energy seemed to tacitly approve of this action, simultaneously concealing themselves and leaving the entire spiritual space to the flowing blood.

Seeing this, Ruoxue's eyes flashed with a cold light, and she struck the demonic elephant with a palm strike from a distance.

"hiss",

The demonic elephant let out a mournful cry, and an invisible pressure descended upon the entire temple. Even though Ruoxue possessed the power of the fifth level of the Heavenly Realm, she was utterly powerless to resist this oppressive force.

Ruoxue was practically going crazy. She was a fifth-level expert, a top-tier expert even in the outside world, yet she kept suffering setbacks here. Anyone who didn't know better would think her fifth-level expert status was fake.

She was pinned to the spot by this oppressive force, forced to watch helplessly as blood continued to flow from the shattered demon statue.

"Xiao Xingchen, are you still alive?" she asked with difficulty.

"what!"

Only agonizing screams rang out, proving that Xiao Xingchen was still alive. But she was powerless to do anything about it and could only watch helplessly as the demon blood entered Xiao Xingchen's body.

Xiao Xingchen could feel his body shattering as the demon blood entered. The demon blood carried a violent power that relentlessly destroyed his body, the pain growing increasingly intense until it flowed into his spiritual platform and was absorbed by his divine embryo, only then did the pain subside.

The divine embryo, like a baby deprived of milk for a long time, thirstily drank in the demonic blood rushing into its body.

What exactly is going on?

He felt like he was about to explode. He was being torn apart by the blood lines, and from this angle, he could see that inside the shattered demonic elephant, there seemed to be a pair of eyes staring at him. He even wondered if he was about to be possessed.

That's how it's written in fantasy novels: a powerful demon possesses another's body. Otherwise, how would you explain what's happening right now?

A look of panic returned to his face. Was he going to die again? He felt like he had really done something terrible; why had he come to a place like this? It was practically suicide.

But then he thought of the countless mummified corpses outside, and realized that dying like this might not be so bad. At least he wouldn't have to face those shriveled bodies. A man who gets nervous just entering a crematorium—he only had time to process seeing so many mummified corpses. Heaven knows how uneasy he felt.

The fear of ghosts and the dead is an innate feeling, not necessarily related to courage, but rather to a sense of unease or fear.

Thinking this through, he stopped resisting. He was tired. Whatever. At worst, he would just die.

As the blood continued to flow in, the divine embryo began to turn red, and then its shape began to change. Originally, the divine embryo was an infant-shaped bud, but now it had transformed into a raccoon-shaped creature. After absorbing so much demon blood, it even let out a burp.

Feeling the life throbbing in his chest, Xiao Xingchen was completely disheartened. The last time there was a living thing inside his body was in that mortal realm. Now, how did this divine fetus become alive?

Just as he was filled with horror, he saw something flash within the demonic elephant. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a pair of elongated, vertical eyes, emitting a bluish light that was terrifying in the darkness.

"Don't be afraid. You are born with a divine embryo. I will help you transform into a demon. This is my mission and your destiny."

"who are you?"

"I am Feifei, the beast imprisoned on the first level of the Silent Temple,"

"Detained?"

Xiao Xingchen was taken aback. It wasn't being worshipped, it was being imprisoned.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that the Silent Temple was not established by the demon race, but rather a prison used by certain people to imprison powerful demons.

This is the first level, which means that each level above it holds a powerful demon.

"You extinguished the Burning World Incense, giving me a chance to awaken. I can feel that my time is almost up. During this time, do your best to let the Divine Embryo absorb my demon blood. The blood of a great demon is no longer available. Throw out all your questions and calmly accept the demon blood from me."

As Feifei's voice faded, the bloodline thickened again, and more demonic blood began to flow into his body. Xiao Xingchen had many questions, but there was no time to ask them now. The sudden influx of demonic blood made his eyes bulge, and his entire body swelled up.

The divine embryo's absorption rate couldn't keep up with the influx of demonic blood; it stretched his body like a balloon.

"Slow down, slow down, I'm about to explode."

He shouted anxiously, but Feifei not only didn't stop, it sped up instead.

"There's no time left. A new incense has been lit. My time is running out. Remember, go back to where you came from. Never set foot in this place again before the Ninth Heaven."