I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Four thin, hair-like, gray-black finger strikes, almost blending into the dim, blood-red light, precisely pierced the back of the heads of the four demonic sect guards under the cover of the aftershocks of the explosion and the echoing dragon's roar.

Before they could even utter a sound, the panic on their faces froze instantly, and the light in their pupils quickly dimmed and disappeared. Then, as if an invisible hand had emptied their life force, their skin visibly withered and turned ashen, ultimately transforming them into four light, lifeless husks, as if dried up for countless years, silently collapsing to the ground. Then, in a gust of grayish-black air, they were completely reduced to ashes, leaving no trace.

【Silence Finger - Soul Destruction】! Lu Zhao's move was a killing blow, pursuing absolute silence and destruction.

The entire process happened in the blink of an eye. Even after the four guards had completely disappeared, the terrifying explosion and the dragon's roar still echoed in the stone chamber.

Lu Zhao flashed and arrived in front of the solitary iron cage. The restrictions on the cage emitted a dark red aura; it was a blood-path restriction that could both seal spiritual power and torment the soul. He didn't have time to slowly break through it. A flash of gray-gold light appeared in his eyes, and his right index finger touched the most crucial rune node of the restriction.

"laugh……"

The power of annihilation, like the most domineering corrosive agent, instantly invaded the runic structure. The crimson restrictive light flickered violently a few times, emitting a hissing sound as it struggled under the strain, before silently shattering and dissipating like a burst bubble.

Lu Zhao pulled open the now-unusual iron bars and bent down to enter the cage.

The woman in the cage, Lin Wanqiu, struggled to sit up, but her injuries and the torment of the restraints had clearly weakened her to the extreme. This one movement made her face even paler, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, and she swayed, almost falling over.

Lu Zhao reacted swiftly, grabbing her shoulder. His touch revealed the sharp bones beneath her clothes and her icy skin; she was clearly extremely weak. A faint scent, a mixture of blood, herbs, and a woman's unique fragrance, wafted to his nose.

"Thank you...thank you...fellow Daoist for saving me..." Lin Wanqiu's voice was extremely weak, barely a whisper, but it carried an indescribable gratitude and a hint of relief at surviving a calamity. She raised her head, her eyes, which should have been bright and clear, were now dim, yet she tried hard to make out the face of her savior. When she saw Lu Zhao's ordinary (in disguise) but calm and deep-set eyes, a look of extreme confusion and bewilderment flashed in her eyes—she didn't recognize this person. But the pure and powerful aura emanating from him, which carried a strange sense of deathly stillness and devouring power, as well as the ability to instantly kill four guards and easily break through the restrictions, all indicated that this was no ordinary person.

"Don't speak, just take them." Without explaining, Lu Zhao quickly took out a "Life-Creating Pill" and a "Spirit-Nourishing Pill" specifically for nourishing the soul and stabilizing the mind from his [human skin pouch], and put them into Lin Wanqiu's mouth. The pills melted instantly upon entering her mouth, turning into two warm medicinal forces that flowed into her body, rapidly nourishing her battered body and damaged soul.

An unnatural flush immediately appeared on Lin Wanqiu's face. Her breathing stabilized slightly, but she was still weak. The spiritual power within her body was tightly locked by a more advanced and insidious bloodline seal. The pills that Lu Zhao fed her could only keep her alive and temporarily stabilize her injuries, but could not help her break through the seal and restore her cultivation.

"I...I am Lin Wanqiu, an inner disciple of the Yunmeng Sect...I was exploring the desolate hills with my fellow disciples...we were ambushed by the Demonic Sect...my fellow disciples...all..." Lin Wanqiu forced herself to speak, quickly recounting her ordeal, her voice choked with grief and hatred. She looked at Lu Zhao, her eyes pleading, "Fellow Daoist...this place is extremely dangerous. The Demonic Sect has a major scheme here, and there's even a 'special envoy' at the Pseudo-Core Formation stage...you must...you must leave now, don't worry about me..."

A pseudo-Dan stage envoy! Just as I suspected! Lu Zhao confirmed his previous guess.

He ignored Lin Wanqiu's suggestion that he leave first, and asked in a deep voice, "Is there a way to break your seal? Or do you know the specific arrangements of the Demonic Sect here, especially the defenses of the 'Blood Dragon Fiend Pool' and the core area?"

Lin Wanqiu shook her head, a look of despair on her face: "The seal was personally placed by that 'envoy,' it's extremely vicious. Unless a Golden Core cultivator intervenes, or a specific method to lift the seal is found… As for the arrangement, I only know that they seem to be using the remains and resentment of the ancient dragon race on this land, combined with blood sacrifice, to refine an evil object called the 'Vengeful Dragon Soul Crystal,' to… awaken or control some more terrifying being. The main pool is heavily guarded, but the specifics are unknown…"

Lu Zhao nodded; this largely matched the information he had obtained through soul searching. He quickly considered the matter. Carrying Lin Wanqiu, who had no cultivation and was sealed by a deadly poison, would be a complete burden in this perilous Blood Palace, surrounded by powerful enemies, almost certainly resulting in certain death. But leaving her here was tantamount to letting her wait to die.

Just as he was weighing his options—

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Crack—!"

An even more violent explosion and a deafening cracking sound came from the main passage! Immediately afterward, several incredibly powerful auras rushed towards the location of the backup blood pool at an astonishing speed! One aura was cold and violent, filled with bloodlust and resentment, clearly reaching the Pseudo-Core Formation realm! Another was incomparably sharp, carrying a righteous aura, obviously a sword cultivator from the Xuan Tian Sword Sect, at least at the late Foundation Establishment stage! Several other, slightly weaker but equally powerful auras followed, indicating that the two sides were fighting as they moved in this direction!

"They're attacking!" Lu Zhao's eyes narrowed. The aftershocks of the battle had spread here, and judging from the situation, it seemed that the expert from the Xuan Tian Sword Sect was either pursuing them or had been lured here? In any case, this place would soon become a new battlefield!

We can't hesitate any longer!

"Fairy Lin, forgive me!" Lu Zhao said in a low voice, and before Lin Wanqiu could react, he swept her up in his arms. Lin Wanqiu gasped in surprise, two blushes rising on her pale face, but she quickly realized her situation, gritted her teeth and endured it without struggling.

Lu Zhao carried her, his movements as swift as lightning, instantly arriving at a dark corner of the stone chamber where clutter was piled up. He gently set Lin Wanqiu down, letting her lean against a pile of discarded, blood-stained leather.

"Stay here and try to conceal your presence. No matter what you hear or see, don't come out!" Lu Zhao spoke rapidly, his gaze sharp as he looked at her. "I'll create chaos; perhaps I'll have a chance to get you out of here. If... if I don't come back, or if things get out of control, try to hide in that blood pool. It's dangerous, but it might isolate you from some of the detection, allowing you to wait for rescue or... a turning point." This was practically telling her to jump into the backup blood pool and wait to die, but it was better than being torn apart by the aftershocks of the battle or being discovered by the Demon Sect.

Looking into Lu Zhao's calm and resolute eyes, Lin Wanqiu felt a surge of complex emotions. This unfamiliar, powerful cultivator, a complete stranger, had saved her from such a desperate situation and was even willing to risk his life for her. She nodded heavily, her voice weak yet resolute: "Fellow Daoist, I will forever remember your great kindness! Please be careful! If things become unbearable… please prioritize your own safety!"

Lu Zhao said no more, turned to look at the spare blood pool in the center of the stone chamber, which was churning with dark red liquid, and then looked at the powerful aura fluctuations that were getting closer and closer to the entrance of the main passage. A hint of madness flashed in his eyes.

"Since a direct assault on the core is impossible, and escaping with weakened units is difficult... let's stir things up completely!"

He acted swiftly. First, he went to the spot where the four guards had disappeared and picked up the few remaining magical artifacts and array materials that had not yet been completely annihilated. Then, he went to the backup blood pool, quickly forming hand seals, and wisps of pure annihilation dragon energy mixed with simulated, even more violent blood demonic energy were injected into several key nodes around the blood pool.

He's setting up a formation! Not a defensive formation, nor an offensive formation, but an extremely simple one, but with a clear purpose—a detonation formation and a counter-current formation!

He intended to detonate this backup blood pool, unleashing all the accumulated blood energy within—though not as abundant as the main pool, it was still immense—and causing it to flow backward, impacting the main passage and even attempting to disrupt the main pool's operation! Simultaneously, the massive commotion and energy turbulence generated by the detonation would create maximum chaos, concealing their tracks and potentially causing unexpected harm to the two sides currently engaged in battle.

This is undoubtedly playing with fire! If it's not controlled properly, he'll be the first to be blown up. Moreover, detonating the blood pool could very well enrage the demonic sect envoy, or trigger a further reaction from the terrifying being at the core.

But Lu Zhao had no other choice. This was the only way he could think of that might create a glimmer of hope and cause trouble for the Demonic Sect. The Dao Foundation of the "Silent Demonic Dragon" in his dantian seemed to sense its master's mad intentions, slowly accelerating its rotation and emitting an aura that was both exciting and dangerous.

"Not enough... We need a 'catalyst,' a 'catalyst' that can instantly ignite all the blood-fiend energy and direct it in a designated direction..." Lu Zhao's gaze swept across the stone chamber, finally settling on the pile of discarded leather in the corner—more precisely, beneath the leather, several scattered fragments of "Yinming Stone" emanating a faint but pure Yin energy. These were materials for setting up some kind of sinister formation, probably discarded by the guards.

"This is it!" Lu Zhao quickly picked up the fragments of the Yinming Stone, forcibly activated and compressed the Yin energy within it with the power of Annihilation, and then mixed it with a wisp of his own essence blood and a trace of the source of Annihilation Dragon Qi, inscribing an extremely unstable micro-rune filled with destructive will within it.

He carefully placed this hastily made, extremely dangerous "Yin Sha Burst Talisman Embryo" on a key hub for the energy flow of the backup blood pool.

Just then—

"boom!"

A sharp, incomparably powerful silver sword aura, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, slashed in from the main passage entrance, tearing a huge crack in the stone wall at the entrance! Immediately afterward, a blood-red figure, filled with boundless resentment and rage, also rushed in!

"You scum of the Xuantian Sword Sect! You're courting death!" A cold and violent roar rang out, belonging to the Demon Sect envoy who was at the Pseudo-Core stage! His black robe was somewhat torn, revealing pale skin covered with strange blood-red patterns. In his hand, he held a grotesque bone staff, the head of which was inlaid with a skull that was constantly dripping blood.

"Evil spirits and heretics should be punished by everyone!" The cold-faced young man from the Xuantian Sword Sect (a cultivator surnamed Liu) stood with his sword in hand. Although he had several wounds on his body, his sword intent soared to the sky, showing no sign of yielding. Behind him were two Xuantian Sword Sect disciples with slightly weaker auras, as well as a cultivator from the Yunmeng Sect (a subordinate of the scholar surnamed Li). All of them were injured, clearly having gone through a fierce battle.

The two sides instantly confronted each other in the not-so-spacious stone chamber, the terrifying spiritual pressure making the air almost freeze.

And they all happened to have their backs to the corner where Lu Zhao was, and... that backup blood pool that had been tampered with and was about to erupt.

Lu Zhao held his breath, completely concealing himself in the shadows. He held a simple detonation spell in his hand, his eyes fixed on the two opposing sides in the arena, as well as the "bomb" he had planted himself.

"The timing for detonation... will be at the moment when your spiritual energy clashes most fiercely during your battle!" A resolute glint flashed in Lu Zhao's eyes.