The world was an infinite ocean of fresh blood. The sky itself had been turned red by the blood. However, it was extremely clear with no clouds anywhere. Very high in the sky, there were two bright dots. Although they might have been mistaken for the Sun and the Moon, those two dots were of the exact same size. From them, a powerful red light radiated everywhere. They also produced a scorching heat that didn't seem to affect the blood, except by preventing it from coagulating. Thanks to those two light dots, the blood was always fresh.
Obviously, the atmosphere was heavy, and the stench of blood was everywhere. The naked eye could only see blood, nothing more. However, there was something else. At the very center of this infinite world of hemoglobin, ten large white pillars could be seen. From a distance, they barely existed. But as soon as one saw them, they were impossible to ignore. In fact, they literally seemed to grow until they were monumental pillars reaching for the sky.
Those ten pillars were extremely white. Even the red light from the two dots in the sky didn't affect those pillars at all. They were the only objects present, and the only things that weren't red. Upon examining them more closely, one could see that they were phalanxes. Those ten pillars were nothing more than the phalanxes of two skeletal hands. Considering how tall and large each phalanx was, the rest of the skeleton had to be incredibly large. Moreover, those pillars kept on growing as one looked at them. It wasn't that they were actually growing, but their presence was becoming increasingly imposing until nothing else remained.
Something unimaginable happened. The two bright dots in the sky began to dim. As if two moons had passed before those suns, an eclipse covered the infinite blood ocean down below. That eclipse brought a terrifying cold. The heat from the blood tried to fight it off, but this coldness spread farther and farther.
Two large chains pierced through the eclipsed suns and broke the surface of the blood ocean. A terrible wave exploded in every direction. The ten white pillars got splashed with the cold blood. For the first time ever, the purely white bones were stained with red marks here and there.
A large shadow began to spread in an expanding circle under the surface of the blood ocean, precisely where a chain had hit. The other chain began to turn redder and redder. Smoke emanated from it as its temperature was causing both the blood ocean and the air itself to sizzle.
The once calm and serene blood paradise had turned into utter chaos. The coldness of the chains, combined with the sudden heat wave emanating from one of those very chains, was tormenting the world. As if to respond to this assault, a small bead of blood emerged from the infinite ocean, exactly at the center of the ten white fingers. This bead was so small that it was barely visible at first. Although it was blood, it was perfectly golden. In fact, anyone looking at this bead would have immediately thought that it was pure liquid gold.
The bead rose in the air until it was around the middle of the fingers. Then, flames emerged from it. They were sparks at the beginning, but golden and crimson flames turned into a small inferno. As the flames expanded, the bead itself seemed to contract. The more it contracted, the more powerful the flames were. Unlike the heat sizzling the atmosphere from one of the chains, this heat was welcomed by the blood below. In fact, the blood became more and more serene, opposing the forces of chaos.
The flames grew until they took a physical form. A giant asura with red skin appeared as if the ten white fingers were his throne. Although his skin was as red as fresh blood, it was a bit darker than the blood below. Or maybe it was just the contrast caused by the many golden lines he had all over his body. They were similar to complex tattoos, or maybe Insight Writings. The Dao of Blood was quite literally engraved into his skin and flesh. This asura had white hair and ink-black eyes and nails. To be fair, they looked like claws and talons more than nails. As his skin was glistening in blood and flames, the asura was completely naked for all to see.
On his head, his white hair was perfectly tied together with an imperial crown over his head. That being said, he didn't give off the aura of an emperor. He was an ancient god. Behind his serene face and calm demeanor, one could imagine his savagery through his impressive muscles. Beneath his skin, his muscles were almost as visible as if they had been exposed directly.
This was obviously the image of Demon God Da Mo. And this entire blood world was his sea of consciousness.
The shadow under the blood ocean finally emerged. A small mountain rose from the ocean and created ripples that quickly turned into a powerful wave, and then a terrible tsunami. The waves crashed against the ten white fingers but didn't disrupt the blood ocean surrounded by the fingers. It was as if what happened outside the ten fingers had happened in another realm entirely.
As the mountain kept on rising and rising, it became obvious that it was the shell of a giant animal. The mountain was black and had nine different peaks. On top of the largest peak, the one in the very center, one could see a small palace. The shell itself was made of thirteen scutes. From the mountains to the scutes, the shell was entirely black with various shades of dark gray. Some peaks looked like they were made of volcanic stones with cinder here and there.
As the shell fully emerged from the blood ocean, the blood on the shell began to drain by falling everywhere. A large head rose from the same blood. As if the chain was dragging it upward, the giant turtle kept on rising until it floated on the ocean of blood. Raising its head, the turtle faced Demon God Da Mo. Strange characters shone all over its shell, even on the nine mountain peaks.
While it was swimming toward Demon God Da Mo, its limbs were creating enormous ripples and titanic waves. They kept on crashing both on the ten fingers and on the nine peaks of its own shell. However, other ripples were created underneath the surface. Even as the black tortoise, the legendary Xuanwu, was swimming forward, very strange patterns were visible. It was as if giant snakes or eels were swimming around the turtle in complete chaos.
In the sky, the other shadow also took form. The chain almost melted, but it endured. However, it turned completely red on a large portion. As the air sizzled, smoke gathered more and more until finally it formed a large cloud. Sparks tore through the cloud. Nine large feathers erupted. They were extremely bright, like the feathers of a peacock wheel. That being said, they were not actually feathers, they were literally flames with bright colors. As such, they were always moving around, changing the beautiful patterns visible on them.
Those very patterns seemed to contain incredible mysteries. Here and there, one could see a character, but it suddenly disappeared. The patterns were alive and couldn't be frozen in time, or they would lose their meaning. They were a form of the Dao of Fire, still unpolished and savage, and thus extremely violent and dangerous.
A powerful screech echoed and shook everything in creation. Then, the head of the majestic True Fiery Fenghuang emerged as well. All of the smoke got completely annihilated by the terrifying heat of the legendary bird. In fact, the atmosphere itself was vaporized around the divine beast. There was a literal vacuum around the creature made of flames. Despite the absence of oxygen or any other kind of fuel, the flames kept on burning. They had taken a life of their own.
At last, the chain melted. A large portion of the chain, underneath the True Fiery Fenghuang, fell into the blood ocean. However, even as bright as a small sun, the upper part of the chain stayed linked to the fiery bird. Just like the Xuanwu down below, the legendary bird also began to fly toward the ten fingers. As it moved through the air, the bird was vaporizing all the air. Even the blood below was vaporized.
It looked like there was an invisible bubble all around the True Fiery Fenghuang. Directly under the bird, the level of the ocean was lower, and smoke rose around it as the rest of the ocean was trying to fill it up. But the heat was so extreme that the smoke itself disappeared in an instant, unable to rise very high.
Those two legendary beasts were causing incredible chaos as they were making their way toward Demon God Da Mo. Obviously, they were manifestations of the Soul Embryos of Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang Yufeng.
Although the two elders were moving just as fast and had appeared just as far from Demon God Da Mo, Sect Leader Xuan was suddenly much closer. With his understanding of the Dao of Space, he was able to contract distances, even in this sea of consciousness. In fact, being in a world of pure consciousness made it easier to control space as it wasn't the actual space of the real world. It was also true for Matriarch Huang and her understanding of the Dao of Fire. Unfortunately, this sea of consciousness was the absolute domain of Demon God Da Mo. Here, his Dao of Blood was law.
In a very lazy fashion, Demon God Da Mo raised both his hands and pointed toward each intruder.
Suddenly, the ocean of blood lashed out!
Just like thousands of snakes, columns of blood emerged and darted toward Matriarch Huang. The entire space around her was covered in blood. Those blood vessels collided with the scorching heat emanating from her body. However, the sheer volume of blood was too much for even her heat. Matriarch Huang flew upward while sending her nine tails in front of her. They were almost acting as a drill. Intensifying the heat in front of her, Matriarch Huang was able to fly through the blood vessels above her. However, she was being chased by thousands of snakes. Matriarch Huang was flying all over the place. It was as if she were facing a hydra with innumerable heads, which all wanted to devour her.
Strangely, not a single blood column hit the chain still tied to Matriarch Huang. In fact, they were moving around it, avoiding it naturally.
In the blood ocean, the scene was similar but different. Thousands of blood snakes were coiling around the vast shell of Sect Leader Xuan. They were binding his large limbs, going around his neck, trying to strangle him and tie him up. They also spread all around his shell and the peaks above it. Suddenly, a large black snake whipped the blood all around Sect Leader Xuan. It was longer than the entire body of Sect Leader Xuan. In fact, it was impossible to tell how long it was as no one could actually see it entirely. Coiled parts of its body were visible out of the ocean of blood. But most of its body was still hidden under the blood.
Sect Leader Xuan kept on swimming while his giant snake tail was active under the surface of the blood ocean, fighting off the thousands of blood snakes. However, Sect Leader Xuan couldn't move as fast as before. Even his use of the Dao of Space was more or less sealed.
In the same lazy manner, Demon God Da Mo raised his two arms. As he did, the ten pillars also rose in the air. Finally, the wrists were visible. Two huge skeleton forearms appeared. Slowly, the two gigantic hands closed into fists. From the ocean of blood, a sudden wave of hemoglobin got sucked into the two fists. In an instant, the two skeleton hands finally had two large swords.
With no hesitation and almost no effort at all, Demon God Da Mo slashed toward his two enemies. The two large swords fell in unison. In that moment, Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang both felt as though there was no escape at all. The swords falling toward them were both so thin that they could slice through anything, but also so vast that it was impossible to dodge them. The sensation was impossible to describe. They were certain that the swords could cut a hair in two at a precise point, but also that they were wider than the world itself. No matter where they ran, they would be slashed.
Even the two elders couldn't tell whether the sensation was caused by Demon God Da Mo's Dao of Blood, his understanding of the Sword Spirit, his Reborn Demon cultivation, or simply the fact that they were quite literally in his soul. Most likely, it was a combination of all of these and some more.
Of course, Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang had known all along that fighting the Demon Soul of Demon God Da Mo in his own sea of consciousness was suicidal. However, they didn't need to actually win. Although they would have loved to defeat him, they didn't need it to vanquish him. Thankfully, they weren't fighting the asura alone.
The two elders realized that they couldn't dodge or evade in any way, so they simply got ready to survive the impact with everything they had. Then, they would strike back and damage the Demon Soul as badly as they could. Hopefully, the traitor Mo Tian could do what he had to do. Besides, Cao Yun's Black Death Prison poison was still affecting Demon God Da Mo. The more they forced him to use his strength, the more the poison would weaken him. If they couldn't kill him, they had to make him suffer and spend his strength so that Cao Yun could succeed where they would fail.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like Demon God Da Mo was exerting any kind of effort when he unleashed his two swords. At last, the two skeleton hands reached their targets as the swords in each hand slashed toward the legendary beasts.