"Crack~ crack~"
Under the fierce clash of the two "god-level" attacks, the space could not withstand the aftermath. Like shattered glass, dense cracks appeared across the void.
"Boom——"
A massive circular spatial rift suddenly opened, as if glass had completely shattered. Immediately after, a tremendous suction force erupted. In an instant, within the Slaughter Arena of the Slaughter City, all the corpses previously frozen by the Articuno rapidly transformed into blood-red energy and were swallowed by the spatial rift.
Seeing this, Tang Chen was greatly shocked and said inwardly, "That is the Hell Road. I never thought it would be opened in this way!"
Although Tang Chen had been ambushed by the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat King and his soul was suppressed, it did not mean he was unaware of the situation in Slaughter City.
Originally, the condition to open the Hell Road was to achieve a hundred consecutive victories in the Slaughter Arena, after which the High Priest of the God Shura—also the Slaughter King—would open it.
After the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat King ambushed him, it partially modified the rules, changing the energy supply from the Shura God's High Priest's attack power to the flesh and blood of fallen ones, in order to avoid excessive energy consumption that might give Tang Chen a chance to counterattack.
As for someone obtaining a hundred consecutive victories but not opening the passage, the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat King did not dare to do so. After all, this was a rule set by the God Shura; it was not something a mere special ten-thousand-year soul beast could dare to violate.
In fact, if the God Shura had not still held a trace of hope for Tang Chen to awaken on his own and treated this as a trial, then given the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat King's actions, the God Shura would likely have already intervened.
"That is…"
At this moment, within Articuno's body, Shui Wuhen also noticed the scene inside the spatial rift.
It was a world filled with a faint blood-red hue. At the very bottom was a river formed of molten lava, and above it was a narrow rocky path. The scorching heat from the lava constantly washed over the stone path, creating a true hellish scene.
"Could this be the only exit of the Slaughter City they mentioned—the Hell Road?"
Shui Wuhen's eyes flickered as he thought inwardly.
The current situation was unfavorable for them. As a martial soul fusion skill, the super Articuno had a limited duration. The so-called "Slaughter King" opposite them was far stronger than he had anticipated—almost comparable to the Deep Sea Demon Whale King he had once encountered. Even if his abilities were not restricted, defeating such an opponent would still be extremely difficult.
A battle with such an opponent consumed soul power far beyond expectations. Even with his inner core's near-cheat-level recovery speed, it was still far from enough to make up for it.
At this rate, within a few minutes at most, the Super Articuno would collapse due to insufficient soul power.
At the same time, Tang Chen was also inwardly alarmed.
"This junior… is actually this strong!"
One must know that he was currently at his peak state after awakening—stronger even than when he had once fought Bo Saixi and Qian Daoliu.
He had now passed eight trials of the God Shura. Although his body had been somewhat eroded and damaged by the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat over the years, after slightly expelling the influence of the bat and the remnants of the God of Slaughter's divine will, his body had still transformed into a semi-divine body, and he wielded the divine artifact, the Shura Magic Sword.
Tang Chen was confident that if he faced Bo Saixi and Qian Daoliu again, as long as they had not made significant progress, he could defeat them within ten moves in a normal battle.
Yet even so, when facing two juniors who had not even reached the Titled Douluo level using a martial soul fusion skill, he still needed to use the Great Sumeru Hammer technique—Sacrifice of Rings—to resist. How could he not be shocked?
"If I had not begun the god trials, I might have fallen to that attack just now. Truly, the younger generation surpasses the old…"
Tang Chen even felt emotional.
He had once been known as the "Strongest on Land," one of the three peerless powerhouses of the Douluo Continent. Yet decades later, he had been surpassed so easily by those who came after him. It inevitably left him feeling sentimental.
Then Tang Chen's expression turned serious as he murmured, "It's over, juniors!"
Immediately after, another soul ring shattered and merged into the Shura Magic Sword in his hand.
Although he had not yet fully completed the Shura God's trials, his soul ring years had significantly increased, making his Great Sumeru Hammer technique—Sacrifice of Rings—far more powerful.
Boom——
With the infusion of soul ring energy, Tang Chen's attack power surged once again, beginning to suppress the Super Articuno.
"Its power can still increase?"
Seeing this, Shui Wuhen was immediately shocked inwardly.
At this rate, the opponent's self-created skill amplification was already close to matching his ninety-nine thousand year martial soul true form. It seemed that in the future, he would also need to develop a powerful amplification soul skill.
At that moment, Articuno's voice suddenly rang in Shui Wuhen's mind.
"Wuhen, this person is too strong. I can't hold on much longer."
The voice made Shui Wuhen's heart tighten, but he also understood clearly that continuing a head-on clash was unrealistic. Not to mention anything else, their soul power simply could not sustain it.
Moreover, so far the opponent had only used five soul rings—he clearly had not reached his limit.
Shui Bing'er also said anxiously, "Brother, what should we do? In just this short time, our soul power has already been reduced by half. We can't hold on much longer like this."
Hearing this, Shui Wuhen thought briefly, then gritted his teeth and said, "We'll rush into the Hell Road and escape through it!"
His tone was decisive. Although risky, this was indeed their last chance. If they waited until the martial soul fusion ended, their situation would only become worse.
Now, at least they were still in fusion state. If they encountered anything, they would still have the strength to resist.
As for the greater danger inside the Hell Road, and the possibility of encountering someone even stronger than the Slaughter King—Shui Wuhen could no longer afford to consider it.
"Wuu!!!"
Upon receiving Shui Wuhen's command, Super Articuno's eyes flashed red. Its body turned into a streak of light and rushed directly into the Hell Road.
At the moment it entered, a massive Shura Magic Sword descended from the sky, slashing directly at its previous position and instantly splitting the entire Slaughter Arena and hundreds of meters of surrounding space in two.
Tang Chen watched as they entered the Hell Road and as the entrance rapidly closed, frowning slightly.
"I didn't expect them to choose this path. But indeed… under such circumstances, there was no other option."
He then retracted the Shura Magic Sword and looked at the ruined battlefield, revealing a faint bitter smile.
Although he had passed the eighth trial and barely obtained the recognition of the Shura Magic Sword, with his current condition, passing the ninth trial was nearly impossible.
In a sense, he was in a similar situation to Bo Saixi and Qian Daoliu.
The only difference was that he still had the possibility—however faint it was—of becoming a god through the nine trials, whereas Bo Saixi and Qian Daoliu had no such chance at all.
Tang Chen did not consider pursuing them. Without the clash with Super Articuno's skill, opening the Hell Road would take a long time. By the time he opened it, Shui Wuhen and the others would already be long gone.
For others, the Hell Road was extremely dangerous because soul skills could not be used. However, for Super Articuno, that level of danger was insignificant.
The only thing Shui Wuhen and the others needed to be cautious of was the lingering remnants of the God of Slaughter's divine will. That thing was extremely insidious. Without it, even if Tang Chen were heavily injured, he would not have been influenced by a mere Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat King.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Tang Chen sensed something. In a flash, he appeared beside the unconscious Tang San, his gaze shifting slightly as if pondering something.
On the Hell Road, Super Articuno flew forward like a streak of light. The narrow and dangerous path posed no obstacle to a flying existence like it.
An Darkgolden Three-Headed Bat tried to block their way but was directly treated as a speed bump and smashed through.
Compared to that bat, the smaller bats were even less significant. Upon touching the cold aura around Super Articuno, they were instantly frozen into ice shards and fell into the "lava" below.
Shasha~
On the narrow path below, a ten-meter-long crimson snake with nine red mushroom-like protrusions on its back and head slowly moved forward.
These protrusions were strange, each one seemingly filled with flowing blood. It was precisely the ancient exotic beast—the Ten-Headed Sun Snake!
It suddenly sensed something and raised its head, hissing in warning.
A few breaths later, an ice-blue giant bird it had never seen before flew toward it, causing it to hiss aggressively.
But Articuno showed no hesitation. Its wings flashed with icy blue light, and like a scythe cutting through wheat, it instantly slashed the Ten-Headed Sun Snake apart.
The entire process did not even slow it down.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Shui Wuhen sensed something with his spiritual power. A fiery red inner core flew out from the snake's body, quickly catching up to Articuno and being grasped in its claws.
"Brother, what is that?"
Shui Bing'er asked curiously.
Shui Wuhen replied, "Not sure, but it should be a treasure."
This snake's inner core was somewhat similar to his own inner core, yet different. It had research value and might help uncover its secrets.
Soon, they reached the end of the Hell Road.
However, at that moment, a dark purple evil aura suddenly appeared and rushed toward Super Articuno, crazily invading it.
Instantly, countless strange whispers echoed in their minds, affecting both Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er.
"%$#@…!!!"
"Get out!!!"
With Shui Wuhen's roar, a brilliant light erupted from Articuno's forehead. The dark purple aura rapidly dissipated like snow under the sun.
The Soul Bone of the Dream Eater Ice Silkworm had once again resisted a mental attack.
After resolving the evil aura, they immediately rushed forward without hesitation.
Soon, they saw the exit. The rocky path ended abruptly, with a gap of hundreds of meters ahead. Clearly, this was another trial.
But for the flying Articuno, it was nothing—it simply flew straight across.
In the next moment, space seemed to shift. The blood-red world vanished, replaced by the long-lost warm sunlight.
Not long after exiting the Hell Road, Super Articuno disintegrated, separating back into Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er.
In midair, Shui Bing'er fell unconscious and began to drop, but Shui Wuhen immediately caught her with Articuno.
Unlike her, Shui Wuhen remained conscious due to his strong spiritual power and soul power.
"Good thing we escaped in time… otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Seeing Shui Bing'er only fainted from exhaustion, Shui Wuhen finally relaxed.
Inside him, the ice-blue inner core began rotating rapidly, absorbing surrounding energy to restore his depleted soul power.
It had already dropped to less than ten percent, but now it had recovered to around twenty percent.
This was the terrifying power of a soul core.
"By the way, Wuhen, this is what you wanted."
Articuno suddenly spoke, and a fiery red inner core floated in front of Shui Wuhen.
Shui Wuhen took it, his eyes brightening.
"Good. With this, I might be able to uncover the secret of inner cores!"
He stored it away.
"Let's go. Return to Heaven Dou City first!"