The gates of the Blood Lotus Inner Temple opened with a groan that sounded like a dying beast. Cold wind spilled out, carrying the stench of old blood and unspoken pacts. The floor beneath them pulsed—not with life, but with memory. The stones were blackened, cracked, and slick with symbols that glowed a dull crimson, like veins in the flesh of a god.
Lu Xuan was the first to step inside.
His Immortal Demon God Body reacted immediately. Threads of ancient energy curled around his limbs, crawling beneath his skin like ink through parchment. He didn't flinch. He inhaled, and the darkness welcomed him like an old friend.
Behind him, Su Xue hesitated at the threshold.
Her pendant pulsed—soft, warning—and she grasped it tightly.
"This place…" she whispered. "It's not just a temple. It's a prison."
Yao Lin followed, hand resting on her blade. "A prison built by the first generation of cultivators to contain what they couldn't destroy."
"And now we walk willingly into it," Su Xue murmured, shooting a glance at Lu Xuan.
He didn't look back.
The Crimson Path
The corridor twisted as if alive, its walls bleeding illusions. Faces emerged in the stone—screaming, whispering. The cries of the sacrificed.
The group passed a skeletal statue—half-human, half-serpent, bound in rusted chains. A sign beneath read: "Here sleeps the First Betrayer."
Yao Lin bowed her head. "The founder of the Blood Lotus Sect," she said. "He was once a Sage of Light."
"And then he sought immortality through blood," Lu Xuan said quietly.
The path ended at a gate carved from black jade. Before it, a mural spanned the wall—depicting a monstrous creature with the lower body of a serpent and the upper body of a god, crowned with thorns and wielding a sword wrapped in lotus vines.
Su Xue's breath caught.
"That… that looks like—"
"Me," Lu Xuan finished, eyes narrowing. "Or someone I once was."
The Bloodspawn Awakens
The gate opened without touch.
Within lay a circular chamber, its floor carved in a lotus pattern. And at its center—a cocoon of flesh and crystal, pulsing with a heartbeat not its own.
The group drew closer, but the moment Lu Xuan stepped onto the lotus circle, the ground trembled.
From the shadows, it emerged.
The Bloodspawn Beast.
Fused from the corpses of past disciples, it had no face—only a shifting mass of limbs, teeth, and writhing roots. Dozens of mouths chanted forgotten mantras in different tongues. A monstrous chant that caused the very air to rebel.
Su Xue instinctively summoned her frost blade—only to feel her cultivation sink. Her core dimmed, her qi suppressed.
Yao Lin grimaced. "This place seals spiritual flow. It feeds only those with demonic resonance."
Lu Xuan stepped forward, his expression unreadable.
The beast lunged.
Claws as thick as spears crashed toward them. Yao Lin deflected the first strike with a barrier that shattered on impact. A second strike sent her flying into a wall, her shoulder cracking audibly.
"Back!" Su Xue shouted, shielding Mei behind her, even as her own strength waned.
But Lu Xuan didn't move.
His eyes burned crimson. His veins pulsed. And the Devouring Skill activated without command.
The Bloodspawn's claw struck his chest—only to be absorbed. The beast reeled, screeching as black qi spiraled from its body into Lu Xuan's.
Its limb shriveled. Lu Xuan stepped forward again.
"You're not a guardian," he said, voice low. "You're a gate."
The Bloodspawn roared. Its body split open, revealing a core—an orb of swirling blood and bone, etched with the sigil of the Crimson Demoness.
Lu Xuan's hand shot forward, palm open.
The beast struck one last time—and impaled itself upon him.
He screamed as energy surged through him, melting flesh and bone—only for it to reforge, stronger.
His cultivation surged. His body warped.
Crimson lines etched themselves across his skin like living tattoos.
When the Bloodspawn finally collapsed in a heap of withering flesh, Lu Xuan stood taller. Cold. Detached.
Su Xue stared at him in horror. "You let it in."
"I am it," he said quietly.
She flinched.
Yao Lin coughed, blood on her lips. "We need to keep moving."
Su Xue didn't move. She just looked at Lu Xuan.
"You're not him anymore."
He met her gaze. "Maybe I never was."
Crimson Secrets
The cocoon pulsed again.
From it, a voice echoed—feminine, rich, and low.
"So… my lord awakens once more."
Lu Xuan's eyes twitched.
Su Xue stepped forward, blade raised despite her weakness. "Who are you?"
"I am the oath carved into the first sin. I am the soul that served the first Demon God… and now I return."
The cocoon cracked.
A single hand emerged—pale, perfect, and soaked in blood.
And somewhere within Lu Xuan's heart, something remembered.
Not with thought, but with hunger.
He took a step toward the cocoon.
Su Xue grabbed his arm. "Don't."
He looked at her.
"I have to."
"No," she said. "You want to."
For the first time since entering the temple, her voice was full of something other than fear or control.
It was pain.
He pulled his arm free.
And left her standing in the dark.
Chapter 27 End