Forced to Be a Villain: Starting With My Brain Extraction System-Chapter 144: Blood Palace!

Blood Mist Valley was a natural secret realm, meaning it wasn’t created by some powerful cultivator.

It was formed by nature itself, the process of formation being unknown.

However, whether its demonic nature was also natural was debatable. With the dense blood fog around each and every corner and the grotesque monsters with no rational roaming around, no one would think it was natural.

The most probable reason behind such a situation had to be due to the external interface, although everyone was on dark about what that was.

But it seemed the secret was unearthing itself from the depths of the secret realm itself, literally.

"I-Is that...a palace?"

Mei Xuan stuttered at the scene before her, so incredible that she almost doubted her vision. Yet the magnificent palace rising up above in the sky of the secret realm that was visible from every corner was an undeniable truth.

Its crimson walls looked as if they were carved from solidified blood, towering in solemn grandeur while ancient runes pulsed faintly across their surface like a living heartbeat.

Suspended above the Blood Valley, the palace radiated a suffocating majesty, beautiful yet somewhat terrifying, as though it were watching every soul that dared to step beneath its shadow.

"Blood Palace!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Zhiran spoke as he saw the ancient language written at the top of the palace door, completely different from the language they used. Yet he could understand it using the power of his consciousness platform.

"Let’s go...it seems to have been completely opened. It must be some kind of inheritance hall."

Zhiran spoke before grabbing Mei Xuan’s hand and flying rapidly.

"B-but...what if it is dangerous?"

Mei Xuan was still conflicted, as the aura given off by the palace in front was anything but good. She even felt a sense of dread as soon as they neared the place.

"Dangerous? If things really turn bad, we’ll just run. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you until I’ve eaten you completely."

Zhiran spoke, making her blush slightly. This guy still had the nerve to joke even in such a situation.

"Swish!"

As Zhiran flew across the Blood Forest, he began closing the distance between himself and the palace more and more.

However, since he was just on the edge of the Blood Forest, he was quite far.

From how he didn’t see a single cultivator around, it seemed he would be the last one to arrive.

Feeling that he might miss something, Zhiran increased his speed even more, getting closer and closer, until...

Until Zhiran suddenly stopped in his tracks just as he was below the palace, as his instincts, or rather his brains, warned him of extreme danger.

"Swish!"

"Bang!"

His intuition was correct, as the moment he stopped abruptly, a terrifying blade swipe passed just in front of him at extreme speed, before leaving a deep gash in the forest below.

In an instant, everything in front of him was destroyed beyond recognition.

"Oh? You managed to dodge it?"

Immediately after, a faint, surprised voice echoed in the surroundings, followed by the appearance of a burly figure grinning at him.

The moment Zhiran laid eyes on him, his face became solemn as he immediately retreated rapidly, creating distance. Yet the figure in front only seemed amused, not chasing after him.

As if he was absolutely certain that Zhiran couldn’t run.

"Zhiran?"

Mei Xuan was still a little stunned by the sudden change. To be honest, if Zhiran hadn’t dodged that, she would have died without even knowing someone attacked her.

It was just too silent.

"Go back the way we came before. Take this...and don’t look back."

Zhiran’s eyes stayed fixated on the figure in front, who was grinning with murderous intent.

With his divine sense, he could feel that the man’s body was laced with the blood of people he killed, and the corpses at the far end proved that all of them were at the Foundation Realm.

"Z-Zhiran?"

Mei Xuan saw his urgency and couldn’t help feeling the dread circling around her.

If even Zhiran was so afraid of the man in front, how strong must he be?

Peak Foundation Establishment? But just that shouldn’t scare him like this.

"Don’t talk, and leave. Don’t hold me back."

Zhiran didn’t have time to explain.

He gave Mei Xuan an order before throwing her in a certain direction, right into the dense foliage of the Blood Forest, all while making sure the man in front didn’t attack.

Fortunately, from beginning to end, he seemed relaxed, as if a cat looking at a mouse.

No matter how far it ran, it couldn’t leave his clutch, not to mention, it didn’t even have a hole to hide in.

"So...are you done?"

The burly guy asked in a mocking tone, as if amused by his heroic deed. After all, cultivators were generally quite selfish.

In the event of danger, they wouldn’t hesitate to betray their own father, let alone some girl.

"How did you reach the Gold Core Realm?"

However, Zhiran didn’t pay attention to his mocking laughter. Instead, he asked something he wanted to know.

He thought this secret realm restricted all Gold Core cultivators from entering.

According to his sect, it wasn’t just the entry. Even inside, anyone above the Foundation Realm was restricted.

Otherwise, wouldn’t the Divine Cauldron Sect have the ability to hide someone as a Foundation cultivator and smuggle them inside?

So, Zhiran was genuinely surprised.

Of course, as a demonic cultivator in his past life, he had his guesses. But this time, he wanted to buy a little more time to think about how to escape from this calamity.

"Hehe...I have my methods. Boy, you seem a little smarter than those weaklings. Still...do you really think you can escape from me?"

The burly guy grinned with murderous intent, his divine sense rapidly condensing into a field around him. In an instant, his senses engulfed half a kilometer, turning it into his absolute domain.

Now, Zhiran’s attempt to make Mei Xuan run seemed laughable. If he wanted, he could find her within seconds. How far could she run?

Even Zhiran felt suppressed within the condensed divine sense. The Gold Core Realm and the Foundation Realm were two completely different realms, after all.

Even if he was a false one, no amount of Peak Foundation cultivators could do anything, since they couldn’t even move normally within his field.

The suppression of a realm was not so easy to mitigate.

Not to mention, Zhiran was only a late-stage Foundation Realm cultivator. The man only gave him a little attention because he managed to dodge his sneak attack perfectly.

He was rather surprised that he found two figures who could dodge his attack.

’Senior...can you kill him?’

As Zhiran rapidly descended from the sky to the ground, seemingly influenced by the suppression, he contacted Xueyin internally.

’Kill? Don’t you know how injured I am? That bomb of yours almost destroyed my soul, and you still haven’t found anything to replenish my energy.’

Master Xueyin snarled, clearly irritated. How could he ask for her help when he knew she was already at her limit?

If she were fine, would he have succeeded in forcing her into a contract back then?

’Why don’t you use one of your trump cards to deal with him? He isn’t an orthodox Gold Core cultivator anyway.’

Surprisingly, while Zhiran felt anxious, Xueyin sounded rather relaxed.

She already saw that Zhiran was mysterious. She didn’t believe he was at his wits’ end. He was likely reluctant to use his trump card.

’Senior, this isn’t the time to joke around. That guy is in the Gold Core Realm. How can I kill him?’

Zhiran rolled his eyes, feeling a little speechless.

The major trump card he possessed right now was the item Elder Yan Yue gave him before. Even then, he was sure it couldn’t kill this guy.

After all, Elder Yan Yue probably assumed no one stronger than the Peak Foundation Realm would appear here.

Why would she give him an amulet with Gold Core power?

Of course, if he reached his wits’ end, he could activate his physique and somehow kill this guy, but that would leave him vulnerable afterward, which he didn’t want.

Not to mention, he still had his eyes on the Blood Palace in front.

’Why do you have to kill him? Why don’t you just dodge him and enter that palace? We can deal with him after we return.’

Xueyin noticed his reluctance and suggested an alternative.

The gate of the Blood Palace remained open, and it seemed that quite a few people already entered it.

But since this burly guy was still here, it was obvious he couldn’t enter.

He must be waiting for those people to come out so he can kill them and seize the benefits.

’No...I can’t. Sigh...if I do that, Mei Xuan will die.’

Zhiran looked at the gate of the floating palace and shook his head with a bitter smile. If he followed Xueyin’s suggestion, Mei Xuan would die without a doubt.

And he didn’t have the strength to take her inside with him either.

"Haha...are you thinking about escaping into the palace? Tch...tch...unfortunately, you showed your weakness too early."