"You little brat, this is all your fault. If not for your blood, none of this would have happened." The Gourd Sage sounded rather exasperated.
"Hey, how can you say that about me? I was captured, and I had no say in any of this. Who would ever want to end up like this?" Liam Yang retorted.
"You..." The Gourd Sage was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say, so he turned to Elder Hugh Hu. "Who is he, anyway?"
"I don't know either. He just showed up in Tigerlock Cavern, and his blood is exactly what awakened the Demon Tiger and broke its seal," Elder Hugh Hu replied.
After hearing this, the Gourd Sage was naturally furious at Liam Yang, who had indirectly become the one who released the Demon Tiger. He said, "Xander Xu, are you really unwilling to cooperate with us?"
"What do you think?" Xander Xu laughed.
"Fine. You'd better be careful. If you ever show up, we won't let you off." The Gourd Sage warned.
"Let me off? Be careful yourselves. When I show up, it'll be me who won't let you go." Xander Xu sneered, then watched as the group failed to do anything to him and left angrily.
After they left, Xander Xu smiled and said, "Kid, you saw it yourself. They've given up on you. Now there's nobody to help you. You might as well submit to me—stick with me every day, and I can let you enjoy whatever you want."
"Don't try to tempt me. I'm already miserable enough as it is. My whole body reeks of this weird smell," Liam Yang grumbled.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon enough," Xander Xu said with a laugh. Liam Yang had no choice but to keep staying in the Demon Pool. Outside, Elder Hugh Hu frowned and asked, "Hall Master, what do we do now?"
"It's all that kid's fault. Why didn't you kill him back then?" The Gourd Sage said angrily.
"Hall Master, that wouldn't have been possible," Elder Hugh Hu replied awkwardly.
"Impossible? Look at the situation now. Damn it, if the Demon Tiger returns to Magus Heaven Realm, then when it comes out again, it'll definitely target Heaven's Guardian Hall," the Gourd Sage said.
"So what do we do? We can't enter that Demon Pool," Elder Hugh Hu said.
"Looks like we'll have to think of some other way," the Gourd Sage said.
Inside the Demon Pool, Liam Yang could only hope his dad or master would hurry over. Otherwise, he really had no idea what would happen after ten days here.
He was also worried about Faye Lin, since he'd completely lost contact with her, which made him anxious.
If not for Patriarch Samuel Shen keeping Liam Yang locked down at all times, Liam wouldn't be so miserable—he would've escaped long ago.
After a few days like this, Liam Yang's skin turned black-blue, looking bizarre; Patriarch Samuel Shen showed no such change. Xander Xu watched Liam in curiosity and laughed, "Kid, you really are a freak. You actually turned into a black-blue face."
"I don't have time to chat with you guys. I'm about to feel sick to death—damn Demon Pool," Liam Yang said angrily. At that moment, he felt dizzy, as if several forces inside his body were clashing.
Xander Xu didn't care about him, and Patriarch Samuel Shen ignored him as well, keeping his grip tight on Liam Yang.
Helpless, Liam Yang could only keep muddling through in a dazed, confused state.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang was still sitting with his eyes closed, but he clearly sensed Liam Yang's crisis. He wanted to get up, but couldn't—his body was going through a strange transformation: the Heaven-Cold Seed had vanished, forming countless tiny granules flowing through his blood.
"Ling'er, you have to hang on. Dad will come for you," Evan Yang sighed inwardly, but he couldn't contact anyone outside or inform them of Liam's situation.
Far away, Liam Yang sensed Evan Yang's thoughts and said, "Dad, it's fine. I'll hang in there." Liam, who had never actually seen Evan, was excited to be able to connect with him mentally at any time.
Seeing Liam Yang suddenly so excited, Xander Xu asked, "What are you doing?"
"None of your business," Liam Yang snapped, opening his eyes and glaring.
"I couldn't care less," Xander Xu replied.
Liam Yang closed his eyes again, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. It was all because his body was reacting strangely to the Demon Pool, and he wondered why Patriarch Samuel Shen wasn't affected, but he was.
Resigned, Liam Yang closed his eyes and waited. When the ten days were finally up, Patriarch Samuel Shen was now wreathed in a faint layer of demonic qi, but Liam's entire body had turned black, looking utterly bizarre. Xander Xu was shocked to see him like this, but not knowing the cause, he simply led everyone into the tunnel beneath the pool. After a while, they arrived in another space.
This space was the so-called Magus Heaven Realm. The whole area was filled with demonic qi, far more terrifying than the demon realms Evan Yang had seen before. An ordinary person would go insane here in no time, and even regular cultivators wouldn't last more than a few days.
People bustled everywhere, all shrouded in various kinds of demonic qi. By now, the Demon Tiger had shrunk to only half a person's height—just an ordinary pet in the eyes of these people. Xander Xu patted it and said, "Don't worry. Once you've recovered, you'll show them all one day."
The Demon Tiger let out a low whine. Then Xander Xu turned to Patriarch Samuel Shen, "Come on, I'll take you to where I used to live."
"Alright," Patriarch Samuel Shen replied, still using a binding treasure to hold Liam Yang's hands so he couldn't use his powers.
"Can you loosen it a bit? My hands really hurt," Liam Yang sighed.
"You're a black man now—no way I'll let you go. If I loosen it, you'll just vanish with a flicker of space movement," Patriarch Samuel Shen joked.
"Fine, whatever. Do as you like," Liam Yang said with a wry smile.
So Liam Yang followed along as they wandered through Magus Heaven Realm. It didn't look much different from an ordinary place, except that the people here were much more vicious. On the street, Liam saw several people eating raw human flesh—some even drinking human blood. It was horrifying.
Just thinking about it gave Liam goosebumps. And as a 'black man,' he stood out here—his face was so dark you couldn't even make out his features, just a block of black.
Xander Xu led the two of them up a mountain. The whole mountain was pitch-black, making a stark contrast with Liam Yang. If Liam lay naked on the ground here with his eyes closed, he'd look just like a black stone embedded in the earth.
Patriarch Samuel Shen couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight. Xander Xu almost forgot for a moment, then chuckled and said, "This is Blackshade Peak, once a famous mountain around here. But that's all in the past—now it's abandoned, so I claimed it as my own."
He led everyone up the mountain, where there was a cave. Once inside, Xander Xu told Patriarch Samuel Shen to throw Liam Yang to the side, then grinned, "Kid, you'd better behave and stay put here."
With that, Xander Xu took out a few black stones and arranged them into a locking array, sealing Liam Yang inside.
"What's this now?" Liam Yang asked.
"It's to lock you in. Every day, I'll come to take some of your blood. Just rest up," Xander Xu said with a laugh.
"Take my blood? Are you kidding me?" Liam Yang cursed when he realized he was really being treated as a blood tank.
Xander Xu ignored him, released the Demon Tiger, and said to Patriarch Samuel Shen, "Come on, I'll show you around."
"What about him?" Patriarch Samuel Shen asked worriedly.
"Relax, he's trapped by me. There's no way he can get out," Xander Xu said with a smile. Only then did Patriarch Samuel Shen leave, leaving the Demon Tiger behind to rest with its eyes closed. Liam Yang couldn't use spatial teleportation here—the place was completely sealed off.
"This really sucks. I can't believe I've ended up like this—damn it," Liam Yang muttered, feeling depressed.
So Liam Yang spent the night lying there. The next day, Xander Xu really did show up, grabbed Liam, and sliced his hand open. Blood poured out—it was black.
"How did it turn black?" Xander Xu asked curiously.
"Why not? My face looks like this, so black blood is normal," Liam Yang joked.
"Well, let's use the black blood and see what happens," Xander Xu said, then fed it to the Demon Tiger. Liam Yang muttered to himself, "Hopefully it'll poison him."
But the opposite happened—the Demon Tiger's demonic qi surged, and it recovered a bit. Xander Xu laughed, "Nice! Your blood is actually demonic now. It boosted the tiger's demonic nature—a miracle!"
"Demonic nature? Speak plainly. I'm fine—how could I have demonic nature? Damn it," Liam Yang said.
"Kid, what's wrong with having demonic nature? Do you know how many people want their blood to be like that? How many spirit beasts wish for demonic blood?" Xander Xu laughed.
"What's the point of demonic nature? Does it make you go crazy or something?" Liam Yang asked casually.
"With demonic nature, your fighting power is stronger than others. Haven't you noticed that people who go berserk are crazier than before? Naturally, blood with demonic nature is superior in every way. And with your weird body, it's amazing you've ended up like this," Xander Xu laughed.
"Damn, that's ruthless!" Liam Yang muttered, feeling depressed.
"Don't be upset. This is just the first day. Every day, I'll use your blood to feed him. Once he's recovered, I'll take him back to get revenge on Heaven's Guardian Hall," Xander Xu sneered.
"I don't get it. What's your grudge with Heaven's Guardian Hall?" Liam Yang asked curiously.
"Plenty, of course. Heaven's Guardian Hall claims to exterminate demons—they've killed a lot of my demon beasts, nearly wiped out the Demon Serpent too. So this revenge is a must. Plus, Patriarch Samuel Shen's son is still locked up there. It's all your fault he's trapped," Xander Xu explained.
"That idiot? Serves him right," Liam Yang said. Patriarch Samuel Shen snorted coldly, "Say that again and I'll strangle you."
"Whatever," Liam Yang ignored him.
Patriarch Samuel Shen was about to attack Liam Yang, but Xander Xu stopped him. "He's precious medicine to me now—don't damage him."
"Hmph," Patriarch Samuel Shen grumbled angrily.
"Don't be angry. Let's keep exploring," Xander Xu said with a smile, then left with Patriarch Samuel Shen, leaving Liam Yang behind.
Liam Yang lay helplessly inside the array, eyes closed, until several hours later he heard a noise outside. Curious, he wondered, "Did they come back early?"
At that moment, the Demon Tiger opened its eyes, looking fierce and savage, as if it sensed some danger.