["Hmm?"]
["Who is it?"]
[Although you had focused your entire mind on transforming your divine sense, you still noticed the disturbance outside and opened your eyes almost instantly.]
[When a cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection attempts to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, they do not lose all perception of the outside world.]
[The moment you opened your eyes, you saw a blood-red figure standing not far away, looking you up and down.]
[Your heart skipped a beat. This was a Tier Two cave dwelling in Biyue Immortal City, covered by the city's third-tier grand array. Even a Master would find it extremely difficult to sneak in without a sound.]
["Has my good disciple forgotten me already?"]
[The blood-red figure spoke, his voice ancient.]
["You..."]
[You immediately looked at the Shanhai Ring on your right index finger.]
[The normally sky-blue Shanhai Ring had turned entirely blood-red, as if it contained an ocean of blood.]
[At the same time, you realized that the blood-red ring had almost completely fused with your flesh, making it impossible to take off.]
["You're True Person Blood Sea?"]
[Countless thoughts raced through your mind in a split second. Finally, you looked at the blood-red figure nearby and spoke.]
["Indeed. It is this Master."]
[The blood-red figure stared at you and said slowly, "Back then, that old codger Shanhai did everything in his power to lure me into the secret realm. He used the realm's power to grind away my physical body and Golden Core, and finally sealed my last wisp of soul essence inside the Shanhai Ring..."]
["He knew that my Blood Sea Indestructible Art excelled at preserving life. My soul essence was formless and almost impossible to obliterate directly, so he sealed me in the ring, intending to slowly bleed me dry..."]
[It seemed the blood-red figure had been sealed away for far too long with no one to talk to, which was why he was telling you all this.]
[However, you clearly felt that as the figure spoke, the blood-red Shanhai Ring on your right index finger was continuously seeping tendrils of aura into your body.]
[Obviously, he was saying these things on purpose to grab your attention and stall for time, allowing the ring's power to infiltrate your flesh more thoroughly.]
["But he miscalculated! Because he spent the vast majority of his power on me, the secret realm itself lacked the strength to sustain itself. Flaws appeared, drawing in outside cultivators who ultimately brought out the Shanhai Ring that held me... Hahahahaha..."]
[The blood-red figure roared with laughter, clearly immensely proud of himself.]
["I see."]
[You calmed your mind and asked, "I wonder what Master needs me to do?"]
[Even though you sensed True Person Blood Sea harbored ill intentions, you still planned to fight for a chance.]
["Need you to do?" The blood-red figure stared at you, his tone unexpectedly carrying a hint of lament. "I have roamed the world for two hundred years, and this is the first time I've ever met someone so... so utterly foolish."]
["Do you have any idea what price I paid to ensure you successfully cultivated the Shanhai Art to Qi Refining Perfection? If it weren't for..."]
[The blood-red figure's tone subtly revealed his rising irritation.]
[You realized that over the past few decades, the blood-red figure acting as the artifact spirit of the Shanhai Ring to cleanse your marrow and temper your tendons must have truly taken a massive toll on him.]
["You don't need to do anything for me. Just hand over this body," the blood-red figure said, staring at you.]
["You want to possess me?"]
[You asked.]
["Correct." Assured of victory and secretly manipulating the Blood Sea Ring to erode your flesh, the figure felt inclined to chat a bit more. "If it wasn't to nurture this body of yours, why would I have ever paid such a steep price on you?"]
[The blood-red figure's physical body and Golden Core had been pulverized inside the Shanhai Secret Realm over two centuries ago.]
[Left with only a sliver of soul essence, he desperately needed a new flesh vessel.]
[Naturally, he looked down on the bodies of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.]
[That was why he had you cultivate the Shanhai Art and the Shanhai Body Tempering Art, sparing no expense to cleanse your marrow and temper your tendons.]
[Having said his piece, the blood-red figure watched you with keen interest.]
[At this moment, the core formation master was deeply curious to see your reaction.]
[Would you refuse to accept your fate and rise up in resistance?]
[Or would you kowtow and beg for mercy?]
[However, your reaction truly caught the blood-red figure off guard.]
[After a moment of silence, you suddenly spoke, "Can this wait until I break through to Foundation Establishment?"]
[As long as you reached the Foundation Establishment Realm first, even if you died the very next second, your true body could still inherit the Foundation Establishment cultivation base. It wouldn't be a total loss.]
["Break through to Foundation Establishment first?" The blood-red figure failed to process the request.]
[He never expected that at death's door, you were still thinking about breaking through. Even if you reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, what difference would it make? Did you honestly think you could survive?]
["You should stop struggling..." the blood-red figure said, his tone turning icy.]
[At the same time, you felt the Blood Sea Ring on your right index finger intensify its erosion of your body.]
[Most likely, the figure had already completed the first stage of the invasion and no longer needed to hide his actions.]
["One more question..." you spoke up again.]
["..." The blood-red figure fell silent, completely unable to fathom what was going through your head.]
[You were about to die; what was the point of asking so many questions?]
["Do the Shanhai Art and Shanhai Body Tempering Art you gave me have any hidden flaws?" you asked directly.]
["Naturally there are no flaws. These are orthodox ancient legacies..." The blood-red figure frowned. Your body was the vessel he intended to possess; why would he ever let you practice a flawed cultivation method?]
["Then can you let me take one look at the Core Formation volume of the Shanhai Art?"]
[You asked again.]
[The Shanhai Art the figure had passed down to you only included the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment volumes. As for the Core Formation volume, he hadn't given it to you.]
[You hadn't thought much of it at the time. After all, you weren't even at Foundation Establishment yet, so Core Formation was far too distant for you.]
["..." The blood-red figure sank into silence once more.]
[He seriously suspected you had lost your mind.]
[In a life-or-death crisis like this, you were actually asking such irrelevant nonsense.]
[Seeing his silence, you knew he was done humoring you. You let out a sigh.]
[At the same time, the blood-red figure—who was relentlessly using the Blood Sea Ring to infiltrate your flesh and magic power—also realized something was wrong.]
[Because even as the ring's power thoroughly permeated your entire body, you hadn't put up a single bit of resistance.]
[Of course, to the blood-red figure, whether you resisted or not was meaningless. He had even predicted exactly how you would fight back, how you would mobilize your body's vitality, and how you would try to block the ring's invasion.]
[No matter what desperate measures you took, he could easily crush them. It was nothing more than a matter of time.]
[The only thing he hadn't anticipated was that you would simply allow his infiltration.]
[After infiltrating your flesh, the Blood Sea Ring's power continued driving straight into the magic power within your dantian.]
[Along the way, it still met no decent resistance.]
["Are you..." The blood-red figure observed you closely and vaguely caught onto something, his tone turning incredulous. "Are you transforming your divine sense?"]
[Transforming one's divine sense was the Divine Sense Hurdle among the Three Hurdles of Foundation Establishment.]
[He could understand that you were trying to break through to Foundation Establishment by transforming your divine sense.]
[But look at the timing! Your flesh and magic power were almost entirely conquered. What was the point of refining your divine sense now?]
[You stayed silent, single-mindedly pushing forward with the transformation of your divine sense.]
[Time ticked away. Soon, the blood-red figure had thoroughly infiltrated all thirteen drops of liquefied magic power in your dantian.]
[Following that, the ring's power seized control of your body's vitality and liquefied magic power, driving them together toward your sea of consciousness.]
[Right at that moment, you finally completed the transformation of your divine sense.]
[You cleared the Divine Sense Hurdle.]
[Having conquered the Vitality Hurdle, the Magic Power Hurdle, and the Divine Sense Hurdle, you stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[You opened your eyes and looked at the blood-red figure once again.]
[At this point, you had lost control of every part of your body except your sea of consciousness.]
["Finished transforming your divine sense? Hoping to use a Foundation Establishment divine sense to flee and possess a nearby Qi Refining cultivator?"]
[The blood-red figure looked thoughtful. That was indeed your only path to survival. As incredibly slim as the chances were, it was at least a ray of hope.]
[So far, your performance had completely exceeded his expectations. In his original plan, you weren't supposed to have even a sliver of a chance.]
["Possess my ass!"]
[A trace of madness surfaced in your eyes.]
[This was Biyue Immortal City. Grand arrays covered every inch of the place. Even if your divine sense managed to escape, it would be instantly suppressed by the arrays and refined into nothingness in the blink of an eye.]
[And then you would be soul-searched.]
[Besides, you didn't think you could escape anyway. Who could guarantee that True Person Blood Sea didn't have other tricks up his sleeve?]
[Staring dead at the blood-red figure, you detonated your divine sense without a second thought.]
[Your sea of consciousness instantly blew apart. Under the blood-red figure's shocked and furious gaze, your head exploded like a watermelon.]
[You died.]
[This simulation has ended.]
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