Like a python, the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake had several rows of sharp teeth in its mouth, all hooked inward.
It was easy for Yu Tianming to roll inside, but trying to get out meant being blocked by those teeth.
He had no choice but to pry open the mouth while slowly inching backward.
If his body were weak, those razor-like fangs would've shredded him into pieces within a few steps.
Even so, without dragon transformation, his legs were sliced open by the backward-curving teeth, leaving deep, bone-exposing wounds.
The dead Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake slipped quickly. Its massive, bloated body pulled Yu Tianming—still stuck in its mouth—toward the abyss below.
Two breaths later.
Yu Tianming, wings spread wide, shakily flew back up. He crashed onto the Hell Road, gasping for breath.
His standard Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect robes had been reduced to a few tattered scraps hanging from his body.
Gold-red blood dripped steadily from his back and legs.
After finding a place to rest—
Yu Tianming flexed his back. Under the squeeze of his muscles, a golden-red light burst from the wound and hovered upward.
Drawn by a faint green breeze, it floated slowly into his palm.
What he had obtained was undoubtedly the inner core of the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake—an inner core that could act as a 50,000 to 100,000-year soul ring and could be carried at all times.
With the inner core in hand, the tense pressure in his mind finally relaxed. He let out a long breath.
His method of obtaining the inner core had been far riskier than Tang San's. Tang San had the Wisdom Skull Bone and the Purple Demon Eye's spiritual power, which allowed him to sever the snake's connection to the inner core in the brief moment before it released its attack.
Yu Tianming, however, had to force the inner core out with a reckless, sacrificial assault.
And he had to kill the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake before the inner core could kill him.
Keep in mind, Ma Hongjun's seventh soul ring came from a Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake's inner core too. Even then, it took Tang San and the others assisting for an entire day just to help him absorb its energy.
Aside from the explosiveness of the energy, the sheer volume of energy in the inner core was another major challenge.
The power contained in this inner core clearly far surpassed the 50,000-year limit Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had established for seventh soul rings.
Facing such a powerful primordial beast, even the slightest delay would've meant being pierced by the inner core and suffering a severe injury.
And if, as its name suggested, the nine mushroom-shaped bumps on its back really were nine extra heads that could think independently—this battle would've been a near-certain death.
Once he understood how close to death he had been, even Yu Tianming, seasoned by the killing fields of the Slaughter Arena, broke out in a cold sweat.
Within a few breaths, the bleeding on his legs had stopped and the wounds healed as if they'd never existed.
But it wasn't until a full fifteen minutes later that Yu Tianming finally forced out the fire poison embedded in his flesh by the inner core, and regenerated a fresh set of gleaming dragon scales.
Fully recovered, he resumed his sprint down the Hell Road.
As he moved forward, the surrounding temperature kept rising. The dark red liquid in the abyss on both sides, once barely visible, was now crystal clear.
The terrain seemed to be sloping downward the whole time. Yu Tianming didn't know the exact structure of Slaughter City, but he vaguely guessed that behind the small town he and his grandfather had entered, there might be a mountain.
Perhaps, Slaughter City wasn't underground at all—but hidden within a mountain.
That thought only flashed briefly in his mind. What mattered more now was escaping this place as soon as possible. Everything else could wait.
Having passed the first two trials without serious injury, his mood was now more relaxed. He kept up his speed and pressed forward.
If this Hell Road was just like what Hu Liena and Tang San experienced—with only three trials—then he only needed to clear one last test to finally leave this damned place.
As he advanced, the searing heat around him grew stronger.
Within the scorching air, there seemed to be something else—an unusual atmosphere that made it hard to adapt. The deeper he went, the more oppressive the feeling became. Deep in his heart, a surge of killing intent was rising and freely pouring outward.
Irritability crept in.
Yu Tianming didn't have Tang San's orthodox Daoist techniques to regulate his emotions.
As his mood worsened, the killing intent in his heart intensified. The heat seemed to be agitating every cell in his body, distorting his vision and making everything blur.
The heat outside was clearly provoking the killing energy within. But he couldn't suppress it, or else the overwhelming evil aura of the Hell Road would consume him whole.
Gradually, Yu Tianming began to understand.
From the moment he entered the Hell Road, its energy had been affecting him constantly. Though his killing intent could block that evil aura, it couldn't completely filter it out.
The longer he stayed here, the deeper the corruption.
If his mind ever lost focus, he might never escape again.
Passing through this Hell Road wasn't just about strength. It also demanded speed—passing through it in the shortest time possible.
Fortunately, Yu Tianming had sprinted nearly the entire way, and the time he used to recover was far shorter than what Tang San had needed. Thanks to Tang Chen's influence, his current state was still solid.
Figuring there were probably no more soul beasts ahead, Yu Tianming spread his wings and soared into the air.
He flew at top speed down the Hell Road.
The closer he got to the center of the abyss, the more concentrated the evil aura became. The heat intensified. His vision grew hazy.
Even his electromagnetic sense was limited to just a few kilometers in this fog of reddish mist.
In the abyss on both sides, the dark red liquid churned and flowed.
Yes—it was blood.
And not just blood—it had the temperature of molten lava.
Now, his killing intent was surging wildly. The desire to slaughter everything around him was eating away at his mind.
Yu Tianming knew: if he didn't escape soon, his spirit would collapse under the influence of the Hell Road.
At this point, the dark red liquid was only fifty meters below the narrow path he flew over. The heat had reached a point where his clothes began to emit a faint burning smell.
But this heat? To Yu Tianming, it was a joke.
Even the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well couldn't affect him after he had consumed the Fiery Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass—let alone this place.
He finally understood what the final trial of the Hell Road was.
It wasn't a beast or an external threat anymore.
It was himself.
His inner demons.
Under the overwhelming evil energy, the scorching blood mist, and his own immense killing intent—how much willpower did one need to push through to the end?
Even a peerless genius like Hu Liena couldn't hold on.
This was the hardest part of escaping the Hell Road.
(End of Chapter)
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