"Congratulations, Dark Demon King. You've achieved one hundred victories and now qualify to challenge the Hell Road!"
Amidst the terrifying killing intent, a blood-red figure appeared in the sky above the Slaughter Arena.
It was none other than the Slaughter King.
Due to previous events, the Slaughter King had no intention of recruiting him. On the contrary, he couldn't wait to send this troublesome figure into the Hell Road and never see him again.
The fallen ones shouted his name fervently, their eyes ablaze with excitement, completely oblivious to the unusual tone in the King's voice.
Having now taken control of the Dark Demon Spirit's body, Li Yu had no intention of revealing any of this.
His eyes flicked over to Liu Erlong, who was staring intently at him. He sighed inwardly and said flatly, "Thank you, Slaughter King. Please open the Hell Road for me. If the opportunity arises, I'll return to visit you again."
Li Yu naturally knew the Slaughter King's true identity.
However, at the moment, his mind had been corrupted by the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King and he was trapped within the eighth trial of the Asura God, unable to unleash his full strength.
It could be said that the current Slaughter King could no longer be called Tang Chen—the gap between the two versions of him was vast.
Otherwise, he would never have bowed his head, nor allowed himself to be threatened at this moment.
As expected, the Slaughter King's expression twitched slightly upon hearing Li Yu words.
He didn't doubt that Li Yu could pass the Hell Road. Anyone who could ignore the rules of the Slaughter City, use soul skills freely, and possessed Title Douluo-level power would have no trouble passing it. If even someone like him couldn't pass the Hell Road, then no one could.
At the same time, the Slaughter King's eyes also glanced at Liu Erlong.
He knew that Li Yu was protecting Liu Erlong, and warning him not to harm her after his departure.
A Slaughter King could return to the Slaughter City at any time!
"As the soon-to-be third Slaughter King, I welcome your return at any time," the Slaughter King said for the first time against his true wishes, and then swiftly unleashed his power.
A terrifying, eerie aura spread rapidly across the arena. Those frenzied fallen ones who had been shouting his name were turned into blood under this power and absorbed into the earth.
Liu Erlong was the only one spared.
Li Yu, too, was unaffected.
Soon, Li Yu felt the ground beneath his feet vanish. A white killing intent, nearly solid in form, enveloped him and he disappeared from the arena.
Liu Erlong watched the Dark Demon Spirit's figure vanish. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly before she turned and left the Slaughter Arena.
She remembered what had happened the previous night, and could feel that some kind of nearly "slave-like contract" mark had been planted on her.
However, that mark also genuinely protected her spiritual power, shielding her from the terrifying killing intent of the Slaughter City. She no longer needed to drink Bloody Mary to stay sane.
Moreover...
Through that mark, she could vaguely feel her connection to Li Yu.
Thus, she did not resist. In fact, when resting, she even allowed her spiritual power to linger on the mark, seemingly waiting for the moment when Li Yu aura might return.
She also remembered what Li Yu had told her the night before leaving:
"Complete the hundred victories, leave through the Hell Road—you will gain something in return."
At this moment, having taken control of the Dark Demon Spirit's body, Li Yu had already entered the Hell Road.
Space energy gathered around him, allowing him to walk mid-air within this realm filled with heat and the stench of blood, where magma made of blood flowed beneath a stone pathway.
This was the benefit of being unrestrained by the Slaughter City's suppression.
With such strength, walking into this feared Hell Road was no different from taking a stroll in his backyard.
Moving quickly, he soon encountered the first checkpoint of the Hell Road — the Dark-Gold Three-Headed Bat King.
But a mere tens-of-thousands-year-old soul beast held no threat in Li Yu eyes.
Normally, he wouldn't even bother killing it.
However, considering that Liu Erlong would likely come through the Hell Road soon, he decided to take action. A thought stirred, space power surged, and the beast was eliminated instantly.
The swarm of bats that charged at him stood no chance either.
Continuing forward—
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent appeared as expected.
According to Tang San's records, the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent was not a soul beast, but an ancient exotic beast. Killing it would only yield a core, not a soul ring.
Curious, Li Yu pointed a finger—Dark Demon Evil Thunder condensed and struck the serpent.
Then, space power activated, completely shredding the serpent without mercy.
Within a few breaths, the serpent was slain, and its core landed in Li Yu hand.
The core was filled with dense fire elemental energy—clearly a rare treasure.
As expected, no soul ring emerged, and soul bones were out of the question.
"For someone like me—basically a bug—the Hell Road really offers no challenge."
Li Yu shook his head. Had he known it would be this easy, he wouldn't have even sent his spiritual power into the Dark Demon Spirit's body.
After storing the core, he prepared to leave.
But just as he stepped forward, a new thought arose.
After battling for over a hundred days, the Dark Demon Spirit had naturally absorbed victory spoils through the Dark Demon Devour ability—accumulating the energy used to forge Slaughter Puppets.
Thus—
The Dark Demon Spirit's body had stored quite a large amount of this energy.
Once this energy was transferred back to Li Yu, he would likely reach the edge of the Title Douluo level.
After all, he was already a Level 78 Spirit Saint, and there wasn't much distance to Level 79.
The [Spirit Adornment]'s "Drain" skill was utterly overpowered for cultivation.
Even at his current Spirit Saint level, he was advancing nearly one level per month, an astounding pace.
However, after the incident with the Sea God, Li Yu was no longer content with this pace.
So a thought emerged—
Where did the energy for the Slaughter Puppets in the Slaughter Arena come from?
The answer was obvious: the core of the Slaughter City, the lava-like essence beneath the arena.
With that, Li Yu halted.
The Dark Demon Spirit's body sat cross-legged in the territory once occupied by the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent, and Dark Demon Devour activated.
"Let's treat this as waiting for you for a while."
Li Yu murmured softly, then withdrew his spiritual power from the Dark Demon Spirit's body.
Half a month later—
In the Heaven Dou Division, the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament's qualifiers had ended.
With the return of Wang Changzhi and the addition of Ning Rongrong, even without Li Yu, the Qianyu Academy team was still very powerful overall.
They ended up ranking fourth, even ahead of Blazing Academy.
All teams were then gathered to head toward Spirit Hall City, marking the final phase of the tournament.
Li Yu, however, still did not accompany them.
Because now, he had more important matters to handle...