“What did you say?”

Gu Huiming, Gu Qingluo, Zhu Xianyao, Li Chongshan, and all of the other higher-ups stared at Su Chen in shared disbelief.

“Can you not look at me like that?” Su Chen lazily replied. “I said, I was just thinking of visiting Redstone Basin and chatting with that Blood Ancestor for a little while.”

“He’s an Origin Beast!” Gu Qingluo spat through gritted teeth. “Do you feel like you’ve been alive for too long?”

Su Chen seriously replied, “Well, if I hadn’t stopped Kucha today, then he would have awakened an Origin Beast all on his own. Do you think that we would have been able to avoid fighting against an Origin Beast in that scenario?”

Everyone fell silent.

But Gu Qingluo stubbornly refused to back down. “That’s different. At least, in that scenario, we would have been able to face it together.”

Su Chen shook his head slowly. “So what? Would we even have a chance of winning? And even if we did win, so what? We pulled off something that even the Arcana Kingdom could never accomplished in their prime. But then what? They’ll just awaken two or three more! Would we still be able to win against them?”

Gu Qingluo felt her blood pressure begin to rise as anger welled up within her. “Su Chen, what is that even supposed to mean? Are you saying that we’re doomed to lose this war? If that’s the case, then why did you even bring us all the way out here? Why would you even challenge the Beasts to begin with?”

“Why?” Su Chen chuckled before responding, “Is the fight itself not sufficient a reason? We have always known about how strong Origin Beasts are, but have we ever shrunk back because of that? And when have we ever hesitated to fight against the strong foe that is the Beasts? Why has the human race managed to reach new heights during the past few decades? Is it because the Beasts have grown weaker? Of course not! Even though our opponent is as powerful as they have always been, the human race has stood its ground and seized a land to call its own through our sweat and tears! Our accomplishments are built upon the bloody foundation laid by our ancestors. They might have also wondered whether victory was possible, but that never swayed their will. All they knew was how to fight and when they needed to fight. Even if we are fated to lose, we must fight until the end. That is the only way we can establish a foundation for future generations. You ask me why? This is why!”

Su Chen’s monologue rendered Gu Qingluo and the others speechless.

Of course.

The fight itself was reason enough!

When fighting against a powerful foe, discussing benefits and risks was meaningless.

All that mattered was fighting to the very end!

Even though Su Chen knew that Origin Beasts were impossible to defeat, he had still made the trek here.

The Arcana Kingdom and the Illustrious Divine Dynasty also possessed such an indomitable spirit. No matter how powerful the opponent was, they had charged forwards with relentless drive, and their efforts had laid the foundation for the human race’s rise to power that was now being openly manifested!

The other human leaders could say nothing against Su Chen’s speech and could only silently agree.

Su Chen continued speaking. “So there is no point in fearing what might happen. We will have to pass the trial that is the Origin Beasts one way or another, but when we do so is still up in the air. The Heavens have given us an opportunity that we must grasp. I will go alone...... that will be better than all of us facing him at the same time.”

“Are you set on awakening the Blood Ancestor to kill him?” Gu Huiming asked.

Su Chen steadfastly replied, “That’s only one option. If the Blood Ancestor dies, then the other Beasts will lose their knowledge of where the other Origin Beasts are slumbering, giving us an opportunity to face them one at a time. However, there’s a very real possibility that the Blood Ancestor will pass along that information to the other Beasts as a last resort. In fact, I would prefer to not kill him at all.”

“Then you mean......”

Su Chen calmly replied, “My priority will be to have a conversation with him, if possible.”

Redstone Basin.

The basin’s walls were still painted in the bright red of fresh blood, and turbulent Origin Energy circulated constantly around the foreboding hole in the middle.

Su Chen had made Kucha bring him to this place. From his vantage point, it looked like the whole place was covered in blood, and the setting sun only served to accentuate the basin’s sanguine color.

“Don’t go directly to the bloody hole. We’ll land on the outskirts and then walk there. Avoid making any noises so that we don’t alert the guards......” Kucha rambled on.

Su Chen merely glanced below before his figure flickered and reappeared just in front of the bloody hole.

Kucha was so startled that his jaw almost hit the floor.

The basin itself seemed to react to the disturbance, as some of the red stones began to shift around strangely. Suddenly, heads and limbs popped out of the stones, transforming into bloody creatures that immediately began rushing towards Su Chen. These creatures were not puppets; instead, they were Blood Turtles, guards that the Blood Ancestor had created through its own bloodline. As long as they were in the Blood Ancestor’s vicinity, each one of them would possess the power of a Demonic King.

Su Chen’s sudden appearance had startled these Blood Turtles, causing them to charge fiercely at this sudden, unknown intruder.

Their shrieks and roars had some unique properties as well. They could be used to both attack their opponent and forcefully awaken the Blood Ancestor’s soul fragment. Of course, this forceful awakening process would also deal a bit of damage to the Blood Ancestor since no sacrifices were being offered. Only in the most dire of moments would this method be used.

The Blood Turtles continued to attack Su Chen primarily through their shrieks, allowing them to speed up the awakening process.

As their cries drilled into Su Chen’s ears, the turtles picked up speed and began ramming their bodies into Su Chen.

The way that they fought was quite unique. They first coiled up into a ball before rolling into their opponents like a boulder. Even though this attack was a little crude, they were actually extremely powerful.

Su Chen raised an eyebrow and chuckled coldly. “Not bad.”

The Seven Bloodline Microcosm Aspect appeared behind him. The Blood Turtles rolled themselves straight into the picturesque portrait formed by the Aspect, where they were immediately incapacitated.

Kucha had only just flown down and landed by Su Chen’s side. When he saw that the hundreds of Blood Turtles had already been restricted by Su Chen, he was incredibly shocked. He knew just how powerful all of these Blood Turtles were, but even combined, they weren’t able to withstand even a single move from Su Chen. But upon further reflection, he realized that this was actually the expected outcome — after all, Su Chen had defeated a Desolate Beast single-handedly.

Kucha rushed over agitatedly. “Esteemed guards, please don’t be anxious. He is not an assassin.”

One of the Blood Turtles, still rolling through the Aspect’s scenery, cried out, “You traitor! You’ve sold out the Blood Ancestor’s hibernating location!”

“That’s not how it is!” Kucha grew extremely agitated when he was accused of betrayal. “This is Su Chen, the leader of the humans. He came all the way here to have a conversation with the Blood Ancestor.”

“The Beasts and the humans have nothing to discuss,” the Blood Turtle roared angrily.

Su Chen reached out, grabbed that Blood Turtle by the neck, and carelessly pulled him out of the Aspect. “You are just a guard. What authority do you have to decide whether or not I may speak with your Ancestor? Go and awaken your Ancestor. I have matters to discuss with him.”

“In your dreams!” The Blood Turtle continued to thrash around unwillingly in Su Chen’s grip, but Su Chen’s hand was firmly wrapped around its neck, like an iron vice. It was impossible for it to escape.

“That’s not up to you. Kucha, you mentioned earlier that awakening your Ancestor required sacrifices, right?”

“Yes,” Kucha answered with a nod. “Blood sacrifices are the best way. If the guards have been activated, then the effect on the Blood Ancestor will be even greater than normal. This method is only to be used in emergencies.”

“Well, since I’m here to negotiate, I should at least demonstrate my sincerity with some sacrifices. But I don’t have any Beasts on hand. Why don’t we......” Su Chen glanced at the Blood Turtle in his grip as he emotionlessly said, “Use you.”

Kucha was stunned. “They’re the Blood Ancestor’s personal guards! You cannot......”

But before he could even finish speaking, Su Chen had killed the Blood Turtle that he was holding and tossed it into the bloody hole.

The Blood Turtles were then killed and thrown into the bloody hole one after another.

Just when the Blood Turtles were about to be completely wiped out, the bloody hole finally seemed to respond. A powerful aura surged into the sky, enveloping the entire basin.

“Oh? It awakened that quickly? Didn’t you say that it usually took tens of thousands of sacrifices?” Su Chen was taken aback by how quickly he had received a response.

Kucha cursed bitterly in his heart. The ‘tens of thousands of sacrifices’ referred to low-tier existences. These Blood Turtles were all peak Demonic Kings that possessed the Blood Ancestor’s bloodline. Naturally, much fewer of them were needed to awaken the Ancestor. Actually, Su Chen had thrown in quite a few more than he needed to. However, his actions had simply been too fast, and Kucha had been too afraid to say anything, resulting in this waste.

An imposing voice boomed out. “Who has awakened me again? I only just fell asleep...... Hm? What did you use to awaken me? Dammit, who did this?!”

The deep voice’s tone quickly grew angry, obviously because the Blood Ancestor had realized what had been sacrificed to awaken it.

Su Chen lazily replied, “It’s me. Don’t be mad. This much should be enough to keep you awake for a little bit longer, right? There’s a lot that I want to ask you, so I won’t let you go back to sleep so easily.”

“Human!”

A cloud of blood appeared above the bloody hole, forming an enormous face that glared fiercely at Su Chen.

“My name is Su Chen,” Su Chen said, unintimidated.

“Su Chen......” The Blood Ancestor thought for a moment before suddenly recalling where it had heard that name before. “The ruler of the humans?”

Killing intent flashed through its eyes. “So it’s you! You’re the one who led the human armies and invaded the Beasts’ territory. Now, you even dare to come here and awaken me? You must be tired of living!”

A giant hand extended from the cloud and swatted down at Su Chen, as if it was going to crush Su Chen into a pancake.

Su Chen disdainfully replied, “You can stop pretending now. If I had truly awakened you, then I would already be dead. But since you are just a small fragment of your true soul, you cannot kill me.”

As he spoke, he calmly reached out and tapped his finger against the descending hand, causing it to burst like a fragile balloon.

“You!” the Blood Ancestor cursed.

“What about it? I’m right here. Why don’t you just awaken and kill me?” Su Chen stubbornly asked.

The Blood Ancestor took a deep breath.

It would not allow Su Chen to provoke it into truly awakening so easily.

It glared at him, and then at Kucha who was standing not too far away, before falling deep into thought. Finally, it said, “You aren’t here to kill me?”

“See, that’s the attitude you should have for a discussion,” Su Chen chuckled as he clapped his hands.

“Discussion? You came here to discuss something with me? What do you want to talk about?” The blood cloud face glanced up and down at Su Chen, as if it were sizing him up.

“What else is there to talk about? Naturally, it’s about the decaying of the Barrier of the Gods, and the gods’ return. When that happens, you too will face extinction. Instead of wasting both of our energy and time, why don’t we work together to fight against the gods?” Su Chen said confidently.

“Oh?” The Blood Ancestor glanced at him with renewed interest. “So what exactly do you know about the Barrier and the gods?”

Su Chen fell silent.

Upon seeing his reaction, the Blood Ancestor realized what was going on.

It chuckled condescendingly. “So you actually know nothing at all, right?”

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