Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor [500] (Patreon)

Although the land of Slaughter City has long been tainted by evil and bloody power, making it unfit for cultivation, and even the crops grown here are filled with pollution that corrupts both body and mind, who cares about that?

The evil soul masters tricked into coming here are considered consumables; the profit lies in their imminent deaths. They’re put to work in the fields just to squeeze out a little more value before they die and to sap their fighting strength.

Once they die, their corpses are, of course, not wasted. In Slaughter City, where evil people roam the streets, cannibalism is almost normal. The flesh of soul masters is even more prized than that of soul beasts.

In the fields, a slave soul master staggered weakly, his face pale from blood loss and shrouded in the aura of death. His breathing grew faint; his chest barely moved, clearly on the verge of death.

Yet, seeing this, the others around him showed no sorrow. Instead, they revealed greedy, bloodthirsty smiles. Everyone, including the overseer, stared at the wavering soul master; under countless malicious gazes, his fragile body finally collapsed with a barely audible thud.

Because his body was so depleted, even the impact of hitting the ground was barely noticeable.

The other evil soul masters, like sharks scenting blood, crowded around the dead one, greedily eyeing the still slightly breathing body.

The overseer stepped forward, casually felt the faintly moving chest, and with a burst of soul power, shattered his weak heart.

"Unfortunately, another friend has left us. But the good news is, there's one less person to fight with you for food today—and everyone gets an extra portion of corpse starch!"

The overseer slung the corpse over his shoulder and announced to the crowd.

"Thank the great King of Slaughter, thank the great Tang San! It is he who gave us this life!"

At the overseer's words, the slave soul masters forced themselves not to laugh and pressed their hands together in mock prayer.

"Tang Sect!" xN.

The dead soul master's body was taken by the overseer into a small hut, where a sinister magic circle, stained red with blood, was drawn on the floor.

The overseer placed the corpse on the array, skillfully took a scalpel, opened up the body, removed the organs, and sealed them in prepared boxes, preserving what little life force remained.

With the body hollowed out, the array entered its second stage. The overseer licked his fingers greedily, praying to the array. As red light flashed, an invisible power surged from the ground, draining every last drop of blood from the corpse.

After a while, the red light faded, leaving only a shriveled, mummy-like corpse and a thumb-sized crimson crystal.

The overseer stacked the boxes of organs, placed the blood-forged crystal on top, and carried the dried corpse to another corner of the room.

Accompanied by a sickening sound, under the machinery of the Tang Sect, the mummified corpse, together with hair and clothes, was shredded into small fragments.

Mixed violently with sawdust, dirt, ash, and other materials, then stirred in a cup of Bloody Mary, the so-called corpse starch was completed.

Of course, being a kind overseer, he added a little extra seasoning for his underlings—removing his pants to mix in some moisture to prevent the food from being too dry.

Shortly after the overseer left with the corpse starch feast, an enforcer arrived, gathered up the filth in the boxes with a look of disgust, and brought it into Slaughter City's inner city.

Slaughter City is not a physical plane, but a semi-plane partially separated by divine power, existing both within and outside the Douluo World. It cannot be entered or escaped by simple force.

Within this demi-plane, there are two levels: the inner city for Slaughter City's powerful and enforcers, and the outer wasteland, originally a place of exile, later repurposed for farming.

The enforcer was dissatisfied with the current state of Slaughter City. But as a mere worker, he had no choice but to do his job, lest he end up as a blood slave like some unlucky colleagues.

After several hand-overs, the box of organs and blood crystal finally arrived in a dark room in the inner city.

There, Tang San, covered with thick black hair, opened his blood-red eyes at the scent of blood, tears of emotion streaming down his face.

He moved like a giant spider, crawling on all fours to the box, opening it, pressing his face to the organs, and drooling over them.

As the bloody scent flooded his nose, Tang San vaguely heard voices whispering in his ear.

"Third Brother, time to eat."

"Xiao San, keep training and avenge your mother and me."

"Tang San, you are the Tang Sect's best disciple. Don't let the sect down."

"Xiao San, your talent is the best. With innate full soul power and twin spirits, you will surely surpass your great-grandfather."

Xiao Wu, Tang Hao, the elder of the Tang Sect from his previous life, Yu Xiaogang, the elders of the Clear Sky Sect he had devoured...

One familiar voice after another echoed in Tang San's spiritual sea, encouraging him. Spurred on, Tang San grabbed the organs and devoured them, absorbing their power.

As he ate the human organs, Tang San's condition changed: the thick hair on his body shed, and his skin regained a bit of human color. Though barely noticeable, he was indeed slowly returning from a half-human, half-beast state.

But as the resentment within the organs merged into him, the voices in Tang San's mind grew louder and more chaotic, as if dozens of personalities were battling inside him.

Yet, considering himself pure and spotless, every personality cheered him on, describing his actions as righteous and reliable.

For the past two and a half years, Tang San did only five things in Slaughter City: eat, sleep, cultivate in his room, vent desires on others, and kill in the arena.

Through this simple cultivation, Tang San gradually regained a more human appearance, now more like someone permanently possessed by a spider spirit. But his mental state was only deteriorating.

Wiping the crumbs from his mouth, he casually tossed the blood crystal into his mouth and chewed, gazing at the familiar ceiling, lost in thought.

"I've been in Slaughter City for almost three years, nearly forty victories under my belt. Just sixty more and I can leave this damned place and continue to improve my cultivation."

"Xiao Wu, tell me, why won't the Rakshasa God or my ancestor give me the Asura God's divine trial? My talent is outstanding, and my character perfect, so why not give me a god trial? Can't they see I'm the most qualified for the Nine Trials to become a god?"

Tang San murmured, while the Xiao Wu in his mind encouraged him.

"Third Brother, you're the best. If they look down on you, they're blind and doomed. On Sea God Island, there's still the Sea God's inheritance. As long as they're not blind, you'll surely catch the Sea God's eye, become a deity, and resurrect me."

"Yes, Xiao San, don't give up. Tang Chen is nothing, just a dried-up corpse. As my son, I believe you can do it!"

"They'll all perish for looking down on me!"

Buoyed by the voices in his head, Tang San smiled innocently, opened the secret room door, and breathed in the sweet, bloody air outside.

After walking through dark tunnels for a while, he saw his two close companions, Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng.

Seeing Tang San approach, Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng smiled at him. Tang San summoned his martial soul and joined their little game.

…

In the Hell Road beneath Slaughter City, Killing God was soaking in the blood pool, cold and full of helplessness.

He watched as a long sword at the end of the Hell Road slowly absorbed the negative power that had surged in Slaughter City over the years, unable to fathom his lord’s intentions.

"Is it necessary to nurture such a fool? Even sacrificing a divine weapon for this?"

The sword resembled the Asura Demon Sword, similar in the aura, but was Killing God’s sword, which had originally been sealed in the Asura Temple before the Asura God secretly sent it down to absorb evil power.

Watching his once beloved weapon morph into something else, Killing God felt like a cuckolded protagonist in a certain kind of manga, his heart full of agony. But as it was a direct order, he could only watch as his beloved weapon was altered.

Once a fearsome killing god in the divine realm, he now lay like a salted fish in the blood pool, lifeless eyes blank, letting the viscous liquid cover him.

"Oh, Lord God, may your wisdom be worth the price you pay. And may the God of Pride have an even worse time than me down here!"

Gradually, Killing God drifted into a shallow sleep as he cursed, no longer watching his beloved weapon’s transformation.

….

Meanwhile, in another corner of the Douluo Continent, the God of Pride was in a rare predicament.

Chen Ming, through Lou Gao, had secretly contacted the God of Forging in the divine realm (who was preparing to run), using the God of Pride as a guarantor to create a special divine artifact.

Chen Ming presented his prepared model and rough drawings, explaining the design and function, and demonstrated his special abilities.

In Chen Ming’s plan, this was a pyramid-like device containing complex principles of bloodline, life force, soul power, spiritual power, and spirit composition.

It could absorb attribute-less cosmic energy from the universe, and, like a plant, had roots that drew power from the world’s order via the earth, serving as a vessel for converting and fusing two kinds of power.

Through this device, one could extract bloodline and soul power from the body seated on the throne, stabilize it, and then, using the rules mimicked from Douluo’s soul rings, transform it into a soul ring.

Even as a master forger, the God of Forging took a while to comprehend the device, frowning deeply.

"According to your blueprints, this artifact would at least be a main divine artifact. With all its features, it’s even more complicated than most main artifacts."

"It would make sense if you were making this for yourself after becoming a god. But why would you, a not-yet-god, need something so complex?"

"Drawing energy from the cosmic void, dulling it with faith and world origin, then extracting bloodline power from the victim in the throne to form special energy… all just to make soul rings?"

"Aren’t you just making things complicated for no reason?"