"Jing Qiu, run! Quick!" Xue Ying's sent his spear flying outwards while employing his luminous sun force to put pressure on the many-legged beast and bind its movements by using his Prison secret skill.

"You have to run! If we remain here, we will both perish sooner or later! It might not be too big a deal for our avatars to here, but is there any point to it either? I can stall the beast for a while longer with my domain skill and my speciality in close quarters combat, but you have practically no means of resisting it. Just flee from here, quickly! I'll try to think up a way to escape after you get away. Who knows, I might even survive this too."

"Mn."

Jing Qiu had the experience of an entire past life, so she could be extremely decisive when it mattered. Though she found it difficult to just watch as her husband blocked the enemy's path, she found it easier to bear by keeping in mind that both she and her husband had merely sent their avatars here, and for them to perish did not mean much. Even so, they preferred only ever sacrificing their lives with good reason.

Sou..

Jing Qiu transformed into stream of particles and fled.

In the meanwhile, Xue Ying and the many-legged beast wearing black armor continued their frenzied battle.

Hong, hong, hong~ Xue Ying's body was smashed repeatedly into the surrounding mountain walls. By using his domain-related secret skill to slow down his opponent's movements, he could, with much difficulty, obstruct it by following up with his spear techniques. Though the beast had immense strength, Xue Ying's luminous sun force was best known for increasing the user's physical power, so he was able to hold back the beast through repeated usages of his secret skill, Life.

While this many-legged beast's strength far exceeds mine, but I can still somewhat resist it in a straight-up fight, Xue Ying thought.

Unknown to him was the fact that this relatively weaker many-legged beast was dispatched precisely in order to prolong this battle as long as possible before finally killing them.

Even so, I can no longer continue fighting it. I've reached my limits. Xue Ying turned to flee at high-speed while continuing to display his spear technique.

Xiu!

A stream of particles flew away in a spurt.

"You think you can escape?" The black-armored beast roared took to chasing after him, its speed easily surpassing Xue Ying's. It wasn't long before the beast caught up to him and the two began exchanging killing moves in the midst of high-speed flight.

However, instead of trying to leave the tunnel, Xue Ying fled back along the same path, routing back to the cavern from which he entered.

After all, his wife had headed in the direction of the true god weapon, and him taking the same route might have gotten her implicated.

If he was going to die anyway, he would rather protect his wife with his life.

...

After transforming into a stream of particles, Jing Qiu had flown away. There was a sharp glow in her eyes stemming from a dissatisfaction with herself. After all, Xue Ying had only come to the ruins because he wanted to help her.

"Xue Ying" Jing Qiu looked behind her, but there was no sign of anyone chasing up to her.

******

Xue Ying and the many-legged beast were still engaged in lethal combat while flying at high speeds through the air.

Pu~ One of the beast's claws smacked Xue Ying and sent him flying backwards. He had even tried parrying the attack with his spear, but the impact still caused him to throw up a mouthful of blood. In spite of having been struck, Xue Ying kept flying, and the wound on his chest was already beginning to heal; injuries like these were mere flesh wounds to cultivators. However, had he been struck directly, his body wouldn't have been able to take it, and he would have likely likely died on the spot.

In the midst of bloody combat, Xue Ying's understanding of his secret skill, Life, steadily increased.

His display of his spear technique came from the heart, and it seemed as if its beauty was formed from all myriad beings of the world. Such a combat style seemed almost perfect, seeing how it allowed him to keep holding on for so long.

However, even this skill would eventually fail him, and the longer this fight continued, the more Xue Ying was that he would soon lose his life.

I have to go even quicker. It should be right around the corner. Xue Ying's heart now longed for the sight of a certain thing.

"Eh?" The many-legged beast that had been chasing after his life all this time suddenly slowed down, and it seemed to have lost any will to continue hunting him down. A certain doubt appeared in his mind. The Blazing Blood Door?

Indeed, as Xue Ying fled on the same path he had previously taken, it was not long before he arrived back at the Blazing Blood Door.

"Interesting! Very interesting!" The black-armored beast's eyes sparkled in expectation.

Xiu!

Xue Ying spotted the vast empty region from before, as well as the same enormous blood-colored disk about half a million kilometers wide laying on the ground. Various patterns of swords and blades were carved on its surface, emitting an aura of blood and death. Surrounding this disk were the awakened pairs and trios of blood-armored warriors chatting with one another. All of a sudden, they all turned their heads to look in Xue Ying's direction.

"What? He actually had the courage to return here?"

"That guy is back?"

All hundred or more of those warriors wearing blood-colored armor were looking at him in shock. At the same time, the many-legged beast chasing Xue Ying halted completely, staying behind at the mouth of the tunnel leading to this empty region.

Sou.

Xue Ying descented to land directly on the blood-colored disk while keeping close watch on the movements of the warriors. All of them focusing their attention on him left him feeling uneasy, and it was only once they slightly relaxed their grips on their weapons that Xue Ying was able to able to regain control of his strength.

"What, do you plan on passing through the Blazing Blood Door?" From the ranks of the blood-armored warriors, a tall and slim woman suddenly asked in a rather feminine voice.

"Enter the Blazing Blood Door?" Xue Ying sighed inwardly once he noticed that the warriors did not attack immediately, and then turned to looked at the many-legged beast which stopped in its tracks quite some distance away.

Very soon, a warrior of small stature flew out from the midst of all the other blood-armored warriors and landed atop the Blazing Blood Door. Its eyes showed malicious intent as he stared at Xue Ying.

Juse one opponent? Xue Ying thought. The other warriors wearing blood-colored armor are simply watching, not even bothering to hunt down and kill the black-armored beast from before. My guess should be correct, then.

He had fled along the same route that he entered through, ending up back at the Blazing Blood Door. However, he had only used this path due to a certain conjecture he had.

When they first passed by the door, four of the warriors had stepped up to block their path! It must be stated that, at the time, they had been surrounded by hundreds of warriors, so why would only four of them go out to fight them? Could it have been mere coincidence that there were also four members on his team?

On top of that, as soon as King Fu Qiong died, the blade-wielding warrior ceased to fight and the fight turned into a three versus three battle! If not for this fact, Monarch Armadillo Jade could not have escaped with the two of them, considering just how fast the blade-wielder was.

The fight had begun as a four versus four, and then turned into a three-on-three.

This created a certain doubt in Xue Ying's mind. On top of that, the blood-colored disk gave him a very strange sensation, which only served to make him even more curious about the truth of the matter.

'If I return by myself, would I be placed in a one versus one fight?' Xue Ying had begun to guess.

Of the four opponents from the previous battle, the blade-wielder, the tall fighter with golden fists, and the enchanting female warrior were obviously stronger than the black-haired fighter who did not reveal any particular strategy, Xue Ying pondered. Did they send out those four specific warriors to match each particular member of our team?

Three of our four members were stage four realm World Deities, with me being the only stage three World Deity. As such, of the four warriors that were dispatched, three were stronger much stronger than the last one.

Xue Ying was obviously a skilled expert, and his speed of thinking was hard to match. Despite his sorry position during that previous fight, he had observed every step of the battle carefully, and came up with some speculations based on that.

As such, he decided that he would rather gamble his life away to verify these speculations.

It would at least give some meaning to his death. Even if he ended up dead afterwards, he could retain some insights regarding the Blazing Blood Door.

Not to mention that, if he won the gamble, he might even avoid death!

It seems like my choice was correct. Xue Ying looked at the small warrior having descended upon the huge disk. His opponent was singular, and threat he felt from him was much weaker.

"You asked me whether I want to enter the Blazing Blood Door?" Xue Ying looked at the tall and thin woman, and inquired with a grin, "Are there any rules set down for people who want to go through the Blazing Blood Door?"

A glimmer appeared in the woman's eyes as she looked at Xue Ying with interest. The corners of her mouth even curled up into a smirk as she replied, "It seems that, despite your lack of knowledge, you still dared step upon the Blazing Blood Door. How brave."

"I'm simply gambling for my life," Xue Ying said.

The low rumble of diskussion could be heard coming from the ranks of the blood-armored warriors. Some were staring out with a smile, others shook their heads wearing a similar grin.

"Could you perhaps tell me the rules set down for entering through the Blazing Blood Door? So that I may at least die with a clear understanding, that is," Xue Ying said with a grin.

**