Wu Shattered Star River

Black Blood Mountain wasn't inside Dark Valley but to the west, not far from Dark Valley. A strong cultivator could fly over in a few dozen breaths, right under the Kan Clan's nose.

Kan Xun personally took Jiang Han there. The mountain was entirely black and very large, devoid of any vegetation. From afar, it resembled a massive black seal or a black tower.

The entrance to the mountain wasn't at the foot but at the summit.

A Kan clansman was sitting cross-legged at the peak, a Dao Ancestor Realm seventh-level elder. He saw Kan Xun and quickly stood up to salute.

Kan Xun nodded slightly. Under the Dao Ancestor Realm cultivator's lead, they entered a cave at the summit.

The cave spiraled downwards, extending deep into the mountain. Jiang Han observed along the way, and after a while, despair filled his heart.

The cave was very deep, with checkpoints every few miles, each with formations and cultivators guarding them. The cultivators weren't strong, but the formations were very powerful, requiring time to break through.

Even if several Dao Ancestor Realm ninth-level cultivators came and bombarded their way through, it would still take a long time.

That would be enough time for the Kan Clan's experts to arrive, turning Black Blood Mountain into a prison. No one who entered would ever leave.

Jiang Han even suspected that the Kan Clan's patriarch had imprisoned him in Black Blood Mountain to deliberately lure the Radiant Church's experts to rescue him.

They descended for at least a thousand miles. Jiang Han roughly counted over a hundred checkpoints, requiring at least a few hours to blast through. The Kan Clan would react even if they were useless by then.

He faintly sensed three Dao Ancestor Realm eighth-level cultivators, but their auras were too weak for him to be sure.

All the experts were bound to stone pillars, their bodies tightly wrapped in chains.

Some experts constantly screamed, while the remaining ones seemed half-dead or mentally deranged from torture. One cultivator was even emitting a terrifying laughter that made one's hair stand on end.

Jiang Han carefully observed and found black gas at the bottom, drifting around like living things, occasionally缠绕缠绕 the imprisoned experts.

The experts would scream every time they were缠绕缠绕 by the black gas.

"That's not right!"

Jiang Han extended his soul sense and discovered living things inside the black gas: completely transparent little snakes.

These snakes would burrow into the cultivators' bodies. After emerging, their bellies would bulge, clearly having devoured flesh inside the cultivators.

"Whoosh!"

Kan Xun flew up, carrying Jiang Han to a stone pillar. He undid Jiang Han's chains and bound him to the pillar.

"This pillar is problematic!"

Jiang Han sensed a strange aura within the stone pillar suppressing him, disrupting his soul power.

"There's a formation inside the pillar, deliberately set up to prevent prisoners from detonating their souls, preventing me from gathering soul power to self-destruct!"

Jiang Han immediately understood the pillar's purpose. Without it, many cultivators here would have probably committed suicide long ago.

Kan Xun bound Jiang Han there, then took out a jade talisman and hung it around Jiang Han's neck. He said, "Jiang Han, think carefully. Bite the jade talisman if you figure it out. My clan welcomes your surrender at any time."

"Of course… there's a time limit. If you don't bite the jade talisman within a year, we'll ignore you and suppress you here for eternity."

"Don't think about escaping. Even if you break free from the chains, the space here is sealed. You can't escape!"

With that, Kan Xun flashed and flew towards the cave entrance. The guarding Dao Ancestor Realm cultivator followed, and the formation at the cave entrance resealed.

Soon, black gas floated over, engulfing Jiang Han.

He could clearly feel countless transparent little snakes burrowing into his body, starting to devour his flesh. The snakes didn't devour much flesh, but it was extremely uncomfortable and painful.

These snakes not only devoured flesh but also entered the soul, certainly absorbing soul power.

"No wonder the experts here are all listless, half-dead…"

Jiang Han understood why the experts here were in such a state. Their soul power was constantly being absorbed, and their flesh was continuously being devoured, greatly weakening their vitality.

Jiang Han tried to mobilize immortal power and true demon power, but they immediately became chaotic upon release. It seemed he couldn't use any energy.

He began to try using his physical strength to break free from the chains. His physical strength was very powerful. If he could break free, there might be a chance to escape, or at least he could detonate his soul and commit suicide.

He used all his strength to break free, but as he exerted force, the barbs on the chains immediately squirmed. Streams of energy entered his body, causing him unbearable pain. He couldn't even exert force; his body trembled involuntarily from the pain, and the muscles on his face contorted…

"It won't work…"

Jiang Han tried several times but couldn't break free. First, the barbs on the chains attacked him when he exerted force.

Second, the chains were exceptionally sturdy, likely with powerful formations inside. Although his strength was great, he still couldn't break free.

He tried to mobilize Primordial power, but it also became chaotic upon release. Jiang Han was dumbfounded. He couldn't break free from the chains, and he couldn't even commit suicide.

Could it be that he would be suppressed here for the rest of his life?

"Try if I can enter the Other Shore space?"

Jiang Han tried, but he failed. The space here was sealed, with a formation set up by an expert? Or perhaps Black Blood Mountain itself had a naturally powerful formation.

"Whoosh!"

Another stream of black gas floated over, and countless little snakes entered Jiang Han's body, devouring his flesh and soul power.

These snakes wouldn't devour for too long, only for a while before drifting away, seemingly giving Jiang Han a chance to heal, not completely devouring him into bones…

Jiang Han was unwilling and began to try various methods to break free, not seeking to escape but only to detonate his body and soul.

One day, five days, ten days…

Jiang Han was tortured to the point of being weak and half-dead. He had tried for ten days without any way to break free. His flesh had been devoured many times. His flesh would heal, but his life essence would be consumed.

Most of his soul power had been absorbed. How could his spirit not be listless?

The black snakes came five times a day, meaning he had to endure five instances of torment worse than death every day.

"Heh heh…"

"Hahaha!"

"Ah… Ah!"

The muffled groans, terrifying laughter, and screams of the cultivators next to him echoed constantly, and despair grew in Jiang Han's heart.

He couldn't escape this hellish place, he couldn't die, and no expert could rescue him.

He had to endure several tortures worse than death every day. Only ten days had passed, and he was already somewhat mentally unstable.

He didn't know how long he could last. Perhaps after a few years, he would become like the cultivators here, completely turning into a madman?