My plan was pretty straight forward. I needed whatever bug was down there to come up. The best way to do that was to convince them they were under attack. The best way I could do that was to unleash my aura. I unleashed my full aura and aimed it down into the hole. It took me a few seconds to get it right when I did we were only kept waiting for a moment.

  The ground began to tremble. Next came the sound of hundreds or thousands of feet scurrying on every possible surface. "Here they come!" I formed a halo of swords half of compressed space the other of psychic energy. I said a silent prayer and wish that were dealing with ants and not something truly horrific. The first bug appeared and was promptly burned to ashes. It was a four legged abomination covered in chitin armor.

  From the brief glimpse I had it should be blind or it at least didn't have eyes. They also had two additional appendages that were scythe like blades. Another two appeared and promptly received psychic blades. When those died I let out a sigh of relief. It looked like these things relied on numbers alone. They creatures surged upward like an unstoppable tied. I ordered a retreat and we fell back about fifty feet.

  The ground continued to tremble until the hoard arrived. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. They tripped over and crushed one another in their desperation to reach the surface. I wasn't sure if our attacks dealt more damage than they did to themselves. I could swear that they were also eating their dead. My skin crawled and I had to confirm multiple times that nothing had crawled up my arms and legs.

  I activated Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain to blast the hoard. It was nearly impossible to miss at this point. Even with Xerxes' help it wasn't enough to stop the hoard. They chopped at the base of our tree which forced us to retreat. By the time the fifth tree was destroyed I activated my next spell. The mists of Realm of Consciousness bellowed out in all direction. My domain was quickly followed by Manifestation of Perfection.

  As soon as the diamond appeared in the sky the battle began to turn. It was like the grim reaper had took to the field to claim every bug. They died by the dozen. I cocked my head to the side as I tried to figure out why. Was it because they are a hive mind that they lack a Tao heart? Or was it something innate to being a bug? Xerxes slowly stopped his attacks as we watched the things slowly die.

  "This is probably the world's weirdest and biggest bug zapper." I was about to move further away when the ground shook. I expanded my soul sense and cursed. "Looks like the Queen is on her way." A few moments later the earth exploded and dozens of the ugly insects fell into the hole just as an abomination leaped out. The queen was the size of a car and twice as ugly as her children.

  I activated Inverted Dimension as soon as it climbed out of the hole. I lost count of the number of bugs that were pulled into the spell and it didn't matter. "Lets get this over with." As soon as the spell finished and we were locked away from the rest of the hive Xerxes and I unleashed everything. As an extra layer of protection I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form. Once again we joined the battle.

  The queen wasn't to be underestimated though. It unleashed a black acidic gunk that tore through my wall. The spell collapsed almost instantly. The black gunk came out with the force of a hose on top of its acidity. I expanded my Tao field to meet the horde but it was barely enough. "I guess that means we got to get our hands dirty." I formed a halo of imbued blades and leaped to the ground. The few lesser bugs that could still attack were ripped apart. I focused on crowd control and the rate of bug deaths ballooned.

  Xerxes focused his attention on the queen. Which resulted in the overgrown bug burning like a candle. Once I got the horde down to a manageable level I triggered the secondary ability of Manifestation of Perfection. The soundless wave passed over the queen and her horde. The battlefield became deathly still just before energy surged into my dantian. I activated the cleaning property of my robes and ended the Inverted Dimension.

  As soon as I was able I activated Apportation and escaped the graveyard of insects and reappeared in a tree a hundred feet away. "If you want that beast core you got to get it on your own."

  The fourth token absorbed the required energy which meant we were almost at the end. I took a moment to expand my soul sense just in case we were being watched. There was nothing of note. When Xerxes finished his grisly task we left. There was no way we were going to stay in the swamp zone if we didn't have to. We made our way back to the former bird nest and rested for a few hours. Once my spells were off cool down and Xerxes had regained enough energy to show off his full strength we set out.

  We ignored a few treasures that emitted weak pulls as well as a number of cultivators. None of them were above level 35 and none of them looked wealthy enough to make a battle worth it. The journey back to our hidey hole was shorter than I expected. A feat that was made possible by Xerxes' sense of smell. Not only did we avoid several monsters but we found short a series of short cuts that let us by pass the long part of journey.

  "Alright, take the first watch. I want to get the stink of bug off of me and get some last minute meditation in." I walked to the back of the next and removed a bottle of water. It wasn't anywhere near enough for a proper shower but it would have to be enough. I scrubbed for what felt like an hour before I sat down. I relaxed my mind and went through my cultivation technique.

  When I came to the forest was quiet. As if it were the middle of the night. I passed my mental gaze over my dantian and was pleased. I was pretty close to level 43. With any luck I would hit the right level before we left. I stood up, stretched my arms and found Xerxes. "You can rest for a bit before we set out."

  "I am fine. I would like to hunt the next prey soon."

  I looked at him with the Eye of Heaven just to be sure. His energy levels were pretty high which should get us through one or two more battles. "Alright, if you're sure. The next one is the blood drop so we ready. I wouldn't be surprised if it was some vampiric creature."

  I expanded my soul sense to confirm that no way waited for us to exit and then we left. I pulled out the final token. The token felt warmer in my hand. I wasn't sure if that was real or if I imagined it. The journey took us through the forest and into a sanguine area. One that was very similar to the first zone. Once again I wondered who built this place and why. Was it really meant to be a beast training ground or was it really the prison?

  "There is something."

  Xerxes' voice caused me to stop so fast I nearly fell out of the tree. I expanded my soul sense but there was nothing. "What? What do you smell?"

  "Nothing"

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  I cocked my head and was about to yell at him for scaring me when I thought about it again. "What do you mean by 'nothing'?"

  "I don't smell any other living things? Not even small insects or beasts. Just blood."

  "I see," I scanned everything around us with the Eye of Heaven but there was nothing to see. The blood attuned energy was beyond abundant but that was it. I tried to prod the strange mark into absorbing the energy but it either wasn't interested or it couldn't. "Stay close I am getting a bad feeling about this place."

  We continued forward until the trees became thinner. We were forced down to the ground. The ground was wet and slightly sticky. A combination that made me want to go and scrub everything. I strained my senses to their limit in search of anything but it was like we were alone. "I don't even sense cultivators in this area."

  "All dead?"

  I shrugged. "Its possible. Though we should have heard about it. No one warned us to stay away from this region nor have we heard of anyone running. Which would mean that no one escaped." I chuckled at the thought. "A beast or group of beasts so strong that no one has managed to get away let alone defeat it. That sounds fun."

  Xerxes snorted and strode a bit further ahead. "What? Something strong to wrap things up sounds perfect as far as I am concerned."

  "Unless it kills us to."

  "Would it matter? I mean if we can't beat it than we would lose the contest. It isn't like we have a choice in the matter. Unless you want to give up and go hide. Something I doubt the System would tolerate."

  Before Xerxes could respond we came across a lake blood. Not blood attuned energy or blood attuned water like the rest of this place. Genuine blood. The stench was overpowering and invasive. I covered my nose with a cloth but it made no difference. Took a step back as a sense of unease spread through me. It wasn't quite danger as just discomfort. "Stay away from the water."

  Just after I finished the blood pan began to move. It started as a single ripple but by the time it reached us three more had joined it. I expanded my Tao field to cover both of us as my danger sense began to pick up. A short while later a humanoid figure rose up from the blood like some kind of siren. I couldn't tell if the figure was male or female nor if it was solid or liquid. It had a pair dark ruby like eyes that stared at me. I couldn't tell if it truly saw me or if it was some kind of doll.

  Neither idea did anything for the passive danger it gave off. This thing was stronger than the other beasts by a mile. As it appeared the blood around it hardened into a suit of plate style armor. Last to join the ensemble a weird lance. It looked a bit like the stinger of a large mosquito only made of blood. I didn't need the Eye of Heaven to tell me that it was chalked full of energy. I was pretty sure that it wasn't a weapon, but a part of the creature.

  "Can you understand me?" I asked as I circulated my energy.

  The figure didn't respond which made me decide to take a gamble. I pushed energy into Ethereal Convocation but before I could form the connection my blood ran cold. My danger sense screamed as the blood doll raised its lance and shot a jet of blood at us. I abandoned all thoughts of countering the attack and jumped out of the way.

  The blood shot forward like a water cannon. Everything as far as I could was punctured. I turned toward the pond only to find the blood figure gone. Another scream of danger forced me to my left just as a figure rose out of the ground behind me. Their lance tore through the spot I left with enough force to have split me in half. A second later a blast of red and orange flames slammed into monster.

  I took that moment to retreat and form a halo of psychic blades. My mind raced with possibility as the blood knight rushed at me. It was fast. Incredibly fast. I imbued by left arm with as much spiritual as I could and used it to meet the lance. The lance punched through my arm but stopped before it came out the other end. My eyes widened as my blood and spiritual energy was sucked out.

  All six blades fell like rain on the creature and Xerxes unleashed another blast of fire. None of it was enough to force the monster to release me. If anything it was getting stronger. Panic shot through me and I started to imbue my right hand. No, no its liquid if it trapped both arms...I shook away the thoughts and forced energy into Apportation as fast as possible. Five percent of my spiritual energy had already been stolen. I couldn't even guess how much blood I lost.

  The portal opened and I was pulled through. The small victory died on my lips as the blood knight followed me through! The portal slammed shut before Xerxes could join us. The blood knight withdrew its lance and slammed a fist into my stomach. The hit knocked the air out of my lungs and the world spun. Apportation's exit portal opened and I half half crawled out.

  Something blurred to my right and then Xerxes crashed into the blood knight. He pushed the monster nearly twenty feet away before I got to my feet. I looked up just in time to see Xerxes get slammed onto the ground. A psychic blade materialized and practically teleported into the creature's head before it could slam its lance into his head.

  "Together. We attack together."

  I wiped a bit of blood from the corner of my mouth and activated Psychic Blast. A beam of mental and spiritual energy washed over the knight as Xerxes joined me at my side. "I will lead you take advantage of the openings. Keep it off me. If either of us get drained we die."

  The knight raised her lance and I reached for the flame inside me. I grinned and formed a halo of blades. Half compressed space half psychic energy. I then imbued the psychic blades with both of my remaining Tao. The blood knight launched itself at us and I laughed. As soon as I let my blades fly I formed another set a barrage of blades met the monster's charge. The blood knight showed no hesitation nor any signs of fear as it charged. It deflected the blades it could while it let the rest hit it.

  The monster had only crossed a fourth of the distance before Xerxes met its charge. The pair slammed into each other like run away trains. This time the blood knight stayed fully corporeal. The Xerxes lost the exchange but it wasn't by much. Before the knight could follow up I unleashed another round of blades. The pair separated. I was about to unleash another round of attacks when I caught sight of something.

  The blood from the ground flowed up and into the knight. Where it slowly healed the cracks in its armor. "You son of a bitch." I pushed energy into the Inverted Dimension as the knight finished healing. Xerxes let out a howl of rage but I held him back from charging. Reality was swapped as my spell took over. The blood knight stopped its charge and spun with inhuman speed.

  I held Xerxes back from attacking as we waited to see what the creature would do. When it unleashed a gout of blood in the opposite direction I grinned. An indigo sun was born a second later and Xerxes shot forward. The compressed Psionic Rain descended on the knight and it was forced to react. Its speed was incredible. It had already raised its lance to crush the sun before Xerxes reached it. Unfortunately it was still trapped under the effect of Inverted Dimension. The attack it thought was crushed crashed into it a second before the meteor that was Xerxes arrived.

  The knight was far from finished. Its body became liquid just after it crashed into the ground. It attempted to absorb blood from the ground as it reappeared but why would I let that happen? Another six blades slammed into its back before any of its injuries had begun to heal. The knight launched a gout of blood in the wrong direction a second before a gout of flame caught it from behind. Xerxes let out a roar of challenge before his fangs glowed with spiritual energy. He launched himself forward and sunk his fangs into the knights weapon arm. This time when it tried to become liquid it wasn't able.

  "Good!" I formed a ball of compressed space the size of a volleyball and launched it with the speed of a bullet. The knight began to turn into liquid only for Xerxes to tighten his grip. My attack so much as hit the knight as it erased him. It was as if the area in space where it had been simply didn't exist anymore. Something about that resonated deep inside me but I pushed it aside.

  I formed another halo of blades just in case the creature could rebuild itself after that but nothing happened. It wasn't until energy surged into my dantian and Xerxes joined me that I relaxed. "That was fun."

  "It was a good hunt." Xerxes' reply was exhausted and pained but I ignored it. I had a good idea of his personality by now and he wouldn't appreciate me worrying too much. I did pull out a pair of healing pills and gave them to him.

  "Heal up. My spell should last a few more minutes. I don't know what happens once we leave so we should expect everything to be hell."