Feast of the Strong

Feast of the Strong

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Jiang Yun sat beside the beast's corpse, his chest rising and falling with slow, deliberate breaths.

The battle had left him drained, his muscles burning, his wounds screaming. Even now, his arms trembled slightly from the force of the final strike.

But he was still alive.

And in Forsaken Blood Valley, that was all that mattered.

The beast's massive form lay motionless before him, its once-fearsome body now reduced to nothing more than a carcass. The thick, blackened blood pooled beneath it, soaking into the dirt, filling the air with its pungent stench.

A true predator, felled by a mere mortal wielding a stolen spear.

Jiang Yun did not allow himself to feel relief.

Not yet.

There was still work to do.

Every part of this beast had value.

Its flesh could stave off starvation.Its bones could be fashioned into weapons.Its hide, thick as stone, could be used for protection.

Jiang Yun moved with precision. A lifetime of butchering animals had taught him efficiency.

He carved deep into the beast's hide, using the sharpest edge of his stolen dagger. Blood oozed slowly from the wound, thick and dark, resisting the blade's passage. The creature's flesh was denser than any beast he had ever seen. Even in death, it was unnatural.

He worked carefully.

A single misstep, and the rotting Qi within the beast's body could seep into him. He had seen it before—scavengers who cut too deeply, only to collapse hours later, their veins blackened, their bodies twitching with an unseen corruption.

Jiang Yun's gaze remained sharp.

This was not a normal beast.

Its flesh was too dense, its bones heavier than they should have been. Its hide—scarred with unnatural runes, faintly visible beneath the thick layers of muscle.

Jiang Yun frowned.

A mutated beast? No… this was something else.

Then, as his blade sliced deeper—

He found it.

A core.

Nestled deep within its chest, surrounded by hardened muscle and sinew.

Jiang Yun pulled it free, his breath slowing.

It was small, no larger than a pearl. But its surface pulsed faintly, a deep crimson glow radiating from within.

Jiang Yun had never seen one before.

But he knew what this was.

A blood core.

A cultivator's treasure.

The moment Jiang Yun held the blood core, he understood.

This beast—it was not born in the valley.

It had been created.

A mutated creature, fed on the remains of cultivators, its body twisted by the lingering Qi of fallen sect disciples.

This was not a place of trials.

It was a place of slaughter.

A graveyard where the dead fed the living.

Jiang Yun's grip on the blood core tightened.

Sword Palace had thrown him into this valley, expecting him to die.

But he would not give them that satisfaction.

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Did you know?

In the world of Eternal Sword Ascension, Forsaken Blood Valley is not just a battlefield—it is a graveyard of forgotten warriors, where the fallen are consumed by the land itself. The lingering Qi of countless slain cultivators warps the beasts that dwell within, turning them into monstrous abominations.

🩸 Blood Cores like the one Jiang Yun discovered are rare, but they hold immense power. Formed from condensed Qi and blood essence, these cores can be refined into elixirs, weapons, or even devoured to strengthen one's body—but at a cost. The corruption within them is unpredictable, and only those with unshakable willpower can resist its effects.

🔥 In ancient times, sects used valleys like this as death grounds, throwing in the weak to weed out the unworthy. But sometimes… the forsaken refuse to die. And when they rise, they do so stronger than ever.

Jiang Yun was meant to perish. Instead, he claimed the feast of the strong. Will he consume the blood core's power? Or will he risk the hidden dangers lurking within?

The path of ascension is paved with blood. How far would you go to survive? 🗡️✨