But amidst the curses, Junior Brother Cooper still stood up and stretched lazily. Accompanied by a series of crisp cracking sounds from his bones, Junior Brother Cooper finally stepped out with his right leg. But before his right foot even touched the ground, Junior Brother Cooper suddenly spun around and looked toward the passage on the right side of the main hall leading to the entrance of the Blood Prison.

Not only him, even the The Young Man in Purple also snapped his head in that direction.

With just one glance, the The Young Man in Purple's face changed dramatically, jumping up like a startled animal, while Junior Brother Cooper in front of him also collapsed to the ground with a thud, his right leg giving out as it landed.

"It's you? You're actually not dead?"

"Hiss~ you..."

...

The next moment, the two guardian disciples finally cried out in shock, their hair standing on end as they stared at the figure emerging from the passage. It was a figure with a tattered animal hide wrapped around his waist, nothing else covering his body, his entire form covered in blood and filth, with bits of flesh stuck to him, or scabs of dried blood clinging to his skin.

At first glance, it was as if he had crawled out of a sea of blood. Though his aura was restrained, just one look at him sent chills down their spines, as if a wave of murderous, icy energy was rolling off him, a peerless fiend who could tear their souls into countless pieces.

Killing intent!

The face of the figure who walked out was also smeared with blood, his cultivation aura very weak—much weaker than theirs—but the killing intent and murderous aura he exuded made the two outer sect disciples guarding the place almost lose their souls in terror.

David Clark?

Although his face was covered in blood and hard to make out, Junior Brother Cooper and the other still recognized him as David Clark, the guy who had entered the first level of the Blood Prison at noon yesterday.

They all stared at David Clark in disbelief, the two guardian disciples feeling a chill in their hearts. The murderous aura on this kid was terrifying, and he actually made it out alive? They had seen martial artists survive the Blood Prison before, but never someone who looked like David Clark did now—this was truly unprecedented.

Of course, that made sense. There were basically no labor disciples entering the Blood Prison, and both outer and inner sect disciples had storage treasures. No matter what happened inside, they would tidy themselves up before coming out. Only someone like David Clark, who went in empty-handed and came out the same way, would look so out of place.

Especially since most disciples who entered at most hunted some demon beasts, but David Clark, while hunting a large number of demon beasts, also forced himself to be gravely injured again and again, covering himself in wounds, nearly killing himself countless times. The killing aura he couldn't yet restrain was absolutely astonishing.

"......"

While the two guardian disciples were still in shock, David Clark paused, confused—what did they mean, he wasn't dead? But then David Clark still bowed to the two of them awkwardly and said, "Seniors, is there anywhere here I can wash up?"

...

Half an hour later, after David Clark had thoroughly cleaned himself and borrowed a set of clothes from that Young Mr. Cooper, he politely bid farewell to the two and left.

But even after his figure had completely disappeared from the vicinity of the Blood Prison, the two guardian disciples were still dumbfounded, standing blankly in the gorge.

After a long while, Junior Brother Cooper finally slapped his forehead and cursed under his breath, "That kid really is a monster. A labor disciple survived a whole day and night in the Blood Prison, and not only that, his killing aura is almost tangible? Just looking at someone like that makes me uneasy. If I'd known, I should've bet with you yesterday that he'd make it out alive—I could've made a small fortune!"

"Bah~ If I'd known, I would've taken your bet that he'd survive, and the stakes should've been ten times higher! Damn, I misjudged him. Where did this labor disciple come from? He's incredible!" The The Young Man in Purple was also stunned, cursing loudly.

They had really misjudged him, and badly. This labor disciple named David Clark might have low cultivation, but he was definitely not a simple person—far from it. They couldn't even imagine what he had gone through to come out covered in congealed blood and flesh, to have condensed such a tangible killing aura.

A labor disciple? Was he really a labor disciple? This was just too monstrous!

Chapter 009: A Fine Line

"Wind Rises at the Edge of the World!"

"Spirit Wind Shines!"

"Storm Howls!"

...

In the labor disciples' courtyard at Snowy Peak, which wasn't very spacious, a gray shadow flickered in and out of sight in the yard. Around the gray figure, a green light swirled, the wind lending him strength. His whole body became a gust of wind, flashing and leaping repeatedly, or sometimes throwing a punch as dense and fierce as a torrential storm.

After a moment, when the wild wind faded, David Clark took a light breath, still barely able to believe it as he clenched his fist, his eyes full of surprise and excitement.

"Gale Fist, I've already mastered it to the proficient level! Even Spirit Wind Step is at the proficient level!"

After several days and nights of practicing martial arts in normal conditions, he hadn't even managed to get started on the first move of the six-style Gale Fist. But after a single day of tempering in the Blood Prison, he had mastered both Gale Fist and Spirit Wind Step to the proficient level.

The difference between before and after was simply indescribably terrifying.

But to reach this point, the price David Clark paid was enough to scare anyone to death. For example, after one battle, his intestines were pierced and rotting, his guts spilling out from a wound in his abdomen, and he had to grab the tattered intestines and stuff them back in... Or after being poisoned, one leg felt like it had been doused in molten iron, melted down to almost just bone, and even the bone was riddled with holes.