Facing the Abyss as a Demon Cultivator

"Blood Moon Ritual!"

Chu Xiu's heart skipped a beat. His intuition was right: when the blood moon reached its peak, something unexpected would happen! He focused his mind and perceived the information flowing into his mind.

[Blood Moon Ritual]

[Time: One Hour]

[Rule 1: During the ritual, all creatures will be marked by the blood moon. Mark holders can sense each other within a certain range.]

[Rule 2: Killing any creature will grant points. The number of points depends on the strength of the creature killed. A ranking based on points will be generated for all creatures within the ritual range.]

[Environment: Abyssal creatures bathed in the blood moon's light gain +50% strength, +300% health regeneration, +300% bloodlust, -70% pain perception, +100% experience gained from kills, and can gain experience from killing each other.]

[Reward: The top 1,000 creatures on the point ranking will receive a reward from the Boundless Blood Pool.]

As the notification panel appeared, the blood moon hanging high in the sky suddenly extended crimson rays outwards, like countless blood-red tentacles.

Stimulated by the blood-red light, the ghouls' skin took on a strange red hue. They roared towards the sky, their already ferocious eyes burning with even greater madness!

Suddenly, a ghoul turned its head and bit into the neck of another ghoul beside it!

Immediately afterward, as if a chaotic war had erupted, the ghouls below began to attack each other indiscriminately!

However, these were just the lowest-level ghouls. The higher-level ghouls seemed to retain their sanity. They were the first to escape the center of the melee, using their unique skills to hunt their weaker counterparts and accumulate points.

At the same time, Chu Xiu could feel the blood-red light bathing his body. Although he wasn't afflicted with the berserk buff like the ghouls, a restlessness rose within him. It was as if the primal instinct to kill had been awakened, urging him to step onto the battlefield!

Simultaneously, he gained a strange perception ability – he could vaguely sense the life forms around him.

"So this is the influence of the Blood Moon Ritual?" Chu Xiu thought to himself.

He knew this perception was two-way. In other words, while he was hunting other creatures, he was also a target!

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the restlessness within him, he began to quickly assess the situation.

The lower levels were still in a state of chaos.

However, Chu Xiu noticed that as the number of ghouls decreased and the number of evolved, high-level ghouls increased, more and more ghouls began to retain some of their sanity under the influence of the blood moon.

They started to conceal themselves, choosing more advantageous fighting positions. Like seasoned hunters, they began their hunt in this chaotic, blood-soaked world.

Moreover, many ghouls had already entered the apartment building, moving towards their location!

This development was quickly discovered by the others.

Everyone in the stronghold ran out, their faces pale as they witnessed the terrifying scene below!

They would be able to return home after the trial ended tomorrow. No one wanted to die here!

Especially the support classes. They had no combat abilities and were scared witless.

"I'm never entering the Abyss again after I go back. I don't want to die like this!" Xu Hang was on the verge of tears.

For them, relying on their awakened skills, even if they never entered the Abyss again, they could still earn a decent living as a senior technician with a monthly salary of twenty thousand. They might even have the opportunity to enter the inner city! In other words, they were only one night away from a good life!

"Quiet down! Everyone, back to the stronghold!" Shen Zhuo shouted, stopping the panicked crowd. "Don't worry, no one will die tonight!"

His voice trembled slightly, but everyone seemed to find reassurance in his words and retreated back into the stronghold's room.

The room was well-designed. It was spacious enough, and after being reinforced by everyone during this time, it had become a safe house of sorts. Defending from within provided a significant advantage.

After giving the order, Shen Zhuo looked at Chu Xiu. "At a time like this, you're still not coming with us? You were just attacked by ghouls before, you should know how terrifying high-level ghouls are! That's not a force one person can overcome!"

Chu Xiu chuckled. "How would you know if you don't try? What about you? You have such good equipment, don't you want to try for the ritual's reward?"

"You" Shen Zhuo's eyes widened. "You're still thinking about the reward?"

He quickly came to his senses. "Chu Xiu, you must have misunderstood. The top 1,000 in the ritual doesn't refer to the top 1,000 Awakened, but the top 1,000 of all creatures in this city!"

Unexpectedly, Chu Xiu just responded indifferently, "Oh, so?"

"So... so?" Shen Zhuo was momentarily speechless.

He took a deep breath and said, "I don't know if you've assessed how big this city is. I once looked out from the rooftop. Even from the 33rd floor, I couldn't see the other side of the city."

"And within just a kilometer around us, we've found at least six D-rank creatures! Not to mention how many are hidden underground!"

"Based on this estimate, I'm afraid there are more than a thousand D-rank monsters alone! Isn't aiming for the top 1,000 a fool's dream?"

"Chu Xiu, I don't want you to die recklessly because of a moment of impulsiveness. Come with us. We'll come back to this world after the trial. We can explore properly then, with better preparation!"

Shen Zhuo extended his hand, his face sincere.

Chu Xiu was silent for a moment.

Finally, he said, "Shen Zhuo, you're a good person."

"But I'll say it again, I have my own strategy."

"You" Shen Zhuo shook his head with a wry smile and sighed. "Alright. If you change your mind, come find me. Just... don't attract the monsters here."

With that, he stopped persuading Chu Xiu and returned to the stronghold.

With a loud bang, the heavy iron door slammed shut.

Chu Xiu stood outside, took a deep breath, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't expect Shen Zhuo to be such a goody-two-shoes. He's a bit like Qing Shan. I thought he was a hypocrite before."

"Goody-two-shoes are great. I like goody-two-shoes the most. Harmless and easy to manipulate."

A person's true colors were revealed during times of crisis.

Shen Zhuo still remembered to try and recruit him at a time like this. Although it might be based on the idea that there's strength in numbers, it also reflected part of his character.

"It's a shame. I really want to see what this so-called Blood Moon reward is."

He had cultivated all his inheritances and was currently in his strongest state in the short term, far surpassing others at the same rank.

Hiding like this was such a waste!

"Besides, the reward isn't entirely out of reach."

He naturally had a rough estimate of this place. In fact, due to his high attributes and greater exploration range, Chu Xiu's estimate was more accurate and detailed than Shen Zhuo's.

"The number of D-rank creatures here isn't 'likely' to exceed 1,000, it 'definitely' exceeds 1,000!"

"However, because D-ranks also kill each other, the number of creatures that survive in the end will be greatly reduced. My chances aren't that low."

Of course, Chu Xiu's risk-taking wasn't driven by greed like a gambler with no plan. It was based on careful observation and analysis.

The most important reason for his choice was—

"This Blood Moon Ritual is practically a killing field tailor-made for me!"

He wasn't just spacing out while watching the ghouls slaughter each other below. He was carefully analyzing their behavior.

He discovered that as long as the ghouls broke free from their frenzied state, they would prefer to hunt "non-similar" creatures. Among their own kind, they tended to "cooperate" in their hunts.

Awakened ones like them were the perfect prey. He could clearly sense that a large number of ghouls were rushing towards the top floor!

At the same time, due to the experience reduction mechanism in the Abyss, these ghouls rarely wasted time killing creatures more than three levels below them.

This was easy to understand. When Chu Xiu was level 1, a black-furred ghoul gave him 60 experience points. When he reached level 5, this dropped sharply to 10 points.

Combining these two points, the human stronghold on the top floor of the apartment building became the perfect bait!

It could attract a large number of ghouls without attracting high-level creatures.

This was simply a perfect killing field bestowed by the heavens!

Under these circumstances, even without the reward of the Blood Moon Ritual, just for the extra 100% experience, he had ample reason to take the risk!

"Not to mention—formation combat is my specialty!"

A smile curled Chu Xiu's lips. With a wave of his hand, the Bone Blood Devouring Formation was deployed!