A massive chamber sprawled out before them, miles wide in each direction. It was clearly carved by man, and was not a natural formation. Nearly every inch of the chamber walls was lined with powerful formations. Some were meant to stop any Qi from leaking through the chamber to the outside world, while other formations were meant to reinforce the chamber, making it impervious from outside and inside attacks.
The formations alone must have cost a fortune to implement, but that was not what shocked Zuri and John. Instead, it was the grotesque scenes of brutality and savagery taking place before them.
Hundreds of people, all cultivators, were bound by chains, their faces covered with bags that glowed with formation runes on the outside. Other than the bags on their heads, nothing else was covered, leaving each person completely naked from the neck down.
Each person was bound by their chains to poles, walls, and devices John had never seen before. But each device had a clear purpose; gruesome torture.
Each of the hundreds of cultivators were bloody and scarred, some wounds fresh, some clearly days old. However, none of them were unscarred, making the place look like some sort of hell meant to torture the wicked. Dozens of unbound cultivators stood before some of the bound victims, each going about their own ways of commining brutal acts of torture.
Some prodded their victims with searing rods of metal, piercing and charring their flesh. Others used blades to carve into their victims skin, while others used the bizarre devices to do the work for them. Regardless of the method, the result was the same; brutal and inhuman torture.
Cries of agony and pain filled the chamber, each cry more haunting than the last.
Beneath each person were channels carved into the floor of the chamber. The channels ran throughout the chamber towards its center, snaking around almost like formation runes. These channels were not formation runes, but instead small channels for the blood of the bound to flow towards its center, where it collected into four different pools of blood.
The chamber seemed to be divided into four large quadrants, with each quadrant leading to a specific reservoir of blood. The room reminded John of the time he had infiltrated the Bloodfiend Sect, and had discovered the hellish chamber where they collected blood for the demon summoning ritual.
This place did not feel the same, in that it was not a summoning ritual, but that did not matter to John at the moment. The sight of those hundreds of people being tortured boiled his blood, nearly causing him to explode with rage and unleash his fury on those within. John reigned in his anger at the last moment, knowing that it would be foolish to reveal himself before assessing the situation.
He glanced to the side where Zuri was. She was still shrouded in her shadowy darkness blending into the dark entrance of the tunnel. Despite her inhuman form, he could feel her rage, anger, and disgust.
He returned his gaze towards the brutal sights, assessing those within it.
'I count eleven unbound cultivators, eight men, three women. Four in the Dao Transformation Realm. Four in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and three in the Early World Expansion Realm.'
Eight of the eleven cultivators were taking part in the brutal torture of their victims, smiles of delight and ecstasy on their faces, as if they were enjoying the most pleasurable thing in the world. The other three cultivators stood several hundreds yards away from the tunnel, discussing something.
Two were men in the Early World Expansion Realm, while one was a woman in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm. One of the men was speaking the most, a large smile on his face as he waved his hands about enthusiastically, as if he were telling a fantastical story. The man wore a gaudy and overly ostentatious golden robe, embroidered with gems and other flashy things. Based on the clothing, John instantly knew who that was.
Galvsten.
His gaudy clothing matched the decorations of the mansion above. There was no mistaking who he was.
"We were right," Zuri's sent John a sound transmission, which was harder to detect than physically speaking. "Based on the information we had gathered, we figured Galvsten was kidnapping people and bringing them here. We had guesses on what was taking place down here based on unverified rumors…but…"
Zuri paused for a long while, as if still processing what she was seeing.
"But this is far worse than I could have ever imagined. That girl in the far left quadrant, bound to the pillar near one of the men. Do you see her?"
"Yes," John replied, noticing the one Zuri had mentioned.
The woman's head was covered by the bag each of the victims wore, but her unclothed figure revealed her gender. Her body was completely exposed from the head down, and several long wounds covered her body. The wounds still bled lightly, indicating they were quite fresh, most likely done within the last few hours.
"That is Shadow Four," Zuri said, her voice heavy with anger and pain.
John took a deep breath, calming himself once more. He didn't know Shadow Four, but he could tell that Zuri cared for her greatly based on the pain in her voice.
"Should we take action?" he asked, sending a sound transmission to Zuri.
"No," Zuri replied after a long silence. "There are too many powerful cultivators here. Four in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and three in the Early World Expansion Realm. My talents lie in assassination techniques, not straight forward combat. Even if I manage to kill one before altering the others, they will notice immediately afterwards. I cannot fight against such a powerful group, even with your help."
John remained silent, contemplating what to do. He wanted nothing more than to take action and brutally kill these terrible people, but doing so would require him to use and reveal his full strength. With Kirii's help, was confident in battling against them without using his Bloodline Ability but he would have to use his Asura Transformation to Zuri.
He had not yet decided if he could trust her with knowing his secrets, and so didn't take action right away.
"We will retreat and bring reinforcements immediately," Zuri said.
"By the time we bring reinforcements, the killing of the guards will be discovered, and they will either bring more guards, or move knowing they have been discovered," John replied, not satisfied with Zuri's plan.
"I understand, but we are too weak to take action right now."
John frowned, his anger still raging within like a tempest. As he and Zuri conversed, the group with Galvsten continued to converse, their conversation growing louder and more enthusiastic. John decided to listen to their conversation, to see if he could gather any useful information before they retreated.
"The auction this year was quite a spectacle," the other man in the group said, his voice nasally and aloof. All three had a perpetually smug look on their face, as if they considered themselves to be naturally superior to others. The look alone annoyed John to the point that he nearly sped forward towards them in anger.
"Indeed it was," the woman replied.
"Its a shame though," Galvsten added, a frown replacing his smug smile. "The highlight of the auction this year was quite incredible, and yet none of us were able to obtain her. A true shame."
"Indeed," the man and woman replied in unison.
"But her price was far too steep for any of us to afford," the man added, a look of disappointment on his face.
"Tch," Galvsten clicked his tongue. "Even with her steep price, I'm sure the Devil Race would have paid double or triple that bidding price for her. It's a shame the bid was more than I have to my name, otherwise I would have thrown every spirit crystal I had towards that bid."
The other two nodded their heads, agreeing to Galvsten's comment.
"You are absolutely correct," the man replied. "A heaven-defying beauty from a different world, with innate talent beyond anything we've ever seen. The Devil Race would have paid an absolute fortune to obtain her. A pity indeed."
Boom!
The chamber suddenly shook violently as an aura exploded outwards, filling the chamber with its power. The others jumped in fright at the sudden outburst, feeling as though a furious dragon-god had descended upon them.
