Chapter 106: Blood-Colored Space

Han Li studied the broad-faced middle-aged man and realized that the face he showed to others was clearly also conjured through a mask from the Wuchang Alliance.

Although the appearance created by this mask seemed no different from an ordinary person's, to someone also wearing a mask, a faint connection could be sensed between the masks, which was also the means by which members of the Wuchang Alliance communicated with each other.

Jiao Jiu and Jiao Shiliu also noticed this and immediately stepped through the door gap into the courtyard.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li followed them in.

After the broad-faced man and the other three entered the courtyard, he poked his head out the door to look around before closing it again.

The courtyard was about a hundred zhang in size. Apart from a withered old tree, there was only a set of bluish-gray stone table and stools placed under the tree.

Except for the patch of dirt around the old tree roots, the rest of the ground was paved with brand-new blue bricks, spotlessly clean without even a single dead leaf.

Further inside, directly facing the gate was a main house, with several side rooms on each side, their doors currently left ajar.

The broad-faced man led the way while turning back to address the three:

"Knowing that the higher-ups would send someone, I have been waiting here for some time. May I ask which esteemed elder is presiding over this matter?"

Han Li had been observing the man since entering the courtyard. Just as the man asked this question, a cold gleam flashed in Han Li's eyes, and he threw a punch aimed at the man's back.

The man was startled but seemed to have anticipated it. A burst of red light suddenly flared behind him, conjuring a silver-glowing round shield that blocked in front of him.

With a muffled "bang,"

the silver round shield exploded. The man was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the stone steps in front of the main house. He coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his aura instantly weakening considerably.

Jiao Jiu and the other also sensed something amiss. Just as the three were about to move forward, a sudden change occurred!

With a buzzing sound,

the surrounding space blurred and twisted. Within a radius of several hundred zhang centered on the small courtyard, beams of red light shot up into the sky simultaneously. Then, a huge blood-colored array phantom appeared in midair, its surface swirling with countless blood-red runes.

Before Han Li and the other two could react, a red light flashed at the center of the array, and the three of them, along with the broad-faced man, appeared in a blood-colored space.

This space did not seem like a real world. Looking around, it appeared boundless.

Above their heads, thick layers of blood-red clouds accumulated. The ground beneath their feet was a deep red, as if soaked in blood. Even the surrounding air was filled with an unpleasant smell of blood.

While the group was still looking around in surprise and uncertainty, the entire blood-colored space suddenly shook violently. Hundreds of fissures of varying sizes instantly split open on the ground, from which thick streams of blood-red mist emerged.

Within the mist, blurry figures crawled out.

Ghostly wailing arose loudly!

They were clearly humanoid blood ghosts, drenched in blood as if freshly skinned, continuously crawling out from the fissures on the ground.

As soon as these ferocious blood ghosts emerged, they let out hoarse, strange cries and lunged toward Han Li and the others.

"Fellow Daoists, be careful. Don't just focus on those blood ghosts; the atmosphere here is also unusual," Jiao Jiu warned, sweeping his gaze over the blood ghosts and then glancing at the blood clouds above.

Han Li also noticed that the bloody smell permeating the entire space seemed to contain a strange malevolence that could directly invade one's sea of consciousness, inducing a feeling of restlessness and irritation deep in the heart.

However, given the strength of his soul, this level of influence was negligible.

After warning the two, Jiao Jiu flipped his hand and took out a piece of lustrous white jade strung with a golden thread, hanging it around his neck. The white jade flashed with a crystalline light, enveloping his entire body.

Then, with a wave of his hand, blue light flickered before him, and a rolling blue wave surged forth, sweeping up over a dozen blood ghosts that had charged to the front, shredding them into pieces that dissipated into clouds of blood mist.

Jiao Shiliu, without a word, took out a purple talisman and pressed it to his brow. With a flash of purple light, it vanished. Then, with a low shout, a series of cracking sounds came from within his body, and the muscles on his arms, chest, and abdomen began to swell rapidly.

With a high leap, he crashed like a meteorite into the army of blood ghosts ahead, smashing seven or eight of them into pieces.

Seeing this, Han Li also made a show of taking out a pill and swallowing it. He took a big step forward and, with two thuds, punched two nearby blood ghosts flying.

The two blood ghosts, in mid-flight, collided with over a dozen others charging toward them. With a series of muffled thuds, they all turned into clouds of blood mist.

The three soon discovered that although these blood ghosts surged like a tide from all directions, appearing fierce and menacing, they were not difficult to deal with—in fact, they could be said to be pathetically weak.

The trouble, however, was that they seemed inexhaustible; as soon as one wave was struck down, more blood ghosts would quickly emerge from the fissures in the ground, impossible to kill off entirely. Before long, the three of them were surrounded by hundreds of blood ghosts, packed so tightly there was no room to move.

On the other side, the broad-faced man who had been wounded by Han Li had eyes slightly reddened, his face bearing a look of terror as if seeing ghosts in broad daylight. He continuously summoned various treasures, first taking out a set of formation flags to set up around him, then offering up a precious mirror that hung above his head. With a flash of red light, a blood-red suit of armor appeared on his body.

Layer after layer of protective light shields emerged around him, wrapping him in multiple layers. The blood ghosts charging from the periphery could not get close for the moment and could only madly swing their ghost claws, attacking the seven or eight layers of protective shields.

The broad-faced man still seemed uneasy. Holding a blood-colored longsword in his hand, he looked around anxiously, appearing restless.

Clearly, although he could block the endless blood ghosts with his treasures and formation, he could not prevent the bloody aura from contaminating his soul.

Sure enough, before long, the man let out a loud roar to the sky, his eyes bloodshot, and as if losing his mind, he began swinging the blood sword wildly, slashing randomly.

Without his control, the power of the surrounding treasures and formation greatly diminished, and the outermost light shield was soon torn to shreds by the blood ghosts.

Han Li, who was not far away fighting the blood ghosts, saw this and suddenly thought of something. He quickly transmitted his voice to Jiao Jiu and the other:

"The more of these ghostly creatures we kill, the denser the bloody aura here becomes."

"Exactly! We must leave quickly, or if we stay too long, it will be hard to avoid being affected." Jiao Jiu also said with sudden realization.

"Fellow Daoists, I have a way to possibly break open this space, but I need you two to protect me for a moment." Jiao Shiliu replied somewhat urgently after knocking away several blood ghosts in front of him.

"Good! Fellow Daoist, go ahead and cast your spell."

As Han Li spoke, his hands shot out like lightning, grabbing two blood ghosts in front of him and then tossing them away, sending them crashing into a group of blood ghosts to Jiao Shiliu's left.

On the other side, Jiao Jiu knocked away several blood ghosts blocking his path in one breath, then leaped to land on Jiao Shiliu's right. He formed hand seals in front of his chest, and at the same time, a chanting sound came from his mouth.

Accompanied by a low rumbling sound, a ball of condensed blue watery mist coalesced in front of Jiao Jiu, from which emanated waves of dense water power.

He shouted "Go!" and immediately pushed his hands forward with force.

"Roar..."

A dragon's roar sounded, and from the watery mist in front of him, a deep blue water dragon burst forth, claws bared, charging toward the army of blood ghosts on Jiao Shiliu's right.

A series of booming sounds followed.

Water splashed everywhere, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of blood ghosts were sent tumbling by the water dragon, thrown into chaos.

At the same time, Han Li's figure had appeared on Jiao Shiliu's right, weaving through the blood ghosts, sending them flying one by one with wide, sweeping punches, while his eyes, glowing with blue light, scanned the surroundings.

Seeing this, Jiao Shiliu quickly restored his figure to normal, sat down cross-legged on the spot, and waved his hand. A three-edged black iron awl appeared before him, its tip pointing upward toward the sky.

The surface of this object was covered with rings of seemingly obscure small runes, and waves of spatial fluctuations emanated from it, making it appear to be a low-grade acquired immortal artifact containing a trace of law power.

This sight made both Han Li and Jiao Jiu show a hint of surprise in their eyes.

After all, throughout the entire Black Wind Sea region, there were not many who possessed immortal artifacts, let alone Jiao Shiliu, who was only a loose immortal.

Jiao Shiliu crossed his hands in front of his chest, and a low, unhurried incantation came from his mouth.

After a moment, his chanting stopped. He reached out and wiped his palm over the iron awl in front of him, immediately cutting a gash in his palm from which gushed blood.

The iron awl stained with blood instantly shone brightly, as if burning, turning a fiery red, and the spatial fluctuations emanating from it grew even stronger.

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from somewhere in the blood-colored space.

Han Li and Jiao Jiu immediately glanced in the direction of the sound.

They saw that the earlier broad-faced man's protective shields had all been torn apart, and he himself had been submerged in the dense mass of blood ghosts.

But the next moment, a red light suddenly flared up from within, and then shot upward through the blood ghosts. It was the broad-faced man's nascent soul, holding a blood-colored small sword, its face full of madness, charging into the high sky.

However, before it could fly far, another change occurred!

A patch of blood cloud in the sky suddenly split open, and from it flew a purple-black round bowl.

It spun around, emitting a powerful attraction force that instantly sucked the completely irrational nascent soul into it.

As soon as the nascent soul entered the bowl, a strange force immediately pounced on it, grinding it into pieces, which turned into a crystalline red light that sank into the bowl.

Then, on the surface of the bowl, one by one, difficult-to-understand runes emerged, faint black light shimmering, as if engraved on it.