Chapter 107: Breaking Free

Almost the moment the bowl devoured the Nascent Soul, an old man who appeared over sixty, wearing a blood-moon purple robe, suddenly flew out from the blood clouds. Without a word, he raised his hand and pointed a finger at the bowl from afar.

A buzzing sound was heard.

The runes on the bowl's surface all flared with black light, intertwining into countless fine patterns. Then a thick black beam, as wide as a bowl's mouth, shot out from the bowl, hurtling toward Jiao Sixteen below.

Its speed surpassed even a Nascent Soul's teleportation. Han Li and the other, entangled by blood ghosts, had no time to intervene.

Jiao Sixteen was in the final moment of his spellcasting and, faced with this sudden situation, naturally had no way to avoid it.

At this critical juncture, he had no choice but to abruptly turn the tip of his iron awl, originally aimed at the sky, to meet the black beam.

A light had just begun to glow on the already reddened iron awl, but before it could shoot from the tip, the black beam struck it. With a thunderous roar, it exploded.

Before Jiao Sixteen, it was as if a blazing sun had suddenly risen. Dazzling red light burst forth, generating a violent, unparalleled airwave that swept outward, pushing the surrounding blood mist back hundreds of zhang.

Countless blood ghosts were flung away by the hurricane. Han Li and Jiao Nine, bracing against the airwave's impact, rushed toward Jiao Sixteen.

But before they reached him, the red light faded, and both were stunned.

Jiao Sixteen lay sprawled on the ground with eyes tightly shut, seemingly unconscious. Several black light pillars, like iron spikes, pierced his limbs and torso, pinning him to the ground, from which faint fluctuations of law power emanated.

Then, a series of dense thunderclaps sounded from high above.

Han Li and the other halted and simultaneously shot backward.

Rumble!

Clusters of millstone-sized crimson thunderfire fell from the sky, exploding one after another. Blinding lightning instantly engulfed their previous position.

After steadying themselves, Han Li and Jiao Nine looked up at the sky.

The purple-robed old man was holding the bowl in one hand. His gaunt face was shrouded in eerie red light, and lightning flashed wildly within the surrounding blood-colored clouds.

"Heh, I expected those fellows to have accomplices, but I didn't think three True Immortals would come together. I'm flattered. If you don't want to lose your wits completely, surrender now!" the old man said with a sneer as he saw them looking at him.

"If you know what's good for you, let us out immediately," Jiao Nine said coldly.

"Tsk, still so arrogant at death's door! Very well, let me entertain you properly." The purple-robed old man laughed coldly.

As his words fell, the bowl flew out of his hand. Spinning swiftly, thunder roared within the surrounding blood clouds, and hundreds of crimson thunderfire bolts rained down like fiery meteors, enveloping Han Li and the other.

"Rumble"

A series of earth-shaking blasts rang out one after another, causing the entire space to shake violently.

Each thunderfire bolt left a large crater on the ground, bursting into large patches of blood-red flames that splattered in all directions.

Soon, within several li, the ground was covered with clusters of dark blood-red flames, like enchanting blood lotuses blooming across the earth, emitting astonishing heat.

Whether intentionally or not, the old man's thunderfire avoided Jiao Sixteen, who was already under his control. Only some flames splashed onto him, burning the unconscious man awake, his face contorted in pain as he screamed.

Han Li's eyes flickered with blue light. He dodged among the falling thunderfire and blood ghosts, but still could not avoid being splashed by flames.

Even with his current physical strength, he felt a stinging pain on his skin. More strangely, he felt his blood boiling with the flames' dance, and a restless anger rose from deep within.

But with a thought, a cool sensation rose from his dantian, swirling in his head, and the restlessness dissipated.

Not far away, Jiao Nine had somehow acquired a blue gourd, from which streams of blue water sprayed, forming a blue water membrane around him that temporarily protected him from the blood flames. But under the relentless thunderfire and surrounding blood ghosts, he too felt overwhelmed.

In just a few breaths, the nearby space was almost entirely covered by blood flames, leaving less and less room for them to dodge.

Meanwhile, more and more blood ghosts surged from the ground fissures. They seemed completely unaffected by the blood flames, becoming even faster and fiercer, charging at Han Li and the other without fear of death.

Jiao Nine barely dodged several thunderfire bolts, only to be immediately surrounded by blood ghosts.

With a sharp gaze, he bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which vanished into the blue gourd in his hand.

The gourd immediately blazed with blue light. Countless blue runes surged and flashed, and the sound of a great river rushing came from within.

Splash!

Rolling waves surged from the gourd's mouth, transforming into blue-armored water soldiers wielding ice spears, charging at the blood ghost army from all sides.

After doing this, he transmitted a message to Han Li, moving his lips slightly:

"Jiao Fifteen, we can't delay any longer! I'll distract that man; you go rescue Jiao Sixteen and help him break this space."

With that, a red glint flashed in his eyes, and he turned into a crystal rainbow, charging straight at the purple-robed old man in midair.

But Han Li, as if not hearing, did not respond to Jiao Nine.

He first threw several punches to knock away the blood ghosts around him, then flickered a few times to dodge several thunderfire bolts, before suddenly changing direction and dashing toward a void behind him.

Seeing this, Jiao Nine, who was just about to reach the purple-robed old man, was momentarily stunned, then angrily roared:

"Jiao Fifteen, where are you going?"

Before his words faded, a solid black beam shot through the air—the old man had activated the bowl to attack, aiming at his head.

He quickly urged the blue gourd before him, which sprayed several blue beams. Tumbling, they formed a huge blue vortex in front of him.

With a bang.

The black beam struck the vortex's center, exploding into a mass of black light. The blue vortex rapidly shrank with a rumble.

At that moment, a loud whoosh sounded!

Several more solid black beams fell from the bowl, forcing Jiao Nine to abandon thoughts of Han Li and focus on urging the gourd to spew blue light in desperate defense.

But now, the red light in his eyes grew stronger, and the white jade hanging on his chest had dimmed, no longer as translucent as before.

"Haha, your companion has abandoned you! But don't worry, he can't escape this Blood Radiance Space!" The purple-robed old man, not even glancing at Han Li, urged the bowl in his hand and laughed wildly.

Han Li, however, had already appeared hundreds of zhang away. Without a word, he raised his fist and punched the void before him.

With a thunderous boom.

The entire blood-colored space suddenly trembled. A bright line of light appeared where Han Li's fist landed, then turned into a white fissure stretching thousands of li.

A sound like shattering glass rang out. The entire blood space broke apart from the white fissure, shattering into countless fragments that vanished.

The surroundings suddenly brightened.

Han Li and the others reappeared above the quiet courtyard in Tianshui City. In the alley outside the courtyard, eight cultivators in blood-moon blue robes lay scattered, with some formation plates beside them.

These were the ones who had summoned and controlled the blood space formation, all at the Integration stage. They seemed to have suffered backlash when Han Li broke the space, fainting with blood oozing from their seven orifices, barely alive.

Inside the courtyard, a charred Jiao Sixteen lay motionless beside the withered old tree.

The black light spikes on his body had disappeared, and his aura was unstable, but he was not in mortal danger.

With a loud boom!

A dazzling light exploded above the small courtyard. Two figures separated from it, shooting backward in opposite directions.

Jiao Nine, retreating toward the main house, had the red light in his eyes gradually fade. His consciousness cleared, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

The purple-robed old man, on the other hand, looked extremely grim. Shock and resentment filled his gaze as he stared at Han Li.

How could he have imagined that Han Li, who seemed the weakest of the three, would discover the formation's weak point and single-handedly shatter the entire array?

After all, the Blood Radiance Space was far more stable than ordinary formations. Even an ordinary immortal, if they found a flaw, might not be able to break it.

But this thought flashed by. He slapped the bottom of the bowl, and visible ripples of strange energy rapidly spread outward.

A series of popping sounds came from the alley.

The heads of those Integration cultivators exploded one after another. Their Nascent Souls, drawn by the ripples, turned into beams of blood light, vanishing into the bowl, where they were instantly crushed.

However, one of them had a layer of white light on his body—some treasure seemed to resist the strange ripples, and his head did not burst. The old man was momentarily surprised but did not bother further and urged his spell again.

The black runes on the bowl flared again. Two beams of black light, thicker than before, shot out instantly, heading straight for Han Li and the other as they charged toward him.

Seeing this, Jiao Nine's blue gourd shimmered with spiritual patterns, and a crystal-clear water spout as thick as a bucket shot from its mouth.

With a loud bang.

Black and blue light exploded, sending countless water droplets splashing down.

Jiao Nine was thrown back dozens of zhang by the blast's shockwave before steadying himself.

On the other side, Han Li had to flicker several times to avoid the black beam's attack.

When he finally steadied himself and looked up at the sky, it was calm. The purple-robed old man was nowhere to be seen.