Chapter 113: Scheming

"This underground palace is the same as those in other Red Moon Cities. The blood qi is thick and does not disperse, and the ground has formed yin soil. Clearly, this is a place of slaughter where living beings have been killed for years. As for those brought here, aside from cultivators, they are mortals with spiritual roots and vigorous blood qi—likely intended as sacrificial offerings." Han Li explained solemnly.

"Gongshu Hong cultivates the Law of Blood. Could it be that this method is so sinister that it requires the blood of living beings to cultivate?" Jiao Sixteen asked in surprise.

"If that's the case, why don't they start the blood sacrifice immediately? Why go through another round of selection?" Jiao Nine asked skeptically.

"I speculate that they first pick out those with good cultivation aptitude to train them as high-level cultivators in blood robes for Gongshu Hong's use. To prevent leaks, they likely place some禁制 on their souls. As for the rest... I'm afraid the real sacrifice will begin once the selection is complete." Han Li replied thoughtfully.

"If that's the case, we still have some time—enough to capture this man and leave." Jiao Nine glanced at the short, scattered immortal and transmitted his voice.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a loud humming sound filled the space.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

On the surrounding walls, crisscrossing blood-red lines suddenly appeared, spreading like a spider web, covering all the walls in an instant.

After a flash, these blood-red lines bloomed like flowers, revealing countless eyes faintly glowing with blood light. They writhed like living things, looking extremely eerie and hair-raising.

Everyone's body was bathed in a blood-red hue, and the bloody smell in the air became ten times stronger.

In the underground space, seeing the scene around them, many people began to show fear on their faces.

Jiao Nine opened his mouth to say something.

Another "hum" sounded around them. The blood-red eyes suddenly blazed with light, and beams of blood light shot out from them, dense as rain, covering the entire underground space, leaving no room to dodge.

Each beam of blood light emitted a faint, inexplicable fluctuation of law power.

Han Li and the other two were startled.

Though they didn't know what the blood light was, it was clearly not beneficial to them.

Han Li acted decisively, focusing his mind, and a layer of crystalline light film appeared on his skin.

At the same time, he waved his hand and sacrificed a yellow round mirror and a green ruyi, which transformed into yellow and green halos that enveloped his body.

These two treasures were obtained from the slain Hanjing Clan Mahayana Tuha, and he had casually refined them before carrying them.

Jiao Nine reacted quickly as well, forming hand seals, and layers of blue water ripples appeared around him, wrapping his body in layers for protection.

Jiao Sixteen waved his hand and sacrificed a green large umbrella, which spun above his head, emitting dazzling green light threads that formed a green light sphere enveloping his body.

"How can this be? The time hasn't come yet..." The short, scattered immortal's eyes showed a flash of surprise when he saw the blood-red eyes around him, but countless beams of blood light shot toward him.

His body trembled, seemingly afraid of the blood light. He opened his mouth and spat out a blood banner, which spun and transformed into a blood-colored light shield protecting his body.

The blood light from the surrounding eyes was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, it landed on everyone in the space.

The light of the treasures around Han Li and the others seemed useless; the blood light flashed and easily penetrated everyone's defenses, entering their bodies.

Han Li's face changed drastically, and he immediately scanned his entire body with his divine sense.

But the strange blood light disappeared without a trace as soon as it entered his body, making his heart sink.

"Thump... thump..."

At that moment, a strange vibration suddenly sounded in Han Li's ears.

For some reason, his heart began to beat uncontrollably, and it was getting faster and faster!

The blood flow in his body also accelerated several times, and his meridians became scorching hot. The mana in his dantian was also affected by the heartbeat, becoming unstable.

Jiao Nine and Jiao Sixteen also cried out in surprise, clearly in the same situation as Han Li.

"What is this!"

"I feel terrible..."

"I can't stand it..."

"Ah!"

A series of dull thuds mixed with miserable screams came from all directions.

Han Li and the others looked up.

They saw that the mortals and low-level cultivators around them, hit by the blood light, had their skin turn blood-red and trembled uncontrollably.

Then with a "bang," their bodies swelled and exploded, turning into thick blood mist.

In just a few breaths, hundreds of thousands of people around them all exploded, turning into countless blood mists that filled the entire underground space.

The blood-red eyes blinked, and the blood mist in the space quickly gathered into patches of blood clouds. The originally crowded underground space became empty, and the view widened.

In the distance, four figures stood, also enveloped in various colored lights—it was Jiao Eight and his group.

They had somehow infiltrated this place as well.

Seeing this, Jiao Nine and Jiao Sixteen felt a slight joy.

Regardless, encountering fellow travelers in such a strange situation was always encouraging. With seven True Immortals working together, they could surely find a way to resolve the current predicament.

Han Li quickly scanned the blood clouds in the air, but his heart sank. He radiated green light, desperately circulating his mana, and used various secret techniques to try to calm the anomaly in his body.

Unfortunately, no matter what he did, he couldn't improve the situation in his body. His heartbeat grew faster and faster.

An invisible force stirred inside him, pressing toward his heart.

His body, on the contrary, was filled with another force, rapidly swelling.

A faint layer of eerie blood-red appeared on his skin, though the color was very light.

Han Li's mind stirred, recalling the scene of the mortals and low-level cultivators exploding just now.

At the same time, Jiao Nine, Jiao Sixteen, and even Jiao Eight and the others in the distance also had a layer of eerie blood-red on their skin.

But to their surprise, even the short, purple-robed man on the high platform was in the same state, his expression ferocious and pained.

But at this moment, they naturally had no time to care about him.

By now, the situation was clear.

Their seemingly successful infiltration had long been discovered by Gongshu Hong, who had turned the tables and trapped them underground. To make everything seem seamless, he seemed ready to sacrifice even this scattered immortal subordinate.

As they pondered, the blood-red eyes around them kept blinking, and beams of blood light continued to shoot out.

Although everyone tried their best to dodge, they were still hit by the blood light.

Each time a beam of blood light entered the body, a strange law force invaded, and their heart rate increased sharply.

In a few breaths, everyone present showed pain on their faces, their hearts thundering in their chests as if about to jump out.

Among the seven, Han Li was probably in the best condition. Having cultivated the True Extreme Body, his whole body was indestructible, and his heart was far tougher than that of ordinary cultivators.

Although his heart was beating faster and faster, he could still bear it.

Jiao Nine's face darkened. At this point, he no longer concealed his mana. Muttering incantations, countless blue runes flew out from him, weaving into a thin protective shield.

Though the shield seemed thin, its surface shimmered with water light, emitting strong waves of water law power.

The blood light shooting from around hit the blue shield and could still penetrate easily, but it was clearly weakened somewhat.

"So that's it. Law power can only be countered by law power..." Han Li thought to himself.

Although Han Li and Jiao Nine seemed fine for now, Jiao Sixteen was in a bad state.

He had used all his means, but his body under several layers of light shields was slightly swollen, his skin bright red like blood, and blood oozed from his five orifices.

"This is no place to stay. Let's find a way to leave first!" Jiao Nine shouted solemnly, and with a roll of blue light, he shot upward.

Jiao Sixteen followed without a word.

Han Li was least affected by the blood light, but this place was truly strange, and he naturally didn't want to stay and be schemed against, so he followed.

Jiao Eight and the others in the distance seemed to have thought of something and also activated their escape lights.

Midair, Jiao Nine swung his arm, and a water-blue flying knife shot out, transforming into a blue giant blade over ten zhang long, emitting a thunderous sound, and slashed fiercely at the stone wall at the top of the space.

But just as the blue giant blade touched the wall of the underground space, a sudden change occurred!

A large amount of blood light appeared on the wall without warning, forming a blood-colored light curtain with countless runes flickering and swirling within.

With a loud "clang!"

The blue giant blade struck as if hitting metal or stone. The blood-colored light curtain remained unharmed, not even flickering, as steady as a mountain.

Jiao Nine's face changed!

Boom!

At that moment, a huge roar came.

A three-edged black awl wrapped in black light flew out from Jiao Sixteen nearby.

Jiao Sixteen's eyes showed urgency. He spat out a mouth of essence blood, which vanished into the black awl in a flash.

The black awl immediately shone brightly, spinning rapidly, with countless tiny runes appearing on its surface. Black lightning coiled like snakes, emitting thunderous roars.

Where the black lightning touched, the void trembled violently, and even black cracks appeared.