Chapter 116: Startling the Two Immortals into Retreat

The moment he saw the silver firebird appear, a flicker of panic crossed Qiu Wu's face, but with no other choice, he gritted his teeth and spat three mouthfuls of essence blood onto the round bowl in his hand.

As soon as the essence blood touched the surface of the bowl, it was absorbed without a drop remaining. The bowl then hummed and glowed with a bloody light, runes appearing in rings, and a flood dragon formed of blood suddenly flew out from within.

The moment the flood dragon materialized, it opened its bloody maw, and a torrent of blood surged out like a waterfall, transforming into a towering wave of blood that rushed straight toward the silver firebird.

The blood wave was extremely viscous, laced with strands of black qi, emitting a nauseating, foul stench.

Seeing this, the silver firebird did not pause. With a flap of its wings, silver light flashed wildly, and countless silver fireballs the size of fists materialized, meeting the blood wave head-on.

A series of “puff-puff” sounds rang out!

Each silver fireball burst upon hitting the blood wave, turning into large patches of silver flames that rolled in all directions with a sizzling sound. Most of the blood seemed to evaporate, rising as wisps of white smoke.

In an instant, the blood wave was riddled with holes, and a gap of twenty to thirty zhang was torn through its center by the silver flames.

The silver firebird transformed into a silver rainbow, shooting straight through the central gap toward the blood flood dragon and Qiu Wu behind it.

Seeing this, Qiu Wu gritted his teeth and rapidly moved his ten fingers in a hand seal. The blood flood dragon’s body blazed with blood light, and countless crystalline runes flickered within the radiance as it lunged ferociously at the silver firebird.

A blue glint flashed in Han Li's eyes, as if he had thought of something. With a start, he quickly urged the spell in his mind to recall the firebird.

But at that moment, the runes on the blood flood dragon’s surface suddenly blazed with crystalline light and exploded, turning into a thick, viscous blood mist that expanded and enveloped the silver firebird before it could retreat.

Immediately after, a clear cry rang out, and a silver fireball burst out from somewhere in the blood mist, transforming into a silver firebird that sped back toward Han Li.

However, the bird now appeared somewhat dim, with traces of blood mist clinging to its surface, clearly having been affected by the flood dragon's self-destruction.

With a beckoning gesture from Han Li, the flames on the bird's body flared up, evaporating the blood mist on its surface. Then, like a weary bird returning to its nest, it flew back into his sleeve and vanished.

The blood flood dragon summoned by the opponent's bowl clearly contained a trace of law power, possessing a considerable ability to corrode spiritual nature. Fortunately, he had been quick to recall the bird, or else its spiritual nature would have suffered greatly.

Qiu Wu's face was now somewhat pale, clearly the previous spellcasting had greatly drained his vitality. Seeing that Han Li remained unharmed, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

A horrifying scene unfolded!

He tore his robe apart with both hands, and a long, narrow slit suddenly split open on his exposed abdomen. The flesh retracted to the sides, revealing a pitch-black hole within.

The purple-black round bowl emitted a burst of dark light, as if responding to a summons, and with a flash, it flew into the hole.

At the same time, the blood mist formed by the explosion of the blood flood dragon, along with the blood waves, howled and rolled back, instantly pouring into Qiu Wu's body through the large hole in his abdomen.

His figure then shot up and swelled, the pupils of his eyes disappeared, replaced by two blood-red gems.

At this moment, his clothes were completely shredded, and his skin was covered with blood-colored scale-like crystals. He had transformed into a blood-crystal giant seven or eight zhang tall, his whole body radiating a crystalline luster.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, but instead of retreating, he charged straight at him.

Seeing this, the blood-crystal giant that Qiu Wu had transformed into let out a cackling laugh, raised his palm, and slapped down toward Han Li's head. Wherever the palm passed, the void trembled slightly.

Han Li showed no intention of dodging. He stepped forward into a bow stance, raised his right fist, and smashed it fiercely against the blood-crystal giant hand.

With a loud "Boom!"

Han Li felt a tremendous force like Mount Tai pressing down from above. His body suddenly sank, and his feet broke through the ground, sinking deep into the earth in the blink of an eye, burying half his body.

But after that punch, the blood-crystal giant's body shook violently, and he staggered back a few steps before barely steadying himself.

At that moment, Han Li leaped out of the ground. With a flash, he flew to the top of the underground palace, kicked off the palace ceiling with both feet, spun around, and crashed down toward the blood-crystal giant like a falling meteor.

The giant's ruby-like eyes showed no expression, but he let out a roar, his body blazing with blood light, and raised a fist to meet Han Li.

Seven blue lights suddenly blazed brightly on Han Li's chest and abdomen, and a hazy starlight lit up on his charging fist, which then slammed into the blood-crystal giant's fist.

"Boom, boom, boom!" A series of huge rumbles echoed.

As if mountains were splitting and the earth cracking, the blood light on the giant fist scattered, and then it shattered inch by inch, breaking into pieces of crystal of various sizes that fell to the ground.

Han Li, however, was unstoppable, his fist like a sharp blade shattering his arm inch by inch, directly piercing through his left chest and blasting half of his body into pieces.

The Blood Crystal Giant's figure suddenly halted, the blood light in its eyes dimmed, and then a series of "clattering" sounds of crystal stones rolling arose as its body completely shattered into a pile of blood-red crystals.

In a crystal at its dantian, Han Li saw a golden miniature figure with dim light, unmistakably Qiu Wu's Nascent Soul.

It seemed to have been temporarily sealed inside due to the secret technique he had just used, unable to escape.

Han Li reached out his hand, intending to retrieve it, but the Nascent Soul suddenly exploded with a "bang," turning into a puff of blood mist that directly sank into the pool of blood below and disappeared.

From Qiu Wu's attack to Han Li's swift killing of him, only about a dozen breaths had passed, startling the four who were still fiercely fighting nearby.

However, the difference was that Jiao Ba and Jiao Jiu were pleasantly surprised, while the curly-bearded man and the other were terrified.

A strange glint flashed in the black-dressed ugly woman's eyes; she immediately stopped entangled with Lu Kun and, seizing the opportunity, flickered and landed on the high platform in the center of the palace.

Almost at the same time, the curly-bearded man also broke free from the combined attack of Jiao Ba and his earth deity incarnation, flickering and landing beside the ugly woman.

The next moment, their figures blurred and transformed into a ball of blood cloud that vanished into the large hole on the platform.

The two left without hesitation, showing no sign of lingering.

Jiao Ba and Lu Kun exchanged a glance, then withdrew their earth deity incarnations and, with a flicker of their forms, arrived before Han Li.

Though the exchange had been brief, their already considerable injuries had clearly worsened.

"I was blind earlier, failing to see that you had the strength to instantly slay a loose immortal," Lu Kun said, his gaze toward Han Li somewhat complex.

"This time, if not for your swift action in killing one and frightening off the other two, we would have suffered greatly if the fight had dragged on. I will report this to Lord Jiao San," Jiao Ba said with a long exhale.

"Indeed. But for now, we should first think of a way to leave this place," Lu Kun nodded, then looked around and spoke with lingering fear.

"Earlier, Jiao Shi Liu used an immortal artifact to break the restrictions here, but not only did it fail, it triggered a frenzied counterattack from that eerie blood light. Brute force likely won't work; we need to think of another way," Han Li said thoughtfully.

"I think those two have only temporarily retreated. Behind them is still Gongshu Hong, who won't give us much time to think of a way out," Jiao Jiu said with a worried expression.

"Jiao Fifteen, back in Tianshui City you were able to break that blood-colored space, so it must not have been mere luck. Try to find the weak point of the formation here. I'll attempt to contact Lord Jiao Three and report the situation to him." Lu Kun said after a moment's thought.

"I'll give it a try." Han Li nodded.

Seeing this, Lu Kun closed his eyes, and the ram mask on his face reappeared, rippling with blue waves.

Jiao Eight, on the other hand, turned around and began searching the entire underground palace for everyone's storage pouches.

Han Li merely glanced at him without speaking, his eyes glowing blue as he carefully surveyed the surroundings.

The ground was covered in a thick layer of crimson blood, in which the mutilated corpses of everyone were soaked. The stone pillars and walls around were also splattered with bloody red, like terrifying red flowers blooming.

Not far from him, the statue, drenched in blood like an evil god, appeared even more dazzlingly red, making this underground space, already like a purgatory, even more eerie.

However, neither the surrounding walls nor the statue revealed any weak points.

After a moment, Lu Kun slowly opened his eyes, shook his head, and said in a deep voice:

"There is no response from Lord Jiao Three."

"This underground palace is somewhat strange. It seems the restrictions here contain a blood law, nurtured by years of sacrificial blood, forming a self-contained space. It won't be easy to find a flaw anytime soon." Han Li frowned.

Just as they were speaking, Jiao Eight returned and said to them:

"Fellow Daoists, the storage magic tools of the Wuchang Alliance members and the two loose immortals are all here. Let's divide them up. This journey is extremely perilous, and the future is uncertain. A little extra security would be good."

He held several storage pouches in one hand and two storage bracelets in the other.

The three made a quick inventory and found that the savings of these six loose immortals were considerable. They lacked neither elixirs and materials nor spirit treasures and magic tools. After distribution, each gained a fair amount.

Given Han Li's previous actions, the only immortal artifact among these treasures, Jiao Sixteen's black iron awl, naturally fell into his hands.

In truth, both Jiao Eight and Lu Kun coveted this treasure, but neither wanted it to fall into the other's hands, so they ultimately gave it to Han Li as a favor.

Han Li was well aware of this. After accepting it, he made some concessions in the distribution of other materials, which pleased the two considerably.