Chapter 118: The Bait

On the other side, facing the surging blue water figures, the ugly woman in the black dress quickly urged a hand seal.

With a "puchi" sound!

The black wolf-tooth club in her hand burst with intense black light, winding blood-red patterns emerging on its surface, and a blood-colored flame rolled up from the club.

The woman let out a low shout and swung the club through the air toward the blue water figures.

Immediately, a continuous series of explosive sounds came from the air, followed by the reappearance of enormous club shadows like mountains, each entwined with blood-red flames.

Where they passed, the void rippled with visible distortions, as if boiling.

The two blue figures collided with the blood flames and club shadows almost simultaneously, but they merely flashed with blue light on their surfaces and passed straight through; the seemingly formidable blood-flame club shadows could not affect them in the slightest.

However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the two blue water figures had shrunk by a circle, but then they suddenly accelerated and charged toward the bearded man and the ugly woman in black.

The bearded man and the other were greatly alarmed and were about to take action, but an extremely dazzling blue light burst from the two water figures.

With two "bang" sounds!

They silently exploded, turning into a vast blue cold current that instantly pressed down overwhelmingly toward the bearded man and the ugly woman.

A crisp crackling sound came!

A layer of blue crystalline ice appeared on the two, spreading rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into two blocks of blue crystal ice several zhang high, freezing them inside.

This blue crystal ice was clearly extraordinary; the two were completely immobile within, their faces still frozen in terror, but almost immediately, a blood light flickered on their bodies, and with a crack, spiderweb-like cracks began to appear on the ice surface.

At this moment, Lu Kun's face was slightly pale, and the blue light on the Earth Immortal avatar beside him had dimmed considerably, indicating that this spell had consumed a great deal of energy.

Just as the bearded man and the other were about to break free from the ice, in a flash, Han Li appeared behind them like a ghost, his fists covered with a layer of golden scales, striking out like dragons emerging from a cave, landing on the two with two whooshing sounds.

Boom! Boom!

The blue crystal ice shattered, and the bodies of the bearded man and the ugly woman inside also broke into pieces.

Two nascent souls shot out from the shattered ice, their surfaces covered with a faint blood light. With a blur, they teleported to the palace gate on the island below, and the green threads filling the surroundings could not affect their movement.

Han Li wanted to stop them but was too late.

With a flicker of blood light on their surfaces, the two nascent souls were about to fly into the palace.

But at that moment, the blood clouds that had been covering the palace suddenly churned violently, and then two giant hands of blood mist reached out from within. With a flicker of blood light in their palms, the two nascent souls were caught motionless in their grasp.

Holy Lord, spare us!

The two nascent souls turned pale with terror and begged bitterly.

"Hmph!" A cold snort suddenly came from the hall at the center of the island, dry and harsh, like two pieces of iron scraping together.

Han Li and the others changed expression slightly upon hearing it. Jiao Ba, still on the island, showed a flicker of surprise in his eyes, then without a word, he withdrew his spell and, together with his avatar, soared into the air, landing beside Han Li and the others.

The countless green threads dissipated completely, but the blood-colored skeletons and snake women did not pursue; instead, their bodies seemed to melt, turning into streams of viscous blood light that merged into the blood clouds around the palace from all directions.

Then, a tall figure slowly walked out of the palace, his entire body shrouded in a layer of blood light, with only the outline of his features vaguely visible.

Behind this person, two large blood flames floated, crackling.

The blood flames were somewhat peculiar: the outermost layer was blood-red, but the centers were one purple and one white.

In the purple and white flames, two faces faintly appeared, exactly those of the short man in purple robe and Qiu Wu from before.

Holy Lord, please see clearly! We two were careless and lost our physical bodies. As long as we find suitable bodies, we can continue to serve you!

We beg the Holy Lord for mercy!

The nascent souls of the bearded man and the ugly woman cried out loudly again upon seeing the blood-colored figure.

"You have worked hard over the years. I will handle the rest myself."

Gongshu Hong said slowly, then raised his hand, and the two giant blood-mist hands closed their fingers. Two screams were heard, and then two strange blood flames flew out from the giant hands. Their exteriors were blood-red, but the centers were one cyan and one black.

In the cyan flame, the twisted face of the bearded man appeared faintly, while in the black flame, the ugly woman in black emerged, looking extremely sinister.

With a flash, the two blood flames landed before Gongshu Hong.

The four blood flames—purple, white, cyan, and black—thus hovered around him, slowly rotating, looking eerie.

In midair, Han Li and the others watched the scene unfolding before them and exchanged glances, seeing a trace of horror in each other's eyes.

"I was very satisfied with the four sacrifices earlier. With you all added, my Guiyuan Blood Flame can advance further. Then I will no longer be confined to this Red Moon Island," Gongshu Hong finally looked up at the three in midair and said slowly.

As soon as he finished speaking, he urged a hand seal, and the four blood flames—purple, white, cyan, and black—around him flashed and disappeared into the blood light on his body, vanishing without a trace. His aura then began to rise continuously.

"This Gongshu Hong's strength is probably close to breaking through to the late stage. That makes things tricky." Han Li's body flickered with crystalline light, a layer of crystal radiance emerging, and he spoke in a deep voice.

"At this point, we have no choice but to fight with our backs to the wall."

Lu Kun said, flipping his palm to reveal a purple jade bottle. He poured out a thumb-sized, hazy purple pill and, without hesitation, tilted his head back and swallowed it.

At the same time, the Earthly Immortal incarnation beside him raised a single hand, and a large swath of watery light rolled out, transforming into rings of watery light shields that enveloped Lu Kun from head to toe.

Jiao Ba was likewise not idle; he consecutively offered up several treasures radiating spiritual light to protect his entire body.

"Alright, it's your turn."

The rolling blood light on Gongshu Hong's body gradually subsided after just a moment. He let out a long breath, then slowly raised both arms, two clusters of dazzling blood light appearing in his palms.

But just as he was about to strike, a sudden change occurred!

A ripple of void disturbance arose behind him, and a palm wreathed in flames materialized out of thin air, plunging into his body from behind and bursting out through his chest with a "puff."

In midair, Han Li and the other two were delighted at the sight.

From the aura emanating from this palm, it was unmistakably Jiao San, who had been missing for a long time.

The blood light on Gongshu Hong's body trembled, and with a "bang" it exploded, transforming into seven or eight streaks of blood light that shot out in all directions.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

These streaks of blood light reconverged in the void over a hundred zhang away, coalescing into a human form in a flash, though the light on its surface had dimmed somewhat.

Behind the flame-wreathed arm, a flash of firelight appeared, and Jiao San's figure emerged. At this moment, his entire body was enveloped in orange-red flames.

With a flicker of his form, he transformed into a brilliant streak of fire that shot out, hurtling toward Gongshu Hong.

Boom!

The flames around Jiao San suddenly flared up, emitting a thick pillar of fire that in a flash transformed into a vivid, bright fire python. It opened its massive maw and lunged to devour the blood-colored figure.

A law fluctuation filled with violence radiated from the fire python; wherever it passed, the surrounding faint blood mist was completely evaporated and vanished.

"Hmph, the Law of Fire!" The blood-colored figure snorted coldly, and his two blood-wreathed palms joined together in front of him.

With a whoosh, a blood-flame python shot out from the blood light between his palms, meeting the fire python head-on.

A thunderous roar!

The two writhed and bit at each other, then both exploded, turning into clusters of dazzling, blinding flames.

But Jiao San took the opportunity to appear above Gongshu Hong's head with a blur. In his hand, he now held a massive crimson sword, its surface engraved with a dragon pattern, exuding a terrifying spiritual pressure—it was clearly a Xuantian treasure.

With a tremor of his arm, the crimson great sword suddenly blurred and slashed downward.

Over a dozen flaming sword lights howled out, instantly converging into a single hundred-zhang-long giant flaming sword light that chopped down toward Gongshu Hong's head.

Blood light flickered on Gongshu Hong's hands, and two blood-red flying claws materialized out of thin air. With a wave,

a cacophony of "chi chi" sounds arose, and ten crescent-shaped blood-red claw streaks shot out, colliding with the giant sword light with an earth-shattering roar.

Both the sword light and the claw streaks shattered simultaneously!

Jiao San, who had been missing for a long time, had no sooner appeared than he was locked in fierce combat with Gongshu Hong.

For a time, various colors of light interwove and clashed, producing a series of tremendous booms that caused the nearby void to tremble violently, and the entire underground cavern shook incessantly.

"I'm afraid Jiao San intended from the start to have us charge ahead as bait to lure out Gongshu Hong," Lu Kun said with a wry smile as he looked up at the sky.

"The Wuchang Alliance has always been this ruthless. If you want to gain what others cannot, you must be prepared to sacrifice at any time," Jiao Ba's voice was also somewhat somber.

"Fellow Daoists, saying this now is useless. Only by helping Jiao San finish off Gongshu Hong as quickly as possible can we have a chance at survival," Han Li said, glancing at the two of them.

Lu Kun and Jiao Ba nodded silently upon hearing this.

Having settled on a plan, the three of them, along with the two Earthly Immortal incarnations, charged together toward Jiao San and the other combatant.

"Hmph, mere ants dare to act recklessly!" Gongshu Hong didn't even glance at them; he simply waved a hand casually in their direction.

"Whoosh..."

A strong, foul wind rushed toward them. The blood cloud that had been covering the palace suddenly surged with a vast amount of blood mist, instantly turning the void above into a sea of blood, which engulfed Han Li, the other two, and the two Earthly Immortal incarnations.

Han Li felt a strong stench around him, and his mind grew somewhat drowsy, but then a cool sensation flashed through his brain, and his consciousness immediately returned to normal.

With a flicker of blue light in his eyes, he was about to retreat from the blood mist when he heard a miserable cry not far away.

He quickly followed the sound and saw Lu Kun's Earthly Immortal incarnation crashing heavily toward the ground below, with a shadow behind it rapidly pursuing.

That figure was not Lu Kun, but a naked, blood-colored freak.

Its body shape was no different from an ordinary person's, but its face was completely blurred, with no visible nose, mouth, or other features—only a pair of eyes emitting a scarlet glow.