Chapter 246: The Infant-Burning Blood Pill

Only then did the white-haired old man jerk his head around, and saw three people wearing strange masks standing at the open temple gate.

The leader among them held a golden longsword in his hand, its surface glowing brightly with runes and flashing with dazzling golden light.

"Who are you?" the white-haired old man demanded sternly, his expression severe.

Lin Jiu merely let out a cold laugh, not bothering to reply. With a flick of his wrist, the golden longsword swept out horizontally.

"Clang..."

Accompanied by a sharp ringing sound, a narrow golden sword light flew out from the blade, suddenly elongating and sweeping toward the white-haired old man.

Seeing this, the old man did not dodge but instead stepped forward to shield the alchemy furnace.

With a wave of his hand, his wide sleeve billowed violently, and a purple-gold lightning serpent over ten feet long shot out from within, colliding with the sword light.

A thunderous "Boom" rang out.

The purple-gold lightning serpent suddenly exploded, scattering into thousands of tiny arcs of electricity, while the golden sword light also disintegrated, breaking into countless fragments that shot in all directions.

"Bang, bang, bang"

A series of explosions and booms rang out continuously. Countless stones flew in all directions, and the entire stone hall was instantly blasted to pieces.

Before the dust had even settled, another sword light arose. This time, Han Li made his move.

He held a silver-white flying sword in his hand, tapped the ground with his toe, and leaped into the air, slashing down at the white-haired old man.

This sword was obtained from a previous mission of the Wuchang Alliance. It was a magic treasure forged mainly from Stellar River Silver Steel, far inferior to the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but it served its purpose for the moment.

In terms of cultivation, he was not particularly high, so he naturally did not want to show off too much.

After all, he had already helped Lin Jiu and the other two sneak in here, which counted as a contribution. If he held back here, the other two could hardly say much.

The silver flying sword blazed with light as hundreds of continuous silver sword shadows merged into a single mass in the high sky, cascading down like a huge silver waterfall toward the white-haired old man.

"Go!"

The old man shouted softly, raising one hand with fingers spread apart. A thumb-sized bead in his palm suddenly blazed with light, instantly expanding a hundredfold into a pale golden beast-patterned shield that blocked above his head.

At the same time, a purple-gold lightning whip had somehow appeared in his other hand, and he swung it fiercely toward his left side.

A sound like rain beating on banana leaves—"crackle, crackle"—came from the beast-patterned shield.

Golden light flickered continuously on the shield's surface, revealing dense crisscrossing sword marks, yet it still barely managed to block all the sword shadows.

On the other side, a thunderous boom erupted in the direction where the lightning whip struck. Two majestic purple-gold lightning serpents, intertwined, shot forward, hitting Lin Jiu, who had appeared there, and stopping him as well.

"Heh heh, die."

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded above the white-haired old man's head.

Lin Shiqi, wearing a rat-head mask, materialized out of thin air like a ghost, gripping a pitch-black long spear with both hands and thrusting it down at the old man below.

With a "whoosh" sound,

the fiercely burning flames beneath the five-colored alchemy furnace surged upward, and a fire dragon suddenly shot out, claws bared, lunging at Lin Shiqi.

A terrifying wave of heat rushed toward him!

Seeing this, Lin Shiqi withdrew his spear tip, changing the thrust into a slash. He swung the spear in a wide arc, creating a dense mass of black spear shadows that smashed heavily toward the fire dragon, while his body shot backward.

"Boom!"

The spear shadows and the fire dragon collided and exploded directly, erupting into a dazzling red-and-black ball of light in midair, flashing with blinding brilliance.

This series of attacks seemed lengthy but was actually completed in an instant.

The white-haired old man withstood all three of Han Li's attacks without retreating a single step, stubbornly guarding the alchemy furnace behind him.

Lin Shiqi landed hundreds of feet away, largely unaffected. After silently breathing a sigh of relief, a cold smile curled beneath his mask.

With a twist of his wrist, the black spear traced a beautiful arc in his hand, then the spear tip reversed and, with a "clang," stabbed into the ground.

The white-haired old man stood there, one hand holding the lightning whip, the other behind his back, his gaze sweeping warily over the three.

The beast-patterned shield, whose spiritual nature had been damaged by Han Li's earlier strikes, had been put away. In his now-free hand, hidden in his sleeve, a golden talisman covered with spiritual patterns had quietly slipped into his palm.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the old man. Seeing his lips part slightly, as if about to speak, Han Li immediately raised his hand and threw.

The silver sword in his hand shot out, once again transforming into hundreds of silver sword shadows that sped toward the white-haired old man.

After flying several dozen feet, the hundreds of silver sword shadows suddenly flashed, splitting into countless dense, tiny sword energies that enveloped the old man entirely.

Seeing this, the old man had to temporarily stop his incantation and tossed the lightning whip into the air.

The lightning whip suddenly blazed with purple-gold light, and from within came the sound of dragon roars.

Then, the purple-gold lightning on the whip surged violently, directly transforming into a several-hundred-foot-long dragon wrapped in purple-gold lightning. Its body coiled and twisted in midair, its tail sweeping wildly, releasing a sky full of electric light.

Amid a series of dense crackling sounds, the countless sword shadows and sword energies Han Li had unleashed were swept clean by the purple-gold lightning dragon.

Although the electric light on the dragon's surface had been considerably depleted, after the old man cast several hand seals, it once again surged with lightning and roared toward Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li's face seemed to flash with panic as he flew backward.

Just then, a loud tearing sound erupted!

A golden sword light over a hundred feet long, carrying an unmatched sharp metal-attribute law power, slashed down irresistibly. The soaring sword energy it released even split the clouds in the high sky, creating a rift like a natural chasm.

The one holding the sword was naturally Lin Jiu. He now hovered high in the air, his entire body shrouded in golden light, exuding an indescribable world-shaking sharpness, as if he himself were a peerless divine sword capable of splitting mountains and seas.

As Han Li retreated, his gaze swept over Lin Jiu, and his heart stirred slightly.

It seemed this man was undoubtedly Xiong Shan.

Seeing the golden sword light fall, the white-haired old man raised both hands upward with all his might. The purple-gold dragon immediately abandoned its pursuit of Han Li, twisted its body, and, with electric light blazing, opened its mouth to bite the golden sword light.

"Clang..."

A somewhat muffled sound rang out. The purple-gold dragon was split in two by the golden sword light, then collapsed with a roar, turning into a dense, intertwined purple electric net in the sky.

After this strike, the golden sword light, though not directly dispersing, had its edge greatly diminished. Blocked by the dense purple electric light, it could no longer descend even a fraction.

Just as the white-haired old man was about to do something, the ground behind him suddenly shook violently, splitting open into a huge crack. A black spear shot out from within and struck the alchemy furnace heavily.

A loud "clang" echoed, causing ripples in the nearby void.

The alchemy furnace, struck with great force, was sent flying, whistling through the air and crashing to the ground over a hundred feet away, rolling a long distance before finally stopping.

The furnace, made of unknown material, showed no damage on its surface from the blow, but its five-colored radiance flickered dimly a few times before fading, reverting to its original pure gold color.

Earlier, Lin Shiqi had noticed the old man seemed to be protecting the furnace with all his might, so he thought to destroy it to disrupt the old man's concentration. While the old man was entangled with Han Li and the other, he secretly drove the black spear underground, and it succeeded.

The white-haired old man whirled around. When he saw the golden furnace rolling on the ground, his expression drastically changed, his eyes nearly splitting with rage. He let out a piercing howl:

"No..."

Han Li and the other two were also stunned, momentarily frozen in place.

"My ten thousand years of effort, destroyed in a single day. Since I can't complete the pill, I'll take you all with me to the grave. You all must die, must die..." The old man's eyes grew increasingly venomous, as if he had completely lost his mind, shouting incessantly.

He flipped his hand and suddenly took out a dark red pill, but instead of swallowing it whole, he crushed it with his teeth and swallowed it.

Seeing this, Han Li felt a premonition of doom rise in his heart.

"Damn it! That's the Infant-Burning Blood Pill..." Lin Jiu's expression changed, and he exclaimed in alarm.

As soon as he spoke, the white-haired old man let out a series of eerie "giggle" laughs. The skin on his body gradually darkened, soon turning a dark red like pig's liver.

Meanwhile, his sunken eyes grew brighter and brighter, even emitting faint golden light.

"Be careful, fellow daoists! This man has taken a forbidden drug that simultaneously burns the Nascent Soul and blood essence. In a short time, his cultivation will greatly increase. It's not impossible for him to forcibly cross that threshold and attain Golden Immortal cultivation!" Lin Jiu retreated a hundred feet, warning them.

Hearing Lin Jiu's words, Han Li and the other also hurriedly retreated.

"Sssss..."

Accompanied by a strange sound, faint red steam began to rise from the white-haired old man's body, making him look like a crab about to be steamed.

With a "whoosh" of wind, the white-haired old man's figure suddenly vanished.

At his original position, only a cloud of red mist remained, drifting upward.

But the next moment, a figure suddenly flashed before Lin Shiqi, hundreds of feet away, raising a fist and smashing it fiercely toward his face.

Caught off guard, Lin Shiqi had no time to form a fist and could only raise a palm to shield his face.

"Bang"

He felt a tremendous force like a mountain collapsing bearing down on him. His palm stung with a fiery pain, barely blocking any of the force. The back of his hand slammed heavily against the mask on his face, and he was sent flying backward, crashing violently into the black cliff wall on one side of the valley over a thousand feet away.

"Rumble" a loud noise.

The mountain, towering thousands of feet high, instantly exploded. Boulders the size of houses flew in all directions, and most of the mountain crumbled into dust in the blink of an eye.