Chapter 303: Shock

Han Li frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping rapidly over that area.

On the vast expanse of crimson sea, waves churned and blood surged as over a hundred enormous shadows slowly rose from the depths at varying distances.

Accompanying them was a nauseating stench of blood.

Han Li activated a secret technique to protect his sea of consciousness, his eyes glinting with blue light as he stared fixedly at the sea surface, instinctively tightening his grip on his sword.

Yet the next moment, an unexpected scene unfolded.

The hundred-odd shadows broke through the waves, surfacing one after another, revealing bizarre deep-sea beasts: some resembled horses but had fins instead of hooves—sea-fin horses; others bore thick, spiky shells—spike turtles; and there were also gentle, nearly ten-thousand-zhang-long whale-watchers...

Han Li recognized these beasts from various texts; their cultivation levels varied, the strongest even reaching the True Immortal realm, but now all lay belly-up, devoid of any aura, dead beyond death.

On their abdomens were large circular holes, from which streams of fresh blood flowed, spreading through the seawater like enormous crimson veils.

Examining the wounds, Han Li noticed that the flesh around the holes was turned outward, suggesting they were not caused by external force but had burst from within.

"Roar..."

A sound akin to a beast's roar rang out, and the sea below suddenly splashed, raising thousand-zhang waves.

A massive blood-red hand, a hundred zhang in size, suddenly parted the waves, reaching out from the sea to grab Han Li.

Han Li's gaze sharpened; he stamped his foot in the void, swiftly dodging to evade the giant hand.

However, in the direction he fled, another identical blood-red hand emerged, blocking his path, its fingers spreading to seize him.

Seeing this, Han Li's escape light flared brightly as he changed direction and fled rapidly.

But at that moment, two more blood-red hands suddenly shot out from before and behind him, clapping together like a monk in prayer.

The blood-red hands moved with astonishing speed, catching Han Li before he could react, trapping him between their palms.

Then, the sea churned violently as a colossal figure, a thousand zhang tall, slowly rose from beneath the surface, revealing its true form.

Its body was entirely blood-red, covered in clearly defined muscle lines, completely naked except for a dark green leather skirt around its waist.

Its face looked as if the skin had just been peeled off, the exposed muscles covered in fresh blood; though horribly twisted, traces of Chong Luan's features could still be discerned.

Besides the two arms on its shoulders, the blood-red giant had two more arms beneath its ribs, and it was these lower arms that now held Han Li.

Squeezed between the two giant palms, Han Li felt as if crushed by two mountains, his bones cracking like popping beans.

He let out a furious roar, and golden scales appeared on his arms, pressed against his sides; he pushed outward, forcing the giant palms apart.

The seemingly immovable palms, under Han Li's forceful shove, opened a crack, separating slightly.

Seeing this, the blood-red giant roared, doubling the force in its lower arms, pressing inward and closing the gap Han Li had managed to create.

Han Li's face flushed red as he let out a suppressed growl.

The next moment, his muscles bulged, and his body swelled rapidly like inflating, soon transforming into a thousand-zhang-tall golden-furred giant ape.

At the same time, white light shone around him, and seven blue star patterns emerged on his chest and abdomen, gleaming brightly, their starlight interweaving with the golden light on his skin, causing his body to enlarge further.

"Roar..."

The giant ape growled low, its golden eyes fixed on the blood-red giant, and with a sudden stretch of its arms, it not only pushed open the giant's palms but also grabbed its ten fingers.

Twisting its arms, it wrenched outward, and two sounds of snapping bones rang out in midair.

"Roar..."

The blood-red giant roared, its upper arms also reaching out to grip the giant ape's arms tightly.

Then, a resonant hum like a great bell sounded from its mouth; listening closely, it was chanting some incantation.

As the chanting echoed, spiral-shaped strange patterns lit up in the palms gripping the ape's shoulders, from which two blood-red serpents slid out, coiling up the ape's arms.

Han Li felt a burning pain on his arms, instantly releasing his grip on the giant's hands and stumbling back a dozen steps.

After distancing himself from the blood-red giant, Han Li looked down and saw spiral blood-red marks on his arms up to the shoulders, like scars from a red-hot iron.

"You've been hit by my Blood Fiend Seal; you're a dead man now," the blood-red giant boomed, his voice like a great bell, shaking the surrounding void.

With that, he continued chanting, and massive blood-red runes began to glow all over his body.

Han Li felt the burning pain on his arms intensify; his body trembled, and he fell forward, plunging his arms into the seawater to cool the scorching sensation, but to no avail.

Worse, his vital blood, like a runaway horse, surged violently within him without control.

He could clearly feel the temperature of his vital blood rising rapidly, as if about to boil; soon it would burst his blood vessels, causing him to explode.

Had he not been a Mystic Immortal with a physique far stronger than ordinary True Immortals, and had he not practiced secret arts like the Five Viscera Forging Art, his internal organs would have already burst from the impact of the vital blood.

Han Li was greatly shocked; the scorched-faced man's laws of baleful aura were truly bizarre—first a fierce baleful aura affecting his divine sense, now a blood baleful force controlling his vital blood, both targeting vital points, extremely troublesome.

He steadied his mind and tried to mobilize his immortal spiritual power to stabilize the rampaging vital blood, but found it utterly ineffective.

His bloodline, already fused with the vital blood of powerful true spirits like the Mountain Ape, True Dragon, and Celestial Phoenix, was far stronger than that of ordinary True Immortals; once in turmoil, immortal spiritual power alone could not suppress it.

A resonant dragon's roar emanated from Han Li's body, and behind the giant ape, a vast golden light appeared, from which emerged the phantom of a huge five-clawed golden dragon, its head raised to the sky as if roaring.

After the golden dragon phantom appeared, the giant ape's face twisted, and it let out a pained roar.

"What! You even have true spirit bloodlines? Good, very good, heaven helps me..." the blood-red giant formed by Chong Luan said, his voice shaking the void.

His four large hands clasped together in front of him, forming a bizarre hand seal, and crescent-shaped patterns appeared on his muscles, glowing with a fiery yellow light like magma.

Then, a clear phoenix cry rang out, and behind the giant ape Han Li had become, a multicolored light blazed as a phantom of a colorful phoenix emerged, hovering opposite the golden dragon, radiant.

The black crane, having retreated ten thousand zhang away, saw this and a flicker of surprise crossed its eyes.

"More than one true spirit bloodline... Heh, normally having multiple true spirit bloodlines would be a great asset, but today, meeting my master, you're out of luck. With two different bloodlines erupting simultaneously, let's see how long you can hold out," the black crane said in human speech, chuckling.

No sooner had it spoken than a vast green light appeared behind the giant ape, and a phantom of a green luan emerged, followed by a flash of silver lightning, revealing the phantom of a Thunder Roc.

Adjacent to it, a five-colored light blazed as the phantom of a five-colored peacock appeared.

Below the many true spirit phantoms, a huge black turtle phantom emerged, surrounded by dark light, looking like a massive black boulder from afar.

"How is it possible... so... so many," the black crane muttered, its eyes wide.

At that moment, it wished it had hands to rub its eyes, unable to believe that anyone could fuse so many powerful true spirit bloodlines into one.

Moreover, this person was merely a human, naturally the weakest in physique.

"Roar..."

The Mountain Ape let out a pained howl, and the true spirit phantoms behind it began to struggle violently: the green luan and colorful phoenix fluttered left and right, the golden dragon and black turtle tumbled up and down, one trying to soar, the other to dive, while the Thunder Roc flashed with lightning in the middle, all in chaos.

The blood-red marks on the giant ape's arms flared brightly, flickering intensely, while its vital blood churned wildly, crashing back and forth in its blood vessels.

The burning sensation from within was more agonizing than being flayed or dismembered.

Han Li felt his vital blood gradually boiling, ready to burst out the moment he could no longer bear it.

At that point, his fate would be no different from those sea beasts floating on the surface.