Chapter 964: Entering the Array to Pay a Visit!

“Haha, good lad, you hid your strength so well that even Shao Ying is no match for you!”

At that moment, a clear laugh suddenly rang out from within the blood array.

“Lord E is too kind. I merely used some petty tricks unworthy of mention; compared to you, they amount to nothing.” Han Li looked up, smiling as he spoke, and slowly walked toward the statue beneath Chen Yang.

The other four in the array could barely support themselves, sitting slumped in place, seemingly too weak to even lift their heads. It looked as if they would soon perish within the array.

In contrast, E Kuai’s aura had reached its peak, with over a thousand acupoints opened. If he continued absorbing the array’s power, breaking through all his acupoints would be no difficult feat.

“Fellow Daoist Li, with such cunning and skill, I must say I admire you. Now, I can overlook your killing of Elder Shao Ying and give you another chance. What do you think?” E Kuai looked at Han Li approaching him and asked with a smile.

“I didn’t expect the city lord to be so magnanimous. I’m all ears.” Han Li extended a finger and lightly tapped the blood-colored light barrier, responding noncommittally.

“If you kill those two eyesores right now, you and Fellow Daoist Shi Kong can join Xuan City as its most powerful elders. Of course, if you don’t wish to stay in Xuan City, you may choose any one of Qingyang, Xuanzhi, Baiyan, or Tongyu to be its city lord, provided you heed my summons at any time.” E Kuai said seriously.

“Fellow Daoist Li, do you still believe his lies? Look at City Lord Chen’s fate!” Xuan Xing shouted, his expression changing drastically.

Duan Tong, upon hearing this, also clenched his fists unconsciously.

Han Li turned back to glance at the two, sighed, and said slowly:

“Lord E has been so thoughtful, not even asking me to eliminate Fellow Daoist Shi. It’s a pity I’m not from your Jilin Kongjing, or I’d find no reason to refuse such a good offer.”

“Oh, is that so? What a shame. Then I’ll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Li to wait patiently until my blood array finishes its cycle, after which we can have a proper exchange.” E Kuai’s expression remained unchanged as he said flatly.

“Lord E is so busy, I think there’s no need to wait. I’ll come in and pay my respects now.” Han Li chuckled.

“Haha, Fellow Daoist Li is indeed impatient! If you wish to enter, I welcome it, but I wonder if you have the ability?” E Kuai laughed as if hearing a great joke.

“Whether I have the ability, Lord E, please wait and see.” Han Li remained unmoved and said calmly.

With that, he formed a hand seal, chanted a string of obscure incantations, then raised a palm. Light blazed from the acupoints on his arm as he struck heavily toward the statue before him.

A blinding white light enveloped his hand, pressing against the blood-colored barrier and causing it to sink deeply.

E Kuai was about to speak again, but seeing this, he frowned slightly, looking somewhat surprised.

However, when Han Li’s hand touched the statue beneath Chen Yang, the blood-colored barrier suddenly flared with intense light and rebounded with a bang, forcing Han Li back.

Seeing this, E Kuai’s brow relaxed slightly, and a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

Shi Chuankong and the others had previously tried to break the barrier, so Han Li’s failed attempt did not surprise them.

Han Li seemed unfazed. After taking a deep breath, he flickered and appeared beneath Sun Tu’s statue. Repeating the process, he chanted the incantation again and struck the blood-colored barrier.

The result was naturally the same: he could only barely touch the statue before being repelled by an invisible force.

His eyes flickered, and he moved again to the statue beneath Qin Yuan, striking it with his palm.

“A mere human cultivator with just over two hundred acupoints wants to break the Blood Weeping Barrier by brute force? That’s even more absurd than a fool’s dream. No matter how many times you try, it’s useless.” E Kuai shook his head disdainfully.

With that, he stopped looking at Han Li, closed his eyes, and began to accelerate his absorption of the blood and flesh power from the array, as steady as Mount Tai.

Chen Yang and the others felt the power surging into their bodies intensify and let out painful cries, but their voices were too weak to be loud.

Unconcerned by the strange looks from those around him, Han Li, after striking the statue beneath Fu Jian, moved to the statue under E Kuai and delivered another palm strike.

All two hundred and fifty-plus acupoints on his body lit up, and in his palm, it seemed he had captured a blazing sun, which he brought down heavily on the blood-colored barrier.

When his palm touched the blood-red statue, a hidden rune that had not appeared before emerged beneath each of the five statues.

Then, with a buzzing tremor,

the entire blood-colored barrier shook violently, rippling like wind-swept water.

E Kuai sensed something amiss and snapped his eyes open, only to witness an unbelievable sight.

Han Li formed a hand seal, took a step forward, and passed through the barrier as if through a curtain of water, stepping directly into the Blood Weeping Array.

“How is that possible?” Everyone present was astonished.

Han Li smiled, leaped high into the air, and hovered at the very top of the barrier, a full zhang above the five on the statues, standing in the void without falling.

“What a magnificent Blood Weeping Array, truly a masterpiece! The sheer power, like an ocean, is awe-inspiring just to be within it…” Han Li took a deep breath and praised sincerely.

“Impossible! Within the blood array, without relying on the Blood Weeping Star Chart, one would be directly offered as a sacrifice. How could you…” E Kuai cried out in utter disbelief.

“Lord E, are you referring to this?” Han Li asked with a smile.

As he spoke, he changed his hand seal, drawing a circle with his fingers. Immediately, blood light gathered beneath his feet, forming a five-pointed star pattern identical to those on the statues beneath E Kuai and the others.

“Bang!”

At that moment, a dull thud came from the blood-colored barrier below.

Han Li looked down and saw Duan Tong, eager to save his master, attempting to cross into the Blood Weeping Barrier like him, only to be repelled by a tremendous force and sent flying.

Everyone frowned at the sight, and Zhu Ziqing couldn’t help but cover her mouth and stifle a laugh.

Sun Tu and the others inside the blood cocoons, as if glimpsing a glimmer of hope, struggled to lift their heads and look toward Han Li, a flash of surprise in their eyes.

Chen Yang raised his head slightly, straining to see Han Li’s figure, then struggled to glance at the sky above the roof, his expression complex and unreadable.

“Lord E, I’ve come to pay my respects… Are you ready?” Han Li withdrew his gaze and said with a smile.

With that, his expression suddenly turned serious. He rapidly changed hand seals before him, chanting a hurried incantation.

After a moment, he roared: “Come to me!”

A deep rumble echoed from deep within the array.

The five statues all trembled violently, and a series of new runes appeared on their surfaces. The operation of the entire array seemed to stall, as if about to stop.

But then, the thick blood light beneath the blood pool surged again, frantically flowing into the blood cocoon formed by Fu Jian, then after layers of purification, rushed into E Kuai’s body.

E Kuai looked bewildered, but then he noticed that the pure blood light flowing into him was now streaming out again, hurtling toward Han Li and merging into his body in a flash.

“Ah…”

Han Li let out a soft cry, and his entire body was instantly enveloped in blood light, surrounded by fine blood threads that wove together into a large blood cocoon.

His body became the new terminus for the blood light’s circulation in the array.

As the immense power surged into him, Han Li’s face twisted in agony. Sharp pain, like being hacked by axes and chisels, tore through his meridians, making him clench his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.

He had thought that after being filtered and purified by the previous individuals, the blood and flesh power entering him would not be too violent. But in reality, even with his body of over two hundred opened acupoints, bearing this power was still too much.

Fortunately, Han Li was well-versed in enduring pain. Though unbearable, it was not beyond his capacity.

Within the blood cocoon, over a thousand white light spots began to appear on his skin, some real and some illusory.

“How is this possible? How can you control the Blood Weeping Array? Who are you?” E Kuai asked in shock, utterly bewildered.

Han Li paid him no heed, his eyes wide open as he let out a joyful roar.

He closed his eyes and immediately activated the Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art, frantically refining the blood and flesh power flowing into him to break through the unopened acupoints.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

In just over ten breaths, three acupoints on his chest were opened in succession, a speed even surpassing E Kuai’s.

“This is…” Lady Liuhua’s expression grew even more solemn as she murmured.

Zhu Ziyuan and the others were even more perplexed and astonished.

“Big brother… how can this be… Is this human related to the Great Ruins?” Zhu Ziqing muttered.

Shi Chuankong’s expression was also complex. He could not fathom how Han Li managed to contend with E Kuai within the blood array.

“No matter who you are, if you want to compete with me, let’s see if you have the skill.” E Kuai’s face darkened, but his demeanor had calmed.

With that, he suddenly formed a hand seal and pointed sharply at his own brow.

A blood light flashed at his brow, and a strange rune mark appeared. The blood light around him flared intensely as he began to intercept the blood and flesh power flowing out of his body.

Han Li noticed the sudden decrease in the power entering him, turned to look at E Kuai, and said with a smile: “Correcting the source is the true path. You’ve merely perverted it. Do you think you can compete with me?”