Chapter 113: Trap
"Just like in all of the underground palaces in the other Red Moon Cities, there's a lingering bloody odor in the air here, and the earth has already turned into yin soil. It's clear that this is a place where living beings are regularly slaughtered. Among the people brought to this place, all of them are either cultivators or mortals who possess spiritual roots. They're most likely going to be used as sacrifices here," Han Li explained with a grim expression.
"Now that you mention it, Gong Shuhong does cultivate in the laws of blood. Could it be that he regularly requires a large number of sacrifices to support his cultivation?" Wyrm 16 speculated with tightly furrowed brows.
"If that's the case, then why don't they begin the sacrifice right away? Why did they put the sacrificial subjects through a selection process first?" Wyrm 9 asked in a skeptical manner.
"My guess is that those who possess the most exceptional cultivation aptitude are selected so that they can be developed into those high-grade cultivators wearing the crimson robes, and they'll be the ones who directly serve Gong Shuhong.
“In order to prevent these people from revealing the true nature of the pilgrimage, they've most likely had some type of restriction placed on their souls. As for the rest... The true sacrifice will most likely begin after the selection process is complete," Han Li replied.
"Looking at the current situation, we should still have enough time to take that man down and get out of here," Wyrm 9 said as he took a glance at the Layman Immortal.
However, right as his voice trailed off, a loud buzzing sound immediately rang out from the surrounding space.
At the same time, a series of intertwining crimson patterns appeared on the walls of the underground palace, and they quickly began to spread like a system of cobwebs, instantly covering the entirety of the walls.
These crimson patterns flashed momentarily before blooming like flowers, revealing countless eyes that were glowing with faint crimson light. The eyes were constantly squirming as if they were living creatures, presenting an extremely unsettling and harrowing sight to behold.
Everyone was quickly illuminated a crimson color by the light being released by the eyes, and the bloody odor permeating through the air instantly became countless times more pungent.
Horrified looks began to appear on the faces of many of the people in the underground space upon seeing this.
Wyrm 9 was just about to say something when another burst of buzzing rang out, and the crimson eyes abruptly brightened considerably, releasing beams of crimson light that were as concentrated and densely packed as rain, encompassing the entire underground space, making it impossible to take evasive measures.
Every single beam of crimson light was giving off bursts of unidentifiable law fluctuations, and Han Li's trio was very alarmed by this development.
They didn't know what this crimson light was, but it clearly wasn't going to be something beneficial to them.
Han Li immediately summoned his True Extreme Membrane, and at the same time, he swept a hand through the air to release a round yellow mirror and an azure jade pendant, which instantly transformed into a pair of haloes, one yellow and one azure, both of which settled around him.
He had obtained these treasures from Tuhar, the Grand Ascension cultivator of the Cold Crystal Race that he had slain, and he was carrying them precisely in case of situations like this.
Wyrm 9 also reacted extremely quickly, making a hand seal as a series of blue ripples appeared around him, forming a series of layers that shielded his body from all directions.
Meanwhile, Wyrm 16 summoned a large azure umbrella, which revolved in the air above him before releasing countless dazzling threads of azure light, which draped down to form a ball of azure light that encompassed his entire body.
"What's going on? The selection process still isn't finished yet..."
A hint of befuddlement appeared in the Layman Immortal's eyes at the sight of the crimson eyes that had appeared around him, but before he had a chance to ponder the situation any further, countless beams of crimson light shot forth through the air.
He seemed to be quite fearful of these beams of crimson light, and he immediately opened his mouth to release a crimson flag, which instantly transformed into a crimson light barrier that enveloped his entire body.
The beams of crimson light were traveling extremely quickly, landing on everyone in the underground space in the blink of an eye.
The light barriers released by the treasures summoned by Han Li's trio posed no obstacle at all as the beams of crimson light passed through with ease before vanishing into their bodies.
Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately inspected his own internal condition with his spiritual sense.
However, the crimson light had vanished without a trace after entering his body, much to his shock and concern.
Right at this moment, a strange vibration began to ring out beside Han Li's ears.
For some reason, his heart was suddenly beginning to thump violently in an uncontrollable manner, and his heart rate was rapidly climbing.
At the same time, his blood circulation also sped up by severalfold, causing his entire body to become scorching hot, and the magic power in his dantian was also becoming unstable due to his violently beating heart.
Alarmed looks appeared on the faces of Wyrm 9 and Wyrm 16, and they were clearly also experiencing the same thing as Han Li.
"What's going on?"
"What is this terrible feeling?"
"I can't take this..."
"Argh!"
A string of blood-curdling howls intermingled with dull thumps rang out from all directions, and Han Li's trio looked around to find that all of the mortals and low-grade cultivators who had been struck by the beams of crimson light were trembling incessantly, while their skin had also turned bright red.
Immediately thereafter, their bodies swelled before exploding into clouds of viscous blood mist.
Within the span of just a few seconds, hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding area had exploded into blood mist, forming a suffocating cloud that permeated throughout the entire underground space.
As the crimson eyes on the walls blinked, the blood mist in the underground space rapidly converged to form a series of blood clouds. In the absence of all of the people who had had their bodies blown up, the underground space had become completely empty.
As a result, there were no longer any obstacles around to obstruct the view of Han Li's trio, and they discovered that there were four more people in the underground space with them.
They were none other than Wyrm 8 and his group, and they had somehow managed to infiltrate this place as well.
Wyrm 9 and Wyrm 16 were both quite pleased to see this.
Despite their differences, it was always good news to be reunited with allies in perilous situations. With the powers of seven True Immortals combined, surely they would be able to find a way out.
Han Li quickly swept his gaze over the blood clouds in the sky, and his heart immediately sank slightly. Bright azure light radiated from his body as he drew upon all of his magic power and unleashed several secret techniques in a row to try and quell the unrest in his body, but no matter what he did, his condition refused to improve, and his heart rate was only becoming faster and faster.
A burst of indescribable force was accumulating within his body before surging toward his heart, while another type of power was filling his body, causing it to rapidly expand.
A strange crimson color had appeared on his skin, but it was extremely faint.
Upon noticing this crimson sheen on his own skin, Han Li was immediately reminded of what had happened to those mortals and low-grade cultivators before their bodies exploded.
The same crimson color had also appeared on the skin of all of the other six Transient Guild members, but what was quite surprising to them was that there was an agonized look on the face of the purple-robed man on the raised platform, indicating that he also seemed to be in the same situation as them.
However, they naturally had no spare capacity to pay any heed to him.
At this point, the nature of the situation was already obvious.
They had thought that they had successfully snuck into the underground palace without being noticed, but in reality, they had already been detected by Gong Shuhong, who took advantage of their plan to trap them in this underground space. In order to avoid rousing their suspicions, it seemed that he was even prepared to sacrifice this Layman Immortal subordinate of his.
The crimson eyes on the walls were still blinking incessantly, releasing one beam of crimson light after another, and everyone was doing their best to take evasive measures, but they were still constantly being struck by the beams of light.
With each beam of crimson light that struck its target, a burst of strange power of laws would make its way into the target's body, further accelerating their heart rate.
Within the span of just a few seconds, everyone felt as if their hearts were about to leap out of their chests, and it was an extremely agonizing and panic-inducing feeling.
Among the seven of them, Han Li was the only one who was still holding up relatively well. Having already attained a True Extreme Body, his physical constitution was far superior to that of the average immortal, and that applied to his heart as well.
Even though his heart rate was also constantly accelerating, it was still bearable to him for now.
Wyrm 9 had a dark look on his face, and at this point, he was no longer making any attempt to conceal his magic power. He began to chant an incantation, and countless blue runes flew out of his body before intertwining to form a thin protective barrier.
The barrier was quite thin, but it was giving off bursts of powerful laws of water fluctuations.
The beams of crimson light were still able to pass through the blue protective barrier, but they were clearly whittled down significantly during the process.
It looks like the power of laws can only be stopped by the power of laws... Han Li thought to himself upon seeing this.
Han Li and Wyrm 9 were still in decent condition for now, but the same didn't apply to Wyrm 16.
Even though he was also pulling out all the stops, his body was still swelling steadily, and his skin had turned as red as blood, the same shade as the blood that was gushing uncontrollably out of his orifices.
"We have to find a way to get out of here!" Wyrm 9 yelled as he rose up into the air as a streak of blue light.
Wyrm 16 immediately followed along.
Han Li was the least affected by the crimson light out of everyone present, but it naturally didn't benefit him in any way to remain in this place, so he followed along as well.
Wyrm 8 and the others also quickly rose up into the air upon seeing this.
During his ascent, Wyrm 9 swept an arm forcefully through the air to release a blue flying dagger, which transformed into a giant blue blade that was over 100 feet in length in the blink of an eye. The blade was giving off sounds of howling wind and rumbling thunder as it crashed viciously into the stone ceiling of the underground space.
However, as soon as the blue blade made contact with the ceiling, a vast expanse of crimson light suddenly emerged from the ceiling without any warning, forming a crimson light barrier with countless runes surging incessantly over its surface.
A resounding clang rang out as if the giant blue blade had struck a metal wall, and the crimson light barrier remained completely unscathed, not even wavering in the slightest from the force of the impact.
Wyrm 9's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.
Right at this moment, a black spike that was enveloped in black light shot out of Wyrm 16's body, and there was an urgent look in his eyes as he released a mouthful of blood essence, which vanished into the black spike in a flash.
The black spike immediately began to glow brightly while revolving rapidly, and countless tiny runes appeared on its surface alongside arcs of black lightning amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps.
The space in the wake of the black lightning trembled violently, and there were even some black spatial rifts that had appeared in the air.
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