Chapter 116: Forcing the Enemy Into Retreat
In the instant that the silver fire raven appeared, a hint of fear immediately appeared on Chou Wu's face, but at this point, it was too late to turn back. Thus, he gritted his teeth as a determined look appeared on his face, then abruptly opened his mouth to release three mouthfuls of blood essence onto the bowl in his hand in succession.
As soon as the blood essence came into contact with the bowl, it was completely absorbed without even a single drop left over. The bowl then began to buzz loudly as bright crimson light erupted from its surface alongside circles of runes, and a wyrm that was formed by blood flew out from within.
As soon as the wyrm appeared, it immediately opened its cavernous mouth to release a torrent of blood, which swept toward the silver fire raven as an enormous wave.
The wave of blood was extremely viscous, and it was giving off a nauseating odor.
The silver fire raven wasn't fazed in the slightest by the oncoming wave of blood, and it flapped its wings vigorously to release countless fist-sized silver fireballs that flew directly toward the wave of blood.
All of the silver fireballs exploded into silver flames upon contact with the wave of blood, evaporating the majority of the wave in the blink of an eye as plumes of white smoke rose up into the air.
The wave of blood was instantly punched full of holes, with the largest one being a hole that was 200 to 300 feet in size at the center of the wave.
The silver fire raven flew directly through the hole as a streak of silver light, then hurtled directly toward the blood wyrm and Chou Wu beyond it.
Chou Wu gritted his teeth as a fierce look appeared in his eyes, and he made a rapid series of hand seals, upon which bright crimson light radiated from the blood wyrm's body. At the same time, countless translucent runes appeared within the crimson light as the blood wyrm flew toward the silver fire raven with ferocious might.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he inspected the blood wyrm, and his expression suddenly changed slightly as he hurriedly made a hand seal to try and summon the fire raven back to him.
However, right at this moment, all of the runes on the surface of the blood wyrm's body brightened considerably before exploding violently into an enormous cloud of extremely dense blood mist that swallowed up the silver fire raven in the blink of an eye.
Immediately thereafter, a clear cry rang out as a silver fireball shot out of the blood mist, then transformed back into a silver fire raven that flew rapidly back toward Han Li.
However, the fire raven was looking a little dim compared with before, and there were many patches of blood clinging to its body, clearly indicating that it had been affected rather heavily by the blood wyrm's self-detonation.
A layer of silver flames appeared over the fire raven's body at Han Li's behest, and the blood clinging to its body instantly evaporated, following which it flew back up his sleeve and vanished out of sight.
The blood wyrm released by Chou Wu's bowl treasure was imbued with a hint of power of laws, making it very potent in its ability to erode spiritual nature. Thankfully, Han Li had made a quick decision to summon the fire raven back to himself. Otherwise, its spiritual nature would've been significantly diminished.
At this moment, Chou Wu's face was rather pale, clearly indicating that the abilities that he had just unleashed had been quite taxing. A hint of resentment appeared in his eyes at the completely unscathed Han Li, and he suddenly grabbed onto his own robes before tearing them apart.
A long and narrow gash then abruptly appeared on his exposed belly, and the skin and flesh there shrank back on either side to reveal a gaping black hole.
Radiant black light began to glow from the surface of the dark purple bowl, and it flew into the gaping hole in a flash as if it had been summoned.
At the same time, the cloud of blood mist left behind by the detonated blood wyrm and what remained of the wave of blood swept back rapidly before also vanishing into Chou Wu's body through the gaping hole.
As a result, his height increased rapidly, and the pupils in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a pair of crimson rubies.
At this point, his robes had already been torn to shreds, and a layer of translucent crimson scales had appeared over his skin, transforming him into a crimson giant that was 70 to 80 feet tall, with a glittering sheen emanating from his entire body.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and instead of retreating, he charged directly toward the crimson giant.
Chou Wu cackled with glee upon seeing this as he raised a palm before swinging it down upon Han Li's head, causing the space in its wake to tremble and quiver.
Han Li made no attempt to take evasive measures as he lunged forward, raising his right fist to directly oppose the giant's enormous palm.
A resounding boom rang out, and Han Li felt as if a mountain were falling upon him, forcing him back down onto the ground, and in the blink of an eye, close to half of his body had been embedded deep into the ground.
However, after withstanding that punch from Han Li, the crimson giant shuddered violently before stumbling back several steps in an unsteady manner, and only after that was it able to steady itself.
Right at this moment, Han Li abruptly sprang up from the ground, reaching the ceiling of the underground palace in a flash, then propelled himself down from the ceiling with both feet, sending himself plummeting toward the crimson giant like a shooting star.
The crimson giant let loose a thunderous roar, and bright crimson light erupted from its body as it threw a vicious punch at Han Li.
At the same time, seven specks of blue light appeared on Han Li's chest and abdomen, and a layer of hazy starlight also appeared over his outstretched fist as it crashed into the crimson giant's fist.
A string of resounding booms rang out incessantly as if a mountain were collapsing, and the crimson light on the surface of the giant's fist quickly faded, following which the fist itself crumbled away into crystalline chunks of different sizes that fell down onto the ground.
In contrast, Han Li's fist resembled an unstoppable blade as it crashed through the crimson giant's arm, then blew right through the left side of its chest, shattering close to half of its entire body into pieces.
What remained of the crimson giant's body shuddered violently, and the light in its ruby eyes dimmed significantly. Immediately thereafter, its entire body completely crumbled away into a pile of crimson crystals.
Inside a crystal where the giant's dantian was located, Han Li spotted a miniature golden figure, and it was none other than Chou Wu's nascent soul.
It seemed that the nascent soul had been temporarily sealed within the crystal due to the secret technique that Chou Wu had just unleashed, rendering it unable to escape.
Right as Han Li reached out to grab the crystal, the nascent soul suddenly self-detonated with a loud thump, exploding into a cloud of blood mist that vanished without a trace into the blood on the ground below.
It had only taken less than 20 seconds for Han Li to put an end to Han Li's life, much to the astonishment of the four immortals who were still locked in a fierce battle not far away.
However, the four of them were displaying completely contrasting reactions, with Wyrm 8 and Wyrm 9 elated by this development, while the two Layman Immortals were completely horrified.
A decisive look appeared in the eyes of the woman in black, and she immediately extricated herself from her battle against Lu Kun before descending onto the raised platform at the center of the underground palace in a flash.
Almost at the exact same moment, the burly middle-aged man also escaped from Wyrm 8 and his Earthly Deity Avatar, then landed right next to his female companion.
In the next instant, their bodies blurred before transforming into a pair of crimson clouds that vanished into the large hole on the raised platform.
The two of them had fled the scene without any hesitation.
Wyrm 8 and Lu Kun exchanged a glance upon seeing this, then withdrew their respective Earthly Deity Avatars before making their way over to Han Li.
Even though the battle had only been a very brief one, the two of them had been severely injured to begin with, and those injuries had only worsened.
"I feel like a fool now for failing to realize after all this time that you possessed the ability to kill a Layman Immortal with ease, Fellow Daoist," Lu Kun said as he turned to Han Li with a complex look in his eyes.
"If you hadn't slain that man so quickly and forced his two companions into retreat, the two of us would've most likely struggled immensely in a drawn-out battle. I'll be sure to inform Wyrm 3 of what you've done here," Wyrm 8 said.
"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15's feats should be acknowledged and reported. However, at the moment, we should focus on finding a way to get out of here," Lu Kun said as he looked around with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
"Earlier, Wyrm 16 used that immortal treasure to try and break through the restriction here, but not only did that not work, it caused that strange crimson light barrier to retaliate viciously, so it looks like brute force is not the way to go. We'll have to think of some other way," Han Li said with a contemplative expression.
"If you ask me, those two have most likely only temporarily retreated. I'm sure Gong Shuhong won't allow them to leave us alone for very long," Wyrm 8 said with a concerned expression.
"Wyrm 15, you were able to break through that crimson space back in Heavenly Water City, and I'm sure that wasn't just down to dumb luck. Can you see if you can find any vulnerable points in this space? In the meantime, I'll try and get into contact with Wyrm 3 to inform him of the situation here," Lu Kun said after a brief moment of contemplation.
"I'll give it a try," Han Li replied with a nod.
With that, Lu Kun closed his eyes, and the goat mask reappeared on his face before blue ripples began to surge over its surface.
Meanwhile, Wyrm 8 began to gather the storage treasures of all of the immortals who had met their demise in the underground palace.
Han Li merely took a glance at him, but refrained from saying anything, and blue light emerged within his eyes as he began to carefully inspect his surroundings.
There was a thick layer of blood caked onto the ground, and the remains of all of the people who had perished here were soaked within the blood. Blood had also splattered all over the surrounding walls and stone pillars, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.
Similarly, the statue in the underground palace was also drenched in blood, and it was looking particularly sinister and disturbing, like an evil deity who reveled in slaughter and bloodshed.
However, even after a thorough inspection, Han Li was unable to find any vulnerable points on the surrounding walls or the statue.
Moments later, Lu Kun also opened his eyes as he shook his head and said in a grim voice, "There's no response from Wyrm 3."
"This underground palace is rather strange. The restriction in here seems to be imbued with a type of laws of blood, and it's nurtured by all of the blood from the sacrifices performed in here, forming a completely independent space. It's not going to be easy to find a way out of here," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.
While they were speaking with one another, Wyrm 8 also made his way over to them. "The storage tools left behind by our fellow daoists of the Transient Guild and those two Layman Immortals are all here. Let's split the contents. There are most likely still going to be more perilous moments to come on this mission, so it's best to be as prepared as possible."
At this moment, he was holding several storage bags in one hand, and two storage bracelets in the other.
After tallying the spoils, the three of them discovered that the six Layman Immortals were quite affluent, regardless of whether it was in terms of pills, materials, or treasures, and Han Li's trio all received bountiful returns.
Given everything that Han Li had displayed earlier, the only immortal treasure in the possession of the six deceased Layman Immortals, the black spike owned by Wyrm 16, naturally fell into his hands.
Wyrm 8 and Lu Kun were both very eager to take the treasure for themselves, but neither of them wanted to see the treasure fall into the other's hands, so in the end, both of them decided to do Han Li a favor and split the treasure to him.
Han Li was naturally aware of this, and after accepting the treasure, he made some concessions in the distribution of the six Layman Immortals' other possessions, a gesture that was much appreciated by the other two.
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