Chapter 118: Bait
At the same time, the woman in black hurriedly made a hand seal with one hand in response to the blue figure that was hurtling toward her.
The black mace in her hand began to glow with black radiance, and a series of winding crimson patterns appeared on its surface, following which a burst of crimson flames swept forth from the mace.
As the mace was swung through the air toward the oncoming blue figure, a string of explosions rang out incessantly in the air, immediately following which the mountain of giant mace projections appeared once again, except this time, every single mace projection was enshrouded within a cloak of crimson flames.
The space in the wake of the mountain of mace projections was visibly warping and rippling, as if it were boiling from the intense heat of the flames.
The two blue figures crashed into the crimson flames and the mace projections at virtually the exact same moment, but they were able to pass through those obstacles amid a flash of blue light, and they were completely unaffected.
However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that both of the watery blue figures had become slightly diminished in stature, but at the same time, their speed abruptly increased drastically as they reached the burly man and the woman in black in the blink of an eye.
The burly man and the woman in black were extremely alarmed by this unexpected development, but before they had a chance to do anything, the pair of watery figures suddenly began to glow with scintillating radiance.
Immediately thereafter, both of them exploded silently, transforming into a vast expanse of glacial energy that swept toward the burly man and the woman in black from all directions.
A string of loud crackling rang out as a layer of crystalline blue ice appeared on their bodies, and the ice was rapidly spreading. In what seemed like no more than the blink of an eye, the two of them were encapsulated within two massive blocks of blue ice, both of which were several dozen feet tall.
This was clearly no ordinary ice, as evidenced by the fact that the two of them were completely immobilized within it, and their expressions of shock and horror had been frozen onto their faces. However, in the next instant, crimson light flashed from both of their bodies, and the series of cracks began to appear over the surface of the two blocks of ice.
Meanwhile, Lu Kun's complexion had paled slightly, while the blue light radiating from the body of his Earthly Deity Avatar had dimmed significantly, and it was clear that this had been quite a taxing attack for him to unleash.
Right as the burly man and the woman in black were about to break out of the blocks of ice, Han Li suddenly appeared behind them in a wraith-like manner. A layer of golden scales emerged on both of his fists, and they were thrust through the air like a pair of mighty wyrms, crashing into the bodies of his two opponents with devastating force.
The two blocks of ice exploded violently, as did the bodies of the burly man and the woman in black within them.
Their nascent souls flew out of the shattered blocks of ice, and each of them was encompassed within a faint layer of crimson light. In the blink of an eye, both of them appeared in front of the gates of the palace on the island down below, as if by instantaneous teleportation, and their movements were completely unaffected by all of the azure threads in the surrounding area.
Han Li wanted to intercept the pair of nascent souls, but it was already too late.
Right as the two nascent souls were about to fly into the palace, the crimson cloud that the palace was enveloped in suddenly began to surge and churn violently. Immediately thereafter, a pair of massive hands formed by crimson mist extended out from within. The pair of hands spread their fingers open, and crimson light flashed over their palms, upon which the two nascent souls were instantly immobilized and drawn into their grasp.
"Please spare us, merciful holy lord!" the pair of nascent souls desperately implored as horrified looks appeared on their faces.
A cold harrumph suddenly rang out from within the palace at the center of the island, and the voice was extremely unpleasant on the ears, much like the sound of metal grating on metal.
The expressions on the faces of Han Li's trio changed slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of alarm appeared in the eyes of Wyrm 8, who was still situated on the island. He immediately withdrew his hand seal, then rose up into the sky with his Earthly Deity Avatar to join Han Li and Lu Kun.
As a result, all of the azure threads in the air faded away. However, instead of swarming Han Li's trio, all of the crimson skeletons and naga monsters melted away into streaks of viscous crimson light, which then flew into the crimson cloud from all directions before vanishing out of sight.
Immediately thereafter, a tall and imposing figure slowly emerged from within the palace. The figure's entire body was enshrouded in a layer of crimson light, so only the faint outlines of their facial features were visible.
Behind the figure were two huge balls of crimson flames that were crackling incessantly.
What was rather strange about these two balls of fire was that the outermost layer of both of them consisted of crimson flame, but one of them contained a purple center, while the center of the other one was white.
A pair of faces could be seen within the purple and white flames, and those faces belonged to none other than Chou Wu and the man in the purple robe from before.
"Please spare us, almighty holy lord! Our physical bodies may have been destroyed, but we can just find new bodies, and we'll be able to continue to serve you!"
The nascent souls of the burly man and the woman in black began to desperately plead for their lives once again.
"Thank you for your hard work over all these years. I'll take care of things from here."
Gong Shuhong remained completely unmoved by their desperate pleas, and he merely raised a hand into the air, upon which the pair of giant crimson hands closed their fingers. Two blood-curdling howls instantly rang out, following which two peculiar balls of crimson fire flew out of the pair of giant hands.
The outermost layers of the fireballs were both crimson in color, yet they contained an azure core and a black core, respectively.
The twisted features of the burly man could be seen within the azure flame, while the face of the woman in black emerged within the black flame, presenting a peculiar and unsettling sight to behold.
The two balls of crimson flames quickly descended in front of Gong Shuhong, and the purple, white, azure, and black flames within them were slowly revolving on the spot while suspended in mid-air.
Han Li's trio was looking on at the harrowing scene unfolding before their eyes, and they couldn't help but exchange an astonished glance with one another.
"I'm very pleased with those four sacrifices from before. Now that I've taken your nascent souls as well, my Origin Restoration Blood Flames will be able to advance even further. Once that happens, I'll no longer be bound to this island," Gong Shuhong mused as he turned his attention to Han Li's trio.
As soon as his voice trailed off, he immediately made a hand seal, and the four flames of different colors revolving through the air around him instantly vanished into the layer of crimson light over his body at his behest. Immediately thereafter, his aura began to elevate incessantly.
"It seems like he's very close to reaching the late-True Immortal Stage. This is going to be a difficult fight," Han Li said in a grim voice as a layer of translucent light appeared over his body.
"At this point, our backs are against the wall, so we have no choice but to fight."
Lu Kun flipped a hand over as he spoke, and a purple jade vial appeared in his hand. He tipped a thumb-sized purple pill out of the vial, then swallowed it without any hesitation.
At the same time, his Earthly Deity Avatar raised a hand, and a vast expanse of watery light surged forth to form a series of protective light barriers that enveloped his entire body.
At the same time, Wyrm 8 was also busy at work, releasing several glowing treasures in succession to protect himself.
"It's your turn now!"
The surging crimson light around Gong Shuhong gradually subsided, and he raised his head to the heavens before exhaling deeply, then slowly raised his arms, and two piercing balls of crimson light surfaced over the palms of his hands.
However, right as he was about to spring into action, something unexpected happened.
A burst of spatial fluctuations erupted behind him, and a hand that was enveloped in flames appeared out of thin air before plunging into his body from behind, piercing through his chest and emerging out the front.
Han Li's trio was elated to see this.
They could tell from the aura emanating from the hand that it belonged to none other than Wyrm 3, who had been missing for quite some time.
The crimson light on the surface of Gong Shuhong's body shuddered before exploding and flying away in different directions as seven or eight streaks of crimson light.
These streaks of crimson light then converged over 1,000 feet away to form Gong Shuhong's body again, except the crimson light on the surface of his body had grown a little dimmer.
A flash of fire erupted behind the fiery hand arm that had just emerged out of thin air, and Wyrm 3 appeared with his entire body enshrouded in orange flames.
As soon as he emerged, he immediately hurtled toward Gong Shuhong as a streak of dazzling fire.
The flames around Wyrm 3's body expanded drastically mid-flight, transforming into a thick and vibrant fiery wyrm that opened its cavernous mouth, threatening to devour Gongshu Hong whole.
A burst of violent law fluctuations erupted out of the fiery wyrm's body, evaporating all of the crimson mist in the surrounding area.
Gong Shuhong harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he brought his palms together before releasing a crimson fiery python, which sprang out of the crimson light enveloping his body before pouncing toward the fiery wyrm.
A resounding boom rang out as the two fiery creatures clashed before exploding violently into balls of dazzling flames.
Wyrm 3 took advantage of this opportunity to rise up above Gong Shuhong, and a huge crimson sword had appeared in his hand. There was a dragon engraved onto the surface of the sword, and it was giving off immense spiritual pressure, indicating that it was a Profound Heavenly Treasure.
With a swing of his arm, the giant crimson sword came crashing down with tremendous force.
Around a dozen streaks of fiery swordlight surged through the air before converging to one spot, forming a giant sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length before descending toward Gong Shuhong.
Crimson light flashed from Gong Shuhong's hands, conjuring up a pair of crimson claws that were swept through the air.
10 crimson crescent-shaped claw projections were released, crashing into the giant sword projection amid an earth-shattering boom.
The sword projection and the claw projections exploded in unison, heralding the commencement of the fierce battle between Wyrm 3 and Gong Shuhong.
Lights of all types of different colors were clashing and weaving intertwining incessantly, while a string of loud booms rang out in rapid succession, causing the nearby space and the entire underground cavern to tremble and quake violently.
"I feel like Wyrm 3 was planning from the very beginning to have us charge ahead and act as bait to lure out Gong Shuhong," Lu Kun remarked with a wry smile.
"That's how things are in the Transient Guild. If you want to obtain what others cannot, then you have to be prepared to pay the ultimate price at any time," Wyrm 8 said, and there was also a hint of dejection in his voice.
"There's no point in talking about things like this right, fellow daoists. We have to help Wyrm 3 strike down Gong Shuhong if we want to survive this ordeal," Han Li said.
Lu Kun and Wyrm 8 nodded in agreement.
Having arrived at a consensus, the trio and the pair of Earthly Deity Avatars immediately entered the fray, charging toward Wyrm 3 and Gong Shuhong.
"Mere ants like yourselves should know your place!"
Gong Shuhong didn't even spare them a glance. Instead, he merely swept a hand casually in their direction.
A gust of fierce wind that was tinged with a bloody odor immediately swept toward Han Li's trio, and the crimson cloud up above abruptly began to release a vast expanse of crimson mist, which instantly encompassed the entire area overhead, inundating the trio and the pair of Earthly Deity Avatars.
The intense bloody odor was making Han Li's head spin, but a burst of cool and refreshing energy then immediately flashed through his brain, allowing him to shrug off the debilitating effects of the blood mist.
Blue light flashed within his eyes, and he was just about to retreat out of the cloud of blood mist when he heard an agonized howl ring out from nearby.
He hurriedly turned in that direction to discover that Lu Kun's Earthly Deity Avatar was in the process of crashing down toward the ground, and it was being rapidly pursued by a completely nude humanoid crimson creature.
The creature's bodily structure was no different to that of the average person, but its face was a complete blur, with no facial features visible aside from a pair of eyes that were giving off bright red light.
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