At that moment, the entire Ku Hai mountain range was completely covered in blood and flesh.
Led by Taishi Xiaxin, more than ten members of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the Wuzhong Mountain God clan were all submerged within it.
Each of them had a blood-drawing tube attached to their forehead, endlessly siphoning away the strength of their divine bodies’ blood and flesh.
Many of the gods’ bodies had already withered completely.
Although Taishi Xiaxin still retained some consciousness, he was utterly powerless to change anything and could only watch his life force drain away at an alarming rate.
In the very center of the Ku Hai range, Yu Buxia and Yinghuo were still struggling to hold on.
Their divine strength had already been depleted almost entirely.
Even the Artifact Equilibrium was thoroughly entangled by blood and flesh and could not be used.
Yinghuo breathed heavily, her face deathly pale.
“This guy—what the hell happened? How did he suddenly become so strong? In my memory, he wasn’t like this at all!”
“You tell me; who am I supposed to ask?”
Yu Buxia summoned every ounce of strength to uphold a barrier, fighting back the encroaching flesh, but the barrier sprouted more and more cracks, proof that she had reached her limit.
It couldn’t hold much longer.
Despair gleamed in her eyes.
Half an hour earlier, Yu Buxia had believed that with the Artifact Equilibrium and Yinghuo at her peak, even if they couldn’t finish off the Blood Flesh Evil God Shen Kangren, they could at least cripple him.
But the moment they fought, they sensed immediately that something was wrong.
Shen Kangren’s power had skyrocketed to a terrifying Divine Lord Realm level, and his blood-flesh power had multiplied a thousandfold!
Even when Yu Buxia used the Artifact Equilibrium to equalize Shen Kangren’s and Yinghuo’s cultivation levels, it was of no use.
Having broken into the Divine Lord Realm, Shen Kangren had gained a new mastery over his blood-flesh power, even outright ignoring Yinghuo’s starforce.
He formed a Blood-Flesh Heaven right in front of them, sealing off all the stars.
At that moment, a passing god of the Wuzhong Mountain clan asked if they needed help. Yu Buxia and Yinghuo immediately sent him to Balance City to seek assistance from Little White.
Only Little White might be able to swallow Shen Kangren.
Otherwise, the two of them together could never defeat him.
Not long after the god left, the artifact’s time ran out and Shen Kangren reverted fully to Divine Lord Realm power, pressing Yu Buxia and Yinghuo down without mercy.
If it weren’t for Taishi Xiaxin and his reinforcements arriving just in time, they would have already become part of Shen Kangren’s blood and flesh.
But even that only bought them a brief respite. They still could not break through the endless waves of blood and flesh and could only stall for time, waiting for Little White’s arrival.
“The gods who are destined to become part of my flesh and blood—what are you even thinking?”
The Blood Flesh Evil God Shen Kangren watched them with a mocking glint. “You’re completely incapable of resisting—why waste time struggling? What meaning does this have?”
Yinghuo sneered, “What meaning? Beating you to death.”
“Heh. Even at this point, you’re still talking tough. Looks like I need to turn up the intensity.”
Shen Kangren formed hand seals, and the surrounding blood and flesh instantly turned black, radiating an almost unbearable sense of despair.
Yu Buxia and Yinghuo’s barriers were squeezed to their limits. Their light nearly extinguished, ready to shatter at any moment.
“I—I can’t hold on much longer. We might really die here,” Yu Buxia managed through ragged breath.
Yinghuo wanted to rush in and aid her, but her divine strength had run completely dry. She could barely stand.
Had they truly exhausted themselves?
Yinghuo let out a bitter laugh. “I regret that I never got to see Ye Yu.”
Yu Buxia bit her lip, silent. She understood that regret all too well. If anything could save them now, it would be Ye Yu—even just seeing him once would have given them hope.
But reality was reality. They were at their limit.
Ka!
At the crisp crack, Yu Buxia’s barrier shattered. She closed her eyes in acceptance of the inevitable... but instead of flesh ripping into her, the world remained astonishingly calm.
Yinghuo’s voice rang in her ear.
“Look—the blood and flesh are receding fast!”
Yu Buxia opened her eyes and saw the golden mass of blood and flesh surging straight upward, as if drawn by a powerful suction above.
Shen Kangren noticed it, too, and looked up.
In an instant, his face shifted dramatically.
“Wha—what is that?”
A hideous divine beast, the likes of which he had never seen, was voraciously devouring his blood-flesh!
“Is it crazy? Who dares to swallow me?”
He thought: I always devour others as a blood-flesh evil god; no one has dared to devour me!
“Fine. If you want to eat, I’ll let you eat!”
With that thought, Shen Kangren drew his blood and flesh back in an attempt to overwhelm the beast, bulking up at a visible rate.
But the divine beast matched him blow for blow, increasing its own hunger.
Their titanic powers clashed like a flood against a dam, neither side willing to yield as they stared each other down with mortal antagonism.
After what felt like the length of a burning incense stick, Shen Kangren reluctantly retracted all his blood and flesh back into himself.
He admitted to himself that he couldn’t hold out much longer. That brief moment had seen nearly a fifth of his blood-flesh devoured.
If it continued, he might lose even his Divine Lord Realm foundation. He dared not gamble further.
He would have to ask what was going on—he couldn’t let his millennia-gathered blood and flesh feed this beast without explanation.
Before he could speak, however, the divine beast let out a long, earth-shaking belch.
The ground trembled at the sound—more of a boast and a taunt than anything else.
“You damn thing, you had your fill? Did you even think about how I feel? This is too much!”
