"This kid is so young, and he's only just entered the Golden Core stage how could he possibly wield such divine powers?!"
Inwardly cursing, Daoist Feiyu couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear.
The divine light technique he cultivated was already formidable its mutable nature allowed it to interlink and form a pseudo-array, granting it great strength.
But the lightning imbued within the divine light was even more powerful.
Especially that fierce, masculine wood-attribute divine thunder his blood-based demonic arts had no corrosive effect on it at all. On the contrary, any contact saw them completely shattered by its force.
Every clash drained a portion of his painstakingly cultivated blood essence.
Such divine thunder was typically only accessible to Golden Core cultivators, and even then, it required lengthy refinement to wield it effectively. Yet this youth had only just broken through how could he already command it to such terrifying power?
The mere sight of that divine thunder, the booming of its roar, almost triggered a primal instinct in Feiyu to retreat.
Yet what truly terrified him wasn't the thunder
but the seemingly gentle azure fire, flickering like leaves in a breeze, attached to the divine light.
With a single sweep, it scorched the very essence of his magic tools and was nearly impossible to extinguish.
It even seemed to alter and degrade their material properties!
He had been caught off guard at first, and when a bit of that fire touched his protective true essence shield, it immediately latched on and began devouring it growing fiercer by the second and lunging straight for his body.
If he hadn't reacted in time, summoning a torrent of spiritual power to wash it away with blood water, he might've been incinerated on the spot!
Even so... he wasn't far from that fate now!
With his attack failing and one of his precious Blood Demon Slashes wasted, Daoist Feiyu's heart sank.
Hearing Li Ye's words, his aged, sinister face twisted into a grimace.
"I've lived nearly five hundred years and seen centuries rise and fall and you think I'll let some junior walk all over me?!"
As the divine light bore down on him again, he suddenly produced several crimson crystal beads. They glowed with a thick, blood-like hue, reeking of metallic stench.
They looked like pills, but he didn't swallow them instead, he crushed them in his hand.
Whoosh
In an instant, the sound of crashing waves echoed out. Blood light surged skyward, and a torrential flood of blood erupted from Daoist Feiyu's position.
Within the blood tide, countless resentful spirits screamed and struggled to the surface. Twisted faces appeared and vanished, shrieking in agony.
Even the radiant divine light of Aoki dimmed under the pressure, held at bay for the moment. The sky turned blood-red.
"Blood covering the sky… is that the old Feiyu's secret art?"
Such a massive disturbance instantly drew the attention of the wider battlefield.
Many who had seen Daoist Feiyu use his demonic arts before immediately recognized the signs.
Seeing the blue skies turn red, anxiety rippled through their ranks.
"First came the black flood dragon's anguished roar… now the clear sky has been stained with blood light… could it be that Realman Li and that third-rank flood dragon have both been forced into retreat?"
Peering toward the Golden Core battlefield but unable to see clearly, Ji Xiangyang frowned deeply, sensing danger.
If Li Ye and the flood dragon truly lost, then even if they managed to wipe out most of the vanguard army, it would be meaningless.
As soon as Bone Ancestor and Daoist Feiyu those two Golden Core demonic cultivators were freed up, they could immediately change the tide of battle and crush the coalition forces.
But while the allied armies of the two nations were growing anxious...
The demonic vanguard, previously being suppressed and fighting bitterly, now erupted in laughter and taunts.
"Hahaha! That Li Ye you pinned your hopes on is nothing special! How could a freshly advanced Golden Core junior ever rival our sect's patriarch?!"
"Keep struggling while you can! Once Li Ye is dead, all of you will be reduced to sacrifices for our blood rites!"
For a time, the morale of both sides reversed drastically.
Many righteous cultivators, worried that Li Ye might truly be defeated, began to hesitate and contemplate retreat.
As a result, their aggressive momentum faltered. They became cautious, prioritizing defense, and a faint trend of retreat began to emerge.
Even though such behavior wasn't widespread, the battlefield was a tightly interlinked whole. A single weak link could ripple across the entire front. Though the allied forces still held the upper hand, signs of the demonic cultivators staging a mad counterattack began to appear.
"Victory is not yet decided! You demonic fiends go against the heavens your ambitions are doomed to fail!"
Shouts of defiance erupted, with Ji Xiangyang and others charging forward, undaunted by the demonic frenzy.
His flying sword swept through the air, instantly beheading one demonic cultivator before striking again without pause.
Having received a treasure from Li Ye, his combat power had greatly improved. Among Foundation Establishment cultivators, he now stood among the elite.
Other skirmish groups followed suit.
With figures like him leading the charge, the retreating sentiment among the coalition was finally curbed, and fighting spirit began to rise once more, stabilizing the situation.
......
Whoosh
Blood mist swirled as a crimson sea no, more like a reeking blood lake spread out in all directions, trapping Li Ye within. The foul blood relentlessly corroded the area, all while surging toward Daoist Feiyu, flooding into his body without end.
Crimson patterns flashed across his skin as his physique swelled with power. His aging body rapidly rejuvenated, becoming robust and muscular.
The true essence shield covering him thickened visibly, even gaining a flowing, liquid-like texture. Its defensive strength was now many times greater than before practically rivaling that of dedicated defensive artifacts!
Daoist Feiyu's face twisted with pleasure, which quickly turned to hatred as he glared at Li Ye.
"This was the refined essence blood of countless living beings, meant to aid my breakthrough into the mid-Golden Core stage... and now I'm wasting it here?!"
"When I kill you, I'll devour your flesh inch by inch and make you feel the agony of having your flesh peeled from your bones!"
"Hahaha! Fellow Daoist Feiyu, be sure to leave me his soul and bones. As for that black flood dragon's flesh, it can be yours!"
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Realman Whitebone laughed heartily, landing another fierce blow on the black flood dragon, drawing another pained roar.
"Realman Li, stop gawking! If you can't win, hurry up and save me we should retreat!"
But Li Ye's expression turned slightly strange as he asked calmly:
"Is this your trump card?"
He glanced around at the blood lake saturated with immense spiritual essence and then he smiled.
"Then I'll be happy to accept it."
"You little brat, have you gone mad?!"
Hearing this, Daoist Feiyu instinctively sensed something was wrong. Sneering, he immediately activated the blood lake. Amid the roaring resentment of countless tormented souls, a tide of blood surged toward Li Ye.
This strike sealed off every path of escape. Even a mid-Golden Core cultivator would suffer dearly if struck head-on.
For someone like Li Ye, who had only just broken through, a direct hit would mean serious injury if not worse!
Boom!
But at that moment, Daoist Feiyu suddenly felt something go wrong with his connection to the blood lake.
Jets of azure flame ignited within the blood lake, spreading with terrifying speed. Before he could react, the fire surged across the entire lake and even leaped up onto his body, which had absorbed much of that essence of blood.
The deep crimson was instantly overtaken by flickering blue-green flames.
In a blink, they burned straight through his essence shield, feeding on it to fuel their growth and completely severing his connection to the blood lake.
Wherever the fire passed, his body began to petrify, becoming rigid and wooden.
Daoist Feiyu's movements turned stiff and numb. His energy plummeted, and the body that had only just become youthful and strong shriveled rapidly into a withered husk.
His face filled with horror as blood light flickered around him. Still struggling, he cried out,
"What kind of true fire is this?! How can it be so... strange?!"
CRACK!
Thunder roared as lightning danced across the heavens. A surge of pure green light gathered as 108 strands of Verdant Spirit Divine Light fused into a single bolt of Jia Wood divine thunder, boosting its power to the absolute limit.
Then, a blinding column of pure azure thunder descended from the skies, tearing through the crimson heavens.
BOOM!
The blood lake shattered.
Countless droplets of blood, each touched by specks of azure flame, burst apart and rained down from the sky.
At the same time, the life force within the center of the blood lake was completely extinguished.
Daoist Feiyu was dead.
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