Su Mo gazed at the thunderous basin.
Three days passed.
Li Dingxun still hadn't emerged.
A gentleman's promise must be kept, so he left.
But the camaraderie of the Jianghu could not be ignored, so he returned.
At the very least, he had to retrieve his body.
Loud calls from the Pure Land summoned twenty-eight righteous heroes, but when they rushed into the Bloodhowl Holy City, all they saw was a massive crater, with no one on the ruins.
...
Night fell on the first day.
Six thousand three hundred and fifty-eight clashes occurred.
Under the cold, desolate moonlight, Li Dingxun's punching stance remained as steady as ever.
The floor had already sunk half a body's length, and Li Dingxun's calves were submerged in a pool of gray-red slurry. With each punch, the water would splash up in high, slow ripples.
Gradually, a vortex formed around him, allowing his legs and feet to be exposed to the air, no longer continuously corroded by the poison.
Fists and palms became a habit, a cornerstone supporting his life. When he stopped, there could only be two outcomes.
He died, or the enemy died.
The twelve Bloodhowl Demons had completely mutated, each resembling an ancient evil demon, with three heads, six arms, sharp fangs, and vicious claws.
Strange incantations began to echo. They were completely chaotic, maddening phrases. When a large number of blasphemous words were piled up and recited in an inhuman tone, they could instantly evoke fear in human hearts.
Li Dingxun felt an intense pain in his eyes, his heart pounded, and blood surged, as if trying to squeeze out of his eyeballs. He simply closed his eyes and relied entirely on his intuition to punch.
Da Zhuo Hand!
Perhaps because the floor reached its limit, after this punch from Li Dingxun, a huge collapse occurred. With a crash, as the slurry poured in, he also fell into the lower cavern.
Slightly repelling the twelve Blood Demons, he felt the pain in his eyes lessen, so he opened them to survey his surroundings.
Through the faint light seeping in from the opening, he saw the end of the upper blood waterfall, which was a massive black porphyry Yaksha statue. Its skull was split open to form a pool, into which the blood waterfall poured, then flowed into the statue's interior.
Besides this gigantic, hundred-meter-tall Yaksha statue, there were also many statues of ancient beasts, evil gods, mountain spirits, and water monsters, exuding a strong atmosphere of shamanistic sacrifice. Some of these statues were crude, others exquisite, with lifelike expressions and cruel imposing manners. Being among them felt like dreaming of ancient times, that era of cannibalism.
At this moment, the twelve Blood Demons crashed through the upper floor and rushed into the cave. They had completely lost their minds and charged madly at Li Dingxun upon seeing him.
Becoming increasingly powerful, they gradually made Li Dingxun feel outmatched. Even the Da Zhuo Hand could not directly kill them. Their demonic claws' power was already approaching a God-tier martial art.
Not to mention the heart-piercing, bone-corroding red and blood poisons.
His super-third-grade armor was already mottled with corrosion, and his tall, hard, statue-like body's skin showed bloody pits. His muscles twitched involuntarily, yet were forcibly restrained and unleashed by internal energy.
Punch!
Li Dingxun unleashed the super-third-tier Howling Fourteen Hands, his qi energy like a meteor shower, like arrows from a chaotic army, pounding in all directions. Under such high-speed, high-pressure impact, the main tendon in his right wrist suddenly snapped.
Clang—! Like a tearing zither string, a long, lingering vibrato echoed in the darkness.
Intense pain assailed his heart. Li Dingxun frowned, glanced at his right hand, and showed an expression of annoyance and disdain.
His right hand's five fingers were completely useless; he couldn't clench a fist or extend his palm. Since that was the case, he would use it like a whip. Whipping left and right, with gusts of fierce wind, its power not only did not decrease but increased.
But this was a signal, a sign that his body was on the verge of collapse.
He shattered a demonic claw and slammed a palm onto Simon's head, flattening the metallic-looking skull. Brain matter mixed with murky blood splattered with a hiss, half a sky high.
His left palm bone fractured.
The tenacious Simon let out a muffled grunt and suddenly kicked out.
Absolute Second-tier, Blood Shadow Leg, originating from the Realm of Extinction overseas, exquisitely strange and unpredictable. Those struck by it would be torn apart completely.
Li Dingxun also kicked, using the lower-ninth-tier body technique, Mountain Shaking Step, a solid, unyielding stance, like a giant python whipping its tail.
Clang!
Simon's leg bone exploded, and Li Dingxun's knee shattered.
Injuries to the legs were equivalent to a tree losing its roots; he could no longer exert force, and his momentum immediately weakened.
Continue.
His limbs broke one by one.
Li Dingxun violently headbutted and shattered an enemy's head, once again knocking the twelve demons back into the blood pool.
His broad body also lay on the ground.
Among the fifteen top sects in the world, five were evil sects: Snowy Region Vajra Sect, Huainan Jie Qing Sect, Yunnan Five Immortals Sect, Fujian Fulong Altar, and Jiangbei Bloodhowl Sect. The Vajra Sect had already turned to smoke, the Fulong Altar was suppressed by the righteous path and dared not show its face, the Five Immortals Sect huddled in a corner of the southwest, the Jie Qing Sect's whereabouts were mysterious, and only the Bloodhowl Sect always flourished. The secret hidden behind this was, of course, not so simple.
Li Dingxun knew he had done his best.
No one could use the Da Zhuo Hand over a hundred times in a single day.
Even a body of iron would be destroyed and torn apart by fierce force.
Li Dingxun, who had surpassed his limits, did not surpass gods and devils.
Humans have a limit.
Li Dingxun lay on the ground, laughing heartily.
In sixteen years, since birth, it was the first time he had laughed so unrestrainedly, so brightly.
These laughs echoed in the cavern, low like mockery.
For some unknown reason, the twelve Blood Demons were slow to revive from the blood waterfall. When Li Dingxun's laughter subsided, everything fell into silence.
But it was not ultimate stillness; the roaring of the blood still echoed in his ears, and the statues seemed to come alive.
Shadows emerged from within them, glowing with blood-red light, converging into a torrent that rushed towards Li Dingxun, beginning to gnaw at his flesh.
Sparks flew; his tendons and bones were indeed like iron and stone.
His essence was constantly being drawn away by these specters. This was a sacrifice, and Li Dingxun was the best offering, the body of a war god, the will and soul of a war god.
Death is my friend, and now he cordially invites me to be the master of the Realm of Nothingness.
Li Dingxun blinked, looking at the moon.
Before his eyes were these suddenly appearing blood shadows, they were merely tools. Flying, they were like the agents of death. They were the cause of an effect, the form and will of death descended upon them. Like a paintbrush, inscribing on the simple blank space of the night sky, writing "Lion Appearance Sect's Li Dingxun died in the early morning of the thirteenth day of the first month, Pure Land Calendar Year 116."
It wasn't a full moon night, which made Li Dingxun quite regretful.
However, he had not yet been killed by these blood shadows; they had absorbed enough blood and bone and flew into the blood pool.
Gurgling and bubbling, the sweet and rich fragrance of blood wafted, reminiscent of autumn malt candy, spring flower nectar, crispy fried silverfish, and tender, stewed meat bones.
Li Dingxun's skull-exposed head turned slightly, looking towards the blood pool.
The fragrance could not cover a stench.
A claw rested on the edge of the Yaksha's skull, then another, and more and more, hundreds of them.
A three-zhang-tall, hundred-armed monster rose from the blood pool.
Blood cascaded from its body with a whoosh, as if it had just emerged from a bath.
Its head was covered in arms, and countless beautiful, golden eyes grew from its dark palms.
Staring at Li Dingxun, its gaze was malicious.
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