A wave of savage power crashed forward, and Yang Kai was the first to bear its brunt, instantly engulfed by the onslaught.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The Ice-Fire Ninefold Heaven secret technique ground past him before gradually dissipating, its might fading into nothing.
Yet Wu Mengchuan remained rooted in place, his expression grave, staring fixedly ahead.
When the dust settled, Yang Kai hovered in the void, his robes in tatters. Though he looked wretched, his life was in no danger. His expression was solemn, his hands forming seals.
A mysterious aura billowed outward.
An overwhelming sense of unease suddenly seized Wu Mengchuan, making his heart pound wildly. For reasons he couldn't explain, he felt as though time itself was slowing down—as if his perception had been suppressed and everything around him had come to a standstill. The only exception was Yang Kai, whose movements were as swift as a bolt of lightning.
A brilliant hand seal took shape in an instant. Yang Kai thrust his palm toward Wu Mengchuan and shouted in a low voice, "Time Flies Like a Shuttle!"
Wu Mengchuan's face went pale with alarm. Instinct warned him that lethal danger was bearing down on him. He wanted to dodge, but he couldn't move a muscle—his very thoughts seemed to freeze in that fleeting moment.
Even the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art failed to activate.
The radiant hand seal hurtled directly toward Wu Mengchuan.
At that critical juncture, Wu Mengchuan bit down on the tip of his tongue, spraying a mouthful of essence blood. He flipped his wrist, and a blood-red bottle appeared in his hand. The bottle didn't look large—perhaps a foot tall—but the instant it materialized, it radiated an incredibly thick scent of blood.
A scarlet radiance suddenly burst forth from within the bottle. The light was so dense it was nearly solid, and its pungent metallic odor was suffocating. The radiance began to flow, spreading forward in a wash of crimson.
From a distance, it looked as though a vast crimson sea had unfurled in an instant, flooding an enormous stretch of void.
Boom, boom, boom…
The Time Flies Like a Shuttle Seal slammed into the sea of blood, raising colossal waves that churned and roiled. Wu Mengchuan grunted repeatedly, staggering backward.
Even though he had deployed this strange artifact, he still couldn't avoid being struck by the Flowing Time Great Emperor's divine ability. His features aged rapidly, and he appeared seriously wounded. However, his expression gradually steadied, losing the panic he had shown moments before.
Gritting his teeth and glowering at Yang Kai, Wu Mengchuan growled, "I didn't expect you to possess such a divine ability!"
Yang Kai frowned deeply, carefully surveying his surroundings.
From the moment Wu Mengchuan had brought out the blood-red bottle, only three breaths had passed. Yet the environment around him had undergone a complete transformation.
The air reeked of blood, thick and cloying. Below, the sea of blood churned ceaselessly, bubbling and gurgling, and faint sounds drifted up from within—the wailing of ghosts and the howling of spirits.
The surrounding space appeared to have been severed from everything else by this blood sea. Despite Yang Kai's mastery over the power of space, he couldn't sense anything beyond the blood sea's perimeter. It was as though this place had suddenly become a small self-contained world, much like the Mysterious Boundary Bead—completely isolated from the outside.
What in the world is this? Yang Kai wondered. The only thing he could be certain of was that the blood-red bottle was an Emperor Treasure!
And more likely than not, it was an Emperor Treasure left behind by the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor. After all, Wu Mengchuan hadn't yet reached the Emperor realm—he couldn't possibly possess his own Emperor Treasure.
If this truly was a treasure of the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor, then the situation had just become extremely serious. Yang Kai's expression darkened.
"Boy, what kind of ability is this? It's completely different from the spatial laws you just used!" Wu Mengchuan shouted sharply.
Yang Kai glanced at him coldly and snorted. "A dead man has no need to ask questions."
Wu Mengchuan blinked, then burst into hearty laughter. "Bold words from a brat! But forcing me to use the Blood Spirit Bottle is something you can be proud of!"
"Blood Spirit Bottle!" Yang Kai's eyebrows rose. Now he knew the name of the Emperor Treasure.
"That's right!" Wu Mengchuan said with undisguised pride. "This is an Emperor Treasure passed down from our ancestor, one that only those of the Wu bloodline can activate. No one else could possibly command it. The Blood Spirit Bottle isn't our ancestor's finest work, but more than enough to deal with you, boy."
So it really was an Emperor Treasure left by the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor for his descendants. Yang Kai's heart sank.
Wu Mengchuan continued, "Inside my Blood Spirit Bottle, even if you command the power of space, don't even think about escaping. Today you will either submit to me or die here!"
Yang Kai sneered, "You'd better worry about yourself first. You've been hit by my Flowing Time ability—how much longer do you think you have to live?"
Though the Time Flies Like a Shuttle Seal hadn't achieved the effect he'd hoped for, it had at least wounded Wu Mengchuan. His rapidly aging face was proof enough. Moreover, the Time power that had infiltrated his body wouldn't be easy to dispel—it would continue corroding Wu Mengchuan's vitality until he withered away and died.
"A mere secret technique—what can it do to me?" Wu Mengchuan snorted coldly. He waved his hand, and the blood below surged toward him like ten thousand rivers flowing into the sea. As the crimson liquid flooded into him, the aged features on his face quickly regained their luster, as though he were no longer suffering the erosion of Time power.
But Yang Kai keenly noticed that Wu Mengchuan had furrowed his brow for just a moment, revealing a flash of shock.
And the restored face quickly began to age once more.
"What is this power?!" Wu Mengchuan finally lost his composure, his voice filled with astonishment.
His method of absorbing the blood water to restore his vitality was treating the symptoms, not the cause. As long as he kept consuming the blood water he might survive, but the moment he stopped, death would claim him. Realizing this, Wu Mengchuan was finally struck by genuine fear.
Yang Kai burst into laughter, mocking him. "Can't you devour all things? Why not devour some and feel for yourself what it's like?"
"You little—court death! I had intended to spare your life and put you to use, but now I see I have no choice but to kill you!" Wu Mengchuan roared in fury. With a sweep of his hand, the blood sea churned violently, and a blood dragon burst forth from its depths. The dragon was vividly lifelike, its eyes the size of houses, its fangs and claws bared as it lunged toward Yang Kai with terrifying ferocity.
To Wu Mengchuan's surprise, faced with such a savage strike, Yang Kai simply stood his ground and let out a faint, cold laugh.