Under the gaze of the World-Destroying Demonic Eye, the Lotus Secret Art was deployed simultaneously. A pure white lotus blossom flickered into existence and plunged into Yue Sang's mind.
In an instant, Yue Sang's field of vision was flooded by the white flower, and the power of his Divine Sense surged uncontrollably toward it. The petals unfurled layer by layer.
Right behind the flower, a blade of light slashed across the air, carrying terrifying lethal force!
World-Destroying Demonic Eye, Lotus Secret Art, Soul-Severing Blade, a void-piercing strike — in the span of a single breath, Yang Kai had unleashed all four killing techniques, all to catch his opponent off guard.
He had no other choice. The man was a Half-Saint. Without striking first, Yang Kai had absolutely no capital to fight back.
He suspected that even with everything he had, he might not be able to do much at all.
A sharp cry rang out as Yue Sang thrust his palm forward, slamming it squarely into Yang Kai's chest. The sound of cracking bone echoed through the air, and a flash of pain crossed Yang Kai's face as his body shot backward like an arrow from a bow.
While still airborne, Yang Kai forced a breath into his lungs and summoned the Mountain-River Bell, bringing it crashing down over Yue Sang from above.
With a tremendous splash, Yang Kai crashed into the sea of blood. His robes corroded rapidly, and even the flesh beneath couldn't withstand the terrifying corrosive force. By the time he burst back out of the blood sea, his entire body was covered in wounds — not a single patch of intact skin remained.
Fortunately, his Dragon Vein body boasted extraordinary regenerative ability, and injuries of this severity weren't truly critical.
Yue Sang, on the other hand, had been caught completely off guard and had lost the initiative. He was now sealed within the Mountain-River Bell. An aura of heaven-and-earth suppression radiated outward, and violent booming sounds echoed from inside the bell — Yue Sang was clearly trying to find a way to break free. At the same time, a voice snarled through gritted teeth: "Yang Kai, I'll tear you to shreds!"
Though he sounded frantic with rage, his voice was still full of vigor.
Yang Kai clicked his tongue inwardly. His four killing techniques, launched together, could have critically wounded even a peak Demon King instantly. Yet against a Half-Saint, they had achieved only this much. The gap in power was truly an insurmountable chasm.
"Let's see you get out first," Yang Kai sneered, enduring the splitting headache as he formed hand seals. The patterns on the Mountain-River Bell glowed and the bell began to spin, and the aura of suppression grew ever more potent.
Maintaining the Mountain-River Bell's power at this level consumed a great deal of his energy, but if he didn't, Yue Sang would break free very quickly. Once the man was free, Yang Kai knew he wouldn't stand a chance.
Chasing Wind wasn't here. Dharma Avatar wasn't here. He was all alone in this place. But Yang Kai knew that both Chasing Wind and Dharma Avatar couldn't be far, because they had rushed after him the moment he took off — they simply weren't as fast.
Perhaps they had already discovered this blood sea and were working on breaking through. Both of them possessed Half-Saint-level cultivation, on par with Yue Sang. This blood sea shouldn't be able to hold them.
In other words, as long as he could hold on for a while, there was a chance they would link up with him.
But he couldn't pin all his hopes on them. Who knew what tricks this blood sea actually held? It might conceal powers he didn't know about — enough to delay even Dharma Avatar and Chasing Wind.
So while channeling the Mountain-River Bell's power, Yang Kai also extended his Divine Sense in every direction, searching for flaws in the blood sea.
But after searching high and low, he found nothing useful. The blood sea was essentially a massive formation — unless he could locate the formation eye, there was no way to break it.
However, in the course of his sweeping spiritual probe, he seemed to have triggered some kind of restriction.
From all around the blood sea, enormous bubbles continuously rolled to the surface and burst, making the surrounding blood mist even denser.
"You think trapping me means I can't touch you?" Yue Sang's voice came from within the Mountain-River Bell, dripping with mockery and derision. At some point he had stopped hammering at the bell — he'd likely realized just how troublesome this ancient treasure was. "Then let me show you the power of my Blood Light Grand Formation!"
The moment he finished speaking, accompanied by a great splash, a figure drenched in blood shot out from the sea. It lunged toward Yang Kai the instant it appeared, moving at terrifying speed, reaching him in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai squinted and couldn't help but be startled. The figure had no signs of life whatsoever — it was impossible to tell how long it had been dead. It was tall, with crimson eyes, and when it threw its punch, a sharp whistling tore through the air.
The attack caught Yang Kai completely off guard, and all he could do was throw a punch of his own.
BOOM. When their fists collided, Yang Kai's eyes went wide. He felt a colossal force crashing toward him and was forced back more than thirty feet. The figure, meanwhile, was sent flying by his blow. Its strength was considerable, but his was clearly greater.
Splashing sounds erupted in rapid succession as more than a dozen figures burst from the blood sea surrounding them — all like the first, devoid of life, with crimson eyes, though each shaped differently. The moment they appeared, they charged at Yang Kai without a word. Several of them circled around to flank him from both sides, their bodies erupting with towering columns of blood-red light, and one of them was entirely wreathed in scarlet flames — strikingly similar to the Demon Flame's innate ability.