Chapter 205

Chapter 205: Chaos Outside the Fortress

Deep purple Blood Surge swam towards them like water snakes from all directions.

Hongmo Zheng controlled the Formation Disk to resist the impact while Qian Qiu Yue summoned a white jade tower magical item, radiating circles of treasure light. Together, they prevented the Blood Surge from getting too close.

Li Hui exerted himself to scatter Cleansing Blood Talismans. Although their effects were minimal, they added up with the sheer number he had.

Even if these Cleansing Blood Talismans were weak, using tens of thousands at once could lower the approaching Blood Surge’s intensity, significantly easing the defense. If they could maintain this momentum, Hongmo Zheng and Qian Qiu Yue would be fine. However, the supply of spirit talismans was finite.

“Quick!”

“Quick!” After two incense sticks worth of time, when Li Hui reached for the bag of treasures holding the Cleansing Blood Talismans, he paused for a moment, then lifted his hand to release the last few hundred talismans. His pockets felt empty; he had exhausted all the Cleansing Blood Talismans.

With the current power of the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays, triggering talismans under seven patterns had almost no cost. Using spirit talismans on a large scale was indeed exhilarating; employing the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique made it incredibly flexible. But now, they were out of options—other talismans were ineffective against the Blood Surge.

“Boom…” The ground shook, and cracks spread.

Hongmo Zheng cursed, “Damn it! Without the spirit talismans, this is such a huge difference. Old two, release the Buddhist protector!”

“Stop calling names; who’s old two?” Li Hui didn’t want to argue, unleashing the golden shell to bolster his thoughts. He faintly heard prayer and chanting, with golden light splashing everywhere.

Unknowingly, the golden shell vanished, replaced by the Six-Armed Arhat standing in its place, with a solemn and determined face, looking like another Li Hui.

Compared to the original sword-wielding warrior, this six-armed arhat was only about ten feet tall, his entire body seemingly cast from dragon scale gold, shimmering with golden scales. Additionally, Yang Jueyu infused the Primitive Shell Symbol, while Li Hui stood outside, blending in with the Arhat Fruit in place of himself.

“Om… Ma…” The sound of Buddhism resonated, making everything tremble—the ground, the air, the magical items, and even the Blood Surge quivered.

Buddhist light enveloped everything, quickly purifying the malice within the blood, transforming the nearby Blood Surge from deep purple to golden purple.

“Eh?” Hongmo Zheng paused slightly, then burst into hearty laughter: “Ha ha ha, your Buddhist protector has some skill; such pure Blood Surge is a great tonic for us demon cultivators.”

As he spoke, he inhaled deeply, drawing in the golden purple Blood Surge into his belly, making a gurgling noise and producing two red splotches on his cheeks.

“Refining the surge, transforming the demon, reversing the pulse, and burning the essence.” Hongmo Zheng activated his demonic skills, causing a whirlpool to appear around his dantian, with many lights and shadows swirling up and down, as if trying to solidify their true form but hit various limitations preventing it from surfacing.

“Bosa realm?” Li Hui realized: “After Condensing Essence, the dantian produces strange phenomena with thousands of images swirling endlessly, trying to manifest its true spirit. This true spirit, undiminished, bonds with the soul, following fate; even if the physical body collapses, there’s a substantial chance to persist using secret techniques. Just like the Cold Armor Emperor transforming into a Blue Snake, surviving from ancient times to today—it’s unimaginable to reach such a level.”

After his reflection, he saw Blood Light erupting behind Hongmo Zheng, creating hazy shapes, while underfoot, a winding blood river surged toward an unknown distance.

The Buddhist light was precisely the nemesis of the Blood Surge or, more accurately, the nemesis of the aggression borne from the Blood Surge. The pure Blood Surge helped demon cultivators deepen their power, but without abundant Buddhist power, that’s nearly impossible.

Thanks to the assistance of the Primitive Shell Symbol, the Six-Armed Arhat manifested; Li Hui’s Buddhist powers were merely a prelude, while the true key to countering the Blood Surge lay with the Arhat Fruit.

“Good, good, good!”

Hongmo Zheng rejoiced, feeling his aura expand. Finally stabilizing his hold on the Formation Disk and absorbing these Blood Surges, he could hold on for at least two more incense sticks, which were incredibly vital.

Outside the Purple Fortress, both Hongmo Jiu and Hongmo Chu frowned simultaneously. Dugu Yi’s powers were formidable, and not being able to force him out was somewhat expected, but how could they not even push out Hongmo Xi and Hongmo Zhengfang?

“Can you smell that?” Hongmo Jiu suddenly asked Hongmo Chu.

“Smell what?” Hongmo Chu’s eyes widened when he saw the Slave Cultivators around the cart suddenly collapse to the ground, and the magic puppets behind the battle cart fell limp as if made of mud, leaving their defenses utterly useless.

A whistling noise rapidly approached, and a trident engulfed in terrifying black flames dropped from the sky. He was so enraged that there was no time to let out a shout, raising his hands with all his strength to slap the copper vessel tied to the cart.

“Boom…” The copper vessel erupted with light, releasing a colorful mist as if flipping palms upward, booming a welcome to the descending black flame trident.

Hongmo Jiu faced an attack as well, with eighteen black flags appearing in the sky, quickly forming the Flame Demon Gates Formation. Flames intertwined as murderous aura surged in, indicating the visitors meant no good, prompting him to shout, “King Xiaoshan, it’s time for you to perform; draw the sea of blood out of the Purple Fortress!”

“Outrageous! Do you want this king to perish here?” A blood-red coffin exclaimed from ten zhang away.

“Stop the nonsense! Our enemies came prepared, and if we don’t draw out the sea of blood to assault the Flame Demon Gates Formation, we will die here.” Hongmo Jiu’s expression turned vicious.

“Ten top-grade Blood Jade Miao Jades, three second tribulation artifacts, and I want to be released; no bargaining.”

“Alright, you know what nightfall will bring tomorrow; besides becoming a demon cultivator under my Hongmo, you have no other choice.” Hongmo Jiu scanned his surroundings with his spiritual sense, feeling heavy-hearted as he realized the sect’s other true disciples conspired against him and Hongmo Chu; there was no more time to think about it.

Before long, the blood-red coffin creaked ominously, creating an oppressive pressure that made the atmosphere change swiftly, as if something extraordinary was about to emerge…

While chaos erupted outside, inside the Purple Fortress, Hongmo Zheng and Qian Qiu Yue struggled to hold on. Li Hui released the Yin-Yang Nine Heads, glancing around.

The deep purple Blood Surge gathered wildly, thickening to at least a hundred zhang, enveloping the three of them.

The array map above turned to ash, the ground beneath the bug nest shrank to less than a zhang, and only five magical items remained to barely support them. Qian Qiu Yue’s white jade tower had long since disappeared, and the Six-Armed Arhat forged from the Primitive Shell Symbol also retracted, needing time to recover.

The three stood back to back, the situation becoming increasingly precarious.

Hongmo Zheng, pale-faced, forced a smile. “Hey, I’ve done all I can; you two better not hide anything. It looks like we can’t count on the fighting outside anymore.”

Qian Qiu Yue shook her head. “No, we can count on it; the fighting outside has already started. Didn’t you notice the sea of blood flowing back into the Purple Fortress?”

“Your spiritual sense is that strong?” Hongmo Zheng exclaimed joyfully. “You sensed it! Ha ha ha, I knew it! The heavens do not close all paths for people.”

Li Hui facepalmed, “Why do I feel like even if the sea of blood recedes, the encasing Blood Surge won’t thin out?”

“You’re right; the Blood Surge hasn’t increased but hasn’t thinned either, still binding us tightly.” Qian Qiu Yue pondered for a moment, stepping into her battle body, her expression sharp as a blade.

“Good, the beauty is ready to unleash her wrath.”

“Great Annihilation Sword! Annihilate, Annihilate, Annihilate!” A magnificent sword light erupted, and Qian Qiu Yue collapsed weakly into Li Hui’s embrace. Hongmo Zheng wanted to say something but thought it was too coincidental for her to fall into this brat’s arms, and why couldn’t she fall into his instead?