Chapter 298 - 171: An Overwhelming Crush, Clouds Rise Over Wushan Mountain
"Form the Blood Light Grand Array!"
The other Profound Gang expert from the Blood River Sect snapped out of his terror and let out a piercing shriek.
The image of their Squad Leader being annihilated by a single strike was still fresh in his mind, chilling him to the bone. He knew that fighting alone was suicide. Their only hope for survival was to combine their strength.
"As ordered!"
The five remaining Innate Martial Masters of the Blood River Sect suppressed the fear in their hearts. Their figures flickered as they instantly took their positions, surrounding the Vice Squad Leader to protect him.
They rapidly formed Seal Techniques with their hands, and the Blood Qi in their bodies surged wildly. Five thick, crimson pillars of light erupted from their Celestial Spirits, shooting toward the heavens. Then, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, the light poured entirely into the Vice Squad Leader’s body.
"Aaargh—!"
The Blood River Sect’s Vice Squad Leader roared as his Blood Robe disintegrated. On his exposed skin, countless bizarre and sinister crimson patterns spread and bulged like living creatures, emitting an uncanny red glow.
Immediately after, his aura began to skyrocket, growing exponentially more powerful as a formidable presence surged from him.
"Let us go! Otherwise... we’ll take you down with us!"
The Blood River Sect’s Vice Squad Leader’s eyes were crimson. He glared fixedly at Chen Sheng, who hovered in mid-air, his voice low and hoarse from the sudden influx of power.
’The power Chen Sheng just showed is too horrifying. Even after forcibly enhancing myself with the Array Power, I have no confidence in victory. Forcing him to retreat would be the best outcome.’
’I’d be able to report back, and I might even be able to seize the Squad Leader’s seat for myself.’
"A disorderly mob."
Chen Sheng hovered in the air, his jet-black official robe whipping about in the surging currents of his Gang Qi.
He held the Dragon Roar Blade in one hand, his indifferent gaze looking down on the six men in their array. He looked at them as if they were mayflies trying to shake a tree.
"Then you can just die!"
The Vice Squad Leader of the Blood River Sect was utterly enraged by the contempt in Chen Sheng’s eyes. With a furious roar, the bloody light enveloping his body flared violently.
BOOM!
The light in a radius of dozens of yards seemed to be devoured, transforming into a viscous, bloody curtain.
Soon, a giant palm, fully ten zhang in size and formed entirely of condensed bloody light, materialized above the Vice Squad Leader’s head.
The palm’s lines were clearly visible, and it reeked with a nauseatingly thick stench of blood. Radiating a power that could crush anything in its path, it slammed down toward Chen Sheng.
Before the palm even arrived, the sheer pressure of its descent caused the ground below to crack apart, turning grass and trees to dust.
A cold glint appeared in Chen Sheng’s eyes. With a mere thought—
CLANG—!
The phantom of a massive, ancient, dark-gold bell suddenly materialized around him, completely enveloping him.
Crimson runes and a faint golden halo flowed and intertwined across the bell’s surface, radiating a majestic aura that was both indestructible and capable of warding off all evil.
This was the Innate Protective Golden Bell.
And now that Chen Sheng had stepped into the Profound Gang Realm, his use of this Divine Technique made its power all the more terrifying.
The next instant, the colossal blood-red palm slammed squarely into the phantom of the Golden Bell.
BOOOM!!!
An earth-shattering boom erupted.
It was followed by the deafening chime of a bell, even more magnificent and resonant than the boom.
Terrifying sound waves and shockwaves radiated outward in all directions. In their wake, ancient trees wide enough for a man to wrap his arms around snapped in half, the very ground was scoured of its top layer, and dust and rubble were blasted into the sky.
"What?!"
The pupils of the Blood River Sect’s Vice Squad Leader contracted abruptly, his face a mask of disbelief.
’The Blood Palm, powered by the strength of six men, couldn’t even budge the Golden Bell?’
However, his horror had only just begun.
In the instant the aftershocks from the collision of the palm and the bell had yet to fully dissipate, a beam of blade energy flashed out from within the Golden Bell. It was darker, more condensed, and seemed sharp enough to slice through space itself.
SHIIING—!
Like a hot knife slicing through lard, the impossibly powerful blood-red palm was split in two by the beam of blade energy, cleaved from its center to its base without the slightest resistance.
The giant palm then disintegrated, exploding into a shower of crimson light that rained across the sky.
The beam of blade energy burst forth from the palm, its momentum not only unbroken but increasing.
As the phantom of the Golden Bell dissipated, Chen Sheng’s figure shot up like a specter. He gripped the hilt of the Dragon Roar Blade with both hands, took aim at the six men enveloped by the bloody light shield below, and swung down fiercely.
"Not good!"
The Vice Squad Leader of the Blood River Sect was scared out of his wits. That familiar, despair-inducing aura of death enveloped him again, shaking his very soul. He finally understood just how terrifying the strike that had felled the Squad Leader truly was.
Without hesitation, he shrieked:
"Form the defensive formation—the Blood River Celestial Cover!!"
The six men desperately poured their remaining Gang Qi and True Qi—even overdrawing from their very essence—into the bloody light shield above their heads.
In that instant, the shield’s bloody glow intensified, its thickness seemingly multiplying several times over. Viscous, blood-like runes flowed across its surface like a river.
"Sever!"
His cold cry fell.
A frigid blade beam, over ten zhang in length and carrying a piercing Mental Realm capable of severing all things and destroying all methods, slammed viciously onto the very top of the bloody light shield.
BOOM—!!!!!
A collision even more violent than before shook the mountain forest.
A blinding light instantly consumed the area, and the terrifying force of the impact made the surrounding ground tremble.
Watching from a distance, Li Huai Sheng and the others had no choice but to circulate their True Qi to protect themselves, retreating again and again.
Amid the light and dust, the supposedly indestructible bloody light shield, like an eggshell struck by a sledgehammer, began to flicker violently. It emitted an overburdened groaning sound.
It held for less than a single breath—
KRAK!
A clear cracking sound rang out.
BOOOM!!!
The bloody light shield shattered completely, exploding into countless crimson streamers that scattered in every direction.
As if struck by a massive blow, all six men in the array spat out a mouthful of blood. Their bodies were violently thrown back by the brutal aftershock, and the formation instantly collapsed.