Chapter Sixty-Five: Could It Be Him?

Lei Xiang instantly recognized the skulls; Ma Tao had used them before at the Hongji Academy. Back then, Ma Tao’s cultivation was shallow and he could only handle two skulls, whereas the Blood Fiend Sect’s leader could control six at once.

“This is the Blood Fiend Sect’s Rosy Skull Art. The pink poisonous mist it releases corrupts magical instruments—everyone, be careful, attack only from a distance!” Lei Xiang shouted, forming a hand seal. The swords circling above his head howled and merged together, transforming into a giant sword over ten feet long. Lei Xiang gripped it, majestic as a heavenly deity, and swung the massive blade from afar.

A sword beam over thirty feet long struck straight at the pink blood mist, erupting in a flash of blood-red light that kept the two rosy skulls at bay. The others, heeding Lei Xiang’s warning, also launched attacks from a distance.

Linghu Chong reversed the Autumn Water Bronze Mirror, sending out a white beam of light like a tumbling galaxy. Situ Hongji extended a fist the size of a bucket, striking out from afar; a row of fist shadows surrounded the skulls. The Prime Minister summoned a jade ruler, which split into dozens of white beams that shot forward, while another Core Formation cultivator wielded a colossal Sky Piercer Staff, smashing down with the weight of Mount Tai.

The two sides reached a stalemate.

Lei Xiang was puzzled. The Blood Fiend Sect’s leader was only at the initial stage of Core Formation, yet he held off the attacks of three Core Formation cultivators and two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Clearly, the sect’s techniques were unique, drawing forth all latent power through their blood arts. This had to be broken.

With this in mind, Lei Xiang switched the giant sword to his left hand and drew the Eight-Treasure Dragon-Laden Spear with his right. Activating the dragon horn’s lightning, he gathered his spiritual energy and breathed essence onto the spear. With a chant, the spear vanished mysteriously.

Lei Xiang’s right hand made another gesture, sending out a streak of white light at the blood-robed figure. Before the man could react, the white light was already overhead. With a thunderous boom, it exploded into waves of white shockwaves. The Blood Fiend Sect leader, a battle-hardened veteran, instantly responded. A section of the blood mist separated, meeting the white light and engulfing it. The light churned within the mist before gradually disappearing. The blood-robed man laughed loudly. “Ha! Such petty tricks, daring to flaunt them before me? Boy, eh... impossible!”

A glint of golden light shot straight at his throat.

What was this? When had it been launched? He had no time to ponder—the chill at his throat told him his blood mist defense was useless. The blood-robed man tried to duck, but his mind seemed to short-circuit, unable to command his body.

Only the Blood Fiend Sect’s leader, by instantly activating a secret art, forcefully shrank his body by nearly a foot. The golden light whistled past, only slicing away his conical hat and a lock of graying hair that drifted down.

All of this happened in a flash.

Lei Xiang sighed inwardly—it was a perfect plan: draw attention with the frontal assault, sneak attack with the Eight-Treasure Dragon-Laden Spear, and have Zhu Chi’s paralyzing strike incapacitate the target just long enough for the assassination. Yet he had not accounted for the Blood Fiend Sect’s secret arts.

The hat flew several yards away, and all eyes turned to the blood-robed man’s face, gasping in unison.

It was a face weathered by time, covered in wrinkles and age spots, with a narrow forehead—nothing like the broad, blessed brow of the Prince.

“Eunuch Old Chen?” Linghu Chong exclaimed. This was not the Prince, but Old Chen, the chief eunuch who served at his side. How could he be the Blood Fiend Sect’s leader, and why was he here to collect the sect’s spirit stones? Countless questions swirled in their minds, but there was no time to think. Old Chen had already begun his counterattack.

“Lei Xiang, for all your cleverness, you never foresaw this. Allow me, Chen, to send you on your way!” With that, Old Chen merged again into the blood light. The six skulls, as if commanded, hummed and vomited dense blood mist, attacking the group and forcing them into a frantic defense.

Lei Xiang was anxious. Zhu Chi’s surprise paralyzing move was now known and ineffective. The Gluttonous Mouth in the Vermilion Banner, though powerful, remained asleep even when called by divine sense. The Profound Heaven Fiery Array could not be set up in time. The only ace left was the Blue Lotus Disc, a secret known only to him and not to be revealed unless absolutely necessary.

What to do?

Through the blue gleam in his eyes, Lei Xiang could clearly see Old Chen within the blood light, weaving strange hand seals—no doubt preparing some dreadful secret art. If not stopped, none would escape.

Lei Xiang suddenly missed his sniper rifle. “If only I had a sniper now, one shot would settle this. No need for all this trouble.” But reality was never so kind. At last, Lei Xiang thought of a desperate measure—fight poison with poison!

He drew ten black talismans from his robe—his painstakingly crafted Black Cloud Rain Talismans, infused with the poison of the Black Miasma Ravine and the blood of three-legged frogs. Their toxicity was extraordinary. Since Old Chen’s blood mist was poisonous, he would counter with something deadlier.

The ten talismans flew toward Old Chen’s head. With a crisp snap of Lei Xiang’s fingers, they simultaneously detonated, releasing ten streams of pitch-black water that filled the air with a strange stench.

The black water plunged into the blood mist, which churned violently as black and red lights alternated—the two toxins clashing, evenly matched. Lei Xiang nodded in satisfaction. With a tap of his storage pouch, he produced a silver spindle-shaped magical tool but did not immediately unleash it. Instead, he began transmitting a message to the others.

“Everyone, I’ve entangled the blood mist with Black Cloud Rain Talismans. Next, I’ll use the Frost Heaven Dart to freeze it. Once I succeed, attack the frozen blood mist with all your might. I estimate the Frost Heaven Dart will hold for only ten breaths, or five if Old Chen intervenes, so be quick and strike hard. Shatter the blood mist, and Old Chen inside will be at our mercy.”

With no hesitation, Lei Xiang hurled the Frost Heaven Dart, which struck the blood mist near Old Chen without a sound. A wave of freezing energy erupted, instantly turning the blood mist into blood-red ice. “Now!” Lei Xiang shouted, his hands forming seals as his figure vanished.

Old Chen was stunned. What was Lei Xiang up to—freezing his protective blood light with the Frost Heaven Dart, then vanishing? There was no time to ponder; Situ Hongji and the others’ attacks had already arrived, shattering great chunks of blood-red ice. Old Chen fumed—Lei Xiang was a sly and slippery foe.

Without thinking, Old Chen formed a seal, summoning a blood-red gourd above his head. About half a foot long, it shed its own lid, and a plume of blood-colored flame poured out, instantly melting the frozen blood mist. Situ Hongji and the others’ attacks fell to nothing, but Old Chen’s protective blood light was now less than half its original strength.

“Lei Xiang, I’ll kill you!” Old Chen was truly enraged. Lei Xiang had foiled his plans, stolen his spirit stones, and now this—he was determined to see Lei Xiang dead. But the cunning youth was nowhere to be found. Old Chen swept the area with his spiritual sense three or four times, but found nothing.

Suddenly, more than thirty feet behind Old Chen, spiritual energy surged and a streak of black light shot forth. Old Chen instantly separated a fifth of his blood mist to form a giant blood hand, seizing the area where the energy fluctuated.

Nothing.

Lei Xiang was nowhere to be seen. Old Chen was about to use another secret art to search again when Linghu Chong and the others renewed their assault, forcing him to fend them off. The black light, meanwhile, reached not Old Chen but his surrounding blood mist. On contact, it burst open with a soft pop, causing no harm.

However, the blood mist was thrown into chaos. The remaining black water, as if hearing a call to arms, erupted with immense spiritual power, the blackness overwhelming the blood light—the hidden Tianjingzi within the Black Cloud Rain Talismans, triggered by Lei Xiang.

With a thunderous boom, Old Chen’s protective blood mist was blown apart. Situ Hongji and the others seized the moment, unleashing their deadliest attacks. Old Chen smirked coldly, about to regroup his blood mist and trap the magical weapons, when disaster struck.

A silent blue lightning bolt appeared without warning seven or eight yards before Old Chen and slashed at his throat in a flash—its speed was beyond imagining.

Never in his wildest dreams had Old Chen expected such speed. As the saying goes, “Of all techniques in the world, speed is unrivaled.” Lei Xiang’s Divine Thunder Slash struck before he could react—a decapitating blow. His attack unfinished, his head tumbled away, rolling across the ground. Lei Xiang, forced into view by the attack, shouted, “Attack now! Don’t let him revive! Senior Linghu, use Autumn Waters to match the horizon!”

Reminded, Linghu Chong flashed the Autumn Waters Treasure Mirror, unleashing a silver-white pillar of light that enveloped Old Chen’s body. Lei Xiang threw another Frost Heaven Dart, freezing Old Chen’s head. With a sigh of relief, everyone wondered—just how many Frost Heaven Darts did Lei Xiang have? Could he never run out?

As they gathered to decide Old Chen’s fate, the frozen head suddenly exploded. A blood-red sphere emerged, instantly teleporting forty yards away and vanishing from sight. It reappeared a hundred yards farther, well beyond the barrier’s range.

“Don’t let his primordial spirit escape!”

But a hundred yards is not so easily crossed, and there was still the barrier Old Chen had set up—breaking it would take time.

Far away, Old Chen’s primordial spirit fled. In Lei Xiang’s mind, a message echoed: “You little brat, just you wait!”