Elder Chen's face twisted into a cruel, feverish expression. He tipped the Jade Bottle in his hand, and the thick fresh blood did not fall to the ground. Instead, it hovered in midair, turning into a streak of blood that he sucked into his mouth.
"Urrgh—!" Elder Chen let out a low roar that barely sounded human. His aura surged at a terrifying speed; his Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation level broke through to Qi Refining Level 9 within a few breaths—and continued climbing!
His gaunt body swelled as though inflated, veins bulging beneath his skin in an ominous dark red. His eyes turned completely bloodshot, filled with brutality and madness.
"Not enough! Still not enough!" Elder Chen's voice was hoarse as his gaze suddenly swept toward the miners huddled in the corner beneath the Defense Barrier, greed and bloodlust gleaming in his eyes. "Offer up your Essence Blood as well!"
His five fingers curled into claws, and he clawed fiercely through the air toward the miners!
Buzz—
The Defense Barrier Li Chengjie had set up shook violently, cracks spreading across it!
The miners within the barrier let out terrified screams. They felt as if their blood were boiling, about to burst from their bodies, while their life force was being forcibly drawn away!
"Stop him! He's draining the miners' Essence Blood!" Xiao Yan roared. Crimson Sun True Fire formed into a massive flaming spear and shot fiercely toward Elder Chen, carrying the force to burn away all evil.
"Hehehe... a mantis trying to stop a chariot!" Elder Chen neither dodged nor evaded. With a casual wave of his hand, a dense curtain of blood-red light appeared before him.
The flaming spear struck the curtain with sizzling burns, yet could not advance an inch. Instead, it was swiftly corroded and