Unable to Leave

Fahua Temple had been abandoned for a long time. Legend had it that a ghost domain lay nearby, and anyone dragged into it would never be reborn!

"Mystic Thunder Talisman Array!"

Qingyuan Old Daoist had some reputation throughout the surrounding villages. Though he was no match for Blood Shadow Ghost Mother, that did not mean he could not take down a mere Blood Demon.

What cultivator these days did not have a few tricks up his sleeve?

The Blood Demon had been nurtured by Blood Shadow Ghost Mother at an enormous cost, and it possessed the strength of the Ninth Level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Now that Qingyuan Old Daoist faced an evil being of the same realm, he had no choice but to take it seriously.

He pulled ten talismans from the bag on his person and silently recited an incantation.

The ten talismans quickly rose into the air and surrounded the Blood Demon.

As though they had sensed one another, lightning linked the talismans together, then gathered and struck the Blood Demon at their center.

Lightning was exceptionally lethal to evil beings!

"Roarrr..."

Caught off guard, the Blood Demon let out a howl as white smoke began to rise from its body.

The Blood Demon's outermost layer had originally been viscous blood.

But now, the blood churned and shrank back, soon exposing an enormous skeleton.

The skeleton extended a giant hand and seized two of the talismans at once, tearing at them with all its might without the slightest regard for the lightning striking its body.

Qingyuan Old Daoist frowned, bit his finger, and flicked a drop of blood toward the talismans.

"Crackle!"

The talismans' power surged again, and their defenses rose by another level.

For the moment, man and demon were locked in a stalemate.

Over by the main hall!

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother could no longer spare attention for the Blood Demon. She merely diverted a portion of the blood from the Blood Spring to support it.

After that, she focused all her attention on Zhang You.

She knew she could not drag this out. Once the others arrived, her situation would turn dire!

She was not arrogant enough to believe she could fight all the cultivators in the city alone.

Gritting her teeth in secret, she hurriedly mobilized the Blood Shadows to surround Zhang You, hoping to probe his condition.

Zhang You was currently undergoing his eighth Great Body Tempering!

Facing an enemy, he could only force himself to endure the excruciating pain without letting out a sound.

The Great Body Tempering was already nearing its end. In another quarter of an hour, it would more or less be complete.

By then, his strength would rise another step. Would Blood Shadow Ghost Mother not be easy prey?

At times, he took a deep breath. A while later, he held his forehead as though pondering something. Soon after, he rolled his eyes, ground his teeth, and twisted his face into a grimace.

To Blood Shadow Ghost Mother, all these strange reactions looked like he was holding back some ultimate move.

In truth, she was overthinking it. Zhang You merely felt that he was about to be unable to withstand the pain brought by the Great Body Tempering.

He had held his breath all along, stubbornly forcing himself to endure.

At that moment, the Blood Shadows closed in as well!

Zhang You could only forcibly mobilize part of his blood qi and sweep it out. Every Blood Shadow that approached was instantly blasted into ashes.

More than a dozen streams of blue-white qi were absorbed by him once again.

The progress of his body tempering actually accelerated once more!

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother discovered that Zhang You's attack power had grown stronger again. Looking carefully, she found that his aura was continuously rising as well!

Though she did not know why, it was clearly not a good thing!

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother immediately ordered the Blood Shadows to charge forward regardless of cost, while she herself raised her cane and rushed toward Zhang You.

She had to stop him as quickly as possible!

"Four Symbols: White Tiger: Thunderclap!"

Zhang You smiled faintly. He simply stopped enduring and directly unleashed a sonic howl.

This sonic howl contained all the restraint he had endured before, and its power unexpectedly increased greatly.

Many Blood Shadows in every direction exploded beneath this thunderous blast.

In the blink of an eye, dozens more streams of blue-white qi were absorbed by him.

At this moment, blood flowed from his seven orifices, dense cracks appeared all over his body, and blood sprayed wildly. He looked every inch a man of blood, while his aura weakened greatly in an instant.

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother's gaze turned cold. She broke through the sonic howl and appeared above Zhang You's head in an instant, bringing her cane down heavily toward his skull.

"Boom!"

That strike contained terrifying spiritual power. It was an all-out blow without restraint; its destructive force was easy to imagine.

A deep crater was left where he stood, and the scattered spiritual power surged outward.

Qingyuan Old Daoist and the Blood Demon were both caught in it and sent flying back.

Smoke and dust billowed in every direction, making it impossible to see what was inside.

For some unknown reason, the Blood Demon's aura had dropped sharply at this moment.

Qingyuan Old Daoist seized the opportunity. The longsword on his back flew out, brimming with explosive spiritual power as it pierced straight down through the Blood Demon's Spiritual Root.

"Crack..."

The Blood Demon shattered across the ground.

Still uneasy, Qingyuan Old Daoist retrieved the thunder talismans and threw out dozens more fire talismans.

"Bang..."

The Blood Demon was quickly burned until not even ash remained.

Qingyuan Old Daoist swiftly approached the great crater within.

When the smoke and dust dispersed, the scene inside was revealed.

Zhang You stood bare-chested, the blood qi around him even denser than before, extending a full meter from his body.

His left hand tightly gripped Blood Shadow Ghost Mother's cane, while his right hand clutched her throat.

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother struggled constantly, but it was clearly futile.

She had just tried to activate the Blood Spring when Zhang You crushed it beneath one stomp.

"You... you... you..."

Blood Shadow Ghost Mother revealed a terrified expression. Though it could not be seen clearly, both Zhang You and Qingyuan Old Daoist sensed it.

"Spare... spare me, I... I..."

Zhang You gave a cold laugh. An enormous tiger phantom appeared behind him and plunged into Blood Shadow Ghost Mother's body in a single motion.

Very soon, Blood Shadow Ghost Mother's body rapidly shriveled.

With a slight exertion of force from Zhang You, she turned to ashes and scattered across the ground.

At the final moment just now, he had absorbed much blue-white qi, accelerating the Great Body Tempering process, though he had also suffered an even greater impact.

In the end, he still held on and successfully entered the Eighth Stage of the First Realm!

At that moment, a dense stream of blue-white qi was absorbed by Zhang You.

It seemed that killing these evil cultivators would also produce blue-white qi!

"So it was you!"

Qingyuan Old Daoist stood outside the crater and cried out in surprise.

Zhang You's face had now been revealed.

Old Daoist had been to Auspicious Cloud Teahouse before, so he had seen Zhang You. He knew Zhang You was a waiter at Auspicious Cloud Teahouse, known as the "Little Tyrant"!

At that moment, a stream of blue-white qi flew out of him and was absorbed by Zhang You.

"What, do you want to eat me too?"

Zhang You leaped out of the crater in one bound.

"No, no, no! I am a proper Daoist cultivator, not an evil cultivator!"

Qingyuan Old Daoist took several steps back and hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

Eat him? Was that not simply courting death?

"I just do not understand. Am I really that fragrant? Am I really that delicious?"

Zhang You looked at Old Daoist.

"In this era, anything with abundant blood qi, including people, will be fought over by Daoist cultivators! Especially Martial Arts practitioners like you—you are even more of a prized delicacy. I heard that near the end of the Martial Arts era, the fates of Martial Arts cultivators were exceedingly miserable!"

Old Daoist shook his head and sighed.

"You must be careful from now on. Usually, you should also keep your blood qi concealed. Otherwise, once someone sets their sights on you, the trouble will be enormous!"

Old Daoist added another sentence.

During this period, Zhang You had long since kept his own blood qi hidden. Otherwise, if Shopkeeper Ling noticed it, things would not be pretty.

"We need to leave this place first!"

Qingyuan Old Daoist had already sensed many people approaching this area.

"I am afraid we cannot leave!"

Zhang You frowned and looked around.

"This is..."

Old Daoist seemed to sense something as well. Looking around, he was greatly alarmed.