Too Late

"He's completely insane!"

Seeing the madness on Edel's face, Jiang Xinglan retorted, "Immortality? More like becoming a Blood Slave—a life controlled by others, feeding on blood, barely clinging to existence. You call that meaningful?"

Edel cackled. "What can a person achieve in a hundred years? Even if you possess wealth and glory, it is only a fleeting century. Could you become a Martial Saint? You're all merely ordinary people struggling at the bottom. Perhaps one day, experts from the Outer Domain will invade, and your entire Human Race will die to the last!"

"But if you submit to the Blood God, you can gain immortality! This may be your only chance—and the chance I spent my entire life painstakingly seeking. I am willing to share it with you!"

"As long as you kneel and submit, you will receive the Blood God's favor, gain power, immortality... Who in this world does not desire immortality? Ignorant people, you should cast aside the shackles of the mortal world and return to the destination of eternal life. Come, submit..."

Edel's bewitching voice, coupled with the effects of his Illusion Technique, left the three present reeling on the verge of collapse. Had it been anyone else, they might already have knelt and submitted.

Because Edel's Illusion Technique was too powerful, even Lin Qinghan, a third-rank sorcerer, was struggling to hold out with the energy she had released. She increased her Spiritual Power, driving the hundreds of inscriptions on the Sorcerer's Staff to exert their force together. Green light spread once more, barely keeping the three of them conscious.

"Utter nonsense!"

After hearing Edel's words, she pulled a silvery-white liquid tube from her pocket. It was filled with special Scorching Sun Yang Essence capable of suppressing evil.

She threw it out, and it exploded. Silvery-white specks burst through the air. With a forceful thrust of the Sorcerer's Staff—Ah!—the field energy surrounding the mirror was ripped apart. The light specks scattered over Edel, making smoke rise from all over his body, while cracks appeared on the mirror as well.

Edel had not expected her to throw out something so restraining to Yin Evil. His mind wavered, and patches of corrosion spread across his body, making him scream miserably.

But that did not stump him.

In the blink of an eye, he unleashed the Blood Demon form of the Blood Demon Illusion God. The blood mist around his body surged violently, making him seem like a true demon, and the injuries on his body began to heal.

The Blood Demon Illusion God possessed two abilities: Illusion Technique and its ultimate Blood Demon form. Once cast, it greatly increased one's strength and automatically healed the body, making it useful for escaping. Edel intended to buy the Blood God its final moments of time, so he used it. With him hiding within the Blood God's field energy, he was difficult to deal with for the moment.

"Break for me!" Suddenly, Jiang Xinglan unleashed her full combat strength. The boiling Internal Energy within her body churned as it poured fiercely into the short blade in her right hand. It seemed to carry the power to split mountains as it struck the Blood Shield, forcibly tearing open a gap and slashing across Edel's chest.

Splat! Edel screamed, but the bloody wound on his chest soon began to heal on its own. He stood firmly before the mirror, refusing to let them break through.

Jiang Xinglan erupted again and again. Though she could barely break through the Qi shield and forcibly injure Edel, his recovery ability was too strong. His wounds healed several times over. She could not kill him, could not break through his defenses, and thus could not reach the mirror inside and destroy it.

Boom! Jiang Xinglan's blade and Lin Qinghan's sorcerer methods struck again and again, yet the situation fell into a stalemate.

Jiang Xinglan knew this could not continue. The Blood God was about to emerge, so she immediately found a moment to issue an order through her Technology Watch. "Send ten Laser Flyers over! Hurry!"

She had not planned to use Laser cannons before, but the situation had clearly escalated. The other side was truly about to bring out the Blood God, and that was extremely dangerous.

Even if other martial artists arrived now, it would be of no use. Only Laser cannons could suppress it, but they needed time.

Suddenly, the area around the mirror shook violently, and blood energy surged out several times more fiercely.

Everyone looked toward the mirror. They could feel the evil aura there growing denser and denser, as though an invisible hand were tearing at the boundary between reality and the void. They all drew a deep breath. Clearly, the Blood God was emerging faster than expected. They did not have enough time.

"Hahaha! You think this can stop me?"

A trace of mockery entered Edel's voice. "The descent of the Evil God is already inevitable. All your struggles are nothing but futile..."

"Hm... What are you doing?"

Just as Edel was gloating madly, he noticed that something seemed to have changed as Chen Xia bombarded the blood-energy shield surrounding the mirror.

Even Jiang Xinglan could only barely break through the blood-energy shield, and it would swiftly recover afterward. Let alone Chen Xia.

Yet to everyone's utter surprise, every punch Chen Xia threw failed to break the shield, but streams of Qi energy continuously pierced through it and reached the mirror.

Crack! The mirror began to shatter slowly.

Edel froze. "How is that possible? He can pierce the Qi shield and touch the mirror?"

"This is..." At that moment, Jiang Xinglan and Lin Qinghan were stunned as well. They watched Chen Xia punch again and again, as though shells were bombarding the mirror. It truly was cracking. What was going on? Could it be...

Jiang Xinglan had heard Chen Xia mention before that he knew a Seven Injuries Fist, but she had not paid it much mind. Looking at it now, Chen Xia's talent was somewhat astonishing. This Qi energy possessed such terrifying penetrating power.

"As long as I shatter this mirror, your Blood God won't be able to come out!" Chen Xia turned his head toward Edel, his fists continuing to strike fiercely. The force of the Seven Injuries Fist within him erupted without end. A streak of blood-red sunlight even emerged around his fists, though it was mixed into the blood mist and impossible to distinguish.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Under Chen Xia's assault, the mirror was already showing signs of being completely destroyed, causing Edel's expression to change drastically.

Damn it!

Seeing that Chen Xia was about to shatter the mirror and turn all his efforts to nothing, Edel let out a low roar. He transformed into a red wave of energy that erupted in an instant and charged toward Chen Xia.

"Stop him!" Seeing Edel rush at Chen Xia, Lin Qinghan used the power of her Sorcerer's Staff to slow him down. Jiang Xinglan instantly rushed over and slashed at Edel's head. Edel immediately withdrew, continuing to hide within the Qi shield.

He used his body to shield the mirror, allowing Chen Xia's weakened Qi energy to strike him. His wounds healed automatically as he guarded it with all his might.

However, when he saw the situation within the mirror, Edel suddenly sneered. "Useless. It's too late."

Suddenly, a nauseating stench of blood filled the air. The temperature in the room plummeted, and the three could see white vapor in their breath.

"Hahaha!" Edel, clad in a black robe, laughed madly. "Too late."

"The Blood God's descent cannot be stopped. You're all dead."

"Our Night God Sect will surely flourish! And I will receive the Blood God's first embrace and gain immortality."

As the space around the mirror began to twist, a blurred figure gradually appeared.

A blood-red hand, seemingly nothing but skin stretched over bone, extended from the slightly shattered mirror. Then a second arm emerged as well.

Those two evil, elongated hands grabbed the frame along the mirror's edge. A blood-red head and half a body then crawled out in an instant.

The Blood God's towering body was covered in flowing blood, and its distorted face possessed two red, hollow eye sockets.

With only its two withered blood-red arms having emerged, the air throughout the hall became thick and viscous. An overpowering, nauseating stench of blood flooded every corner of the surrounding space.

Chen Xia felt as though his blood were about to burst through his veins, while countless shrill wails rang beside his ears.