" Blood River Vine? You actually found this treasure!"
Huang Changhe looked surprised. "No wonder, no wonder you dared to enter this deadly trap even though you knew it was a dead end!"
Upon hearing the name of the Blood Vine in Huang Changhe, Deng Qing's heart was also in turmoil.
The Devour Heaven Scripture contains a chapter on Blood Identification Art, which specifically mentions the Blood River Vine. This vine is extremely yin and has the extraordinary ability to devour Sha Qi and assimilate bloodlines.
Now, Deng Qing understood why Li Dashan dared to extract Blood Baleful Intent from the blood pool; it turned out that the Blood River Vine was devouring this Sha Qi. Awakening was only a matter of time.
The Blood River Vine requires flesh and blood as a guide, and even more so, it needs to be balanced with extremely yang substances; otherwise, it is simply impossible to control.
Thus, Deng Qing understood why the two severed fingers were embedded in the blood vine, and why the extremely yang-like Wasteland Bone was embedded at the top of the blood vine.
As Deng Qing was secretly pondering Li Dashan's plan, Huang Changhe cheered, "Using your own flesh and blood as the pivot, drawing the Blood River Vine to recognize you as its master, locking in your essence and blood, and then using the Wasteland Bone to suppress your spirit. With external Sha Qi invading your body and internal destiny binding you, it can always preserve a sliver of clarity for you. What a brilliant plan, what a brilliant scheme, all excellent!"
"It seems you've set your sights on it, Senior Brother. In that case, Senior Brother, come and snatch it!"
Li Dashan leaped forward, heading straight for Huang Changhe, and swung the Blood River Vine, striking down on his head.
Huang Changhe let out a series of long howls, parrying with his sword, but the vine tip suddenly bent and swept towards his temple.
He turned his head to avoid it, and a Stone Pillar beside him was struck by the vine tip and shattered on the spot.
Huang Changhe sneered, and his blood sword pierced out, a long rainbow flashing in the air.
Li Dashan neither dodged nor yielded, letting the sword pierce his shoulder, while the Blood River Vine in his hand wrapped around the sword and tightened its grip.
The two exerted their strength simultaneously, resulting in a stalemate.
On the other side of the battlefield, Deng Qing was also entangled by several Blood Corpse.
These creatures feel no pain; even if their chests collapse, they will still pounce and entangle; if their arms are broken, they will tear at them with their mouths.
Deng Qing Elephant Hurls, Mountain Crumbles, smashing the foremost Blood Corpse into the rubble. Just as he was about to give chase, a Blood Corpse from the side bypassed him and headed straight for the fallen Zhou Heng.
He had no choice but to turn around and stop them.
Deng Qing Deng Qing was locked in a fierce battle when suddenly, a tall figure rushed over and blocked the Blood Corpse charging from his right.
When Deng Qing turned around, it was Fang Bingshan.
Fang Bingshan, "Junior brother, what amazing skills!"
Deng Qing said, " Senior Brother Fang, you rest a little longer. I can handle it."
Fang Bingshan, "We've undergone a Mutation, after all; we're not made of clay. We've recovered to about 70-80% by now."
As they were speaking, Zhang Yan and his fellow Senior Brother rushed forward.
The moment they engaged in battle, the situation instantly turned one-sided.
Deng Qing already had a method to deal with Blood Corpse, just like Huang Changhe had dealt with Li Dashan before, by utilizing the special abilities of the Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood.
However, he had to deal with eight Blood Corpse by himself, so he could only keep using the Collapse Step combined with the Elephant-Throwing Method to throw stones, and he had no way to perform precise operations.
Now that he has the upper hand, he can do it this way.
Just as Zhang Yan and Fang Bingshan were holding up a Blood Corpse, Deng Qing immediately went around to the back of the Blood Corpse.
He gripped the back of the Blood Corpse's neck with one hand and held its shoulder with the other. Several strands of Blood Baleful Intent had already entered from under Deng Qing's palm, following the tangled Meridians inside the Blood Corpse to find the constantly flowing Sha Qi.
With the Blood Control Art activated, a wisp of turbid, dark red energy was guided out by Deng Qing through his other hand.
Instantly, the Blood Corpse's grabbing hand froze in mid-air.
Deng Qing continued to draw blood, and the bulging Meridians under the Blood Corpse's skin gradually deflated, its chest and abdomen began to collapse, and the flesh that had been tightly wrapped around the bones also loosened.
A moment later, as soon as Deng Qing let go, the Blood Corpse knelt down.
With a crash, the flesh and bones of the Blood Corpse scattered, like Lego bricks collapsing.
Zhang Yan glanced at the wreckage on the ground, then looked at Deng Qing, "So... this is it?"
Deng Qing let out a breath, "Fellow Senior Brother, let's switch to the next one!"
With this experience, the subsequent process of defeating the Blood Corpse became much faster.
The senior Senior Brother worked in pairs, covering each other, and lured the Blood Corpse to an open area.
Deng Qing specifically targeted the back of the Blood Corpse, drawing the Blood Baleful Intent outwards as soon as it entered.
Before long, all eight Blood Corpse fell to the ground, their bones and flesh scattered everywhere.
Deng Qing breathed a sigh of relief, quickly sat down cross-legged, Devour Heaven Scripture activated the Wasteland Blood in his Dantian to restore his body.
Zhang Yan and the others marveled at the sight, but dared not disturb Deng Qing.
Just then, Huang Changhe burst into loud laughter, " Junior Brother Li, you've wasted half your life!"
Zhang Yan and the others stared intently and saw Li Dashan holding the Blood River Vine, standing amidst a pile of rubble, with countless wounds on his chest, shoulders and back.
The blood in the wound couldn't flow out; it clung to the exposed flesh.
Huang Changhe stood a few feet away, his cloak mostly torn off, but his expression remained calm.
Huang Changhe chuckled and said, "Junior brother, you've gone to great lengths to make yourself look like this, neither human nor ghost, but in the end, you still can't do anything to me."
If it were me, I would have found a block of tofu and smashed my head against it to my death.
"Shameless old thief!"
"Master, we've come to help you!"
"..."
Zhang Yan and the others were about to pounce, but Li Dashan waved his hand to stop them, shouting, "Don't come any closer!"
When Li Dashan turned around, Zhang Yan and the others were startled and stood frozen in place.
On Li Dashan's grayish-blue forehead, two thick veins bulged out, extending all the way to his eye sockets.
Those eyes were frighteningly red, as if filled with miasma, threatening to devour his entire eyeballs.
At the same time, Li Dashan let out a heavy panting, and the joints on his back throbbed as if something was trying to break free.
The Blood River Vine in his hand was taut and straight, and the Wasteland Bone at its tip began to spin rapidly.
Li Dashan abruptly closed his eyes. After a few breaths, when he opened them again, the "miasma" in his eyes had finally faded somewhat.
Huang Changhe, much like Duke Xiang of Song who refused to attack halfway across the river, deliberately allowed Li Dashan to recover, even praising him, "Using the Blood River Vine to bind him, and the Wasteland Bone as a pivot, to hold his soul and prevent his mind from becoming scattered. Junior Brother Li, you truly have some ingenuity."
Deng Qing also understood that the Wasteland Bone at the top of the Blood River Vine was the key to Li Dashan's forced sanity.
Otherwise, given the countless Sha Qi Li Dashan had absorbed, there would have been no way he could have remained conscious for long.
" Senior Brother Huang, no matter how much you know, you'll eventually take it to your grave."
Li Dashan stomped his feet on the ground, causing it to collapse. He leaped into the air and charged straight at Huang Changhe, lashing down with the Blood River Vine in his palm, the vine's shadow flashing like lightning.
Huang Changhe dodged away, no longer confronting Li Dashan directly, and continued to hurl insults, " Junior Brother Li, this is where you're wrong. You can't control your temper after just a few sarcastic remarks. Once you get angry, your Blood Baleful Intent will definitely go into chaos. You're currently forcibly using the Wasteland Bone to suppress your soul. If you keep getting angry like this, how many more times can the Wasteland Bone withstand the onslaught?"
"You talk too much nonsense!"
Li Dashan roared, his movements becoming even faster, and he swung the Blood River Vine in his palm even more frantically.
As soon as Huang Changhe rounded a Stone Pillar, the Blood River Vine Blood River Vine swept over him, striking Stone Pillar Stone Pillar squarely and piercing Blood River Vine through. With a splash, a large amount of icy water overflowed.
Li Dashan suddenly pulled, dragging a large amount of gravel, and crashed sideways into the Huang Changhe.
Huang Changhe raised his palm and slammed it down, the force of Air-Splitting Palm swept away the broken stones. Li Dashan's massive body seemed to transform into a phantom, suddenly bursting out from the stone chips and punching Huang Changhe in the chest.
With a bang, Huang Changhe barely managed to block the punch with his arms crossed, but was still sent flying more than ten feet away.
Even though he had summoned the Blood Baleful Intent to protect himself beforehand, his Qi-Blood were still churning all over, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Li Dashan took a deep breath, intending to give chase, but the Wasteland Bone on the Blood River Vine turned into phantom images.
He exhaled repeatedly, finally slowing down the spinning of the Wasteland Bone, and the miasma in his eyes finally showed signs of receding slightly.
Suddenly, Huang Changhe spat out another mouthful of blood. "Junior brother, you've tempered your body quite well. Unfortunately, you're still far inferior to your Senior Brother."
As he spoke, Huang Changhe waved his hand and tapped his chest and abdomen several times.
With each finger he pointed, a muffled thud echoed from his body.
With the final thrust, his chest suddenly swelled up, the veins on the sides of his neck bulged, and thick Meridians crawled all over his cheeks and forehead.
Huang Changhe exhaled, his breath tinged with blood. "Junior brother, watch closely. I'll show you what true blood power is."
With a tearing sound, his tattered robe ripped completely open.
His shoulders stretched outwards, his back straightened, and his originally slender body swelled up rapidly as if filled with blood.
In just a few breaths, he became a head taller than Li Dashan.
His arms were frighteningly thick, but his facial features seemed to be sunken into thick flesh and blood. His mouth was pulled to the sides, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.
Compared to Li Dashan's jagged bones, Huang Changhe's body was dark red, as if he were covered in a layer of flesh and blood armor.
Suddenly, Huang Changhe smiled broadly at Li Dashan, then stopped abruptly, causing the stone surface to shatter.
His massive body charged forward, throwing a punch at Li Dashan's face. Li Dashan swung his Blood River Vine to meet the attack, and the vine immediately wrapped around Huang Changhe's fist and arm.
A flash of red light appeared on Huang Changhe's fist and arm, indicating that the Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood had been activated.
The tearing sound that Li Dashan expected did not occur; the corrosive properties of the Blood River Vine seemed to have no effect on Huang Changhe.
Huang Changhe suddenly grabbed the Blood River Vine with his other hand, dragging Li Dashan forward half a step. The next instant, he slammed into Li Dashan with his Sinking Shoulder.
boom!
Li Dashan was sent flying backward, his back breaking a Stone Pillar, and he rolled into a pile of rubble.
Just as Huang Changhe was about to catch up, the Blood River Vine in his hand suddenly slipped.
However, Li Dashan remotely controlled the Blood River Vine, which bypassed his arm and struck his neck heavily.
Despite being protected by the Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood, Huang Changhe's head was still knocked to the side by Huang Changhe 'Li Dashan attack, and his massive body was thrown out, causing the ground to shatter and rubble to fly everywhere.
The two got up almost simultaneously.
A dent appeared in Li Dashan's chest, and with each breath, that patch of flesh rose and fell with difficulty.
Huang Changhe also had a cut on the side of his neck, and blood gushed out, but was quickly squeezed back by the surrounding muscles.
Huang Changhe touched his wound and laughed, "Still no good, Junior Brother. All these years, all these cultivation techniques, all this Wasteland Blood I've prepared for you, and you can still only do this much."
Li Dashan stared intently at him and roared.
The miasma in his eyes surged again, about to fill his eyeballs in the blink of an eye.
The Wasteland Bone at the top of the Blood River Vine spun rapidly, its trembling sound piercingly sharp.
Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the Wasteland Bone.
Zhang Yan and the others felt their hearts clench. At this moment, Deng Qing, who was refining the Wasteland Blood to restore his body, also opened his eyes.
The Wasteland Bone was still spinning, making it impossible to see its condition, but everyone knew that Wasteland Bone had definitely developed cracks.
"Hahaha..."
Huang Changhe laughed loudly, "Junior brother, I told you long ago that you have no talent and you can't practice the Pure Jade Method either."
You've taken the unorthodox methods to their limit, and this is the best you can do. Just accept your fate, haha...
Huang Changhe had given up on attacking and seemed to be waiting for Li Dashan to surrender on his own.
Not far away, Elder Xia was still nagging Huang Changhe to quickly pull out the Wasteland Spike, his words becoming increasingly harsh.
Enraged, Huang Changhe lunged forward, unleashing Air-Splitting Palm.
In his Mutation state, he resembled an ancient ferocious beast, and the power of his Air-Splitting Palm was greatly amplified.
Elder Xia and the remaining twenty-odd core members of the Donghuang Cult all died tragically at his hands.
Filled with despair, Tang Xingyao roared and ordered the group to disband, then fled.
The main force of the Command Center was also scattered. Huang Changhe hated Tang Xingyao the most, and he struck out with a Air-Splitting Palm, sending Tang Xingyao flying.
Suddenly, a thick fog burst open at the scene.
Huang Changhe flicked his fingers repeatedly, and his blood dripped into the thick fog, instantly dissipating the fog.
Upon closer inspection, Tang Xingyao was nowhere to be seen.
When he turned to look at Li Dashan again, he was suddenly stunned. Li Dashan had actually knelt down in front of his apprentices.
Deng Qing, Zhang Yan, Fang Bingshan, and others were also stunned.
"For over a decade, I have planned and used your bodies as a medium to store the Wasteland Blood. I have wronged you all and cannot express my gratitude enough. I can only repay your kindness in the next life."
After saying that, Li Dashan bent down and banged his head heavily on the ground.
"Master, you mustn't!"
"A teacher for a day is a father for life," this is an undeserved compliment!
The crowd quickly moved aside and rushed forward.
Just then, Li Dashan waved his hand, and suddenly many lines of blood shot out from his chest, abdomen, shoulders and back.
The distance was too close; Zhang Yan had no time to dodge.
A thin line of blood pierced his chest, and his body jerked violently.
Fang Bingshan, Zhou Heng, and the others were also unable to avoid being pierced by the bloodline.
The thin thread taut quickly after penetrating the flesh, connecting the group to Li Dashan.
Only Deng Qing did not have any blood lines rushing towards him.
Deng Qing's expression changed drastically. " Li Dashan, what exactly are you trying to do!"
Deng Qing was completely numb. He had experienced too many twists and turns with Li Dashan, and now he was totally bewildered.
Li Dashan smiled slightly at Deng Qing, "Don't worry, I will repay what I owe them. Now is the time to pay the debt."
As soon as he finished speaking, the blood vessels connecting him and Zhang Yan and the others bulged with a series of dark red bumps, which quickly surged towards Li Dashan.
Zhang Yan and the others trembled violently, their mouths agape, unable to utter a word.
The veins on their chests rose one by one, then quickly deflated as the blood vessels were drawn out.
A large amount of blood gushed out along the thin thread, as if it were being continuously pumped out by a water pump.
Deng Qing could sense that the Qi-Blood of his several Senior Brother was rapidly waning.
At the same time, he also sensed that the Sha Qi emanating from these Senior Brother was rapidly diminishing.
Most noticeably, the spines of the Senior Brother are drooping.
At the same time, the bluish-gray hard skin on their arms began to wrinkle and peel off.
Then, the people's originally much taller stature gradually shrank, their protruding bones began to retract into their flesh, and even their fingernails peeled off piece by piece, revealing their soft nail beds.
Deng Qing then realized that what Li Dashan had taken away was mainly the Blood Baleful Intent that had been lingering in Zhang Yan and the others' bodies for a long time.
However, since the Blood Baleful Intent was too deeply mixed with one's own Qi-Blood and qi, it inevitably took it with it when it was extracted.
Not far away, Huang Changhe actually sat down cross-legged.
His enormous body still retained its Mutation form. He placed his hands on his abdomen and slowly practiced his internal energy. The wound on his neck, which had been opened by the Blood River Vine, was gradually closing up.
Huang Changhe watched Li Dashan do his thing without offering any resistance, which made Deng Qing very uneasy.
Less than a hundred breaths later, the bloodline released from Li Dashan suddenly retracted.
Zhang Yan's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. He tried to support himself with his hands, but he couldn't even hold his body up.
Fang Bingshan and the others also collapsed one after another, their faces pale and their foreheads covered in cold sweat.
But the strange phenomena on them disappeared, and they finally returned to their human form.
Deng Qing was the first to support Zhang Yan, and pressed his pulse. He found that Zhang Yan's pulse was weak but still relatively stable.
He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a sickeningly loud noise coming from Li Dashan's body.
However, the strange phenomena that Zhang Yan and the others had shed seemed to have all been concentrated on Li Dashan.
His back straightened again, the bone spurs on his shoulders extended outwards, and his bluish-gray skin was stretched open with cracks.
There wasn't much blood in the gash; it was mostly taut, dark red muscle.
His arms were disproportionately large, with knuckles pressed together and fingertips that had grown to resemble animal claws.
The most terrifying thing was that face.
Its lower jaw gradually protruded forward, its fangs pressing against its lips so tightly they could no longer close, its eyes were bloodshot, the pupils no longer visible, only miasma swirling around them.
The Blood River Vine tightly coiled around his arm, its tip, Wasteland Bone, spinning faster and faster until it was just a black shadow.
Huang Changhe suddenly burst into laughter, "That's more like it! To avenge a great grudge, how can we not make extraordinary efforts?"
Junior Brother Li, you look exactly as I imagined.
After more than a decade of planning, he planted the Wasteland Blood within his disciples, using their tendons, bones Qi-Blood to slowly nourish them, and finally reclaimed it for himself.
This method is ingenious; I never even thought of it.
It's a pity, your intentions are good, but you're still not ruthless enough.
As he spoke, he pointed at Zhang Yan and the others, and said loudly, "They've already used it all to nourish their blood, why are you still leaving them a way out?"
"If you had cut off their hopes of regaining human form earlier, and allowed the Wasteland Blood to fully penetrate their bones, what you have gained today would be far more than this."
Li Dashan let out a low growl, the Blood River Vine taut in his palm.
"Don't get angry yet. You need some time to digest this Blood Baleful Intent. No rush, let's have a good talk, brother."
Huang Changhe said with a smile, "While you're still somewhat lucid, Senior Brother tell you a few secrets."
Deng Qing knew things were going to get bad, but at that moment, he was powerless to stop Huang Changhe from speaking.
Even if he rushed up and tried to talk to Huang Changhe, he couldn't stop Huang Changhe from talking.
He forced himself to calm down and quickly considered the overall situation.
The situation was obvious: Huang Changhe was clearly trying to provoke Li Dashan with words, causing him to lose his senses and become a puppet so that he could be refined into Blood Corpse.
This is already an open secret; he believes Li Dashan probably knows it too.
"Just say what you want to say, Senior Brother. To be honest, maybe many things aren't secrets at all."
As Li Dashan devoured the Blood Baleful Intent he had collected from Zhang Yan and the others, he spoke, and his voice suggested that he was controlling his emotions very well.
Deng Qing felt slightly relieved and continued to reason about the situation following the same line of thought.