Blood Battle with the Blood Demon Ancestor

Within the blood-mist-shrouded gorge, three figures streaked past like arrows loosed from the bow. Li Chen Zhou carried Zhang Zhiruo in his left hand and dragged the scholar with his right, using the Wind God Kick footwork. Every step left a footprint an inch deep in the rock.

"Behind us!" the scholar suddenly shouted.

Li Chen Zhou did not need to turn around to feel that scalp-numbing pressure—the Blood Demon Ancestor had caught up! He violently shoved the two of them forward. "Keep running! Don't look back!"

The instant he turned, Li Chen Zhou's pupils constricted. On the mountainside a hundred zhang away, a blood-colored figure drifted over like a ghost. Wherever she passed, all grass and trees withered. The Blood Demon Ancestor had completely recovered her youthful appearance, yet that face capable of toppling cities and kingdoms bore a savage grin that chilled the bones.

"Why are you running, little gentleman?" Her sultry voice echoed through the gorge, but it made every hair on Li Chen Zhou's body stand on end. Without hesitation, he drew the Blood Demon Blade. The Taotie Eye on its blade suddenly opened, releasing a piercing shriek.

"Ding—Warning! Target danger level has increased!"

"Blood Demon Ancestor's current status: vitality restored by 40%, strength restored to mid-stage Rank Three!"

Li Chen Zhou's heart sank. Mid-stage Rank Three was already beyond what he could handle. But he had no other choice. He had to buy time for Zhang Zhiruo and the others.

He circulated the Indestructible Divine Skill, transformed once more, and layered another Golden Bell Shield over himself.

"Old hag, come on."

An odd look appeared in the Blood Demon Ancestor's eyes as she watched the little bronze man before her.

"Buddhist martial arts."

The Blood Demon Scripture and the Star Absorbing Art were yin in nature. What they feared most were techniques of pure yang and utmost hardness.

Li Chen Zhou had no intention of fleeing now. He intended to fight her head-on, and if that failed, he would turn to the system.

The Blood Demon Ancestor had recovered to Rank Three, after all. Naturally, she would not back down, and she clashed with Li Chen Zhou.

Her bloodthirsty demonic claws swept out with the force of a tiger.

Li Chen Zhou likewise tossed the Blood Demon Blade aside and engaged the Blood Demon Ancestor in close-quarters combat.

"Heart-Piercing Dragon Claw!"

As the two exchanged blows, the phantom golden bell inscribed with Sanskrit around Li Chen Zhou was struck again and again, rippling without end.

The Blood Demon Ancestor did not have it easy either. Her already tattered clothing had been clawed by Li Chen Zhou until only scraps remained, leaving the sensitive parts of her body intermittently visible.

Having changed his fighting style, Li Chen Zhou was like an unkillable cockroach, determined to continuously trade injury for injury with the Blood Demon Ancestor.

The Blood Demon Ancestor's blood baleful qi was formidable. Although her technique was being countered, the gap of nearly two major realms meant Li Chen Zhou could not gain any advantage at all.

The Blood Demon Ancestor's Blood Baleful Divine Claw struck the Golden Bell Shield, only to be rebounded by Li Chen Zhou's Golden Bell Shield: Rebound.

Li Chen Zhou then seized the opportunity to use the Three-Point Divine Finger. One finger broke through the Blood Demon Ancestor's blood-colored qi barrier and shot straight for her vital point.

The Blood Demon Ancestor hurriedly flashed backward and immediately unleashed the Star Absorbing Art.

Yet Li Chen Zhou, under the Indestructible Divine Skill, was not afraid in the slightest. He simply charged forward recklessly instead of retreating. "Soul Absorption Art—" His palms met hers.

The Soul Absorption Art was of a higher grade than the Star Absorbing Art, and the Blood Demon Ancestor's inner power immediately began flowing toward Li Chen Zhou.

"You little brat..."

"Ding—Obtained 5 years of inner power."

"Ding—Obtained 5 years of inner power."

...

He gained a total of 20 years of inner power. Current inner power: 265 years.

Seeing that she could not out-absorb him, the Blood Demon Ancestor hastily used the Blood Shadow Escape Technique.

Blood mist erupted from her body, blasting Li Chen Zhou away. She lingered no longer and turned to flee.

Li Chen Zhou had also reached the end of his strength. After the Blood Demon Ancestor escaped, he was forcibly released from his transformation. He spat out a mouthful of blood, then sat on the ground to regulate his breathing.

"Brother Li!" Zhang Zhiruo cried as she ran over to support him. The scholar vigilantly scanned their surroundings. "Where is that demoness?"

Li Chen Zhou adjusted his breathing and said, "She has already fled."

Bookworm and Zhang Zhiruo looked at each other, their eyes full of disbelief. Separated by two entire major realms, he had actually beaten her back by force!

"What do we do now?" Zhang Zhiruo's voice trembled slightly, and her fingertips were still quivering from the fierce battle just now.

Li Chen Zhou slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, the cold gleam in his eyes not yet gone. "The Blood Demon Ancestor may be a Grandmaster, but after so many years in seclusion, her vital energy was already badly depleted. This time, she was severely injured by me again, so she will find it difficult to recover in a short time." He sneered. "For at least the next few months, she will not dare come seeking revenge."

The two of them were even more shaken upon hearing this. That was the Blood Demon Ancestor! A demonic-path titan whose name had shaken the martial world thirty years ago, yet Li Chen Zhou had driven her into such a sorry state?

"Let's go back to the inn first." Li Chen Zhou stood and dusted off his robe. "Once we reach Jiangnan, within the territory of Famous Sword Manor, no matter how rampant she is, she will have to weigh her options."

The three did not delay any longer. They hurried back to the inn overnight and set off south before dawn the next day.

The Blood Demon Ancestor staggered as she fled, the true qi within her churning like boiling water while every inch of her meridians burned with pain. She had never imagined that after thirty years of seclusion, the moment she emerged into the world, she would be forced into such desperate straits by a junior!

"Li Chen Zhou... what a Li Chen Zhou!" She gnashed her teeth, her eyes webbed with blood.

Yet what alarmed her even more was that the vitality within her body was still draining away. The pure-yang power of the Indestructible Divine Skill, the tyrannical inner force of the Three-Aspect Primordial Energy, the backlash from the Soul Absorption Art... all those injuries stacked together. At this moment, she was already an arrow at the end of its flight, barely even able to maintain her form.

"I must recover quickly..." She panted, her steps unsteady as darkness began to cloud her vision.

Just then, a burst of rough laughter came from the forest ahead.

"Boss, look! There's a woman over there!"

The Blood Demon Ancestor looked up to see more than a dozen bandits closing in around her. The scar-faced brute at their head eyed her lewdly, looking her up and down at the skin faintly visible beneath her torn clothing. He licked his lips. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Out here in the wild mountains, there's actually such a stunning beauty?"

"Boss, this woman looks weak. Why not bring her back and make her your bandit queen?" A lackey beside him rubbed his hands together, his face full of flattery.

The scar-faced man burst into laughter and strode forward. "Little beauty, this deep forest is full of wild beasts. Why not come back to the stronghold with your big brother? I'll make sure you feast on fine food and drink!"

A trace of mockery flashed through the Blood Demon Ancestor's eyes, then vanished in an instant. She feigned weakness, gently biting her lower lip as she said softly, "Then... I shall ask the Great King to cherish me..."

The scar-faced man was overjoyed. He scooped her into his arms, his rough hand rubbing over her waist, drawing a wave of laughter from the bandits behind him.

"Quick! Back to the stronghold!" he roared impatiently. "Prepare hot water for my wife! Tonight, I'm consummating the marriage!"

Inside the mountain stronghold, the lights burned brightly.

The Blood Demon Ancestor sat in a wooden tub as hot water steamed around her, mist curling through the room. Her fingertips gently stroked the water's surface, and a cold, sinister smile curved her lips.

"Madam, is the water still hot?" The scar-faced man rubbed his hands together, desire burning in his eyes as he stepped closer and closer.

"Great King..." She turned back with a smile, her eyes soft as silk. "Could you promise me one thing?"

"Never mind one thing—even a thousand, ten thousand things, I'll grant them all!" The scar-faced man slapped his chest, his face full of lecherous laughter.

The Blood Demon Ancestor slowly rose. Water droplets slid down her snow-white skin. Her red lips parted, but her voice was cold as ice.

"Then... lend me your life."

Before her words had faded, her five fingers formed a claw and fiercely seized the scar-faced man's throat!

"Urgh—!" The scar-faced man's eyes bulged as all the blood essence in his body surged like a tide toward the Blood Demon Ancestor's palm! In only a few breaths, his brawny body shriveled at a visible rate. In the end, he became a withered corpse and crashed to the floor.

"Though crude..." The Blood Demon Ancestor licked the blood from her lips and pulled the stronghold chief's clothes over through the air. "It will barely replenish some of my vital energy."

The Blood Demon Ancestor took a deep breath, and some color returned to her pale face. She put on the clothes and pushed open the door. Her gaze swept over the bandits still drinking and making merry in the stronghold, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

At midnight, when the last bandit became a dried corpse in his sleep, she looked toward the southeast and sneered. "Li Chen Zhou... just wait until I recover my power..."