"The real show is just beginning."
Hong Qianye formed a hand seal, and flickering ice-blue flames bloomed into existence, dancing like ghostly spirits.
The air froze around him, and a wave of frost swept across the battlefield, turning the world white with biting cold.
Shi Tianjue's brow tightened as he raised a hand, condensing a blood-colored spear. With a roar, he hurled it forward, wrapped in a spiraling vortex of blood energy.
Crash!
The spear froze solid in mid-air, its momentum halted. Even the bloodthirsty aura it carried began to fade.
A chilling cold surged up Shi Tianjue's arm, freezing one side of his body in an instant.
"What kind of flame is this? It's so… twisted!"
"Die!" Shi Tianjue growled, dispelling the frost with a burst of power. Gripping the spear tightly, he extinguished the ice-blue flames.
His blood-colored hair flew wildly around him, and his bloodshot eyes burned with murderous intent.
Swish!
The spear tore through the air and appeared in a blink before Hong Qianye.
In response, earthy-gold flames erupted from Qianye's body, forming a radiant shield—like divine metal forged into an impenetrable barrier.
Clang!
"Hmph?" Shi Tianjue narrowed his eyes.
Zing!
Thunder crackled as several thunder dragons materialized, roaring as they spiraled through the sky. On closer look, they were flames shaped like dragons of lightning.
Boom!
Through the smoke, Shi Tianjue stumbled out, his robes scorched and smoking from the thunderfire.
He stared at the crimson-robed figure standing tall in the sky, a mix of awe and disbelief on his face.
"Where did you learn this technique?!"
The pressure from Hong Qianye's relentless attacks made Shi Tianjue feel an unfamiliar weight in his chest. With his cultivation, how was he being forced back?
"You tell me," Hong Qianye said with a faint smirk.
There was no doubt—his strength had advanced.
With the power of the Three Thousand Flame Sutra and his mastery over various flame arts, even the once-unstoppable Blood Demon of the Central Region was now being overwhelmed.
From now on, I, Hong Qianye, will carve an invincible path.
Shi Tianjue was silent for a moment, then let out a low, chilling laugh.
"I assume you gained some great fortune while away from the Central Region," he said. "At this rate, if you attempt to return to the immortal path, not even those old monsters will be able to stop you."
He paused, then laughed bitterly. "What a pity… such a pity…"
Qianye frowned. "What's so pitiful?"
"It's a pity… that you'll still die by my hands!" Shi Tianjue howled with laughter.
And then—
A strange power burst from his body.
"W-What's happening?!"
The one-eyed elder cried out as his body disintegrated into strands of blood energy that poured into Shi Tianjue like rivers of crimson.
At the same time, agonized screams echoed across the land. Countless people in the Wei Kingdom and nearby regions howled in terror as their blood essence was ripped from their bodies, drawn into the sky like red smoke.
"Help us!"
"I don't want to die!"
"This is divine punishment! Heaven's wrath has come!"
...
A monstrous tide of blood energy surged into Shi Tianjue, swirling around him like a blood-red inferno.
In an instant, his cultivation broke through the peak of the Transformation Stage, pierced into the Completion Stage, and soared toward the Unity Stage.
Crack!
The bottleneck shattered.
An aura a hundred times stronger than before erupted from his body.
Shi Tianjue had stepped into the early Unity Stage!
Above the land, a massive blood-red figure took shape.
A giant with blood-soaked hair loomed in the sky, his eyes shining with terrifying clarity. Behind him hovered a halo of blood like a sun of carnage, casting despair over all living beings.
"What kind of monster is that…?" the Wei Emperor muttered, collapsing to his knees with the others, trembling.
Feeling the horrifying might within the giant, Hong Qianye's expression darkened.
"Your Undying Blood Body… you reforged it?"
Shi Tianjue looked down at the figure below. His booming voice shook the heavens.
"The Undying Blood Body—one of the rarest and strongest physiques in existence. Do you really think it's easy to repair?"
"But I've restored seventy percent of it. Once I devour all life in the Arid Province, it'll be complete!"
The Undying Blood Body—Shi Tianjue's ultimate weapon.
In the past, he had battled both righteous and demonic powerhouses with that body, obliterating enemies in a single move and regenerating from fatal wounds in moments.
That infamous battle had raged for three days and nights, ending only when the sacred ground's elders combined their might to destroy his physical form.
"Hong Qianye, I gave you a chance. What comes next… is your doing."
"Die!!!"
With a roar, Shi Tianjue thrust his hand downward.
A massive blood-red palm descended like a divine force meant to flatten a mountain.
Boom…
The overwhelming pressure swallowed everything.
"Not good!"
With nowhere to retreat, Hong Qianye's energy surged to its peak as he unleashed a sea of purple flames.
The eerie brilliance of the fire scorched the heavens—strong enough to evaporate an ocean.
Then—
A cataclysmic explosion erupted, tearing the sky apart.
Shockwaves rolled across the land like divine wrath unleashed.
Over the Wei Kingdom, the sky cracked open like a shattered mirror.
Countless people looked up in horror, their hearts thundering in fear.
Hong Qianye, teeth clenched, pushed his flames to the limit, casting spell after spell in quick succession.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The giant was engulfed in fire, his body scorched and burned.
"Useless. You're only delaying the inevitable."
The cold voice rang out.
And then—
The giant's wounds began to heal at terrifying speed. In seconds, even deep burns faded like they had never existed.
"Die!!!"
The blood giant roared again and raised a colossal fist.
Runes circled his knuckles like divine chains. The descending blow resembled a meteor streaking across the sky.
In that instant—
A suffocating aura locked onto Hong Qianye. Every cell in his body screamed in warning.
Without hesitation, he formed a seal and conjured a golden flame barrier.
From afar, it looked like a sun blazing in midair, radiating sacred light that burned away evil.
Boom!
The giant's fist slammed into the barrier. Space twisted violently, a massive vortex forming in the sky.
Crack! Crack! Crack…
Fractures spread across the golden flames.
"Heh. Break!" Shi Tianjue sneered and sent another wave of power through his fist.
Bang!!
The barrier shattered.
Hong Qianye was sent hurtling down like a meteor, crashing into the ground with thunderous force that shook the land.
"This…"
To the Wei Emperor and his officials, it felt as though the sun had fallen.
So this… this was a battle between immortals.
"Cough… cough…"
Hong Qianye spat blood, his once-elegant figure now a mess of torn robes and bloodstains. He slowly rose from the crater, gazing at the towering blood giant.
A crushing sense of helplessness welled up within him.
"In the end… I still can't defeat him."
Shi Tianjue looked down, cold and aloof, as if regarding an insect.
With his Unity Stage strength and the Undying Blood Body mostly restored, no one below the same level could touch him.
A Transformation Stage cultivator? A joke.
"Blood Demon, you deranged mad dog…" Hong Qianye snarled, blood dripping from his lips.
Years ago, he had narrowly escaped death, fleeing the Central Region to hide in this wasteland. Who would have thought his old nightmare would catch up to him here?
"We cultivators pursue eternal life. If you won't walk this path beside me in life… then in death, become part of me. I'll carry your will to the peak."
His voice was like divine thunder, resonating across the sky.
The blood giant raised his hand again. Red light blazed from his palm, flames surging as he prepared to strike.
The colossal hand shattered space itself as it came crashing down once more.
Boom…
The pressure felt like an entire mountain range descending on Qianye.
In that desperate moment—whether from survival instinct or sheer will—
Hong Qianye roared:
"Master! Save me!!!"
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