Otherworldly Desert Dust

Jiao Zhu’s expression abruptly changed, turning cold with a hint of wariness and astonishment.

"You’ve refined Xin Feng’s Holy Bone?" Jiao Zhu’s voice rang with disbelief, and he became even more certain of his previous speculation.

It must have been Cai Huang, that sly old thief, who had been secretly nurturing this lad from the start, all to lower his own guard.

This time, because of Cai Huang’s meridian obstructions and injuries, Jiao Zhu felt fortunate that he hadn’t hesitated for a moment, or else once Cai Huang recovered, it would become much harder to deal with them both.

Facing Wu Hen, Jiao Zhu no longer dared to be the slightest bit careless.

The blood crystal grains around him rapidly converged in the air, forming a massive blood-colored phantom!

The phantom was like an evil deity, with wings spread wide, overshadowing the entire Red Port and creating an oppressive feeling so intense it was suffocating.

As the phantom rapidly solidified, Jiao Zhu seemed like a Sky Demon Holy Bear with more ferocious hand claws. Every time he swiped at Wu Hen’s body, it felt as though he was tearing through space, with countless streaks of blood gathering behind him like a surging tide, exerting immense pressure on Wu Hen!

Each hand claw was terribly devouring, and with merely First Rank Spiritual Vision, it was impossible to track the movement of these blood crystal grains, forcing Wu Hen to retreat time and again.

The Jiao Zhu before him now lacked physical form; the speed at which his power transformed was rapid—one moment, it was a blood-colored giant bear charging, and the next, it turned into a blood-colored horror wave falling from the sky. As soon as Wu Hen managed to disperse the sea of blood, Jiao Zhu condensed back into a human form, slapping out a Blood Flame Palm toward Wu Hen. The massive palm struck the ground, exploding into terrifying pools of blood flames, compressing Wu Hen’s area of movement and making it seem as though he was trapped in a blood-red purgatory.

The assault was wild, nearly without pause, and went entirely against the operation of Holy Breath as Wu Hen understood it. Could the Holy Child within Jiao Zhuo’s body be a giant child, allowing him to endlessly supply Holy Breath without it diminishing in the slightest!

"With just a Golden Spirit Giant Shadow, you presume to ride atop this noble one?" Jiao Zhu, the blood shadow mad demon, had Divine Skills that were extremely elusive. It was unclear whether those blood crystal grains surrounding him were his domain or a part of his actual being.

His voice seemed to come from all directions, and even with Third Rank Listening Sense, Wu Hen couldn’t pinpoint Jiao Zhu’s real body.

All around were pools of blood flames, and even the air was filled with scorching blood-colored steam. These flames and mists of blood suppressed Wu Hen’s Perception and movement. Coupled with Jiao Zhu’s attacks that were endlessly shifting, the Combat Techniques learned from the Scroll Realm had little effect.

"If I can’t lock down this guy, then I’ll just have to cleave him out!"

Wu Hen could retreat no further. At this moment, the surrounding Thunder Transition Factors were sufficiently concentrated!

With a sweep of his sword, golden Tribulation Thunder Arcs began to flash around him, clearing away the thick blood-colored steam for Wu Hen.

More and more sparks emerged, revealing a phantom.

Wu Hen took advantage of this flicker of light and shadow to suddenly launch an attack. He leapt up like lightning, his sword aimed directly at Jiao Zhu’s phantom.

His movements seemed swift, yet as steady as Mount Tai, accompanied by the long-accumulated momentum of Thunder Crossing, all poured into Jiao Zhu!

Sword Intent crisscrossed, interwoven with Golden Thunder.

The vast Sword Intent whipped up a spectacular Sword Thunder Storm that fiercely slashed at Jiao Zhu’s blood-colored phantom.

Seeing this, Jiao Zhu gathered all his blood flames together to form an enormous Blood Flame Melt Pool.

"Boom!!!"

The Sword Thunder Storm and the Blood Flame Melt Pool intertwined, spreading out over the entirety of Red Port.

The golden thunder clashed with the blood fire, neutralizing and intensifying each other, creating even hotter substances that ultimately burst open with a thunderous explosion, forming several constantly rising energy mountains in the center of Red Port.

Atop the energy mountains, two figures flitted about.

One wielded a sword with ink-like brilliance, resembling an Immortal Martial from a landscape painting, upright in stature and monumental in presence; the other was ever-changing like a demon, with blood-red shadows that darkened the skies. Every strike transformed into a different, fierce, and gigantic beast, as if hundreds of Demon Lords had descended, besieging the swordsman.

During the sustained phase on the energy mountains, Wu Hen was fully focused, with the War Track Pre-performance manifesting in his mind!

At this moment, Jiao Zhu’s offensive was like a tide, so dense it left no room to breathe. Wu Hen knew that the other had finished probing and was about to use his real killer move. @@novelbin@@

Sight, taste, and hearing intertwined. Even with the constantly churning energy mountains beneath his feet, Wu Hen could still track Jiao Zhu’s movements...

This dynamic was like time slowing down. As Jiao Zhu deployed his Divine Skills, Wu Hen could see the entire process.

Firstly, Jiao Zhu’s entire body was enveloped in a layer of burning blood flames!

This layer of blood flames was similar to the Blood Burning Technique used by Holy Sect Disciples, except Jiao Zhu’s flames were clearly more intense and powerful. They not only allowed an endless surge of Holy Breath to flow from within Jiao Zhu but also made his body more martially heroic and indestructible.

As the blood flames refined him, the blood energy seeping from his pores would change, turning from a gas into crystal grains.

These crystal grains were far superior to both Blood Energy and Blood Flame, controlled at will by Jiao Zhu who could change them at extremely fast speeds. Whether sweeping through as a surging Blood Tide or transforming into a Sky Demon Beast, it could all be accomplished in the blink of an eye...

Initially, Wu Hen had always thought that this was a part of Jiao Zhu’s spiritual split, that he had dissolved his body into these substances.

But this time, Wu Hen clearly saw that Jiao Zhu had always maintained a human form; he did not possess the Divine Skills to transform at will. Rather, every time he deployed this Blood Crystal Transformation, a layer of crystal would also condense on his skin, allowing him to blend into the surrounding multitude of substances!

Thus, it was always a matter of form emerging from energy, except that Jiao Zhu’s energy was of a higher grade, not merely gaseous.

In his pupils, Wu Hen captured every tiny substance around him.

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Jiao Zhu’s fierce offensive was also dissolved by Wu Hen one by one. Under calmness and patience, Wu Hen finally saw a vague human figure amidst those twisting and swirling blood crystal waves. This figure moved extremely fast; as it raised its hand, the surrounding crystal grains turned into terrifying Blood Claws...

"Swoosh!"

Wu Hen suddenly accelerated, like an incredibly gifted surfer weaving through massive waves. Terrible energy crashed down but was always a step behind him.

The Sword Spirit stirred up a Death Abyss that instantly swallowed Jiao Zhu’s body, shackling him within that powerful purple mire.

With one vertical slash, the sword struck towards Jiao Zhu’s face.

Jiao Zhu was shocked, unable to grasp the nature of the Death Abyss unleashed by the sword in Wu Hen’s hand. Within this abyss, his Blood Crystal Grains could not be commanded, as if frozen in space.

Realizing he couldn’t dodge, Jiao Zhu rapidly summoned the power of the Holy Child from within his body, spreading out a solidifying force from the heart in the instant Wu Hen’s sword came slashing down, transforming himself into a blood-colored Holy Crystal!

Every inch of his skin turned into the extremely hard state of Holy Crystal. When the sword struck it, it felt as though the sword in hand might be vibrated out of grip!

Old tortoise!

Cai Huang had the temperament of a tortoise, and this Master Jiao Zhu possessed truly tortoise-like Divine Skills. Thunder Crossing didn’t shatter him, and the Death Omen Sword couldn’t cut through. It should be noted that since Little Yi’s Sword Spirit rose to the Sword Child level, its sharpness had increased by countless degrees, slicing through Tyrant Tiger Armor as if it were tofu.

Yet such a solid strike on Master Jiao Zhu, and he could actually withstand it. How outrageously had he cultivated his bloodline, for his entire body, save for certain parts, to be as hard as diamond crystal?

"Let’s see how long you can hold out!" As Jiao Zhu’s shackled body gradually recovered, he broke free from the Death Abyss and then spat a breath of Blood Breath towards Wu Hen!

Under the War Track Pre-performance, Wu Hen had already perceived his action.

What Jiao Zhu employed was the Advanced Saint Technique – Totem Blood Howl!

Back then, Xin Feng’s single Totem Blood Howl annihilated humanity’s strongest Douyi Star Factory.

With Wu Hen’s current defenses, it was utterly impossible to withstand that force head-on. Fortunately, he had anticipated this moment, immediately soaring up into Cloud Sky, flying as high as he could to maximize the distance from this old thief Jiao Zhu!

Jiao Zhu switched from defense to attack very smoothly. The crystalline substance on his body instantly turned into Crystal Dust, all of which moved to Jiao Zhu’s chest. As he opened his demonic mouth, that blood-colored crystal dust transformed into a divine demonic howl, sweeping towards the high skies.

In the boundless starry sky of Red Port, a funnel-shaped howl suddenly appeared. It resembled Taotie devouring the Star River, with splendid starlight vanishing. A section of the night sky completely dimmed, as if a huge chunk had been bitten off!

...

In the icy high skies, Wu Hen shivered all over from fright.

Luckily, he had performed the War Track Pre-performance and fled quickly in advance. Had he been even a bit slower, he would have been engulfed by the Totem Blood Howl. Even with a Third Rank Transcendent Body, without powerful defensive Divine Skills, he would have surely perished in that howl, torn to shreds!

Taking a deep breath, he coordinated with his skin for Breathing Control, as Spiritual Breath surged from all directions, quickly replenishing the Holy Breath and Spiritual Energy that Wu Hen had expended.

"You little bastard, go to hell!"

Taking advantage of the lingering howl, Jiao Zhu suddenly came killing up, reaching from the earth to this cold starry space in an instant, truly fierce to the extreme, constantly suppressing Wu Hen.

The hand Wu Hen held the sword with was still somewhat numb, but fortunately, he did not let down his guard.

His other hand was already clenched into a fist, and as the Spiritual Energy surged, a momentum formed around Wu Hen. Even though the stars were obscured all around, the area where Wu Hen was seemed to invisibly burst forth with divine splendor!

"Cangxia Fist!"

From the high sky looking down on Red Port, Jiao Zhu was caught between the cold sky and earth. Suddenly, he looked up to see the Sky Domain above him emerging with successive Divine Mountains. These mountains were extremely steep, truly like the gorges of Heaven. The barren Red Port Dark Domain was cast in a magnificent twilight vista, resplendent and grand!

This sight, not only grand and wondrous when they descended from the Sky Domain, also came with an annihilating force. Jiao Zhu suddenly realized this kid, pushed to such a realm, still had a major trump card hidden!

This was definitely not a power belonging to the Holy Sect, yet it was in no way inferior to any Advanced Saint Technique. Whether in momentum or power, it suppressed all his own skills, bringing out a sense of insignificance and fear in the extremely ferocious Jiao Zhu!