Chapter 114: One Life for Another

Chapter 114: One Life for Another

"Go!"

Wyrm 16 thrust a finger through the air, and a resounding boom rang out from the black spike as it shot forth as a bolt of black lightning before striking the crimson light barrier up above with devastating force.

Almost at the exact same moment, circles of runes appeared on the surface of Wyrm 9's blue blade at his behest, and the light radiating from the blade became blindingly bright. Meanwhile, the fist projections unleashed by Han Li also fell upon the crimson light barrier.

A string of loud rumbling rang out, and the light on the surface of the crimson light barrier flashed wildly as it caved in significantly, but it still showed no signs of breaking.

Right at this moment, the crimson patterns on the surrounding walls suddenly began to release dazzling crimson light, while a strange glugging sound rang out.

The vast blood cloud in the air suddenly began to churn and tumble violently, following which long plumes of blood mist extended out from within it before flying in all directions, then seeped into the crimson patterns on the walls.

In the blink of an eye, the vast blood cloud vanished without a trace, leaving the underground space even emptier and more cavernous than before.

The crimson patterns on the walls abruptly became around twice as thick as they originally were, and those unsettling crimson eyes also bulged as if they had been opened up wide, presenting an even more terrifying sight to behold.

At the same time, the crimson light barrier shielding the ceiling of the underground space also became far thicker and denser, much to the alarm and dismay of Han Li and the others, and the parts of the light barrier that were caving in from the combined attacks from Han Li's trio were also radiating dazzling crimson light.

The black spike and the blue blade were repelled, and Han Li was also forced to stumble back by a burst of immense repulsive force as a stunned look appeared on his face.

Before they had a chance to do anything else, the surrounding crimson eyes began to glow even brighter, and the entire underground space was instantly enshrouded by dazzling crimson light, transforming the entire space into a crimson world.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this, and he could clearly sense a burst of even more potent power of laws surging incessantly into his body through the crimson light, causing his heartbeat to accelerate even further.

Even with his incredible physical constitution, he was beginning to struggle.

In response to this sudden turn of events, Han Li immediately activated his Big Dipper Origin Arts, and seven specks of starlight appeared on his chest and abdomen, while a layer of starlight appeared over his entire body.

At the same time, all of his muscles, bones, and tendons were significantly bolstered, while a layer of starlight had also surfaced over his heart, and his heart rate finally began to slow a little.

In contrast, Wyrm 9's condition was worsening by the second, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a burst of black light flew out of his body, then rapidly expanded to transform into a black-robed elderly man whose entire body was encompassed within a layer of dazzling blue light.

Countless blue runes were dancing within the blue light, giving off potent bursts of power of laws.

Immediately thereafter, Wyrm 9 made another hand seal before sweeping a hand through the air, and all of the blue light radiating from the black-robed elderly man's body instantly surged toward him.

As a result, the protective barrier formed by the power of laws around Wyrm 9 instantly brightened by around twofold, and it was able to ward off the oncoming beams of crimson light again.

Unfortunately for Wyrm 16, he didn't possess a body as powerful as Han Li's, nor did he possess any power of laws with which he could protect his body, and his face had become deathly pale under the relentless assault of the crimson light.

Bursts of power of laws that were constantly becoming more and more potent surged into his body in a frenzy before being converted into a form of strange power that struck viciously at his heart.

His heartbeat continued to accelerate rapidly until a dull thump suddenly rang out within his chest. Blood came gushing uncontrollably out of his mouth along with many organ fragments, and he fell heavily onto the ground with a dull thump, while the black spike also clattered onto the ground, having become completely dull and devoid of luster.

A desperate look appeared on Wyrm 16's face as he reached out in an attempt to grab onto something, but his body suddenly swelled up like a balloon before exploding violently into a cloud of blood mist that gave off incredible spiritual power fluctuations.

Both his body and his nascent soul had exploded in unison under the effects of the power of laws of blood.

The cloud of blood mist that his body had exploded into then immediately split up into several dozen bursts, as if it were being manipulated by someone, before vanishing into the surrounding walls and being absorbed, just like the blood cloud from before.

All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and the blood mist formed by Wyrm 16's body was absorbed, the power of laws that were surging throughout this entire space became significantly more potent once again.

Han Li could hear the thumping of his heart ring out beside his ears once again, but he didn't panic as he took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

As a Profound Immortal, he was extremely knowledgeable about the human body, and the heart was the basis of the body, so he naturally had a very thorough understanding of the organ.

The sound of his heartbeat wasn't constantly getting louder and faster. Instead, there was some type of rhythm to it.

In the instant that Wyrm 16's body exploded, Han LI had grasped onto something.

Following Wyrm 16's demise, blood began to gush out of Wyrm 9's mouth and nose, and his face was becoming paler and paler.

He had clearly already realized that the increase in the potency of the power of laws surging through this space could be directly attributed to Wyrm 16's death.

At this point, he had already withdrawn all of the power of faith and power of laws in his Earthly Deity Avatar, but still wasn't enough to ward off the power of laws contained within the crimson light.

He could sense that his heartbeat had already accelerated to the limits of his body's physical tolerance.

I can't die here!

Wyrm 9 was roaring furiously in his heart, but he was unable to make even a single sound. The protective barrier around him gradually began to dim, and a despairing look appeared in his eyes.

All of a sudden, a fist punched through the protective barrier around him, seemingly out of nowhere, before striking him on the back.

The fist released a burst of force that penetrated into his body before acting upon his heart.

The force exerted was nothing short of ingenious, containing a certain tempo that immediately disrupted the frequency of his heartbeat. As a result, most of the destructive power that was crashing its way through his body instantly dissipated.

He opened his mouth and involuntarily threw up a mouthful of blood, but his complexion had already improved significantly, and he turned around to discover Han Li standing behind him, in the process of slowly withdrawing his fist.

He couldn't understand why Han Li was able to counteract the effects of the power of laws with just a single punch, but he still gave Han Li a grateful nod.

All of a sudden, the crimson eyes on the walls began to slowly close for some reason, and the crimson light filling the entire underground space also quickly faded.

However, the crimson patterns on the walls still remained, and the crimson light barrier protecting the ceiling was also still in place.

Despite that, both Han Li and Wyrm 9's heart rates had returned to normal, and they each heaved a long sigh of relief in the wake of that grueling ordeal.

In the distance, a figure descended out of the air, and it was none other than Wyrm 8. However, his entire body was drenched in blood, and he appeared to be in terrible condition, having clearly suffered greatly throughout that ordeal. However, the fact that he was able to survive to this point at all clearly indicated that the power of laws that he possessed was also quite special.

Aside from the three of them, there were no other survivors in this vast underground space, and there was a nauseating odor of blood and gore permeating through the air.

Han Li and Wyrm 9 had been too busy fending for themselves to keep tabs on the situation around them, so they failed to notice what had become of Wyrm 8 and his group.

Clearly, Wyrm 8 and the others had also done everything they could to break out of this space, but to no avail, and everyone else aside from Wyrm 8 had perished, which meant that four immortals had just fallen in that brief span of time.

Furthermore, the purple-robed man on the raised platform at the center of the crimson space had also disappeared, leaving only a large crimson flag that was glowing with faint spiritual light standing in his place.

Han Li wasn't pleased at all to see the demise of the purple-robed man. Instead, his brows furrowed slightly as a grim look appeared on his face.

There was a very good chance that Gong Shuhong was the one who had set this trap, and the fact that he was willing to sacrifice one of the Layman Immortals serving under him just to draw Han Li and the others to this place was a clear indication of just how determined he was to kill them.

As these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, he took some pills to aid in his recovery.

He wasn't naive enough to think that Gong Shuhong would leave them alone after that failed attempt to wipe out their entire group.

After taking a few pills himself, Wyrm 9 had also recovered somewhat, and he hurriedly cupped his fist toward Han Li in a grateful salute. "Thank you for saving my life, Wyrm 15. Words cannot express my gratitude."

After that, he beckoned toward the black-robed elderly man standing beside him, who rapidly shrank down before vanishing into his body as a streak of black light.

Han Li had already noticed the Earthly Deity Avatar that Wyrm 9 had released, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied in an indifferent voice, "There's no need to thank me, Fellow Daoist Wyrm 9. We're all in this together, so it's only right that I help out where I can."

Not only did he recognize Wyrm 9's avatar, he had even fought against it on a previous occasion. It was none other than the avatar of Patriarch Lu Kun that had accompanied Han Qiu to Dark Veil Island.

It was quite a coincidence that not only was Lu Kun also a low-level member of the Transient Guild, he was here on the same mission as Han Li.

At this point, Wyrm 8 had also flown over to them, and he landed beside Han Li and Wyrm 9 as a wry smile appeared on his face. "Looks like we've been one step behind Gong Shuhong this entire time."

"What a demented man he must be to sacrifice so many cultivators and mortals just for the sake of his own cultivation," Wyrm 9 spat through gritted teeth.

"Now's not the time to be discussing such matters. We should focus on finding a way out of here first," Han Li said as he inspected his surroundings.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a burst of sinister cackling suddenly rang out.

"I didn't think that the three of you would be able to survive. The Transient Guild truly has no lack of formidable cultivators among its ranks!"

Immediately thereafter, the raised platform at the center of the underground space collapsed violently amid a burst of loud rumbling to reveal a massive hole.

A crimson cloud emerged from the hole, then dissipated to reveal three figures, one of which was none other than the purple-robed elderly man who had ambushed Han Li's trio back in Heavenly Water City.

The other two were also wearing purple robes with crimson moon symbols embroidered upon them, and one of them was a muscular middle-aged man with a thick beard on his face, while the other was a hideous young woman in a black dress, with a complexion that was as black as a kettle and a flat and virtually featureless face.

Judging from their auras, all three of them were True Immortals, with the middle-aged man giving off the most powerful aura of the three, and he seemed to be the leader of the trio.

The man cast a sinister gaze toward Han Li's trio with a cold smile on his face.