164: Chapter 164 Container, Possessed by an Evil Shadow

The crack in the sky was still expanding.

That gigantic black tentacle had already pushed more than one-third of itself out of the interface.

Countless tiny eye-spots squirmed slowly on its surface, like some kind of living calamity.

And what was even more unsettling was that as it descended bit by bit, the spatial rules within the secret realm were distorting further.

The ground began to tremble, and the Bone Platform emitted a low hum.

"We cannot drag this out any longer!"

Daoist Master Yun Yao said sternly.

"Once it fully descends, none of us will survive!"

Lei Wanjun was about to charge again, but was tightly entangled by the Fallen One with the broken halberd, unable to break free in the short term.

Shen Guhong's sword light flashed repeatedly, forcing the blood-armored Fallen One back half a step, but the next instant, he was dragged back by the person in the black mist.

The three Fallen Ones were determined to pin them here at any cost.

Obviously, Cao Shen also saw this.

As long as the Shadow of a Thousand Eyes and a Thousand Tentacles descended a little further, the situation would be completely under his control.

So he had to fight for time.

And the way to fight for time was to kill Lin Mo.

Cao Shen's true killing blow.

Cao Shen suddenly stopped grappling with Lin Mo at close range.

He stepped back, and the black mist behind him suddenly stretched into a huge arc.

Immediately after, the remnants of the Mimics that had been scattered by Lin Mo's Thunder Dragon Break began to disintegrate under his control.

Flesh, souls, bone fragments, and black mist were all extracted and converged rapidly in front of him.

"He is condensing a sacrificial body!" Daoist Master Yun Yao's expression changed drastically.

"Quick, stop him!"

But it was already too late.

Cao Shen formed a bizarre, ancient seal with both hands.

The moment the seal was formed, the blood light in front of him seemed to form a huge mirror.

What was reflected in the mirror was not Cao Shen.

It was a black eyeball, covered in cracks, slowly opening.

The moment that eyeball appeared, the entire sky seemed to sink by a fraction.

Lin Mo's heart jolted.

He felt an extremely strong impact on his Spirit.

This was not a simple technique.

It was a form of spiritual pollution conducted through the fragmented shadow of an evil god.

"Kneel."

Cao Shen said softly.

As he spat out these two words, the black eyeball in the blood mirror stared fixedly at Lin Mo.

In an instant, an extremely terrifying pressure descended from the sky, as if it wanted to crush Lin Mo's will directly.

But just at this moment, a layer of pale blue thunder light suddenly lit up around Lin Mo's body.

The Azure Dragon Mark appeared!

In that instant, all the chaotic, twisted, and corrosive thoughts in Lin Mo's mind were forcibly repelled.

His eyes turned cold.

"You want to suppress my Spirit?"

"You're not qualified enough."

The next moment, he didn't retreat but advanced.

With a flash of Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps, his whole body was like a bolt of cold lightning splitting out from a sea of thunder, charging straight at Cao Shen's face.

"Thunder Dragon Break—"

This time, it was no longer a wide-area sweep.

Instead, all the thunder power was compressed to the extreme, condensing into a line of thunder so thin it was almost transparent.

Cao Shen's pupils shrank drastically.

"You're courting death!"

Cao Shen roared, and the blood mirror surged violently.

But Lin Mo's strike had already arrived.

Boom!!!

The thunder line pierced into the blood mirror.

The black eyeball shuddered violently, and the cracks on the mirror surface exploded instantly.

Cao Shen was shaken back half a step, and he finally spat out a mouthful of black blood.

And that evil, strange blood mirror also showed obvious disintegration from this blow.

The black tentacle in the sky even paused slightly at this instant.

Cao Shen slowly raised his head, black patterns flowing crazily in the depths of his eyes.

The next instant, he suddenly stepped back, and his figure actually melted directly into the blood formation behind him.

Boom!

The blood formation shone brightly.

Dozens of black-red light pillars erupted from all around, forcibly sealing the space around Lin Mo.

"Want to stall?" Lin Mo's eyes turned cold.

Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps were activated immediately, his figure flashing repeatedly, forcibly passing through the gap between two light pillars.

But just as he stepped out, Cao Shen had already reappeared from the blood mist on the other side and slapped out with a palm.

This palm was extremely sinister.

Before the palm arrived, Lin Mo felt his blood and qi stagnate, as if countless tiny black threads were drilling into his meridians.

Lin Mo frowned, Starlight Moon Condensation activated automatically, forcibly suppressing that evil power.

And the long saber in his hand swept horizontally, the second stage of Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash striking directly.

Clang!!!

Palm and saber collided, exploding a large expanse of dazzling black-red fire.

Cao Shen was shaken back three steps.

Lin Mo only retreated half a step, then immediately pressed forward again.

The saber momentum became faster and faster.

The footwork became steadier and steadier.

The attacks became more and more ruthless.

Cao Shen, however, found it increasingly difficult to fight.

Because he discovered that every time he wanted to counterattack, it was as if Lin Mo had seen through it in advance.

Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps allowed Lin Mo to always avoid his killing moves a step ahead.

Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash allowed Lin Mo's saber momentum to always get stuck in the gaps where his force was most difficult to exert.

"How is this possible..."

A trace of disbelief appeared in Cao Shen's eyes for the first time.

He had originally thought that even if Lin Mo was strong, he only relied on the Bone Platform and Thunder Dragon Break to disrupt the situation.

But now, he was actually being beaten by a young man suppressed to the Ninth Level of the Third Order by the secret realm, to the point where he had almost no power to fight back.

To him, this was simply a huge humiliation.

On the other side, the elders were completely suppressed.

However, once Cao Shen was suppressed on this side, the situation on the other side did not immediately improve.

On the contrary, after losing part of the Mimics' support, the three Fallen Ones began to go completely insane.

The Fallen One with the broken halberd had thunder patterns surging all over his body, and his halberd momentum was extremely domineering, actually fighting two against one and forcibly pressing Lei Wanjun's fist momentum into retreat.

"This guy is crazy!"

Lei Wanjun roared, his fists like running thunder, directly smashing a section of the opponent's halberd blade.

But the next second, that Fallen One seemed completely unaware of pain, directly crashing into him, using his shoulder to hard-resist the fist force, and backhanding a halberd strike down.

Lei Wanjun groaned, his figure shaken back.

Shen Guhong's situation here was equally bad.

The Fallen One in blood armor had a physical body that seemed to be cast from evil weapons; sparks flew when the sword struck, making it difficult to split him with a single strike.

Shen Guhong failed to completely break the defense after several consecutive sword strikes and was instead seized by the opponent for an opening, forcibly obstructing his sword momentum.

As for Daoist Master Yun Yao, facing the Fallen One who had almost turned into black mist, although her formation could trap him, it was difficult to truly trap him to death.

Just at this moment, several figures finally charged up.

Ji Wuchen arrived first.

His face was pale, but his eyes were extremely fierce, his bloodline burning to the limit, his figure turning into a residual shadow, crashing directly into the densest area of the Mimic army.

"Get lost!"

He swept his spear horizontally, blood light exploding, actually forcibly sweeping a large group of Mimics away.

Gu Yunting followed closely, his long sword like frost, sword qi connecting into a line, directly cutting an opening in the Mimic remnants.

"Don't let them flow back!"

Ye Huangyi landed on the flank without a word, pinching seals with both hands, and several cold spiritual lights turned into chains, precisely sealing the blood lines that the Mimic army was trying to reconnect.

Lu Chenzhou also arrived.

Although he had always had a sense of competition with Lin Mo, at this moment he did not have the slightest hesitation, his fist momentum opening up, directly smashing a rushing Mimic commander.

"Don't look down on people!"

He gritted his teeth and roared, his fists dripping with blood, forcibly holding off a wave of counterattacks for the front line.

After several main supporting characters joined, the originally crumbling defense line was finally temporarily stabilized.

But everyone knew that this was only "temporary".

Because what really determined the outcome was not in these places.

It was in the high sky.

Between Lin Mo and Cao Shen.

Cao Shen was completely suppressed.

High above the sky, Lin Mo's saber became faster and faster.

Cao Shen, who had initially been able to maneuver with blood formations, black mist, evil arts, and spiritual suppression, was now almost completely led by the nose by Lin Mo.

Every time he attacked, his rhythm was intercepted in advance by Lin Mo.

Every time he retreated, he would be caught up by the Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps.

Every time he wanted to use the Mimic army to reorganize the situation, it would be directly interrupted by Lin Mo's thunder intent, saber intent, and life-line breaking points.

After several rounds of confrontation, Cao Shen already had several lacerations on his chest, shoulders, and arms.

Black blood continuously seeped from the wounds, and he was clearly beaten quite miserably by Lin Mo.

"Do you really think that you can beat me by yourself?"

Cao Shen finally roared, his voice filled with uncontrollable anger.

Lin Mo's eyes were calm, and the next instant, his saber blade turned, and thunder intent rose again.

He did not give Cao Shen any chance to catch his breath.

With one saber slash, he directly tore open the protective film on Cao Shen's left shoulder.

Cao Shen's figure jolted violently, staggering backward.

His expression finally became extremely ugly.

Because he knew that if this continued, he would really be suppressed to death by Lin Mo.

And that Shadow of a Thousand Eyes and a Thousand Tentacles was still far from truly descending.

If he dragged it out any longer, the one waiting for death would be him.

"...Good."

Cao Shen suddenly chuckled. The laughter was very light, but it carried a madness that made people's hearts turn cold.

"Since you want to see so much, I will let you see."

He turned abruptly, arms spread wide, and waved directly at the Mimic army behind him.

"Sacrifice yourselves, all of you!"

Boom!!!

At that instant, thousands of Mimics froze simultaneously.

Immediately after, their bodies seemed to be forcibly torn apart by some invisible hand; flesh, bones, souls, and black mist all surged backward toward the high sky.

The entire battlefield heard those tearing-like explosions.

Countless Mimics were sacrificed on the spot.

Black-red blood mist surged into the sky, crazily pouring into the crack in the sky.

The aura of Cao Shen's entire body also surged crazily at this moment.

Twisted black patterns began to appear on the surface of his body, as if the power of the evil god was descending completely through the sacrifice.

"He's crazy!"

Gu Yunting's expression changed drastically.

Daoist Master Yun Yao understood his intention in an instant.

"He is forcibly feeding the Evil Shadow!"

"He wants to make that thing manifest ahead of time!"

Lei Wanjun roared and tried to rush over, but that Fallen One with the broken halberd stood like a wall of madness, blocking his path firmly.

The three Fallen Ones also went berserk at this moment, clearly trying to buy Cao Shen the final bit of time.

And the giant eye in the sky, under the blood sacrifice, suddenly opened.

Black tentacles twisted frantically, and some kind of even larger shadow was slowly taking shape behind the rift.

Cao Shen stood amidst the rain of blood and black mist, his entire being like the core of an evil altar.

He stared at Lin Mo, his eyes nearly twisted.

"You forced my hand."

"You forced me to do this."

As soon as his words fell, the entire secret realm felt like it had been tightly gripped by an invisible hand.

Endless blood was forcibly stripped from the bodies of the Mimics, transforming into torrents of dark red that surged up toward the sky.

Those Mimics that were still frantically fighting, charging, and biting didn't even have time to let out a complete scream before their bodies rapidly shriveled, shattered, and annihilated in the blood-colored light.

Layer after layer of black mist exploded.

One remnant soul after another was dragged into the sky.

The entire sky was instantly dyed through, as if by a river of blood.

And deep within the rift in the sky, that giant black eyeball fully opened at this moment.

Countless tiny eye-spots spun frantically on its surface, like ten thousand eyes waking up at once.

Immediately after, the black tentacles lashed out violently.

Boom—!

The space was directly whipped into a crack several miles long.

Then, the second, third, and fourth tentacles reached out one after another, as if some terrifying entity had finally sensed that this blood sacrifice was rich enough and began to truly descend.

"It's coming out!" Daoist Master Yun Yao's voice was strained.

While maintaining the formation, she looked up at the sky, her face having turned completely pale.

That was not just pressure.

It was a crushing of existential status.

Even though the Lord of a Thousand Eyes and a Thousand Tentacles was only a phantom at this moment, not even counting as a complete shadow, it had already caused someone of her level to feel an instinctive trembling.

"We can't delay any longer!"

Lei Wanjun roared, his fist momentum like thunder, forcibly blasting the Fallen One with the broken halberd dozens of yards away.

But as soon as that Fallen One landed, it pounced again like a madman, regardless of its own depletion.

Things were just as difficult on Shen Guhong's side.

The Fallen One in blood armor had been slashed open with several deep wounds by him, but the opponent seemed to feel no pain, still clinging to him tightly and refusing to let him break away.

Daoist Master Yun Yao was being forced back step by step by the Black Mist Fallen One, and her defensive line nearly collapsed several times.

And in the vacuum area where the Mimic army was being sacrificed, several geniuses who had just arrived to support were also desperately trying to stabilize the situation.

Ji Wuchen's spear momentum swept horizontally, clearing out remaining Mimics while glaring at the sky.

"Does this guy really intend to drag everyone into the abyss before he's satisfied!"

Gu Yunting gritted his teeth in silence, his long sword slashing repeatedly, the sword qi like frost, yet his chest felt stifled when he saw the blood mist filling the sky.

Lu Chenzhou's eyes were already bloodshot from killing; he smashed the Mimics rushing toward him one by one with his fists and roared:

"Lin Mo! Hurry up and finish him!"

This roar reached the high sky, but Lin Mo did not respond.

Because at this moment, he was fully engaged in the most dangerous direct confrontation with Cao Shen.

The blood formation behind Cao Shen was already burning completely.

He stood in the center of the sacrificial formation, black veins wriggling around his body like living creatures, and his aura was forcibly raised by a notch in a short amount of time.

Although the secret realm's suppression was still present, with the help of the large-scale sacrifice, his power had even begun to touch the level of the fifth rank.

On the other side, Lin Mo held his blade horizontally in front of him.

Lightning roamed around his body like undissipated dragon veins.

He didn't need to say anything.

Because there were no extra words to be spoken in this battle.

The next instant, Cao Shen raised his hand violently.

The blood formation behind him exploded with a roar, and a giant black shadow, forcibly kneaded together from the remnant souls, blood, black mist, and evil thoughts of the Mimics, finally extended half of its body from the edge of the rift.

The black shadow had no complete outline.

It was more like the projection of some will that was twisted to the point of being enormous.

As soon as it appeared, the flow of spiritual energy in the entire world began to go haywire, and the spatial rules within the secret realm seemed to be torn by an invisible force.

And Cao Shen, at this moment, borrowed that wisp of descending evil intent, his eyes turning completely black.

"Come on."

He said in a low voice.

"Let me see what you have to block this."

Boom!

Cao Shen took a step, and his figure instantly vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, he had appeared in front of Lin Mo, slapping down with his palm!

Before the palm arrived, the bones throughout Lin Mo's body emitted a series of fine, soft sounds.

Lightning flashed in Lin Mo's eyes.

He used Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps to side-step half a step directly.

Boom!

Cao Shen's palm struck empty air, but the ground was blasted into a bottomless crack far away.

Lin Mo had already reached his side and behind him.

The blade light was like a thread, so cold it was nearly invisible.

This strike went straight for Cao Shen's neck.

Cao Shen turned around violently, blocking horizontally with his left arm.

Hiss—!

The black mist was cut open, flesh and bone were severed, and a wound deep enough to see the bone appeared on Cao Shen's left arm on the spot.

Black blood splattered.

Cao Shen's expression changed abruptly; he was completely enraged.

"You're courting death!"

He formed seals with both hands, and the Evil Shadow behind him suddenly extended a tentacle, lashing violently toward Lin Mo along the high sky.

Wherever that tentacle passed, the air was corroded into a pitch-black trail.

Lin Mo's pupils constricted slightly; he didn't take it head-on, but instead used Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps to flash repeatedly, his figure grazing past the edge of the tentacle several times.

But the tentacle was too fast.

It was so fast it didn't seem like speed in reality, but rather like some kind of "will" directly spanning the distance.

Lin Mo had just avoided the first strike, and the second was already bearing down from the other side.

"Lin Mo!"

Someone below exclaimed.

But just as the tentacle was about to hit him, Lin Mo's figure suddenly shifted, as if he had calculated this step in advance, and the remaining momentum of Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash and Thunder Dragon Break converged into a single line on his blade.

Then, he slashed out.

Boom!!!

Lightning exploded.

That black tentacle was actually forced off course by this strike, brushing past Lin Mo's shoulder and slamming into the distant earth, shattering a mountain range into dust.

Lin Mo himself was also shaken, his blood and qi surging, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

But he did not retreat.

Instead, taking advantage of that instant, he forced his way toward Cao Shen.

"It's my turn now."

Only then did Cao Shen truly understand that he had fallen into an extremely passive position.

He had sacrificed the Mimic army and forcibly summoned the Evil Shadow, originally to regain the initiative on the battlefield.

But Lin Mo's reaction was faster than his.

This guy not only wasn't crushed, but instead seemed to have used the chaos of the Evil Shadow's descent to force him into a rhythm better suited for close-quarters death combat.

And below, the elders and main supporting characters had finally stabilized the front line.

Although Lei Wanjun, Shen Guhong, and Daoist Master Yun Yao were still being tightly entangled by the Fallen Ones, after reinforcements arrived, the situation at least stopped deteriorating.

Ji Wuchen, Gu Yunting, Ye Huangyi, and Lu Chenzhou led other geniuses, forcibly pushing the remaining Mimic army back.

The battlefield was barely being held.

But everyone knew that what would truly decide the outcome was still above in the sky.

Cao Shen's expression grew increasingly ugly.

He looked up at the Evil Shadow that had already extended more than half of its body, and a trace of madness finally appeared in his eyes.

"Since you want to die..."

"Then I will let you die in front of it!"

He bit his tongue tip violently and spat a mouthful of black blood onto his palm.

The next instant, the entire blood formation suddenly reversed.

All the remaining Mimic corpses, black mist, and sacrificial blood streams all surged back into his body.

Cao Shen's aura, at this moment, surged to a degree that was nearly out of control; his whole person seemed to be swallowed by black mist, leaving only a pair of eyes that were terrifyingly bright.

"Sacrifice—"

The word fell like an imperial decree, and the sky suddenly rippled like waves.

High above in the sky, that towering phantom began to collapse, as if being unraveled by an invisible force, turning into thousands of strands of profound black wandering light, slowly descending toward where Cao Shen stood.

The air became viscous.

Wind came from the void, carrying an ancient, fishy sweetness.

The moment that wandering light touched the center of his brow, Cao Shen's pupils suddenly dilated and then refocused; deep within his pupils, it seemed as if another pair of eyes was slowly opening.

The next second!

Rubble floated up into the air, as if some ancient order between heaven and earth was being rewritten!

The entire sky seemed to have become an inverted deep well.

And Cao Shen stood at the center of that deep well.

The black mist on his body was surging frantically, like a tide, and also like countless twisted tentacles, drilling out layer by layer from his body, under his robes, and between his bone joints, only to retract layer by layer.

That pair of eyes that originally belonged to Cao Shen had already begun to become strange.

The whites of his eyes faded bit by bit into grayish-black.

Deep within the pupils, an extremely thin vertical slit slowly cracked open.

That was not a human eye.

It was a gaze from an entity of a higher status.

Lei Wanjun shattered the Fallen One pouncing in front of him with one punch, looked up violently, his eyes full of horror.

"Cao Shen, this madman, is intending to use himself as a vessel!"