258: Chapter 258 Blood Sacrifice Array

Di Futian staggered to his feet, looking at the spatial rift that was healing before him, his eyes filled with madness and venomous malice.

"I was giving you all a chance!"

"You've forced me to stay; have you thought about the consequences?"

Di Futian roared, his hands suddenly forming a sinister seal, and the essence blood within his body boiled like it was burning!

Boom—!

The earth of the entire Cangwu Kingdom suddenly shook violently! With the ruined Wanxian Palace as the core, countless eerie blood-red patterns spread out from deep underground.

They were like spiderwebs, or perhaps blood vessels, crazily extending in all directions at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, they covered the land as far as the eye could see and continued to spread even further!

Wherever the patterns passed, the ground was dyed dark red, and a nauseating scent of blood filled the air.

"Ugh, ah—!"

The high-level Cultivators present, such as Zheng Nanxun, Su Fengyi, and the representatives of the Four Great Families and seventh-grade forces, instantly felt their blood and Qi churning and their magic power becoming sluggish, as if countless needles were piercing into their bone marrow, causing unbearable pain.

Their faces changed drastically as they one after another circulated their power to resist this bizarre extraction force.

Meanwhile, the Cultivators with lower cultivation and the Mortals and wild beasts in the distance who had no idea what was happening were even more miserable! Many people's bodies swelled uncontrollably, veins bulging under their skin like earthworms, as they let out shrill screams.

Some Mortals and animals even exploded with a "poof" while running, turning into a pool of foul blood that quickly seeped into the ground, greedily absorbed by those blood-red patterns.

"A Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation! Covering the entire Cangwu Kingdom?!"

Zheng Nanxun's face turned pale with horror, his voice trembling,

"If this Formation is fully activated, half of Cangwu Province will be affected!"

Su Fengyi's phoenix-like eyes widened, the red-gold phoenix patterns around her body shining brightly. Her heart was similarly filled with turbulent waves as she cursed, "Di Futian! Are you insane?!"

"You should blame him for this!"

Di Futian pointed at Ling Hao, his face full of mockery,

"This Blood Sacrifice Formation covering the Cangwu Kingdom is a composite Formation. Even if a Mahayana Stage expert wanted to destroy it, without finding the seventy-two formation cores, it would be nearly impossible to destroy it completely."

"The seventy-two formation cores are located across dozens of cultivation kingdoms. By the time you find them... heh... they'll all be dead!"

Those present understood that even if they were found, it would be too late.

"So, do you want to talk with me?"

Everyone looked toward Ling Hao; he was the ultimate decision-maker here.

The corners of Ling Hao's mouth curled up as he spat out three words,

"I refuse!"

Everyone was in disbelief; those were dozens of cultivation kingdoms, were they just going to...

And as more low-level Cultivators were about to follow in the footsteps of those animals and explode...

Hum—!

The blood-red patterns that had been crazily spreading into the distance, almost connecting heaven and earth, suddenly came to a halt. The heaven-shaking sinister aura and the terrifying extraction force instantly ceased.

The light of the blood-red patterns quickly dimmed, the earth's tremors subsided, and all that remained were countless groans of pain and the gasps of those who had survived the disaster.

The madness on Di Futian's face instantly froze, replaced by bewilderment and confusion:

"Wha... what's going on?!"

He suddenly looked at Ling Hao, and seeing the mocking smile on the other's face, he realized instantly.

His eyes nearly split as he roared through gritted teeth, "It's you! Just now when you were Undergoing Tribulation... you deliberately destroyed the core of the Formation?!"

Di Futian then turned to Di Fuling,

"And my dear sister! You're the one who destroyed the other formation cores!"

Only she could have done it!

Ling Hao stood with his hands behind his back,

"Look at you, isn't your guess quite accurate? Now, what other tricks do you have?"

The existence of this Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation was precisely one of the important pieces of intelligence Di Fuling had told Ling Hao when she secretly went to the Moonshadow Sect last time.

Ling Hao's seemingly casual destruction while Undergoing Tribulation had actually precisely destroyed the most critical formation cores of the Formation!

"Ahhh—!"

Di Futian went completely mad,

"Even without the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation, I can still kill you!"

The aura on his body exploded, and the pressure of the Mahayana Stage soared into the sky.

His hair instantly turned gray, his skin lost its luster, and his longevity Origin was rapidly burning!

"Ling Hao! Don't underestimate me too much! This old man has also once reached the Mahayana Realm!"

Di Futian burned his last bits of essence blood, forcibly pushing his Realm back to the Mahayana Stage for a short time!

Although his state was extremely unstable and his aura was like a candle in the wind, the Law fluctuations belonging to a Mahayana Supreme were real!

"Blood River Ten Thousand Bone Banner!"

Di Futian shrieked, and a magic banner forged entirely from white bones and entwined with an endless blood river of resentful souls appeared in his hand.

As the banner waved, blood waves surged to the sky, and countless twisted resentful spirits shrieked as they lunged at Ling Hao, corroding the space into black holes wherever they passed!

"Primordial Blood Tribulation: Heaven-Devouring Claw!"

His other hand transformed into a blood-red giant claw that blotted out the sun, entwined with bizarre Daoist Law chains, tearing through the Void Realm as it clawed down toward Ling Hao's head!

Ling Hao's eyes reflected the magic banner and the giant claw as he softly spoke:

"All Laws return to Origin, the Dao transforms into the infinite."

A ripple of Dao charm spread out, and the blood river of resentful spirits that had lunged close immediately stopped in mid-air, making sizzling sounds of corrosion, but it could no longer advance an inch and began to be purified and dissipated by that Dao charm.

With his right hand's fingers joined like a sword, Ling Hao pointed into the air.

"Taiyin, Eternal Frost."

A deep, dark blue drop of water appeared out of thin air and met the blood-red giant claw. Though the drop was small, the moment it made contact, a terrifying extreme cold instantly erupted, freezing the giant claw along with the Daoist Law chains upon it into the Void Realm, turning it into a massive blood-red ice sculpture.

"Hiss—!"

Zheng Nanxun, Su Fengyi, and the others watching from afar had already retreated to a more distant mountain peak. Seeing this scene, they all sucked in a breath of cold air.

Zheng Nanxun murmured, "Is this the power of a true Mahayana Supreme? Every movement is in harmony with the Dao, breaking all Laws invisibly..."

Su Fengyi's eyes were complex; the power Ling Hao displayed made the resistance and struggle in her heart even more intense.

Di Futian acted like a mad demon, throwing out all sorts of trump-card secret techniques, Magic Treasures, and Daoist Magic without regard for his life. The entire battlefield was submerged in violent energy, and space was constantly shattered and reconstructed.

However, Ling Hao always seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll, either using the Five Elements Dao Wheel to neutralize the attacks, Chaos Sword Qi to slash them away, or spatial folding to redirect them... as if he were playing with a trapped beast.

Di Futian finally understood that the other party was playing a game of cat and mouse!

Immense humiliation and despair drove him to a murderous frenzy:

"Ling Hao! You think you've won? If I can't have it, don't you think you'll have peace either!"

At this moment, the playfulness in Ling Hao's eyes also vanished.

"Oh, is that so?"

He raised his hand, and a miniature phantom of a Chaos Grinding Stone, which seemed to contain the myriad Daos of heaven and earth, appeared in his palm. He was about to press it down on Di Futian's head to completely obliterate him.

Di Futian gave up all defense, formed a seal with his hands, and used his last bit of strength to let out a roar that shook the universe toward the north.

"The shuofang tripod—! It's at the Moonshadow Sect! In Ling Hao's hands—!!!"

This roar was like thunder from the Nine Heavens, drowning out all the noise of the battlefield and clearly reaching the ears of every Cultivator present. Furthermore, with the help of some secret technique, it was transmitted far and wide.

"What?!"

"The shuofang tripod?!"

"One of the nine main tripods, the shuofang tripod? In the hands of the Sect Master of Moon Shadow Sect?!"

Zheng Nanxun and Su Fengyi's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needles, their faces written with extreme shock.

They knew all too well what the nine tripods represented! They were Immortal Artifacts that suppressed the Luck of the Nine Provinces.

The rest of the Cultivators, whether from the forces under Wan Shou Mountain, the Four Great Families of the Wutong Divine Dynasty, or the surviving Cultivators of the Wanxian Dynasty, were all plunged into massive shock and bewilderment.

In an extremely distant and hidden valley, a man dressed in purple robes embroidered with mysterious patterns (Zhu Wutong) suddenly jolted.

He was first stunned, then as if he had thought of something, a look of wild joy and schadenfreude appeared on his face, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter:

"Hahaha! Di Futian! So you waited in that Chiyun Kingdom for so long and didn't even get a single hair! The shuofang tripod actually fell into the hands of the Moonshadow Sect long ago! Haha, delightful! Truly delightful!"

The stifled frustration from being scared away by Di Futian back then was instantly swept away.

Zhu Wutong looked toward the north and murmured to himself,

"There's no need for me to send this news back to the Central Province myself. With Di Futian's roar, I'm afraid..."

But soon, the smile on Zhu Wutong's face froze, replaced by solemnity, confusion, and... envy.

"The Sect Master of Moon Shadow Sect... Ling Hao... he's a monster! Didn't he just break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage not long ago? How did he... reach the Mahayana Stage already?!"

"...Now, over at Cangwu City..."

Suddenly, he turned his head sharply toward the horizon, his eyes showing alarm.

There, a massive fleet was sailing majestically. Their target was—Wanxian Palace!