Chapter 880: Mastermind
He Li immediately felt relieved when he got all of that out. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could feel the looks of respect and fear in Zu An and the emperor’s eyes.
He was a cultivator at the peak of the ninth rank after all, someone who received respect wherever he went. Even in a place like the capital where cultivators were more widespread, his presence still carried considerable weight.
And yet it was precisely his arrogant self who had constantly been overshadowed by these two ridiculous existences, turning him into a wretched yes-man. Only now had he recovered his usual dignity.
He gave the trembling Bi Linglong a look. Even though your hair is a bit too white, your face really is pretty. Your weak appearance right now makes you look more ladylike than your usual high and mighty appearance.
I’ll kill the men and leave this extraordinary beauty alive. Who’ll even be able to find me once I leave and live incognito?
I’ll just spend some time with the crown princess here in the dungeon if I have to. What should I name the child? Hm… I guess it depends on whether it’s a boy or a girl…
At that moment, he had already thought about many things. He suddenly wasn’t so scared of the emperor anymore when he thought about the beautiful crown princess. The blade in his hands flew at Zhao Ruizhi’s neck.
Zhao Ruizhi’s eyes flickered with light. His hand shot out and tapped He Li’s forehead.
He Li trembled, and his body fell limp to the ground. A streak of blood trickled out between his brows, his eyes wide in shock. As his world became completely dark, he still seemed to be confused.
Zhao Ruizhi slowly stood up. “Hmph, did you think that I was really begging you when I was talking to you? It was just to buy myself time.”
The two King Qi Manor soldiers, who had become a bit restless, were frightened. They quickly bowed down. “The emperor is powerful and without equal! Long live, long live!”
Zhao Ruizhi roared with laughter. He suddenly turned to look at Zu An. “It’s now your turn.”
Zu An remained quiet. He had just recovered a bit of fighting strength too, but he hadn’t expected the emperor to recover even faster. He had only managed to pressure the emperor previously after exhausting everything he had. The emperor was no fool and wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.
He felt despair when he thought of that. The emperor was just way too powerful. Whether it was the Knock-You-Up-Eyes, the Immortal Beheading Knives, or the Frozen Soul poison, any one of them would’ve been enough to finish off a powerful opponent. And yet Zhao Ruizhi had managed to recover after being affected by all three.
But while they were focused on each other, no one noticed that all of the blood they had lost had been completely sucked away by the ground.
Zhao Ruizhi walked toward Zu An one step after another, as if he was doing this to make him fully experience the fear before death.
To his disappointment, however, Zu An remained completely calm, and not even Bi Linglong looked that scared, as if they didn’t care about dying at all. That wasn’t all; they were even looking at each other affectionately.
Are they ignoring me? Smoke almost came out of Zhao Ruizhi’s head from anger.
You have successfully trolled Zhao Han for +777 +777 +777…
He decided that he was going to rip out Zu An’s tongue first, then watch him scream in agony. He wanted to see Bi Linglong’s expression of horror and regret.
Right at that moment, a rumble erupted from beneath them. Not even Zhao Ruizhi could stand steadily. He looked down with a frown and saw that the ground was cracking open down the middle. A huge jagged crevice gradually appeared. The two chunks of separated ground became different in color. One side was becoming whiter and whiter, while the other was becoming darker and darker.
Zu An looked at the ground. He suddenly realized something. “Isn’t this a yin yang diagram?!”
Mi Li was confused at first, but then her expression changed to alarm. “This isn’t a Five Elements Formation, but rather a Five Elements Yin Yang Formation!”
Zu An was about to ask what the difference was, but their surroundings changed again.
As the ground ruptured, water gushed out from underneath. The spring water was completely red in color, as if it were blood that rushed out. When paired with the altar and the current surroundings, it was quite an alarming sight.
Even Zhao Ruizhi stopped. He looked at the scene with a serious expression.
“Pure yang blood, pure yin body… How many years has it been? I’ve finally collected everything I need,” a droning voice suddenly said. It echoed through the place, making it even harder to tell who the one talking was.
Zhao Ruizhi’s eyes narrowed, because he noticed that even he couldn't lock onto the person’s aura. How absurd was that? Ever since he had become the most powerful cultivator in the world, when had anyone escaped his divine senses?
“Pure yang blood?” Mi Li mouthed those words. Then, she gave the yin yang diagram on the ground a look. She suddenly realized what was going on. “So that was it!”
The pool of bloody water that filled the area suddenly boiled like hot water. The blood water surged, slowly forming a human shape. However, it was still rather crude, and its five sensory organs could only vaguely be made out.
The onlookers were shocked when they saw the strange existence. The two King Qi Manor soldiers who were closest to the blood man immediately turned to run for their lives. However, that blood man raised his hands. They stretched out and gripped the two’s necks, dragging them right back.
“Your majesty, save us…” The two King Qi warriors were definitely not incompetent. The fact that they could survive until now proved that they were the best among their peers. However, they couldn't even put up the slightest struggle against that blood man. They could only look toward Zhao Ruizhi with pleading eyes.
Zhao Ruizhi remained completely indifferent. These two were just cannon fodder; why would he ever save them? But his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. For some reason, he felt threatened by the blood monster.
The two warriors had been begging for their lives just a moment earlier, but a split second later, their bodies shrank at a visible rate until they had only skin and bones left. They became two terrifying corpses.
Bi Linglong instinctively turned around when she saw the scene. Such a situation was way too horrifying.
Zu An’s eyes twitched. The scene made him recall Mosquito Daoist. That really wasn’t the happiest memory. Meanwhile, the blood man moved again and tossed the two corpses aside. His body rippled, and his facial features gradually became clear. A rough outline of his original appearance formed. but it was still formed from a glob of blood. It was still hard to tell what kind of monster it was.
“Xu Fu, how could it be you?” Mi Li was shocked and furious.
That blood man slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. “Long time no see, your highness.”
Zu An felt his scalp turn numb when he heard those words. This blood man was Xu Fu? This was the Xu Fu who had supposedly looked for the elixir of immortality to present to the emperor!
All the time, he had actually thought that the last boss of the formation would be the first emperor. He had worried about such a monster coming out, but a completely different person had ended up appearing?
Zhao Ruizhi was completely confused. Who is Xu Fu? Why is he calling this woman ‘her highness’?” He remained calm, planning to listen and gather information first. At the same time, he adjusted his ki. This blood monster gave off an extremely dangerous feeling; he needed to recover as quickly as possible.
The pain in his stomach was already close to disappearing, and only a dull ache remained. It was within his realm of tolerance, however. The Frozen Soul poison was forced back into his hand. He could expel it from his body if he were given a few more seconds of time.
The most troublesome part was the Immortal Beheading Knife’s injury. He had only possessed the crown prince with a portion of his soul, so the body and soul weren’t in perfect harmony. That damn knife just happened to attack the soul. He couldn't heal from it without a proper period of recovery and could only temporarily keep the wound down. He’d slowly heal the wound later.
“Why is it you? Where is Ying Zheng?” Mi Li stared at the blood man. She clearly shared Zu An’s sentiments.
“Isn’t Ying Zheng lying right over there?” Xu Fu pointed at the coffin, his tone carrying a hint of ridicule. “Your highness, please don’t fret. Please wait as I deal with this little problem over here first.” As soon as he spoke, he turned into a streak of bloody light, shooting at Zhao Ruizhi.
Zhao Ruizhi had already experienced endless battles and slaughter, becoming the world’s strongest cultivator. His combat experience was abundant. He was already prepared. A flash of golden light blew his opponent back. However, the exchange made his ki and blood stir within him as well.
He knew that he might not be able to win against the monster in his current condition, so he decided to not carry out a frontal clash for the time being. He wanted to find a place to recover for a bit first.
Just as he was about to leave, his entire body sank downward. He lowered his head. Blood had seeped out between the cracks when he wasn’t paying attention. The blood flailed outward like arms, wrapping tightly around him.
Zhao Ruizhi snorted. Golden light flickered, scattering all of the blood arms. But in the time it took to do that, Xu Fu had already pounced over from afar.
Xu Fu didn’t retain a human form the way Zhao Ruizhi had expected. Midway through his charge, he had already turned into a bloody mist. Then, that blood turned into a giant octopus. Countless tentacles wrapped tightly around Zhao Ruizhi’s entire body.