Mo Qi realized Liu Xun would not help the Blood Daoist, so he said loudly, "Liu Xun, we four pairs of ears have heard very clearly. This demonic Daoist claims he wants to join forces with you to deal with us. If you merely stand by and watch, you might not be able to clear your name of colluding with the enemy. If we report this truthfully in the future, I don't know what the celestial beings of the Qiong Lu Realm will think."
Liu Xun finally made up his mind and had to make a choice. He said to Yang Hong, "Hurry and help the celestial beings exterminate this demonic Daoist."
Mo Qi immediately shouted, "Who said we want to exterminate him? We want to capture him alive."
He thought, I must force you to reveal your true form today.
Liu Xun responded vaguely and gave Yang Hong a look, "Capture him alive, you must capture him alive."
Yang Hong understood, descended from the clouds, and struck at the Blood Daoist with his flying sword.
At the same time, Liu Xun also summoned his flying sword. The sword grew rapidly in the wind and slashed fiercely at the Blood Daoist.
The Blood Daoist let out a hysterical roar, like a wail and a groan. An atmosphere of utter desolation and endless sorrow permeated the air.
Amidst that endless sorrow, the Blood Daoist inserted his fingers into his head and slowly pulled himself apart from top to bottom. A sea of blood surged out, spreading in all directions. Simultaneously, countless blood figures and blood beasts crawled out of the blood sea, baring their fangs and claws as they lunged at the six people around them.
Among the group, apart from Yang Hong and Mo Qi, the others were all experienced, but they had never seen such a scene before. Forget about fighting, the moment they saw the Blood Daoist peel open his scalp, they were already terrified out of their wits. Before the blood figures and beasts could attack, the blood sea surged towards them like a tide.
Mo Qi and the three from the Divine Escape Sect knew not to touch the blood. They immediately retreated rapidly. However, the aura emanating from the blood water possessed a soul-capturing power. The three from the Divine Escape Sect had to continuously channel their spiritual energy to resist this power while retreating, which greatly slowed their pace.
Mo Qi took out three Soul Suppressing Talismans from his storage bag and sent them out in three directions simultaneously. They floated lightly onto the bodies of the three from the Divine Escape Sect. The talismans instantly lit up with golden light. Without hesitation, they chose to believe that these were not attack talismans, because at this moment, only by trusting each other could they defeat their opponents.
The talismans slowly merged into their clothes, and their minds gradually cleared. At this moment, the blood figures had already rushed out of the blood sea and were pouncing towards them. The three of them each summoned their magic artifacts to block the approaching blood figures, killing them all while retreating, fearing any contact with the blood water.
Yang Hong's flying sword plunged directly into the blood sea and was swallowed by the blood waves after a few bobbing movements. Next was Yang Hong himself, who, with wide, terrified eyes, was engulfed by the blood sea. He struggled to surface, only to be beaten down again, and then resurface, only to be beaten down again. After a few more ups and downs, he sank completely into the blood sea.
A moment later, another blood figure emerged from the blood sea, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged at the others.
Liu Xun was greatly alarmed and secretly rejoiced that he had not rushed forward, otherwise, he might have met the same fate as Yang Hong.
He then formed a hand seal, pointed, and several flying sword projections flashed, slicing through the necks of the blood figures lunging at him. Their heads fell, followed by their bodies, which collapsed into the blood sea, becoming part of it.
Liu Xun retracted his flying sword and summoned a bamboo-tube-shaped magic artifact. The artifact emitted purple light in mid-air and scattered towards the blood sea. Upon contact, the blood sea flowed into the bamboo tube along the purple light. The purple gradually turned red, and the red ocean continuously flowed into the bamboo tube, like a vast ocean converging into a small hole. It was unreal, yet it was happening.
Mo Qi formed a hand seal and erected an ice wall in front of him. He struck the ice wall, and streams of ice swords continuously shot towards the blood figures. After a moment, all the blood figures lunging at him were pierced by the ice swords. From that point, their entire bodies were frozen and then melted. The blood and water merged and gradually flowed into Liu Xun's bamboo tube.
Just as the blood sea was about to be collected into the bamboo tube, light projections flashed in the air, and three figures arrived from the sky. They were three male cultivators, dressed in strange attire and with extremely peculiar appearances. One had a greenish-blue face, like a frog's, another had red hair and extremely prominent dark circles under his eyes. The last was completely withered, his face covered in wrinkles like tree bark, his eyes sunken, almost invisible.
Upon seeing the newcomers, Liu Xun's eyes showed a hint of fear. His concentration wavered slightly, and a blood-red light shot out from the blood sea, landing in the withered old man's hand. Without even looking, the withered old man placed the blood mass into a small box and then tucked the box into his sleeve. The remaining blood sea instantly fell to the ground, staining it red.
The withered old man raised his head, his eyes shooting sharp glances at Liu Xun, "Liu Xun, can you explain to me what is going on?"
Liu Xun stammered, "I... this... I was mainly considering the bigger picture."
"Bigger picture? What bigger picture?" the frog-faced man said aggressively.
At this moment, Mo Qi and the three from the Divine Escape Sect, hearing their obvious conversation, could not help but understand the identities of these three strange men. It was clear that these three were allied with the Blood Daoist and came from a cultivation world outside the Southern Continent.
Mo Qi and the three from the Divine Escape Sect quickly analyzed the current situation in their minds. Previously, the four of them, plus Liu Xun, had only barely managed to defeat the Blood Daoist. These three were likely no weaker than the Blood Daoist. If Liu Xun were to defect now, their side of four would likely be doomed.
"Don't be afraid of them," Mo Qi said to Liu Xun, "Are we five afraid of them three?"
Liu Xun fell into hesitation. In the current situation, if he helped Mo Qi and the others, even if they won by chance, they would never trust the Divine Turtle Sect again. Moreover, the possibility of winning was very slim. Only by helping the frog Daoist and his companions to annihilate the four opponents would they avoid giving any handle to the Northern Territory and the Qiong Lu Realm. This matter would then be perfect.
The frog Daoist and his group seemed extremely confident in their strength and were not in a hurry, simply watching Liu Xun, waiting to see how he would make his choice. Their demeanor suggested they were even hoping Liu Xun would choose their side.
At this moment, light projections flickered, and two more people flew from the direction of the Divine Turtle Sect, landing beside Liu Xun.
They were the elders of the Divine Turtle Sect, Ji Changshi and Dan Chunrong. The place where they were fighting was only about ten miles from the Divine Turtle Sect. With the flashing lights and swirling mist, some Divine Turtle Sect disciples had already reported to the sect leader. The sect leader of the Divine Turtle Sect, Wang Ting, after investigating with his divine sense, understood the general situation and dispatched two elders to handle the matter, demanding a swift resolution.
Seeing reinforcements arrive, Liu Xun immediately felt more confident. Ji Changshi whispered a few words into Liu Xun's ear, and Liu Xun then said to the frog Daoist, "If you can forget what just happened, we are still allies." He thought there was no need to explain what had happened, and it was impossible to explain clearly. It was better to let them make a choice directly. After all, they were the "local snakes," and if they were displeased, a massive reinforcement army would come charging. Would they be afraid of you? He thought that under such pressure, they would accept his "bigger picture."
However, he had clearly underestimated their arrogance. The frog Daoist snorted coldly, "It's impossible to forget. Whether we are allies now is no longer important. We don't need an ally who might stab us in the back at any moment. You must give us a reasonable explanation for this matter."
"Explanation, hehe, explain your..." Liu Xun was dismissive, thinking the other party was too arrogant, and was about to utter some vulgar words to wake them up. Suddenly, Ji Changshi behind him made a move. A white light flashed from his hand, cutting across Liu Xun's neck, and Liu Xun's head fell. Liu Xun's voice abruptly stopped, and blood spurted into the sky like a fountain, creating a small blood rain. Then his body collapsed to the ground.
"Are you three satisfied with this explanation?" Ji Changshi said, staring coldly at the frog Daoist.
The frog Daoist fell silent and looked at the other two with his eyes. The other two nodded slightly. Both sides were very clear-headed. So-called allies were merely a sword hanging on common interests, a double-edged sword that could kill enemies or harm oneself, depending on how the wielder used it. Therefore, neither side truly trusted the other's sincerity, but even with mutual suspicion, they could continue to cooperate and remain friends. The premise was that when conflicts arose, both sides had a way to step down gracefully. Just now, the Divine Turtle Sect had provided them with a step down, and they understood when to stop, so they simply followed the step down.
Mo Qi and the three from the Divine Escape Sect immediately realized their precarious situation. The four of them simultaneously thought that the best strategy was to retreat. In the blink of an eye, the four of them disappeared, vanishing into thin air. Evasion, earth escape, invisibility talismans, each displayed their unique abilities.
Ji Changshi smiled faintly, "Heavenly Net!" With a gesture, a net-like object shot out and instantly enlarged, quickly covering an area of several miles. The net gradually faded and then disappeared into the air.
A few breaths later, several crisp collision sounds were heard, and golden light erupted in the air. The hemispherical net flashed again and then disappeared. Simultaneously, three figures revealed their original forms. Qi Zhi Mei, who had been using earth escape, also emerged from the ground. It seemed that escape was impossible both in the sky and on the ground. Indeed, it was a heavenly net.
The four were not resigned to their fate and each unleashed their divine abilities, striking the net. The net's light projections flickered continuously but showed no signs of loosening or collapsing.
On the contrary, they were shocked to find that the "net" was gradually shrinking, forcing the four of them to retreat inward.
The frog Daoist was about to act, but Ji Changshi smiled and waved his hand, "No need for the three of you to act. My Heavenly Net will continue to shrink until it twists together, at which point it will crush them into minced meat. We just need to sit back and enjoy the show." Upon hearing this, the frog Daoist saw that the "net" was indeed shrinking and crossed his arms, patiently watching.
The four within the net, with great tacit understanding, each stood in a direction, using their divine abilities and techniques to resist the shrinking net. They only slightly slowed down its speed but failed to stop it.