Chapter 961: Battle of Life and Death

After the crimson light entered his body, E Kuai shuddered as a pained look appeared on his face, but it was quickly overshadowed by an expression of elation as he closed his eyes and channeled his cultivation arts to harness the power within the crimson light.

His limbs began to swell up slightly while also glowing with radiant crimson light, and the indistinct profound acupoints on his body were rapidly attaining substantial forms one after another.

This rate of profound acupoint attainment was several times faster than what was achieved by absorbing the blood within the pond.

More and more crimson light continued to surge incessantly out of the door of light before being purified by the four subsidiary city lords, following which it was absorbed by E Kuai.

In what seemed like no more than the blink of an eye, he had already opened over twenty profound acupoints, and his aura was also becoming more and more immense, hanging over everyone like an all-encompassing cloud.

In contrast, the auras of the four subsidiary city lords began to gradually wane.

Meanwhile, a battle was still raging around the array.

Fang Chan was standing behind the statue that Sun Tu was situated on, and there was a ferocious look on his face, giving him the appearance of a fearsome beast.

He let loose one thunderous roar after another, sending powerful soundwaves sweeping toward the statue, only for them to be kept out by the crimson light barrier around the array.

The surface of the light barrier was rippling incessantly in the face of the soundwaves, and before long, the entire light barrier was beginning to look a little unstable.

A hint of surprise flashed through Shao Ying's eyes upon seeing this.

According to E Kuai, none of the cultivators outside of the five city lords aside from Mistress Liu Hua and Shao Ying should've been able to pose any threat to this crimson light barrier, yet it seemed like Fang Chan was doing just that.

Several seconds later, the rippling of the crimson light barrier gradually subsided.

On the other side, the bandages around Duan Tong's right arm had already been unraveled, revealing a series of strange black patterns on his enormous arm.

He let loose a thunderous roar as he sprang up into the air, then threw a punch down at the crimson light barrier.

All of the black patterns on his arm lit up, and his already massive arm bulged even further as close to a hundred profound acupoints appeared over its surface.

The black patterns on his arm grew brighter and brighter, releasing waves of scorching heat as it accumulated more and more power.

Duan Tong came swooping down with a look of single-minded determination and ferocity on his face, sending his fist crashing down upon the statue before him with all his might.

Right at this moment, Zhu Ziyuan sprang up into the air, appearing directly in front of Duan Tong in a flash before thrusting his bone spear through the air.

A sharp screeching sound rang out as the tip of Zhu Yuanzi's spear struck Duan Tong's fist, and formidable shockwaves erupted in all directions in the form of gusts of fierce wind.

Zhu Ziyuan's bone spear was forced back to the point that its tip had almost completely folded over itself, and he gave a cold harrumph as he grabbed tightly onto his spear with both hands.

At the same time, dozens of profound acupoints lit up over his arms in unison, while the star acupoints on the bone spear also began glowing radiantly.

A burst of tremendous starpower erupted out of his body before gushing into the spear along his arms, and the tip of the spear was instantly bolstered, returning to its original form.

Duan Tong was sent flying back by the force of the tip of Zhu Ziyuan's bone spear springing back to its original orientation, and after landing on the ground, he immediately launched himself forward once again without any delay while swinging his fist as Zhi Ziyuan.

A battle immediately commenced between the two, and Zhu Ziqing was just about to go and back up her brother when she spotted Xuanyuan Xing attacking the crimson light barrier from another direction.

Her brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, she chose to engage Xuanyuan Xing in battle instead.

All the while, Shi Chuankong was looking on with tightly furrowed brows, seemingly very hesitant about how to proceed.

Prior to his departure, Han Li had told him to do his best to remain a passive bystander, but it was clear that the Shao Ying's trio had gained the upper hand here. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Fang Chan and the others were defeated, at which point he would be all on his own and more vulnerable than ever.

Mistress Liu Hua had also remained a passive bystander this entire time, making no effort to damage the array or oppose the subordinates of the four subsidiary city lords. Instead, all he did was remain standing on the spot with a grim expression, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, the elder from Profound End City by the name of Lü Gang was also attempting to damage the array, but to no effect.

Right at this moment, another thunderous roar rang out as Fang Chan stomped his feet down onto the ground to adopt a horse stance, shattering the stone slabs beneath his feet in the process.

He clenched his fists tightly, and veins bulged on his forehead as he let loose a pained roar.

Immediately thereafter, the muscles on his body began to rapidly bulge, and tufts of coarse black fur appeared over his skin as his body swelled up like a balloon. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a half-human, half-boar creature, and his eyes had turned bright red.

At the same time, his aura had also swelled drastically, and no one dared to get close to him.

"I didn't know that you possessed a true spirit bloodline," Shao Ying mused as his eyes narrowed slightly, and even Mistress Liu Hua had turned to look at Fang Chan with a surprised look in his eyes.

Shi Chuankong was also quite surprised to hear this, but it only took him a single glance to determine that this was definitely not some true spirit bloodline. Instead, he was using some type of secret technique to stimulate his own devilish bloodline in order to achieve this transformation.

After completing his transformation, Fang Chan sprang up into the air, then inhaled deeply before letting loose another resounding roar.

The soundwaves coming out of Fang Chan's mouth were more powerful than ever before, and they crashed against the crimson light barrier like gusts of ferocious wind.

The light barrier trembled violently, and a deep indentation appeared on its surface under the force of the tremendous soundwaves, looking as if it really were about to be overwhelmed.

A look of urgency finally appeared on Shao Ying's face upon seeing this, and he abruptly vanished from the spot, then instantly reappeared behind Fang Chan before reaching out to grab at him from behind.

Fang Chan made no effort to defend himself as he continued to roar with all his might, trying to break the crimson light barrier in one fell swoop.

Inside the Weeping Blood Array, E Kuai took a glance in his direction, following which a cold sneer appeared on his face as he casually made a hand seal.

A burst of crimson light instantly surged out of the wings of the stone statue beneath him before fusing into the crimson light barrier, instantly restoring it to its former condition.

A look of despair appeared in Fang Chan's eyes upon seeing this, and before he could do anything else, he was dealt a heavy blow on the back.

White light was radiating from Shao Ying's arm as his fingers pierced into Fang Chan's back like five sharp swords, sending blood splattering in all directions.

Fang Chan plummeted to the ground in a puddle of his own blood before falling completely still, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

A grim look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face upon seeing this, and right at this moment, E Kuai ordered, "Kill all of these annoying pests! I don't want any more distractions from them."

"Yes, City Lord E," Shao Ying replied in a respectful manner, and he took a glance at Fang Chan, then turned his gaze toward Shi Chuankong and Lü Gang.

After witnessing Fang Chan's failed attempt to breach the crimson light barrier, Lü Gang's heart had already sunk into the pits of despair, and he shuddered at the sight of Shao Ying's hawk-like gaze before rushing back toward the three stone arch bridges that they had come from.

"You're not going anywhere!" Shao Ying sneered as he set off in pursuit.

Over 160 profound acupoints had already lit up over the elder's body, but his speed couldn't even hold a candle to Shao Ying's, and the gap between the two of them was closed before he could even reach the stone bridges.

Right as Shao Ying's fingers were about to pierce into his back, Lü Gang suddenly stopped cold in his tracks, then swiveled around before thrusting a white dagger at Shao Ying.

All of a sudden, he was displaying far superior speed than when he was fleeing toward the stone bridges, so even Shao Ying was caught slightly off guard.

However, instead of taking any evasive measures, Shao Ying merely gave a cold harrumph as a layer of white starlight appeared over his fingers, and grabbed directly at the oncoming dagger with his bare hand.

A sharp clang rang out as the space within the palm of Shao Ying's hand warped slightly, and the dagger was instantly snapped upon entering the warped space.

Taking advantage of this brief window of respite, Lü Gang darted back in retreat, but instead of continuing to flee, he leaped straight over Shao Ying before landing beside Shi Chuankong.

At this moment, the severely wounded Fang Chan was laying at Shi Chuankong's feet, and the latter was in the process of feeding the former a bright red pill.

"Well done, Elder Lü," Shi Chuankong praised as he rose to his feet.

"So you instructed him to lure me away in order to buy you time to save Fang Chan, is that right?" Shao Ying asked in a cold voice.

"City Lord E is clearly intent on killing all of us, so we have no choice but to band together," Shi Chuankong replied.