Chapter 1351: Joining Hands, Breaking the Stalemate

Countless attacks hurtled through the air like shooting stars, targeting the blood-red flower bud.

Bang!

At this point, the ground began to shake and tear apart, then numerous blood-red roots tunneled out. They looked as though they were made of flesh and blood, squirming and flowing with red, viscous liquid.

The fleshly tendrils resembled a stick of candied haws after it ran through all the nearby corrupted experts like a shishkebab, quickly assembling a gigantic humanoid abomination made of bodies.

Every single part of it was made up of corrupted experts being strung together.

Corruption spilled forth like a tide from the humongous abomination's body. It soon unhinged its massive mouth, spewing out a foul-smelling river of blood.

The blood contained the remains of the cultivators.

As the bloody river arced through the sky, it collided directly with the attacks of the group, extinguishing them with overwhelming might.

All of the strongest experts stood at the fore—Qin Beiming, Li Zhihuo, Zhao Xiuyuan, Zhu Zhan, and the Golden Dragon Bank's fifth-grade Duke.

Their faces turned solemn as they looked at the fleshy creature made up of the strung-up corrupted experts. The creature emanated fluctuations of energy so strong that even they felt a sense of pressure.

The giant, humanoid figure was equivalent to a sixth-grade Duke Stage in terms of strength! The remaining corrupted individuals seemed to be under its control. They raised their heads, locked their black eyes onto the group, and began to move.

"Those Foundational Spirit Treasures should be the source of its energy, so we have to approach the roots beneath the flower bud and take them away. By doing so, we can prevent it from growing any further," Qin Beiming said.

"Do you think that’s easy? Just that flesh golem alone is capable of blocking us!" Zhao Xiuyuan blurted out.

"We will distract the Giant Flesh Golem and the rest of you will break through the encirclement of the corrupted individuals. Destroy that flower bud!" Li Zhihuo said.

The five of them were all fifth-grade Dukes, and since Qin Beiming was an upper fifth-grade, they were likely strong enough to tie the opponent down if they worked together.

Qin Beiming was decisive, so he quickly made his decision, shouting loudly, "Everyone, if we wish to persevere through this trial, we will have to work together. Leave the Giant Flesh Golem to us and push ahead. Pierce through the defenses and prevent that flower bud from giving birth to the creature!"

His words caused everyone's expressions to turn serious, and they solemnly nodded in agreement.

Although the different squads had enmity between them, it was not the time to settle grudges. They had to overcome this adversity before anything else.

Thus, with Qin Beiming at the lead, the five strongest began to rouse their resonant power. One majestic Duke Bergfried after another manifested in the sky, devouring copious amounts of worldly natural energy.

Twenty-five impressive Duke Bergfrieds began to spew out incredible amounts of Divine Mist that rushed towards the Giant Flesh Golem. The void shook and the entire world started to rumble loudly, the sounds spreading across thousands of miles.

At the same time, Li Foluo, Li Tingyue, and the rest of the stronger cultivators shot forward. They pounced towards the tide of corrupted experts, which resembled a red wave.

Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e followed along and clashed with the corrupted.

Incredible amounts of resonant arts exploded with mighty force, ripping scars into the ground.

A merciless confrontation had unfolded in this empty land.

If one were to look at it from the skies, they would see the grand scene of two opposing forces eroding away at each other in the vicinity of the blood-red flower bud. The squads had all sorts of different resonance affinities and thus, their side was like a myriad of different colors fusing together, whereas all of the corrupted individuals emitted a blood-red energy.

Every step forward was earned with the sacrifice of others.

Everyone was killing until their eyes turned red.

The only bright side was that the corrupted individuals seemed to lack intelligence. As the combined squads advanced, the defensive line created by the corrupted quickly fell apart.

This was a heartening sight.

However, it did not last long. A terrifying screech came from across the horizon, completely enveloping the sounds of combat.

Everyone raised their heads in shock. Their eyes shrank and horror filled their eyes.

It was then that they noticed that black torrential rain had blotted out the sun, falling upon them.

"This is..." The mouths of everyone present dried up and their bodies shivered involuntarily. A voice full of fear suddenly rang out.

"The Stygian Rain of Calamity... It has descended!"

This sight shattered their confidence, resulting in their orderly formation descending into chaos.

This was because the Stygian Rain of Calamity was not supposed to descend yet. Based on previous experiences, it should only have started after the Treasure Domain closed.

"Things will be even more troublesome now," Li Luo murmured as he cleaved a corrupted expert into two. As he stared at the descending black rain, his expression turned ugly. Without even talking about why this had happened, the situation alone was terrible. The black rain was filled with corruption and would sap away at their strength. At the same time, it would bolster the abilities of the corrupted experts.

This was undoubtedly terrible news for them.

Just as everyone's morale was starting to collapse, Qin Beiming's heroic voice boomed. "So what if the Stygian Rain of Calamity has descended? We have no path of escape! Only by destroying the flower bud can we have a chance to live! If you don't wish to die here, you'll have to push ahead!"

The five Duke Bergfrieds above Qin Beiming erupted with torrential amounts of golden water. It formed a gigantic river that pulsed with humongous waves.

A massive sword surfaced from beneath the waves. The energy it emanated was boundless, and it cleaved the sky apart.

The appearance of that sword caused even the rain to temporarily stop. The sword energy then penetrated through the void, viciously slicing towards the Giant Flesh Golem.

"This is Heavenly Emperor Qin's Destiny-grade Duke Art, Tai'e's Golden Sword!"

Everyone gasped. They all recognized Qin Beiming's signature move.

As the golden sword energy arced across the void, one of the arms of the Giant Flesh Golem was directly severed and chopped into pieces. Flesh and blood sprayed everywhere and its huge body was knocked backwards, shaking the ground as it stumbled.

Qin Beiming's attack immediately restored some of the lost morale.

"Qin Beiming is truly an impressive leader," Li Luo praised. He had seen many idiots from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qin and had assumed that they were beyond saving. However, Qin Beiming’s actions erased his misconception that everyone was a fool and showed how capable some of them were.

He had accurately discerned the situation in this critical moment and prevented it from taking a turn for the worst. He was a capable leader and the strongest Guardian General; it was no wonder Li Zhihuo and Zhao Xiuyuan lived in his shadow.

If he were to continue growing, he would undoubtedly play an important role in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qin.

Despite the giant sword's strike, it was not possible to destroy the Giant Flesh Golem with a single blow. Furthermore, the black torrential rain caused the corruption emanating from it to strengthen further.

The Giant Flesh Golem screeched loudly. Flesh and blood shot out of the severed stump that was once his arm, quickly transforming into a complete limb.

A gloomy light surfaced in the Qin Beiming, Li Zhihuo, and the rest's eyes. They then pushed ahead with all their strength yet again.

With them leading the charge, the morale of the group had held firm. Since there was no way back, they had to struggle with all their might.

Thus, they braved through the despair, bursting forth with their mightiest abilities.

Amongst them, Jiang Qing'e and Li Luo had attracted the most attention. The couple cut through the corrupted like a hot knife through butter.

As the squad's relentless advance was not halted, the blood-red flower bud seemed to have sensed the danger it was in and began to emit a low, strange cry.

Countless worm-like, fleshy roots emerged from the ground, directly tunneling into the corrupted experts’ bodies, causing them to squirm and swell.

At the same time, the corruption emanating from them thickened.

This change hindered the advance of the combined squads.

There was only one particular group that remained unstoppable.

It was where Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were situated.

Their combined attacks were clearly effective at suppressing the Others, so they advanced unimpeded through the enemy's defensive lines.

Thus, they gradually approached the roots of the blood-red flower bud.

Once they could enter that protected area and retrieve the Foundational Spirit Treasures, they would forcibly disrupt the energy the blood-red flower was absorbing and cause it to wither.

The corrupted would naturally also no longer be under its control.

Therefore, everyone's gazes were focused on them.

However, the flower bud began to struggle with increasing intensity. It seemed to be summoning the Giant Flesh Golem back towards it for protection. However, Qin Beiming and the rest were fighting with all their might in an attempt to prevent this from happening.

"Li Luo, Jiang Qing'e! Advance with everything you got!" Li Foluo's voice thundered. The intensity kicked up a notch as everyone pulled out all the stops to restrain the corrupted as well.

A small wisp of hope began to surface in everyone's hearts.

They watched with wide eyes as the duo rushed out of the final layer of defenses, transforming into two beams of flowing light that zoomed towards the flower bud.

However, it was at this point that a certain person appeared before them.

This sight left everyone completely dumbstruck.

Especially when they realized who it was.

It was a bitter-faced male. On his wrist was a squirming, golden snake, but most importantly, the snake's eyes were pitch-black.

It was Shen Yunge!