Chapter 526: Blood Eclipse Palace
Two figures stood on the rooftop.
One was Lu Fei sitting cross-legged.
The other was Xuan Yinzi, cloaked in black robes.
Lurking in the shadows like a sinister specter, he stared coldly at Xu Bei.
Lu Fei sat with eyes tightly shut, forehead glistening with cold sweat, seemingly locked in an internal struggle.
"Manager Lu."
Xu Bei stepped toward Lu Fei.
As he lifted his foot, an eerie crimson glow erupted ahead.
The blood-red light enveloped Lu Fei, radiating deadly peril.
"What formation is this?"
Xu Bei halted cautiously.
"Vice President Xu, you move surprisingly fast. Is this brat truly so vital to your Spirit Veil Society?" Xuan Yinzi's voice dripped with malice.
"Absolutely! The Spirit Veil Society never abandons its members!"
"Haha, how ironic coming from you! The world runs on self-interest. You self-righteous hypocrites can fool the masses with your pretentious morals, but don't playact before this old man!"
Xuan Yinzi laughed uproariously as if hearing the greatest jest.
"Our Society isn't perfect, but for sheer treachery, none surpass your Blood Eclipse Palace." Xu Bei retorted coolly.
"You've investigated me!" Xuan Yinzi's face darkened instantly.
"Was it difficult? Your techniques all bear Blood Eclipse Palace's signature." Xu Bei spread his hands mockingly. "Withdraw now while you can. The Lu family's descendant isn't someone you can trifle with."
"Lu Qingxuan vanished long ago - likely dead in some ditch! Why fear his spawn? Save him? Never! Join him in hell!"
A fierce killing intent erupted in Xuan Yinzi's eyes.
His hands swiftly formed seals as he chanted incantations.
Crimson light surged violently atop the building.
Layer upon layer of red light rapidly spread upward from the first floor.
Xu Bei cautiously retreated from the crimson glow, though his eyes shone brightly.
"The Blood Guidance Sect specializes in cultivating dark arts and formations using blood. Their most powerful array is called the Blood Pool Hell Formation! Any human or demon trapped within will soon dissolve into bloody water. The key to breaking it lies in finding the formation's core."
After speaking,
he extended his left hand.
Thick black energy emanated from his palm, locking in a contest of strength with Xuan Yinzi.
Two forces - crimson and black - intertwined.
"Understood, Brother Bei!"
Ye Bing at the stairway nodded towards Xu Bei's direction before beginning her search throughout the building.
"Where would the Blood Pool Formation's core be hidden?"
Within the crimson-hued world,
"Huh? Something's changing!" Lu Fei suddenly looked up, surveying his surroundings.
The blood walls began trembling.
The flow of blood fluctuated erratically, growing increasingly unstable.
"Is Xuan Yinzi losing control, or has Vice President Xu arrived?" Lu Fei's eyes sparkled with hope.
Either scenario meant good news for him.
With external disruptions occurring, his opportunity had finally come.
The remaining mana in his body was half, and the lamp oil was still sufficient.
"Let's try a weak spot."
Lu Fei stood up, gripped the jujube wood staff, glanced around, and swung it forcefully at a section of the blood wall.
Boom!
Electric light flashed.
The blood wall trembled, revealing a charred crack from which a barbed blood tongue emerged, lunging toward Lu Fei.
Lu Fei swung his staff, scattering it with each strike.
The crack did not heal rapidly as before.
"This might work!"
Heartened, Lu Fei hurled another bolt of lightning at the crack.
The entire formation had already been flooded with blood, the water level rising rapidly. In about a quarter of an hour, it would submerge Lu Fei's feet.
Thus, he had to seize this opportunity.
From Xu Bei's perspective:
A faint crack suddenly appeared on the crimson glow enveloping Lu Fei.
Moreover, the crack showed signs of expanding.
"Any ordinary person trapped in such a sinister formation would have panicked long ago. Yet after being confined for so long, he still has the strength to counterattack!"
Unrestrained admiration flashed in Xu Bei's eyes. Initially worried for Lu Fei, he now felt reassured.
His Yin Palm thrust forward forcefully, suppressing the formation's power.
Xuan Yinzi frowned deeply and intensified his efforts.
He had assumed luring the Lu family youngster into the Blood Pool Formation would guarantee success, never expecting the boy's tenacity to surpass his imagination.
Last time, he mainly fought against Xu Bei and knew little about this kid's abilities, truly underestimating him.
"Today, no matter what, I must capture both of them! Otherwise, this old man will have no foothold left in Jiangcheng!"
He gritted his teeth with force, pushing both hands forward desperately to repel Xu Bei's palm strikes.
Xu Bei did not engage him recklessly, instead patiently maneuvering to buy time for Ye Bing to locate the formation's core.
"The Blood Pool Formation requires fresh human blood as a catalyst, but there are no corpses in this building."
Ye Bing searched the entire building but found not a trace of blood.
"Could it be outside?"
She dashed out of the building and immediately questioned Hu Zi upon emerging.
"Have there been any recent deaths near this building?"
"Yes, right behind!" Hu Zi gestured with his hand, "He fell from the upper floors—blood was everywhere. The bloody footprints originated from there..."
"The formation's core! Xiao Feng, come break the formation!"
Ye Bing's eyes lit up. Without waiting for Hu Zi to finish, she waved at Gao Xiaofeng, and both sprinted toward the building's rear.
"I knew something was wrong there!"
Hu Zi and Xiao Hei exchanged glances before hurriedly following.
The group moved in succession through the shrubs behind the building.
"Such a strong smell of blood!"
Ye Bing tapped her toes lightly, leaping gracefully over the shrubs to land before the mangled corpse.
The corpse appeared completely drained of blood, its skin unnaturally pallid, while pooled blood had formed a small pond on the adjacent ground.
"The Blood Pool Formation's core! This is the spot!"
Ye Bing drew the flexible whip coiled around her waist.
The whip was engraved with numerous dark golden exorcism runes, looking extremely impressive.
"Sister Bing, let me help you!"
Gao Xiaofeng also leaped over, and the two prepared to destroy that small pool of blood.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of bloody ghostly hands suddenly burst from the ground, surrounding the corpses and blood pool.
Meanwhile, two streams of blood rapidly spread toward the duo.
"Sister Bing, watch out! Don't let the blood encircle us!"
With quick reflexes, Gao Xiaofeng swept his muscular legs sideways, scattering the two blood streams.
But immediately, more blood currents surged forth like crimson tentacles, blocking their approach.
"There's array power here too!"
Ye Bing's gaze hardened as she swung her rune-covered whip.
"Xiaofeng, cover me!"
"You got it!"
Gao Xiaofeng clenched his fists, muscles tensing like a human cannonball as he charged heavily toward the ghostly hands and blood streams.
Ye Bing's eyes calm as still water, her whip cracked through the air, weaving deftly between blood currents and spectral hands, inching closer to the small blood pool.
"This sister's so efficient! Way better than that beardy guy who looks down on others!"
Outside the bushes, Hu Zi hugged the black cat, genuine admiration in his eyes.
Within few exchanges, Ye Bing reached the edge of the blood pool.
"Break the array!"
Ye Bing gathered power in her palm and struck down at the blood pool with force.
"Not good!"
On the rooftop, Xuan Yinzi's face turned ghastly pale.
"They've located the formation's core... Now there's no choice but to fight to the death!"
He inhaled deeply, clawed his fingers into his chest, and wrenched out three drops of heart's blood, his features contorting like a malevolent ghost.
"With my heartblood as sacrifice! Let us all perish together!"