Chapter Fifty-Five: A Drop of Blood

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The sheer cliff and precipitous crag loomed before him. Above, thunder rumbled and then fell silent, blue sparks flickering in Lei Xiang’s eyes as he searched the surroundings.

“The spiritual energy here is so chaotic—there must have been a fierce battle. Why can’t I find a single clue?” Lei Xiang wondered.

Even with his formidable spirit sense and the blue glow aiding his vision, Lei Xiang could detect nothing. He tapped his foot on the Swift Boots beneath him and floated forward at a measured pace, keeping his spirit sense fully extended as a precaution.

At this moment, Lei Xiang’s cultivation had reached the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment’s early stage. He had fully comprehended the first layer of the Heaven-Shrouding Formula, bringing his mastery on par with Du Gu Yixiao. With this, he was preparing to return to the imperial city of Dongyue.

Yet Lei Xiang made no attempt to seek out Su Hua and her husband. Du Gu Yixiao still remained with them, recuperating from his wounds. Lei Xiang knew that in such a short time, Du Gu Yixiao could not possibly recover. Since the beginning of his cultivation, Lei Xiang had spent three years within the Time-Is-Gold Array, though only half a year had passed in the outside world.

What frustrated Lei Xiang was that the Time-Is-Gold Array was not what it once was. Where a month inside had once equaled a day outside, now it could only shorten time by one-sixth. In other words, half a year had just elapsed.

Ever since obtaining the array in the nameless space, it had worked wonders at first. But as his cultivation advanced, its power to compress time grew feebler. Lei Xiang could not tell if this was because of his rising cultivation or because the array’s function dwindled once removed from its original space.

Would there come a day when the Time-Is-Gold Array ceased to work at all?

Lei Xiang shook his head, then with a flip of his hand, a jet-black, translucent bead appeared in his palm. He held the bead up, turning it away from the sun to determine his direction, then put away the Northern Dipper Pearl and proceeded with caution.

Suddenly, Lei Xiang dove down and landed beside a wide river. As he stowed away his Swift Boots, a streak of azure light shot toward him.

Immediately, a dozen or so scarlet rays followed, resolving into a group of men in red robes. The leader, whose cultivation was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, clutched a battered porcelain bowl in his hands and shouted, “Brother, don’t run! Spare a little more, won’t you?”

Bloodfiend Alliance?

How had the men of the Bloodfiend Alliance turned into beggars so suddenly?

A cascade of questions tumbled through Lei Xiang’s mind, but he acted at once—throwing out a beast-hide tent, then summoning the Eight-Treasure Dragon Lance to his grip, he gazed coldly at the newcomers.

From the blue light ahead, a middle-aged man appeared, his own cultivation at mid-Foundation Establishment, though his face was deathly pale, as if he’d suffered internal injuries. He forced a smile at Lei Xiang. “Little brother, my name is Hu Fei. I ran into these Bloodfiend Alliance thugs, who robbed me of over a hundred spirit stones. That broken bowl of his is a bottomless pit—no matter how many spirit stones you throw in, it’s never full.”

Oh? Lei Xiang’s interest was piqued—could this unremarkable broken bowl be as extraordinary as his own Blue Lotus Dish?

At this, the burly man in red spoke up. “I say, Hu Fei, you’re a man of some standing. Surely you understand that a gentleman cannot go back on his word. You agreed to fill my bowl—how could you renege and try to flee?”

Lei Xiang quickly grasped the situation: the Bloodfiend Alliance was extorting spirit stones, and Hu Fei, unwilling to give more, had been chased here. Lei Xiang surveyed the group—most of the red-robed men were in the Qi Refining stage—and felt a surge of confidence.

“Brother Hu, you keep this fellow busy while I handle those small fry. Then we’ll join forces against him,” Lei Xiang said.

Suddenly, the red-robed leader barked, “You’re Lei Xiang?”

Lei Xiang paused, flashing his tiger-like teeth in a wry grin. “That’s me. Is the name Lei Xiang really so famous?”

The red-robed man did not answer, but instead produced a small cylinder, which he launched into the sky with a flick of his wrist. The cylinder burst with a pop, and a massive image of a human head appeared in the air.

Lei Xiang’s own likeness.

Lei Xiang was startled, but immediately realized he’d been marked as a must-kill target by the Bloodfiend Alliance. The cylinder functioned much like the execution talisman once used by the crippled sect against him in the Myriad Talisman Gathering—clearly, he had no choice but to fight.

Without hesitation, Lei Xiang flicked his sleeves, sending fourteen flying swords streaming out. After a brief circling above his head, they shot straight toward the enemy.

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Hu Fei stared in astonishment at Lei Xiang’s ability to control so many magical weapons, but the red-robed men showed no reaction. They stood there stiffly, only the leader narrowing his eyes and snorting before summoning a blood axe.

The blood axe was wholly emerald green, but its blade shimmered with a cold white light, razor-sharp and deadly. Even before the swords drew near, the oppressive aura emanating from the axe slowed them to a crawl. The leader sneered, pointing at the axe; as its blade flashed red, a line of blood appeared, as if it had just been used to kill and the blood was on the verge of dripping off.

Lei Xiang’s eyes narrowed—the blood axe was already overhead, coming down like a mountain cleaving blow, a force he could not hope to withstand directly. Without thinking, he activated the wind-fire boots beneath him—four wheels shot out, ready to speed him away.

But suddenly, Hu Fei—who had not yet acted—flashed his own blood blade and slashed at Lei Xiang in an instant.

Caught off guard, Lei Xiang could only parry with the Eight-Treasure Dragon Lance. The blood blade crashed against the shaft with a thunderous boom, knocking both combatants back three paces and sending the blade rebounding.

“Hmm!” Both Hu Fei and the red-robed leader were surprised, and simultaneously pressed their attacks.

Lei Xiang’s blood surged, but he suppressed it with iron will and spat out, “Are you two putting on a show? Trying to swindle me, eh?” With a cold laugh, his figure vanished.

The red-robed leader frowned. “What’s he playing at?” But at that moment, spiritual energy surged behind him.

Hu Fei called out in alarm, “Watch your back!” and slashed with his blood blade, but it was too late. A streak of blue lightning, silent and swift, flashed through the leader from head to toe, and then everything stopped.

At the same time, Hu Fei’s blade sliced off the leader’s left arm with a dull thud, but the man showed no reaction. From his forehead to his navel, a line of blood appeared, and his body split in two.

Even his very soul was cleaved.

Hu Fei exhaled a breath of spirit energy. For all his years of cultivation and his reputation in Dongyue’s cultivation world—one of the Bloodfiend Alliance’s Eighteen Bloodkillers—he had never seen such speed.

Unfathomably fast!

Not even the old monsters at the Core Formation stage could strike so swiftly. Was Lei Xiang really just at the early Foundation Establishment stage? With a wave of his hand, he had slain a mid-Foundation cultivator.

But Hu Fei was no novice. Recovering quickly, he gestured, and the remaining red-robed men closed ranks around him.

A point of golden light appeared—one red-robed man took a hit to the throat, a single drop of blood falling, and then his body dissolved into motes of starlight, leaving only a drop of blood suspended in the air.

A grown man, reduced to a single drop of blood?

A cold smile crossed Hu Fei’s face. “Come out!” As he spoke, the dozen or so red-robed men self-detonated in sequence. Each body vanished, leaving only a drop of blood. Hu Fei’s hands flashed through incantations, and the blood drops arranged themselves in a strange formation, encircling thirty yards around him.

In Hu Fei’s rear, a young man with an unremarkable face—Lei Xiang, baring his tiger teeth in a wry smile—was forced to reveal himself.

Lei Xiang glanced at the blood-formed array, then at the spots where the red-robed men had stood. One word formed in his mind.

Puppets!

Clearly, they were all puppets, controlled by a single drop of blood, used to fill out the formation and mislead him.

“You went to all this trouble just to catch me?” Lei Xiang asked Hu Fei, who had turned to face him.

Hu Fei laughed. “To be honest, you and your fellow assassins have made life hell for us. That’s why the Bloodfiend Alliance has put a price like this on your head. So even if you die, know it was worth it.”

“We assassins? Heh, let me give you a tip: all those Foundation Establishment cultivators that have been dying—there are only two of us behind it.”

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“What?” Hu Fei’s eyes widened in disbelief. So many Foundation Establishment cultivators, slain by just two people?

“All the more reason for you to die,” Hu Fei snapped, pointing his blood blade. It buzzed and unleashed a scarlet arc of sword light. The arc doubled, then redoubled—hundreds of blades surrounded Lei Xiang in the blink of an eye.

Hu Fei deeply feared Lei Xiang’s Divine Thunder Slash, so he sealed off every route of attack. What he did not know was that using the Divine Thunder Slash was a double-edged sword for Lei Xiang, for it drained his spiritual energy immensely.

Lei Xiang unleashed the fourteen flying swords again, pouring all his energy into them. The swords formed an Infinity Sword Formation, slicing through most of the blade arcs, with the remainder blocked by the beast-hide tent.

Hu Fei’s expression grew grave as he saw Lei Xiang’s right hand form a bladelike gesture, poised to strike. Guessing that Lei Xiang meant to use that silent lightning attack, Hu Fei hesitated not a moment, recalling the blood drops from the formation to erupt around him, coalescing into a dense shield of blood.

But Lei Xiang did not unleash the Divine Thunder Slash; he had only feigned the gesture to trick Hu Fei into withdrawing the Blood Fiend Array, giving himself room to maneuver.

He then pointed at the Infinity Sword Formation, and the swords turned into fourteen cold beams, shooting to encircle Hu Fei. Dozens of gleaming silver threads sliced the blood shield from all sides.

A cold snort came from within the shield. A blood-colored blade, thick as a child’s arm, shot up to circle the shield three times, severing every silver thread. Then a giant blood-red hand, more than ten feet across, grasped for the flying swords.

Lei Xiang’s expression shifted. He could clearly sense the swords slowing. “I must act with thunderous force—the red-robed man’s signal means Bloodfiend reinforcements will arrive soon.”

On the other side, Hu Fei, sensing his overwhelming advantage, did not remove the blood shield—he feared Lei Xiang’s desperate use of the Divine Thunder Slash.

Lei Xiang cursed inwardly. The old fox was too cautious. He had intended to let his swords be trapped to lure the enemy into lowering his guard, but now saw that Hu Fei was not falling for it and had to change tactics.

He suddenly produced the blue dish and tossed it forth. The nine-inch Blue Lotus Dish expanded rapidly in the wind, soon spanning several dozen yards. Its vast, shimmering lotus shadow enveloped both Hu Fei and Lei Xiang.

Hu Fei was alarmed, feeling the surging spiritual energy and oppressive force radiating from the Blue Lotus Dish. He tried to escape.

Lei Xiang would not allow it. His hands moved like wheels, casting spell after spell. The Blue Lotus Dish bathed the area in a faint blue glow, slowly descending. The pressure was so great that even the space around Hu Fei seemed to solidify.

Terrified, Hu Fei sent his blood blade flying upward to block the dish. It stalled the descent for an instant, but then the dish pressed down as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Hu Fei abandoned control of the blood blade and summoned a bronze ancient bell, which enlarged to nearly thirty feet and sheltered him. The bell was a defensive artifact, and its protected zone was immune to the Blue Lotus Dish’s influence, at least for the moment.

Lei Xiang’s eyes flashed blue as he peered within the bell. Hu Fei was able to move, seated cross-legged and ceaselessly forming seals—clearly working some secret technique.

A cold gleam flickered across Lei Xiang’s face; his killing intent was set. He believed that no secret technique could avail Hu Fei under the crushing force of the Blue Lotus Dish. His only priority now was to escape its area of effect before he was caught as well.

The Blue Lotus Dish’s might was so overwhelming that even Lei Xiang could not control it for long. If he lingered, he would perish too. The dish’s descent quickened, now less than a yard from the bell’s top. The bell groaned and creaked, riddled with fine cracks, on the verge of collapse.

“No, Lei Xiang! There’s no enmity between us—why must we fight to the death?” Hu Fei’s voice was now tinged with fear.

But Lei Xiang was unmoved, and the Blue Lotus Dish pressed inexorably downward. Again Hu Fei’s panicked voice cried out, “I can tell you secrets—the hiding places of those who ambushed you, the secrets of the Bloodfiend Alliance!”

“No need,” Lei Xiang replied firmly. The dish was now a mere foot from the bell, which was covered in a dense web of cracks, about to break apart.

Lei Xiang summoned the Swift Boots, preparing to leave the area of the Blue Lotus Dish. At that moment, a furious voice erupted from within the bell: “Don’t think you can escape—if I die, you’ll die with me!”

Before the words had faded, the blood shield convulsed, transforming into countless blood-red tentacles that lashed tightly around Lei Xiang, binding him in place.