The scene was utterly horrifying.
All the blood in the body was instantly drained, devoured entirely, leaving nothing behind.
Instant death.
"Kill!!"
The blood ghouls were incredibly fast. Dodging them was impossible—one could only see a flash of blood before a limb was torn by the bloody light. In an instant, the entire arm began to wither and shrivel, its blood sucked dry, all vitality stolen away.
Some tried slashing at the blood ghouls with weapons imbued with true qi. While true qi could tear into the ghouls' bodies, their wounds healed almost immediately, leaving no trace. Without a head, there was no vital point to target. The way they shifted between illusion and reality made them almost impossible to defend against.
Even Protective True Qi Armor was forcibly torn apart by these ghouls.
Their attacks were not only powerful but also chillingly bizarre.
Puff!!
A flash of blade light streaked by.The black-robed blade-wielder drew his warblade, unleashing a fierce blade intent that slashed a blood ghoul apart.The blood ghoul, like snow meeting a blazing sun, emitted a strange sizzling sound. Its body was split open and completely severed by the fierce blade intent, disintegrating naturally and vanishing without a trace.
"Martial Dao True Intent can annihilate blood ghouls!" a cultivator shouted upon seeing this.
Unfortunately, among the cultivators, those who had truly comprehended Martial Dao True Intent were exceedingly rare. Without it, relying on mere true qi alone was not enough to deal with the blood ghouls—unless one had awakened Aperture Divine Powers and could fight using divine arts.
"I'll burn you all to ashes!"
A cultivator dressed as a Taoist priest roared viciously. With a wave of his hand, flames erupted from thin air, forming a fireball that hurled toward the blood ghouls.
Boom!!
The fireball struck a blood ghoul, eliciting a piercing shriek. The ghoul's body was set ablaze, but blood light surged over its form, seemingly attempting to extinguish the fire. It was as if blood water rolled and clashed with the flames, and sure enough, the flames visibly weakened.
Among the cultivators, many had awakened their aperture divine powers.
Upon realizing that divine arts could harm the blood ghouls, they all unleashed their abilities. Even if they couldn't destroy them immediately, they could at least hold back the ghouls' advance.
The Scorpionmen race had their own methods too. A strange black mist emanated from their bodies, and their scorpion tails lashed about, delivering effective strikes against the blood ghouls. But the number of ghouls was simply overwhelming, flooding in endlessly from the execution platform.
More and more Scorpionmen warriors were killed, and human cultivators fell as well.
The wave of blood ghouls surged forward like a crimson tide, numbering first in the hundreds, then thousands, and soon over ten thousand.Densely packed, they were all headless blood ghouls.Anyone witnessing this scene would be overcome with despair.
Facing such overwhelming numbers, even cultivators at the Divine Sea, Aperture, or even Life Map Realm would shy away, wishing only to flee.
"These are the souls of the laborers, slaves, and craftsmen who died on the execution platform, slain by the Ghosthead Blade. Their resentful spirits were absorbed into the platform, turning into these headless blood ghouls. Now they are part of the platform itself.This time... we're doomed," Ye Zhiqiu said, despair flashing across her face.
Then she swiftly formed a hand seal and shouted:"Spirits of Heaven and Earth, Exorcise Demons—Demon Expelling Order!!"
At her words, a golden talisman appeared before her, etched with mysterious patterns and ancient characters for "Exorcise Demons" on either side. Mysterious power and daoist charm radiated from the talisman.
"Split!!"
She shouted again.
The Demon Expelling Order split into three identical talismans, though their brilliance and power visibly weakened.
Whoosh!!
The three talismans shot toward three charging blood ghouls.
Boom boom boom!!
The talismans struck the blood ghouls, erupting into dazzling golden light.The ghouls screamed miserably as if doused in acid, their blood light rapidly dissipating.They were thrown backward, their forms dimming, on the verge of collapse.The golden light rampaged within them, destroying them from the inside out.
This talisman contained a pure Yang force capable of obliterating ordinary evil spirits on the spot.
"Yin-Yang Chains, Yin-Yang Rings—Seal!!"
Yi Tianxing, seeing the flood of blood ghouls, remained calm and uttered a command.
Nine Yin-Yang Chains appeared before him, quickly splitting into countless Yin-Yang Rings, sweeping toward the ghouls.Each ring expanded and locked onto a ghoul, black-and-white light flashing to bind them.
Clang clang clang!!
The blood ghouls' blood light flared violently, forcibly shattering the rings.One ring alone was not enough to suppress them.
"Yin-Yang Chains—Seal!!"
Frowning slightly, Yi Tianxing repeated the command.
The nine chains reformed and shot toward the nearest nine ghouls.
Clatter!!
This time, the ghouls were successfully bound. Their blood light dimmed drastically, their powers forcibly sealed.The chains dragged them through the air and into the Yin-Yang Eye, imprisoning them within the Innate Yin-Yang Diagram.
The nine chains reappeared and swept outward again, binding and capturing more blood ghouls.
Each ghoul dragged into the Yin-Yang Space was swiftly ground away, their origins refined and absorbed to strengthen the three divine abilities—Yin-Yang Chains, Yin-Yang Shears, and Yin-Yang Mirror.
"So powerful! What divine art is this that can suppress these ghouls?"Ye Zhiqiu exclaimed in shock.
"Fellow Daoists, the number of blood ghouls is too great. Look over there—a chain bridge leads across to the other side! It must lead deeper into the tomb!" the monk Hua spotted a suspended iron chain connecting to another area.
"The fastest way out is across that bridge!"
Yi Tianxing agreed immediately.
These blood ghouls were far too vicious. If overwhelmed, not even he could guarantee safety for everyone.If he were alone, he would have stayed—using the opportunity to refine and absorb the ghouls' origins.But with companions present, retreat was the wiser choice.
Clatter!!
Some cultivators also noticed the chain bridge and, without hesitation, began dashing across it at amazing speed. The iron chain rang out crisply under their feet.
"You go first, I'll hold them off!"
Yi Tianxing said firmly.
"Good. We'll go first—you catch up! But don't get reckless just because your divine arts restrain the ghouls. These creatures can't be killed off completely!"Ye Zhiqiu responded decisively.
Now was no time for argument.Among them, Yi Tianxing was clearly the strongest and best suited to stay behind and cover the retreat.His divine arts had already subdued dozens of blood ghouls in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, Yi Tianxing continued absorbing the blood ghouls into the Innate Yin-Yang Diagram, refining their power to strengthen himself.
"Eh? Someone's walking through the ghoul tide—untouched?"
As Yi Tianxing retreated toward the chain bridge, his eyes involuntarily glanced toward the execution platform—and what he saw stunned him.
Amid the sea of blood ghouls...
A young man in black brocade robes, carrying a black-jade longsaber on his back, was calmly walking through the tide.
The blood ghouls, sensing his presence, inexplicably recoiled.None dared approach within three feet of him.Some were even visibly trembling.
It was fear—a deep, instinctive dread.
The blood ghouls naturally parted before him, opening a clear path.
"Who is that? When did he appear? Why aren't the blood ghouls attacking him?"
"The blood ghouls seem terrified! His very presence makes them tremble.Is he some supreme powerhouse?"
"Look! He's heading for the execution platform!Is he planning to suppress it—or is he courting death?"
Countless cultivators spotted the young man.
He stood out so clearly that it was impossible to miss him.
The atmosphere among the ghouls grew even stranger.The blood ghouls started to retreat, flowing back toward the execution platform.
One after another, they disappeared into the platform.
Just as quickly as they had appeared, they were now gone.
Boom!!
The young man reached the foot of the platform, then stomped down heavily.With that step, he soared into the air, landing atop the execution platform itself.
"Execution Platform. Ghosthead Blade.This is the world of the Executioner."
A calm voice issued from his mouth.