Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 170 Bat Monster

Gu Changzhou immediately understood. He channeled his stellar power and unleashed "Stars Return to One," a sword aura containing immense stellar power shooting towards the chaotic area on the barrier, like a fallen star.

After the sword energy struck the barrier, it burst forth with a dazzling light, and a small crack instantly appeared in the barrier.

Seeing this, Tong Lei did not hesitate to insert his longsword into the crack, and then poured all his spiritual power into it, "Flaming Dragon Rises the Sky!" The power of the flaming dragon on the longsword spread along the crack, and the barrier began to show more cracks. Finally, with a "boom", it shattered completely.

The man in black robes let out a desperate roar. His body was sent flying backward by the impact of the shattering barrier, crashing heavily to the ground.

He struggled to get up and continue the sacrifice, but Gu Changzhou and the others would no longer give him a chance.

Gu Changzhou flashed and instantly appeared beside the man in black robes, his sword pressed against the man's throat, the cold blade radiating a chilling aura.

"Tell me, what other plans do you have?"

The man in black robes had a ferocious expression, his eyes flashing with resentment. He struggled to raise his head, trying to resist with his last bit of strength, but Gu Changzhou's sword pressed down lightly, and a trickle of blood immediately seeped from his neck.

"You...you think this will stop everything? The Blood Spirit Cult and the Mysterious Hall's plans...are far more extensive than this!"

The man in black robes spoke in a hoarse voice, filled with resentment and anger.

"No matter what other schemes they may have, we will crush them all." Tong Lei stepped forward, holding a long sword, his fiery spiritual power still surging. "You who attempt to harm the common people deserve this fate."

Min Rui quickly stepped forward: "Now, tell us your whole plan, and maybe we can leave you with a whole corpse."

The man in black robes merely sneered, "Hmph, don't dream. You think I would betray the Blood Spirit Cult? Even if I die, I won't utter a single word."

Gao Kuo frowned deeply: "It seems this guy is determined. What should we do?"

Liu Sijun: "Even if he doesn't say, we have ways to find out. Let's take him away first; perhaps we can find clues from him."

At this moment, the passage shook more violently, and large rocks fell from the top, hitting the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.

"There's no time, let's get out of here!"

Gu Changzhou acted decisively, grabbing the man in black robes by the collar and lifting him up.

The group rushed towards the exit of the passage, amidst the continuous rumbling sounds of collapsing rocks. As Liu Sijun ran, she surveyed her surroundings, trying to find a safer route.

"Everyone, stay close to me. The structure of this passage looks relatively stable."

She shouted loudly, pointing the way for the crowd.

Tong Lei brandished his long sword, cleaving through the falling rubble to clear a path for everyone.

With everyone working together, they finally broke through the collapsing passage.

However, when they arrived outside the passage, they found the scene before them to be even more dire.

The once tranquil Burial Valley is now shrouded in a thick layer of blood mist, within which eerie figures can be seen moving about, exuding a chilling aura.

"What...what's going on?"

A Nascent Soul stage expert couldn't help but ask.

Gu Changzhou looked at the blood mist in front of him with a solemn expression and said, "It seems that the blood spirit sacrifice initiated by the black-robed man has triggered the anomaly in the Burial Valley."

"Then what do we do?"

Gao Kuo gripped his longsword tightly, a hint of worry in his eyes. Tong Lei brandished his longsword and shouted, "What else can we do? Even if it's a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, we have to brave it. We must stop them from obtaining the Blood Spirit Source!"

Liu Sijun nodded slightly, his gaze firm: "That's right, but with this blood mist so pervasive, we might be in danger if we rush in. Everyone, please recover your spiritual energy first, and I'll see if I can find a way to dispel the blood mist."

Everyone nodded and found a relatively safe place to sit cross-legged and circulate their spiritual energy to recover from their depletion.

Liu Sijun then took out the Taixu Mirror and infused it with spiritual power, attempting to find clues to dispel the blood mist within the mirror.

The Tai Xu Mirror shimmered, and various mysterious runes and patterns appeared on its surface. Liu Sijun was completely absorbed in deciphering this information.

Time passed quietly in the tense atmosphere. Everyone's spiritual power gradually recovered, but Liu Sijun still had a furrowed brow, immersed in his research on the Taixu Mirror.

Finally, a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes, as if she had found some clues.

"I discovered in the Taixu Mirror that this blood mist is related to an ancient evil spell of the Blood Spirit Cult. To dispel it, we need to find the source of the blood mist and destroy the evil spell array there."

Liu Sijun raised his head and looked at everyone.

Tong Lei planted his longsword in the ground, stood up, and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and find the array's core."

Gu Changzhou pondered for a moment and said, "We cannot act rashly. There are many dangers hidden in this blood mist. We don't know how many traps the Xuanji Hall and the Blood Spirit Sect have set up. We need to formulate a detailed plan."

Min Rui nodded in agreement: "Lord Gu is right. We can split into two groups. One group, led by Lord Gu and Brother Tong, will take Miss Liu and a brother in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm to venture deep into the blood mist to find the array's core. The other group, led by Gao Kuo and me, will take the remaining five brothers in the Nascent Soul realm to keep watch around the area and prevent any enemies from taking the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. At the same time, we can also provide support to you."

Gao Kuo gripped his longsword tightly: "I agree."

The six Nascent Soul stage experts all expressed their willingness to follow the arrangements.

Liu Sijun took out some specially made pills from the mustard seed and distributed them to everyone. "These are the Cleansing Pills I made. They can resist the erosion of evil magic to a certain extent. Everyone take them, just in case."

Everyone took the pills and swallowed them.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and a cool sensation spread throughout the body, invigorating everyone's spirits.

After preparations were complete, Gu Changzhou and Tong Lei led Liu Sijun and another Nascent Soul stage Dao Lord named Yuan Jingshan into the blood mist.

The thick blood mist severely obstructed their vision, forcing them to rely solely on their spiritual power to perceive their surroundings.

They hadn't gone far when they sensed a sinister aura, as if it were watching them from the shadows.

"Everyone, be careful."

Gu Changzhou reminded him in a low voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, several bat-like monsters suddenly sprang out from the blood.

They were enormous, with wings covered in spikes, sharp fangs dripping green venom, and emitting a foul stench.

"These monsters are different from the ones we've encountered before, so be careful!"

As Tong Lei spoke, he swung his longsword, sending a fiery blade of energy slashing towards the bat monster.

The bat monster nimbly dodged the fiery blade energy, then flapped its wings, sending a gust of foul wind towards the four of them, carrying countless sharp spikes.

Gu Changzhou channeled the power of the stars and unleashed the "Star Shield," a dazzling starlight shield appearing in front of the four, blocking the spikes one by one.

(End of this chapter)