Chapter 1025: Escape

And just as the Spirit-Eroding True Demon sensed something amiss, its eyes suddenly turned grimly cold. With a single thought, the blood sea below it suddenly heaved up a massive wave, and a giant blood palm with ten fingers burst through the waves, carrying an extremely terrifying energy pressure, and slammed down directly toward Li Luo.

The blood palm blotted out the sky, and wherever it passed, the void directly collapsed.

Previously, it had toyed with the few of them with the mentality of a cat playing with mice, only because the situation was completely under its control. Its Marquis Realm strength was almost a crushing force against Li Luo's group of four, so it had found it amusing.

But now, something unexpected had occurred on Li Luo's side.

Naturally, the Spirit-Eroding True Demon had no interest in dragging things out any longer, and intended to completely erase this hidden danger.

Although it still didn't know exactly why Li Luo gave it a sense of unease, no matter what, it was best to kill him sooner rather than later.

And the Spirit-Eroding True Demon's sudden strike also caused Li Luo's expression, who had been entangled with Li Li Wuyuan and the others, to change abruptly: "Damn, I've been discovered!"

This Spirit-Eroding True Demon's tenacity was indeed beyond imagination.

The ten-fingered blood palm came straight through the air, the thick stench of blood permeating the world. As the blood palm pressed down, space itself seemed to show signs of stagnating, and Li Luo, caught within it, was like a mosquito trapped in a spider's web.

This palm contained an extremely terrifying force, something the current Li Luo simply could not withstand.

"Li Luo!"

Not far away, the pretty faces of Lv Qing'er and Li Li Lingjing both changed drastically, and they immediately rushed toward him, attempting to help.

But it was too late. Facing an attack comparable to that of a Marquis-level powerhouse, even though Li Luo had currently reached "Xiao Tian Xiang Jing" with the aid of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's power, it still seemed utterly insignificant.

So at this moment, they could only watch helplessly as that palm imbued with terrifying energy descended upon Li Luo.

Whoosh!

However, just at the instant their hearts sank infinitely, a pair of cyan wings suddenly unfurled from behind Li Luo, who had been trapped by the stagnated space.

With a single flap of the wings, Li Luo transformed into a streak of cyan escape light, moving at an unimaginable speed, leaving afterimages as he vanished from the spot.

The blood palm slammed down, and the void seemed to collapse.

But Li Luo had already appeared in the sky several thousand zhang away. At this moment, he looked rather wretched—his clothes had been mostly torn apart by the shockwaves of the blood palm, his qi and blood churned violently within him, and even traces of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Although he had avoided the fatal attack, even the mere shockwaves of a Marquis-level powerhouse's strike were no pleasant matter.

He turned his head to glance at the cyan wings on his back. This was a reward he had obtained from the "Holy Grail War" back then, called the "Phantom Spirit Wing Escape Art," a Yi Dao San Pin Wang Hou branded pattern. This art had no other effect—it could transform into an extremely fast escape light. If not for the speed of this escape light earlier, he absolutely could not have dodged.

"Oh? A speed-type Wang Hou branded pattern? But how many times can that save you?"

Seeing its strike miss, the Spirit-Eroding True Demon was somewhat surprised. Then its gaze suddenly shifted to Li Luo's other hand—this hand had been hidden in his sleeve all along, and now that his clothes had been torn apart by the shockwaves, it was exposed.

In his left hand, he seemed to be holding a bronze lamp. At this moment, fresh blood continuously dripped from Li Luo's fingertips into the lamp, while wisps of seemingly transparent flames flowed within it.

And the bronze lamp was emitting a strange fluctuation, which was merging into this world—or rather, merging into this Ling Xiang Grotto-Heaven.

This also caused Li Luo to seem to be gradually harmonizing with this grotto-heaven.

"So that's how it is."

The Spirit-Eroding True Demon suddenly understood. This Li Luo was actually using the "bronze lamp" in his hand, employing some Te Shu Mi Fa to refine it, thereby achieving harmony with this Ling Xiang Grotto-Heaven. Once that happened, the grotto-heaven's suppression effect on him would also be lost.

If Li Luo had other means of amplifying his power, he could break through the limitations of Xiao Tian Xiang Jing and, like it, wield his power without restraint.

However, it seemed this kind of "refining" was not easy, which was why Li Luo had been doing it secretly while constantly stalling for time, trying to wait until the "refining" was complete before delivering a surprise strike.

"I almost gave you a chance." Endless coldness and cruelty surfaced in the Spirit-Eroding True Demon's eyes. Although it did not believe that Li Luo could change anything even if he broke through the grotto-heaven's restrictions, it had no intention of giving Li Luo even the slightest glimmer of hope.

What it wanted to see was the despair on the faces of Li Luo's group of four.

"Let's see how many more times your 'Wang Hou branded pattern' can be used?" The Spirit-Eroding True Demon waved its sleeve, and the blood sea below churned violently. Another giant hand reached out, blotting out the sky, and together with the previous one, in a top-and-bottom bombardment stance, terrifying energy swept across the world, compressing the very void into a solid mass. Anyone caught within it felt as if trapped in a quagmire.

Without hesitation, Li Luo continued to activate the "Phantom Spirit Wing Escape Art," transforming into a streak of cyan escape light and appearing several thousand zhang away. He gripped the bronze lamp tightly, his injuries growing increasingly severe. After all, although he had dodged the fatal attacks with speed, the shockwaves from each blood palm still violently churned his qi and blood.

After all, that was a strike carrying the power of a Marquis-level powerhouse—truly, a graze meant injury, a touch meant death.

"Divine Wood Spring Renewal Armor!"

A cyan battle armor materialized over Li Luo's body, wrapping every part of his form while emitting intense life force, gradually healing his injuries.

Then Li Luo frowned tightly. He glanced at the bronze lamp in his hand—this refining method was exactly what that white ape senior had told him before, but the method was extremely tedious. Ever since leaving the thatched cottage, he had been quietly making preparations in secret. Originally, he had planned to wait until everyone gathered, and once he secretly completed the refining, then go seek out the Spirit-Eroding True Demon. But he hadn't expected the latter to come so swiftly, not giving him any time to prepare at all.

And earlier, when the Spirit-Eroding True Demon used their companions as puppets, wanting to sit back and watch them kill each other for amusement, Li Luo was furious, but this actually gave him some opportunities to stall for time... Unfortunately, he had underestimated the Spirit-Eroding True Demon's keenness.

It had actually detected some subtle unusual movements hidden on his side.

"Indeed, beneath the Marquis, all are ants."

Li Luo sighed inwardly. If not for the speed of the "Phantom Spirit Wing Escape Art," those two strikes from the Spirit-Eroding True Demon might have truly taken his life.

Ao!

While Li Luo was in his wretched state, the crimson bracelet on his wrist also began to tremble at this moment, faintly emitting a wolf howl filled with a murderous aura—that was the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf within going berserk.

It sensed the threat brought by the Spirit-Eroding True Demon, and also understood Li Luo's current peril.

And if Li Luo truly died here, its own fate would not be much better.

So the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf grew anxious. From within the crimson bracelet, wild energy continuously surged out, but due to the suppression of the Ling Xiang Grotto-Heaven's rules, this energy exceeding the limit could not be bestowed upon Li Luo at all.

"Don't rush, don't rush, wait a little longer!" Li Luo sensed the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's rampage and quickly tried to soothe it.

The moment his soothing ended, another attack imbued with terrifying might swept toward him. Li Luo could only continue activating the "Phantom Spirit Wing Escape Art" to flee. However, this "Wang Hou branded pattern" was a consumable item—after a few more uses, it would likely vanish completely due to depleted energy.

At this moment, Li Luo was being chased and leaping about in panic. He hadn't experienced such a wretched state in a long time.

But there was no choice. Facing a Marquis-level powerhouse, he simply had no real means of countering it. The only thing available might be the "Wang Zhe Yin" deep within the Jin Yu Profound Elephant Blade, but that was truly his last and only trump card for a desperate turnaround. If he used it lightly before figuring out the Spirit-Eroding True Demon's full capabilities, and it then escaped using some life-preserving technique, all hope would be completely lost.

And while Li Luo was being chased in such a wretched state, Li Li Lingjing, Lv Qing'er, and Qin Yi also showed anxious expressions. They hadn't expected that the True Demon, which had been sitting back watching them fight amongst themselves, would suddenly strike directly at Li Luo.

"Li Luo must have some means that can threaten this True Demon, which is why it struck directly." Qin Yi's voice reached Li Li Lingjing and Lv Qing'er's ears.

"We have to help him!" Lv Qing'er said immediately.

A cold glint flashed through Li Li Lingjing's eyes. Her slender five fingers tightened around the Green Snake Staff, and at this moment, a violent aura rose within her, filled with a thick murderous intent.

She wanted to help Li Luo, but with her current strength, she was equally unable to pose a threat to that Number One Aberration.

She needed greater power!

Li Li Lingjing glanced at Qin Yi and Lv Qing'er, a hint of crimson rising in her pupils, and an inexplicable voice rose within her mind.

"Devour them, and grow stronger!"

Li Li Lingjing's gaze shifted for several breaths, then she took a deep breath, suppressing the churning negative emotions within her. At the same time, she reached into her embrace—inside, there was a jade bottle sealing the "Number Two Aberration."

While Li Li Lingjing was caught in some kind of struggle on her side, Lü Qing'er gazed at the sea of blood below and suddenly said, "That true demon has been floating above the sea of blood the whole time, never leaving. Even when it attacked Li Luo, it was the same. I feel that this sea of blood should be some extremely important existence to it."

"Perhaps this sea of blood is the key to why it can ignore the suppression of the rules of the Spiritual Phase Cave Heaven."

Qin Yi and Li Li Lingjing heard this, and their expressions shifted slightly; this speculation did have some logic to it.

"But even if we know this sea of blood is the key, there's nothing we can do about it." Qin Yi was silent for a few breaths, then said.

Although each of them had employed secret techniques to greatly boost their strength, they still had not exceeded the scope of the Xiao Tian Xiang Jing. With this level of strength, wanting to shake this vast sea of blood seemed rather impossible.

Lü Qing'er's ice-lake-like eyes also stared at the sea of blood, then she glanced again at Li Luo, who was fleeing nonstop in the distance. As if she had made some kind of decision, she bit down hard on her silvery teeth, and a voice that seemed to contain a fierce ice-snow storm within its calm rang out.

"This sea of blood — I'll freeze it over for you!"