Chapter 296: Blood-Colored Lightning Blade

Xu Chen carefully used his Divine Sense to make contact with the Ancient Rune.

A very simple image presented itself before him.

A small monster that had just crawled out of a pitch-black vortex, with a bird's head and a snake's body, no more than three feet tall, opened its mouth to spit out a weak streak of blood-colored lightning.

Xu Chen was caught between laughter and tears.

Just how little do you think of me, leaving behind such a weak Ancient Rune for me to learn?

However, before he could look closely, he was instantly overcome by a feeling of hair-raising dread; this streak of blood-colored lightning had actually transformed into a blood blade reaching from heaven to earth, rushing straight at his face.

With a "crack," Xu Chen had nowhere to hide, and the blood blade slashed directly onto his Soul.

"Boom~"

Xu Chen only felt himself being submerged by a streak of blood-colored lightning; the sharp blade split his Soul in two, and his entire person instantly went completely rigid, as if he had lost control from his soul down to his body.

He did not know how much time had passed, but the blood-colored lightning before his eyes vanished, and Xu Chen shuddered violently as he came back to his senses.

At this moment, his Divine Sense had already completely withdrawn from the Heaven-Suppressing Divine Stele and his Sea of Consciousness.

Before his eyes, it was as if time and space were in disarray; he saw everything as if it were split in two, and the blood-colored lightning blade left his Soul's memory still lingering in that state of being slashed in half.

After another long while, this feeling of spatial division slowly returned to normal, and Eldest Senior Brother, who had been split in two, was still lying safely on the ground, currently staring at him with a pair of fearful and innocent eyes.

"Li... Little Junior Brother, are, are you alright!" Eldest Senior Brother stammered, his face pale and twisted.

"I'm fine. What did Eldest Senior Brother see just now?" Xu Chen was full of lingering fear, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

Although he was not old, the things he had experienced in the past year or two were more than many great cultivators who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years.

The situation just now, of being split open by the blood-colored lightning blade, was not entirely an illusion of the Soul; that strike must have carried the power of formidable spatial rules, strongly interfering with his Soul's judgment of reality.

He believed that this feeling was not something only he could perceive; Eldest Senior Brother should have been able to feel it as well.

Sure enough, Eldest Senior Brother stammered, "I just saw a red light emerge from Little Junior Brother's body. I only took one look, and it felt as if my whole person had been split in two, but fortunately, it seems it was just an illusion."

Xu Chen let out a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "That was not Senior Brother's illusion, but rather the kind of ancient Divine Pattern Battle Technique I spoke of. However, I have not fully comprehended it yet. Do not move; I will try one more time to see if I can integrate this Divine Pattern Battle Technique into Eldest Senior Brother's body."

Although Eldest Senior Brother was filled with immense doubt and fear at this moment, he still nodded and closed his eyes to wait.

Xu Chen also closed his eyes slightly and sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness, then discovered that there had been a small change on the Heaven-Suppressing Divine Stele: on the edge, an extra blood-colored Ancient Rune had appeared, like a crimson lightning star, faintly flickering with red electric light.

"Could this be the Divine Pattern Battle Technique left behind by the Grand Void Divine Battle Art?"

Xu Chen was both surprised and delighted. He used his Divine Sense to carefully touch this Ancient Rune on the stele, and instantly, a very familiar feeling surged into his heart. It was indeed exactly the same as the Divine Pattern Battle Technique he had replicated back in Minghuang, and even more familiar, as if it were a part of his own Soul.

He now felt that as long as he projected his Divine Sense, this Ancient Rune would immediately transform into a peerlessly powerful blood-colored lightning blade and strike out, no different from using a Divine Pattern Battle Technique.

It seemed this muddled experiment had actually succeeded.

It was just that he did not know if it could be successfully integrated into Eldest Senior Brother's body.

Xu Chen hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and tried to use his Divine Sense to guide the Ancient Rune into Eldest Senior Brother's body.

The result of the process surprised him greatly; it had actually succeeded with ease.

And the moment the Ancient Rune entered Eldest Senior Brother's Sea of Consciousness, a streak of blood-colored lightning instantly exploded, transforming into electric light that filled the sky and vanished. Under Xu Chen's Divine Sense perception, this Ancient Rune had actually completely fused with Eldest Senior Brother's Soul.

And Eldest Senior Brother, who was lying still with his eyes closed, suddenly had a streak of blood-colored lightning erupt from his Apertures and ten thousand pores; his whole person began to burn fiercely like a ball of lightning fire.

The lightning fire churned and twisted, slowly condensing into a blood-colored Ancient Rune that wrapped him inside.

However, during this process, Eldest Senior Brother was rolling on the ground in extreme agony and wailing, his whole person seemingly about to be burned to ashes by this lightning fire.

"Not good, Eldest Senior Brother cannot withstand this Divine Pattern at all!"

Xu Chen understood instantly.

But at the moment, he had no way to clear this Divine Pattern out of Eldest Senior Brother's body.

Because in his perception, this Divine Pattern had effectively become one with Eldest Senior Brother's Soul and was currently fusing with his flesh and blood. If Eldest Senior Brother could not withstand this fusion process, let alone gaining a Divine Pattern Battle Technique, he would likely be reduced to nothing but bones in an instant.

What to do?

Watching Eldest Senior Brother rolling on the ground and screaming miserably, with his skin and flesh beginning to collapse in large patches, Xu Chen hurriedly circulated the Grand Void Demon-Refining Art, continuously channeling white Qi into his body.

But the current power of the Grand Void Demon-Refining Art was already very small, far from enough to compensate for the burning of the Ancient Rune's lightning fire. Therefore, Eldest Senior Brother's body soon became riddled with holes, a large amount of muscle and flesh burned to fly ash, and his internal organs and bones began to be exposed in many places.

Moreover, the internal organs and bones also seemed to be constantly disintegrating.

Beads of sweat rolled down Xu Chen's forehead.

He had no idea of the danger in doing this.

For the Ancient Human Race to obtain a Divine Pattern Battle Technique, they must first gain the approval of the gods, similar to a form of pure spiritual faith. Only those who were sufficiently devout and possessed a sufficiently strong Soul and physical body, and who had passed through layers of trials, could receive the descent of a Divine Pattern from the temple.

And before integrating a new Divine Pattern Battle Technique, one must consume enough Divine Blood Paste to provide support and protection. Some extremely powerful battle techniques even required one to lie in the Creation Pool, soaking in Divine Blood Paste to resist the terrifying erosion of divine power during integration; otherwise, the outcome would be death.

Once the fusion process was survived, this Divine Pattern Battle Technique would be completely integrated into the bloodline and passed down permanently, until the bloodline finally completely degenerated and was exhausted, at which point this Divine Pattern would completely disappear from the descendant's body.

And this Divine Pattern Battle Technique of Xu Chen's was inherently even more powerful than the Divine Pattern inheritance of the Ancient gods obtained by the ancient ancestors of the Nether Human Race.

Furthermore, there was not a shred of Divine Blood in Eldest Senior Brother's body to support him.

Therefore, no matter how Xu Chen continuously channeled white Qi, he could not stop the powerful destructive force during the Divine Pattern's fusion; this was no longer a matter that could be stopped by human strength.

However, Xu Chen had, after all, stayed with the Nether Human Race for long enough and had studied the Wind Clan's Divine Pattern Battle Techniques and bodies thoroughly enough. The number of Nether Human Race members he had personally awakened and saved reached several dozen, even including peerless powerhouses like the Old Witch Master and Tu Jiu.

Therefore, after no more than a moment, he suddenly realized where the problem lay.

So he immediately stopped the circulation of the Grand Void Demon-Refining Art, raised his hand, took a jar of Divine Blood Paste from his Storage Bracelet, held Eldest Senior Brother down, and poured it into his mouth.

As the Divine Blood Paste entered his mouth, Eldest Senior Brother, who was rolling and wailing like someone being burned by a raging fire, suddenly found a clear spring and began to gulp it down desperately.

Sure enough, after the Divine Blood Paste was swallowed, a violent aura emanated from Eldest Senior Brother's body. While the lightning light churned even more violently, the speed at which his body was collapsing slowed down significantly.

Xu Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At present, there was no problem with Eldest Senior Brother's Soul; it was just that his body could not resist the fusion process of the blood-colored Ancient Rune.

He had experienced this extreme pain of flesh and blood collapsing several times himself.

Empathizing with him, he also knew that Eldest Senior Brother was currently experiencing a torture that could be called tragic and inhuman.

But he believed that as long as Eldest Senior Brother could survive this Tribulation, once he successfully integrated this Ancient Rune into his body, his future strength would be limitless.

Although the Grand Void Divine Battle Art had only left him the weakest Ancient Rune, he had already experienced the power of this battle technique just now; it could be called terrifyingly peerless.

His current Soul strength, comparable to a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator, could not withstand it; once it could be released at full power, even a true Great Cultivator would likely be instantly severely injured.

Of course, he also knew that the power of a Divine Pattern Battle Technique was related to the user's Soul strength and the concentration of Divine Blood within their body.

It was not a matter of being as strong as one wished; in reality, just like cultivation, it was a process of gradual accumulation and advancement.

But once the foundation was firmly laid, becoming powerful in the future would be a natural consequence.

Eldest Senior Brother held the earthen jar, gulping away and refusing to let go, and soon the jar of Divine Blood Paste hit the bottom.

But at this moment, the Divine Pattern fusion was not yet complete; it was still churning and burning fiercely, and it seemed there was still a long time to go before complete fusion, while Eldest Senior Brother's body was still continuously collapsing.

Xu Chen raised his hand, grabbed another jar of Divine Blood Paste, and shoved it against Eldest Senior Brother's mouth.

But watching the Divine Blood Paste disappear at a speed visible to the naked eye, Xu Chen felt that continuing like this was not a solution.

Clearly, the energy of the Divine Blood Paste was too thin and completely unable to support the terrifying consumption during the Divine Pattern integration.

Therefore, he hesitated for a moment and took out a stalk of Blood God Grass, but then turned and put it back into his Storage Bracelet; instead, his Divine Sense flew rapidly into the Heaven-Suppressing Divine Stele, found the location of the God Crystal, and with a pull of his Divine Sense, a golden-red God Crystal emitting a terrifying aura flew out from between his brows, and he forcibly pressed it into Eldest Senior Brother's dantian with one finger.

"Boom~"

The moment the God Crystal entered Eldest Senior Brother's body, the blood-colored thunder and fire enveloping Eldest Senior Brother suddenly soared into the air, a mass of interwoven golden-red light shrouded the entire quiet room, and a terrifying aura sprayed outward in layers like a blood cloud, causing the entire stone room to explode suddenly.

(End of this chapter)