Chapter 279

This descent came too decisively and too rapidly.

In fact, when the second bloodline appeared, Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi already realized what would happen next.

The possibility of a violent surge in strength was extremely small, because the absolute strength the tomb owner was currently displaying was already sufficient, one could even say it was slightly overflowing.

Therefore, the descent of one more entity would simply be filling in the level of strength, which seemed meaningless.

Moreover, one had to consider the load-bearing capacity of the tomb owner's body itself; even if this Heavenly Yin Earth Sha physiognomy was suitable for Yin Envoy attachment, there had to be a limit to how suitable it could be.

Hence, the intuitive change that this kind of descent could bring should be aimed at the rules.

When there was only one entity inside the tomb owner, constrained by the "Three Sticks of Incense" rule, it could only lock onto one opponent at the same point in time.

Li Zhuiyuan had relied on this point to allow Runsheng and Lin Shu You to successfully confront the tomb owner.

Now, the rule had been broken.

When the second entity descended, the tomb owner could lock onto two opponents at the same time, and when the third entity descended, the number of opponents the tomb owner could lock onto simultaneously increased to three.

For Li Zhuiyuan's side to maintain the previous balance, they had to add one to this foundation, which meant sending out four people.

The number of people was actually sufficient; Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng were bound to the youth by red threads and could also achieve synchronization, but they had previously been arranged in front of the youth to guard against the tomb owner potentially circling around for a sneak attack.

Zhao Yi, who was by his side, had also completed breath synchronization and could serve as a reserve.

It was just that at the moment, it was obviously impossible to have them appear directly on the front line and join the battle instantly.

The youth mastered the formation and could indeed join the battlefield immediately, but even with him added, the front line would only be three-on-three for a short time, failing to meet the conditions for balanced suppression.

Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng charged forward rapidly, and Zhao Yi's speed was even faster than theirs.

But the situation at the other end had already changed.

The previous heavy wounding of the Liang sisters had also happened in an instant.

Moreover, the reason the opponent had come so rapidly was also due to the stimulation of this balanced fighting style; wanting to break the deadlock, it naturally knew better how to seize the opportunity.

In an instant, Runsheng and Lin Shu You both had the feeling of being completely targeted.

During the previous exchanges, this feeling had only been intermittent and had little impact; now, however, the "pupils" were landing on them completely and continuously.

One of the tomb owner's hands reached over; Runsheng ignored this hand, refusing to follow the opponent's rhythm, and directly swung his shovel horizontally, striking toward the tomb owner's torso.

Yet, even such a swift and fierce shovel strike ultimately missed.

The tomb owner's figure turned sideways in mid-air, perfectly avoiding the shovel face while its legs kicked out into the void, taking a preemptive measure and landing exactly on the double maces that Lin Shu You had smashed over in coordination with Runsheng's offensive.

The next moment, the tomb owner's hand grabbed Runsheng's Yellow River Shovel and pulled it back rapidly.

Runsheng decisively let go of the shovel, but the moment it left his hands, a huge suction force appeared out of thin air, causing both his hands to stick back onto the shovel handle, his body's center of gravity lost, and he was pulled forward.

The tomb owner's feet twisted, first entangling Lin Shu You's double maces, then bending its knees to retract.

Like Runsheng, Lin Shu You's first reaction was to discard his weapon, because engaging in close-quarters combat with an existence whose absolute strength was far above his own was truly unwise.

But similarly, a gang wind appeared around Lin Shu You, forcing him to continue leaning forward.

The tomb owner with three bloodlines between its brows once again displayed its astonishing strength.

The next step, its fingers clawed toward Runsheng's chest, and its legs twisted toward Lin Shu You's neck.

Runsheng's physique was very tough, and Lin Shu You's Guarding Guarding Zhenjun Body was not bad either, but at this moment, both of them sensed an extremely obvious life-and-death crisis.

Although the Liang sisters were not known for their physiques, the two women were skilled in combat, adept at close-quarters fighting, and even had protective items brought out from the Liang family on their persons, with formation patterns even drawn on their inner linings for self-defense at critical moments.

Yet, in the face of absolute strength, all of this appeared pale and powerless; Liang Yan had her abdomen pierced through before she could even react, and Liang Li, while attempting to "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao," watched helplessly as the opponent turned her own offensive into a "counter-attack."

Consequently, although Runsheng and Lin Shu You were indeed much stronger than them in this regard, in the face of this huge gap, they still appeared pale and powerless.

However, although Li Zhuiyuan's reinforcements could not arrive in time, his remedial measures were still issued very decisively.

At this critical juncture, Runsheng's Qi Gates were fully opened!

Lin Shu You's back tightened, his muscles clamped, and the talisman needles broke through the box and pierced into his own body!

After experiencing the infusion of resentment under the Guarding Guarding Zhenjun Temple and the precipitation under the peach forest, the Sha Qi within Runsheng had become even more violent, thereby greatly reducing the preparation time required before fully opening his Qi Gates in the past.

Lin Shu You was purely idle, pondering various methods of using talisman needles together with the Master Tongzi.

The Master Tongzi had gone from initially resisting the talisman needles and viewing them as a shame, to tacitly accepting them, and now, he was actively embracing them.

While the threshold for facing powerful opponents was constantly rising, his bottom line was also being broken step by step.

In the past, Runsheng with his Qi Gates fully opened would have been enough to rampage, and Bai He, covered in talisman needles, could also look down upon his surroundings.

But this time, the purpose of revealing their trump cards was just to survive, and on that basis, to preserve themselves as much as possible.

Runsheng let out a roar, flipped the Yellow River Shovel, and broke away toward the rear.

Lin Shu You's vertical pupils turned completely red, his double maces crossed, and using his own strength in coordination with the repulsive force of the double maces, he struggled to retreat.

The tomb owner's fingers still pierced through Runsheng's chest, and its feet still clamped onto Lin Shu You's neck.

"Boom."

The power of the formation slammed down.

Beside the tomb owner, a circle of black ghostly shadows appeared, bowing to it. The ghostly shadows twisted rapidly, turning into nothingness, helping it bear the impact of the formation.

However, the heavy pressure belonging to the formation's underlying effect still acted upon its body, to a certain extent making its movements slightly slower than before.

Runsheng broke free. The tomb owner knew that with this move, it was too late to crush the opponent's heart, so it could only wave its hand casually the moment its fingers detached from the opponent's chest.

"Sss—"

With a harsh, grating sound, a large piece of flesh and skin on Runsheng's right chest melted away like ice and snow placed under a scorching sun.

There was no time to strangle Lin Shu You's neck with his legs, so he settled for second best and kicked Lin Shu You's chest.

The sound of breaking bones was like firecrackers lit by children in the village during the New Year, one after another.

Runsheng, having escaped the moment of death, propped himself up with the Yellow River shovel in front of him to maintain his balance, fresh blood gushing from his chest.

Lin Shu You, meanwhile, stabbed his twin maces into the ground behind him to offset the momentum, then swung them hard, his body leaning forward as he actually spat out fragments from his mouth.

Neither of them could spare the time to adjust or treat their injuries; after one breath, they immediately raised their weapons again.

Tan Wenbin took his position at Runsheng's side, while Yin Meng stopped on Lin Shu You's side, completing the four-person formation.

Zhao Yi had arrived the earliest, yet he had not joined the formation.

Because here, there was still a certain probability of error, so it was best to let the original version go first; if things became unsustainable somewhere, he would then step in to fill the gap.

His attention was fixed on Yin Meng.

Although Runsheng and Lin Shu You were injured and had revealed their trump cards, entering the countdown to their limit, the one who would likely be unable to hold on first was Yin Meng.

Because this kind of suppression required a stable attack intensity as a prerequisite, and Yin Meng's current presentable attack method was using poison, which could not be sustained.

However, what made Zhao Yi feel a bit alarmed was that even in such a critical situation, the one surnamed Li could still notice to arrange Yin Meng on Lin Shu You's side, just to avoid the possibility of her being "impulsive" by being too close to Runsheng.

In the rear, Li Zhuiyuan's complexion had already turned somewhat pale; having forcibly activated the amplification formation again just now was equivalent to sacrificing another wave of fresh blood.

Fortunately, although it was riddled with holes and uneven, this embankment had been patched up after all.

Much as expected, the tomb owner's strength had increased; if it were before, those Liang sisters would have undoubtedly died without any chance of survival, but this kind of increase was far from one plus two, otherwise Runsheng and Lin Shu You would not have survived either.

Actually, although the youth had never moved from his position, he was indeed the most exhausted person on the entire field.

If not for him, this third stick of incense would never have been this troublesome; perhaps by now, Zhao Yi's corpse would have already been collected, taken away by the Liang sisters, and sent to Jiujiang.

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes gradually turned cold.

If before, he had indeed wanted to follow what Zhao Yi said and just endure this duration to call it an end, then now, he was already changing his mind.

Under an asymmetrical battle, preserving oneself as much as possible was the wisest move, but now that things had reached this point, if he let them come and go as they pleased, it would make him seem far too easy to bully.

Of course, in the eyes of the outside world, including those six, his ability to withstand three sticks of incense here without a single person dying was already dazzling enough, counting as a very proud achievement.

But right now, this was his wave after all; no matter how excessive or unreasonable this wave was, as a River Walker, you had to show the temper you ought to have.

"Since you have come... then this time, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

A new round of fighting began once again.

Runsheng, Lin Shu You, Tan Wenbin, and Yin Meng launched their attacks simultaneously.

Lines of blood appeared on Tan Wenbin's body, the power of the Blood Ape manifesting; every time his figure leaped and landed, it made quite a commotion—this was to make up for the attack intensity.

Theoretically speaking, Tan Wenbin, possessing the power of the four spirit beasts, was still not suited to rush to the front line to fight; relying on the effect of the Five Senses Map, he was more suited for the role of battlefield interference than when he relied on his two god-sons in the past.

This Blood Ape power burned his own fresh blood; it looked exceptionally fierce right now, but in terms of duration, it was much shorter than Runsheng and Lin Shu You's.

But no matter what, it was better than Mengmeng.

In the first round of fighting, the four cooperated perfectly.

The tomb owner, unwilling to be injured, adopted a purely defensive stance, placing its hands in front of its chest to neutralize all offensives, including the midnight snack Yin Meng invited it to eat, which was also blocked out.

By the second round of fighting, Yin Meng could only rely on her poison jars, entering inventory-clearing mode.

Third round, fourth round...

Zhao Yi stood in the back, watching all this with cold eyes.

The tomb owner's existence time was definitely limited; what was unclear now was whether the time would also be extended after two more descended?

It seemed there was no extension, otherwise the tomb owner's attack frequency would not be this fast.

Runsheng and Lin Shu You's state was clearly unsustainable; if it wanted to, it could completely stop attacking and have everyone stand in place in a standoff, but it did not do so because it dared not gamble with time.

Continuing to launch attacks and then choosing complete defense at the moment of engagement was for the purpose of exhausting the opponent's shortcomings.

It could be Yin Meng's poison jars, or it could be Tan Wenbin's state.

If it really thought so, and no one else could descend subsequently, then he would fill a spot, the one surnamed Li would fill another, and they could still hold on until the end.

Zhao Yi was actually quite moved this time; clearly, abandoning him was the most cost-effective and simple choice, but the one surnamed Li did not do so.

Asking himself, if they swapped places, Zhao Yi did not think he could be as decent as the one surnamed Li.

The battle situation in front was relatively stable, so Zhao Yi took a moment to look back at the one surnamed Li, thinking of giving him a grateful smile.

Who knew the one surnamed Li's eyelids were half-closed, standing there without any expression.

Hmm?

It seemed there was a little something wrong; Zhao Yi felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

But this was not the time for idle chatter, so he had to focus back on the battlefield. After a few more rounds of fighting, anxiety appeared in Yin Meng's eyes; her stock... was running low.

Every time she used poison, she had to mix it; the permutations and combinations were random, but the quantity had to be sufficient. You asked her to take just one or two poison jars and throw out a sufficiently strong toxicity—she had tried, but she really couldn't do it.

Tan Wenbin's state also began to go downhill; in order to save Qi and blood, he now retracted after one strike and ignited it again for the next, treating his own body like a car and blood like oil.

Zhao Yi was already prepared to take over for Yin Meng; as for Tan Wenbin, the one surnamed Li would take over.

But before Yin Meng's supply was exhausted, Li Zhuiyuan in the rear spat out a mouthful of fresh blood first, his standing figure dropping to one knee.

The others were all focused on the battle in front and had no time to be distracted, but Zhao Yi noticed this scene.

He knew the one surnamed Li was very, very tired, but based on his understanding and confidence in the one surnamed Li, he shouldn't have been unable to hold on so quickly.

There were certainly no specific values or fine calibrations, but the style of the one surnamed Li should have been that after finally holding on, the three inside the tomb owner left, and when everyone was exhausted or unconscious on the ground, he would then "pop" open a Jianlibao.

What's the matter, you're the one failing first this time?

Liang Yan and Liang Li came over; although they still had the strength to fight, joining the battle now would only add to the chaos.

One took out pills, the other took out a porcelain bottle, wondering if they could maintain the youth's state.

Li Zhuiyuan ignored them, just maintaining his current posture, looking forward, watching the battle.

Relying on the red thread, various instructions were still being issued continuously.

But the youth's eyes were gradually losing their luster; he was still watching, but had lost focus.

Fresh blood flowed from the youth's nose.

Those familiar with Li Zhuiyuan knew this was a sign that the youth had entered an overdrawn state.

A nosebleed was only the initial stage of overdraft; when the eyes started bleeding, that was truly serious.

The Liang sisters looked at each other, wanting to help with something, but not daring to make any moves casually; even wiping a nosebleed, they feared it would block the youth's vision and interrupt his thinking.

But right now, the youth's state was truly too critical; the battle in front concerned Zhao Yi's life and death.

The two sisters looked at each other again, understanding each other's decision, and then sat down on either side of Li Zhuiyuan.

The two used sharp tools to cut their palms, first dipping the index finger of the other hand to take enough fresh blood, then pressing their bleeding palms onto the ground; blood-colored runes gathered into a formation, like red earthworms, crawling up their bodies along their wrists before flowing across their faces.

Immediately, the two women raised their palms at the same time, facing the youth in the middle.

The essence was extracted from their bodies and dispersed in front of them; most of it dissipated and was wasted, with only a small portion near the youth's body for him to absorb.

This was a technique with extremely low cost-effectiveness; in terms of practical use, it was truly a drop in the bucket, but this was also the only thing they could do at the moment.

Having already been seriously injured before, squeezing themselves like this now, the two women's originally fair skin gradually turned sallow, then became rough, and crow's feet appeared on their youthful faces.

Although it was said that River Walking merit could compensate for lifespan—Tan Wenbin had often done lifespan addition and subtraction in the past—whether this wave could successfully pass was still up in the air; furthermore... if Zhao Yi died, all their efforts would have been in vain.

If one were to ask in detail, they themselves might not know why they wanted to do this; clearly, they often had "at worst, pack up and stop walking this river, go home" on their lips, but in actual action, they had always been actively striving for benefits for that man.

Truly not smart, and a bit stupid, otherwise they wouldn't have been persuaded by a few words from that man who secretly jumped over the family formation and climbed over the wall.

It was just like the female classmate in Tan Wenbin's high school class who originally had good grades but ended up on the bicycle of a yellow-haired boy outside the school.

Thinking she had obtained sincerity, but not knowing what kind of price she had actually paid.

Yin Meng's poison jars were used up; for the remaining few bottles, she herself had no confidence in whether she could piece together sufficiently strong toxicity. Hearing Little Yuan Ge's voice from the bottom of her heart, she retreated without hesitation.

Zhao Yi looked back again, glancing behind him.

He had long noticed the movement of the technique behind him and had instantly guessed what the sisters were doing, but he had never looked back; this time, looking back was just because he was about to enter the field and perform one more breath frequency calibration with the one surnamed Li.

His peripheral vision swept over the sisters; both of their black hair had started to turn white, yet there was still a smile on their lips.

If conditions allowed, Zhao Yi really wanted to point at them and scold with a laugh: Idiots, stop doing this kind of self-moving stuff.

If the one surnamed Li could hold on, then he would definitely be able to hold on; if he couldn't hold on, whatever you do is meaningless.

Zhao Yi even felt that the one surnamed Li was unable to be distracted right now, otherwise he would definitely have refused the two women doing this—not because he felt sorry for their efforts, but because the one surnamed Li didn't practice martial arts; you pouring this into him might even cause his Qi and blood to reverse, having the opposite effect.

The breath calibration was completed, and Zhao Yi moved sideways to take the position, replacing the spot Yin Meng had retreated from.

When the next round of offensive began, Zhao Yi didn't dare to fully trust the youth in this state, and he himself observed the changes in the attack frequency of the other three; only after one strike was perfectly achieved, forcing the tomb owner to adopt the complete defense mechanism again, did Zhao Yi feel relieved.

Confirmed, the one surnamed Li, even in this state, still maintained precise breath to guide him.

Round after round continued; Runsheng and Lin Shu You were approaching their limits, but they were still relying on their rich experience in squeezing their limits, trying hard to scrape out more time.

Tan Wenbin was already squeezed dry.

"Brother Binbin, use all your strength in the next round of attacks; Yin Meng will cover your withdrawal."

"Understood!"

In the next round of attacks, Tan Wenbin used all his strength; after the goal was achieved, he didn't even have the strength to retreat, his body turning soft like mud. Fortunately, Yin Meng's leather whip was thrown out in time, circling him and pulling him back, detaching him from the battlefield.

Before losing consciousness, Tan Wenbin tried hard to open his eyes to look at Little Yuan over there; the two women's "drop in the bucket" had already ended by this time, and they had each collapsed to the side.

Little Yuan Ge was still kneeling there, fresh blood flowing from the corners of his eyes.

Even so, in the next round of attacks after Tan Wenbin exited, the youth's right palm still condensed fresh blood to inject into the red porcelain-colored formation flag, inducing the formation's power to descend, perfectly substituting.

Zhao Yi felt completely relieved; he knew he had survived!

Runsheng and A-You were both at the end of their rope, but the tomb owner's persistence time would inevitably only be shorter.

Sure enough, after three more consecutive rounds of fighting, the tomb owner stopped there.

And at this moment, Zhao Yi also noticed that the one surnamed Li's breath had become disordered, as if everyone had reached a critical point.

The tomb owner opened its mouth, emitting an indistinct sound; this was three voices emitted simultaneously, which a normal person could not understand at all.

Zhao Yi understood.

"You have passed the test; I await your worship in Fengdou."

"Those who take shortcuts can never ascend to the hall of elegance; not worth mentioning."

"Kneel down and kowtow sincerely, crawl to Fengdou on your knees, and you may still be left a glimmer of life."

After understanding, Zhao Yi wished he hadn't understood; his heart felt a wave of nausea and disgust.

Clearly, it was you who didn't play by the rules, bullying the small with the big, not to mention, you also shamelessly kept changing the rules.

Even so, you still had the nerve to put on a high-and-mighty air when the goal wasn't achieved, as if today's events were you showing mercy.

But anger in the heart was anger, and impatience was impatience; Zhao Yi, this "victim," really couldn't show it.

When Runsheng and Lin Shu You were already tottering and Li Zhuiyuan's breath couldn't even be stabilized, only he could stand out to handle the polite words.

Zhao Yi first performed the Zhao family gate salute, then said respectfully:

"The youngsters are frivolous and don't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth; when we enter Fengdou another day, we will definitely perform grand rites and prepare heavy incense to meet the needs and repay the kindness."

"The sentiment of today's guidance is engraved in our hearts; for the act of disturbing you in fear, we ask for your forgiveness."

"Here, we respectfully send you off."

Everyone likes to settle scores quickly, but the situation is stronger than the people; being able to fight to this situation was already very rare, and even this was based on the other party's unwillingness to be injured and pay the price.

They wanted high hats, so he would just coax them along; as for what the situation would be like after arriving in Fengdou, that would be discussed later.

Seeing that it was about to end, if he sprayed any harsh words now, and really forced one of those three into a corner, making them willing to pay the price to get you, that would be truly stupid.

Those who like to take verbal advantage are fools.

Under the tomb owner's feet, black patterns appeared; this was it about to leave.

And at this moment, behind Zhao Yi, came the hoarse and weak voice of the one surnamed Li:

"What, you're leaving already?"

Zhao Yi heard this, directly jolted, then immediately pointed his finger at the tomb owner in front, disdainfully saying:

"That's right, you really don't know any rules at all, simply a little maid-raised brat!"

The weak Lin Shu You looked at the Three-Eyed one with some disbelief; this transition from humble to arrogant was too rapid.

In reality, Zhao Yi knew clearly that the one surnamed Li dared to say such things, either because he was crazy, or because he had sufficient certainty.

He believed it was the latter, so why wait to seize the opportunity to take back the verbal advantage!

The tomb owner raised its head, its gaze piercing through all obstructions, landing on the youth in the distance.

The youth stood up, his figure swaying constantly, a bit stiff, and his Qi and blood were reversing, making him uncomfortable.

Glancing at the residual blood stains on the ground and the Liang sisters who had fainted by his side, he knew what these two had done for him.

Not bad, there were side effects, but overall, it was still somewhat useful; at least he could still stand up now and had the strength to speak loudly.

The tomb owner opened its mouth, and the voice was emitted again:

"Arrogant!"

"Presumptuous!"

"Evil obstacle!"

The black patterns under its feet were still operating; they hadn't left.

But the black patterns didn't disappear, so they were just putting on a show of harsh words; they were still going to leave.

Because the effect of using those three sticks of incense to cover the heavenly secrets was about to end; if they didn't leave in time, they would be exposed under the Heavenly Dao.

They weren't even willing to bear injuries in battle, let alone a price many times greater than that.

There was a lot of blood accumulated on the ground earlier, all shed by Li Zhuiyuan himself; this time, it saved him from wasting it.

The fresh blood on the ground was induced, and under the youth's feet, a blood-colored pattern emerged.

If one looked carefully and compared, one could find that the details here were exactly the same as those black patterns.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand.

The tomb owner raised its head.

Li Zhuiyuan pressed his finger to the center of his own brow.

The tomb owner followed suit and made the same movement.

The next moment,

The youth and the tomb owner opened their mouths simultaneously:

"Break!"

The blood-colored pattern under the youth's feet exploded, and the black pattern under the tomb owner's feet shattered.

Li Zhuiyuan's teeth still had blood stains; he spread his hands, holding them flat to the surroundings, like a hospitable host, trying his best to fulfill the duties of a host.

The youth smiled:

"Since you've come, don't leave."

(End of chapter)