Crimson Soul Patriarch was flying amidst the large clouds.
His expression was livid.
Due to his information sources, he already knew where the Sky Lord's Grotto Heaven was.
And he naturally suspected that they would hide Bai Lin Hua there.
But when he went there, there was nothing.
It was completely barren; no matter where he searched, there seemed to be nothing at all!
Through some unknown means, they completely relocated the grotto heaven.
Of course, he was not devoid of means.
By this point, he had gathered plenty of clues, together with his Blood Path Attainment that enabled him to track like a hound; after a long search, he finally found her.
"Still. The area where she seems to be is not the Grotto Heaven." He snorted coldly.
Obviously, they did not want to see him using hostages in the middle of the fight.
So, of course, they would move the battlefield elsewhere.
Still.
That only made him even more furious.
Of course, he did not allow emotions to blind him.
He would not attack so brutishly and directly. Instead, ethereal blue light surged across his skin; the light around him distorted.
His aura had also been reduced to the bare minimum.
Like many times, he prepared himself to ambush his enemies when they least expected it.
Yet.
From a distance, he saw the Supreme Leader of the Kao Clan staring intently at him, with an unbothered expression.
He had his arms crossed.
A message was transmitted to him.
"You may fool others with your disguise. But not me. As long as we are in White Heaven, nothing can escape from my sight."
Crimson Soul raised his eyebrows in surprise before realizing.
"Right. Cloud Path." He narrowed his eyes.
"Everything in the two heavens is surrounded by clouds; it would be as if a person tried to hide from me in a sea of souls. Not only would they not hide, but their every move would stick out like a sore thumb."
But then he chuckled.
"But if they were confident in taking me down, they would not try to intimidate me like this. But instead, would wait until I stepped out into a trap."
Still.
He did not feel entirely confident, so just in case.
He waved his right hand.
From which a blue aurora spread out like a rainbow.
From which hundreds of blue orbs rapidly appeared.
Those orbs cracked in several spots, like a seed from which life was germinating, countless red and grey vines sprouted.
Those vines soon took the shape of the vascular system, whereas the grey vines simulated the nervous system.
Once the nervous system was created in full, blood sprouted out from all directions, stabilizing the shape of those creations.
In the end, they were finally created completely.
They looked like abnormally tall humans with thin limbs, whose skin had been completely pulled out.
They had hollow eyes, as if they had been gouged out, and there was a translucent blue pale light covering them like a coating.
Finally, those phantoms had their maws wide open, and they were constantly screaming in agony.
Blood Phantoms.
The myriad of Blood Phantoms moved from all directions, surging through to attack.
Kao Zha Ji frowned ever so slightly.
He raised his palm.
Waves of steam were unleashed from it, aiming towards the ghosts.
However.
Just as the attack reached them, their bodies turned translucent.
The attack passed through them.
"Phantom Path?"
He frowned a bit deeper; the steam wave made a 180-degree turn, striking again, and this time it had a grey-color engraved upon it.
This time, even if they turned intangible, they would still be hit by his following move.
Yet.
The body of the ghosts contorted, the blood and veins were 'absorbed' by the seed, and the seed itself was of pure soul quality.
If the previous attack failed because it targeted an intangible target, this one failed because the target turned completely spiritual.
An unusual expression appeared on Kao Zha Ji's face as he thought.
"This bastard. If you do not know how to deal with both Phantom and Soul Path, you literally cannot do anything against those things."
With this realization, he then added.
"I see…So he must be even more anxious to retrieve Bai Lin Hua than I thought."
But then he smiled.
"But don't think I am so easy to deal with."
At the next moment, the steam turned dark blue.
That horde of ghosts was struck in the middle of their body, their cores completely obliterated.
They exploded into a blue fog, tainted in red.
Crimson Soul stared at the scene.
This first probing move was to see how well they could deal with Soul Path.
Now that he confirmed they could deal with Soul Path, he was already almost completely certain that Kao Dao Ji's words were accurate.
Regardless, upon finishing his first move.
The red liquid inside the fog suddenly surged like a million little bullets.
Kao Zha Ji prepared to deflect them; more than 95% of the 'bullets' failed, or rather, aimed at different points.
The massive floating building in which they were was struck by that corrosive blood.
The walls melted.
Not only that, but the formation inside also reacted.
Some of the Gu worms were stirred and trembled.
"So, you want to destroy the formation from within?" Kao Zha Ji stated.
He turned his gaze towards his two allies, Kao Yu Hun and Kao Tuo Niao.
Kao Tuo Niao had a round, big face, with even bigger wings that were five times larger than in ordinary Featherman; his eyes looked cunning, and he had purple hair and wings.
"Kao Tuo Niao, defend the formation. And tell Kao Yun Yun to hurry up and put Bai Lin Hua unconscious again."
"Kao Yu Hun, follow me. We will delay that bastard together!"
Kao Tuo Niao looked utterly relieved after hearing those instructions, whilst Kao Yu Hun's expression was ghastly.
What? Did I hear you right?
He wanted to complain, but he buried his words and helplessly followed his superior.
After saying those words, beneath Kao Zha Ji's feet a cloud slowly took shape.
Followed by this, his body flickered and vanished.
Chasing after Crimson Soul, behind him, there was Kao Yu Hu,n who looked resigned.
Crimson Soul expression changed.
"A frontal attack?"
He snorted coldly.
"Good! If you are so eager to die, let me help you." He pressed his middle and index fingers together, from which a blood stream was shot.
Yet.
Kao Zha Ji smiled.
He pressed his two palms together, and a massive cloud took shape.
The blood surged towards the clouds, but instead of piercing through, the cloud changed color, turning crimson red.
Then.
Countless of drops of red liquid were shot towards Crimson Soul, who raised his eyebrows.
"Oh?" He squinted his eyes.
For a brief instant, a ghostly red-white figure appeared behind him.
The figure had an angry, violent face.
His body blurred.
Kao Zha Ji's pupils shrank before he could even realize it. Crimson Soul had appeared just a few meters in front of him.
He stretched his red palm towards him; there was no time to avoid.
Kao Zha Ji reacted quickly; clouds gathered around his body like armor.
Yet.
His armor proved useless, as the red palm passed through it effortlessly; his pupils shrank as he feared the worst.
But the attack hit nothing.
"Huh?" Kao Zha Ji tilted his head, confused.
Whereas Crimson Soul smiled in response.
"Are you confused about what I did to you? Don't worry. You will figure it out eventually."
He squinted his eyes.
"If you last long enough, that is." A soft chuckle appeared before his expression hardened.
He pointed his finger at him.
His fingernail exploded, followed by this: a massive vein was shot towards Kao Zha Ji.
Kao Zha Ji dodged nimbly with his cloud, as the vein chased after him.
However.
He knew this could not last. Crimson Soul's arm, a red orb, was slowly taking shape.
Kao Zha Ji felt an odd sensation in his skin; he felt how his own blood within his vessel was slowly being driven towards the source.
He frowned.
He could not allow himself to be hit by it.
So, with no other choice, he sighed.
"I need to use this trump card already? Oh well." Suddenly, his expression changed.
The aura surrounding his body became increasingly clearer and mightier.
Crimson Soul patriarch stopped in his tracks.
An invisible force surged from all directions, surrounding him.
He gritted his teeth, using all sorts of Killer Moves to withstand it.
Not only that, but he had to barely contend to try to retain the crimson orb stable.
In the end, he made a decision.
As he decided to shoot it towards Kao Zha Ji, but he merely snorted coldly.
He pressed his palm forward, and a mighty pulse was shot, sending back the orb to its sender.
He raised his arms to block.
But behind him.
Kao Yu Hun sent a mighty thunderbolt that hit his back.
He let out a groan in pain as the orb exploded right on his face.
Followed by this, Kao Yu Hun used this chance to approach.
[Wind Cutting Slash]
Crimson Soul's eyes became bloodshot in his rage; once more, a furious ghost appeared behind him, eerily.
And his body vanished into nothingness.
Kao Zha Ji turned his head to observe him.
Crimson Soul appeared almost thirty kilometers away.
"That move again. Every time that ghost appears, he teleports. But if he can do this, why did he not try to decapitate me in his first strike? Why is he bothering with this operation in the first place? If he could so effortlessly appear wherever he pleases, why not take Bai Lin Hua at once?"
"It must be because an Immortal contains a dense aura surrounding them. If so, could I try to use moves with such a large aura to prevent him from escaping?"
At the same time, Crimson Soul also looked quite unsightly.
"Are you truly a Rank 7 Gu Master?" He asked.
Kao Zha Ji raised his eyebrows.
"I do not know what you are talking about."
Crimson Soul snorted coldly.
"From the beginning, I have felt that your strength is unusual. From a simple glance, I can perceive that your Dao Marks approximate the 50,000 Dao Mark count.
Your attainment also seems to rival mine.
And now, just a few moments ago, I felt your aura spiking all of a sudden. You used White Lichi Essence and activated a Rank 8 Gu Worm, and you still expect me to believe you are a Rank 7 Gu Master?"
Kao Zha Ji smiled mysteriously.
"That is just the Clan's secret!" As he said those words, he pounced towards Crimson Soul.
Who merely frowned.
Now that he knew that his opponent had an unknown Rank 8 Gu, he knew it was not wise to engage.
So, he retreated backwards, keeping his distance.
Whereas Kao Zha Ji looked vigorous as he chased after him.
The tides of the battle had changed with a single reveal.
Of course, that was just on the surface.
Kao Zha Ji frowned.
"In the last century, I was already preparing for my Rank 8 ascension, and so I accrued large amounts of Immortal Essence Stone to produce Red Date Essence.
When the Heaven and Earth Ceremony passed, I used that chance to turn my essence into White Lichi Essence.
And yet, my preparations are not thorough enough; I possess around 70 White Lichi Beads."
"In terms of reserve, I am inferior to a Rank 8 Gu Master. However, I already peered into his aura. He seems to be a newly ascended Rank 8. So, perhaps I am not that far behind in terms of essence."
"Now all I need to do is figure out just what he did to me before with that palm attack of his."
Suddenly.
He felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
But soon he realized.
It was not his stomach, nor any of his other organs.
But his aperture.
His expression turned into one of horror.
Inside his aperture, there was a large red tree.
That stretched for over a kilometer.
This tree was surrounded by countless of red veins, which were palpitating.
Not only that, but there were countless of abominations across his aperture, such as Blood Phantoms spreading everywhere, slaughtering, devouring, consuming all living beings in his aperture.
Finally, there was the stench of Blood Qi steadily growing in his aperture.
"My Dao Marks, they are becoming Blood Path Dao Marks!" His expression changed completely.
"Heheh. Do you know what people say is the greatest weakness of blood path? That is very poor at managing resources.
That is when I had an idea. Why, instead of trying to build a stable environment all on my own, can I not borrow the foundation of others? That is my Living Meat Killer Move in essence."
But then he paused.
"There are still some unresolved flaws in my approach, however. Apertures affected by my method crumble in a matter of weeks or months due to the intrinsic violent poison injected.
Such a shame, though, were it not for this flaw, I would be able to annex the apertures of all the Immortals in this world.
And become a being of legend, superior to all Venerables.
Oh well. There is always a blooming shine behind the clouds, wouldn't you think?"
Kao Zha Ji expression grew ghastly.
The foundation he built during all his lifetime was being crumbled before his eyes.
Crimson Soul smiled widely.
This was his chance.
Once more, the tides turned.
Like a shark smelling blood, Crimson Soul rushed.
Kao Yu Hun tried to reinforce him, shooting countless of lightning bolts towards him.
But they were completely useless.
He only had a couple of Immortal Gu, Rank 6 at that.
With such a poor foundation, how could he possibly contend in a battle of great experts?
In fact.
He turned his head and aimed at the nuisance.
A dark-blue pulse was shot from his palm.
Kao Yu Hun's expression was quite the sight.
"Soul Path???"
While he had learnt the basics, his learning and adaptation speeds were rather lower in comparison to the Clan Leader.
His defenses were a level lower in comparison to the ones he had towards other paths.
Even more considering the gap in strength.
However, before he was struck in full.
[Limitless Distance]
The attacks stopped in short order.
A nearby immortal coughed blood.
"Kao Tuo Niao, what do you think you are doing! I told you to protect the zone!" Kao Zha Ji shouted.
But inwardly transmitted.
"Good. Have the preparations been completed?"
Kao Tuo Niao smiled. "Almost. Kao Yun Yun is still busy with some of the details."
He squinted his eyes and stared at Crimson Soul defiantly.
Crimson Soul snickered.
"Oh? You look so confident. Well, let me see your skills."
He stretched both of his arms widely, summoning an army of Blood Phantoms.
The ones on his right arm went after Kao Yu Hun; those in the left went after Kao Tuo Niao.
Kao Zha Ji aimed at Crimson Soul.
A powerful steam wave was shot, but Crimson Soul merely made a 'face.'
[Ghost Face]
The steam was pushed back by an invisible force; the two collided.
At the same time, Kao Yu Hun and Kao Tuo Niao struggled against the horde of ghosts.
Especially Kao Yu Hun, who lacked the soul-path edge necessary to deal with them.
Noticing the situation, Kao Zha Ji was forced to use his Rank 8 Immortal Gu again.
An all-encompassing pressure surrounded Crimson Soul, who, upon noticing it, retreated hundreds of meters away.
As this happened.
Kao Zha Ji shouted.
"The opponent is tougher than anticipated; we need to retreat."
"I will hold him back; you two return to the base."
"Is that so. Then let me see how you hold me back." Crimson Soul replied.
The previous army of ghosts turned towards Kao Zha Ji.
They all stretched their limbs, pointing at him, and an ominous azure light surged.
But he had no time to delve into that; instead, all his attention was focused on both his aperture and on Crimson Soul himself.
Who unleashed a myriad of blood projectiles from all directions, he tried to counterattack on his own.
Yet.
As he prepared his own cloud Killer Move, the cloud turned shaky and unstable.
An uneasy feeling appeared on his face as he realized that some Gu's inside his aperture were pulled out by the army of phantoms.
His pupils shrank before the Killer Move failed; he reinforced and added more Gu.
Still, the force of his Killer Move was lower than anticipated.
A blood projectile reached midway through his cloud defenses, followed by another that was just strong enough to pierce through it.
Strong enough to pierce through his body.
Thankfully, he had turned his body slightly.
While the move still grazed him, it was not enough to pierce through his vital organs.
But then.
There was an uneasy feeling; he coughed violently before he realized.
"Poison???" His eyelids trembled.
"You truly are the lowest of scum!" He gritted his teeth.
At the beginning of the fight, Crimson Soul had basically checked his attainment regarding Phantom and Soul Path.
Had he failed the test, all who would await him would be to get crushed by an unceasing army of ghosts.
Followed by this, he then struck his aperture, his greatest treasure.
Then, he tried to use hostages, and then he used that army of ghosts to try to steal his Gu.
And then, even his attacks contained deep poison.
Just what kind of fighting style was this?