Chapter 1801: No One Can Win

Suddenly, Yang Ling sensed a familiar aura rapidly approaching, and his spirits immediately lifted. Moments later, two figures appeared not far from him: Lu Ye and Hu Dequan, who had rushed over at the first opportunity. Soon, another team, led by Meng Xu, also arrived to gather. After a short wait, the Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators, scattered across various locations, all converged.

Compared to before the battle, there were over a dozen fewer people. Most of them were cultivators from the Scarlet Talisman Society, and several of Lu Ye's Blood Attendants had also been lost. Moreover, after two days of continuous battle, almost everyone was no longer in peak condition. Some even had unhealed injuries. Yet, despite this, their number still approached thirty.

Gazing at Li Tian, Hu Dequan's face was filled with resentment. He couldn't help but recall years of continuous confrontation with Saint Blood Peak and the faces of those who had passed away. He roared, "Li Tian, your time has come!"

He had expected Li Tian to speak defiantly, even given the situation, as he was a Sun Gazer. To his surprise, Li Tian simply nodded and said, "Indeed, you truly are impressive!" As he spoke, his gaze swept across the front, pausing briefly on Lu Ye with a look of confusion, as he had never seen Lu Ye before. However, he didn't seem to pay much heed, and his gaze quickly moved on.

Li Tian's composure made Hu Dequan frown. Recalling what Lu Ye had told him earlier, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What scheme are you plotting?"

Li Tian chuckled, "My forces have been utterly annihilated by you, and I myself am constrained here by your Scarlet Talismans. What scheme could I possibly plot? I merely stand here, awaiting death."

Hu Dequan said angrily, "If you truly intend to die, why not take your own life? That way, you avoid a messy death in battle!"

Li Tian raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Hu Dequan opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words. Of course, he wasn't so naive as to believe a Sun Gazer would commit suicide.

Meng Xu said coldly, "There's no need to waste words with him. Just kill him. Once he's dead, any schemes he has will be nothing but smoke and mirrors!" As he spoke, he raised his hand and flicked his fingers, and a dazzling red light bloomed at his fingertips.

Hu Dequan nodded at his words. "Attack!" He, too, immediately activated the power of his Scarlet Talisman. Lu Ye's eyes flickered, and he also activated the power of a Scarlet Talisman.

Instantly, four streaks of red light burst forth simultaneously. A terrifying might swept in all directions. Even though all the cultivators present were Moon Gazers, they couldn't help but feel their bodies and minds waver, unable to stand firm. They could only activate their own powers to protect themselves.

A moment later, the power of each Scarlet Talisman was pushed to its limit. To everyone's surprise, Li Tian simply remained standing there quietly, appearing completely indifferent. Instead, he looked at them with an expression tinged with pity.

"Kill!" Hu Dequan roared, and was the first to unleash the power of his Scarlet Talisman. The red light abruptly condensed, forming a heaven-shaking blade, which slashed down towards Li Tian.

At the same time, Yang Ling also made his move. His Scarlet Talisman transformed into a hideous, terrifying ancient beast, lifelike, roaring as it charged towards Li Tian. Its body was like lightning, and a long horn on its forehead pulsed with red light, seemingly capable of shattering all things in the world.

Meng Xu's Scarlet Talisman was different from the other two. It was purely an enormous palm print, and with every inch it descended, even space itself began to shatter.

Hu Dequan and Yang Ling, who had attacked first, suddenly turned their heads, staring at Meng Xu in utter shock. Their eyes were filled with disbelief. Meanwhile, the many cultivators standing beside Lu Ye all turned pale. They suddenly felt an impending disaster, as an intensely strong aura of death enveloped them, making their bodies stiffen. Instinctively, they wanted to dodge, but the entire space had solidified.

Lu Ye's sigh was heard. As red light permeated the area, a layer of red light enveloped his body, forming a solid defense. The enormous palm print continued to descend. Seven or eight Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators beside Lu Ye only managed to resist with great difficulty for a moment before they each exploded, their faces filled with despair.

Even Lu Ye was pressured by this palm strike, making his bones creak. The red light on his body visibly dimmed. While he had indeed activated the defensive Scarlet Talisman, which had been infused with Precious Blood, Meng Xu's Scarlet Talisman had been nurtured for too long. Its power was terrifyingly immense, and relying solely on that defensive Scarlet Talisman, it seemed somewhat difficult to withstand.

Meng Xu's expression was also one of astonishment, because he hadn't expected the Scarlet Talisman Lu Ye activated to be for defense. Logically speaking, at this moment, everyone should be activating offensive Scarlet Talismans, after all, they were supposed to be working together to kill Li Tian... Yet, before the full power of the Scarlet Talisman was unleashed, he didn't know what type Lu Ye had activated, and had simply made his own assumption. He merely had a slight doubt: why would Lu Ye activate a defensive Scarlet Talisman at such a moment? What was he guarding against?

"What are you doing?" Yang Ling's furious roar echoed. Though he had already made his judgment, it was still hard to believe; this was his sworn brother, with whom he had spent two thousand years! He didn't understand why the other party would do this, nor when they had defected. Because before this, neither he nor Hu Dequan had detected anything.

As Yang Ling's words fell, Lu Ye, shrouded in a faint red glow, finally moved. Activating his rapid movement technique, everyone's vision blurred, followed by a flash of blade light. When they regained their senses, Lu Ye was already standing not far from Meng Xu. On his dark long saber, a streak of blood was dazzlingly conspicuous.

Meng Xu was caught completely off guard, because from his perspective, once his Scarlet Talisman was activated, Lu Ye and the numerous cultivators beside him should have been reduced to dust. No Moon Gazer could survive the power of such a Scarlet Talisman! Yet Lu Ye had activated a defensive Scarlet Talisman to block this terrifying blow, saving his own life.

Meng Xu staggered backward, clutching his chest. He clearly felt that his internal organs had been completely shattered. Lu Ye's blade strike was incredibly swift and extremely fierce, directly severing any possibility of his survival. However, the formidable life force of a late-stage Moon Gazer meant he wouldn't die immediately. To thus feel the approach of death was undoubtedly an extremely torturous and terrifying experience.

He looked at Lu Ye in disbelief. "How did you know?"

When he should have activated an offensive Scarlet Talisman, Lu Ye had instead activated a defensive one. This clearly indicated he was prepared. So Meng Xu understood that Lu Ye must have sensed something.

In response to his question, Lu Ye ignored him, and had no intention of explaining. He merely looked regretfully at the spot where the Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators had stood beside him moments ago. Only shattered corpses remained there.

When he had secretly brought Zhou Tianbao under his control, Lu Ye had already learned a secret. Within the Scarlet Talisman Society, there was an informant planted by Li Tian. However, Zhou Tianbao didn't know who this person was.

During his time interacting with the Scarlet Talisman Society, Lu Ye had actually been secretly investigating, but had found nothing. Even during the various conflicts with Saint Blood Peak, no clues emerged. He only knew that this mole was hidden extremely deeply, and was very likely one of the Scarlet Talisman Society's leaders, because an ordinary cultivator wouldn't be able to play a role in overthrowing the Scarlet Talisman Society. Yang Ling, Hu Dequan, and Meng Xu were all under his suspicion...

However, he couldn't directly reveal this matter. If he did, it would only make them doubt his motives. Compared to a cultivator tainted by Saintly nature, the Scarlet Talisman Society members would undoubtedly trust their own fellow cultivators more. It wasn't until Meng Xu eagerly activated his Scarlet Talisman that Lu Ye vaguely made his judgment.

However, Lu Ye couldn't understand one thing. Meng Xu certainly hadn't been tainted by Saintly nature, because he hadn't been suppressed when Lu Ye activated his own Saintly nature. If that was the case, why would he cooperate with Li Tian and defect to him? Furthermore, this defection must have happened within the last decade, otherwise the Scarlet Talisman Society would have long been gone.

"Why?" Hu Dequan looked at Meng Xu, his gaze trembling, his face deathly pale. Meng Xu's sudden betrayal left him momentarily unsure who else in this world could be trusted.

Meng Xu's life force was extremely faint. He looked at Hu Dequan, and after a long moment, he spoke, "You can't win. I just want a way to survive!"

Hu Dequan's gaze briefly unfocused, then he erupted in furious anger. "Li Tian is about to die! Years of conflict are finally coming to an end. Who told you we couldn't win!"

Meng Xu opened his mouth, as if to say more, but at that moment, his life force utterly extinguished.

Hu Dequan was filled with grief. Yang Ling was no better. The remaining Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators were all filled with suspicion, no one knowing if there were other hidden traitors within their ranks.

"Li Tian isn't dead!" Lu Ye's calm voice rang out.

Only then did Hu Dequan and Yang Ling snap back to reality. They turned to look at Li Tian. The power of the Scarlet Talismans had dissipated, but what they saw made their eyes narrow involuntarily. Li Tian was indeed not dead, though he looked somewhat disheveled. After all, he had just single-handedly withstood the power of two Scarlet Talismans. Injury was inevitable, and even his aura was somewhat weak.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. His laughter was full of mockery. "You still think you can win? Meng Xu was right. You can't win. He defected to me because he saw the truth, while you... you are all blinded by falsehoods!" His laughter ceased, and his voice turned sharp and severe. "No one can win!"

"Blood Sea!" Lu Ye murmured, and was the first to activate the Blood Sea Technique.

Xiang Yin and the others snapped back to their senses, and one after another, they flashed into the Blood Sea. As their respective vital energies were activated, the already substantial Blood Sea suddenly expanded in all directions, enveloping the group of Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators.

"Focus your minds, kill Li Tian first!" Lu Ye's voice rang in the ears of the Scarlet Talisman Society cultivators.

Hu Dequan immediately followed with a fierce shout, "Kill Li Tian!"

The Blood Sea surged, instantly covering an area of a thousand li, and rapidly spread towards Li Tian's position. Strangely, facing the encroaching Blood Sea, Li Tian showed no intention of dodging. Instead, his face grew manic, he spread his arms in an embracing gesture, and cried out wildly, "Wonderful! Splendid!" The next instant, he was completely enveloped by the Blood Sea.