Chapter 1802: Departure of Tian's Death

The Blood Sea churned, and mystic power surged as Lu Ye pushed his Holy Nature to its absolute limit. With Lu Ye at the forefront, numerous cultivators from the Red Talisman Society, along with a group of Blood Servants, ferociously assailed Li Tian within the Blood Sea.

Though their side had suffered heavy casualties in this battle, over twenty cultivators remained alive, all of them at the Moon-Gathered stage. If Li Tian had been in peak condition, these cultivators, even acting in concert, might not have been able to subdue him; after all, he was a Sun-Drenched cultivator. It would be like twenty Star-Aligned cultivators facing a single Moon-Gathered one; without unity and formations, they could easily be picked off. With superior cultivation, he could fight or flee at will, maintaining an absolute advantage.

However, under the suppression of Lu Ye's Holy Nature, Li Tian's power was significantly diminished. With the Blood Sea sealing off all escape routes, his death was inevitable.

Yet, strangely, even in such a desperate situation, Li Tian showed no signs of panic. Instead, he burst into wild laughter, completely disregarding defense against the frenzied attacks from all sides, choosing to meet every offense with his own. He seemed utterly indifferent to his own life and death!

The unease in Lu Ye's heart intensified to an extreme. He was certain Li Tian had a contingency plan; otherwise, a dignified Sun-Drenched cultivator would not display such a suicidal stance. Furthermore, Li Tian's previous words were quite intriguing. However, at this stage of the battle, there was no longer any room for hesitation. Regardless of Li Tian's hidden trump card, he had to be eliminated first!

His refusal to defend resulted in continuous injuries, both minor and severe. His flesh began to splinter and peel away, revealing ghastly white bones beneath. Their side also sustained casualties gradually. Though Lu Ye's Holy Nature suppressed him, significantly reducing his power from its peak, the greatest distinction between a Sun-Drenched and a Moon-Gathered cultivator lay not in enhanced physique or mystic power, but in the divine soul. Comparatively, a Sun-Drenched cultivator's divine soul power existed on an entirely different plane. While Lu Ye could suppress Li Tian's physical strength, he could not suppress his divine soul. Consequently, any cultivator from their side whose defenses were breached by Li Tian would be severely wounded, if not killed. His terrifying and malevolent soul power surged, playing a continuous dirge of death.

Seeing the situation unfold, Lu Ye dared not delay further. He made a swift decision, pulling back sharply to distance himself from the intense skirmish. Simultaneously, as he channeled his mystic power, a crimson light burst forth. Before embarking on this journey, the Little Folk had provided him with three Red Talismans: one for offense, one for defense, and the third for escape, a truly comprehensive set. He had already utilized the defensive Red Talisman earlier; now, he activated the offensive one. He aimed to settle the fight with this Red Talisman, lest further complications arise from prolonged engagement.

The crimson light flared brilliantly, so intense that even the inherent glow of the Blood Sea could not obscure its dazzling hue. Lu Ye's aura surged wildly, causing his robes to flutter uncontrollably. The crimson light, like a living entity, flowed onto the Pan Mountain Blade in his hand. In the blink of an eye, the formerly dark blade transformed into a weapon of gleaming blood-red. Holding the blade, Lu Ye was suddenly filled with an overwhelming conviction that he could cleave through anything in existence with a single strike.

Under the Red Talisman's augmentation, the Pan Mountain Blade vibrated. Lu Ye raised his other hand, grasping the hilt with both. His divine sense surged outward as he lunged forward. At his mental command, the cultivators who had been assailing Li Tian swiftly dispersed in all directions. In that instant, the heavily wounded Li Tian looked up towards Lu Ye, and even through the obstruction of the Blood Sea, he sensed the formidable might of this incoming strike. He remained unafraid. The surrounding Blood Sea exerted a powerful restraining force, evidently intended to bind him in place and prevent his escape. Yet, he harbored no intention of fleeing; instead, his divine soul power surged forth furiously, launching an attack towards Lu Ye.

In an instant, Lu Ye's spiritual sea churned, and his mind reeled. Fortunately, with the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus guarding his divine soul, he managed to withstand Li Tian's soul assault for a brief period. Enveloped in that crimson light, he covered a hundred li in the blink of an eye. The blood-red long blade descended with ferocious might!

Lu Ye had initially intended to execute a specific blade technique, but the sheer ferocity of this strike, amplified by the Red Talisman, made it impossible for him to incorporate any further techniques. It was a simple, unadorned, yet devastating single slash!

After a slight tremor, the vast Blood Sea was instantly cleaved in two, like a block of blood tofu. The crimson blade qi extended for thousands of li, as if intending to sever the very fabric of space itself. Along its path, all floating meteorites and landmasses were pulverized into dust.

Muffled groans arose as the Blood Servants were struck, their faces turning ashen. Though Lu Ye commanded the Blood Sea, the Blood Servants had been assisting its function. When his strike cleaved the Blood Sea, they too suffered a backlash. The cultivators of the Red Talisman Society, however, experienced no backlash, though their stances became unsteady from the powerful aftershocks.

Only after several breaths did the dazzling crimson light gradually dissipate. Everyone immediately turned their gaze towards Li Tian, eager to witness the outcome of that devastating strike. The sight filled each of them with exhilaration: where Li Tian had stood, no flesh and blood remained—only a ghastly white skeleton.

Li Tian was dead!

Lu Ye stood near the skeleton, his Pan Mountain Blade still held in the posture of a downward slash, his brows deeply furrowed. Something wasn't quite right. The might of that strike was immense. Lu Ye had long anticipated that Li Tian, being suppressed by his Holy Nature and already heavily wounded, could not possibly survive it. Yet… why was his entire skeleton preserved? Logically, even if the strike couldn't reduce Li Tian to dust, it should have at least cleaved him in two. However, his skeleton exhibited an unusual durability, showing no trace of damage from such a powerful slash.

Lu Ye peered closely, his pupils constricting involuntarily! He discovered that intricate, crisscrossing patterns, incredibly familiar to him, were spread across the ghastly white bones. These were unmistakably the patterns of the Blood Pupil Spirit Mark, etched into every corner of Li Tian's skeleton.

Observing these patterns, Lu Ye recalled a piece of information he had gathered from Zhou Tianbao: Li Tian had been cultivating a secret art, achieving minor success only a few months prior. Upon hearing that news, Lu Ye's first thought had been of the Blood Pupil Spirit Mark. This mark emerged with the Blood Moon, visible to him and others alike. If any secret art in this realm could pique the interest of a Sun-Drenched cultivator like Li Tian, it would undoubtedly be that spirit mark. During his confrontation with Li Tian, Lu Ye had actually remained wary of this possibility, having personally attempted to activate the spirit mark himself and knowing its inherent strangeness. Yet, Li Tian had shown no signs of activating the spirit mark throughout their entire encounter.

Lu Ye had not anticipated that Li Tian would engrave the patterns of this spirit mark onto his own skeleton. To achieve such a feat, Li Tian's mastery of the spirit mark path must have been terrifyingly profound. This level of difficulty was incomparable to imprinting the same spirit mark on his Heavenly Tree. Imprinting spirit marks on the leaves of the Heavenly Tree offered a significant advantage: any mistakes could be corrected. With such convenience, as long as Lu Ye understood the specific structure of a spirit mark, he could easily engrave it onto a Heavenly Tree leaf and then utilize it. Any other method of constructing a spirit mark required a single, uninterrupted effort. It was thus imaginable how incredibly difficult it must have been for Li Tian to engrave such a complex spirit mark onto his own skeleton. And he had actually achieved it…

Yet, strangely, Li Tian had never activated the power of this spirit mark at any point. Moreover, neither the Red Talisman Society nor Lu Ye's own Blood Servants had ever mentioned Li Tian's mastery of the spirit mark path. Many doubts suddenly arose in Lu Ye's mind; he couldn't quite grasp Li Tian's purpose in doing this.

But regardless, Li Tian was indeed dead. This battle… their side had won!

He turned to survey the chaotic battlefield. Fewer than twenty cultivators remained alive; several more had been slain by Li Tian during their recent clash. Their side had originally numbered over forty, and Holy Blood Peak had even more, over a hundred. Yet, in just a few days of confrontation, numerous Moon-Gathered cultivators had perished, and even a Sun-Drenched one had fallen. Those still alive felt a profound sorrow and a sense of unreality.

However, Lu Ye noticed joy in the eyes of Hu Dequan and others, but this joy quickly transformed into surprise and suspicion as their gaze fixed on something behind him. Lu Ye abruptly turned around to face Li Tian's skeleton. He saw the ghastly white framework now emitting a faint crimson glow, which originated from the ribs in the chest and rapidly spread across the entire skeleton.

In an instant, the spirit mark etched onto the skeleton was activated! This utterly bizarre sight completely baffled Lu Ye. Logically, Li Tian was already dead, and whatever he had imprinted on his skeleton while alive should no longer be able to activate. Yet, this was unfolding right before his very eyes.

With virtually no hesitation, the Pan Mountain Blade was instantly sheathed. Lu Ye gripped the hilt with one hand, adopting a draw-blade stance, his gaze becoming sharply focused and stern, his mystic power surging with a resonant hum. The moment the long blade cleared its sheath, the flesh on Lu Ye's blade-wielding right arm ruptured. Furthermore, his entire being was simultaneously subjected to immense pressure.

Draw Blade Slash!

A heaven-shattering blade light flashed. This was the most powerful technique Lu Ye could unleash without external aid. With his mid-Moon-Gathered stage foundation, even if Li Tian had still been alive, such a close-range strike would undoubtedly have left him gravely wounded. Yet, even such a formidable strike failed to damage the skeleton in the slightest. Lu Ye distinctly felt his attack being obstructed by that peculiar crimson glow.

With the impact of that strike, the skeleton was sent hurtling away in an instant! In the surrounding space, an inexplicable force, drawn by the skeleton, began to gather around it. Lu Ye focused his perception and soon realized it was the vast blood essence that had dissipated as Li Tian's flesh and blood vanished after his death. As a Sun-Drenched cultivator, Li Tian's blood essence was undoubtedly terrifyingly potent. At this very moment, this dispersed blood essence was clearly being drawn by some force, enveloping the skeleton and forming a not-so-dense sphere of blood.