Chapter 2600: Blood Puppet Technique

The avatar did not want to take such an easy opportunity, but there was nothing it could do. Fortunately, he also helped defend several Harmony Cities, preventing them from falling and saving the city lords fighting outside from seeing their strength plummet.

The great battle raged on; the entire battlefield was like a slaughterhouse. Cultivators from both sides constantly fell, and the void was filled with severed limbs, fragmented flesh, and pervasive blood mist. Furthermore, the Blood Sea Art unleashed by the Blood Clan cultivators made the entire battlefield hazy with blood. Under such cover, no one noticed that the fresh blood flowing from the tragically slain cultivators seemed to be guided by some mysterious force, transforming into fine threads that extended and spread in all directions.

It goes without saying that the cultivators on their own side had almost no spare time, either engaged in fierce battles outside the cities or defending within them. But the fact that even the powerful individuals from Blackblood City and Lishuai Insect Nest failed to notice such an anomaly made it very strange. It seemed an invisible force was interfering with their five senses, causing them to instinctively ignore these anomalies.

Numerous blood-red threads continued to extend, interweaving horizontally and vertically, as if an invisible brush were drawing in the void, guided by life and inked with blood.

Within the vast blood sea, Lu Ye remained like a pendant, following behind Yuan Xi. Hidden dangers lurked and killing intent surged within the thick blood sea. Jiao was incredibly strong, and contending within this blood sea, he fully exploited the terrain's advantage. Under repeated surprise attacks, he fought one against three without falling into disadvantage. Even Lian and Huanqing suffered minor injuries; had it not been for Yuan Xi's protection, they would likely have already suffered greatly.

Yuan Xi repeatedly tried to break out of the blood sea but was stopped by Jiao every time. This guy had clearly decided to force Yuan Xi and the three others to remain here.

Silently and imperceptibly, Lu Ye's Blood Sea Art had perfectly integrated into the surroundings. Yuan Xi had already activated a secret technique, surveying her surroundings, constantly on guard against Jiao's sneak attacks.

"Here he comes!" she suddenly cried out in a low voice. In her vision, she vaguely saw a streak of blood-red light rapidly approaching. That was undoubtedly Jiao, hidden within the blood sea.

Almost as soon as Yuan Xi's words left her lips, Lu Ye unhesitatingly activated his own Sacred Aura. An invisible pressure permeated all directions. Cultivators of other races could not perceive this pressure; even Yuan Xi, who was closest to him, was completely unaware. But when this Sacred Aura permeated, the vast and turbulent blood sea suddenly rippled. The streak of blood-red light that had already approached Yuan Xi suddenly froze.

Jiao's figure abruptly appeared within the blood-red light. With Yuan Xi between them, he and Lu Ye met each other's gaze, his eyes filled not only with chilling killing intent but also with confusion and incomprehension. He couldn't understand why, at such a critical juncture, such an intense Sacred Aura would descend, forming a certain degree of suppression on him. The source was surprisingly the Star Abyss Son he was preparing to ambush.

Lu Ye, however, was greatly invigorated, and at the same time, a little incredulous. His own Sacred Aura could actually suppress Jiao!

The origin of his Sacred Aura stemmed from the powerful individual known as the Blood Ancestor, who invaded the starry sky back then. After years of conflict with the Blood Clan in the starry sky, and before finally departing, he had almost completely annihilated the Blood Clan there, refining all the Sacred Blood within them. It can be said that, in terms of Sacred Aura alone, even if he couldn't compare to the Blood Ancestor of yesteryear, he had inherited 70-80% of that Blood Ancestor's true legacy.

Yet, even this 70-80% could actually suppress a powerful individual like Jiao! How strong, then, was that so-called Blood Ancestor at his peak? And how dense was his Sacred Aura? Yet, such a powerful individual died miserably in the starry sky.

The feedback from that suppression was very clear now. Unlike previous suppressions of other Blood Clan members, which gave Lu Ye the feeling of looking down on ants and crushing them at will, this time, in the collision of their Sacred Auras, a fierce resilience clearly emanated from the enemy's side. This meant that the suppression was far from overwhelming!

Even so, at such a crucial moment in this great battle, it was enough for Yuan Xi to seize the opportunity. She previously had no good way to deal with Jiao, mainly because his escape speed in the blood sea was too fast. Moreover, Jiao followed the path of a ghost cultivator, immediately fleeing if an attack missed, annoying like a fly. Yuan Xi failed to grasp his traces in several attempts. At this moment, she finally saw a turning point.

Almost simultaneously with Jiao's figure freezing within that streak of blood-red light, Yuan Xi, who had been prepared, unsealed the second form of her Dao Armament. The black petals swirling around her quickly retracted and adhered to her body, her Twilight Heart transforming into White Ablution, as white armor draped over her. She mustered all her Dao power and unleashed a punch towards Jiao, violent power converging on her fist.

Jiao was caught off guard. As he let out a cry of alarm, dense blood-red energy covered his entire body, forming solid protection. However, though his reaction was quick, he still couldn't block Yuan Xi's attack. The punch directly shattered his protective power, piercing straight through his chest. At the same time, Huanqing's colorful ribbon swept over, fluttering like a butterfly. The ribbon's edge, as sharp as a blade, sliced through Jiao's body, directly cutting him, now without any protective power, into scattered pieces of flesh. Thunder rumbled as thunder dragons swept forth, and the scattered pieces of flesh also turned into ashes.

In an instant, a top-tier Harmony Realm expert fell under the combined assault of the three women. Lu Ye secretly sighed in regret, realizing that this Star Abyss Son named Jiao ultimately did not die by his hand, causing him to miss the opportunity to obtain a Star Abyss blessing.

"Blood Puppet Art!" Yuan Xi, however, showed no sign of relief. Instead, she let out a cold cry, her gaze sweeping towards another direction where the blood light had been. She clearly perceived that there was residual power of hers in that direction — power she had just left on Jiao. Moreover, when Jiao was dismembered earlier, a blood shadow had indeed fled towards that direction.

Lu Ye was startled. Jiao wasn't dead? But he quickly realized that among the Blood Clan's secret arts, there was indeed a Blood Puppet Art. His Blood Clan lineage contained the cultivation method for it, and if he wished, he could also cultivate it. However, he had never considered it, because the prerequisite for this secret art was to find a suitable blood puppet and refine it day and night, so that it could serve as a substitute at critical moments. But the requirements for a blood puppet were very strict: it had to be a blood relative, such as parents or children...

Jiao had clearly escaped earlier by relying on the Blood Puppet Art, but it was unknown what relationship that substitute blood puppet had with him.

Yuan Xi gritted her teeth and fiercely pursued him in that direction, but by the time she arrived, Jiao had already vanished. Only a faint voice came from all directions: "Are you human or Blood Clan?" These words were undoubtedly directed at Lu Ye. Jiao's purpose in coming this time had been to kill Lu Ye, but he had never taken him seriously, never expecting to suffer such a great loss at Lu Ye's hands at a crucial moment.

One must know that, looking at the entire Inner Realm, in terms of Sacred Aura, he was easily among the top five in the entire clan. In the entire clan, apart from Xue Jiu, only a few old monsters from Blood Drink City had a denser Sacred Aura than him. Now, suddenly, someone appeared who could suppress him. How could he not care?

According to Jiao's estimation, Lu Ye's Sacred Aura was only slightly inferior to Xue Jiu's; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to suffer a loss. To say Lu Ye was a Blood Clan member, he was nothing like it; he completely lacked their characteristic features. But if he was a Human, how could he possibly possess such pure and dense Sacred Aura?

Jiao couldn't understand, but he felt a strong urge. His Sacred Aura had been raised to its current level, and it would be difficult to advance further. But if he could kill Lu Ye and seize his Sacred Aura, it would be enough to allow him to advance further in his bloodline! Originally, his goal was merely to kill a Star Abyss Son, but he never expected such a huge additional gain. This made Jiao even more determined to slay Lu Ye.

"This is troublesome!" Yuan Xi was filled with indignation and great annoyance. That moment just now was absolutely the best opportunity, but who could have imagined that Jiao actually had a substitute blood puppet to block a fatal blow for him? Now, not only Lu Ye's trump card was exposed, but even her own was. To recreate the previous situation would be as hard as ascending to heaven.

Someone like Jiao, who had long experience in battle, would not stumble in the same place twice. The key was that this guy was traceless in the blood sea, appearing and disappearing without a trace, making it impossible for her to find an opportunity. The only thing that made her feel fortunate was that even though Jiao had escaped a disaster by using the Blood Puppet Art, the combined attack of their three individuals had still heavily injured him. So, for now, he likely wouldn't dare make any rash moves. The only fear was that he would call for backup! The two enemy Cosmic Cities still showed no movement. Those numerous powerful individuals had always remained inactive, and no one knew what they were waiting for.

Yuan Xi had a headache, and Jiao was also in a difficult spot. In the current situation, his desire to slay Lu Ye single-handedly was now a pipe dream. Yuan Xi was guarding Lu Ye tightly behind her, like an old hen protecting her chick, giving him no chance at all, unless he had the ability to kill Yuan Xi. But the previous exchange made him clearly realize that Yuan Xi was not so easy to deal with. His own strength lay in covert assassination; forcing him to confront Yuan Xi head-on was truly difficult. Moreover, he was extremely wary of Yuan Xi in her white armor; even if he weren't injured, he wasn't sure he could defeat her, let alone now that he was wounded.

But he couldn't very well call for help... Just now, he had come charging over single-handedly with great momentum. Now that he had suffered a loss, to shamefully call for backup — where would his reputation be? After all, he was also a Star Abyss Son, about to succeed as a Cosmic City Lord. He could only continue to activate the Blood Sea Art, concealing the situation here to avoid becoming a laughingstock.

"Let's go!" Yuan Xi, however, had no intention of entangling with him. Such a powerful enemy couldn't be killed, and continuing to engage would only be a waste of time. Now that she had unsealed the second form of her Dao Armament, there was no need to hold back anymore. Naturally, it was important to quickly kill the enemy. The battle had reached this point, and there was no need to worry about being too conspicuous. As long as she killed enough enemies, even if they ultimately won this battle, they would certainly not have an easy time.

This was her intention, but Jiao was completely unwilling to let her go. He unleashed the Blood Sea Art even more fiercely, concealing all directions, attempting to confuse Yuan Xi's senses and hinder her escape.