Chapter 2703: Blood Explosion

Qing Tang strode menacingly towards the entrance, his blade raised.

Xue Ni followed close behind him.

Suddenly, his heart pounded, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "Wait!"

"What is it?" Qing Tang looked back, only to see Xue Ni's gaze fixed on the pitch-black entrance, his expression surprisingly grave.

The next instant, a cloud of blood mist burst forth around Xue Ni, and he instantly retreated backward with such speed that several Hegemon cultivators behind him couldn't avoid him and were knocked sprawling.

Qing Tang, however, abruptly turned around.

For at that very moment, an incredibly sharp aura suddenly appeared behind him.

Accompanying this aura was an immense, boundless fury.

What met his eyes was a mass of blood-red, with figures within it somewhat distorted, unable to suppress the surging power in their bodies, liable to explode at any moment.

"Lu Ye!" Qing Tang growled.

After searching for so long, he had finally found this guy again.

He had no time to rejoice, however, because he could tell at a glance that Lu Ye was currently activating the Bloodburst Art.

Again?

He had previously received reports from two of his subordinates that Lu Ye had used one of his clones to activate the Bloodburst Art and break through their defenses. In that battle, a powerful Sun Race Hegemon cultivator had also died.

Since Lu Ye somehow possessed the Blood Race bloodline and his Sacredness was intense, it was normal for him to have such a clone.

Many Blood Race members have their own clones, especially when their bloodline concentration reaches a certain level; the clone's strength is sometimes not much weaker than the main body's.

But if a clone is consumed, it cannot be easily replenished.

At this moment, a question similar to Eight-tailed's couldn't help but arise in Qing Tang's mind: How many clones does this guy actually have?

What puzzled Qing Tang even more was that the Bloodburst Art activated by Lu Ye's clone this time actually gave him a sense of danger.

In such a direct confrontation, Qing Tang did not hesitate at all. He wildly swung his four arms, and his four battle sabers transformed into a torrent of blades that descended upon Lu Ye.

Lu Ye was also slightly startled at this moment. He had only anticipated that this place would be a gathering of Hegemon cultivators, so to break through, he had to use his Talent Tree clone to clear the way, but he hadn't expected to run into Qing Tang here.

They had never met before, but Lu Ye could still determine that this guy was the strongest here and was very likely the mastermind behind the current events.

Because the opponent was an Insectoid.

Facing Qing Tang's frenzied assault, the clone offered no resistance.

In fact, it couldn't resist. The clone was already using all its might to suppress the chaotic power about to erupt within its body, so it had no strength left to do anything else.

As a result, as the blade lights flashed, the clone was directly sliced into pieces.

Furthermore, an extremely powerful Dao intent sealed the area from all directions, intending to trap the self-detonating power within this region.

This was Qing Tang's Dao intent!

Since he dared to act while Lu Ye was activating the Bloodburst Art, he naturally had a certain level of confidence.

The next instant, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes widened. "How is this possible?"

His confidence in sealing the Bloodburst Art's power was based on Lu Ye still being at the Unification realm. From the information he had received previously, Lu Ye's Bloodburst Art was indeed very powerful, but it wasn't enough to render him helpless.

He didn't even need to seal it completely; he only needed to use his own Dao intent to nullify half of the Bloodburst Art's power, which would be enough to foil Lu Ye's plan.

However, at this moment, he discovered that the sealing power of his own Dao intent was actually rebounding with an incredibly terrifying repulsive force!

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suppress it.

The Dao intent he desperately maintained disintegrated, and as Qing Tang's body reeled backward, a highly concentrated mass of blood-red energy burst forth within his vision!

That terrifying power even caused him, a Spatial City Lord-level expert, to lose his composure.

And all he could do now was activate his Dao power to protect his body while retreating backward.

The blood-red energy spread outwards in a semicircle, and the many Hegemon cultivators gathered there immediately sensed danger, swiftly activating their powers to protect themselves.

But it was too late.

Instantly, they were thrown into disarray, and sharp Dao intent swept through the surroundings with the spreading blood-red energy, like invisible sharp blades piercing through space.

Some life forces were abruptly extinguished.

It was clear that some individuals couldn't withstand the power of the Bloodburst Art and perished on the spot.

The number of casualties was not large, only three to five individuals, all of whom were among the weakest Hegemon cultivators present. But even so, it was still alarming enough.

It should be noted that at this very moment, there were no fewer than a hundred Hegemon cultivators gathered here.

Most of the others were injured; even those who were not, were left dizzy and disoriented by the terrifying power of the Bloodburst Art.

"Be careful, he's coming!" Suddenly, an enraged roar came from not far away.

It was Xue Ni, who had been the first to sense something was wrong and had retreated backward, who issued the warning.

In this instance of the Bloodburst Art, even Qing Tang couldn't retreat unscathed. However, his strength was immense, so even though he bore the brunt of it, he wasn't seriously harmed; his Qi and blood were merely a bit turbulent at the moment, and he saw a few golden spots before his eyes.

As for the others, needless to say, some died and some were injured; even those on the outermost fringe were affected.

Only Xue Ni was completely unharmed.

The reason he had retreated backward earlier wasn't actually because he saw Lu Ye's clone, but merely because he instinctively felt something was wrong. Possessing the same Blood Race bloodline, and with his bloodline concentration being extremely high—no less than that of Black Blood, who had died in battle on the Starry Sky Chessboard—he had an inexplicable premonition even with a layer of separation when Lu Ye activated the Bloodburst Art with his clone.

Over the years, his cautiousness had allowed him to perfectly avoid this calamity.

Then, after the blood-red energy dissipated, he saw Lu Ye's figure suddenly appear.

This guy clearly timed it well; he immediately charged forward after the Bloodburst Art.

Lu Ye didn't know what the situation was like above, so he immediately activated his Dao power to protect his body.

He secretly sighed with emotion: Hegemon and Unification realms were indeed different.

When he was at the Unification realm, the strength of his protective Dao power depended solely on his own foundation.

The Hegemon realm was different; the power of the Mountain-Shattering Saber could also become the foundation of his protective power.

Then he heard Xue Ni's enraged roar enter his ears.

He paid no heed, but his gaze swept around, and he was greatly surprised because the vicinity was a mess, and there were several corpses and sparkling Star Abyss Coins on the ground!

The clone's Bloodburst Art had clearly performed a great service.

Normally, he would immediately collect the spoils of war. As for the corpses, they were just remains, nothing more than relics, but the Star Abyss Coins were absolutely not to be missed.

However, at this moment, he had no time.

As he drew his saber, the Fruit of Time-Sequence on his Talent Tree glowed, and extremely dense Time-Sequence power permeated the surroundings.

Time as a Fissure!

This was not a secret art; with Lu Ye's current attainment in the Dao of Time-Sequence, he wasn't yet qualified to comprehend or use any secret arts. This was simply an unrestrained outpouring of Time-Sequence power!

With him as the center, within a thousand zhang radius, everything became slow, and the thoughts of the Hegemon cultivators froze.

Lu Ye took a step forward, appearing before the nearest Hegemon cultivator. He raised his saber and brought it down, the long saber slicing through the Hegemon's neck bone with its sharp blade.

This Hegemon cultivator was first dazed and not lightly injured by the Bloodburst Art's impact, then affected by the Time-Sequence power. Throughout the entire process, he didn't even manage to form an intent to resist before perishing on the spot.

Lu Ye didn't even know what his strength truly was.

Then came the second, the third...

Lu Ye knew well that such an opportunity was rare. Although with his current strength he could defeat most of the Hegemon cultivators here, and even kill them when the opportunity was right, how could that compare to the exhilaration of such slaughter?

So his movements were extremely fast.

He swung his saber freely, and in just two breaths, more than ten Hegemon cultivators fell beneath his blade.

"How dare you!" an enraged shout rang out. It was Qing Tang, who had finally recovered. Seeing Lu Ye act with such arrogance, his eyes immediately split with fury.

His robust figure darted forward, knocking aside Hegemon cultivators in his way, and in an instant, he arrived before Lu Ye.

The Time-Sequence power affected him, but Qing Tang had cultivated for many years and his Dao intent was refined, so he naturally possessed great resistance to Time-Sequence power.

So although he was affected, he wasn't as disoriented as the others.

The four battle sabers in his hands, imbued with fierce Dao intent, slashed towards Lu Ye from various angles.

Lu Ye had noticed Qing Tang the moment he appeared; the reason he hadn't attacked him was because he had perceived his opponent's immense strength.

Now that Qing Tang was attacking, how could he dare to be negligent?

After a slight hesitation, Lu Ye positioned his saber defensively in front of him and fiercely activated all his power.

He felt he was likely no match for him, but he really wanted to know what kind of gap existed between himself and such a powerhouse.

So this strike was a defensive counter!

After a series of clanging sounds, Lu Ye's body shook violently, a deep red flush appeared on his face, and blood even spilled from the corner of his mouth.

His entire Dao power was in disarray, and his internal organs were displaced. If he hadn't used the force to drift backward, this momentary contact would have left him severely wounded, if not dead.

This Insectoid was indeed very strong, and much stronger than him, possessing at least three thousand Dao lines of power or more.

If it were just that, it would have been fine. Even if Lu Ye wasn't a match, he wouldn't have suffered such a huge disadvantage in a single exchange. The key was his opponent's four battle sabers, with their extremely fast attack speed.

What he blocked in that instant wasn't one attack, but four!

Furthermore, this Insectoid had cultivated for an unknown number of years, and his physical strength far surpassed Lu Ye's, so in terms of pure strength, Lu Ye was also several steps inferior.

No match!

If he had encountered such a powerhouse before reaching the Hegemon realm, Lu Ye estimated he wouldn't even be able to block one of his opponent's strikes. Even now at the Hegemon realm, if he were to clash head-on with him, he would certainly die within three breaths.

But if he could endure for three breaths, the outcome would be hard to say.

"Hmm?" When Qing Tang forced Lu Ye back, he didn't immediately pursue, but instead looked down at his four battle sabers, and his pupils immediately contracted.

The reason was simple: On the blade of each of his four battle sabers, a grain-of-rice-sized crack had appeared!

These four battle sabers were his Lifebound Dao Armament; they weren't four separate items, but one artifact with four blades, so he could clearly feel any changes in the Dao Armament!

These cracks were clearly left from his recent clash with Lu Ye.

How could this be?

With his status as a Spatial City Lord, he was qualified to possess affiliated treasures. He could even pay a huge price to convert a suitable affiliated treasure into his own Lifebound Dao Armament.

But he hadn't done so.

Because there were no suitable affiliated treasures for him in the Inner Realm, unless he could find four similar battle sabers.