Chapter 2757: Poisonous Hair

It was undeniable that the Blood and Insect races had suffered significant losses this time. However, the greater their losses, the more delighted Blood Bane became, for the power Lu Ye was displaying at this moment was immense, especially considering he had only recently advanced to the Harmonization Realm.

With a few more years of accumulation, he would undoubtedly become much stronger. Such a physical body truly made him covetous. With the Blood Wall art now a cage, and numerous powerhouses from both the Blood and Insect races, along with the Harmonization Cities, encircling him, Lu Ye had no chance of escape.

The fruit of victory was now within his easy grasp!

"You flatter me, Blood Lord," Lu Ye said with a seemingly bitter smile. "These minor tricks are nothing but petty skills before you, hardly worth mentioning."

Blood Bane watched him with interest. "Are you still trying to buy time? No one can save you here!"

Lu Ye shook his head. "Things have come to this; it's simply a matter of the victor and the vanquished. However, it might not be so easy for the Blood Lord to capture me."

Blood Bane snorted coldly. "Stubborn fool! In this situation, do you still intend to resist? You should know what I intend to do. Here's the deal: if you simply give up resisting, I can preserve your soul and surely find a suitable body for you in the future. If you're willing, you can even serve under me! Otherwise, I have countless ways to obliterate your soul and seize your body."

Lu Ye frowned, an expression of hesitation on his face.

Blood Bane said impatiently, raising the spear in his hand and pointing it at Lu Ye. "A simple yes or no is all I need. I don't have time to waste here arguing with you!"

His murderous intent solidified, and with his movement, the auras of numerous surrounding powerhouses collectively locked onto Lu Ye, making the pressure on him immense.

Lu Ye sighed. "Perhaps the Blood Lord could swear an oath?"

Blood Bane laughed in exasperation. "You have no choice in the matter, and I will not swear any oaths. I'll count to three. If you don't comply, then don't blame me for being merciless."

He naturally hoped Lu Ye would give up resisting. This human's body was simply too exceptional; if he had to seize it by force, it might be damaged, which was not what Blood Bane wanted to see.

"One!" Blood Bane declared, and began to count.

"Wait!" Lu Ye raised a hand to stop him. "If the Blood Lord is unwilling, I won't insist. However, there is one thing I wish the Blood Lord would clarify. If you can grant me this wish, I will surrender without resistance!"

Blood Bane's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?" If so, that would be an excellent outcome.

Lu Ye's expression turned solemn. "In the name of the Star Abyss Will, what Lu Ye of the human race has just said is absolutely true!"

As he finished speaking, something unseen seemed to descend from the void.

Blood Bane clearly felt this and was overjoyed, never having expected Lu Ye to be so sincere. He immediately asked, "What do you want to know?"

"The Blood Lord hasn't successfully refined the Starry Sky Chessboard yet, have you?" Lu Ye asked.

Blood Bane frowned. "Is that what you want to ask about?" He had expected Lu Ye to ask something personal, not about the Starry Sky Chessboard.

He didn't want to answer this question, but considering Lu Ye had just sworn an oath to the Star Abyss and he could capture him simply by replying, he reluctantly conceded, "Not yet, but soon!"

"No wonder the Blood Lord could project a separate consciousness," Lu Ye said, nodding. This was within his expectations. "Has the Blood Lord already obliterated the spirit of that treasure?"

Blood Bane instantly became somewhat displeased. "I have already answered your question."

Lu Ye sighed deeply, adopting a resigned posture. "Please remember your promise, Blood Lord."

Blood Bane nodded. "Of course, I guarantee I will find you a suitable body!"

This was not difficult, especially since Lu Ye also possessed Blood race blood. If Blood Bane later provided him with the body of one of his descendants, he could even completely control Lu Ye. Thus, even without swearing an oath, Blood Bane had no intention of reneging on his word. A talent like Lu Ye, if brought under his command, would be of immense benefit to him.

He tilted his head slightly. "Seize him!"

Tai Kun stepped forward. "I'll do it!"

In recent days, he had suffered many losses at Lu Ye's hands and was seething with suppressed anger. Now that he finally had a chance for revenge, he naturally wouldn't miss it. With the Blood Lord nearby, he couldn't actually harm Lu Ye, but letting off a little steam was certainly permissible.

His figure flashed, appearing before Lu Ye. Tai Kun grinned maliciously.

Lu Ye also bared a set of fine white teeth and smiled back at him.

"What are you smiling at!" Tai Kun snorted coldly, raising a hand and lunging for Lu Ye's shoulder. His hand had already transformed into a massive claw, surging with essence energy and possessing immense sealing power.

If this claw strike connected, it might not completely seal Lu Ye's power, but it could certainly lock away forty to fifty percent of it.

As the blade light suddenly flashed, Blood Bane roared furiously, "How dare you!"

Tai Kun also sensed something amiss, but by the time he tried to retreat, it was too late. He felt a sharp pain in his body, which involuntarily recoiled backward as streams of fresh blood spurted out. He became like a deflated balloon, his vitality rapidly draining away.

He couldn't help but widen his eyes, which filled with an expression of disbelief. He couldn't understand how this guy, having already sworn an oath to the Star Abyss under the scrutiny of the Star Abyss Will, dared to violate it. Even more perplexing, why hadn't the Star Abyss Will inflicted punishment when he had violated his own oath!

He was filled with regret, realizing he had been too careless. To think that he, a formidable Cosmic Realm City Lord, wouldn't have suffered such misfortune if he had only been a little more cautious. Unfortunately, after Lu Ye swore the oath, he had completely lowered his guard and was too eager to vent his anger. A momentary lapse in attention allowed Lu Ye to launch a successful sneak attack.

Such an injury was not fatal, but for him, it was already a severe blow. This was also something Tai Kun couldn't understand, because judging by Lu Ye's sudden burst of power just now and the strength he had consistently displayed, he was fully capable of decapitating him with a single strike.

Yet for some reason, he had shown mercy with his blade...

And now, his consciousness was inexplicably somewhat blurry.

As Blood Bane roared, he thrust a spear towards Lu Ye. The spear's body was wreathed in lightning, making the treasured weapon seem like a bolt of thunder. Simultaneously, numerous surrounding powerhouses surged with essence energy, intending to attack.

However, at this very moment, groans suddenly resounded. Those powerhouses intending to attack felt as if they had been struck by lightning, their faces changing drastically. If their situation was dire, the situation within the surrounding Harmonization Cities was even worse. Numerous cultivators belonging to the Blood and Insect races felt changes within their bodies, all of them panicked and at a loss.

Boom...

The moment their essence energies collided, Lu Ye took advantage of the momentum to fly backward, lightning crackling over his body and making him grimace. Blood Bane did not pursue; instead, he gazed around with a solemn expression.

His numerous subordinate cultivators were now, one by one, emitting a greenish-black aura, looking extremely ominous.

Was this... poison? But where did the poison come from? Before this change occurred, Blood Bane hadn't detected a single thing. What made him even more furious was that this nameless poison had just erupted, and cultivators were already dying from it. In his perception, within the surrounding Harmonization Cities, the auras of the Spirit Harmonizers began to vanish amidst screams. At first, the numbers weren't too high, but in just two or three breaths, Spirit Harmonizers were falling in batches.

The protective arrays of every Harmonization City were in turmoil.

Blood Bane's pupils constricted sharply.

What kind of poison was this? How could it be so terrifying? He had already sensed traces of the poison flowing within the Blood Consort he possessed; however, the concentration wasn't high, so the Blood Consort wasn't significantly affected. Others were not so lucky. Even a powerhouse like Flying Locust was currently enveloped in a layer of greenish-black aura, making his face appear as grim as a soldier's. He had to expend some power to suppress the raging toxins within his body.

"Did you do this?" Blood Bane abruptly turned his head to look at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye grinned. "As you can see!"

The Ten Thousand Poisons Orb was indeed a valuable item. He had previously spent considerable effort and energy specifically formulating a mixed poison whose primary characteristic was its extremely strong concealment ability. For over a month, he had been roaming throughout the Blood Source Sea, spreading this potent poison. In a different environment, Lu Ye, even with such methods, would find it difficult to deploy them. But the Blood Source Sea was a marvelous place; its thick blood mist provided him with the perfect medium to operate. The natural flow of the blood mist could carry this potent poison, spreading it throughout the Blood Source Sea and saving him an immeasurable amount of effort and time.

Now, he wouldn't dare say the entire Blood Source Sea was poisoned, but at the very least, it covered a significant portion of its area. The key was that this potent poison not only possessed extremely strong concealment capabilities, making it undetectable even to powerhouses like Tai Kun and Flying Locust, but it also had a very long incubation period, making it impossible to detect before its outbreak.

There were only two ways for it to erupt. One was a natural outbreak once the incubation period ended. The other was through manipulation via the Ten Thousand Poisons Orb's fruit! In other words, Lu Ye had complete control over this potent poison, and this was what was most precious.

At this very moment, with the help of the Ten Thousand Poisons Orb's fruit, Lu Ye could even clearly feel the spread of every subtle trace of poison. These poisons, spreading throughout the Blood Source Sea, seemed to have become his eyes and ears. His heart stirred as he perceived some feedback from the very center of the Blood Source Sea, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. This was an unexpected pleasant surprise!

Within the numerous Harmonization Cities, casualties were countless. Spirit Harmonizers were utterly unable to resist the outbreak of this potent poison. From the moment Lu Ye activated the poison's power, in just ten breaths, all cultivators below the Harmonization Realm who were afflicted by the poison perished. In a short period of time, within the numerous Harmonization Cities surrounding them, only Harmonization Realm cultivators remained alive. Most were struggling to resist; this outbreak of potent poison required even lower-tier Harmonization Realm cultivators to resist with all their might. Only mid-tier and higher Harmonization Realm cultivators could escape unharmed.

"You're asking for death!"

Even though Blood Bane never cared about the lives or deaths of his subordinates, at this moment, he felt a pang of distress, because far too many had died in this single strike. The Spirit Harmonizers were completely annihilated in just ten breaths, with casualties reaching over a million. This was a catastrophe the Blood and Insect races had never experienced. In Blood Bane's observation, if he didn't quickly find a way to deal with Lu Ye, the instigator, he feared that as time passed, even the lower-tier Harmonization Realm cultivators would find it hard to resist the poison's erosion, and the casualties would only be greater.