The Bizarre Blood-Patterned Totem!

Even Jiuxiao followed unhurriedly behind them, blast after blast of lightning breath forcing their pace even faster. Rumbling booms echoed as every breath of lightning that struck the mountain blasted out a charred crater a hundred zhang across. Meng Wanshu also unleashed several sword qi strikes at timely moments right behind them, forcing them to turn and defend. Soon, however, this aroused the old man's suspicions. Pan Ji sped wildly through the high peaks, his brow furrowing as he said in a chilling voice, "Something isn't right. Why does that girl seem completely unconcerned about us crossing the mountain col?" "Could there be a trap in this col?" As his words fell, a man behind him said coldly, "Things have already come to this. We can only cross the col first and see!" "No! It's definitely a trap—we can't go across!!" "That fiery-red array dais in the col definitely serves a purpose!" Another elder spoke in a chilly voice, yet his speed did not slacken in the slightest. Pan Ji, leading at the front, gritted his teeth. Looking at the mountain col right before them, he said in a heavy voice, "We can't worry about that now! Let's get across first!" Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The party of four said nothing more. Their silhouettes swept over the col in a flash, and looking up, they saw a bare-chested figure scaling the rock beneath the massive waterfall. Under the battering of that violent force, the bare-chested figure's entire back was already a mangled mess of blood and flesh. At this moment, Li Guanqi was barely a hundred zhang from the top of the waterfall. Yet this distance of a hundred-odd zhang lay before him like an insurmountable chasm. He had not mistaken the spirit herb—it was indeed the Seven-Colored Glazed Flower! For the sake of this spirit herb, he had bypassed every natural spiritual plant along the way. Every minute movement extracted a heavy price from him, so he had to conserve his strength and head straight for the Seven-Colored Glazed Flower. Li Guanqi also sensed three auras crossing the mountain col. He had not expected Meng Wanshu's strength to be this formidable. In such a short span, she had actually instantly killed three Body Integration Realm cultivators. It seemed the gentler, vulnerable side Meng Wanshu usually showed before him was simply because she found no need to be otherwise... Li Guanqi crept slowly along the rock face. As for the three behind him... A faint, cold sneer curved at the corners of his mouth. As expected, the instant the three members of the Pan family crossed the mountain col, it was as if they had triggered some inscrutable restriction. Boom!! In an instant, the sky and earth churned, and a violent firestorm abruptly swept through the area! Overwhelming waves of fire scorched the void until it warped and fractured with fissure after fissure. Immediately afterward, the colossal phantom of a flame Qilin coalesced from spiritual light, its eyes flashing with icy hostility. Opening its maw, it roared thunderously at the intruders! Then its massive claw swiped violently across the void! The terrifying pressure instantly suppressed the primal energy in their bodies so severely that it halted, and horrifying power surged toward them in a torrential wave. Before the storm even reached them, the robes on the three cultivators had already begun to burn, and their skin stung with searing agony. "Ah!! It's a Qilin!!" "Dammit, this power is comparable to the late Mahayana realm!!!" "How could a guardian spirit like this appear in a place like this?!" Pan Ji, leading at the front, bore the brunt of it. With no time to think, a cold glint flashed across his eyes. He struck out with both hands toward the two behind him, his fingers hooking like claws and digging viciously into the flesh of their shoulders. "Elder Pan, what are you doing?!" "You old bastard, you dare?!" Pan Ji sneered, "This old man doesn't want to die yet, so..." "...die in my place, the two of you!!!" Before his voice had faded, his hands exerted sudden, tremendous force, hurling the two straight toward the Qilin! At the same time, the old man retreated violently, attempting to flee back toward the mountain col. Mysterious blood-colored patterns flared across his arms, and the power of the two men he had thrown was rapidly draining away. Two wrist-thick threads of blood drifted back from their necks. Pan Ji opened his mouth and inhaled sharply, his chest heaving as he forcibly extracted the essence blood of both men in an instant. Meng Wanshu's beautiful eyes grew grave; she noticed that mingled within the two wisps of essence blood being extracted were their very souls. A cold glint flashed in Meng Wanshu's eyes, and she commanded sharply, "Jiuxiao!" Even as her voice fell, her figure had already vanished from the spot, charging straight for the summit of the mountain col above. Where did Pan Ji look anything like an elderly man in his twilight years now? Standing tall and powerfully muscled, the old man retreated at breakneck speed, his skin scraped and lacerated into bloody pulp by the searing storm. Yet he retreated swift enough that the Qilin did not cross the boundary, merely standing between the waterfall and the col, its gaze brimming with hostility. Meng Wanshu moved with extreme speed. In the blink of an eye, she was already upon the old man, raising her hand to slash out several strikes in succession. The old man's reactions were equally swift. A longsword appeared in his grasp, and with a sweep of his hand, terrifying sword qi crisscrossed in all directions. Sparks exploded where their swords clashed, and in a mere breath, they had exchanged over a hundred moves. Ancient trees beneath their feet toppled in swathes. The old man's domain power resisted the encroachment of the frost domain with frenzied vigor, faintly holding its ground on equal terms. This alarmed Meng Wanshu greatly. The old man, who had previously been at a distinct disadvantage against her, was now fighting her to a standstill! His angles of attack were exceptionally cunning and underhanded, every strike deadly, leaving Meng Wanshu somewhat constrained in her swordplay for the moment. A sneer crossed the old man's face as the river of blood beside him was absorbed into his body at a pace visible to the naked eye. Suddenly! From the dense jungle behind the old man, an incomparably thick dragon tail lashed out! And a pillar-like blast of lightning breath several zhang thick shot violently toward him! Bang!!! As the power of the dragon tail struck, Pan Ji felt as though he had taken a direct collision from a demonic bull beast. His bones felt as if they were shattering apart, the bones in both arms completely pulverized! Yet his swung sword left only a shallow scratch across the surface of Jiuxiao's dragon scales, failing even to pierce his defense. Whoosh!!! The old man's body flew backward, tearing through the air with a shrill screech! Bizarrely, not a shred of panic appeared on his face. Lowering his head, he chanted incantations under his breath: "Forbidden Art: Baleful Blood Demon Diagram!!" Hum! Shockwaves of blood-red light rippled outward, forcefully repelling Meng Wanshu back several hundred zhang! Snow Shadow Sword in hand, Meng Wanshu watched the old man with an exceptionally grave expression as his aura surged upward in the distance. The old man slowly lifted his head. Bizarre blood-patterned totems surged across his arms, and a cold gleam flickered in his cloudy eyes. His mouth covered in blood, he whispered softly, "The person my grandson Pan Yi captured—he must have obtained the Qilin bloodline from here, right?" "Heheh... a true dragon... Pengluo... an ice-attribute cultivation vessel... a divine sword!!" With his hair disheveled, the old man stood atop the canopy of a towering ancient tree, his eyes glaring through the loose strands with icy killing intent.