Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood

The sea of blood seemed churned into waves ten thousand cubits high as turbid blood surged into the sky, turning into a foul, metallic rain that drowned the world. Yaxiu gasped for breath, discarded his chipped, shattered weapons, and retrieved a fifth pair of twin swords from his spatial ring. Covered in wounds from head to toe, he looked through the dripping crimson deluge toward the battle in the distance. Sword Princess and the Weaver were engaged in a decisive struggle high in the air, crimson tides and sonic waves ripping through the colors of the sky curtain. Diya, Weise, and Vichy were doing everything within their power to resist the Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon chain; even without a secret realm or eternal wonders of their own, they still managed to hold down the Lord of Joy. "Do you truly still have the leisure to care about others?" A swarm of flies coalesced and reformed behind Yaxiu, speaking with a voice like the unsettling rustle of ten million maggots squirming and crawling—a sound whose mere listening was enough to drive mortals mad and make sorcerers lose control. When Yaxiu spun around, only half of the face had condensed. Countless flies were laying eggs that burst into maggots where the head should have been, yet in the end they formed an aesthetically handsome, flawless face. Plump white maggots squirmed within the eye sockets, simulating deep, blood-red eyes! His foot-blade curved like a crescent moon as he twisted his hips and kicked toward Yaxiu's head. Moving at terrifying speed, everything below his knee vanished into thin air, leaving only a burst of lethal mist—an air explosion born from compressed air unable to part in time. Wielding his twin swords, Yaxiu channeled divine might to slash toward the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's kick, while rings of the Heart Hunting Throne unleashed one after another. By all logic, a clash between flesh and a keen blade should have had a foregone conclusion, but reality defied imagination—the instant the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's leg made contact with the sword edges, it detonated. Yaxiu was hurled backward as though hammered by a massive pendulum, while the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's right leg from the knee down vanished without a trace. Yet within a single breath, countless flies surged in to re-form his right leg, smooth and fair, its lines perfectly straight. His bare feet trod upon the filthy, turbid sea of blood like an alluring blood lotus rising unstained from the mire. Yaxiu retched with a violent gasp, vomiting fouled blood laced with visceral fragments. When he raised his head, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was already detonating the air in a lightning-fast charge. The two pursued and fought across the bloody sea, stirring up ten thousand leagues of waves under an unceasing crimson rain. Yaxiu gritted his teeth and held on with bloodshot eyes, his injuries worsening little by little into irreversible maiming, while the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon remained as relaxed as if frolicking along a beach—as though the person before him were merely a slightly stubborn little beauty. Finally, drenched in blood, Yaxiu was forced back against a mountain of corpses piled from tens of millions of dead. Unable to evade the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's lethal foot-blade in time, he let out a low roar and activated False Promise! Fate pledged a vow of protection over him, granting temporary immunity to all harm and rapidly mending every wound! Wonder: Sword Retainer! Yaxiu charged the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon alongside the phantoms of his four operators. The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon neither dodged nor defended, letting their vicious, fatal strikes pierce straight through him. Yet in the next second, his body dissolved into countless flies that scattered into the distance to coalesce once more. Yaxiu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, staring coldly at the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon, who resembled a living nest of flies and maggots. This was one of the eternal wonders of the Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood: Maggot Flies of the Corpse Sea. Combining mobility, evasion, and defense, it allowed the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon to scatter into countless flies at any moment. Even if Yaxiu managed to swat and kill flies in time, it made no difference. The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon seemed integrated into the Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood itself; he could revive from any single maggot or fly. At first glance it seemed utterly grotesque and terrifying, but upon careful thought, how was it any different from turning one's body into fire, lightning, or air currents? The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon simply transformed into flies instead. So-called aesthetics were merely humanity's narrow conceptions; in Harvey's eyes, Maggot Flies of the Corpse Sea would certainly be far more alluring than Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon. Perhaps having spent too much time around Harvey, Yaxiu could even appreciate the life-and-death aesthetics of Maggot Flies of the Corpse Sea—though it was also possible he had simply been concussed by the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon. Aside from Maggot Flies of the Corpse Sea, the second eternal wonder displayed by the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was Dark Extinction Blood River. This was an auxiliary wonder exclusive to the blood sorcery faction; other sorcery factions couldn't use it even if they wanted to. The blood sorcery faction possessed numerous powerful forbidden secret rituals, but all of them shared one trait: an immense consumption of one's own blood. Unlike other sorcery factions, the slightest carelessness in casting blood sorcery could cost a sorcerer their life, which was why only the Blood Saint clan, gifted in blood production, had traditionally delved into blood sorcery. Even so, the Blood Saint clan did not dare abuse forbidden blood sorcery lightly, usually wagering their lives only in critical, decisive moments. Dark Extinction Blood River completely eliminated this bottleneck of blood. All forbidden blood sorceries could be used without limit, with every drop of expenditure footed by the Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood. Furthermore, any blood sorcery enhanced by Dark Extinction Blood River carried defense penetration and a flesh curse. Defense penetration went without saying, while the flesh curse prevented wounds from healing, causing them to rot and bleed incessantly while inflicting agonizing pain that ordinary healing miracles couldn't stop in the slightest. Yaxiu's injuries had accumulated earlier to the point of severe disability, forcing him to activate False Promise—only this fate wonder could heal the wounds inflicted by the flesh curse. It also afforded him a fleeting moment to catch his breath. "That's already the third time you've invoked False Promise," the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon remarked leisurely. "How much longer can that wonder protect you? And how long do you think you can keep struggling?" "Until they achieve victory," Yaxiu said, tossing aside his notched weapons and drawing fresh blades, "I will not fall." "You actually expect them to defeat the Weaver and Joy, then come to your aid?" The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon spoke as if he had heard the grandest joke in the world. Tilting his maggot-nest head, he mocked, "As a sorcerer, you're actually expecting someone else to save you? How have you managed to survive until now? "Mortal, I had high expectations of you at first. After all, you are the Vice Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven acknowledged even by the Divine Lord of Stars. That monster has always looked down on everyone; in several millennia, I've never seen anyone she thought worthy, yet you were the sole exception. When I descended to the mortal realm, I was hoping you could give me a little shock. "But it seems Stars' judgment isn't all that impressive either. The Vice Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven she chose is no different from a feeble Lalafell." The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon spread his arms wide in a gesture of embracing the world. The bloody sea immediately surged, sending several rivers of blood coiling around his arms and legs. "You of all people are the powerhouse who had hope of ascending to the pinnacle of sorcery, yet you still rely on those weaklings to save you. Letting someone like you wield the Supreme Holy Grail is an insult to the pinnacle of sorcery!" The moment False Promise ended, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon instantly teleported behind Yaxiu. The wind pressure sheared by his guillotine foot-blade cleaved even the sea of blood apart. Yaxiu swiftly unfurled his wings to evade, attempting to maneuver through the air, but the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon came too fast and too fierce—he was like a cluster of flesh packed with explosives, chasing down Yaxiu in a relentless bombardment! The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon—or rather, Angel Fireworks—practiced dual mastery of blood and fire. But unlike traditional blood and fire sorcery, his dual cultivation was used for self-reinforcement: employing blood sorcery to bolster his flesh and letting flames store explosive power within his muscles. Blood and fire triggered a wondrous reaction within his soul body, imbuing his every gesture with terrifying, earth-shattering might!