Behind them, the terrifying roar and energy fluctuations emanating from the altar were like a tangible tsunami, carrying with them a thick, pitch-black miasma that billowed towards them! Eight distinct yet equally ferocious and towering auras had fully awakened, like eight sharp swords hanging above, fixedly targeting the direction where Lin Feng and Su Wan had fled!
Lin Feng could even distinctly "hear" the sound of air being torn apart, the heavy tramping, and the grinding friction of some kind of rock rapidly approaching! Each breath was far beyond the giant scorpion he had killed, reaching at least the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, or even higher! One of the icy-cold thoughts was like a maggot in his heel, directly piercing his back heart!
Don't stop! To stop would be to condemn oneself to eternal damnation!
Lin Feng bit the tip of his tongue, the intense pain stimulating his nearly numb nerves. Carrying Su Wan, whose breath was as weak as a floating thread, he frantically injected the remaining Hell Suppressing Essence into his legs and unleashed the "Treading the Abyss" movement technique. With each step, a deep pit exploded in the dark red blood mud, and his figure transformed into a blurred silhouette, desperately fleeing in the next direction indicated by the Armament Master's Order and the fragments!
In the sea of knowledge, the map on the back of the dark red fragment shines brightly, with a winding path leading deeper into the basin, passing through an area marked with a twisted flame symbol - the location of the second lock of blood sacrifice!
The miasma was as black as ink, heavy and viscous, greatly obstructing vision and speed. Even more pernicious was the scorpion venom and resentment invading his body, wreaking havoc! The wound on his left shoulder had turned black and swollen, and the numbness had spread to his entire left side. Every breath brought a burning pain, as if countless tiny venomous insects were gnawing at his meridians. In his sea of consciousness, that cold and resentful feeling was like a festering bone disease, constantly attacking the soul-suppressing barrier built by the "Nine Abyss Suppressing Hell Sutra", attempting to erode his sanity.
The elixir he ingested was like a clay ox entering the sea, barely able to slow down the spread of the deadly poison, but unable to eradicate it completely. This poison, originating from the guardian of the blood sacrifice chain, is far more powerful and bizarre than usual!
Boom!
A khaki-colored, condensed energy beam like a giant spear tore through the miasma, crashing into the spot where Lin Feng had just left, grazing the remnants of his shadow! The ground was blasted open, forming a giant crater several dozen feet deep, with viscous blood and mud mixed with shattered rocks splashing in all directions! The terrifying shockwave sent Lin Feng reeling, and a fresh surge of blood rose to his throat!
It's the guardian, shaped like a pangolin but burdened with a heavy rock shell! It can actually launch precise long-range attacks from such a distance!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Immediately afterwards, several lightning-fast shadows emerged from the miasma on the flanks! They were Gargoyle Guardians, resembling bats but with bone wings and sharp claws! They let out silent screams, and the edges of their bone wings shimmered with a metallic chill, like several spinning death scythes, intersecting and cutting towards Lin Feng's neck and limbs! The angles were cunning and vicious!
Lin Feng's pupils suddenly constricted! At this moment, most of his mind was occupied with suppressing the venom and resentment, and his movement skills were no longer at their peak! He suddenly twisted his body and forcibly infused his Hell Suppressing Essence Energy into his right arm. His five fingers turned into claws, and a dark golden glow suddenly appeared!
**Hell Suppression · Bone Shatter! **
Damn it!
Shadow claws fluttered, precisely grabbing the skeletal wing of a Gargoyle, and the power of the Origin burst forth, forcefully crushing it! At the same time, the body rolled at an extremely awkward angle, narrowly avoiding several other deadly slashes!
Puff!
A bone claw had ultimately left a deep, bone-visible blood mark on his right rib! The severe pain made his vision blur!
"Uh..." Su Wan on the back seemed to be stimulated by the violent jolt and blood qi, and let out an involuntary moan of pain. The birthmark on her collarbone flickered faintly with a red light.
It was this faint red light flickering, like a spark in the darkness, that actually caused the several gargoyle guardians pouncing on them to freeze in their tracks! The soul flames burning in their eye sockets flickered violently, as if they instinctively feared and were confused by the aura contained in that red light, which originated from the core of the Blood Sacrifice Lock!
opportunity!
Lin Feng endured the intense pain, seized the momentary gap, and exerted force again on his feet, bursting with speed and suddenly breaking out of the gargoyle's encirclement! At the same time, he did not hesitate to hurl the broad-bladed giant sword captured from the sword-carrying burly man backward! The giant sword, wrapped in Lin Feng's remaining strength and a trace of Origin Power, spun and crashed into the pursuing gargoyle horde!
Dang! Dang! Puff!
The huge sword knocked two gargoyles flying and its sharp blade even tore the bone wing of the third one, thus buying Lin Feng precious breathing room!
But the pursuit behind them did not stop! The rock pangolin guardian began to condense energy beams again. Further away, the sound of heavy footsteps was like a drumbeat, and a huge figure resembling an elephant with tusks like halberds was crashing through the miasma and galloping towards them! In the sky, the shrill screams of more gargoyles were approaching from afar!
We must enter the second bloodlock zone as soon as possible! Leverage the environment there!
Lin Feng exhausted his last bit of potential, and his speed increased once again! Ahead, the color of the miasma began to change; it was no longer pure black, but instead emitted a strange dark red! The temperature of the air also rose sharply, and a pungent sulfur smell mixed with an even stronger bloody odor hit the face!
The resonance between the Soldier's Lord Order and the fragment became even more intense, guiding him into the dark red zone!
Upon entering, a wave of heat hit him like a tangible force! The sight before him made Lin Feng's heart sink!
This is not a swamp of blood and mud, but a river of **molten blood** that flows dark red and is as viscous as magma! Huge bubbles roll on the river surface, and when they burst, they spray out hot blood flames! On both sides of the river are blackened and cracked rocks, emitting terrifying high temperatures! The air is filled with heat waves that can scorch people and strong sulfur gas!
The so-called "road" turned out to be a narrow **lava plank road** carved out of the cliff on the river bank, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through! Dozens of feet below the plank road was the boiling lava river! The plank road itself was not safe either. Many places were scorched by high temperatures, covered with cracks, and even the dark red glow coming from below could be seen! What was even more terrifying was the rolling grievances above the lava river, which condensed into twisted, burning ghostly fireballs under the high temperature, floating like ghostly flames and emitting a soul-burning malice!
The environment of this second bloodlock is even more perilous than the first! High temperatures, toxic gases, narrow plank roads, ground that could collapse at any moment, and those drifting fireballs of vengeful spirits!
Behind, eight terrifying breaths were approaching! The miasma was torn apart, and the huge head of the rock pangolin guardian first poked out, with its icy earthy-yellow soulfire locked onto the entrance of the plank road!
There's no turning back!
Without hesitation, Lin Feng carried Su Wan on his back and set foot on the narrow, scorching, and peril-ridden lava plank road! The scalding sensation came from beneath his feet, and even the soles of his boots emitted a slight burning smell!
As soon as he stepped onto the plank road, a sudden change occurred!
"Chichi chichi——!"!
Beneath the plank road, dozens of dark red, viscous lava streams shot out like blood arrows from the boiling river of lava! These lava streams seemed to possess life, twisting in the air, carrying terrifying heat and corrosiveness, and accurately targeting Lin Feng and Su Wan! Simultaneously, several clusters of resentful spirit fireballs floating above, akin to sharks sensing blood, emitted silent screams, trailing burning tail flames as they swooped down!
Attack from both sides! The desperate situation returns!
Lin Feng's expression changed drastically! At this moment, he was standing on a narrow plank road with no way to avoid it! His protective essence energy was already on the verge of collapse under the corrosive poison and scorching heat!
At this critical moment!
"Hmm..." Su Wan, who was carried on his back, let out another painful moan under the dual stimulation of the extreme heat from the molten blood river and the fiery balls of the wraiths! The birthmark on her collarbone, which had a dim dark red glow, suddenly burst into a dazzling blood light, akin to a spark thrown into boiling oil! This time, the blood light no longer spread unconsciously, but rather, it seemed to have a life of its own, instantly covering her and Lin Feng's bodies with an extremely thin yet incredibly tough dark red light film!
"Puh! Puh! Puh!"! **
Dozens of molten blood arrows slammed fiercely into the dark red light membrane! The expected penetration did not occur. Instead, it was as if they had hit an invisible barrier, which was forcibly blocked and bounced away by the tough light membrane! The hot and viscous molten lava flowed down along the light membrane, emitting a "sizzling" sound, but it could not penetrate at all!
The fireball of resentful spirits that descended from above crashed into the light film, melting like ice and snow, silently engulfed and purified by the layer of blood light! The shrill wail of resentment contained within came to an abrupt halt!
**Bloodline Shield!** The protective power instinctively unleashed by Su Wan's bloodline in her near-death state!
This thin layer of blood film not only blocked the deadly lava blood arrows and fiery balls of the wraiths, but also isolated most of the terrifying high temperatures and sulfuric poison gas! Lin Feng felt a sudden relief in his body, and even the scorpion venom raging inside him seemed to be slightly suppressed by this layer of homologous blood light for a moment!
A narrow escape!
Lin Feng's spirit was greatly invigorated! Seizing this precious opportunity, he no longer paid attention to the pursuit behind him and the danger beneath the narrow and scorching plank road. He increased his speed to the extreme and desperately ran along the narrow and scorching plank road! The dark red light film fluctuated violently under the impact of high temperature and the continuous incoming lava blood arrows. The light dimmed at a visible speed, clearly unable to last long!
Behind them, the eight pursuing guardians had also arrived at the entrance of the plank road! The rock pangolin guardian did not hesitate, and a condensed yellowish-brown beam of light fiercely struck the rock wall at the entrance of the plank road!
Boom!
The rocks at the entrance collapsed with a loud boom under the terrifying energy shock! Large chunks of rubble, entrained with lava, plummeted into the blood river below, stirring up towering waves of fire! The entrance to the plank road was completely blocked!
"Roar!" Several massive guardians (in elephant form) let out an angry roar. They were clearly unable to pass through the narrow plank road! Only those smaller or flying guardians (such as gargoyles and a snake-shaped guardian that could crawl on the rock wall) attempted to pursue, but the narrow space and the constantly spraying lava blood arrows greatly hindered them!
Temporarily rid of the deadliest threat!
Lin Feng didn't dare to linger for a moment, carrying Su Wan as he sprinted frantically along the winding and treacherous lava plank road. The dark red glow on Su Wan's body gradually dimmed, and finally, after withstanding dozens of waves of lava blood arrows, it quietly shattered like foam. The terrifying heat and toxic gas struck again, but by this time, they had already reached the middle section of the plank road.
The Warlord's Order and its fragments in Huai's embrace trembled violently, pointing to a huge cave that recessed inwardly ahead of the plank road! At the entrance of the cave stood two stone statues of ferocious lava giants, each holding a huge axe! Deep inside the cave, a terrifying pressure, even more violent and scorching, emanated, carrying the smell of lava and blood!
The core altar of the second lock of blood sacrifice is located within that lava cave!
Carrying Su Wan on his back, Lin Feng finally reached the entrance of the cave. He looked back and saw that on the narrow plank road, several gargoyles and the snake-shaped guardian were struggling to dodge the lava blood arrows and were temporarily blocked hundreds of feet away.
It's temporarily safe.
He could no longer hold on. His legs gave way, and he slumped heavily, carrying Su Wan, against the scorching rock wall. He gasped for breath, each intake like a tug at an old bellows, tainted with a strong scent of blood. The greenish-black poison had spread to his neck, his left arm had lost all sensation, and the wound on his right rib was burning unbearably under the heat. The resentment in his consciousness was like a venomous snake, savagely gnawing at the barriers of his soul.
Su Wan lay prone on his back, her breath so faint it was almost inaudible, like a candle flame that could go out at any moment. The glow of the birthmark on her collarbone had completely faded, leaving behind a darker red mark that was even clearer than before, as if branded deep into her soul.
Inside the lava cave, the violent pressure is like the breathing of a sleeping ferocious beast, spewing out the smell of sulfur and blood, as if warning the intruder.
Lin Feng struggled to raise his head, gazing into the deep cave where a dark red glow was surging. He then lowered his head to look at the Order of the Armament Master in his embrace, its luster shimmering as it absorbed the grievances, and at Su Wan on his back, whose chances of survival seemed slim.
In front of them lies the Lava Altar, while behind them are the pursuing Guardians.
Poisonous phagocyte, companion on the verge of death.
True essence is depleted, and one finds oneself trapped in an abyss.
He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the hot and stinging air. Inside his dantian, the rice-grain-sized seed of Zhenyu Essence Energy, under the dual erosion of extreme poison and resentment, had its light dimmed to the extreme, yet it still stubbornly spun, like a dying candle in the wind, fiercely guarding the last bit of its origin.
The scriptures of the "Nine Abyss Hell Suppression Sutra" flow silently in my heart.
"Hell... Origin... Eternal and unbreakable..."
A faint yet incredibly tenacious thought, like a spark in the dark abyss, quietly lit up in his nearly collapsed sea of consciousness.
I can't die here.
Su Wan cannot die.
The Armament Platform... I must reach it!
He suddenly opened his eyes, and there was no longer any confusion or pain in them, only extreme calmness and madness like ten thousand years of black ice!
He carefully set Su Wan down, allowing her to lean against the scorching rock wall. Then, he sat cross-legged, ignoring the raging poison within his body and the terrifying pressure emanating from the depths of the cave, and formed a strange hand seal with both hands in front of his knees.
Inside the dantian, the dim seed of Zhenyu Essence began to rotate in reverse at a frequency akin to self-destruction!
**Zhenyu·Guixu Yin! **
Hmph!
A faint yet extremely domineering force of devouring energy suddenly emerged, centered around Lin Feng's body! This was not the absorption of external spiritual energy, but rather - **attracting poison into the abyss!**! **