Chapter 261 - 254: Unimaginable Means

Chapter 261: Chapter 254: Unimaginable Means

If the Zhu Family Ancestor’s previous roar of fury made many feel that the intruder was outrageously bold and reckless, courting death by daring to steal from the Zhu family...

...then this mournful cry from the Ancestor left the Zhu Family disciples stunned, a great sense of dread creeping into their hearts.

"What on earth happened? What’s wrong with the Ancestor?"

Many people hastily sent messages around, trying to find out.

As the family patriarch, Zhu Anwen was one of them.

"I-It seems Young Master Fengyu... went to intercept the thief... and was k-killed by the thief!"

The news came back quickly.

But those who relayed the message all stammered, afraid to speak plainly.

"What? That’s impossible!"

Zhu Anwen denied it reflexively, but as the realization dawned, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

Nothing else could have caused the Ancestor to lose his composure with such a cry of grief.

In the dead of night, the Zhu Family Ancestor’s figure moved with astonishing speed.

Among the Blood Qi Techniques secretly practiced by the Zhu Family was a Blood Escape Technique that came at the cost of one’s own Blood Qi.

The Zhu Family Ancestor’s only thought was to get there as fast as possible, and he used the Blood Escape Technique without hesitation.

With his mid-stage Dao Fruit Realm Cultivation, he arrived at the scene of Zhu Fengyu’s murder in the blink of an eye.

Gazing at Zhu Fengyu’s headless corpse, Zhu Yanlong nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

Zhu Fengyu was the hope of the Zhu Family, and Zhu Yanlong had invested countless efforts into him.

He had been on the verge of fulfilling Zhu Yanlong’s expectations, of stepping into the Dao Fruit Realm and becoming one of the true elites.

But now, he was dead, right here in the family’s ancestral land.

How could Zhu Yanlong possibly accept this?

"Die!"

Zhu Yanlong’s face was cold as he stared hatefully at the fleeing figure in the distance.

Carrying Zhu Fengyu’s body, he executed another Blood Escape, appearing behind Jiang Zuo in an instant.

"Divine Technique: Blood Sea Cage!"

Zhu Yanlong showed Jiang Zuo no courtesy, immediately unleashing a Divine Technique.

It was different from Ren Yelin’s Divine Technique.

Jiang Zuo didn’t feel himself bound and unable to move.

However, he sensed a sudden, drastic change in the world around him and above his head.

In an instant, it was as if he were hovering above a crimson ocean.

In the distance, massive pillars that seemed to prop up the sky rose to encircle him completely.

The sky was pitch-black, and a torrential downpour of blood-red rain fell relentlessly.

’Getting caught in this bloody rain probably won’t end well.’

Jiang Zuo immediately slapped several fourth-tier Talismans onto his body.

One by one, Spirit Shields materialized around him, deflecting the falling rain of blood.

Although the Spirit Shields were rapidly corroding under the bloody rain...

...they could still hold for a few breaths.

Using this brief window, Jiang Zuo produced a series of Array Flags and tossed them into his surroundings.

First Talismans, now setting up an array.

’It looks like he’s trying to neutralize my Divine Technique.’

How could Zhu Yanlong just stand by and watch Jiang Zuo do this?

This particular Divine Technique of his was a large-scale offensive ability; its effect on a single target was much weaker than a typical Dao Fruit Divine Technique. If he didn’t intervene, the man might actually manage to defend against it.

"Divine Technique: Sea of Blood and Spear Forest!"

Zhu Yanlong barked another cold command.

For a Dao Fruit Realm Cultivator, one Dao Fruit meant one Divine Technique.

This Sea of Blood and Spear Forest was Zhu Yanlong’s second Divine Technique.

From the churning sea of blood below Jiang Zuo, spear after blood-red spear shot violently up toward him.

This Divine Technique also didn’t immobilize Jiang Zuo, allowing him to evade with all his might.

However, the blood-red spears erupting from the roiling sea seemed endless.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t dodge for long before he was pierced by one spear after another, which passed straight through his body.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Zuo’s body was riddled with a dense forest of blood-red spears.

The murderer who killed Zhu Fengyu had been brought to justice.

But Zhu Fengyu was still dead.

A wave of sorrow washed over Zhu Yanlong.

’No, I can’t let this bastard die so easily.’

’I’ll grind his bones to dust!’

Zhu Yanlong thought hatefully.

With a wave of his hand, the sea of blood receded.

The surrounding land was left scarred and ravaged.

Jiang Zuo’s "corpse" slowly drifted toward Zhu Yanlong.

But suddenly, Zhu Yanlong’s brow furrowed, and he struck out with his palm toward Jiang Zuo’s corpse.

"Heh heh, trying to fake your death in front of a Dao Fruit Realm expert is a bit difficult."

Jiang Zuo chuckled, his body flashing as he dodged Zhu Yanlong’s attack and repositioned himself in the air.

Despite having dozens of spears sticking out of his body, he looked completely fine.

"Just who in the world are you?!"

A chill ran down Zhu Yanlong’s spine as he watched, horrified.

’This guy took two of my Dao Fruit Divine Techniques.’

’But he looks completely unharmed.’

’He even tried to play dead to launch a sneak attack!’

"Who I am doesn’t matter. You can’t kill me, so let’s just end this here!"

Jiang Zuo said, glancing at Zhu Yanlong.

’Without a sneak attack, it won’t be easy for me to kill Zhu Yanlong either.’

’The Anger Rune Technique can make Zhu Yanlong lose his wits for a moment, but now that he’s on guard, it’ll be hard to land an effective sneak attack.’

’And if I use the Anger Rune Technique and fail to kill him, the trick won’t be as useful in the future.’

"You killed Fengyu and you want to ’end this here’? Hand over your life!"

Zhu Yanlong roared in fury.

"Divine Technique: Blood Sea Cage!"

"Divine Technique: Sea of Blood and Spear Forest!"

He had no intention of compromising with Jiang Zuo, unleashing both Divine Techniques once again.

Jiang Zuo watched, his eyes narrowing in thought.

’Is a mid-stage Dao Fruit Realm’s Cultivation really that much stronger than an early-stage’s?’

’Ren Yelin had trouble using his Divine Technique even once, yet Zhu Yanlong has used his four times in a row.’

While thinking, Jiang Zuo did his best to defend against Zhu Yanlong’s two Divine Techniques.

Jiang Zuo still couldn’t completely evade the Sea of Blood and Spear Forest. He dodged a few, but his body was pierced by even more blood-red spears.

These attacks practically pinned Jiang Zuo in mid-air.

He could no longer evade the torrential bloody rain from above.

Jiang Zuo’s body instantly began to corrode as if pelted by acid rain, becoming riddled with holes.

Even when his body was skewered by the blood-red spears, Jiang Zuo could still control it, trying to prevent himself from healing.

But under the bloody rain, he could no longer hide it.

His perforated body began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing that his recovery ability had been exposed, Jiang Zuo no longer held back and flew straight toward Zhu Yanlong.

"What the hell are you?"

Even in his nearly eight hundred years of life, Zhu Yanlong had never seen a Cultivator like this.

"I refuse to believe it! You’re a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator! You can’t possibly have limitless regenerative abilities!"

But Zhu Yanlong was a man who had seen the world; he wasn’t about to be intimidated by Jiang Zuo.

On the contrary, once he calmed down, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He practiced a Blood Qi Technique and knew that regeneration placed an immense drain on a Cultivator.

’As long as I can keep damaging him,’ he thought, ’it won’t be long before Jiang Zuo runs out of energy and can’t recover anymore.’

Zhu Yanlong’s reasoning was sound.

Unfortunately for him, Jiang Zuo was vastly different from any Cultivator he had ever known.

Jiang Zuo suddenly plunged headfirst into the sea of blood below.

’Is he trying to kill himself?’

Zhu Yanlong froze for a moment.

But in the next instant, his eyes widened in disbelief.

He watched as a blood-red vortex formed in the sea of blood created by his Dao Fruit Divine Technique, right where Jiang Zuo had dived in.

The power of the blood sea was being frantically absorbed and depleted!

If he didn’t go and stop it, the power of his Dao Fruit’s blood sea would be completely drained.

What was even more incredible was that after absorbing the power of the blood sea, the man’s recovery speed was actually increasing!

Zhu Yanlong simply couldn’t imagine what kind of ability this was.

In all the time he had been using his Dao Fruit Divine Technique, he had never encountered a situation like this.

’No!’

’I can’t let this guy keep devouring it!’

’Otherwise, my Dao Fruit Divine Technique will just end up fueling his power!’