Fortunately, the high priest’s strength wasn’t particularly formidable, and Nan Gong Huan easily subdued him, tossing him aside.

  The four Divine Blood Hall elders, locked in their intense battle, finally noticed that the people on the altar had disappeared. However, just as they tried to return, they were restrained by Yue Jianqing and the other elders!

  "Thinking of going back? Not a chance!" one of the mage elders laughed heartily.

  "Surrender! Your scheme has already failed!"

  "What day of blood sacrifice? I say it’s your day of doom!"

  In the distance, bursts of dazzling skills lit up the sky, painting it with hues of orange, red, and purple.

  The army was still fighting, but in an unnoticed corner, Jiang Huairou took out a vial of blood and poured it into Gao Luo’s mouth.

  "This one. It’s the blood of a Seventh Spirit Realm Gray Armor King that I’ve been saving!" Jiang Huairou said with a pained expression as she poured the blood. Gao Luo, still enduring the pain, began to absorb the blood’s power.

  "Stay back for now. I’ll definitely kill that Ye Sangeng—he cut off both my hands!" Gao Luo, now armless, was filled with resentment and hatred.

  After drinking the blood, the severed stumps of his arms began to squirm with flesh, growing into scaled claws!

  His back was covered in hard, gray-green scales, and half of his face was similarly armored. A tail also grew from his body, making him resemble a gray-green pangolin.

  "Ah—!" Gao Luo couldn’t bear the pain of his transformation and let out a loud scream, but his strength underwent a qualitative leap during the process!

  His aura surged, stopping only when it reached the intermediate level of the Sixth Spirit Realm!

  Jiang Huairou quickly hid herself, carefully observing the situation.

  Her only hope now lay with the four elders. The girls had already been rescued, and there was nothing she could do. Although she knew some spirit martial skills, she was ultimately just an alchemist.

  "Ye Sangeng, I’ll fight you to the death!" Gao Luo roared, charging toward Ye Sangeng, who was deep in the battlefield!

  Ye Sangeng was a peak Sixth Spirit Realm spirit martial artist, skilled in using a longsword. The higher the Spirit Realm, the greater the gap between each level.

  But at this moment, Ye Sangeng had also expended a lot of energy. Seeing Gao Luo charge at him, he swung his sword toward Gao Luo’s neck!

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  Gao Luo’s neck was now covered in thick, hard scales—his best defense, nearly impenetrable!

  The sword struck Gao Luo’s neck, but he didn’t flinch, allowing the blade to hit him. The sword left not even a scratch on his scales!

  Ye Sangeng finally realized that Gao Luo had evolved into a Gray Armor King, a spirit beast known for its incredible defense and powerful claws capable of crushing stone and splitting mountains—a spirit beast with all-around capabilities.

  But there was still a way to deal with him!

  After dodging several of Gao Luo’s claw attacks, Ye Sangeng pulled out a vial of potent poison and smashed it on Gao Luo!

  The poison slid down the scales on his skin, causing some corrosion, but more importantly, the toxic fumes rose and entered Gao Luo’s body through his breath.

  If they couldn’t attack from the outside, they’d break through from within!

  The poison caused a reaction in Gao Luo’s body. He hunched over in discomfort, forcing himself to release an earth spike skill!

  "Piercing Thorns!" Gao Luo howled in rage. A series of sharp earth spikes erupted from the ground in front of him, rapidly extending outward for thirty meters before stopping!

  The sharp spikes pierced several imperial soldiers, even injuring some of his own allies, but Ye Sangeng deftly avoided them, remaining unharmed.

  "When a person gains power beyond their understanding, they must pay a thousandfold price!" Ye Sangeng’s expression remained calm, even somewhat relaxed.

  Gao Luo was no match for him. Although Gao Luo’s strength had been forcibly increased, it was only superficial, lacking substance.

  This was not a power he could control.

  Ye Sangeng flattened the tip of one of the earth spikes and stood on it, calmly observing Gao Luo’s physical changes.

  "I won’t accept this!" Gao Luo roared, but his muscles began to spasm violently, as if countless ants were trying to burrow out of his body. His bones felt as if they were being crushed, as though a cart was repeatedly running over him!

  "Ah—!" The scales on Gao Luo’s body began to fall off one by one, revealing bloodied skin.

  This wasn’t just the effect of the poison—it was also backlash from the power he couldn’t handle!

  "If I can’t live, none of you will either!" Gao Luo’s eyes turned blood-red. Seeing his end approaching, he decided to take everyone down with him!

  He ignited his dantian, preparing to self-destruct!

  "Get back! He’s going to self-destruct!" Ye Sangeng’s expression changed, and he immediately ordered everyone to retreat!

  Everyone scattered like birds, and even the Divine Blood Hall members fled, afraid of being caught in the blast.

  With a deafening boom, flesh and blood scattered everywhere. The self-destruction of a Sixth Spirit Realm cultivator shook the area within a kilometer!

  Those with lower cultivation levels felt their blood churn, suffering internal injuries. The Order Team members were relatively unscathed, as they were farther away and had some defenses in place, allowing them to escape the explosion relatively easily.

  The altar was also affected, its wooden structure collapsing, and the bodies inside tumbled out. The sight of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood was nauseating.

  The villagers had died with their eyes wide open, their intense stench assaulting everyone’s noses.

  Nan Gong Huan had already moved to a tree, but Jiang Huairou wasn’t so lucky. She had been hiding in a corner near the altar, and when it collapsed, she was buried under the pile of corpses, only her head sticking out.

  To make matters worse, Gao Luo’s self-destruction had also injured her internally. She couldn’t even struggle, her body pinned down, unable to climb out. She could only scream for help, praying that some Divine Blood Hall beast-man would save her.

  But there was almost no one around her—except Nan Gong Huan.

  Nan Gong Huan jumped down from the tree and walked over to her.

  Her silhouette was framed by the raging flames behind her. Her tattered black dress and the wild smile on her lips made her look like a demoness walking through fire—deadly and alluring.