A flash of seven-colored light caused the small tower to instantly grow to the height of a person. Yet almost at the same moment the young man acted, the Han Li who had previously stood motionless suddenly opened his mouth and expelled a burst of white light, within which a ring-shaped object was faintly visible. With a swift finger tap, he sent it flying. "Crack!" The ring instantly shattered upon contact, radiating a subtle ripple of spatial energy. This surge of force subtly disrupted the spell cast by the small tower, causing it to drift slightly off course, with the spatial energy brushing past the side of the Zǐyán Ding. The small tripod then emitted a resonant cry and swiftly transformed into a streak of purple light, vanishing hundreds of feet away. Originally, the blood-light avatar of the Blood-Color Saint, who held the artifact, had been greatly alarmed. With a sudden halt of his single foot, he immediately transformed into a beam of blood light and pursued after it with unwavering determination. "You dare touch my precious treasure! If I do not strip your soul and refine it into essence, I shall never be known as a true Saint of the Sacred Realm!" When the leading youth regained his composure and saw the scene clearly, his face turned ashen. He no longer cared whether the other youth could recover the treasure. With swift gestures of his hands, he raised the shadow behind him, which then roared out a thunderous cry. Then, lowering his head and spitting forcefully, a surge of blood erupted—so intensely pungent and strange that it seemed endless. As it poured forth, it transformed the surrounding void into a vast sea of blood, and under the impetus of the leading youth’s spell, it rolled forward like a mighty wave. Han Li was struck by the sight. The giant ape, with one hand, quickly activated several temporary magical arrays near him, which immediately began to hum and ignite. One after another, radiant light arrays emerged, firmly enclosing the sword formation, while layers of shimmering light and patches of various mist spread out, as if completely engulfing the giant ape’s body. At that moment, the small blood vessel had already floated upon the sea of blood formed by countless streams of blood. The leading youth on the boat, observing Han Li's full defensive posture, let out a cold laugh and simultaneously flung out both sleeves toward Han Li. Instantly, the blood sea beneath him surged with waves, rolling into towering waves hundreds of feet high, which then surged forcefully toward Han Li. The temporary defensive spell arrays stationed in front were immediately struck by these colossal waves. In an instant, the shimmering light and mist radiating from the arrays flashed and vanished as if encountering their match, and even the arrays themselves, overwhelmed by the blood flow, seemed to dissolve like thin paper into wisps of pale smoke. The blood waves swiftly reached the central sword formation, where, under the determined push of the leading youth, they crashed with a thunderous roar. The ethereal, misty swordlight erupted from the formation, flashing and interweaving to form a solid, jade-green wall that firmly blocked the advance of the blood waves. Though the blood waves surged powerfully, they were completely halted before this green barrier. The leading youth, witnessing this, was somewhat surprised. This sea of blood was forged from a rare, toxic water from the realm of magic. Under normal circumstances, whether it was a divine artifact or a spirit beast, as soon as it was engulfed, it would instantly vanish. Although due to the waning of his own magical power, this ability had diminished, in his own mind, it should have been utterly effective against any cultivator below the stage of Great Perfection. Yet, he had never expected it to be so easily deflected by the opponent's sword formation. The azure sword beams emerging from the formation appeared ordinary, yet under the impact of the blood waves, they showed no sign of damage at all—seeming completely unaffected by the sea's potent toxicity. Nevertheless, as the leading youth, Huā Huá, a cultivator of Great Perfection, could not have stopped at merely this, his expression darkened. With a swift hand gesture, he pointed at the surrounding sea of blood. Instantly, the sea surged and churned, and hundreds of blood clumps, each the size of a human fist, burst forth. As they coalesced, they transformed into blood silkworms with wings, emitting a resonant hum, and surged directly toward the azure sword formation, charging with At once, the jade-blue sword veil before him roared with a long, resonant cry, and from its midst surged a five-clawed green dragon. With a single opening of its maw, a dense stream of swordlight erupted forth. The winged blood-silkworms, emitting strange squeals, flashed with a cold gleam and were instantly severed in two. Yet, in the next instant, a wave of blood surged over their bodies, and they immediately regained their original form, surging forward in a flurry. As they neared the jade-blue veil, they each opened their mouths to spurt out slender, translucent blood filaments—like fine hair. These filaments, upon touching the veil, emitted crisp, resonant sounds, reminiscent of jade beads falling onto a plate. When countless swordlight beams and blood filaments came into contact, instead of being cleaved into fragments by the sharp sword energy, they became remarkably sticky, clinging and rooting themselves firmly to the veil. At that moment, however, the blood-silkworms that had just spurted the filaments suddenly vibrated their wings and shot backward. As the hundreds of filaments tensed, some of the swordlight beams slowed down and became sluggish. In an instant, the jade-colored light screen paused, naturally solidifying and revealing a narrow gap. The leading youth saw this and burst into laughter, launching another wave of blood-red surges—bloodwater poised to surge through the gap and pierce the screen at once. Yet at that very moment, a dragon's roar echoed from within the jade sword screen, and a massive dragon's head flashed forth, just in time to probe through the opening, then opened its mouth to expel a remarkably thick beam of light. The bloodwater immediately collided with the beam, producing a deafening roar, and for a moment, the two forces held firm, locked in a stalemate. The leading youth's expression darkened, and from deep within his chest, a low, resonant roar surged forth—his blood sea responded in kind, swelling once more into towering waves that surged upward, forming a colossal, sky-reaching wave that surged directly toward the sword formation, as if, in furious anger, he intended to completely submerge the sword array beneath the blood sea. However, as soon as the azure light screen split, a five-clawed green dragon fully emerged from within, its jaws agape and limbs outstretched, causing countless azure lotus blossoms to materialize spontaneously and completely block the surge of blood waves—thus creating a tense standoff between the two. The colossal ape stationed behind the azure light screen, however, paid this entire scene no heed, merely coldly observing the other young disciple who was holding a seven-colored tower. The turbulent spatial waves in the nearby void were rapidly fading—this blood-lit avatar of the Heavenly Blood Saint, bearing the remnant treasure of the Heavenly Sky, could not simply remain passive and inactive. Compared to the leading youth, he was truly deeply wary of this one, whose possession of the precious artifact. The earlier strategy of relying on the self-explosion of a lower-tier spatial artifact to temporarily weaken the power of this treasure had been nothing but a last resort. Whether it would still prove effective in the next encounter remained entirely uncertain. Thus, not only did the giant ape and the spiritual body maintain a vigilant, watchful stance, but even the Buddha-Saint body stood ready, poised for action. Indeed, at the very instant the last fragment of chaotic spatial fluctuations near by vanished, the Blood-Light Sage, manifesting as a figure cradling a five-colored tower, suddenly raised his hand and struck the tower with a single palm. Instantly, a cascade of seven-colored light radiance surged upward and then reversed, and in a single flash, the young figure disappeared from the boat. The Buddha-Sage's golden form, with six eyes, suddenly snapped open, golden flames erupting layer by layer from his body and fully enveloping him. With one hand, the spiritual form chanted a series of gestures, and countless green filaments like willow branches sprouted from his body's surface. As the green light shimmered, a lustrous, deep-green battle armor formed on his torso, precisely fitting and delicately engraved with exquisite patterns—only lightly adhering to his form. Both of them stood with an air of readiness, as if facing a formidable adversary. However, after activating his small seven-colored tower, the young man instantly teleported not onto either of the two, but in a single flash, spanning hundreds of paces across, appearing directly above the sword formation. Without hesitation, he flipped his palm. The seven-colored tower in his hand reversed and settled downward, its massive shadow materializing in mid-air and then sweeping down with unwavering force. A chilling wave of energy immediately enveloped the entire sword formation, transforming into a swirling cascade of seven-toned light. At the very moment this wave manifested, the giant ape formed by Han Li instantly sensed it, lifting his head sharply to observe the scene above. His expression changed instantly, and with no delay, he raised his arm, summoning a large, furry hand toward the sky. In the higher reaches of the void, a thunderclap split the clear sky, and a thousand beams of light burst forth simultaneously, forming a spectral image of pavilions and halls that then flashed downward, emitting a corresponding wave of energy. On the other side, both the Buddha's golden form and his spiritual body simultaneously flickered and took action. The spiritual body raised a hand, sending forth another burst of red light that vanished instantly into the void. Meanwhile, the Buddha's golden form spun smoothly, then directly transformed into a swirling gust of golden wind, vanishing from its original position. The young boy at the forefront watched the scene unfold, his lips twitching slightly before he remained motionless. Yet, the massive horned shadow behind him roared aloud, and in an astonishingly swift motion, its form expanded to an immense size—within moments, it had grown into a colossal creature towering over a hundred paces. At the same time, several dozen tentacles shot upward into the air. As they converged mid-air, they fused into a single thick, gray spear, which plunged straight through the heart of the golden vortex. A thunderous roar erupted! The golden vortex momentarily stilled, its edges pulsing and contracting before being pierced through by the gray spear, which then surged forward with powerful momentum, aiming directly at the core of the Buddha-Saint’s golden form. The Buddha-Saint did not retreat; instead, he waved his six hands, and from each, a long golden blade emerged, interweaving into a single sweeping strike. Six beams of golden, cool light, like flowing autumn waters, surged forward to meet the spear. "Boom! Boom!" the sounds reverberated continuously as the six blades were simultaneously shattered by the spear’s impact, exploding into brilliant bursts of luminous energy. Then, the massive spear blurred slightly, its tip unexpectedly reaching near the golden form, and with a sharp flash carrying a scent of blood, it strangely pierced the golden form's chest.