At the same time, the elder murmured incantations, a shimmer of light flashing across his face, and suddenly black-green spiritual patterns emerged, spreading with an astonishing speed that covered every inch of his skin. They then came to life, swiftly darting and flowing across his body. From a distance, it appeared as though countless slender green insects were coiled around him—most remarkably and strangely so. At this moment, one of the other two figures raised a blood-red bronze gong; upon striking it, the strands of white hair on his head stood upright and immediately snapped off, transforming into long, winged white scales that surged forward to attack the bone-eating butterflies chasing them from behind. Meanwhile, the other elder raised his hand and released a white gourd; after inverting it and then spraying out a surge of black mist, the mist coalesced into numerous black hands, each bearing a strange mouth on the palm. These hands emitted eerie cries and charged toward the skeletons on the opposite side. To the outside observers, these beings appeared extraordinarily strange and otherworldly. As soon as they came into contact, they began tearing at each other, immediately emitting a dense, continuous sound of falling impacts. Though the black hands and the phosphorescent flying serpents looked fierce, they clearly fell short against the blood-colored skull and the white bone odd butterflies. Under the onslaught—one spewing blood arrows from its mouth, the other unleashing rolling green flames—the two swiftly began to plummet from the sky, suffering significant damage within a short time. Only a few dozen of the blood spirits and bone butterflies were driven to溃散 and extinction under the combined assault. With every black hand or phosphorescent flying serpent lost, the two elderly men of the Wu family involuntarily drew their facial muscles, displaying clear expressions of deep regret. Yet, witnessing the complete loss of all the flying serpent-like creatures, when the Blood Spirits and Bone-Eating Butterflies surged forth again, they now moved with an unmistakable gravity. After exchanging a glance, the two instantly roared in unison, and suddenly a spectral form of a colossal, octopus-like monster materialized behind each of them. As it lunged upon their bodies, a series of sharp "shush-shush" sounds erupted, and nearly a dozen tentacles instantly sprouted from their forms. Each tentacle stretched over ten paces in length, adorned with dense green glyphs. With a single strike, they could crush entire swarms of Blood Spirits, hurling them violently into the air. Meanwhile, the elder faced the Bone-Eating Butterflies, raising just one finger and flicking it. Instantly, his fingernail, originally several inches long, straightened into a sharp, knife-like form and swiftly slashed through the air in front of his shoulder. A surge of blood erupted! Immediately, an entire arm detached itself and burst open, transforming into a scattered patch of flesh that floated before him. Then, with the other hand, the elder suddenly tore open his long robe, revealing seven or eight fierce, monstrous insect tattoos on his chest. Unknowing of the secret technique he had simultaneously activated, these tattoos burst forth from his body under the radiant light, each transforming into a colossal, terrifying insect ten zhang in size, instantly devouring the fleshly fist-like forms before him. The elder's eyes flashed with cold light, and at once he strengthened his inner incantation. Immediately, the bodies of the insects twisted and contorted, sprouting rows of silver spines, and their surfaces glowed with a brilliant golden radiance, as if forged into invincible金刚 bodies. They then emitted sharp, guttural cries and charged directly toward the bone-devouring butterflies. Each time the tendrils struck, the symbols on their surface flashed violently, resonating with thunderous sounds, as though they could shatter the very void. Clearly, these were their master techniques—now, they held firm against the advancing blood spirits and bone-devouring butterflies. At the same time, the elderly man of the Yu surname, protected by the two guardians, saw his intricate network of dark green patterns weave and coalesce into an extraordinarily strange eight-armed demonic creature motif, spreading across his entire body, as if draped in a layer of green magical hide—so startling and awe-inspiring it was. Suddenly, the elder roared, and countless strands of green magic shot forth, instantly enveloping him and forming a massive cocoon that began to spin wildly. Immediately within the cocoon, cries of ghostly wails and howls erupted. Then, the magical array beneath began to hum vigorously, and waves of dark green magical energy surged forth. "Pop!" The cocoon burst open, revealing a green-faced, toothed eight-armed demon. This demon was unusually tall and his face was grim and fierce, his entire body covered in a deep green hue. As his eyes, which had been tightly closed, slowly opened, they glowed with an intensely eerie green light. The other two elders, however, seemed to be struggling against the onslaught of the Blood Spirit and the Bone-Eating Butterflies. One had nearly half of his tentacles infected by the Blood Spirit, which suddenly turned into blood water. The other was almost entirely devoured by the Bone-Eating Butterflies, whose bodies were stripped bare. Yet upon seeing the Eight-Armed Qingmo appear, both of them beamed with joy, drawing in their secret techniques and giant insects, and then launched themselves simultaneously toward the magical beings formed by their companions. With their opponents now gone, the Blood Spirit and the Bone-Eating Butterflies immediately surged forward from both sides, intent on surrounding all three with overwhelming force. At this critical moment, the Qingmo finally took action. His eight arms suddenly moved, and he displayed four palms facing each of the two sides. Instantly, golden light radiated from each palm, with a single golden seal character appearing in each. As the characters flashed, they expanded to the size of a zhang, and a series of Buddhist chants resonated within. Then, a cascade of seven-colored light halos burst forth from each palm. The seemingly terrifying Xue Ling and Tong Guo Buti, once engulfed by the seven-colored light aura, instantly halted mid-air, their bodies stiffening. After a brief moment, the light aura shimmered once more, and both transformed into fine ash. This seven-colored light aura appeared to harbor some mysterious power, perfectly suited to counteract them. Within mere breaths, numerous Xue Ling and Tong Guo Buti were completely swept away by the aura. However, when the Qi of Ba-Bei Qing Mo stabilized, the light aura contracted, and his eight arms were gradually drawn in, a deep, resonant sound suddenly erupted from his body—his skin cracked and shattered from head to toe, revealing once again the old Wu-family man within. Yet now, he appeared unusually pale, his Qi noticeably weakened, as though he had lost a significant portion of his vital energy. "Thank goodness we came together as a trio. If just one of us had been missing, we might have truly suffered a serious setback today," the Yu-family elder gently exhaled, a touch of relief flickering across his face. "Indeed. Although we had anticipated the restrictions behind the Blood Prison would be extremely challenging, we hadn't expected such formidable beings as Blood Spirits and Bone-Eating Worms. Should only one traveler have come here, there would indeed be a real risk of falling.," the elder with the Wu surname said seriously. "However, since both of these beings have now appeared, it indicates that we are truly approaching the true entrance of the Blood Prison. In this sense, it's quite a positive development." The last elder smiled and remarked. "I hope so. Let's hurry back now and make the most of our time—perhaps this time we'll succeed in inheriting the teachings of the Heavenly Witch." The Wu elder nodded in agreement. Thus, the three of them together summoned their light and resumed their journey back along the original path. …… Several days later, in the snowy landscape, a golden giant ape, over a hundred zhang in length with three heads and six arms, each wielding a golden great blade, surged forward as a golden whirlwind, engaged in fierce combat with two blue ice serpents. These two ice dragons each measured five or six hundred zhang in length, their bodies covered in shimmering, pale blue scales. As they soared and spiraled, fresh snows materialized from the air, and with each open mouth and outstretched claw, waves of extraordinary cold spread out, nearly freezing and solidifying the very realm around them. Yet the giant ape with three bodies and six arms remained undisturbed by the wind, snow, and extreme cold, only slightly wary of the massive mouths and claws of the two ice dragons. However, after only a few exchanges, the giant ape roared suddenly, and six golden blade streaks converged into a single, unified beam of light—forming a sword of a thousand zhang in length. In a single flash, it cleaved the two ice dragons in half, severing them into four separate segments. Yet, as the two ice dragons' remains rolled to the ground, they unexpectedly transformed into four shorter ice dragons, each twisting and spiraling before launching themselves once more to strike. But at this moment, under the sudden surge from the giant ape, the swordlight stretching over more than a thousand zhang instantly transformed into a vast, golden ocean of shimmering light. After a powerful surge, it once again engulfed the four ice serpents, cutting them into dozens of fragments. The surface of these dozens of fragmented ice serpents flashed with a blue glow, preparing to re-form into dozens of shorter, smaller ice serpents. However, before they could fully complete their transformation, the golden ocean of swordlight surged wave after wave, continuously battering them, ultimately shattering them into hundreds and thousands of fragments, and finally dissipating them into scattered points of blue light. Only then did the three-armed, six-limbed giant ape roar loudly, drawing in the golden light in his hands and simultaneously beginning to shrink rapidly. As the light flickered, his form gradually restored itself—now revealed to be Han Li. "The seals here are truly troublesome, capable of spontaneously manifesting ice-beings whose修为 approaches that of a Great Perfection stage. Yet, after these days of calculations, I believe the exit should be just ahead." Han Li gazed into the vast expanse blanketed by swirling snow, murmured a few words, and then suddenly surged forward as a streak of golden light. This was due to his profound mastery of spatial array techniques and his exceptionally strong spiritual awareness—otherwise, most cultivators would have been lost in the shifting wind and snow, let alone found their way to an exit. Half an hour later, after several swift flashes, the golden streak successively slew several powerful ice beasts blocking his path, and finally arrived before a stone platform encased in a golden light shield. Clearly inscribed upon the platform was a small teleportation array. Upon seeing this, a faint smile broke across Han Li’s face; yet, as his spiritual awareness touched the golden shield, his expression immediately turned serious. "It's the Five-Element罡 Light Shield. This will be troublesome—ordinary methods won't be able to breach it in the short term. Well, I'll sacrifice some qi then." After several shifts in expression, Han Li finally made up his mind. With a single hand extended into the air, he grasped the space, and a green glow flashed—there, a long, deep-green sword materialized before him. At the very moment this sword appeared, the primordial qi of the surrounding heavens and earth trembled slightly—this was the Xuan Tian Zhan Ling Sword. After韩立 grasped it firmly, he merely inhaled gently, and instantly, a vibrant purple-gold glow radiated from his body. A flash of golden light behind him revealed a Buddha-like form with three heads and six arms. "Cut!" With a low exhalation,韩立 gazed at the golden aura dome below and, with a simple motion, shook the long sword lightly, then delivered a graceful, effortless slash.