A palm bathed in blood-colored light struck Gong Xifan.

He felt as though he'd been hit a metal bull. The impact sent his body flying through the air, and he landed heavily on the ground with blood trickling down the side of his lip.

“Bloodthirsty Patriarch?!” Gong Xifan pressed a hand to his excruciatingly painful chest and looked on in shock as an emaciated figure walked out from the reddish fog. Given how cautious he'd been, he'd never expected to fall into a trap.

The Bloodthirsty Patriarch laughed before performing a series of movements with one hand. The blood fog that surrounded the area instantly solidified into a b.l.o.o.d.y palm and charged at Gong Xifan.

Gong Xifan held up his Hundred Eyes Spiritual Mirror. A ray of golden light burst out from inside it and destroyed the Bloodthirsty Patriarch's b.l.o.o.d.y palm.

“Gong Xifan, is that the best that you can do?” The Bloodthirsty Patriarch waved his hands again. This time, the blood fog solidified into many b.l.o.o.d.y palms that a.s.sailed Gong Xifan from all sides.

All the blood fog inside the protective formation had been formed from the Bloodthirsty Patriarch's Blood Pond. Effectively, this meant that the Bloodthirsty Patriarch had an infinite supply of blood to draw from while positioned in the protective formation. No one would be able to easily beat him here.

Gong Xifan understood that the odds were stacked against him. If he stayed here any longer, the Bloodthirsty Patriarch would kill him.

He bit his tongue and spewed a mouthful of his blood essence at his Hundred Eyes Spiritual Mirror.

The mirror, originally the size of a palm, shrank to the size of a thumb before shooting out a ray of blinding white light.

The technique he had just unleashed was unique to the Gong Clan. It was known as the 'Hundred Eyes of Destruction.'

“Ah! My eyes! My eyes!”

Lin Yanxi could not see anything besides a sea of white.

w.a.n.g Haoqiang was positioned closest to Gong Xifan, and the light caused his eyes to bleed.

The Bloodthirsty Patriarch, on the other hand, immediately covered his eyes and retreated three feet backward.

Gong Xifan did not have the energy to perform a counterattack. He immediately turned and fled.

However, right as he rushed into the reddish fog, another emaciated figure charged at him from the side. His b.l.o.o.d.y palms struck him heavily on the body.

Once again, Gong Xifan was sent flying. He coughed up blood profusely while lying on the ground.

He raised his head to look at his a.s.sailant. To his utmost surprise, it was the Bloodthirsty Patriarch!

“How is it possible?!” Gong Xifan could not believe that the Bloodthirsty Patriarch would recover this quickly after being hit by his 'Hundred Eyes of Destruction.'

“Gong Xifan, you are not getting away. Prepare to die!” rang out a haughty voice from behind.

He turned and saw a second Bloodthirsty Patriarch standing before him.

Both Bloodthirsty Patriarchs looked identical, but Gong Xifan was still able to discern a slight difference. The one who had just spoken to him looked livelier, while the one who had attacked him earlier looked dead as a corpse.

That's right! The Yin Corpse Sect!

The Bloodthirsty Patriarch was close to the Yin Corpse Sect. He must have a Yin Corpse of his own.

The Yin Corpse looked just like the Bloodthirsty Patriarch. It might very well be his Yin Corpse twin.

A Yin Corpse created using such a brutal method would unquestionably be immensely powerful.

The Bloodthirsty Patriarch was not a beginner level Spiritual Master like they'd all thought. He was actually an intermediate level Spiritual Master. They'd been deceived.

“Take him down, now!” the Bloodthirsty Patriarch commanded his Yin Corpse twin.

The Yin Corpse immediately lunged at Gong Xifan.

Gong Xifan knew that his situation was dire, so he quickly swallowed his Hundred Eyes Spiritual Mirror.

A dazzling golden light burst from his belly and enveloped him before solidifying into a golden crystal. It looked like he was sleeping in a golden coffin.

Gong Xifan had just unleashed yet another unique technique that belonged to the Gong Clan named 'Hundred Eyes Crystal Coffin.' It was a technique that would save his life.

The golden crystal around his body could protect him from all sorts of injuries for the next hundred days.

However, this technique came with a cost. The longer he used it, the more energy he would have to expend.

If Gong Xifan were to unleash this technique for the next hundred days, he would end up losing all his powers even if he managed to survive.

Gong Xifan was gambling on Ye Jiuge to come to his rescue soon.

“Hmph! There's nothing special about this technique. You're simply putting up one last struggle before you die!” The Bloodthirsty Patriarch was not particularly bothered by Gong Xifan's actions. He instructed w.a.n.g Haoqiang, “Take him back.”

“Understood.” w.a.n.g Haoqiang's eyes had recovered slightly by then. He kicked Gong Xifan once before binding him with a rope and dragging him away.

“Pa.s.s me the spiritual tool.” The Bloodthirsty Patriarch had seen Lin Yanxi pick up the black box earlier.

Lin Yanxi tightened her grip on the black box momentarily before pa.s.sing it over with a smile.

“Patriarch, why don't we offer it to the envoy now?” w.a.n.g Haoqiang suggested.

“Let's go!” The Bloodthirsty Patriarch was well aware that he would not be able to keep the spiritual tool to himself. He decided to bring it over to Si Youyue right away.

At that moment, Ye Jiuge had just led Baili Moyun and the rest of the spiritual pract.i.tioners over to the Gate of Death.

The surrounding area was covered with blood-colored vines, and the reddish fog smelled of death.

The team might have taken their Yin Pills, but they still found the air near the Gate of Death suffocating and unbearable.

“Miss, can we really destroy the protective formation from here?” Su Xun'er asked with a frown.

“Of course, we can.” Ye Jiuge gave Ye Yu a look and instructed him to call for Shou Hou at once.

Ye Yu lit a fire and burned the blood-colored Communication Talisman that Shou Hou had given him.

The talisman emitted a flickering light, but nothing happened to the Gate of Death.

Several seconds went by.

A lot of the spiritual pract.i.tioners were on the verge of collapse. Even Xiao Tao and the other Legendary Venomous Insects looked sickly.

They were not able to acclimate to such a strong poisonous gas because of their short breeding times.

Even Baili Moyun, who trusted Ye Jiuge the most, began to have second thoughts about her decision.

“Should we leave first?” Baili Moyun suggested.

“Let's wait a while longer.” Ye Jiuge looked calm, but she was extremely nervous.

Had Shou Hou turned against them? Or had something else happened?

“I'll go over and take a look.” Ye Yu gritted his teeth. He did not believe that Shou Hou would betray his sister.

“It's pointless.” Ye Jiuge shook his head. The protective formation could only be destroyed from the inside.

It looked like their only option would be to let Zi Shang come up with another way of destroying the protective formation.

Ye Jiuge was just about to command a retreat when…

Boom! The protective formation let out a deafening rumble, and the fog surrounding the Gate of Death spread across the area.

In a flash, the blood-colored vines vanished.

The reddish fog slowly dissipated. A while later, a bright opening appeared.

The protective formation had actually been destroyed!

“Everyone! Charge!” Ye Jiuge hollered.

Ye Yu raced toward the opening like a gust of wind.

Ye Jiuge worried that something could happen to Ye Yu. She immediately instructed Luo Tian to stay behind and help Baili Moyun and the others while she chased after Ye Yu.

Both Ye Yu and Ye Jiuge made their way into Bloodcloud Peak through the opening, and the very first thing they saw upon their arrival was Shou Hou lying in a pool of blood.

“Shou Hou!” Ye Yu was astonished and immediately rushed over to try and stop his bleeding. However, he quickly realized that Shou Hou's body was covered with holes, and he did not know how to help him.

“Miss!” Ye Yu raised his head and glanced at Ye Jiuge in desperation.

“His meridians have been severed. There's no way to save him.” Ye Jiuge shook her head helplessly.

“Don't worry about me…The Patriarch has captured Gong Xifan…They are in the main hall now…Go and save him!” Shou Hou forced out the words as blood foamed in his mouth.

“Okay!” Ye Yu was in pain as he nodded. He would not have asked Shou Hou to destroy the formation if he had known that doing so would cost him his life.

“You must…You must save your sister.” Shou Hou grabbed Ye Yu's hands tightly the moment Ye Yunzhi was mentioned.

“I promise I'll save her. I won't give up as long as I live,” Ye Yu told Shou Hou resolutely.

Shou Hou released Ye Yu's hands after hearing those words. He then gazed at the red mole in between Ye Yu's brows lovingly with his dilated pupils. Memories of the day when he'd first met Ye Yunzhi welled up in his mind.

Her red robe. Her cold yet gentle demeanor. He found every part of her incredibly beautiful and endearing.

A faint, blissful smile formed on Shou Hou's face as he mumbled under his breath, “Yunzhi…Yunzhi…”

A second later, his head dropped to the side, and he breathed his last.