The blood mass suddenly began wriggling violently. A figure entirely crimson slowly emerged from within the blood.
"Hmm? Did he discover me and hide?"
The red figure raised his scarlet eyes. Powerful soul force surged out like an invisible tide, spreading meticulously in all directions and searching every inch of the land.
However, he found nothing.
This feeling of losing control made him extremely displeased. "This old man wants to see where you're hiding."
The blood-colored figure's aura climbed rapidly as he prepared to use some of his more secretive trump card methods to investigate.
Suddenly.
A slightly playful young voice drifted over from behind him in a leisurely tone: "Are you looking for me?"
Blood River Heavenly Venerable turned his head sharply, his pupils contracting violently.
He saw a man and a woman sitting relaxed on a branch of an ancient tree not far behind him, both wearing calm smiles.
It was Xiao Jietian and Xiao Huiying.
Blood River Heavenly Venerable's gaze sharpened like a knife as he stared intently at Xiao Jietian. "You actually dared to show yourself? That saves this old man the trouble of searching."
Xiao Jietian ignored his words and calmly assessed him. The man wore blood-red robes, and his hair, eyes, and eyebrows were all crimson. His entire body exuded a chilling, bloody scent.
With such a distinctive appearance, Xiao Jietian instantly recognized him. "Blood River—one of the Four Heavenly Venerables of the Hall of Souls?"
"Heh heh, I didn't expect you to recognize this old man. Since you know my name, I advise you to obediently come with me. Your bloodline, your Boundless Heaven Hall—my Hall of Souls will take them all."
"After dealing with you, this old man still needs to capture your younger brother and Yao Chen."
At the mention of Yao Chen, Blood River's crimson eyes flashed with excitement. Yao Chen's soul was something the Hall of Souls desperately needed. If he could bring it back, the rewards would ensure he would never lack cultivation resources in the future.
Xiao Jietian's eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed the news about Old Yao being with Xiao Yan had still leaked out. Previously, intelligence from Boundless Heaven Hall mentioned that his younger brother Xiao Yan had clashed with the Tianming Sect. During that time, he had even resurrected Venerable Skyfire, whose cultivation had recovered to peak five-star Dou Zun.
Later, they had encountered the Senluo Ghost Venerable. In the end, they only escaped by relying on Old Yao's ghost possession technique, with several people working together to heavily injure the Senluo Ghost Venerable.
But Old Yao's aura had still been captured and deliberately spread by people from the Tianming Sect.
"Capture me? With you—a mere trash at the peak of One-Revolving Dou Zun?" Xiao Jietian crossed his arms, curling his lips in disdain.
"Arrogant! Are you stalling for time, waiting for reinforcements from Boundless Heaven Hall to save you? Unfortunately, you have no chance."
Blood River Heavenly Venerable's expression turned ice-cold upon hearing the mockery. When had he ever been belittled like this by a junior? In the past, merely mentioning the name Blood River would make everyone tremble.
"With a gutter rat like you, capturing me is impossible. You suck up all kinds of blood—you're even dirtier than a rat."
Upon hearing Xiao Jietian's words, extreme fury and killing intent erupted from Blood River Heavenly Venerable. His face twisted slightly.
"You—are—courting—death!"
"Little bastard, watch as this Venerable smashes you into nothingness with a single palm!"
Blood River Heavenly Venerable struck furiously. Blood-red light soared around him, transforming into monstrous blood waves that condensed into a giant blood-colored palm in mid-air. Carrying a thick, bloody stench and terrifying power, it slammed down toward the ancient tree where Xiao Jietian stood!
As the giant palm descended, the towering ancient tree and the ground beneath it instantly turned to dust, leaving a massive crater.
Smoke and dust filled the pit while the aura of blood evil roiled like boiling water. Blood River Heavenly Venerable used his blood-sensing ability but detected no trace of Xiao Jietian or the other person's blood scent.
His scarlet pupils narrowed slightly as he continuously increased his sensing power, yet he found nothing. He couldn't even sense a trace of their auras, as if the two had vanished into thin air.
"How is that possible…"
A trace of doubt flashed through Blood River Heavenly Venerable's mind. How could a mere youngster disappear completely in front of him?
Suddenly, his body paused. Immediately afterward, a cold voice came from behind him without any warning. The voice sounded ordinary, but when it reached Blood River's ears, it was like an echo from hell—piercing straight into his soul and carrying a suffocating chill.
"Are you looking for me?"
Those simple four words made Blood River Heavenly Venerable feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Every hair on his body stood on end, and an instinctive fear of fatal danger exploded from the depths of his soul.
He didn't even have time to wonder how the other party had appeared behind him. His survival instinct kicked in as he tried to use his life-saving ultimate skill—Body into Blood Pool!
This was his trump card Dou Technique. His body would transform into a sea of blood, allowing him to confuse enemies and escape.
However, the moment the thought arose, he was horrified to discover that the surrounding space and his own body had been locked and solidified by an invisible, terrifying power.
Now, let alone transforming into a blood pool, he couldn't even move a single finger.
Immediately afterward, Blood River Heavenly Venerable felt a slender palm lightly pressing down on his head.
"Ugh—ah!"
Blood River Heavenly Venerable only managed to let out a short, terrified whimper.
In an instant, the scent of death filled his body. His eyes widened dramatically, and his breathing became erratic.
This absolute confinement, this desperate gap in power… This was definitely not the mid-level Dou Zun strength the intelligence reports had suggested. Blood River cursed the intelligence branch halls in his heart.
"Next life, open your eyes wider. The reason I let you follow me for so long and talked so much was simply because the journey was too boring, and I wanted some fun."
"Otherwise, with your One-Revolving Dou Zun strength, I could extinguish you with a raise of my hand. Do you understand the gap between us now?"
After Xiao Jietian finished speaking, the five fingers of that palm slowly closed.
The next moment, Blood River Heavenly Venerable clearly felt that his One-Revolving Dou Zun skull was as fragile as an eggshell beneath those five fingers!
"No—!!!"
A desperate and unwilling roar echoed frantically in his heart, but not a single sound could escape.
Crack!!
A crisp, teeth-grating sound of bones breaking rang out.
Xiao Jietian exerted a little more force, and Blood River Heavenly Venerable's head was forcefully crushed!
Before the red and white matter could splatter, it was twisted into nothingness by an invisible force, leaving not a single trace.
Even his soul was directly annihilated along with his head, leaving nothing behind.
The headless corpse remained stiffly suspended in mid-air. Then the confining force suddenly vanished, and the corpse fell straight down.
Xiao Jietian shook his hand casually, as if he had just swatted a fly.
"I said he was trash, but he didn't believe it."
A silver figure appeared beside Xiao Jietian. She carefully wiped his hand—which had nothing on it at all. "Master, next time you kill someone, don't do it yourself. It's easy to get your hands dirty."
"Mmm. I'll listen to you."
Xiao Jietian waved his hand, and the surrounding bloody smell along with Blood River Heavenly Venerable's corpse were instantly erased from between heaven and earth.