How many among them even know a single thing about Soul Path?" Crimson Soul spoke in derision.
Uru Tan He frowned.
His expression darted across the area.
Most of the Immortals had an utterly panicked expression; their focus seemed to be wavering.
Uru Tan He's eyes shone with a hint of purple, whilst generally observing an Immortal's Secrets and especially their apertures was an utmost offense; there was no helping it.
And as he did, shock appeared in his expression.
"Also. I forgot to say, but all those who are here and are currently suffering under this viral case.
Should be rather curious to know why I decided to come here exactly.
Well. Uru Tan He has in his possession a rather crucial Reputation Gu, and I am asking him to kindly hand it over.
If he does, I am willing to sign on a Spiritual Contract to leave immediately, and not bother any of you for another hundred years." Crimson Soul spoke sincerely.
And his words were actually genuine.
Infamy Gu required to ruin another's reputation as its material of refinement, whilst not quite as effective as directly murdering, forcing a Rank 8 Gu Master to hand over the Gu would be sufficient enough to gain some fuel.
Perhaps not quite enough for the lofty goal of refining Rank 8 Infamy Gu, but for Rank 7, it was sufficient.
While the rewards would be a lot fewer, the risks would also decrease proportionally.
Besides, nothing prevented him from repeating a similar stunt on another continent to elevate the Gu to Rank 8 later on.
Of course, those words carried more than this singular purpose.
Uru Tan He's eyelids trembled in rage.
"Why do you have such a long face? Oh. Right, I almost forgot." Crimson Soul squinted his eyes.
"If I am not mistaken. You were intending to use this event as an avenue to forcefully elevate Reputation to Rank 7, to then fuse it together with Lighter than Feather Gu to produce the Rank 8 Heavier than a Mountain.
Am I correct?" He tilted his head as he emphasized those last words.
Uru Tan He clenched his fists.
While Crimson Soul's arrival went against his plans, the situation was not as dire as it seemed.
For every villain, there often comes a hero to match them, as long as he becomes such a 'hero', refining Reputation Gu would be all the easier.
But no,w even if he decided to fight, and even if he won…
Would his reputation truly increase?
While the bystanders were not sure of the veracity of the demon's words, as long as they doubted him, it was enough to stall the refinement.
Hell.
The situation could turn even worse.
If he lost too miserably, and people treated him as a mere cowardly opportunist, he would not be surprised if his Reputation Gu degraded to become a Mortal Gu!
"Reputation is truly fleeting…" Uru Tan He sighed helplessly to himself.
His gaze turned livid as he realized another layer of his words.
"His words were said in just the perfect way to force a response on me, but even if I respond, in such a brilliant way that everybody believes in my words, what would be the point?" His gaze fell onto the other Immortals again.
Before hardening.
Every second he spent arguing was another second where he let Crimson Soul scheme go unimpeded.
He snorted coldly.
"I hold no Reputation Gu in my hands. Demonic scum! Do not slander me with your words." He roared in righteous fury.
He raised his claws towards Crimson Soul and forcefully pulled him.
But Crimson Soul merely kept laughing heartily.
Whilst this occurred, the remaining twelve demonic Immortals rapidly descended, their figures spreading even further chaos.
The Immortals were not foolish.
In their current situation, staying any longer would be foolish, and so all the Immortals scattered in all directions.
Yet.
Despite this, the Demonic Immortals did not chase after them.
Instead, they turned their gazes towards four Immortals.
Xing Gu Tou, Uru Cha Jing, Big Brain Daoist, Liu Lang Zhe.
Unlike other Immortals, Rank 7 Gu Masters remained unaffected by the plague, or rather, Hui Gui Yu did not dare to target them lightly.
Even so, two of them, upon noticing the situation, immediately ran without looking back.
Only the remaining 4 lingered there.
"Uru Cha Jing, do not forget your promise!" Liu Lang Zhe tilted his blade and aimed at the horde.
The twelve Immortals acted together.
A man with a Rank 6 Cultivation, pale skin, and a tall nose suddenly unleashed his aura.
Cold red energy flowed through.
And a horde of bats manifested from his aperture; those bats stood in the way between the blade and the group.
Hundreds of thousands of bats screamed in agony as they perished, but their function had been fulfilled.
They exploded into a red mist.
Using that mist.
One of the Immortals created several black daggers perfectly concealed, which were then shot towards the four Rank 7 Immortals.
Those Rank 7 Immortals were distracted, as they were preparing their own moves.
They were forced to cancel them and retreat backwards, but the twelve demonic Immortals had no such concerns.
Their auras flickered and expanded visibly.
A myriad of light beams were shot, aiming towards the four Immortals.
…
Gu Sha Ju turned towards the body of Qin Kon Jian. He stared gleefully at the splashed organs and the living tissue.
He extracted everything out of value from his corpse.
After finishing such an arduous task.
He then flew towards the intersection point between the Red Dragon River and the Jade Dragon River.
A point surrounded by Rank 6 to 7 Water Path materials that he gleefully took.
He began to swim among fish, killing or capturing any desolate beast in sight and adding them to his aperture.
As for the war that was currently happening?
He could not care less!
He was not loyal to either side; he merely aided Crimson Soul because he wanted to gain an opportunity to steal some resources.
…
Crimson Soul raised his fist towards Uru Tan He, his body flying like a meteor.
But at the last instant.
[You are Green]
He froze on his tracks.
Or rather, whilst his body kept moving, he could no longer change direction properly.
Uru Tan He merely avoided him.
And then used that opportunity to prepare a pair of attacks, red and blue mixed in his two hands to create purple.
Which was shot towards his back.
Crimson Soul merely chuckled.
A red orb appeared in the center of his body, around the stomach.
And as if his whole body was but a projection.
His figure vanished, and the purple beam passed through his previous location.
All that lingered was that crimson orb.
Then.
From that orb, a figure rapidly took shape. Crimson Soul's flesh and bones appeared in mere instants.
As he became whole again.
Crimson Soul smirked.
Suddenly, his expression changed as he saw Uru Tan He stretching his hand, pointing at his…
A primal scream came out of Crimson Soul as his eyes were forcefully gouged out, and an intense blue aura took place.
"Hmph! You may turn intangible all you want, but as long as I know where you will appear, it is nothing!"
"King Crimson!" Crimson Soul shouted, moments after.
He flickered backwards, retreating ten kilometers away.
He touched his two eye sockets with his two palms, and a soft pinkish light came out.
Red steam flowed out and then.
He removed his palms; a pair of new eyes had appeared.
"Is that so? Give me your best shot, then." Crimson Soul chuckled, he openly stretched his hands, and opened his eyes wide.
Seemingly inviting Uru Tan He to remove them again.
He chuckled.
"Do not try to deceive me with such blatant lies; that ability of yours only works within a certain distance."
Uru Tan He snorted coldly; he did not even bother to give a reply after his lie had been uncovered.
Red, green, and blue.
The three colors converged, flowing more and more vibrantly. Until they became entirely white.
A white pulse was shot towards Crimson Soul.
Who widened his eyes, there was no way to avoid this attack.
[You are pale white]
The blood in his lips rapidly drained, and the sensibility of his skin and muscles rapidly vanished.
They became rigid, akin to those of a corpse.
Using that brief period of weakness.
Several purple projectiles were shot, piercing through his organs in several spots.
Crimson Soul once more retreated backwards, but Uru Tan He gave chase.
And yet despite the danger, Crimson Soul's smile only widened as the time went by.
Uru Tan He's unease could not help but rise and rise, but even now, he could not discern the cause.
"It is about time." He smiled widely.
He clenched his fists and rapidly converted his Immortal Essence Beads into a dense red mist that only grew thicker and thicker by the second.
Ignoring the costs, he summoned an enormous army of Blood Phantoms.
Uru Tan He wariness reached its peak. Since the beginning of the battle, he had not used a single Blood Phantom.
Why did he change his approach so suddenly?
Crimson Soul's smile widened.
…
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Thunder repeatedly fell inside a desolate land, tainted by red and blue.
A fat Immortal stood amidst the desolate plains with gritted teeth.
"DIE! DIE DIE! WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" Several Immortal strikes were unleashed with the power to devastate Heaven and Earth, and yet.
No matter how much power he employed, even Immortal Gu were utterly useless.
Unable to even scratch any of those Blood Phantoms.
And it was not just brute power.
Sealing methods, isolating methods, and defensive methods were all like thin air.
Unable to even harm in the slightest those ghosts.
Such a despairing situation was not exclusive to him.
Most Immortals there also felt the same fear and desolation.
…
Qin Jiji stared at the horde of Blood Phantoms, her expression rather peculiar.
"Now…How do I twist this into a believable story?" She muttered to herself whilst touching her chin.
White flames appeared from her fingertips effortlessly.
With a single gesture, she boiled over ten ghosts with a single movement.
"I guess I could say Qin Jiji had some epiphany or some great moment. Maybe I could also use this as an excuse to reveal the secrets of Yin and Yang Manipulation to her." Jing Sheng Yang thought to himself.
He sighed bitterly.
In reality. It had been quite some time since he had taken over Qin Jiji's body, but the transformation was not complete yet.
He could take control over her for larger and larger periods of time.
On each occasion.
Even then, for the moment, Qin Jiji was still majorly in charge.
More than 80% of the time, she controlled the body.
Every time he appeared, he edited her memories into reasonable tales.
She could not know the truth, or else, she might decide to destroy her Gu, kill herself, or reveal the truth to others; any of such measures had to be stopped at all costs.
…
Le Tu was praying silently.
With his eyes closed in a massive desert.
[Ashes to ashes, dust to dust]
Particles of dust fell on the army of ghosts, rapidly disintegrating them.
This sandstorm rapidly grew in size, devouring more and more of those so-called Blood Phantoms.
A few minutes later.
He took a deep breath.
Without even asking for payment, he decisively entered into TYH and shared his discovery.
Likewise, several Immortals who had not lost their wits entirely were communicating in a frenzy in TYH, sharing their discoveries and understanding of Soul Path.
Some even succeeded in creating a counter, but it was not enough.
Without an Immortal Gu or Dao Marks to support them, those methods were like using a drop of water to extinguish a wildfire.
In other words.
One could not save themselves by purely copying their peers, but had to integrate their own Immortal Gu in those Killer Moves, and that was if they were similar enough.
In most cases, they had to create a completely new Killer Move from scratch.
As for those who lacked Immortal Gu?
Well…They were basically dead by this point; there was nothing anybody could do to save them, other than lending their Gu or entering into their apertures personally to destroy those Blood Phantoms.
But who could have enough strength to spare in this current situation?
Moreover, who would trust a random Immortal to enter their aperture?
In that moment.
An unexpected savior appeared.
Crimson Soul.
"Listen to me. All the Immortals who do not belong to the Uru Clan can heed my call.
Those who decide to help me in exterminating them will have their curses lifted temporarily.
And once I get rid of them thoroughly, I will remove the curse for good of all those who aided me.
That is my promise."
Those shameless words were spoken in TYH.
And yet, no matter how shameless, many Immortals could not help but grow hesitant.