âIt seems there is something special inside him...â
At the same time, Yan Moxuanâs body blurred.
And he appeared directly above Li Feng, blood sword already reformed in his grip.
With a vicious overhead slash, he brought it down.
"Crimson Moon!"
A bloody moon image manifested behind the strike as the crimson blade descended with terrifying intensity, leaving a trail of warped space and corrosive mist.
Seeing this,
Li Fengâs hundred stars burn wildly inside his body.
His muscles bulged as he chopped downward to meet the crescent head-on.
CRACK!
The blood-red arc shattered like glass as sparks of silver and crimson exploded violently between them.
Then without hesitation,
Li Fengâs body lunged forward like a cannon, his arm blazing with silvery light.
"Star Impact!"
Yan Moxuan didnât dare take that strike head-on again.
He could feel and already experience how lethal the condensed silver power in that attack was.
...But he didnât dodge.
The moment the punch was about to land, a grotesque grin split his face as his torso suddenly split open like blooming petals, as his ribs parting wide.
WHOOSH!
"!"
Li Fengâs eyes widened in shock as his fist went straight through the gaping hole in Yan Moxuanâs chest.
"Got you," Yan Moxuan whispered, his voice dripping with malicious glee.
The parted flesh them snapped shut around Li Fengâs arm like a living mouth.
SNAP!
Then thick, blood-red tendrils erupted from inside Yan Moxuanâs body, wrapping around Li Fengâs limb with terrifying strength.
They dug into his skin, pulsing with corrosive energy that tried to burrow straight into his meridians.
At the same time, Yan Moxuan raised his crimson sword high, the blade humming with sinister red qi.
"It seems youâve gotten weaker, Li Feng."
SLASH!
The blood sword came down viciously toward Li Fengâs trapped shoulder, aiming to sever his arm completely.
At that critical moment, Li Fengâs eyes flashed with cold determination.
The hundred stars inside his body spun violently, releasing a violent burst of silver star energy from his trapped arm.
BOOM!
The sudden surge forced the blood tendrils to loosen just enough.
Li Feng twisted his body with raw power and ripped his arm free with a sickening tear of flesh.
The crimson sword slashed down, missing his shoulder by a hairâs breadth and carving a deep, sizzling gash across his side instead.
"Ugh!"
Li Feng grunted in pain as corrosive blood energy tried to invade the new wound.
But the Starforge Body reacted instantly.
Silver light flared along the cut, burning away the invading threads before they could take root.
Yan Moxuan clicked his tongue in annoyance.
The parted flesh of his torso was already closing as if nothing had happened.
"Tch. Still resisting... How annoying."
He didnât give Li Feng even a moment to breathe.
His body blurred once more and transforming mid-motion.
His right arm melted into a writhing mass of blood tentacles, each tip ending in a razor-sharp bone blade.
Li Feng dodged the first few lashes, but one still sliced deep into his leg.
SLASH!
SPURT!
And another tentacle wrapped around his waist, trying to drag him closer.
"Star Impact!"
But Li Feng roared through the pain and slammed his palm into the mass of tentacles.
BOOOM!!
Silver light exploded, shredding several tentacles into mist but more immediately grew back... thicker and faster than before.
Yan Moxuan laughed, the sound echoing with multiple overlapping voices.
"Hahaha! Struggle all you want! Every drop of your blood, every spark of your energy... I absorb it. And right now, you are feeding me, Li Feng!!"
Li Feng didnât reply as he continue to counter.
The tower trembled as the two clashed again and again.
Li Fengâs punches carried the force of falling stars, smashing chunks out of Yan Moxuanâs body, only for the flesh to reform instantly.
And Yan Moxuanâs attacks were insidious as those corrosive blood that tried to corrupt from within, and tentacles that sought to trap and consume.
But suddenly, Yan Moxuanâs eyes narrowed.
He paused mid-attack, head tilting slightly as if listening to that invisible voice once again.
"...Tch, I know."
His grin widened unnaturally, stretching from ear to ear as a strange, overlapping voice echoed out.
[Donât be so impatient. I even went out of my way to help you, who got trapped in here like an idiot.]
Then Yan Moxuan glanced toward the ice cocoon.
[But it seems delaying any longer might ruin the opportunity for your perfect rebirth huh...]
He looked back at Li Feng, his smile turning strange and creepy.
[Sorry, kid. It seems I have to end this quickly.]
Li Feng frowned at those words.
For some reason, he felt that whatever was standing before him was no longer the same person he had fought earlier.
And with those words, Yan Moxuanâs entire body began to change.
The red vein-like lines beneath his skin glowed brighter.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Bones split and reformed as his flesh expanded grotesquely.
The thing that had once been Yan Moxuan... was now something else entirely.
His body swelled to a towering height as multiple arms tore out from his torso... each one writhing, each one ending in either a jagged blood blade or a mass of twitching, clawed tendrils.
His chest pulsed, but not like a human heart.
It was more like a nest... a breeding pit of red qi.
Then multiple gaping mouths filled with large, sharp teeth appeared all over his body.
Yan Moxuanâs face was still there, still smiling... but it stretched too wide... and too wrong.
[Now this...]
The layered voice echoed, no longer trying to hide itself.
[...is a body worthy of eternity.]
A suffocating pressure descended upon the entire space.
At that overwhelming presence, Li Feng realized the truth...
...What he was facing was no longer Yan Moxuan.
It was something far worse.
Suddenly, a system notification appeared before his eyes.
[Ding!]
[Emergency Protocol Scan activated!]
[Ding!]
[Name: Yan Moxuan (âââââââ)]
[Title: 11th Emissary of Divine Blood, The Blood Moon, ???âs Second Calamity, âDivine Bloodâ ???]
Li Fengâs eyes widened and finally realized he been fighting against another Emissary of Divine Blood.
âDammit... another Emissary?!â
He couldnât help but feel like he had been running into these Emissary far too often.
And every single time, it was an unpleasant encounter.
Still, he had no choice but to prepare himself.
...He could sense a terrifying aura radiating from this monstrosity.
And his eye flicker slightly when he noticed the mention of... Divine Blood.
_
_
_
Meanwhile...
While Yan Moxuan and Li Feng were about to clash in their final confrontation,
Behind them, near the ice cocoon where Yue Lan rested,
The Divine Brick hovered protectively as it filled with worry for it master.
But seemingly unknown even to it... the dark floor suddenly rippled.
...Tiny, almost invisible strands of black liquid slowly emerged and pierced into the ice cocoon.