It seemed the blood-soaked figure in front of him, realizing he couldn't take down Ryan quickly, decided to stop circling and instead boost his power in one go, then return to crush Ryan, this little bug, decisively.
Ryan naturally wouldn't sit idly by; he tried to unleash every offensive spell he knew upon the blood-soaked figure standing in the middle of the hall. But regrettably, all attacks were blocked by a barrier of blood, like a waterfall. Whether it was life magic or nature magic, even the most powerful lightning magic returned without effect, merely creating ripples, large and small, on the barrier.
In Ryan's vision, a gloomy, murky, dark red blood cloud slowly formed above the blood-soaked figure's head, churning continuously. Ryan even felt countless wronged souls wailing within it.
"I can't let this go on," Ryan thought. "It seems I can only risk trying that Daoist spell I haven't fully mastered yet. If that doesn't work, then running away is my only option."
With that thought, Ryan took a deep breath and drew out Clinwe's Tooth. He bit his finger, drew a rune on the hilt, then gripped the hilt with both hands and thrust it directly at the blood-soaked figure.
Indeed, this blood barrier wasn't entirely omnipotent; it offered little defense against physical attacks. The blade easily sank into the blood-soaked figure's body. However, unlike what he expected, Ryan felt as if the blade had pierced cotton, light and yielding, making it impossible to exert any force.
The blood-soaked figure felt this attack and turned its faceless, organ-less head towards Ryan, but Ryan could discern a mocking expression on it.
"Your little knife is quite interesting, but it's far from being able to harm me." After a booming, mocking laugh, the blood-soaked figure expected to see Ryan's expression of panic and despair, but instead, he only saw Ryan reveal a relieved smile.
The blood-soaked figure felt a bad premonition and was about to do something when Ryan opened his mouth and uttered a Chinese word. If the blood-soaked figure understood Chinese, it would have known that the word Ryan spoke represented a terrifying power: Heavenly Punishment.
As Ryan's voice fell, streaks of purple lightning flew from the black hole above the blood-soaked figure's head, striking directly at it. Unlike Ryan's previous attacks, the wounds left on the blood-soaked figure this time could no longer heal.
Ryan felt the tearing pain in his body from the electric current transmitted through the blade, but a sigh of relief escaped him. This was his ultimate trump card: summoning heavenly punishment lightning to attack the enemy. Because the skill was still unpracticed, Ryan could currently only rely on the blade inserted into the enemy's body as a medium to guide the Heavenly Punishment lightning to its target.
Fortunately, the blood-soaked figure, in its quest for power, had opened a portal connecting its space to the outside world, allowing external energy to flow in. This also conveniently enabled Ryan to communicate with the outside world.
Heavenly Punishment is actually a very special Daoist technique. On one hand, it harms all sentient beings near the target while attacking, and the more evil they are, the greater the damage. However, even with a great deal of merit protecting someone like Ryan, there will still be some damage, and it cannot be completely exempted.
On the other hand, the release of Heavenly Punishment places very high demands on the caster themselves, because communicating with heaven and earth requires absolutely precise mana control and also requires the caster to possess sufficient power to guide the descent of the Heavenly Punishment lightning.
The inherited jade talisman Ryan received belonged to the final legacy left by a former sect master of the Shenxiao School during his lifetime. The content of the inheritance was very detailed, so Ryan also possessed mana control capabilities far beyond his current level, which meant he had no problem in this regard.
However, in terms of his own power, Ryan still had a certain gap from the requirements for using Heavenly Punishment, which resulted in him suffering severe damage himself when attacking the blood-soaked figure, even if this damage was much smaller compared to the damage the blood-soaked figure sustained. But as the weaker party, Ryan could only choose to endure all of this, as there was no other way.
This blood-soaked figure, who called himself the Blood God, must have already possessed the former Witch King on his way back, which is why the Witch King's daughter said that after that journey to seek immortality, he was no longer himself. Unfortunately, before she could investigate the specific situation, she was tragically discovered and turned into a corpse cocoon.
Previously, when this blood-soaked figure was just the Bloodstone, it used the Witch King's body as a shield to obscure the heavenly secrets.
Fortunately, Ryan had just used lightning magic to separate the Witch King's body from the Bloodstone's true form, which completely exposed it to Heavenly Punishment. And the powerful purple Heavenly Punishment lightning was this world's ultimate reckoning with it.
Humans are insignificant between heaven and earth, and even a powerful figure like the blood-soaked man in front of him was no exception. Under the assault of the Heavenly Punishment lightning, Ryan could visibly see the blood-soaked man's power constantly weakening. The paralyzing effect of the Heavenly Punishment also prevented him from escaping the attack by closing the black hole connecting to the outside world.
The lightning grew denser and denser, eventually forming a towering pillar of lightning that pierced through the entire hall, enveloping the blood-soaked figure. The dazzling electric light forced Ryan to squint his eyes. He felt waves of power, each stronger than the last, surging up his arms from the blood-soaked figure, like a great hammer pounding his heart with every strike, making him feel as if his heart would leap out of his throat at any moment.
Finally, with one last burst, all the lightning disappeared. Ryan then discovered that the blood-soaked figure had turned into a charred remains, and Clinwe's Tooth, which he had plunged into the blood-soaked figure's body, was now just a hilt.
"It seems this battle also incurred significant losses," Ryan thought. With a clang, the hilt slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Ryan then spat out a mouthful of blood and slumped onto the ground. He realized that his injuries this time were more severe than ever before. Fortunately, after this battle, under the stimulation of the Heavenly Punishment, his meridians had also become much tougher. He estimated that he would be even stronger after recovering.
Because green snake, as a pet connected to Ryan's soul, had voluntarily taken on part of the damage during the recent Heavenly Punishment, she temporarily lost consciousness and fell from Hermione's body. After the blood-soaked figure was eliminated by the Heavenly Punishment, Hermione regained consciousness.
"Ryan!" Hermione, regaining consciousness, instinctively rushed into the hall to check the situation, only to witness Ryan spitting blood and collapsing to the ground. She quickly ran over to check on Ryan's condition.
"I'm fine, it's just congealed blood, I'll be much better after spitting it out." Ryan tried to conceal his injuries, but his pale face, trembling body, and lacerated left arm made the concealment futile.
Perhaps Hermione's rush into the hall had stirred the air. The charred remains of the blood-soaked figure rapidly disintegrated into a pile of ash on the floor. Just as Ryan was about to step forward to examine it, a streak of blood-red light suddenly shot out from the pile of ashes on the ground, heading straight for the Witch King's husk that had just been flung to the floor.
Ryan initially tried to intercept the blood-red light, but his injured body caused him to react half a beat too slow. As a result, the blood-red light plunged into the body on the ground right before their eyes.
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