Chapter 373: A Show of Force
Stella glanced between Diana and the Nightrose guardian. She noticed the guardian's eyes were swirling with blood Qi as they examined Diana. His frown soon faded and was replaced with that stone-cold facade all old cultivators liked to wear. That it had been broken in the first place showed how Diana's presence deeply unnerved the man for some reason.
"I see you have awakened the Ravena Bloodline." The man's eyes stopped swirling, and his gaze became dull once more as if he were a corpse that had been worked to death. Heaven seemed to become alert at the mention of the bloodline as divine energy streaked through the sky and impacted the blood dome over the city, making it ripple.
Diana crossed her arms and bared her fangs, "What of it?"
"You're going to have to come with me," the Nightrose guardian said, releasing his soul pressure to pin them down. It flooded out of the man like a tide of suffocating bloodlust, painting the world slightly red.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Diana hissed through gritted teeth. Since they had both hit the 7th stage of the Star Core Realm, they were able to resist being forced to kneel at the man's feat, but only barely.
Stella grunted as she tensed every Qi-filled muscle in her body. The moment she felt close to succumbing to the pressure, her bloodline activated, and power subtly flowed into her soul, allowing her to maintain her dignity.
The Nightrose guardian ignored Diana's warning and weaved blood chains from his fingers that draped on the floor before stepping forward while holding out a section of the chain as if he were about to wrap it around Diana's body.
Despite the situation, Stella relaxed a little, noticing a familiar presence passing under their feet a second before anyone else. Ash's soul pressure erupted from below, followed by Spatial Qi crackling through the air. The Nightrose guardian's eyes widened. "Who dares?" he growled like an animal as a blood-red mist enveloped him, and his blood chains shifted into two longswords. He seemed to have changed his plan from capture to eliminating Diana as he desperately fought through Ash's soul pressure and raised his sword. "This pressure is commendable, but it's not enough to save you."
While Diana could remain standing by using the strength of her bloodline, she could not raise her arm to block the blood sword. Stella tried to intervene, but the Nightrose guardian's movements were swift—the blood swords weaved around her quickly conjured daggers and went straight for Diana's throat.