Chapter 381 ·Blood-colored Lotus
Chapter 381: Blood-colored Lotus
“Is this the Blood Lake?”
The moment Zhou Ming saw the lake, thick and viscous like molten lava yet crimson like blood, his expression instantly turned somewhat grim.
During the formation of the Blood Sea Secret Realm, some Sea Beasts had accidentally been swallowed by the Secret Realm. Under the erosion of the special energy contained within the Secret Realm, those Sea Beasts had eventually transformed into beings similar to undead creatures.
To describe them more specifically, they were like the Blood Corpses of myth and legend, possessing not only immensely powerful physical bodies but also astonishing regenerative abilities.
The Blood Lake was precisely where Blood Corpses gathered, and there were even Blood Corpses here comparable to Transcendent experts.
Just as Zhou Ming was recalling the information about the Blood Lake, a tremendous explosion suddenly erupted not far away.
“Ghost King?”
Several kilometers away, blood resembling crimson clouds spread across an area several hundred meters wide. At times, it surged like towering waves, and at others, it transformed into various weapons.
This was the Blood Beast of a Crimson Apostle after advancing to a Blood Lord, ultimately becoming a lifeform composed entirely of blood.
Under normal circumstances, it remained inside the Blood Lord's body, flowing through the blood vessels like ordinary blood while also serving as the energy source for the Blood Lord's spells.
When fighting at full strength, it could also transform into something similar to a domain, controlling Beast Tamers' beasts that had already become blood to fight.
It could be said that a Blood Lord's beasts were far more bizarre than those of other professions.
If that blood entered an enemy's body, then whether they lived or died would no longer be under their own control.
The Blood Corpse fighting Ghost King was an enormous crab nearly ten meters wide.
The blood-red giant crab, shrouded in deathly aura, had long since lost the instincts of a normal living creature. Facing the unexpectedly intruding Ghost King, it fought desperately.
Its gigantic blood-red pincers swung about casually, causing the air to erupt with piercing sonic booms.
Not only were the pincers immensely powerful and razor-sharp, but the sound produced when they collided also vaguely carried the effect of interfering with Spiritual Power.
As the one fighting the giant crab, Ghost King was undoubtedly affected far more severely than Zhou Ming, who was several kilometers away.
“Ghost King, since you've already drawn the Blood Corpses' attention, then I'll have no choice but to take this opportunity to escape.”
Zhou Ming had no intention of helping Ghost King just because they knew each other. Instead, seeing countless Blood Corpses being drawn toward Ghost King, he immediately chose to seize the opportunity to leave.
Although the Blood Lake was dangerous, it was also very close to the core region of the Blood Sea Secret Realm. As long as he left the Blood Lake, he could enter the Secret Realm's core ahead of time and obtain the Bloodspring Spirit Liquid.
Zhou Ming looked back and saw that a second Transcendent-rank Blood Corpse had already awakened from the Blood Lake, along with a large number of Blood Corpses whose strength rivaled Professional Rank experts.
Seeing this situation, Zhou Ming did not waste any more time. Who knew how many Blood Corpses were hidden within the viscous Blood Lake? He did not want any unexpected accidents to occur.
The next moment, Zhou Ming's body began to blur into intangibility as he merged into the surrounding shadows and swiftly slipped away.
However, before he had gone very far, he discovered a lotus that looked as though it had been carved entirely from red crystal, drifting gently upon the Blood Lake.
Compared to the filthy and tainted aura of the Blood Lake, the blood-colored lotus carried an additional touch of elegance and sacred purity.
Rising unstained from the mud—those words perfectly described the unknown Blood Lotus before him.
The reason Zhou Ming stopped was because the snake swarm within his Beast Space was continuously transmitting a feeling of yearning.
“The Blood Sea Secret Realm was formed through the fusion of a spatial fragment and a fallen Blood Clan Legend. It's only natural that it would give birth to special treasures.”
Although Zhou Ming did not know what effect the Blood Lotus before him possessed, the yearning transmitted by the snake swarm was enough to prove that it would be of tremendous benefit to them.
After hesitating briefly, Zhou Ming decided to pick the Blood Lotus before leaving. As long as he did not encounter a Legendary-level existence, he still had considerable confidence in his ability to preserve his life.
As Zhou Ming emerged from the shadows, a blood-colored serpent phantom, almost tangible in form, appeared, intending to retrieve the Blood Lotus in the distance.
However, just as the blood-colored serpent phantom passed over the Blood Lake, pitch-black tentacles suddenly burst out from the lake one after another.
The tentacles were black as ink, their surfaces unnaturally slick, giving off an extremely nauseating feeling.
Before the blood-colored serpent phantom could even approach the Blood Lotus, it was shredded by the black tentacles, which devoured the Bloodline Energy contained within it.
“Just as expected.”
Upon seeing that such an extraordinary Blood Lotus had been able to grow safely upon the Blood Lake, Zhou Ming had already vaguely guessed that danger was hidden nearby. That was why he had used the blood-colored serpent phantom to harvest it first.
Before Zhou Ming could make another move, a creature resembling a sea urchin had already appeared before him. Its spherical body was covered with countless black, slimy tentacles.
“Screee...”
A piercing shriek rang out, and Zhou Ming instantly felt his sanity becoming somewhat chaotic as a filthy aura began to emerge within his Spiritual Sea.
“You're courting death.”
The Spiritual Sea was the core origin of a Beast Tamer and also the place where his snake swarm was sealed.
This unknown creature had actually attempted to pollute his Spiritual Sea using such a bizarre method, immediately causing anger to rise within Zhou Ming.
Unwilling to waste time, he directly entered his Serpent Emperor Form. His body transformed into a half-human, half-serpent shape, while a blood-colored crown appeared above his head.
As the emperor of the Spirit Entity Molting Snake race, he also held authority over the wills of the Spirit Entity Molting Snakes and all subordinate snake races.
The Snake Swarm Will surged forth like a mighty torrent, instantly sweeping away the filthy aura that had appeared within his mind.
Seeing that its ability had failed, the bizarre sea-urchin-like creature immediately lashed out with its tentacles, attempting to entangle Zhou Ming.
“Inkband, Colorful Scales.”
The enormous Colorful Scales and Inkband appeared simultaneously on Zhou Ming's left and right.
Without needing Zhou Ming's instructions, the shadows carrying Inkband's freezing attribute instantly enveloped the creature. The omnipresent shadows combined with the freezing attribute directly immobilized the bizarre creature as it flailed its tentacles.
Meanwhile, Colorful Scales had already raised the upper half of its body. As its bottomless gigantic maw opened, snake venom poured out like a torrential downpour.
Without Inkband's assistance, the opponent might still have had a chance to dodge.
But in a life-and-death battle, there were no ifs.
The moment the pitch-black venom, resembling Blackwater, landed upon the creature, the terrifying snake venom immediately began dissolving its body.
Once its ability to pollute Spiritual Will had failed, this bizarre creature had no means whatsoever to resist Zhou Ming's attacks.
As its body dissolved while it remained powerless to resist, the bizarre creature continuously let out ear-piercing shrieks.
However, every attack that attempted to pollute Spiritual Will was ultimately blocked by the ripples released from the blood-colored crown.
In the end, the bizarre creature that had obstructed Zhou Ming from harvesting the Blood Lotus dissolved completely under the snake venom, becoming nothing more than a puddle of black liquid.
“The two of you work quite well together.”
Zhou Ming was extremely satisfied with Inkband and Colorful Scales' performance.
One specialized in offense while the other excelled at control. Together, they perfectly complemented each other's abilities, producing an effect far greater than the sum of their parts.
Upon hearing their master's praise, Colorful Scales and Inkband, who had only recently developed intelligence, became exceptionally excited.
However, this was not the time for celebration. After recalling Inkband and Colorful Scales back into the Beast Space, Zhou Ming harvested the unknown Blood Lotus.
Afterward, he immediately accelerated his pace and left the Blood Lake.
Not long after Zhou Ming departed, the somewhat disheveled Ghost King finally managed to break free from the encirclement of the Blood Corpses.
“This is...”
Seeing the black liquid floating upon the lake's surface, along with the snake venom that had not yet completely dissipated, the handsome yet demonic-looking Ghost King immediately frowned.
From what he knew, among the Transcendent experts who had entered the Blood Sea Secret Realm, there were very few who specialized in using poison, let alone poison this terrifying.
“Could it be that someone secretly infiltrated the Blood Sea Secret Realm?”
With that thought flashing through his mind, Ghost King could not help but become suspicious.
However, before he could think any further, the pursuing Blood Corpses behind him forced him to flee the area as quickly as possible.
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