I casually reached into my spatial pouch and pulled out a bottle of healing medicine, downing it in large gulps. Soon, a warm essence, like long-awaited sweet dew, began to nourish my exhausted and aching body. The Dou Qi and stamina, nearly depleted from forceful exertion, recovered at a gratifying speed.

Jian Li also managed to swallow a couple of mouthfuls of the medicine, settling his turbulent breath! Nalan Qiushui’s strength was terrifyingly formidable. Of course, this was also related to the terrain we chose. Had we faced Nalan Qiushui’s Xuanwu Shield elsewhere, we would have stood a chance to evade the impact instead of being knocked back so miserably.

However, the narrowness of the passage had effectively delayed Nalan Qiushui and his group from entering the Sacred Domain space, buying precious time for Feng Yuanming and Yun Ju, and the others.

But as for what the Sacred Domain space truly held, none of us knew, and to this moment, we still hadn't received any sound transmission from Yun Ju. (Sound Transmission: As the name suggests, it allows voice to be transmitted to a designated receiver even from a thousand li away—equivalent to a mobile phone in the world of Marfa. However, it is a special magical artifact left over from ancient times, crafted using unique spatial magic, the method of creation long lost. These artifacts are exceedingly rare; the Yun family’s Sound Transmission artifact only has four uses left! The Yun family would not deploy it lightly unless absolutely necessary.) One thing was certain: Yun Ju and the others had not yet found the Scarlet Blood Demon Sword or the Blade of Destiny. This sent a wave of anxiety through Jian Li and me. As soon as our bodies recovered, we immediately activated our movement techniques and chased toward the end of the passage. At this moment, time was extremely precious for everyone; whoever found the Scarlet Blood Demon Sword first would be the ultimate victor.

We quickly passed through the long, narrow passage, emerging into a space resembling a palace. The surroundings were constructed from dark-brown stone walls, equally covered in various bas-relief carvings. But at this moment, Jian Li and I were in no mood to decipher what those carvings depicted. As we flew onward, we meticulously scanned our surroundings. The area was deserted, clearly some sort of corridor within the palace, stretching deep into the interior. From far off, we could faintly hear a strange sound; upon careful listening, we could vaguely discern sounds of eating, drinking, the whoosh of Dou Qi cutting through the air, and the humming whine of magic.

Could it be that Feng Yuanming and the others had been caught? A jolt of dread shot through Jian Li and me; if that were the case, it would be disastrous. We instantly pushed to full speed, racing toward the source of the sound.

Roar! From the distance came a series of earth-shattering roars. I couldn't identify the creature making the sound, but I was certain it wasn't human.

Could there be some terrifying Demon Beast dwelling within the Sacred Domain space! Jian Li and I paled instantly. If several more terrifying figures like the Yellow Springs Sect Master appeared, perhaps all dozen or so of us would perish here.

In the blink of an eye, we rushed to the source of the noise, and the scene before us astonished us.

Heavens, what kind of monster was that? Not far off, two colossal, mountain-sized monsters were roaring madly. Their height was nearly comparable to the Yellow Springs Sect Master. They were entirely encased in thick, reddish-brown hide armor, but their massive arms were completely disproportionate to their powerful torsos—thick, long, and wrapped with sinews that writhed like tiny snakes, causing a chilling sensation. Their hands terminated in five sharp, long claws. Just looking at them made one’s scalp tingle, imagining the horrific fate of anyone caught in those talons.

At that moment, one of the giant monsters was roaring furiously, swinging its massive arms up and down like a highly skilled martial arts master, savagely clawing at the dozen figures beside it—upon closer inspection, these were Feng Yuanming, Yun Ju, and Nalan Qiushui and his group.

Behind that monster, the second one remained motionless, guarding the passage, its blood-red eyes fixed intently on Yun Ju and the others, clearly preventing anyone from exploiting the first monster’s defense to break through further into the passage’s end.

Although the situation wasn't entirely clear, even a fool could piece together the general outline: Feng Yuanming and his party had clearly reached this point under our cover, only to be blocked by these two monsters, and Nalan Qiushui’s group, arriving later, had caught up to them.

Perhaps their shared objective forced the originally hostile three factions to cooperate once more, jointly confronting the powerful enemy.

Nalan Qiushui, Luo Xiaohong, and Tian Moyin were all exceptionally skilled Grandmaster-level masters, yet the monster's reaction speed was astonishingly fast; its claw strikes were almost impossible to track. Even the combined efforts of Nalan Qiushui and Luo Xiao left them struggling for survival, looking utterly battered.

"It's a Twin-Headed King Kong," Jian Li exclaimed in shock, though immediately followed by confusion, "But why is it only one-headed?"

"That's not a Twin-Headed King Kong; it's a Blood Zombie." The familiar appearance suddenly triggered a memory of a monster I had encountered in Legend long ago. The exterior of the Blood Zombie was extremely similar to the Twin-Headed King Kong and the Twin-Headed Blood Fiend, differing only in having a single head. In Legend, these monsters usually appeared on the Path of the Red Moon's Choice or the Red Moon Corridor. I never expected to find one in the Marfa world, especially within the Sacred Domain space.

In my memory, although the Blood Zombie wasn't as powerful as the Twin-Headed King Kong or the Twin-Headed Blood Fiend, if one's level and equipment weren't sufficient, a head-on collision would surely result in death.

"Blood Zombie?" Jian Li looked bewildered; clearly, this creature was rare in the Marfa Continent, as even someone with Jian Li's knowledge didn't recognize it. But I had no time to explain now: "If it were a Twin-Headed King Kong, Elder Feng and Elder Yun would already be dead."

"No time to worry about that now; they can't hold on much longer." Jian Li shot forward, and I quickly followed. In an instant, we closed the distance by over twenty meters. Nine golden dragon shadows roared out, tracing nine strange arcs as they struck around the Blood Zombie’s body.

Roar! Seemingly sensing the imminent danger, the Blood Zombie's terrifying monster hand suddenly flipped, unleashing a blurred afterimage!

Boom! Rumbled! As if colliding with an invisible wall of air, the nine dragon shadows were instantly repelled backward, shooting toward Jian Li. The sudden massive change startled both Jian Li and me. Fortunately, Jian Li reacted quickly, drawing his Frost Condensing Greatsword remotely to guide the momentum. The nine dragon shadows instantly changed direction; just as they were about to strike Jian Li, they executed a light upward swirl, soaring above our heads where they began to circle, like nine falcons hovering in the sky, ready to dive upon their prey.

However, this brief exchange caused both Jian Li and me to break out in a cold sweat. The monster possessed terrifying strength; it shattered Jian Li's Dragon Shadow attack with just a wave of its hand and nearly caused Jian Li to perish under his own signature technique.

As if by unspoken agreement, simultaneously with Jian Li's attack, Nalan Qiushui also launched a streak of golden light, swift as lightning, arcing toward the opening beneath the Blood Zombie's armpit, exposed as it attacked Jian Li. This was the Xuanwu Dou Qi for which the Nalan family of the Xuanwu Alliance was renowned.

Roar! Seemingly realizing the lethality of Nalan Qiushui's move, the monster violently stomped its thick legs, causing the ground to explode upward, kicking up countless shards of rock and dust. The Blood Zombie’s massive body shot up like a projectile from a cannon, soaring a full twenty meters high, before abruptly plunging downward, headfirst, striking the ceiling of the subterranean chamber. It slammed toward Nalan Qiushui and the others with astonishing speed. Nobody had anticipated such agility and swiftness from the seemingly clumsy massive body.

Its long arms swept through the air, carving a bright white arc, the resulting turbulent energy scraping everyone’s bodies as if sliced by knives. Such terrifying momentum caused everyone's faces to drain of color, forcing them to desperately scatter and evade.

Clang! Rumbled! Several afterimages flashed like lightning in the intense friction. Debris and dust flew everywhere. The ground where they had been standing was now gouged into a large pit, a horrifying sight.

"Damn it! This strength is too monstrous!" I exclaimed in shock.

Jian Li, Nalan Qiushui, and the others were equally aghast. Such overwhelming power and rapid speed, while perhaps not equal to the Yellow Springs Sect Master, made defeating this monster with the limited combat strength of the dozen people present seem like an impossibility.

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But the current situation made avoidance impossible; if they couldn't break through the monsters’ defense, they couldn't proceed deeper. If that happened, all their previous efforts would be wasted.

"Roar!" The Blood Zombie bellowed like thunder. Its claw struck nothing but did not pause. The moment it landed, it shot forward again toward Feng Yuanming, the closest target. Its long, sharp claws reached Feng Yuanming’s chest in a flash.

"Ah!" Facing the Blood Zombie's ghostly speed, Feng Yuanming could not evade at all; his face contorted in alarm. But with a fierce grit of his teeth, he advanced instead of retreating, suddenly ducking his body low, thrusting the Frost Condensing Greatsword like lightning directly toward the Blood Zombie's abdomen. This change in attack was executed with extreme speed.

But he was fast; the Blood Zombie was faster. A blurred afterimage appeared as the monster's other massive claw shot out like lightning, grasping the Greatsword Feng Yuanming had stabbed out with, while the first claw strike continued its momentum unabated. Feng Yuanming was about to be caught dead center.

................................................................................................ "Die." By now, I had closed within twenty meters of the Blood Zombie. My Azure Sword danced lightly, and two dragon shadows shot out like lightning, tearing through the air. Their shocking speed caused the blurred forms of the dragon shadows to twist strangely in the air, accompanied by sharp, piercing whistles, striking directly at the Blood Zombie's face.

Jian Li's nine dragon shadows followed immediately, slashing toward the Blood Zombie's claw aimed at Feng Yuanming.

Roar! Halfway through its grab, the Blood Zombie's terrifying monster claw abruptly changed direction mid-swing, turning sharply like the wind, whipping out sheets of claw shadows.

Bang bang bang! All nine dragon shadows were met head-on and knocked back! They were all repelled, while the two dragon shadows I sent toward its face were evaded by a mere turn of its head. Feng Yuanming took the opportunity to retreat, but the Frost Condensing Greatsword in his hand was violently snatched away by the Blood Zombie.

Perhaps enraged by the Dragon Shadow attacks from Jian Li and me, the Blood Zombie waved its left hand. The Frost Condensing Greatsword it had just snatched from Feng Yuanming was hurled out like a throwing knife, streaking like lightning toward my chest.

I quickly dodged sideways. Whoosh! A fierce gust of wind brushed past, nearly grazing my chest. The missed Frost Condensing Greatsword struck the solid wall beside me, embedding itself up to the hilt. This attested to the horrifying force behind the throw.

Almost simultaneously with throwing the sword, the Blood Zombie's powerful body charged toward me with terrifying speed.

"Jian Li and I will attract its attention with the Starry Magic Sound!" Jian Li roared. "You all look for an opening!" Jian Li, myself, and Moyin could effectively disrupt the Blood Zombie’s focus from medium to long range. Taking advantage of this, Nalan Qiushui, Hong Tian, and Luo Xiao would have sufficient opportunities to launch a decisive strike against the creature. Theoretically, Jian Li's strategy was highly viable.

"Good! You two keep it busy!" At this moment, no one cared about their past grievances; cooperation was the only path to success.