Chapter 1267: Alien Mutation

As Princess Siren faced Yu Yanluo, she said apologetically, "I had no choice in this matter; I hope you can forgive me."

Yu Yanluo, possessing demon tribe blood herself, felt a degree of empathy for Princess Siren's predicament and showed no anger whatsoever. "Our positions are different," she said. "There's no need for forgiveness or understanding. Be careful."

After speaking, she immediately summoned the "Thousand-Mile Rivers and Mountains Painting" and drew Princess Siren directly into it.

However, she showed no hint of joy. Instead, she vigilantly looked in another direction. A purple shadow flashed there, and Princess Siren had already reappeared.

Yu Yanluo glanced at the painting. "Puppetry?" she murmured.

Princess Siren, too, broke into a cold sweat. If she hadn't seen Yu Yanluo previously use the painting to absorb Blood Burst Arts and prepared for it, she would have been caught just now. Thinking of this, she felt even more guilty; Yu Yanluo had just used that very move to save her. Therefore, her subsequent attacks were much more lenient.

Meanwhile, Qiao Heng was clearly slacking off. He faced Yan Xuehen, who appeared to be the weakest, but made no progress for a long time, infuriating the other demon tribe experts. However, at this moment, they dared not provoke either of them. It was better that they helped tie up two combatants, lest they turn their attention to them later.

At this point, Jin Shi, Bear One, Bear Two, Prince Silver Shark, Duan Tiande, and Ma Huang, along with the various masters they each brought, jointly attacked Zu An.

Zu An's face was as calm as water. He directly used his Feather Robe Entangling Silk Hand to make Bear One and Bear Two's weapons violently collide. While their vital energy was in turmoil, he kicked each of them flying. He froze Jin Shi's legs with the Snowflake Divine Sword, preventing his Golden Roc's swift movement technique from being used, and knocked him down with a punch. At this moment, a slender sword suddenly emerged from the shadows behind Jin Shi. It was an assassination sword of the Night Elves. Zu An directly used his Lingxi Finger to flick the sword blade aside, then reached out to grab the opponent's head.

Duan Tiande reacted quickly. He shrank into the shadows and disappeared, reappearing in the shadow behind Zu An, truly impossible to guard against. Zu An snorted coldly, his entire body suddenly bursting into flames. The brilliant light eliminated any shadows in the vicinity, forcing Duan Tiande to retreat in a hurry.

At this moment, Ma Huang also attacked, transforming his entire being into a bloody mist that wrapped directly around Zu An's hand and then rapidly spread, attempting to engulf his entire body. Feeling a suction force coming from his arm, Zu An realized the opponent was clearly trying to drain his vital blood. Remembering the Mosquito Daoist from back then, Zu An felt a wave of disgust. He immediately activated the Taotie Heaven Devouring Art, and his entire arm seemed to transform into a black hole.

Ma Huang was instantly horrified. He found that not only could he not drain Zu An's vital blood, but a significant amount of his own cultivation was also being drained by Zu An. If he weren't certain Zu An was human, he might have suspected him of being a member of the blood race as well. Terrified, he tried to leave, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free from the suction. Despair filled his heart. "It's over," he thought. "After hunting eagles my whole life, I'm finally getting pecked in the eye."

Fortunately, at this moment, the other attackers charged again, distracting Zu An. This gave Ma Huang a moment to breathe. The red mist split into two, one portion remaining on Zu An's hand, and the other finally managing to escape. The remaining bloody mist then transformed back into Ma Huang's form. However, his face was pale, and he no longer had his previous swagger as he looked at Zu An with horror. In that brief moment of contact, he had nearly 20% of his cultivation drained. It would be strange if he weren't weakened now.

Seeing that Ma Huang had been saved, the other masters quickly retreated and, for a while, dared not act rashly. Just now, so many masters had been beaten and kicked by Zu An, almost immediately suffering significant losses. This person's aura and cultivation were clearly only at the ninth rank, similar to theirs. Why was his displayed combat power so vastly different?

While these masters were hesitant, Zu An also frowned slightly. With his current cultivation, he could easily defeat any one of them. However, there were too many opponents; if one person was restrained, other masters immediately took their place, preventing him from pressing his advantage. After all, these were the young generation's elites from various demon tribes. Each was different from a typical ninth-rank master; their foundations and methods were a cut above. When they combined forces, they were indeed quite troublesome.

At this moment, Jin Shi said in a deep voice, "From now on, we advance and retreat together! Don't give him a chance to defeat us one by one!"

"Alright!" The other demon tribe masters were all courageous individuals and had been provoked into ferocity. At this point, there was no turning back anyway. A desperate struggle might still offer a turning point, and they might even obtain the Divine Origin Stone or the undying medicine below. If they really retreated and were defeated one by one, they would have no burial place. Thinking of this, the group roared and charged forward again.

Zu An was also provoked into true fury and no longer held back. Soon, screams resounded as several guardian masters from various tribes were killed by him. But the others were also quite fierce; some guards even acted like suicidal fighters, using their bodies to block Zu An and create attack opportunities for their masters. The masters from various tribes grew more alarmed as they fought and, at the same time, regretted making this decision. But at this point, they could only grit their teeth and continue.

Soon, blood and flesh flew. The fresh blood stained the platform red, then, as if guided by something, it slowly flowed down the transparent steps until barely visible grooves appeared on the ground, guiding the blood into the pool where the Triple Petal Flower was located. The protective barrier, which had previously been impervious to all things, seemed to vanish, allowing the blood to enter. Soon, the originally clear pool gradually turned red. However, a group of people were engaged in a fierce battle above, and no one noticed this subtle change below.

Meanwhile, the demon tribe masters grew increasingly disheartened as they fought. Their opponent was simply too fierce, like a war god. Even if they truly won, most of them would likely perish here, and no one wanted to be among the sacrifices. It was Duan Tiande whose mind was more agile. He knew it would be difficult to defeat Zu An head-on, so he turned his attention to the women nearby.

The woman fighting with a painting had quite formidable methods; although Princess Siren was holding back, she was clearly not someone who could be easily defeated. As for the fierce woman, she was currently holding Princess Changning down and fiercely slapping her. Princess Changning, who usually had considerable cultivation, was like a child, completely unable to resist, and was being beaten miserably. Seeing this scene, Duan Tiande flinched. "It's best not to provoke this tigress," he thought.

So he easily locked his target onto Yan Xuehen. This woman had the weakest aura, seemed to have suffered significant injuries, and had previously only displayed profound knowledge, appearing not to be skilled in combat. As for Qiao Heng, who was fighting her, he was clearly slacking off too ridiculously. Thinking of this, he immediately leaped into the shadows, then emerged from the shadow beside Yan Xuehen, his sword poised to press against her neck, intending to use her to threaten Zu An.

Who knew that the seemingly delicate woman seemed to have sensed him in advance, cleverly dodging his attack with a swift turn. At the same time, her snow-white sleeve swept out, and he felt a soft force from his long sword, almost losing his grip and letting it fly out of his hand. He was inwardly horrified. "What is wrong with this woman?" he wondered. "Why are her methods so formidable?"

Just then, an arrow shot from the side. His danger perception sharply increased, and he quickly dodged, then angrily looked at Qiao Heng nearby. "What are you doing!" he demanded.

Qiao Heng said in a deep voice, "This is my opponent. I won't allow anyone else to interfere."

Duan Tiande, enraged, laughed instead. "Who can't see you were holding back just now?" he retorted. "The top priority now is to capture her as a hostage, otherwise, we'll all die!"

The other demon tribe masters had long been displeased with the situation here and started cursing angrily, urging Qiao Heng to remember his identity and quickly resolve things here to go help over there. Qiao Heng's face changed between stormy and clear. His slacking off had been exposed, but now he couldn't help either side.

Just at this moment, a terrifying aura suddenly burst forth from below. The pool around the Triple Petal Flower had turned crimson like blood, completely transforming into a pool of blood. The blood inside seemed to boil, continuously spreading outwards, quickly covering the entire hall floor and showing a continuous rising trend. Then the entire platform and the transparent steps suddenly vanished. The people fighting on top instantly lost their balance and tumbled down into the blood pool.