The atmosphere in the Blood Prison suddenly turned awkward.
The Blood Spirit, standing in the center of the blood pool, felt its face burn as Ye Ling easily rescued Chi You.
The Blood Spirit's mouth twitched, its face turning completely grim. "Good lad, you waited specifically to slap my face, didn't you?"
With a low growl, the blood pool below churned, and numerous blood-red tentacles surged forth. "This Blood Prison is my domain. Even if you rescue that spirit, you'll never leave unless you defeat me!"
"I want to see how long you can protect those two within this domain!"
As the Blood Spirit spoke, the tentacles from the blood pool shot towards Chi You and Xu Xiao Qing with even greater force than before!
It seemed the Blood Spirit was determined to confront Chi You and Xu Xiao Qing, intending to kill Ye Ling's companions right before his eyes.
Only by doing so could it savor Ye Ling's deepest despair and quell its own shame and indignation.
Ye Ling watched the rapidly approaching blood-red tentacles, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. Demonic flames erupted before Xu Xiao Qing and Chi You, incinerating all the blood-red tentacles.
Ye Ling chuckled. "With your current strength, you're still one realm short of harming them in front of me."
"Boastful words!"
The Blood Spirit snorted coldly, its expression becoming incredibly grim. More blood-red tentacles emerged from the blood pool, causing the entire Blood Prison space to shake violently.
The flow of time around them began to slow, and everyone, including Ye Ling, moved with agonizing slowness.
Only the Blood Spirit moved as usual.
"In this domain, I am the sole monarch. Even time must obey my command!" The Blood Spirit stared grimly at Ye Ling. "I'd like to see if you can still protect those two now!"
"All of you, die!"
The Blood Spirit roared, and the blood-red tentacles from the blood pool spewed forth once more, ruthlessly aiming for Xu Xiao Qing and Chi You beside Ye Ling!
Now, Xu Xiao Qing and Chi You were frozen in time. Within their consciousness, they couldn't perceive the passage of time at all!
The blood-red tentacles whistled through the air, on the verge of piercing the heads of Xu Xiao Qing and Chi You!
But just then, demonic flames erupted before Xu Xiao Qing and Chi You again, incinerating the tentacles.
"How is this possible?"
The Blood Spirit's pupils contracted sharply. It immediately scanned the area where Ye Ling stood, only to find that Ye Ling was no longer there.
"Where did he go?"
The Blood Spirit's heart leaped. It frantically looked around, clearly becoming nervous.
What was happening now was beyond its expectations.
"Don't embarrass yourself with your clumsy manipulation of time," Ye Ling's voice sounded from behind the Blood Spirit, causing it to tremble.
"When did you...?"
The Blood Spirit immediately distanced itself from Ye Ling, turning to face him with a look of terror and disbelief.
It had clearly frozen time. Within this domain, it should have been the only one able to move freely, so why...?
"Why?"
Ye Ling looked at the Blood Spirit and chuckled. "As I said, you're still one realm short. With your current power, trying to freeze my time is simply wishful thinking."
With that, Ye Ling raised a hand and beckoned to the Blood Spirit. "Come here."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the Blood Spirit felt an immense attractive force emanating from Ye Ling's direction. It couldn't resist and was directly pulled towards Ye Ling!
Ye Ling grabbed the Blood Spirit's head with one hand and squeezed his fingers slightly!
*Bang!*
The Blood Spirit's head exploded, its entire body dissolving into blood and returning to the blood pool.
"So it was a clone..."
Ye Ling looked at the blood pool below, his amusement deepening.
The frozen time around them resumed its flow. Chi You and Xu Xiao Qing came back to their senses, only to see Ye Ling suddenly standing above the blood pool.
The Blood Spirit, which had been radiating a terrifying aura, had vanished.
Seeing Ye Ling above the blood pool, Xu Xiao Qing asked with a puzzled expression, "Senior, how did you get up there? Where did that Blood Spirit go?"
Chi You, however, seemed to understand something, and a tempestuous wave surged within his heart. "To be able to fight in frozen time, could it be that he has already begun to comprehend the Great Dao of Time permeating the surroundings?"
Chi You looked at Ye Ling above the blood pool, his heart trembling.
The longer he interacted with Ye Ling, the less fear he felt, but rather, the more he perceived Ye Ling's terrifying, unfathomable strength!
How could such a figure be born on Earth today?
Just as Chi You was shocked by the strength Ye Ling displayed, the blood pool below began to churn violently again. An aura far more powerful than before erupted from the depths of the blood pool.
A dense aura of time laws surged forth!
"Boy, you have truly angered me!"
The Blood Spirit's roar echoed from beneath the blood pool, and then the blood pool split into two!
At this moment, the Blood Spirit stood at the bottom of the lake, holding a blood-red, semi-transparent gem in its hand. Tangible laws of time swirled around it!
Chi You looked at the Blood Spirit at the bottom of the blood pool, a hint of terror flashing in his eyes. He exclaimed, "Your Majesty, that must be the Great Dao Blood Crystal! The Blood Spirit wants to absorb the laws of time! Stop it quickly!"
"That's the Great Dao Blood Crystal?"
Hearing Chi You's shout, a trace of curiosity flickered in Ye Ling's eyes, and he carefully examined the crystal in the Blood Spirit's hand.
Indeed, the laws of time swirling around the Blood Spirit at that moment were emanating from that Great Dao Blood Crystal.
"I didn't expect such a wondrous item to exist in this world. However, the Great Dao Blood Crystal seems to contain endless resentment. If one forcefully comprehends the laws of time contained within, their spirit will likely be eroded by the resentment."
"In that case, mental derangement would be the least of it. In severe cases, one might turn into a beast that knows only slaughter."
Seeing the drawback of the Great Dao Blood Crystal, Ye Ling was somewhat disappointed. "As expected, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
The resentment within the Great Dao Blood Crystal could probably be removed, but given the concentration of resentment within it, retaining the complete comprehension of the Great Dao while only purging the resentment would be as difficult as directly comprehending the laws of time.
Realizing this, Ye Ling no longer held any hope for the Great Dao Blood Crystal and prepared to kill the Blood Spirit and leave the Blood Prison.
However, what Ye Ling failed to notice was that after Xu Xiao Qing saw the Great Dao Blood Crystal in the Blood Spirit's hand, her eyes became vacant, and she seemed to have lost her soul.
The Blood Spirit growled, "Boy, in millions of years, you are the first to force me to use the Great Dao Blood Crystal. Next, I will tear you to shreds to vent my hatred!"
With that, the Blood Spirit opened its massive maw, about to swallow the Great Dao Blood Crystal!
At this moment, Xu Xiao Qing suddenly shouted, "Senior, help me snatch that Great Dao Blood Crystal!"