"Commander Li, why is it so hot here?" Gong Hanfeng asked in a low voice as he entered the second level.
"Rumor has it that the bottom of this Blood Gorge Cave is infused with the blood of ancient gods and demons. The cave itself was formed from this divine and demonic blood. This heat is likely related to that ancient blood," Qiu Qianjiu replied softly.
Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "Be careful, everyone."
A minute later, the three exchanged glances.
The Water Daffodil Ice Grass and Heart-Piercing Fruit on the second level of the Blood Gorge Cave had also been completely harvested. Furthermore, there was not a trace of a Blood Demon on this level.
"It seems we can only proceed to the third level to investigate," Li Xuan said after taking a deep breath.
"Commander Li, it's up to you," Gong Hanfeng said, his expression serious, and nodded.
Qiu Qianjiu, though silent, also nodded slowly.
"Let's go!" Li Xuan said and immediately walked towards the entrance to the third level.
As Li Xuan and the other two entered the third level, Gong Hanfeng pointed to a spot and said in a low voice, "Commander Li, look!"
Without Gong Hanfeng's prompt, Li Xuan and Qiu Qianjiu had already noticed the changes upon entering the third level.
Although the third level was vast, Li Xuan and Qiu Qianjiu immediately spotted a formation.
Within the formation, there were two Blood Demons.
The Water Daffodil Ice Grass and Heart-Piercing Fruit that Li Xuan and his group were seeking were also placed within the formation. It was clear that to obtain these herbs, Li Xuan and his companions would have to break the formation.
And once the formation was broken, Li Xuan and the other two would have to face the two trapped Blood Demons.
"It seems this is all a trap set by Du Jingtong for me," Li Xuan said slowly, taking a deep breath as he looked at the scene before him.
Gong Hanfeng hesitated for a moment and then said, "Commander Li, perhaps we should abandon this mission. We can return to the Wood Pavilion and report this matter to Elder Geng Tian. Elder Geng Tian will surely give us an explanation."
"Commander Li, I agree with Gong Hanfeng's suggestion. If it were just one Blood Demon, perhaps the three of us could fight it. But there are two, and they have been trapped for so long, they must be on the verge of frenzy. If we take the risk, our lives could be in danger," Qiu Qianjiu also nodded slowly.
Li Xuan fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng. "With the combined strength of you two, can you hold off one Blood Demon?"
"Commander Li, what do you mean?" Qiu Qianjiu asked, frowning.
Li Xuan looked up at the two Blood Demons, their eyes already blood red, and said slowly, "I intend to complete this mission."
"Commander Li, your idea is quite audacious," Qiu Qianjiu said with a wry smile.
"If we can hold off one Blood Demon, Brother Qiu and I should be able to manage. However, I estimate we can last at most five minutes. Commander Li, facing a Blood Demon at the early Divine Transformation stage alone, are you truly confident?" Gong Hanfeng pondered for a moment.
"Five minutes... should be enough," Li Xuan said after some thought, nodding slowly.
"Commander Li, I've found that ever since I met you, everything seems to have changed. Well, since you are confident, I will believe you!" Qiu Qianjiu said.
"If Brother Qiu says so, what can I say?" Gong Hanfeng shrugged.
Li Xuan smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I am confident."
"Attack!"
As Li Xuan and the other two stood separated to the sides, Li Xuan waved his hand and shouted.
He then formed hand seals, and a surge of spiritual power struck the formation like a rainbow.
At the same time, Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng also moved swiftly. Three streams of inexhaustible spiritual energy bombarded the formation, rapidly dissolving it.
Although this formation had strongly trapped the two Blood Demons, after examining it, Li Xuan and the others found that while it was extremely difficult to break from the inside, it was quite simple to break from the outside.
In less than ten breaths after the three attacked, dense lines appeared on the formation's barrier, which then shattered with a loud bang.
Seeing this, Li Xuan and the other two retreated rapidly.
According to their plan, Li Xuan would deal with one Blood Demon, while Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng would distract the other. Now, as the formation broke, the two trapped Blood Demons roared and charged out.
Just as Li Xuan had predicted, the two Blood Demons, one on each side, chased in the direction the three were retreating.
Watching the Blood Demons, which were about three zhang in size, pursue them, Li Xuan stopped after retreating a hundred meters. In the next instant, Li Xuan advanced instead of retreating. His spiritual light flickered, and his skin quickly turned golden yellow. Then, Li Xuan directly threw a punch at the Blood Demon.
Bang bang bang!
Relying on the defense of his physical body, Li Xuan fully unleashed his physical strength. Although his body appeared small compared to the Blood Demon, the power he unleashed was terrifying.
In just ten breaths, Li Xuan had thrown dozens of punches. Each punch was more powerful than the last, reaching its peak.
"This commotion, could it be that Commander Li and the others have encountered Blood Demons!" Wen Qing and the others waiting on the first level of the Blood Gorge Cave said, exchanging glances.
"Should we go down and help? If Commander Li and the others are in trouble, our future days won't be good either."
"These past few days, Commander Li hasn't mentioned our low strength at all. And I can also see that Commander Li treats us as his own people. Wouldn't it be wrong if we just stood by and did nothing?" one team member said.
"Have you forgotten Commander Li's earlier instructions? Our strength is still too weak. If we go down, we'll likely only become a burden to Commander Li and the others," another team member shook his head.
"Everyone stop arguing. At this time, we should still follow Commander Li's arrangements. Since Commander Li was able to defeat Du Jingtong, he must have confidence."
"Moreover, even if they can't win, Commander Li and the other two are the strongest, so retreating would be relatively easy. If we go down, it would only distract Commander Li and the others," Wen Qing waved his hand.
"This... alright. Let's hope Commander Li and the others can come up safely."
Boom!
The residual shockwave from the terrifying impact vibrated, causing the cave to shake.
With a roar, both Li Xuan and the Blood Demon were repelled. What shocked Li Xuan was that this Blood Demon's physical defense was clearly very strong.
Even with Li Xuan's physical strength, it had not caused any damage. Instead, from the Blood Demon's blood-like eyes, he saw a hint of ferocity.
"As expected of an early Divine Transformation stage expert, it remains unharmed even under my full physical strength," Li Xuan sighed inwardly. If it were Du Jingtong, he would have had difficulty enduring such strength from Li Xuan.
But this Blood Demon was completely unharmed.
At the same time, the other Blood Demon, which Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng were distracting, erupted in a fierce battle. Although their strength was slightly less than Li Xuan's, they were not ordinary fighters. With their combined strength, they could barely match the Blood Demon.
However, judging by their fighting and retreating, they clearly couldn't hold on for long. After all, the Blood Demon's defense was astonishing, and they couldn't break through it.
"We have to finish this quickly!" Li Xuan said, taking a deep breath. With a thought, a bewitching flame emerged from his head. He then quickly formed hand seals, and strands of incredibly pure lightning surged into the flame.
"Go!"
Li Xuan flicked his finger, and the now blazing flame instantly shot towards the Blood Demon.
Roar!
Perhaps sensing the terrifying nature of the flame, the Blood Demon let out a furious roar and its body began to glow with a bloody light. Under this bloody light, the flame Li Xuan sent out appeared quite small.
Boom!
Despite this, the flame instantly collided with the Blood Demon. The moment it met the bloody light, it exploded with a bang.
In the next instant, the flame, fueled by the firelight, burned fiercely, spreading like wildfire.
Roar!
In less than ten breaths, the flames engulfed the Blood Demon's entire body. The Blood Demon cried out in pain, its roars tearing through the air.
At the same time, the other Blood Demon, which was locked in combat with Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng, heard the sound. It stopped in its tracks, turned its head, and looked at the Blood Demon fighting Li Xuan.
Upon seeing the bewitching flames burning on the Blood Demon's body, this Blood Demon rapidly fled and then jumped into a cave entrance, disappearing.
Hiss hiss!
In less than a minute, the Blood Demon's three-zhang-sized body was reduced to ashes. A blood bead shone exceptionally brightly amidst the burning flames.
Seeing this, Li Xuan waved his hand and collected it. He then leaned to the side and slumped down.
"This is... Soul Flame!" Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng's pupils contracted sharply.
Throughout the world, only two things possessed such power. One was the divine Soul Flame. The other was the Sacred Fire, which only powerful experts like the Nine Regions Lords could wield.
Given Li Xuan's strength, it was naturally impossible for him to wield Sacred Fire. Clearly, it could only be the former.
However, even the former was enough to shock Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng.
After all, the Soul Flame was not something that just anyone could cultivate. And it was rumored that those who could cultivate Soul Flame would have even more powerful and terrifying Sacred Fire once they reached the Divine Transformation stage.
"Cough cough..." As the flames gradually died down, a cough was heard. Qiu Qianjiu and Gong Hanfeng rushed towards Li Xuan.
Although the Soul Flame was incredibly powerful, it also consumed a lot of divine soul.
Even though Li Xuan's Soul Flame had only burned for about twenty breaths, it had consumed nearly half, or even more, of his divine soul power. And if the divine soul was over-consumed, it would cause irreversible damage to the spiritual master.
"Commander Li, are you alright?" Qiu Qianjiu asked urgently, supporting Li Xuan. Gong Hanfeng also looked at Li Xuan's pale face with great concern.
"Cough cough... I'm fine, just overly exhausted. I'll be alright after resting. However, I was a bit too bold. I didn't expect my current divine soul power to only be able to activate it once. Fortunately, that Blood Demon escaped, otherwise, today would have been quite troublesome."
Li Xuan coughed again, then slowly shook his head.
"Commander Li, this is not a safe place. I think we should leave here as soon as possible. If that Blood Demon returns, neither of us can protect you," Qiu Qianjiu said with relief.
"Alright," Li Xuan nodded.
"Gong Hanfeng, go and retrieve the herbs. Let's go!" Qiu Qianjiu said, looking at Gong Hanfeng.
Gong Hanfeng nodded and quickly ran to where the formation had been, gathering all the herbs on the ground into his spatial storage.
Seeing that Gong Hanfeng had secured the herbs, Qiu Qianjiu helped Li Xuan to his feet and said, "Go!"