There were countless tiny golden runes flashing on the surface of the golden talisman, which was squirming and writhing incessantly as if it were a living creature.

Ma Liang hesitated for a long while with tightly furrowed brows before gently waving the golden talisman with a decisive look on his face.

The golden talisman flashed before flying up as a long streak of golden light before revolving around Ma Liang.

At the same time, Ma Liang made a rapid string of hand seals while chanting an incantation.

Black and white Qi flashed from his body in unison, and he began to release an extremely fearsome aura that was only becoming more and more formidable.

In the blink of an eye, the aura had become so powerful that even the surrounding space was trembling violently.

It was as if an aura of this caliber shouldn't appear in the Spirit Realm.

Outside the river of blood, Yin Gangzi had just destroyed the blood wyrm that he was facing once again using hundreds of silver spear-like treasures, and a triumphant look appeared on his face.

However, in the next instant, his expression changed drastically as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the river of blood.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings had also sensed the fearsome aura within the river of blood, and their attacks faltered as they also turned their attention toward the river of blood with alarmed expressions.

As for Ming Zun, who was overseeing the entire battlefield, he wasn't too surprised or alarmed to sense this aura. On the contrary, his eyes narrowed slightly as an expectant look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, a light formation appeared nearby, following which Xuan Jiuling appeared with an unnaturally pale complexion.

Ming Zun turned toward Xuan Jiuling to discover that close to half of his body was missing, and a surprised look appeared on his face as he asked, "What happened? It looks like the battle didn't go according to plan for you. Did you manage to kill that thing?"

"That thing was a legendary sacred being among fire-attribute beasts. Thankfully, it was only an insentient puppet, so I was able to make it back alive. Rest assured, it's already been killed, and the formation core is fine, so your plan won't be affected," Xuan Jiuling replied.

"I see. As expected of a true immortal to have such a powerful spirit beast by his side. Wait, you didn't use your Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts, did you?" Ming Zun hurriedly asked in a concerned manner.

"Of course not; that's our only chance to kill that true immortal. If I had used it, I wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state," Xuan Jiuling replied with a wry smile.

"That's good to hear. That true immortal seems to have begun undoing his seal, so you'll have to strike soon. Take this Origin Water Pill right away; it should be somewhat effective for healing your injuries," Ming Zun said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a blue pill.

"Thanks, this Origin Water Pill will indeed be beneficial for my recovery," Xuan Jiuling said as he caught the pill before swallowing it at once. After that, he sat down on the spot with his legs crossed and began to meditate.

In the next instant, a layer of faint blue light appeared over his wound, slowly cleansing away the charred flesh before countless crimson threads appeared before rapidly intertwining to form new flesh.

Ming Zun was quite pleased to see this, and he turned his gaze back toward the river of blood in the distance.

All of a sudden, the entire river of blood began to surge violently, following which one giant wave after another was swept up.

Under the influence of the river of blood, the eight blood dragons and four blood giants also became a lot more powerful, thereby allowing them to hold their own against the four Mythical Black Beasts and the opposing Grand Ascension Stage beings.

At this point, the fearsome aura within the river of blood had reached an extremely alarming level.

A loud thunderclap rang out up above, and a rainbow cloud appeared, completely disregarding the restrictions of the Bipolar Destruction Formation as it expanded rapidly, encompassing the entirety of Baleful Cry Point in the blink of an eye.

The rainbow cloud then began to revolve, and arcs of purplish-golden lightning flashed within it amid rumbling thunderclaps.

Within the river of blood, Ma Liang's eyes were already shut, and countless purplish-golden runes suddenly appeared around him before transforming into purplish-golden chains that swept toward his body.

The golden talisman that was flying around Ma Liang abruptly exploded, sending countless threads of golden light erupting forth in all directions, forming a net that encompassed all of the nearby purplish-golden chains.

At the same time, the top of Ma Liang's head opened up to release a miniature golden figure, which waved a hand toward the purplish-golden chains in an expressionless manner.

The chains immediately transformed into streaks of golden light that surged toward Ma Liang's head before vanishing in a flash, and the miniature golden figure also returned to Ma Liang's head.

After that, the fearsome aura being released from Ma Liang's body suddenly vanished, and he slowly opened his eyes as a cold smile appeared on his face.

Another burst of rumbling rang out in the sky, and the rainbow cloud and purplish-golden lightning instantly disappeared.

Within the span of just a few breaths, everything had returned to normal, as if nothing more than an illusion had been displayed to everyone.

Yin Gangzi and the others were unable to see Ma Liang's transformation as he was situated in the river of blood, but the disappearance of that fearsome aura came as a huge relief to everyone, and they immediately resumed their attacks.

Right at this moment, Ma Liang raised a hand and pointed a finger forward, immediately following which the eight blood dragons and four blood giants roared in unison before countless white cracks appeared all over their bodies.

All of a sudden, the 12 creatures exploded into black blood that rained down from above, encompassing this entire space.

Yin Gangzi and the others were naturally very alarmed by this, and immediately took evasive measures.

Meanwhile, the four Mythical Black Beasts vanished on the spot as plumes of black mist.

However, the blood storm encompassed a very large area, and it had struck without any warning, so the black-armored man and the woman in the palatial dress were unable to evade quickly enough and were caught within the storm.

Their hearts immediately sank upon seeing this, and the silver plate-like treasures hovering around the black-armored man instantly transformed into several layers of silver barriers around him at his behest.

At the same time, his body blurred and transformed into a murky grey shadow.

Meanwhile, the woman in the palatial dress made a hand seal, and the decorative beads in her hair shot forth as dozens of protective treasures, forming a series of protective restrictions above her.

At the same time, azure runes surfaced on her palatial dress amid flashes of spiritual light, forming additional protective formations around her.

In the face of this blood storm, both of them had adopted their most effective defensive measures.

In the next instant, close to 100 drops of blood rain fell upon the two of them.

As soon as this blood rain came into contact with the protective light barriers formed by the opposing defensive treasures, they were able to instantly pierce through before reaching the pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Two agonized cries immediately rang out, and both of them flew out of the blood storm as streaks of light.

However, once they stumbled out into the open, everyone else immediately drew a sharp breath upon catching sight of them.

Half of the black-armored man's face had disappeared, revealing an eerie skull that was glowing with faint grey light, presenting a very unsettling sight to behold.

As for the woman in the palatial dress, her face remained unscathed, but one of her arms had entirely disappeared.

"What kind of attack is this blood rain? How is it this fearsome?" Mistress Wu Ling exclaimed.

Everyone else was also quite alarmed to see this.

Ming Zun emerged above everyone amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then said in a grim manner, "This seems to be origin blood power that only those who cultivate Blood Dao arts to the extreme can attain, and it's said that just a drop of this blood can pierce through entire mountains and oceans. Looking at it now, those legends certainly weren't exaggerating."

"Origin blood power? Hehe, this blood is nowhere near that level. This is merely some spirit blood that I've collected and refined, and it's far from becoming true origin blood power."

A cold voice rang out from within the river of blood, following which the river parted to reveal Ma Liang with a cold smile on his face.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately cast their eyes toward Ma Liang, and Ming Zun's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained calm as he asked, "Did you really descend from the True Immortal Realm?"

"That's right. I had already attained a true immortal body countless years ago, and if it weren't for the task I've been assigned, there's no way I would visit an insignificant realm like this one," Ma Liang replied.

Ming Zun's mind was racing, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Would you be able to disclose what this task is, Fellow Daoist?"

"There's no need for that. I'm already on the cusp of completing the task; all I need to do now is to kill all of you and clear the way for myself. Now then, let me send you all on your way," Ma Liang said in a cold voice, and before any of the Grand Ascension Stage beings could reply, he suddenly made a strange-looking hand seal.