The plasma cannon at full power emitted a dazzling light, tearing through the dark red sky of the Blood Killing Space. Once the light dissipated, Pei Yan frowned at the figure before him. The anticipated scene of the Sea of Blood exploding and hitting Di Xin did not occur; at the critical moment, Nero appeared in front of Di Xin and blocked this round of attack.

The powerful destructive force of the plasma cannon blasted off half of Nero’s body. However, with his physical resilience, the protective runes formed around him, the fusion of Divine Artifacts, and multiple boosts from the Blood Killing Space devouring Power of Origin, he still managed to survive this attack.

"Hah, Pei Yan! Is this all you’ve got? Resorting to such a move so early, it seems there’s nothing impressive about your modifications, and you’re out of fresh tricks!" Nero ridiculed, as countless threads of blood and muscle tissue grew from his damaged body, completing the healing in mere moments. After letting out a deep breath, he looked up at Pei Yan with a mocking grin.

Unperturbed by the mockery, Pei Yan reached out to catch the blood rain falling from the sky, feeling the astonishing consumption speed of the protective origin energy under the rain’s impact and the erosion from the surrounding energies. He chuckled and retorted, "Is this spatial shift the second Divine Artifact fused within Ivan? What about you? What’s the second Divine Artifact inside you? There’s no reason for you, as a main force of the Blood Killing, to absorb fewer Divine Artifacts than others."

"Oh hohoho! So you’ve been holding back, waiting for this? Such curiosity! With your power, you qualify to see it, so I’ll grant this wish. Just hope you don’t regret it." As Nero spoke, his expression began to twist in pain, suspended in midair, he spread his limbs wide open. With his limbs continuously stretching, a horrifying and tongue-smacking scene unfolded.

The solid scales forming Nero’s skin started to crack from within, covering his entire body with fissures. Thick blood flowed out, and at the same time, a spatial rift opened in the void behind him, slowly releasing a gigantic and bizarre humanoid beast skin drifting out of the rift.

With the appearance of this skin, the wailing and howling intensified far more than before. Not only that, an enormous amount of grievances erupted, instantly filling the entire field. Even the defensive array of the arena could not hold it back, and many grievances spread beyond the arena.

The cultivators at the edge of the field felt inexplicable anxiety and dread from the energy, and it was even worse for someone like Engineer Li and the ordinary spectators. The energy hadn’t even touched them and already many people’s faces turned pale and bodies quivered. Even Engineer Li, who had seen some things, couldn’t help his eyes bulging and heavy breathing. If this energy wasn’t restrained and entered people’s bodies, even a trace could lead to nightmares for days, or, in severe cases, mental breakdowns causing madness and eventual death in terror.

At this critical juncture, a dozen figures entered the spectator stand. Inside the first defensive line constructed by Wang Wenze and others, another line was established. As these individuals released their origin energy, the permeating grievances were completely isolated away from people like Engineer Li. Upon seeing the newcomers, Ye Ruozai felt a heavy burden lift from his shoulders and smiled wryly, "Elder Lin, you all sure came quickly!"

The newcomers were none other than the high-ranking officials from the Investigatory Hall led by Elder Lin and Elder Zuo to support. Elder Lin smiled mildly in response, "How could we not arrive quickly? You all are the future pillars of the Investigatory Hall. We set off upon noticing changes during the training space matches, and after receiving your notification on the way, we rushed even faster! Thankfully, we made it before any problems occurred."

While speaking, Elder Lin glanced at the arena with furrowed brows, "What intense malevolence! Is this the enemy Pei Yan is up against? It’s too reckless, too dangerous! Facing such an opponent alone against three! No wonder you were urging us so urgently. Be ready for support! If necessary, all tasks can be abandoned; ensure Pei Yan’s safety at any cost."

Anxious hearts surrounded the ring, and Pei Yan was equally shaken internally. He watched as the bizarre beast skin, covered with all sorts of ghostly faces, bit by bit covered Nero’s body, whose skin had already cracked completely. Unable to resist, he questioned internally, "The Blood Killing is indeed insane; is this thing also a Divine Artifact?"

"This object is different from a traditional Divine Artifact. It would be useless for others, but used on Nero himself, it can exhibit terrifying power—one could say it’s a Divine Artifact custom-made for him. Do you see the ghost faces on the skin? Some are human, some are beastly. If I’m not wrong, this should be the grievances of strong humans and divine beasts forcefully absorbed by him and condensed! Pei Yan, you need to be cautious; once he dons this skin, his power will surge, and just by physical strength, he might reach a level equal to yours. As for what other functions this skin has, I can’t discern at the moment."

Upon hearing Lin Junzhao’s explanation, Pei Yan nodded. Meanwhile, Nero had perfectly fused with the strange beast skin, now entirely unrecognizable from his former self, transformed into a faceless humanoid monster covered in ghostly faces.

"Ugh—!" A long and eerie howl emanated from Nero’s body, and then that faceless visage turned to Pei Yan and smirked coldly, "This form is disgusting, isn’t it? Even I detest it! Every time I use it, I endure immense pain, so I swear that every opponent who makes me use this Divine Artifact must suffer more than tenfold the pain I endure before they die. Pei Yan, prepare to feel despair."

Nero’s every ghost face’s lips quivered, producing sounds with varying tones to form the phrase just uttered. It sounded hoarse, eerie, and sent chilling shivers down one’s spine.

However, after witnessing the thousands of vengeful spirits in the Hell Ghost Realm, Pei Yan felt completely disdainful of this minor scene. He raised his hand and provocatively beckoned to Nero with his finger.

Boom!

Before Pei Yan’s hand could even return to position after the taunting gesture, it was blasted away from its original place by a muffled explosive punch. Seizing the successful strike, Nero wasn’t about to let the opportunity for continued attack slip away. At hyper-speed, his figure caught up with the recoiling Pei Yan, delivering another kick.

Pei Yan, more passionate about close-quarters combat than anyone, wouldn’t suffer further losses. After allowing Nero’s diagonal kick to land on his side, instead of letting his body fly away, he immediately clamped Nero’s thigh with his arm, reached back with his other hand, and gripped Nero’s throat.

Without retreating, Nero pressed his chin downward to prevent Pei Yan from exerting more force. Meanwhile, he grabbed Pei Yan’s wrist with his other hand. Neither willing to yield, the two maintained this position as they plummeted rapidly to the ground.

Boom!

The two figures plunged into the roiling Sea of Blood, causing massive waves. Di Xin and Ivan quickly pursued but dared not enter the water rashly, hovering in mid-air, waiting for the result from the pair. It wasn’t long before the interior of the Sea of Blood boiled violently like heated water, with two dark shadows chasing and refusing to relent.