Chapter 47: The Sacrifice

The figure who spoke earlier broke the silence, bringing that topic to a close.

"Very well, our primary objective now is to disrupt the blood sacrifices of the God-Worshiping Cult."

"Given sufficient time, anything is possible."

"Presently, the technology of our Great Xuan is developing at a breathtaking pace, and those martial arts myths seem to have found a path to advance even further."

"As long as we have enough time, we will secure a greater chance of survival."

"Here are several video recordings transmitted by them, depicting events occurring across various nations. Let us all take a look."

At that moment, a screen at the front of the long conference table lit up.

A scene materialized before everyone's eyes.

Within the frame, hundreds of people were nailed to wooden stakes.

Among them were children, the elderly, and youths alike.

Their blood-stained faces were etched with lingering resentment and fury; their clothing had long since been reduced to tattered rags, and a gruesome, horrifying gash marred each of their chests.

Through those gaping wounds, one could faintly perceive that their chest cavities were utterly hollow.

The hearts that should have been beating were entirely absent.

Blood continuously gushed from their wounds, dripping onto the ground with a rhythmic, agonizing tick-tock sound.

Amplified by the video, that sound was piercingly harsh.

Surrounding them were dark-red sacrificial altars constructed of earth and stone.

Atop the altars rested countless hearts, while rivers of blood served as paint, tracing bizarre and inexplicable patterns on the ground, centered around the altar.

Witnessing this startling and harrowing spectacle, everyone's breathing seemed to hitch, their eyes widening in horror.

The scene shifted, and a second video appeared before the assembly.

In a desolate wilderness, nearly a thousand people lay collapsed upon the ground.

Their bodies were twisted into bizarre, unnatural contortions.

Yet upon their faces bloomed strange smiles, as if they had encountered something of supreme bliss.

Such smiles chilled everyone to the bone, and an aura of profound terror seemed to leap straight out of the screen.

In that instant, the breathing of everyone present nearly ceased.

Even the middle-aged man seated at the head of the table narrowed his eyes slightly, a profound shock gleaming within his pupils.

"Gentlemen, you have all witnessed it. These are the scenes of the sacrifices held by the God-Worshiping Cult across various nations," a young man spoke slowly after the video concluded, his voice solemn and heavy.

"Those people all perished because of the cult's blood sacrifices."

"In secret, the God-Worshiping Cult has conducted countless blood sacrifices across numerous countries. These are merely the ones that have been discovered; many more remain undetected."

"Although several martial arts myths have stepped beyond the borders of Great Xuan and are wandering among the nations, they are stretched too thin and fundamentally unable to halt this madness."

"The cult's blood sacrifices in various countries are becoming increasingly frantic, already sparking widespread panic among the populace."

"The situation we face now is exceptionally dire. If we fail to effectively stop the God-Worshiping Cult's blood sacrifices, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Having said this, he quietly awaited the reactions of the others.

During this interval, absolute silence reigned within the conference room.

It was only after a long moment that a voice finally broke the quiet:

"What do you require of us now?"

Every gaze in the room immediately converged upon the speaker.

"I hope that you can unite all available forces within Great Xuan to eradicate the remnants of the God-Worshiping Cult within our borders."

The speaker's tone was remarkably flat, yet it carried an undeniable sense of authority.

***

Meanwhile, within a stone-built fortress in the nation of Yi, an overwhelming battle was underway.

A Daoist priest wielding a horsetail whisk flicked it casually, and the gesture seemingly transformed into thousands of piercing glints of cold light that shot out in every direction.

Simultaneously, numerous bizarre figures surrounding him were pierced clean through their bodies.

Daoist Priest Qingwei moved with effortless grace, stepping leisurely as hundreds of corpses crashed to the ground.

Deep, horrifying sword slashes marked the skulls of those corpses, from which blood continuously welled.

"These wretched scoundrels are nothing more than beasts."

A trace of cold indifference crossed Daoist Priest Qingwei's face, his gaze growing increasingly fierce.

With a light stomp of his foot upon the ground,

"Boom, rumble—!"

Centered around Daoist Priest Qingwei, the earth began to tremble violently.

Fissures instantly ruptured across the ground, spreading in all directions, and the sacrificial altar within the fortress was instantly pulverized into nothingness.

The sheer might of that single strike defied imagination.

"Bang—!"

Daoist Priest Qingwei stomped the ground once more, causing the entire fortress to collapse. In the next instant, his figure vanished from the spot.

***

Instead of departing, Daoist Priest Qingwei stood outside, gazing with a solemn expression at the heap of rubble before him.

Before long, a sudden anomaly occurred.

From within the pile of rubble, an eerie, uncanny power surged upward, and whispering sounds echoed through the air.

Those sounds resembled the cries of an infant, yet carried the cadence of whispered secrets.

At that moment, the fragments of stone and withered grass seemed to take on a life of their own, twisting incessantly.

"Truly persistent."

Daoist Priest Qingwei furrowed his brow, an undisguised wariness flickering in his eyes.

He recognized this as the lingering, aberrant energy dissipating from the bodies of the dead God-Worshiping Cult members, manifesting as a supernatural phenomenon.

If left untreated, this bizarre power would not dissipate even after half a month.

Should anyone happen to pass by this place then, their minds would inevitably be contaminated and warped, turning them into devoted worshippers of the cult.

"Hmph!"

"If you were truly to descend upon Profound Star, this old Daoist might be powerless against you."

"Yet now, you merely emit a fraction of your strength across the endless cosmos, and you still dare to act mischievously before me?"

Daoist Priest Qingwei sneered, flicking the horsetail whisk in his hand. A flash of black and white radiance bloomed at its tip.

Instantly, the phantom image of a Black Tortoise entwined with a serpent manifested. The divine beast bared its fangs and roared toward the heavens.

Behind it emerged a colossal black hole, seemingly capable of devouring the very heavens and earth.

The tortoise phantom lunged forward with bared fangs and brandished claws, slamming fiercely into the pile of rubble.

There was no earth-shattering explosion; when the phantom plunged into the debris, it passed straight through as if it were incorporeal, intertwining directly with the bizarre power.

The two forces collided, gradually dissolving into nothingness.

"Alas!"

"It's a pity that time is running out for Profound Star; otherwise..."

"With the great upheaval of heaven and earth and the arrival of a new era, this old Daoist merely gathered some stray unknown energies filling the void with my divine intent, and it produced such phenomena—granting the power to directly interfere with the physical world."

"If we had just a little more time, it wouldn't be you descending upon Profound Star. Instead, this old Daoist would cross the starry river to hunt you down!"

Daoist Priest Qingwei raised his eyes to gaze at the firmament, his gaze fathomless.

The great upheaval of Profound Star's heaven and earth had shown initial signs three years ago.

Over the past three years, the changes on Profound Star had compounded year by year. Within the void, a new kind of energy brimming with spirituality had emerged.

It was precisely because of this energy that they, a group of Divine-Sight martial artists, showed no signs of approaching the end of their lifespans.

To put it bluntly, they had shattered the longevity limits of all previous Divine-Sight martial artists on Profound Star.

The only regret was that time was far too scarce.

This spiritual energy could only be perceived by Divine-Sight martial artists, and touched solely by their divine intent.

Even with all their might, the few Divine-Sight martial artists had failed to find a better method over the past three years to harness this spiritual energy.

They could only capture it with their divine intent and slowly integrate it into their physical bodies, making their flesh stronger and extending their lifespans.

This was tantamount to possessing a mountain of treasures without the tools to mine them.

Lacking appropriate techniques and cultivation methods capable of invoking this spiritual energy, they were unable to actively utilize it, forced instead to passively endure its effects.

For the current Profound Star, this was merely a drop of water in a blazing cartload of firewood.

Daoist Priest Qingwei sighed, a sense of helplessness surfacing in his eyes.

Even Divine-Sight martial artists had their limitations.

He could change none of this; he could only place his hopes in the passage of time.

As long as Profound Star had sufficient time to weather the great upheaval,

whether in terms of technology or their own ranks as Divine-Sight martial artists, there would be ample room for growth.

***

Meanwhile, in another location,

a rugged-looking man clad in black martial attire stood with a calm expression.

Lying at his feet were hundreds of bizarrely shaped corpses.

Among these corpses, some grew bone spurs from their backs, others possessed vertical eyes upon their foreheads, some had four arms, while others sported barbed tails.

These individuals were now scattered across the ground—scattered because it was impossible to find a single intact body among them.

They were precisely the members of the God-Worshiping Cult who had performed the blood sacrifice here.

"All brawn and no state of mind. A pack of trash."

The man looked down at the corpses by his feet, a curl of disdain touching the corner of his mouth.

"The Myriad Beasts Divine Fist encompasses all beasts, all forms, and all phenomena. Perhaps in the future, it can be renamed the Myriad Phenomena Divine Fist."

"It was truly visionary of the ancestors to choose the Elephant King Fist as the core."

"With this spiritual energy, the Elephant King Fist can perhaps advance further, transforming into the Holy Elephant Fist or the Divine Elephant Fist. When that time comes, whatever monsters and demons appear will be beaten to death."

"Old me only needs to buy more time for that kid. With his aptitude, he will certainly ascend to even greater heights in martial arts."

"In the future, perhaps he can forge a new path and pioneer a realm beyond Divine-Sight."

A brilliant light flashed in the eyes of Divine Fist Yan Cang.

He clenched his fists, causing a series of crisp, cracking pops to echo.

The next second, he raised his arm and threw a punch, smashing fiercely toward the location of the piled corpses.

"Bang!"

The fist aura exploded, shattering the earth to pieces. Shockwaves rippled across the ground, sending rolling layers of dust and soil sweeping outward, leaving behind a deep, sunken crater.

At that moment, not a single corpse remained upon the ground.

The bizarre power dissipated along with them, as if it had never existed at all.

Yan Cang looked over the desolate expanse, shook his head slightly, and turned to walk into the distance.

With two or three strides, Yan Cang's figure vanished from the ravaged landscape.

This was merely one site of the God-Worshiping Cult's blood sacrifices; countless other places were witnessing the exact same scenario, demanding his attention.

The large-scale blood sacrificial ritual held by the God-Worshiping Cult this time had already drawn the attention of every faction on Profound Star.

Amidst this catastrophe, all he could do was try his utmost to delay the day of reckoning by even a fraction of time.

In other locations, several other figures were currently rushing about, hunting down members of the God-Worshiping Cult,

appearing periodically in desolate places to slaughter bizarre entities.

***

Chen Xian sat in the back of a taxi heading home, lost in contemplation.

What events were unfolding in the outside world?

Even as a martial artist with clearance to search archives on the official martial arts website, he had not obtained a clear picture.

He lacked a definitive concept of the immense crisis the God-Worshiping Cult was brewing.

The only thing he knew for certain was that with the official authorities taking such drastic measures this time, the danger must be unimaginably severe—a peril capable of engulfing everyone.

Before long, as the taxi passed a shopping mall,

Chen Xian called out to the driver,

"Driver, I need to buy something!"

"You got it!" the driver replied with a hearty laugh.

Chen Xian paid the fare and stepped into the mall.

Lifting his gaze, he saw that the most prominent display area featured rows upon rows of eyewear.

These glasses were edged with black metal, imparting an exceptionally archaic appearance.

"Could these be the sunglasses the authorities mentioned?"

"They've already appeared in the malls so quickly?"

Chen Xian's heart tightened.

Not much time had passed since Chen Qi.qi told him about the sunglasses.

For them to already be available in the shopping malls meant something significant.

Such swift action by the authorities naturally led Chen Xian to ponder deeper implications.

Dispensing with his other shopping, he walked straight up to the counter displaying the rows of glasses.

Reaching out, he picked up a pair.

The frames of the sunglasses were pitch-black all over, seemingly forged from some unknown metal.

Observing closely, Chen Xian discovered that

even the lenses appeared to be crafted from metal rather than being polished from ordinary glass.

After studying them for a moment without recognizing the material, he simply purchased several pairs.

When Chen Xian stepped back outside carrying his purchases, the taxi he had paid for earlier had not left, remaining parked right where it was.

Seeing this, Chen Xian was unsurprised. After all, he had merely hopped out temporarily to buy things and hadn't reached his final destination yet.

Naturally, the driver was willing to wait, especially since the destination was quite far, promising a much higher fare.

Climbing back into the car, Chen Xian let his thoughts drift, and the driver, knowing his destination, asked no unnecessary questions.

As time slowly ticked by, Chen Xian glanced out the window and his gaze sharpened.

"Driver, I'm afraid the route we're taking isn't right!"

A trace of doubt arose in Chen Xian's heart.

Of course he remembered the way home; he had traveled it just coming here, so how could he forget? He wasn't lacking in a sense of direction.

Yet the route the driver was currently taking was clearly unfamiliar to him. How could he not be suspicious?

"Oh?"

"There was an issue with the other road; a traffic accident was reported, so I'm taking a detour."

Hearing the driver's explanation, Chen Xian did not reply.

Instead, he turned his head to look directly at the driver.