Chapter 239: Ritual

These four divine statues were all carved in the likeness of the four different forms manifested by the Five Directions Divine Statue, the main deity worshipped by the Filthy Blood Sect; at times holy and serene, at times evil and terrifying, at times wrathful and ferocious, at times bewitching and seductive...

Moreover, these four divine statues were all completely unadorned, stark naked...

Their various forms were beyond what words could fully describe...

This secret chamber was a Secret Chamber Mandala!

This Mandala was already quite similar to the description of a Mandala within the cultivation method of the Soul Technique Womb Treasury Sutra that Duan Rong practiced.

The only difference was that the divine statues in the Womb Treasury Sutra were the Four Great Wisdom Kings, while the divine statues in this Secret Chamber Mandala were the Five Directions Divine Statue.

Upon closer inspection, although the Five Directions Divine Statue carried the title of a god, it was more like a demon!

One is a god, one is a demon, yet the methods for constructing the Mandala had many similarities.

Before each divine statue, there was a stone incense table, and upon the incense tables were incense burners and candle flames; only, the candles for those flames were made of some unknown material, and the flames they emitted were a ghostly blue, looking quite eerie...

Su Di, Bai Ai, and Pei Qing had already arranged the offerings on the incense tables of the four divine statues.

Afterward, they took several bundles of hay that had been soaked in brewed medicinal juices and dried, and placed them at the edge of the high platform in the middle of the secret chamber.

Su Di walked to the corner, picked up the two farm girls who had been thrown there, carrying one in each hand, and placed them on the high platform.

She laid their bodies out flat, letting them lie in the very center of the high platform...

At this, Bai Ai took a wooden box out from a hidden compartment somewhere and placed it on the high platform.

After finishing all this, Su Di and Bai Ai each patrolled from left to right once more, and after confirming there were no mistakes or omissions, they left.

Bai Ai and Pei Qing kept watch in the outer secret chamber, waiting for when Wei Yutian and Luan Jingfu held the ceremony, so they could be called in if there were any temporary needs.

As for Su Di, she carried the lantern she had brought with her, exited the secret chamber, and stood guard near the entrance of the side room.

The three of them basically divided their work this way, because Su Di had the highest martial arts cultivation among the three, so she was usually responsible for guarding outside to provide timely warning in case of any accidents.

The three of them finished all that and stood guard at their respective positions.

About one stick of incense later, Wei Yutian and Luan Jingfu arrived tardily.

Both of them had changed their clothes and were almost stark naked, with only a piece of black cloth embroidered with a ferocious beast head tied around their waists to cover their private parts.

Su Di stood there holding the lantern, her fair face instantly flushing to the roots of her ears; she lowered her head, not daring to look at Wei Yutian and Luan Jingfu, looking only at her own toes.

Wei Yutian glanced at Su Di and said coldly, "Is everything prepared?"

"It is already prepared," Su Di replied.

Luan Jingfu looked at Su Di's bashful and overwhelmed appearance, and the fire in his heart burned even hotter.

Wei Yutian had already walked slowly into the side room, and Luan Jingfu immediately followed.

From the opening in the corner that had already been opened, the two walked down the steps and entered the secret chamber.

Bai Ai and Pei Qing were already standing on either side of the entrance to the Mandala secret chamber; as Wei Yutian and Luan Jingfu walked in slowly, the two women crouched slightly in a bow.

Walking into the Secret Chamber Mandala and looking at the two young girls lying unconscious on the high platform in the center of the secret chamber, Luan Jingfu's gaze was scorching hot.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the agitation in his heart.

Next, there were complex rituals of repentance and Smoke Offering that had to be carried out step by step; practicing the Filthy Blood Divine Art was different from ordinary venting of lust, as it had strict ritual procedures.

He had to be patient and walk through it step by step! Moreover, there was danger in the middle of this, and he could not be careless!

Wei Yutian took a small waterskin from his lower back, then took two specially made copper bowls from an incense table and handed them to Luan Jingfu.

Luan Jingfu held the two copper bowls in his hands.

Wei Yutian unscrewed the waterskin, and a foul, fishy stench immediately wafted out, making one want to vomit upon smelling it.

Wei Yutian raised the waterskin, and a frothy, blood-colored viscous substance, like pus and blood, gushed out and poured into the two copper bowls Luan Jingfu was holding.

The two of them each held a copper bowl, stood before a divine statue, and used their fingers to dip into the pus and blood in the bowls, drawing three blood streaks on their foreheads.

Afterward, they muttered incantations and held the copper bowls high above their heads, offering them before the divine statue as if in a sacrifice.

Once the incantations were finished, they went to the next divine statue and repeated the process.

After the offerings and incantations for the four divine statues were finished in turn, the two sat cross-legged before the last divine statue and poured the pus and blood from the copper bowls over their own heads.

Afterward, they quickly formed hand seals with both hands, and the sound of their incantations suddenly grew louder.

What they were chanting was the Five Directions Divine Incantation; the tone was archaic, and the pronunciation was twisted and difficult, making one feel annoyed upon hearing it.

Following their hand seals and chanting, the pus and blood that had been poured over their heads and flowed over their entire bodies actually seeped into their skin at a speed visible to the naked eye...

At the same time, their bodies actually began to spasm, their hands forming the seals began to tremble and shiver, and their brows were tightly locked, as if they were experiencing immense pain, yet they did not dare to interrupt the incantations in their mouths for even a moment...

After about half a stick of incense, the pus and blood on their bodies had all burrowed into their bodies, leaving only faint red marks on the surface of their naked bodies...

The two stopped their hand seals and chanting, wiped the dense sweat from their foreheads, and a heavy fear surged in their eyes.

Just now, they had fallen into a divine-demonic illusion; had their wills been even slightly less firm, they would have already become possessed by demons.

Every time they practiced the Filthy Blood Divine Art, this part was an extremely dangerous hurdle that required extreme caution.

To tell the truth, this Filthy Blood Divine Art had harsh conditions for practice, complex rituals, slow progress, and danger during practice; if not for the immense benefits, they would never be willing to take this risk and go to this trouble.

The moment they stopped their hand seals and chanting, the four Five Directions Divine Statues surrounding them manifested waves of blood-red light from their stone eyes...

Seeing this scene, the two felt their hearts instantly relax.

As long as this step was completed, they had awakened the divine statues and established a certain connection with the Five Directions Divine Statue; there would be no more danger in the subsequent rituals.

Afterward, the two picked up the hay bundles from the high platform in the center of the secret chamber, lit the hay bundles in a brazier, then shook them to extinguish the flames, and holding the smoking hay bundles, they began to circle the high platform while dancing a strange dance...

This was the next ritual after awakening the Five Directions Divine Statue; this ritual was called Smoke Offering.

The two danced for a full half-hour, until all the hay bundles on the central high platform were used up; at this time, the entire Secret Chamber Mandala was filled with thick smoke, making it almost impossible to see anyone...

Only then was the Smoke Offering ritual considered complete.

In the thick smoke, the two knelt and worshipped the Five Directions Divine Statue again; the Five Directions Divine Statue in the thick smoke was flickering in and out of view, and only the blood-red light shot from their eyes could penetrate the thick smoke and shine onto the high platform in the center.

The two then walked onto the high platform, knelt, turned their hands over, and loudly chanted the Five Directions Divine Incantation.

Next, Luan Jingfu walked toward one of the unconscious young girls on the smoke-filled high platform, while Wei Yutian walked toward the other young girl.

On the high platform shrouded in thick smoke, the sound of tearing clothes could be heard...

Next, as the thick smoke billowed, bursts of miserable screams laced with sobbing could be heard...

(End of this chapter)