Chapter 408: Blood Sacrifice

The moment the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree manifested in the world.

In all the major market towns surrounding the Five Elements Mountain Range, and within the Yunze Xiancheng.

Countless cultivators simultaneously raised their heads to gaze at the sky, all struck speechless by such a sudden and grand celestial phenomenon.

"Look! It's coming from the direction of the Five Elements Mountain Range; could it be that a treasure has emerged?"

"With such a celestial phenomenon, it is likely an ancient ruin has appeared."

"Heavens! What kind of spiritual plant is this? It seems poised to pierce through the firmament itself!"

"Could it be related to the fourth-tier spiritual vein occupied by the Divine Dao Mountain and the Li Fire Palace?"

"No wonder there have been so many people in the Five Elements Mountain market recently; it turns out everyone was rushing there for an opportunity."

"Brothers, what are you still waiting for?"

"With such a divine anomaly descending from the heavens, a great opportunity must surely be manifesting."

"While the great sects feast on the meat, we must at least get to drink some of the soup!"

"Fellow Daoist speaks most wisely; this humble one is at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation and specializes in lock-picking. Are there any like-minded fellow Daoists willing to form a team and head there together?"

"..."

In an instant, the entire Immortal Realm boiled over with excitement.

News of the appearance of a sky-piercing treasure tree in the Five Elements Mountain Range of the Great Jin's Southern Domain swept through the Immortal Realm like a hurricane.

It became known to virtually everyone, leaving no one unaware.

After all, with such a massive commotion, even the Divine Dao Mountain and the Mo Sect could no longer hide it.

Within the spiritual fields of the Five Elements Mountain.

Qin Ming had just finished harvesting the spiritual rice from the fields when he too witnessed this scene.

As the earth shook and the sky trembled, the spiritual farmers in the fields, who had never witnessed such a shocking spectacle, all displayed expressions of terror.

Qin Ming raised his head to gaze intently at the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree in the sky, seeing that the treasure flowers on its seven branches had fully bloomed.

"I didn't expect it to arrive so quickly."

Li Lan was also staring at the sky-obscuring giant tree before him, which radiated colorful halos that dazzled the eyes and bewildered the mind, leaving him completely immersed in shock.

After a long while.

He came to his senses and, trembling with fear, asked Qin Ming, "Shopkeeper Lu, look at this... what rank of spiritual plant is this?"

"This is the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree; it is said to be a top-grade fourth-tier spiritual plant, but judging by the current situation, it likely exceeds that," Qin Ming mused aloud.

"Ah? How could such a divine tree manifest in this place?" Upon hearing this, Li Lan fell into shock once again.

"Then what... what should we do?"

Qin Ming turned back to him and said, "I have already arranged for a dharma boat; return to the Lingxu Market Town and lead the people to evacuate immediately."

"The teleportation array in the Five Elements Mountain Market Town is certainly unusable now; you must take the dharma boat to travel to the Central Prefecture."

"With such a ruin manifesting, even if there is an opportunity that defies heaven, it is not something people like us can covet; do not think about anything else."

"Yes! We strictly obey the Shopkeeper's orders!" Li Lan bowed deeply, then immediately followed Qin Ming's arrangements, leading the group of spiritual farmers under his command to pack up their belongings and begin their evacuation.

Qin Ming took one last look at this fertile expanse of spiritual fields and murmured, "It is about time for me to leave as well; I only hope the merchant ship heading to the Southern Desolate Immortal Realm can still depart as scheduled."

As for these two hundred mu of spiritual fields, he had already asked Hua Tianxiong to help handle their transfer and sale.

Qin Ming's thoughts churned briefly; then he retracted the protective formation surrounding the spiritual fields, transformed into a streak of cyan rainbow light, and departed from this place.

He flew in the direction of the Lingxu Market Town.

Deep beneath the earth of the Five Elements Mountain Range.

The members of the Divine Dao Mountain, the Yin Mo Sect, and the Blood Refining Mo Gate, along with the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint, had never anticipated that the blooming of the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree would trigger such a celestial phenomenon.

It had directly exposed the secret of the Guqingyuan Sect's secret realm to the entire Immortal Realm.

The ensuing struggle for it had now become unavoidable.

Wan Gu Shangren's gaze turned sinister and gloomy; with a darkened face, his lips beneath his hooked eagle nose trembled as he spoke in a hoarse voice, "What do several fellow Daoists think? Now that the situation has changed, those old fellows from the Wei Dao Alliance will surely be rushing over as well."

"So what if they know? At worst, we simply fight a battle. What concerns this Ancestor now is that the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree has already bloomed, so why has the Qingyuan Sect's secret realm not yet opened?"

The speaker was an emaciated old man in gray robes, his eyes clouded and turbid, radiating a chilling cold air from all around his body that made one shudder with fear!

This person was none other than Xuan Yin Laomo, one of the two Nascent Soul old demons of the Yin Mo Sect.

As his words fell, the Blue Ice Saintess of the Blood Refining Mo Gate, standing nearby, said coldly, "It is likely that the flesh, blood, and living souls of the cultivators used in the sacrificial ritual are still slightly insufficient for the treasure flowers to fully open."

"Heh heh heh! Then leave this matter to this Seat; I most enjoy listening to the miserable screams of you human cultivators as you die." The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint, clad in black feathered robes that moved without wind, opened his mouth to reveal a bloodthirsty smile.

"Please wait a moment, several of you; this Seat will go procure them immediately, which will also serve to make those secretly coveting the prize abandon any thought of sharing in the spoils."

Immediately, the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint transformed into a black shadow and vanished instantly from the underground.

The dark world beneath the earth fell silent once again.

Inside the Lingxu Market Town, chaos had already erupted into a complete mess, truly a scene of chickens flying and dogs jumping.

Some cultivators, upon seeing the anomalous phenomenon emerge, became red-eyed with greed and recklessness, caring nothing for their lives as they continuously flew outward toward the direction of the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree.

There were also many who maintained a wait-and-see attitude, merely wishing to watch the spectacle.

Then there were those with clear minds who, seeing the unfavorable situation, immediately activated their running-away mode, fearing only that they could not avoid it fast enough.

And Qin Ming was also one among this vast army of fugitives fleeing the scene.

After sending Li Lan and the others away, Qin Ming, following Han Yuan's previous guidance, made his way to the port on the outskirts of the market town where large merchant ships were docked.

After some inquiry and investigation, he arrived at the location of the Jintian Merchant House's 'Tianlan Hao'.

Fortunately, despite the chaotic turmoil outside, this dharma boat bound for the Southern Desolate Immortal Realm was still departing as scheduled.

This immediately allowed Qin Ming to breathe a sigh of relief.

At this time, beneath the Jintian Merchant House, quite a few cultivators had already formed a long queue, beginning to verify their identities and board the ship in order.

The harbor where the Dharma ship was docked was not only heavily guarded by cultivators of the Alliance for Upholding the Dao, but also patrolled by cultivators from the Jintian Merchant House, making it extremely formidable.

Qin Ming transformed into the appearance of Shopkeeper Lu and joined the queue at the rear of the crowd, waiting to board the ship.

Half a day later.

After thousands of cultivators had boarded, it was finally his turn.

Qin Ming handed the pass token in his hand to the guard responsible for patrol.

After he passed through the detection array and the token inspection, the guard captain returned the token to Qin Ming and was just about to allow him to board.

But just at that moment.

A yin-yang toned voice rang out.

"Hold on!"

"Oh! Isn't this Shopkeeper Lu from the Mirror Jing Xue Ge?"

"Does your Mirror Jing Xue Ge not have its own merchant ships? Why do you need to ride ours?"

Lu Huayuan, whom he had previously met at the Su family residence, looked at Qin Ming with a face full of mockery.

Qin Ming cursed loudly in his heart at his bad luck, never expecting to run into this person here again.

If it weren't for the need to avoid exposing his identity, he would have subdued him on the spot and fed him to Lei Yuanmo as fertilizer.

Although Lu Huayuan had acted like a grandson in front of Hua Tianxiong, he did not take a small external force to heart at all. "If you want to board this ship, there's no way; even if you have a pass token signed by the Alliance for Upholding the Dao, so what?"

"I call the shots on this merchant ship; I suspect your intentions are impure and that you are spying on commercial secrets, so you are denied boarding."

Lu Huayuan looked at Qin Ming with a sinister smile, seemingly having regained the face he had lost at the Su family.

Qin Ming's gaze was as gloomy as water; just as he was about to cast an illusion technique on him.

Suddenly! Whoosh! The expression on his face changed drastically! His powerful divine sense had already detected something amiss.

Just then, a huge black shadow swept across the sky nearby, after which space began to tremble violently, and from the distorted air, a man in black feathered robes stepped out, standing in mid-void.

A violent and cold demonic thought swept over without restraint; the spiritual pressure was so immense that all the cultivators in the Lingxu Market Town were terrified into a daze, as if falling into an ice cellar.

The black-feathered man held a blood sail in his hand, his body radiating murderous qi, obviously having just killed quite a few people.

"So many ant-like blood foods! I'll just use you lot to make up the numbers."

Just then, he casually slapped his hand, causing heaven and earth to change color; wind and clouds churned in the air, whipping up countless black gusts of wind that swept towards the market town!

On the merchant ship, Lu Huayuan, who had just been acting arrogantly towards Qin Ming, was grazed by the swirling black wind, and his entire body instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

With just a casual move from the black-feathered man, rivers of blood flowed and countless died; even the Jin Dan cultivators within the market town possessed no power to resist.

In an instant, the entire market town turned into a human hell; the flesh, blood, and living souls of countless cultivators transformed into strands of blood threads, which were collected by the black-feathered man into the blood sail in his hand.

"Ahhh! Help! It's a Nascent Soul old demon!"

"Run for your lives!"

Qin Ming's pupils contracted sharply; with just one glance, he recognized the person currently wreaking havoc.

"Great Black Heaven Demon Saint!"

This person had once shared a drink with him at the Five Elements Mountain Market Town. How could those low-level cultivators escape from the palm of the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint?

Even though countless escape lights fled in all directions, under the coverage of his vast demonic thought, not even a single fly could fly out.

With one sweep of his demonic thought, the cultivators below could not even let out a single scream before turning into clumps of blood mist.

At this very moment, Qin Ming deeply understood what was meant by 'below Nascent Soul, all are ants.' The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint's body surged with demonic qi, sweeping towards the merchant ship in the mid-air, which was a thousand zhang in size.

Boom! The 'Tianlan' merchant ship of the Jintian Merchant House seemed to be grabbed by an invisible giant hand; the next moment, the entire ship instantly turned into powder in mid-air.

Those cultivators who had already boarded died along with their Dao extinguished in an instant, transforming into strands of flesh, blood, and living souls, ruthlessly harvested by the Great Black Heaven.

The cultivators within the market town fell like wheat being cut, crop after crop.

Seeing this, Qin Ming no longer hid his cultivation; without a second word, he transformed into a green rainbow and fled towards the distance.

He was also unclear whether the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint, in this blood sacrifice of the market town, had brought any other helpers along.

If another Nascent Soul-level old demon were to arrive, even with Qin Ming's cultivation, it would be difficult for him to escape by then.

Swish! Qin Ming directly activated the Glazed Treasure Robe, covering his entire body.

Those black gusts of wind blew against him but failed to raise much of a ripple.

"Hmm?"

"Surprisingly, there is still an ant capable of withstanding one strike from this seat."

In the sky, the pupils of the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint, green and tiny as beans, contracted; he then swept his demonic thought towards Qin Ming's location.

Immediately after, a strange expression suddenly appeared on his face:

"Interesting, it turns out to be an old acquaintance."

"Fellow Daoist Lu, don't be in such a hurry to leave; this seat still owes you a drink, hehehe."

"Perfect Jin Dan stage; previously, you could even deceive this seat. Let me split open your skull and see exactly what secrets you hold?"

The Great Black Heaven let out a sinister cold laugh; most of the living beings in the Lingxu Market Town had already been packed into his blood sail.

Immediately after, his figure flickered, the surrounding spiritual energy became violent, enveloping him as he instantly vanished and chased urgently after Qin Ming.

With the speed of wind and lightning.

Qin Ming did not run in the direction of the Five Elements Mountain Market Town; with a fourth-rank Demon Saint making a move, no matter how many more cultivators came, they would only die.

He changed direction and, disregarding everything, flew towards the Beast Cry Mountain Range, specifically in the direction of the Fox Clan's holy land, Twilight Mist Mountain.

The Great Black Heaven was a Wind-Splitting Eagle demon bird, naturally possessing an incredibly fast escape speed.

Originally, he had thought catching up to that human boy would be as easy as picking something up from one's own hand.

But the scene that followed left the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint utterly astonished.

Only to see a ball of bloody light erupt on Qin Ming's body, enveloping him, before he instantly shifted thousands of li away—a sight never before seen, a phenomenon never before heard of.

The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint's eyes turned gloomy; his hands transformed into a pair of jet-black ink feathers, dozens of zhang in size, blotting out the sun and sky, as he immediately unleashed his fastest flight speed to give chase.

Qin Ming instantly felt himself firmly locked onto; even though he consecutively unleashed the Blood Escape Secret Art several times, the black-feathered man behind him still pursued relentlessly.

One human and one beast chased and fled through the Beast Cry Mountain Range, flying for several days.

And after Qin Ming confirmed that behind the Great Black Heaven there were no other high-level helpers, only the solitary individual himself, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

If it was merely a fourth-rank Demon Saint, even if Qin Ming could not defeat him, he still had more than enough capability to protect himself.

Furthermore.

Seeing that he was approaching Twilight Mist Mountain, Qin Ming immediately sent a long-distance transmission talisman to Yue Lingyan.

The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint, pursuing from behind, immediately sensed something was amiss.

"Something's wrong? Why is this kid heading toward that woman Silver Moon's territory?"

The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint's thoughts churned rapidly, and he finally detected a hint of something wrong.

He was a defeated general under the Silver Moon Sky Fox; last time she came to his door for revenge, he had nearly died at her hands, truly making him extremely wary.

The Great Black Heaven also hadn't expected that a mere human Jin Dan cultivator could run as slickly as a loach, escaping from his grasp time and again.

If he were allowed to escape into the Silver Moon Sky Fox's territory, then it would be difficult for him to continue the pursuit.

Thinking of this, the Great Black Heaven's small, emerald-green eyes flickered incessantly. "Good kid, you are the first human to force me to reveal my true form!"

Boom! On the black-feathered demon cultivator's body, rolling demonic qi immediately erupted; in an instant, he transformed into a black demon bird two hundred zhang in size, and as his jet-black wings spread, they caused the nearby space to distort.

Between his two wings, a strange wind-attributed energy continuously condensed.

Screech!!! The Split-Wind Condor revealed his true form and pursued with full force; with just one flap of his wings, he was faster than Qin Ming's Blood Escape Art, instantly appearing thousands of li away.

It was as if he had teleported through the void.

In merely a few breaths, he swept past Qin Ming, blocking his path; his black wings scraped out gale forces capable of severing the divine soul, and he opened a pair of claws comparable to top-grade magical treasures, viciously pouncing toward Qin Ming.

Qin Ming's brows furrowed; he no longer hesitated and directly ignited the qi and blood true force throughout his entire body.

Roar! A blood-colored eight-armed demon ape phantom emerged upon Qin Ming, towering fully over three hundred zhang in height.

After Qin Ming had perfected his body-refining physical body, the true force transformation he unleashed was even a full circle larger than the Great Black Heaven.

Crackling!

The moment the blood-colored demon ape appeared, its eight arms danced, its five fingers joined together to form a fist, and it leaped upward!

Toward the Great Black Heaven flying in its pounce, it smashed down a single fist! Boom-crack!

The two giant beasts collided fiercely; in an instant, the heavens collapsed and the earth split, black lightning flashed, and the nearby mountains and forests were all reduced to powder.

Under this head-on clash, even within Qin Ming's body, his qi and blood churned violently; his chest felt as if struck by a great hammer, and he flew backward ten thousand zhang before rolling to the ground.

And the black condor transformed from the Great Black Heaven was also blasted flying ten thousand zhang away by this single punch.

He urgently halted his form in the distance; on his face, no anger was revealed, but rather more shock and surprise... (End of Chapter)