Chapter 617: Blood Sacrifice

In the instant the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree appeared.

Around the Five Elements Mountains, in all nearby market towns and immortal cities.

Countless cultivators simultaneously looked up to the heavens, stunned into silence by this sudden, grand celestial phenomenon.

"Look! It's coming from the Five Elements Mountains—could a treasure be emerging?"

"Such a celestial omen—this must be an ancient ruin surfacing."

"My heavens! What kind of spiritual plant is this? It's piercing the sky!"

"Could it be the fourth-rank spiritual vein beneath Shendao Mountain and Lihuo Palace?"

"No wonder the Five Elements Mountain market has been so crowded lately—everyone's come for the opportunity."

"Brothers, what are you waiting for?"

"Such a divine omen descending from heaven must herald a great opportunity."

"Big sects get the meat—we've got to at least sip the broth!"

"You speak truly, brother. I'm at the fourth level of Qi Refining and skilled in lock-picking—is there anyone willing to form a team and head there together?"

"…"

In an instant, the entire cultivation world erupted.

The news that a sky-piercing treasure tree had appeared in the Five Elements Mountains of Jinan was like a hurricane sweeping across the cultivation world.

Almost everyone knew of it.

After all, such a massive disturbance could not be hidden by Shendao Mountain or the demonic sects.

Inside the Five Elements Mountains' spiritual fields.

Qin Ming had just finished harvesting the spiritual rice and looked up to see this sight.

As the earth trembled and the sky shook, the spiritual farmers in the fields, having never witnessed such a cataclysmic spectacle, wore expressions of sheer terror.

Qin Ming gazed upward at the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree in the sky, seeing the seven treasure blossoms fully in bloom.

"Didn't expect it to come so soon."

Li Lan also stared at the colossal tree, its seven-colored aurora blotting out the heavens, utterly entranced by its awe-inspiring splendor.

After a long while.

He snapped out of it, trembling, and asked Qin Ming: "Master Lu, what rank of spiritual plant is this?"

"This is the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree. Supposedly a top-tier fourth-rank spiritual plant, but judging by its current state, it may be more than that," Qin Ming mused.

"What? How could such a divine tree emerge here?" Li Lan, upon hearing this, was stunned once more.

"Then what should we do?"

Qin Ming turned to him and said: "I've already arranged a magic ship. Return to Lingxu Market and evacuate everyone immediately."

"The teleportation array in Five Elements Mountain Market is certainly unusable now—you must take the magic ship to Zhongzhou."

"When such a relic surfaces, even if it holds a heaven-defying opportunity, it's beyond our reach. Don't even think of anything else."

"Yes! I humbly follow the manager's orders!" Li Lan bowed deeply, then obeyed Qin Ming's instructions, gathering his team of spiritual farmers and beginning immediate evacuation.

Qin Ming glanced at the fertile spiritual fields and murmured: "I should leave too—I hope the merchant ship bound for the Southern Wastelands still departs on schedule."

He had also entrusted Hua Tianxiong with handling the transfer of these two hundred mu of spiritual fields.

Qin Ming turned his thoughts, then dismantled the protective array surrounding the fields and departed as a streak of green light.

Heading toward Lingxu Market.

…

Beneath the Five Elements Mountains.

The people of Shendao Mountain, Yinmo Sect, and Xuelian Demon Gate, along with Daheitian Beast Saint, had never anticipated that the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree's bloom would trigger such a celestial phenomenon.

It had directly exposed the secret of the ancient Qingyuan Sect's hidden realm to the entire cultivation world.

The ensuing struggle for control was now unavoidable.

Wangu Shangren's gaze was dark and sharp; his lips twitched beneath his hawk-like nose as he rasped: "What do you all think? The situation has changed—those old fools from the Weidao Alliance will surely arrive too."

"So what if they do? Let them fight if they want. Right now, I care only about this: the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree has bloomed—why hasn't the Qingyuan Sect's hidden realm opened yet?"

The speaker was a gaunt, gray-robed elder, his eyes dull, radiating an icy chill that sent shivers down the spine.

He was one of the two Nascent Soul demons of Yinmo Sect: Xuan Yin Demon.

As he spoke, Lan Bing, the Holy Maiden of Xuelian Demon Gate, standing beside him, coldly said: "The ritual requires more blood and soul essence from cultivators—still insufficient for the blossoms to fully open."

"Jiejiejie! Leave this to me—I love hearing the screams of human cultivators as they die." Daheitian Beast Saint's black feathered robe stirred without wind as he grinned, fangs bared in bloodlust.

"Wait a moment, I'll go fetch some. This will also discourage those lurking shadows from trying to steal a share."

Instantly, Daheitian Beast Saint turned into a shadow and vanished beneath the earth.

The dark underground world fell silent once more.

…

Inside Lingxu Market, chaos had erupted into a frenzy—utter pandemonium.

Some cultivators, blinded by greed at the sight of the phenomenon, rushed headlong outward, flying recklessly toward the Seven Wondrous Treasure Tree.

Many others held back, merely watching for entertainment.

Some with clear heads, sensing danger, immediately activated their escape protocols, fleeing as fast as they could.

Qin Ming was among those fleeing.

After seeing Li Lan and the others off, Qin Ming followed Han Yuan's earlier guidance to the port where large merchant ships were docked.

After asking around, he arrived at the location of the Jintian Trading House's "Tianlan."

Fortunately, despite the chaos outside, the magic ship bound for the Southern Wastelands was still departing on schedule.

Qin Ming immediately exhaled in relief.

Beneath the Jintian Trading House, a long line of cultivators had already formed, beginning to verify identities and board.

The docking port was heavily guarded by Weidao Alliance cultivators and patrolled by Jintian's own, with extreme vigilance.

Qin Ming assumed the guise of Master Lu and joined the rear of the queue, waiting to board.

Half a day later.

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

Qin Ming handed his travel token to the patrol guard.

After passing through the detection array and token verification, the guard captain returned the token to Qin Ming and was about to let him board.

But at that moment.

A mocking voice rang out.

"Wait!"

"Oh? Isn't this Master Lu from Jingxue Pavilion?"

"Don't you have your own merchant ship? Why are you boarding ours?"

Lu Hua Yuan, whom Qin Ming had met at the Su family, sneered at him.

Qin Ming cursed inwardly—he hadn't expected to run into this man again.

Had it not been for the need to conceal his identity, he would have crushed him on the spot and fed him to Lei Yuanmo's thunder melon.

Though Lu Hua Yuan cowered before Hua Tianxiong, he paid little heed to a minor outsider. "You're not boarding. Even with a Weidao Alliance-issued travel token, it's useless."

"I run this ship. I suspect you have ulterior motives—possibly spying on commercial secrets. Denied."

Lu Hua Yuan grinned coldly at Qin Ming, as if reclaiming the face he'd lost at the Su residence.

Qin Ming's gaze turned icy as he prepared to cast an illusion technique.

Suddenly—zip! His expression changed drastically—his spiritual sense had sensed something dire.

Above, a massive shadow swept past; the air trembled violently, and from the warped space emerged a man clad in black feathers, hovering in midair.

A violent, chilling demonic aura swept unchecked across the market, its overwhelming spiritual pressure leaving every cultivator in Lingxu Market stunned, as if plunged into an icy tomb.

The black-feathered man held a blood-stained sail, drenched in slaughter, clearly having just killed many.

"So many lowly blood meals! You'll do fine as numbers."

He casually slapped his hand—sky and earth darkened, winds churned, and countless black storm winds surged toward the market.

On the merchant ship, Lu Hua Yuan, who had just been boasting to Qin Ming, was brushed by the black wind—and instantly exploded into a mist of blood.

With a single casual move, the black-feathered man caused rivers of blood and countless deaths—even the Golden Core cultivators in the market had no power to resist.

In an instant, the entire market became a hell on earth; the blood and souls of countless cultivators turned into threads of crimson, sucked into the black-feathered man's blood sail.

"Aaaah! Help! It's a Nascent Soul demon!"

"Run for your lives!"

Qin Ming's eyes narrowed sharply—he recognized the killer at a glance.

"Daheitian Beast Saint!"

He'd shared a drink with this man in the Five Elements Mountain Market. These low-rank cultivators stood no chance against him.

Even with countless escape lights streaking across the sky, not a single fly could escape beneath his vast demonic spiritual sense.

With a single sweep of his aura, the cultivators below couldn't even scream—they turned into clumps of blood mist.

At this moment, Qin Ming fully understood what it meant: beneath Nascent Soul, all are ants. Daheitian Beast Saint's demonic aura surged as he swept toward the thousand-zhang merchant ship.

Boom! The Jintian Trading House's "Tianlan" was seized by an invisible hand and instantly shattered into dust in midair.

The cultivators already aboard died instantly, their blood and souls harvested without mercy by Daheitian.

The cultivators in the market fell like wheat before the scythe, one row after another.

Seeing this, Qin Ming no longer concealed his cultivation—he transformed into a streak of green light and fled into the distance.

He wasn't sure whether the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint had brought any other accomplices for this blood sacrifice of the marketplace.

If another Nascent Soul-level old devil showed up, even Qin Ming's cultivation base would find it hard to escape.

Shhh! Qin Ming immediately activated the Glass Jewel Robe, covering his entire body.

The black storm winds striking him produced no great effect.

"Hmm?"

"So there are still ants capable of withstanding my strike."

The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint's tiny, emerald-green pupils contracted, and his demonic sense swept toward Qin Ming's location.

Instantly, a strange expression appeared on his face:

"Interesting—you're an old acquaintance."

"Lu Dao friend, don't leave yet—I still owe you a drink. Hehehe."

"A Gao Jie Jin Dan who could deceive me before—let me crack open your skull and see what secrets you hide."

The Great Black Heaven let out a cold, sinister laugh; most of the living beings in Lingxu Marketplace had already been sealed inside his blood sail.

His figure flickered, the surrounding spiritual energy erupted, wrapping him as he vanished instantly, chasing after Qin Ming.

…

In the blink of an eye.

Qin Ming did not head toward the Five Elements Mountain Marketplace—under the attack of a fourth-rank demon saint, even more cultivators would die.

He reversed direction and flew recklessly toward the Beast Roar Mountains—the direction of Muxia Mountain, the fox clan's sacred ground.

The Great Black Heaven was a Riftwind Vulture, naturally possessing extraordinary speed.

He had originally thought catching that human boy would be effortless.

But what followed left the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint stunned.

Qin Ming's body erupted in a crimson glow that enveloped him, then instantly teleported thousands of li away—something unheard of and unseen.

The Great Black Heaven Demon Saint's eyes darkened; his hands transformed into a pair of jet-black feathers, each dozens of zhang wide, blotting out the sky as he unleashed his fastest speed to pursue.

Qin Ming felt himself locked in place; despite repeatedly activating his Blood Dash technique, the black-feathered man never lost pursuit.

For days, the man and the beast chased each other through the Beast Roar Mountains.

Once Qin Ming confirmed the Great Black Heaven had no other Gao Jie allies—only he himself—he finally exhaled in relief.

If it was merely a fourth-rank demon saint, even if Qin Ming couldn't defeat him, self-preservation was still more than sufficient.

Moreover,

As Muxia Mountain drew near, Qin Ming immediately sent a long-distance transmission talisman to Yue Lingyan.

Behind him, the Great Black Heaven Demon Saint sensed something amiss.

"Wait—why is this brat heading straight for Yin Yue's territory?"

The Great Black Heaven's thoughts raced; he finally sensed something wrong.

He was a defeated subordinate of Yin Yue, the Silver Moon Fox—last time she came to retaliate, he nearly died in her hands, and he still feared her deeply.

The Great Black Heaven never expected a mere human Jin Dan to slip away like an eel, escaping him repeatedly.

If he let the boy reach Yin Yue's territory, he could no longer pursue.

Realizing this, the Great Black Heaven's emerald-green eyes flickered. "You're the first human to force me to reveal my true form!"

Boom! Rolling demonic energy erupted from the black-feathered cultivator, instantly transforming him into a colossal black avian demon, two hundred zhang tall, its jet-black wings spreading and warping the nearby space.

Between its wings, a peculiar wind-element energy continuously coalesced.

Jiuuuu! The Riftwind Vulture revealed its true form and launched its full-speed pursuit—just one wingbeat carried it thousands of li ahead, faster than Qin Ming's Blood Dash.

As if teleporting through empty space.

In just a few seconds, it overtook Qin Ming, blocking his path; its black wings unleashed divine winds capable of severing the soul, and its talons—equivalent to top-tier magical treasures—lunged toward him.

Qin Ming frowned; he no longer hesitated, unleashing all his blood and true divine wind.

Roar! A crimson, eight-armed demonic ape phantom emerged from Qin Ming's body, towering over three hundred zhang.

After completing his body refinement, the true divine wind manifestation Qin Ming summoned was even larger than that of the Great Black Heaven.

Crackling!

The moment the crimson ape appeared, its eight arms swung, fingers clenched into fists, leaping upward!

It slammed a punch straight down at the charging Great Black Heaven—Boom!

The two colossal beasts collided violently; heaven and earth shattered, black lightning flashed, and nearby forests turned to dust.

The impact sent shockwaves through Qin Ming's body; his chest felt as if struck by a giant hammer, and he was blasted ten thousand zhang away before crashing to the ground.

The Great Black Heaven, in his black vulture form, was also hurled ten thousand zhang away.

He halted abruptly at a distance, his expression not angry—but stunned, astonished. (End of Chapter)