Chapter 657: Breaking into the Altar Battlefield

At this moment, what echoed in Ning Zhuo's mind was the advice of the Buddha-Healer Meng Yao.

The latter had told him that the reason she grabbed a batch of loot before leaving was because a spiritual inspiration triggered, calculating that these things might be of great help to Ning Zhuo.

"My mother is also proficient in divination."

"I fear her previous calculation was meant for this moment!"

This clue also greatly increased Ning Zhuo's confidence.

Ning Zhuo controlled the light-goose, ordering it to hold the half-piece of the Forget-Silence Winding Path Candle in its mouth.

Doing this step was easy, but the candle body couldn't be lit, which was no different from holding a stone.

"The light-goose's power seems to be the separation of all things, not lighting a candle."

"I need a wick and a flame."

"Do I have a wick?"

Ning Zhuo scanned the pile of loot given to him by the Buddha-Healer Meng Yao.

He didn't find a wick.

"Was it not picked up? Or..."

The wick of the Forget-Silence Winding Path Candle was made of yellowish-brown burial cloth, combined with a woman's black hair, spirally wound together.

After being subjected to the power of the Great Void Dispersing Ruler, it was separated into burial cloth and black hair.

Ning Zhuo saw many scattered materials, including these two.

But he was not the Mourning Music Ghost Maid and didn't know which of these scattered materials were part of the original wick.

"Even if I knew, it wouldn't help."

"These materials must have been refined through some kind of spell."

"I have no way of knowing this refining method. Even if I knew, would I have time to re-refine it at this stage?"

For a moment, Ning Zhuo was in a dilemma.

"Could it be that I need to plant a fire seed?"

Ning Zhuo possessed the fire seed 【Wood-Core Fire】, which was a major piece of loot he obtained when he led his troops to attack the Ten-Mile Burning Forest in the Qianfeng Forest of the Liangzhu Kingdom.

With a fire seed, it would definitely be possible to light the candle body.

But any fire seed was exceptionally rare, not to mention that 【Wood-Core Fire】 was a component of the Samadhi Divine Fire.

Ning Zhuo was also a person of determination and would not be stingy with sacrifices at critical moments.

"But the problem is, 【Wood-Core Fire】 is a fire of firewood, which is human fire. Using human fire as a fire seed in the Ten-Mile Burning Forest was ostensibly to refine various magic tools, but in reality, it was to refine the Fire-Crowned Divine Cedar by gathering the incense of the masses."

"The candle body of the Forget-Silence Winding Path Candle is clearly biased toward the Yin and Ghost attributes, which is vastly different from human fire, and very likely to conflict."

Ning Zhuo fell into a critical choice.

If he chose wrong, adding the fire seed would not only fail to trigger the candle body effect but would instead consume each other, causing both the candle body and the fire seed to be lost in internal consumption.

Thereby, Ning Zhuo would miss the last chance to ruin the Lord of Forget-River's grand plan.

Seeing Ning Zhuo hesitate, Qing Chi asked with concern: "Little Ma, are you trying to light this candle?"

"I can help; you can use my fire."

Ning Zhuo looked at Qing Chi, his heart stirred: the latter's green flame was indeed powerful and contained mysterious vitality. It was called mysterious because this flame could heal Ghost tribe cultivators.

This had already been proven effective many times on the previous battlefield.

The bodies of the Ghost tribe contain both life energy and death energy. If ordinary healing spells simply stimulated vitality, they would actually be harmful to the Ghost tribe. Because strong vitality would suppress and expel death energy, destroying the basic composition of the Ghost tribe's body and producing worse results.

The green flame, however, could avoid this.

Ning Zhuo didn't know the background of the green flame yet, and he had also asked Qing Chi.

Qing Chi naturally had no reservations toward Ning Zhuo, but she herself knew almost nothing about the green flame, only knowing that it was transformed from her natural talent.

As for what kind of talent, Qing Chi didn't understand.

She told Ning Zhuo: ever since her talent was revealed, her father Qing Yan had been secretly investigating it, but hadn't found any results. It was very likely a brand-new talent.

This was possible.

In the earliest days, there was almost no talent in the cultivation world.

It was only after reaching a certain stage that talents appeared on a large scale.

While various talents became known to the world, brand-new talents would also emerge.

Qing Chi might be such a case.

"Qing Chi is also a Ghost tribe member; the talent she possesses originates from the root and is compatible with the Ghost tribe, capable of harmonious coexistence."

"The bodies of the Ghost tribe contain death energy, and death energy can occupy half. Precisely because of this, the Ghost tribe is a creature that can naturally survive in both the Yang realm and the Underworld."

"Unlike the human race, which is normally filled with life energy. Only those who are seriously ill, severely injured, or dying have a large amount of death energy."

Ning Zhuo speculated silently, feeling that the green flame was actually more suitable than 【Wood-Core Fire】.

"Which one is the correct one?"

"Or are there other choices?"

Ning Zhuo subconsciously stroked the mechanical ring on his index finger.

No matter which option he recited in his heart, the mechanical ring remained completely unresponsive.

"Are both of these okay? Or is it that..." Ning Zhuo subconsciously looked up at the sky, his brows furrowed with heavier worry.

"Young Master." Luo Si reminded him softly from the side.

Ning Zhuo was startled, realizing that he had delayed making a decision for too long.

Delays lead to changes!

"Jiao Ma, let my girl do it." Qing Yan said suddenly.

Ning Zhuo looked at him intently; the latter's gaze did not dodge and was filled with confidence.

Ning Zhuo's heart stirred, and he looked at Qing Chi: "You do it."

Qing Chi smiled, leaped in front of Ning Zhuo, reached out her hand, and released the green flame onto the candle body.

The green flame burned brightly; at first, it was emerald green, but soon, as the candle body melted, it turned into a white fire, like frost, with cold air overflowing.

"It worked!" Ning Zhuo was overjoyed.

Others also cheered. They had a deep impression of this candle flame.

Sure enough, in the overflowing cold air, white frost drifted, beginning to affect the surrounding space.

Ning Zhuo didn't dare to be slow, decisively controlling the light-goose to dive into the thick turbid energy barrier.

The light-goose's power decomposed the turbid energy barrier, and the burning of the Forget-Silence Winding Path Candle formed a temporary passage on its foundation.

This was a pitch-black winding path. On both sides of the path, there were countless ghost shadows layered on top of each other, resembling a hundred ghosts carrying a coffin.

*A lone swan holds a candle to pierce the sky's veil*, it worked!

For a moment, the Green Jiao Army erupted in cheers, the sound shaking the sky.

"Sure enough! He is the savior of White Paper Immortal City, my master for life." Luo Si's heart trembled violently, though his expression remained calm.

Jiao Ma's biological father was so excited that his whole body felt numb.

Qing Chi cheered loudly: "Amazing, Little Ma, you are too amazing!"

Ning Zhuo looked back at her and showed a brilliant smile: "Qingqing, you helped me a lot."

Recognized by the person she liked, Qing Chi put her hands on her hips and let out a hearty laugh.

Qing Yan wanted to say something but stopped, his gaze complex.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God was stunned!

W-what is this?

He had never expected that his most secure defensive strategy would end up being a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

If he had known this, he might as well have used the formation boundary to defend!

"Qingqing, we must incorporate Luo Si into our army." Ning Zhuo immediately issued the order.

Qing Chi nodded and gave a heavy "um."

"Luo Si, you command us." Ning Zhuo did not doubt those he employed.

Luo Si felt moved by the trust, though he remained calm on the surface, and immediately ordered the entire army to set off.

The Green Jiao Army rushed into the winding path and killed their way toward the core of the altar.

"That is... the altar!"

"This is the core area!"

"Hahaha, follow Young Master Jiao Ma to achieve the final victory!!"

The Green Jiao Army saw the huge altar at a glance, their morale soaring.

"Damn it." The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God almost bit his teeth to pieces.

Forced by the situation, he had to temporarily abandon grinding down the ice coffin and instead turn to strike the Green Jiao Army head-on.

Soul Transformation level!

The powerful aura of the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God was not concealed at all, making the entire Green Jiao Army shudder.

Didn't expect there to be such a big guy!

How to fight this?

Even if there was a cultivation army, the opponent was Soul Transformation level!

The gap in cultivation was too large.

Relying solely on an army like the Green Jiao Army was absolutely impossible to bridge.

"Stay in the passage, all military power is supplied to me!" Luo Si, seeing this, dared not be careless and gritted his teeth to meet the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God.

The cultivation of Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and others was too far from the Soul Transformation level.

Even with levers like military power, it could not be bridged. After all, the Green Jiao Army was a new army!

In fact, even if there was a world-class strong army with enough military power to pry up to the Soul Transformation level, Ning Zhuo and Qing Chi could not bear such a huge external power blessing.

Their physical bodies, souls, dantians, and many other foundations were still limited by their cultivation and could not withstand such huge external power.

Luo Si shot out and fought the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God head-on in mid-air!

Boom.

With a thunderous explosion, the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God stayed in his original position, only stepping back slightly, while Luo Si was sent flying back.

Luo Si's entire body was shaken numb, and his fist used for the clash was even numb to the point of losing sensation.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God was nearly three *zhang* tall, entirely dark black, as if carved directly from the most ancient dark iron mountain range.

The huge muscle texture was like a dried-up and cracked ten-thousand-year riverbed, every gully was shockingly deep, exuding a heavy and incomparable texture.

Thick, dark red, scorching veins, like lava rivers imprisoned deep underground, were vaguely visible.

Just this appearance alone brought a powerful deterrent to others!

"Soul Transformation!"

Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and others widened their eyes.

As geniuses as they were, this was still the first time they had witnessed a Soul Transformation-level existence with their own eyes.

Luo Si's expression was unprecedentedly solemn; just one head-on clash made him feel the huge gap between them.

"Young Master, I can't hold on for long." While transmitting his thoughts to Ning Zhuo, he took out a bronze war chariot.

Luo Si stood on the chariot and launched a charge at the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God.

Boom boom boom...

The two fought fiercely, every collision like a meteorite hitting the earth, forming terrifying sound waves that shook the surrounding space.

With the help of the magic treasure-level chariot, Luo Si compensated for the gap in physical strength.

But the Green Jiao Army all looked ugly, their auras weakening.

This was because the chariot consumed military power; it was a weapon, and ordinary magic power used for consumption would be half the effort for twice the result. Military power was the opposite.

Fighting against the Soul Transformation level, the military power consumed was truly terrifying.

The Green Jiao Army had already rested and was in good condition, but after a few rounds of fighting, they couldn't support it.

This forced Qing Chi to reveal her trump card ahead of time, using the military supplies stored within the army.

Military supplies were already scarce, and at this moment, they were being consumed violently to make up for the huge deficit of military power, so as not to let the entire army collapse immediately.

Luo Si drove the bronze war chariot, constantly circling the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God.

After another collision, the bronze war chariot retreated more than ten steps, and a large number of cracks appeared on its surface.

On the chariot, Luo Si stood unsteadily and almost fell off.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God seized the opportunity and suddenly raised his dark iron giant arm.

Martial Art—Mountain-Crushing Fist!

No flashy spell light, just the simplest, most direct punch.

The turbid air in front was directly compressed into a wall of air.

Space let out a groan of being unable to bear the burden.

On the surface of the fist, dark red lava veins accelerated suddenly, bestowing this punch with terrifying high temperature!

Luo Si felt a chill in his heart; he had rich combat experience and knew at first glance that he absolutely could not be hit.

Art of War—*Crossing the Sea under the Cover of Heaven*!

On the surface, he turned the chariot head toward the friendly side, but in reality, he suddenly retreated.

Bang.

Although the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God's fist momentum was terrifying, it ultimately hit empty air.

Luo Si escaped a disaster, his brows furrowed, revealing a solemn emotion.

The damage to the bronze war chariot accumulated, and both speed and defense dropped by a notch, making it even harder for him to tangle with the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God.

In the midst of his busy schedule, Luo Si glanced at the passage and found that the Green Jiao Army in the passage was in a terrible state.

"This new army is still too weak; the military power provided is barely enough to use this chariot."

If he were leading a complete Forbidden Army, he would have the confidence to use military power to leverage his own combat power and fight the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God for many rounds.

But now, he understood he could only rely on himself.

Luo Si shouted sharply, pouring a large amount of Nascent Soul magic power into the chariot under his feet.

Hum!

The chariot emitted a bronze radiance, and the many runes on the chariot body flowed with light, carrying Luo Si to suddenly drift to the side to the limit, successfully dodging another punch from the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God.

Boom!

The Mountain-Crushing Fist grazed the tail of the chariot and smashed down.

Crack.

Just by grazing it with the fist pressure, the tail of the chariot made a heart-palpitating cracking sound!

The bronze radiance dimmed by a notch instantly.

Luo Si felt as if hit by a heavy hammer, his chest tight.

"In such a battle, I can only replace defense with offense and strive to buy time." He endured the shock, a fierce look flashing in his eyes, knowing that passive evasion was a dead end!

He threw out a fishing rod, with the Forget-River Ferry Line tied to it, and the Three-Life World-Hanging Hook hanging on the line.

He performed fishing techniques, the fishhook being extraordinarily agile, moving lightning-fast around the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God's body with the fishing line.

The next moment, the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God was tied up by the fishing line.

Luo Si poured all his magic power into it, the fishing line suddenly tightened, embedding deeply into the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God's body.

The fishhook flew into the air and fell vertically toward the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God's forehead.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth God struggled in place, spitting thick black smoke from the holes in his head.

The black smoke piled up into a cloud, propping up the fishhook.

Crack crack.

Luo Si's expression changed slightly.

The fishhook and fishing line were fine, but the fishing rod had developed fine cracks...

"Luo Si is no match for this avatar!"

"I must race against time, board the altar, and completely ruin the Lord of Forget-River's century-long conspiracy."

Ning Zhuo had already begun to act.

But the altar was clearly in front of him, yet he had to stop his steps.

The river water surged.

He was blocked by a tributary of the Forget-River.

This tributary was like a jade belt, circling the altar. No matter from which direction Ning Zhuo wanted to break through, it flowed there, creating obstacles.

"Just one step away, break through this last pass, and I can achieve success!" Ning Zhuo thought to himself.

Regarding the appearance of a Forget-River tributary here, after the initial shock, Ning Zhuo quickly accepted it.

After all, the Forget-River Underworld used the Forget-River as its national name, so it was not strange to have more means to utilize the Forget-River.

You know, the capital city of the Forget-River Underworld was located on the Forget-River.