Chapter 557: Discovering the Beast Gods!

After traveling for about half an hour, the tunnel ahead suddenly became narrow, and several forks appeared.

Each fork was spewing baleful energy with slightly different colors and concentrations, exuding heart-palpitating fluctuations.

Tan Lang stopped at the fork, carefully sensing the flow of baleful energy, earth vein fluctuations, and the special marks belonging to the Beast God organization in the air for each passage.

"The second one on the left."

A moment later, Tan Lang transmitted via true qi, pointing to a passage where the baleful energy appeared dark red and a faint scent of blood wafted out.

"The baleful energy in this passage is mixed with an extremely faint Beast God aura, the characteristics match somewhat, and the earth vein fluctuations point toward the direction of Burial Soldier Valley."

"They have likely been here before, or intended to guide the baleful energy here. Taking this path might allow us to approach the core faster, but it is also more likely that we will encounter their arrangements or patrols."

Chen Mu nodded, having no objection.

Since he had chosen this dangerous path, naturally he had to seek the path most likely to approach the target.

The two turned into the passage filled with dark red baleful energy.

Once inside, they felt the scent of blood and violence in the air become several times stronger.

Tan Lang was even more cautious, the light of the crystal in his hand restrained by more than half, maintaining only the minimum illumination and sensing.

The two moved forward silently, like two real shadows.

After traveling for about another stick of incense, the passage ahead suddenly opened up, connecting to the edge of a subterranean karst cave space that seemed to be naturally formed.

Inside the karst cave, dark red baleful energy rolled like thick fog, and vision and spiritual sense were even more severely obstructed.

But vaguely, one could hear dull, strange sounds like giant hammers hitting the ground coming from deep within the karst cave.

Chen Mu and Tan Lang looked at each other, both seeing vigilance in the other’s eyes.

The two simultaneously restrained their auras to near-nothingness, like two withered leaves, sticking close to the edge of the karst cave entrance, slowly peering inside.

Only to see in the center of the karst cave, a huge blood pool rolling with sticky dark red liquid, from which bubbles constantly emerged and burst, emitting a strong scent of blood and highly toxic gas.

Around the edge of the blood pool, a large number of fresh or semi-fresh, huge alien beast skeletons were scattered, some even with flesh and blood still hanging on them, clearly thrown into the pool not long ago.

And beside the blood pool stood a hideous altar ten zhang high.

The altar was pyramid-shaped, its surface engraved with countless twisted, strange, and ancient runes and beast-shaped totems full of wild and bloody meaning, currently emitting a flickering dark red halo, connected to the aura of the blood pool below, forming an evil and huge energy cycle.

Around the altar, there were shadows, with no less than ten figures standing.

Seven of them were scattered at key nodes around the altar, their cultivation levels were all at the peak of the Earth Altar realm, and they were fully maintaining the operation of the altar, continuously injecting the pure blood-baleful energy extracted from the blood pool into the altar.

What truly made Chen Mu and Tan Lang’s hearts tighten were the three figures at the top of the altar!

In the center was a person nearly a zhang tall, with blood-red eyes, holding a giant hammer wrapped in black thunder, the hammer head deeply inserted into a groove at the top of the altar.

On the left was a tall and thin person, shrouded in a wide, dark green cloak that seemed to be woven from countless shadow fragments, unable to see their face.

Their whole body exuded a cold, bone-chilling aura, and their cultivation had also reached the middle stage of the Heaven Palace realm.

Their hands were pressed in the void, constantly pulling out pure cold blood-baleful energy from the blood pool, turning it into dark green runes, and merging them into the altar.

On the right was a person with the most normal build, wearing a long robe, whose cultivation was at the peak of the middle stage of the Heaven Palace realm, and who gave Chen Mu a feeling of being even more dangerous and elusive than the first two.

Three Heaven Palace realm Beast Gods!

Plus seven Beast God members at the peak of the Earth Altar realm acting as guards, and this blood pool altar exuding an ominous aura.

This lineup far exceeded the previous intelligence.

The root cause of the Burial Soldier Valley anomaly was likely on this altar, in the item wrapped in blood light.

And the Beast God organization was using this bloody and cruel method, attempting to activate, control, or seize this item!

Chen Mu and Tan Lang hid in the shadows of the karst cave entrance, taking in this scene.

Both could feel the increasingly strong and unstable terrifying energy fluctuations exuding from the altar, as well as the scorching, determined gazes of the three Heaven Palace Beast Gods.

Tan Lang stared fixedly at the three figures at the top of the altar, transmitting to Chen Mu, his voice carrying unprecedented solemnity.

"The situation has changed... three middle-stage Heaven Palace... the altar ritual has reached the critical point, that item is about to be completely activated or drawn out... Wu Qu, what do you think?"

Should they take advantage of the ritual not yet being completed and the three Beast Gods’ attention being highly concentrated to risk a sneak attack, attempting to seize or destroy the item?

Or should they continue to lurk, wait for a better opportunity, or retreat now and discuss it later?

No matter which choice, it was full of immeasurable risks.

Three middle-stage Heaven Palace experts, in this karst cave environment that they had managed and was reinforced by the blood pool altar, had enough strength to crush the vast majority of combinations of the same level.

A head-on collision had little chance of winning.

Chen Mu’s gaze also locked onto the item wrapped in blood light at the center of the altar, calculating the distance of the sneak attack, the angle, the possible interception, and the retreat route after success.

His heartbeat was steady, but his eyes were as sharp as swords.

After a few breaths of silence, Chen Mu transmitted back, his voice calm.

"We can wait a bit. Let them carry the ritual to the final step, the moment when the item’s power is completely triggered but not yet fully controlled by them... that might be the moment when the item is most unstable and their minds and strength are most deeply tied."

"At that time, I will use all my strength to sneak attack and seize the item. You spare no cost to stop the Beast Gods for a moment. After success, use the 'Star Token' to escape."

Tan Lang turned abruptly to Chen Mu, seemingly wanting to see from behind his calm mask just how much confidence there was behind this nearly crazy plan.

Stop them for a moment?

Easier said than done.

And for Chen Mu to seize the item protected by heavy blood light and the altar’s power while surrounded by two other Heaven Palace experts and seven Earth Altar peak experts was even harder than ascending to heaven.

But this might be the only opportunity that could possibly succeed and achieve the task goal to the greatest extent.

If they retreated now, and waited for the Beast Gods to completely control the item, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Moreover, Chen Mu mentioned the "Star Token"...

Tan Lang looked at Chen Mu deeply, a flash of ruthlessness and determination in his eyes.

He nodded slowly and transmitted back.

"Okay."

The two no longer communicated, like the most patient hunters, completely merging themselves with the surrounding darkness, shadows, and baleful energy, staring fixedly at the increasingly bright blood light on the altar and the increasingly solemn expressions of the three Beast Gods.

In the karst cave, only the "gurgling" sound of the blood pool rolling, the buzzing of the altar runes, and the low roar of the fierce thing about to wake up, which seemed to come from the ancient wilderness and made the soul tremble, remained.