Chapter 143

Heishuicheng, standing on the western edge of the continent, backed by the vast "Heishuicheng Swamp" that was shrouded in gray mist all year round. The city walls were built of a local specialty, a black rock with extremely strong water absorption, which was damp all year round and covered with dark green moss, making the entire city seem to merge with the dead swamp behind it on rainy days, exuding a gloomy, oppressive tone.

Lin Xuan and Zhao Yuan did not enter the city with great fanfare. The two restrained their auras, disguised themselves as two traveling rogue cultivators, and mixed into the passing merchant caravans, entering the city that was rumored to be shrouded in the shadow of a cult without a sound.

As soon as they entered the city, the atmosphere, which was vastly different from other places, rushed toward them. Although there were not few pedestrians on the street, most of them were in a hurry, with a bit of vigilance and unease between their brows. In the air, besides the damp, moldy smell unique to the swamp area, there was also a faint, unsettling sweet, fishy smell, as if it were the smell of some inferior incense mixed with old bloodstains. At street corners and alleys, one could occasionally see figures wearing gray-brown linen robes, hoods covering their faces, walking by with lowered heads and submissive expressions; on their cuffs or collars, there was often embroidered an extremely simple, dark red symbol like a twisted vine—it was the mark of the "Rebirth Sect" mentioned in the intelligence.

"Senior, the aura in this city... is very uncomfortable," Zhao Yuan transmitted. The "Silent Shadow" in his hand made an extremely faint buzzing sound in its scabbard; that was the sword spirit's instinctive rejection and warning against filth and evil.

"Hmm." Lin Xuan's gaze swept over the street calmly, the power of the Chaos Tribulation Dao Dharma Body acting like invisible tentacles, meticulously sensing the "abnormalities" in the surrounding environment. In that sweet, fishy smell, there was indeed a mixture of extremely faint, foul energy that was of the same origin as the "Erosion Realm" demonic intent, yet more complex, as if mixed with countless kinds of negative emotions and the resentment of living beings. And the flow of the earth veins in the city also vaguely showed an unnatural trend of gathering toward the northwest area of the city, which was exactly the approximate location of the "Rebirth Sect's" secret stronghold in the intelligence.

The two did not rush to act, but found an inconspicuous inn in the city to stay, and according to the agreement, contacted the alliance's secret agents who had infiltrated the city earlier through a specific method.

Late at night, in the inn room, the soundproof barrier was quietly activated.

A middle-aged cultivator dressed in black, with an ordinary face and an aura restrained to the extreme, respectfully presented a more detailed file to Lin Xuan and reported in a low voice: "Consultant Lin, Fellow Daoist Zhao. According to our secret investigation over the past few days, the 'Rebirth Sect' has at least five public 'charity halls' in the city as cover, but its core members and true ritual sites are all hidden underground in the abandoned 'old mine pit' in the northwest district. The mine tunnels there are intricate and complex, and seem to have been modified by cultists using special means, with prohibitions set up to confuse perception and trigger alarms. Our people once tried to go deep, but only reached the periphery before losing two people and being forced to retreat. According to the survivors, the depths of the mine tunnels are filled with a strong smell of blood and that sweet, fishy smell, and one can hear intermittent, painful groans and frantic ravings as if countless people were mixed together."

He paused, a flash of shock and fear on his face: "Even more bizarrely, at the hour of the Rat last night, a powerful energy fluctuation briefly erupted from the direction of the old mine pit; although it was quickly suppressed, at that moment, the evil symbols on the lintels of all the 'Rebirth Sect's' public places in the city lit up with dark red light at the same time. Subsequently, the frequency of missing person events in the city significantly accelerated."

Lin Xuan flipped through the file, which included a rough topographic map of the old mine pit, the activity patterns of the cultists, and several side-investigation records of ordinary believers suspected of being bewitched or controlled. The records showed that most of these believers were attracted by the "Rebirth Sect" under the guise of "relieving pain," "rebirth to paradise," and "gaining a new life" after encountering major setbacks, losing loved ones, or suffering from terminal illnesses; after participating in the so-called "purification ritual," their personalities changed drastically, becoming loyal to the church, and even actively donating their family property, and even... "dedicating" themselves.

"The so-called 'purification ritual' is probably preliminary demonic energy erosion and mental control," Zhao Yuan said coldly, gripping the sword hilt tightly.

Lin Xuan closed the file, chaotic light flashing slightly in his eyes: "The energy fluctuation in the depths of the mine pit is related to the altar. Time is tight; we need to infiltrate as soon as possible, find out the core, and destroy it. You all provide support on the periphery, and at the same time monitor the movements of other cultists in the city; once we act inside the mine pit, prevent them from jumping over the wall in a hurry and creating chaos or blood sacrifices in the city."

"Yes!"

At the third quarter of the hour of the Rat, dark clouds obscured the moon; it was the most silent and dark moment of the day in Heishuicheng.

Lin Xuan and Zhao Yuan, like two ghosts merging into the night, arrived at the entrance of the abandoned old mine pit in the northwest district without a sound. The entrance was half-covered by messily piled ore and broken wooden frames, and the surrounding area was filled with a faint smell that was of the same origin as the sweet, fishy smell in the city but more intense.

Lin Xuan raised his hand and pressed it virtually, a wisp of chaotic airflow like mercury pouring onto the ground, seeping into the void around the entrance without a sound. A moment later, he withdrew his hand: "The entrance has three layers of early warning prohibitions, one targeting spiritual power fluctuations, one targeting life aura, and another... seems to be a detection targeting 'clear will.' Ordinary concealment methods are probably difficult to avoid completely."

Zhao Yuan frowned: "Then what should we do?"

"No matter." Lin Xuan flicked his fingertips, and two imperceptible gray lights sank into his own and Zhao Yuan's eyebrows respectively. "This is the 'Garment of Falsehood' transformed by Chaos Tribulation Power, which can temporarily distort the definition of 'existence' in the small range around us, causing those prohibitions to judge us as 'harmless dead objects' or 'naturally escaping energy flows.' The duration is not long, so we need to be quick."

The two acted accordingly. Sure enough, when they approached the entrance and even passed directly through the seemingly invisible prohibition ripples, the prohibitions did not react at all.

Entering the mine pit, a foul air mixed with rust, dampness, blood, and a sweet, fishy smell rushed toward them. The pit tunnel sloped downward, deep and dark, with only inferior fluorescent stones embedded sporadically on the rock walls, barely providing illumination. On both sides of the pit tunnel, one could occasionally see abandoned mine carts, rusted tools, and some ancient, strangely postured remains of miners, adding a bit of eeriness.

The further they went, the traces of artificial excavation were gradually replaced by a rougher passage that seemed to have been violently dug and widened by something. Twisted vine-like dark red evil symbol graffiti began to appear on the rock walls, emitting weak foul energy. The sweet, fishy smell in the air became thicker and thicker, and the faint groans and ravings became clearer, as if coming from all directions, and as if ringing directly in their minds, trying to provoke people's negative emotions and fear.

Zhao Yuan kept his sword heart tightly, and the sword intent of annihilation acted like an invisible barrier, severing all those mental disturbances. Lin Xuan was even more composed; the Chaos Tribulation Power accommodated all methods, and these low-level mental pollutions were no different from a breeze to him.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the front suddenly opened up, and a huge natural stone cavern that seemed to be connected by several mine tunnels appeared before their eyes.

The scene before them made even Zhao Yuan, who was used to life-and-death struggles, unable to help but shrink his pupils, his stomach churning.

In the center of the stone cavern was the rough altar built of bones (both human and various demon beasts) and strange black minerals in the projection, larger in scale than what was seen in the projection, a full ten feet square. The surface of the altar was covered with dense, twisted runes constantly flowing with dark red faint light; those runes seemed to have life, slightly wriggling. In the center of the altar, what was worshipped was not a god statue, but a dark red light mass about the size of a human head, constantly surging, as if composed of thick blood and dark matter! Every pulsation of the light mass emitted an evil, crazy, and hungry intent that froze the soul, which was the source of that sweet, fishy smell and mental pollution!

What made one's scalp tingle even more was that around the altar, over a hundred "Rebirth Sect" believers in gray-brown linen robes were kneeling. Most of them had dull and numb expressions, empty eyes, chanting words in their mouths, constantly kowtowing toward the altar. And between the altar and the believers lay dozens of men and women who had been stripped of their clothes, tied up, and were still struggling weakly or had already fallen into a coma; looking at their clothing and appearance, they were exactly those cultivators and some wealthy merchants and commoners who had gone missing recently! Their wrists or ankles were cut, and the blood did not flow wantonly, but was guided by the runes on the altar, turning into wisps of blood lines, merging into the dark red light mass in the center!

And in front of the altar stood three gray-robed people whose auras were significantly different from ordinary believers. The leader was hunched, holding a twisted wooden staff embedded with pale beast bones, his whole body exuding the spiritual power fluctuation of the late Golden Core stage, but the nature of the spiritual power was cold and foul, and in his eyes burned two clusters of dark red flames; obviously, he had been completely demonized and controlled. The two people behind him also had the cultivation of the early Golden Core stage, and their eyes were equally frantic.

"The time has come! Offer the final sacrifice, welcome the descent of the shadow of our Lord 'Blood God'! Open the gate of rebirth, and grant you eternal paradise!" The hunched priest leading the way held the bone staff high, his voice hoarse and sharp, full of fanaticism.

Two early Golden Core cultists immediately stepped forward, dragging a young female cultivator from the sacrifices who was breathing her last but could still be seen to have a beautiful appearance, and were about to drag her to a depression on the altar that was obviously used for the final "blood sacrifice"!

Just at this critical moment—

"Chi!"

A faint but incomparably sharp sound of breaking through the air rang out! Immediately following, a gray-white sword light, like the light of dawn breaking through the darkness, shot out from the entrance of the stone cavern, precisely sweeping across the wrists of the two cultists!

"Ah—!" The two screamed in unison, their wrists severed at the root, and black blood spurted out! The female cultivator fell to the ground.

"Who is it?!" The hunched priest turned around suddenly, his dark red eyes staring fixedly at the entrance, his bone staff slamming into the ground, and a foul spiritual pressure mixed with blood and resentment erupted!

The figures of Lin Xuan and Zhao Yuan walked out slowly from the shadows.

"Disturbing the sacrifice, blaspheming our Lord! Kill him..." The hunched priest had not finished speaking.

Lin Xuan just looked at him faintly, his right index finger pressing lightly toward the direction where he was.

"Fixed."

Words follow the law! The air around the hunched priest instantly solidified, and space seemed to turn into indestructible amber, trapping him together with the bone staff he was about to wave and the erupting foul spiritual power in place, unable to move! Even the dark red flames in his eyes seemed to have solidified!

This was a spatial application initially mastered by the Chaos Tribulation Dao Dharma Body—using Chaos Tribulation Power to forcibly "define" the laws of a small area, making it temporarily "solidified." Although the range was small, the consumption was large, and the duration was short, it was enough to secure victory at a critical moment.

The other two cultists with severed wrists saw this, scared out of their wits, and turned to flee into the crowd of believers.

Zhao Yuan had already moved.

"Silent Shadow · Severing Thoughts!"

Body following the sword, man and sword as one. Two condensed gray-white sword lights, like lightning traveling through the void, arrived later but reached first, instantly piercing the hearts of the two cultists! The sword intent of annihilation contained in the sword light not only destroyed their physical vitality but also severed and purified the demonic intent that had already been eroded in their souls!

Clean and neat, killing two Golden Cores of the same rank in an instant!

This all happened too fast; until this moment, the ordinary believers kneeling around reacted, emitting a burst of terrified and chaotic screams and commotion, but most of them still had dull eyes and slow movements, as if they had not yet completely broken free from mental control.

Lin Xuan's gaze passed over the chaotic believers and fell on the altar emitting ominous fluctuations, and the dark red light mass in the center of the altar that was constantly devouring blood and whose aura was becoming more and more terrifying.

He could clearly feel that deep within this light mass, an extremely evil, ancient, and greedy will was trying to cross some kind of boundary through the sacrifice of the altar and the blood, flesh, and souls of countless living beings, projecting a trace of "shadow" or "power" into this realm! This had similarities to the "Erosion Realm" demonic intent, but carried a more primitive, twisted desire for "blood" and "life" itself.

"Blood God?" Lin Xuan's mouth curled into a cold arc. "Just a broken evil thought that is lingering on its last breath and living by stealing the lives of living beings, and it dares to call itself a god?"

He no longer paid attention to the trapped hunched priest (whose vitality was passing away rapidly under the erosion of Chaos Tribulation Power), and took a step forward, already at the edge of the altar.

The altar seemed to sense the threat, the runes on its surface suddenly shining brightly, and the dark red light mass surged violently, emitting a harsh screeching sound as if countless wronged souls were screaming in unison! A thick pillar of light mixed with viscous blood light and pitch-black demonic energy erupted from the light mass, carrying the terrifying momentum of corroding souls and fouling all things, and blasted toward Lin Xuan!

"Careful!" Zhao Yuan shouted urgently.

Lin Xuan did not dodge or evade, but just raised his left hand, his palm facing the incoming foul pillar of light.

"Chaos returns to ruins, all methods are empty."

In the palm of his hand, a miniature, slowly rotating chaos vortex quietly emerged. Although the vortex was small, it seemed to contain the ultimate Dao rhyme of the beginning of heaven and earth, and could also make all methods return to silence.

The foul pillar of light with its terrifying momentum, the moment it touched the chaos vortex, was like a clay ox entering the sea, actually being swallowed, decomposed, and assimilated without a sound! It didn't even stir up a ripple!

The dark red light mass in the center of the altar seemed to be frightened, shrinking violently, and then erupted with even more violent and resentful fluctuations, countless blood threads spreading out from the light mass, trying to connect to those sacrifices below who had not yet breathed their last, making a final struggle.

"Stubborn." Lin Xuan's right hand joined his fingers like a sword, and a wisp of gray-purple thunder light condensed to the extreme jumped on his fingertips.

"Lei Jie of Annihilation, Purify!"

"Xiu!"

The gray-purple thunder light was as thin as a hair, but faster than thought, instantly piercing into the core of the dark red light mass!

"Pu—!"

A light sound like a bubble bursting. The light mass that had condensed countless filth and evil thoughts, under the bombardment of the dual power of "ending" and "purification" contained in the Lei Jie of Annihilation, was like ice and snow under the scorching sun, instantly melting and vaporizing, and the runes on the altar below also quickly dimmed and disintegrated!

Having lost its core energy source, the entire altar let out a groan that it could not bear, collapsing with a bang, stirring up a sky full of bone ash and dust.

The suffocating evil pressure and sweet, fishy smell in the stone cavern quickly dissipated. The dullness in the eyes of those ordinary believers controlled by mental power gradually faded, replaced by confusion and terror, and then they erupted into cries and chaos of surviving a disaster.

Zhao Yuan held his sword in alert, and at the same time shouted with sword intent, trying to appease the chaotic crowd.

Lin Xuan stood in place, his brows slightly furrowed. Destroying the altar and the "Blood God" projection was smooth, but just now, when the Lei Jie of Annihilation purified the core of the light mass, he clearly captured a trace of extremely obscure residual intent that seemed to originate from an infinitely distant place, full of unwillingness and resentment. In that intent, it seemed to be mixed with some fragmented information about "Hanhai," "Return to Ruins," and "Ancient Contracts."

The source of the "Blood God" was indeed not in the Tianyuan Continent, but in... the Endless Hanhai? And it seemed to be related to the Return to Ruins Sea Eye? It might even involve some kind of "ancient contract"?

He walked to the ruins of the altar, his gaze falling on the few broken stone slabs similar to those found in the Starfall Plains. These stone slabs had now completely lost their luster, but the material was still special. He picked up one, and the Chaos Tribulation Power sensed it carefully.

In addition to the "summoning" and "reception" runes discovered earlier, on the edge of this more complete stone slab, he also "read" some extremely ancient totem patterns that had almost been erased by time—it seemed to be a twisted pattern composed of three stars and a surrounding Ouroboros.

This pattern... he seemed to have caught a glimpse of it in some ancient file rubbings of the Star Palace. It was said to be the mark of an ancient civilization overseas that had long since perished and worshipped "stars and reincarnation."

The cult in Heishuicheng, far in the western part of the continent, actually had its source involving the ancient civilization of the overseas Hanhai and the Return to Ruins Sea Eye? The connection between them was far more intricate and complex than expected.

"Senior Lin, how should these believers and survivors be handled?" Zhao Yuan's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Lin Xuan put away the stone slab fragments and looked at the chaotic crowd: "Contact the people providing support on the periphery, properly settle the survivors, screen and control these bewitched believers, interrogate the possible middle and high-level personnel among them, and dig out other strongholds and leaders of the 'Rebirth Sect.' This place should not be stayed in for long, we need to immediately..."

Before he finished speaking, his expression changed suddenly, and he looked up sharply at the dome of the stone cavern, as if piercing through the thick rock layer, looking at the extremely distant east—the direction of the Endless Hanhai!

Just now, his Chaos Tribulation Dao Dharma Body's perception of "tribulation" and "abnormality" captured an extremely faint, yet incomparably clear "pulse" carrying a vast, ancient, crazy, and destructive aura! That pulse did not come from the "Erosion Realm" demonic intent, but resonated with the stone slab totem in his hand, with the residual intent of the "Blood God," and even vaguely with the Return to Ruins Sea Eye!

"Hanhai... something happened." Lin Xuan's voice carried a trace of unprecedented gravity.

Almost at the same time.

Far away in the imperial capital, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master sitting in the Star Observatory suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and the star disk floating in front of him made a "click" sound, cracking a gap.

Endless Hanhai, Star Palace Broken Star Island branch.

Beichen, who was in seclusion to stabilize his cultivation, was forcibly awakened by a burst of urgent and harsh alarm bells, and rushed out of the quiet room, only to see that in the night sky, the originally clear stars were now covered with a layer of strange dark red blood light! And from the direction of the Return to Ruins Sea Eye in the distance, came a dull roar like thunder, but even more heart-palpitating, as if some behemoth that had been sleeping for ten thousand years was slowly... turning over.