Chapter 559

Hu Yulin is now an Eight-Tailed Spirit Fox, his Xiūwéi is there; although he suffered serious injuries recently and is still in recovery, but merely scouting the Sky Burial Pit, with his agile form, he shouldn't be exposed so easily.

Even if exposed, he has the ability to run back.

But we didn't wait for Hu Yulin; instead, we saw a flock of blue eagles suddenly flying in a certain direction in the sky.

Those blue eagles are different from the ones we saw before.

This large group of blue eagles has a faint Buddhist light swirling around their bodies, but their eyes are scarlet, appearing especially eerie in the night.

This reminds me of the flock of blue eagles that appeared when I last fought Dìshì in the willow forest behind the Feng Clan.

However, there is also a difference: that flock of blue eagles is surrounded by dark qi, not Buddhist light.

So this large group is a more powerful advanced version?

Regardless of where these blue eagles come from, their sudden appearance is definitely not a good omen.

We gave chase, but after just a few steps, I and Liu Junyan simultaneously realized, almost in unison: "They're heading toward the Sky Burial Pit!"

Liu Junyan thinks faster than I do; he said, "Looking at it now, that Sky Burial Pit isn't a sky burial platform that sank due to crustal movement—it was originally just a pit, not used for sky burial, but a Sacrificial Pit!"

My brow jumped violently: "A Sacrificial Pit? If it truly is a Sacrificial Pit, then the appearance of the eagle flock means…… that sacrificial rites have begun over there?!"

Liu Junyan nodded, grabbed my hand with one hand; there was no time to run, so we both flew straight over.

From afar, we saw two figures, one black and one white, standing motionless about fifty to sixty meters from the Sky Burial Pit.

It was Hu Yulin and the Mystic Cat!

We landed directly; the white fox glanced at us and said, "I met the Mystic Cat halfway; it brought me here. I knew there was movement in the sky, and you would surely come right away, so I didn't go back to report."

We were close to the Sacrificial Pit, yet dared not move forward, because above the pit the eagle flock kept circling and crying shrilly.

And inside the Sacrificial Pit sat a great monk, cross-legged.

That great monk bore a Buddha image on his face, had large thick earlobes, wore a monk's robe, strung Buddhist beads around his neck, one hand held before his chest with beads draped, the other gripped a wooden fish mallet, poised to strike the wooden fish.

But his whole body was like a sculpture, maintaining the original pose, utterly motionless.

The Sacrificial Pit is large; were it not for the great monk's tall, sturdy frame sitting cross-legged among a pile of white bones, in the night's shroud it would still be somewhat indistinct.

No, it's not indistinct; rather, he is not a physical flesh body, but…… a Soul Body state!

As the eagle flock circled, circles upon circles of monks appeared around the Sacrificial Pit.

Without exception, those monks were all in Soul Body state, maintaining a devout posture of worship without moving.

The Mystic Cat suddenly turned its head to look at me.

In those deep green cat pupils I saw anguish and worry.

It seemed to have a lot it wanted to say to me, but could not speak.

But at the moment our eyes met, I instantly understood something.

I crouched before the Mystic Cat and asked, "This is your former master, the last abbot of the Ancient God Temple, right?"

The Mystic Cat let out a soft meow, sounding like a sob.

I guessed correctly.

Putting things together, I also figured out a few things.

At dusk, the Mystic Cat appeared on the highest ridge of the Ancient God Temple, having assumed a battle stance, but ultimately it stood down.

It wasn't that it gave up avenging its former master; rather, it discovered that the sutra-chanting arena in the Ancient God Temple was not the main ritual ground.

Then it found this place.

As it turned to head toward us, on the way it encountered Hu Yulin, who had come ahead to scout.

The Mystic Cat saw its former master, yet still went to look for us, indicating that this ritual ground is aimed at us, or at people related to us.

A strong sense of unease welled up; I tentatively asked, "My child, has that egg been exposed?"

A Cheng's seal only lasted six hours, and it has long since expired.

The Mystic Cat gave no response; I let out a slight sigh of relief.

My mind raced: if A Cheng and the others haven't been exposed yet, who else might this Sacrificial Pit's Fǎzhèn involve?

"Mystic Cat, tell me, is this related to my Immortal Clan?"

Hu Yulin stared at the Mystic Cat and asked.

The Mystic Cat meowed again.

Hu Yulin's face changed instantly; he jerked his head toward the Sacrificial Pit, both hands clenched into fists, making a creaking sound.

The Mystic Cat continued to stare straight at me.

My heart sank; I asked, "Not just the fox immortal—this ritual formation, this sacrifice, is aimed at the Five Blessings Immortals, right?"

The Mystic Cat meowed repeatedly.

In the underground cavern of the Feng Clan, on the carving behind the Screen Wall, the Five Blessings Immortals are prominently listed.

Back then, when I saw the arrangement of the Five Blessings Immortals, it matched exactly the formation we had set up earlier at the Pawnshop.

The four of them were on the four sides, with me occupying the central chief deity position.

At that time I guessed that the chief deity was the Little Guy in my belly.

But on that carving, beside the chief deity position there were small characters engraved: 'Buddha's Bone Relic'.

Thus, theoretically, this sacrifice can be established with the Buddha's Bone Relic plus the other four Blessings.

But last night, Dìshì took away the empty Buddha's Bone Relic.

Hu Yulin's spine stiffened as he glared fixedly at the Sacrificial Pit; I feared he'd act rashly and said, "Of those four, only the fox immortal and the white immortal are in the Zàng Qū, while the Gray Fifth Lord and the Yellow Immortal are in the Wǎngsǐ Chéng, so this sacrifice should……"

"Things are still beyond our expectations," Liu Junyan suddenly interjected, cutting me off: "If I'm not mistaken, this sacrifice should be called 'lighting soul incense,' offering five soul incenses to Shang Cang, opening the temple gate, manifesting all gods, and bathing in Buddha's light."

Hu Yulin gritted his back teeth, almost squeezing out a few words from between them: "Are we just going to watch helplessly?"

What is happening now diverges greatly from our expectations.

We had always thought the Five Blessings Immortals were merely auxiliaries in this affair, never expecting that Dìshì would use them as the vanguard.

If we want to let Dìshì welcome the "Buddha's Light Universal Illumination", we must first sacrifice those four.

What Dìshì wants is not just their flesh, but to ignite their souls as an offering to Shang Cang.

This sacrifice means utter annihilation for the monks' souls in the Sacrificial Pit, for the Four Blessings Immortals, and for Kōngjì.

"No!" I said firmly, "Since the original plan cannot proceed, we'll settle for second best—I'll break the formation!"

As I spoke, I was about to transform into a phoenix shape.

I believe that with just a clump of Nirvana fire, I can burn the entire Sacrificial Pit clean!

At that moment, the eagle flock suddenly raised their heads in unison and cried out; immediately afterward, they lowered their heads, and drop after drop of fresh blood fell from their sharp beaks, dripping into the Sacrificial Pit……