Chapter 115.2: Sacrificial Altar pt. 3

On the outside world, Zhan Xian had taken on a human form. Qin Yanzhi had listened to Jing Yue's voice transmission before and knew that the human form was Zhan Xian’s most powerful state because Zhan Xian was also a sword expert.

The resentful souls in the blood water screamed and turned into thousands of long swords. Yao energy was hidden in the swords, and once cut, spiritual energy would be suppressed. This was the domain created by Zhan Xian with his last remaining self-consciousness, and in this domain, he could control everything and turn it into a sword.

Qin Yanzhi was unafraid and also created a domain. Although he was only a Heavenly Grotto, his sword domain was not weaker than that of Zhan Xian.

The two domains overlapped, in which the Yao controlled ten thousand swords, while the human held only one Taiqing sword.

But Taiqing was a kingly sword, the supreme sword, and one sword was enough to suppress all swords!

It soared up, the tip of the sword pointed straight down. The muted sound of the sword rang, and the sword body exuded translucent waves, distorting and folding the space.

Numerous resentful swords couldn’t help but surrender in front of Taiqing, trembling and dissipating into smoke, returning to the blood water, and fell silent again.

Before the two even faced each other head-on, one party was defeated.

Zhan Xian was furious. He didn't know who the newcomer was. The passing of nearly 10,000 years made his consciousness gradually chaotic. He forgot many things, but he could never forget the sword that killed the Yao Saint back then.

That sword not only destroyed his ambition but also destroyed tens of thousands of years of planning by the Yao race. As long as he still had a little self-awareness, he would definitely recognize Taiqing!

He was as such, and so were Wan Se and Shan Lei.

Although Wan Se’s consciousness had completely dissipated, while Shan Lei was nine parts asleep and one part awake, the instincts in their souls remained.

Therefore, when Taiqing first appeared in the Blackwood Forest, all three half-saints sensed it, and the great karma between them and Taiqing made them consume their last trace of soul power to lure Taiqing here, even if they would perish faster by doing so.

Fortunately, the spiritual valley's suppression had gradually weakened over the long years. They were able to lure the Taiqing as they wished, and Zhan Xian’s only obsession was to destroy it!

Two swords shot out of Zhan Xian's pupils and he held the swords in his hands. These two swords were made by his Shixiong's ribs, and they were a natural fit and in harmony with his mind. After 8,000 years, it actually gave birth to the sword soul.

Zhan Xian made a vertical leap of a thousand feet high and swooped down. With his arms spread wide, his body whirled during the fall, and his sword energy swept around, shrouding the entire altar.

At the same time, a shadow emerged behind Zhan Xian that looked like him, but with a pair of huge feather wings on the back. The shadow also held two swords in the hands, and it crossed the two swords and pressed them down again.

The surrounding air was distorted again, and all the Yao energy in the space was drained, pouring into the double swords. The released sword qi transformed into a flying eagle that went straight at Qin Yanzhi, its body was red, as if blood-stained, and like a golden crow in the sunrise, so fast that only a stream of light remained!

At the critical moment, Qin Yanzhi closed his eyes and clasped Taiqing, who had been recalled by him, with both hands.

He held the sword upright in front of his body, and the silver-white sword reflected a face colder than frost and snow.

At that moment, a shadow also appeared behind Qin Yanzhi, the image of a four or five-year-old boy with crisscrossed scars on his face, with eyes tightly closed eyes, the face white as death.

The child had the same posture as Qin Yanzhi. Although the sword in his hand was too big for him, it was not comical at all, looking quite natural instead.

Seeing that Zhan Xian's sword energy was about to hit Qin Yanzhi, the shadow slowly opened his eyes, a silvery-white with no pupils, just like the ancient snowy plains, and like the merciless heavenly Dao, without a trace of life.

One big and one small, one solid and one virtual, slashed out at the same time. The sword and the arm formed a straight line, and the silver light shot out from the sword, like a shooting star straight at the enemy!

Boom…

Rumble…

The space vibrated violently and sounds of explosions came from the dazzling silver light. Although Qin Yanzhi couldn't see anything clearly, he knew that only one person could stand after this strike, and that person could only be him!

When the place returned to tranquility, the cliff had broken and collapsed.

Zhan Xian was nowhere to be seen nor any presence left, leaving only two swords on the ground, but the swords were covered with cracks, and the soul of the sword was also missing.

Barring any accidents, at the moment the sword shattered, the sword soul had soared into the Void Sword Tomb for a long slumber.

Qin Yanzhi gasped twice and released Jing Yue with a flick of his sleeves.

Jing Yue looked around and was shocked when he saw the cliff being cut in half.

Obviously, Qin Yanzhi had won. Although Jing Yue was sealed in his sleeve and didn't know the process, he had made a judgment on this. He just didn’t expect the other party’s combat power to be so strong.

Seeing that Qin Yanzhi was not injured, Jing Yue couldn't help admiring him. “Thank you, Qin-zhenjun. I didn't expect you to easily kill a Return to Void.”

Qin Yanzhi, “What Return to Void is he? Although he still had some self-awareness, his thinking was stalled and his combat awareness is not even as good as some Amethyst Abode.”

Jing Yue smiled, knowing that what the other party said was part of the reason, but another Heavenly Grotto cultivator might not be able to win this.

Qin Yanzhi took the two swords left by Zhan Xian and said, “Zhan Xian's magic weapon has given birth to a sword soul, but it’s a pity that the sword soul has disappeared.”

Jing Yue was startled, and subconsciously said, “Is Taiqing okay?”

Only a sword soul could fight with another sword soul. Daoyi sword soul was still recuperating, so Qin Yanzhi could only use Taiqing.

The answer to his question was Taiqing that came out of its sheath and swiftly spun around him.

Jing Yue was amused and asked, “Has Taiqing transformed into a human? What do you look like?”

The Taiqing sword soul burrowed out and changed into a chubby girl wearing a belly band, exactly like the dolls in the New Year paintings, blinking innocently at Jing Yue.

Jing Yue, “…So cute.” Unexpectedly, Taiqing was a girl?

Qin Yanzhi, “…”

He quickly brought the disruptive Taiqing sword soul into his dantian and said, “Although the sword soul of the two swords has been lost, this sword is also made from the ribs of the Yao Emperor. It is very rare. I’m going to take it back to the sect to see if anyone can repair it.”

Of course, Jing Yue had no objection. He was thinking about something else. “We have destroyed the three altars, so why hasn't the space collapsed yet?”

Qin Yanzhi pointed to the cliff, only to see the familiar rune pattern appear on the cliff wall again.

Jing Yue was shocked. “Could it be that someone else is sealed here?”

Qin Yanzhi, “I don't know, but it's obvious that we have to go in.”

The two looked at each other. Without delay, they headed for the rock wall together.

On the way, Qin Yanzhi suddenly asked, “Why did Zhan Xian say that you seem familiar?”

Jing Yue froze, only to recall that there was this problem.

Although Qin Yanzhi’s ‘original self’ had kept a close eye on Haotian Realm for many years and must have guessed that Jing Yue had a secret, if Qin Yanzhi didn’t ask, he wouldn’t take the initiative to mention it. But now that Qin Yanzhi had brought it up…

Perhaps the other party had already guessed it and just wanted his confirmation.

Jing Yue didn't want to deceive Qin Yanzhi, but couldn’t help feeling strange to confess that he was Jing Yuan and so on, so he said ambiguously, “Zhan Xian should be familiar with the aura of Frostcloud Sect. Because he recognized Taiqing, of course he’d also remember the great enemy of the Yao race.”

Qin Yanzhi didn’t give any indication whether he believed it, and lightly said, “So he called out Jing Yuan and Yi Wang because his hatred toward his enemies was too great?”

“That’s right, he has lost his rationale at that time…”

Jing Yue really thought so. Even he couldn't be sure whether Yi Wang was Qin Yanzhi, so he didn't believe that Zhan Xian could recognize him. It was more likely that the other party saw Taiqing and roared out all the hatred in his heart.

Qin Yanzhi hummed and said, “Thinking about it at this time, the great karma I sensed at that time was not only Wen Chan-laozu, but perhaps Taiqing too, and we are here because of Taiqing.”

Jing Yue was stunned and organized his thoughts.

In other words, when Qin Yanzhi came looking for him in the black wood forest at that time, the Taiqing sword he carried triggered the karma. The half-saints wanted to take Taiqing into the altar but swept Jing Yue away by accident, and Qin Yanzhi chased after him and jumped into the Yao Lake, falling into the same space by mistake.

So, between them, who got whom into trouble? Or were they all victimized by Taiqing?

The two quickly came to the bottom of the cliff. Perhaps because all the half-saints were dead, the restriction was simpler this time.

Five days later, Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi appeared in a certain passage, similar to the one when they had just entered the stone door, but with a thousand forks, just like a maze. Moreover, the two found that the passage would move on its own. Perhaps it was the right path this second, but it would turn into a dead-end the next second.

“This place is so complicated. I guess there won't be any half-saints at the end of the passage,” Jing Yue analyzed. If the half-saints wanted to trick the Yao to sacrifice, they would definitely let the Yao find them in the easiest way. Therefore, the restrictions in the space were not that difficult, especially for the Yao race.

Qin Yanzhi nodded in agreement.

Fortunately, there was no danger along the way, and they found the exit smoothly by using their divine consciousness as a guide.

Then, they entered a stone hut.

There was only one sacrificial table in the room and only three jade boxes on the sacrificial table.

Jing Yue scanned with his divine consciousness and exclaimed in surprise, “It’s a Yao core!”

He hurriedly stepped forward, opened one of them, and saw a lightning-attribute inner core stored in the box, the size of an adult's fist.

“It’s Shan Lei’s inner core!”

Yes, if the half-saints could successfully reconstruct their bodies, they would be able to quickly recover their cultivation by swallowing their own inner core at that time.

So, Jing Yue opened the other two jade boxes and found another two inner cores, one large and one small. The larger one emitted a golden sharpness, naturally owned by Zhan Xian, while the smaller one was incomplete, with water attribute. Just by looking at it, a chill was felt, like the ice that had been buried in the northern continent for hundreds of thousands of years.

Jing Yue had heard that when Wan Se ran away, her inner core was shattered, and it was proven to be true now.

He was delighted. It should be known that the human race could also absorb the power of the Yao core through secret techniques, but while the Yao race could obtain 70-80% of the power, the human race could only obtain 10-20%. Thus, a Yao inner core Amethyst Abode and below was not very useful for the human race, but a Yao above the stage was not that easy to kill. Instead of going through the trouble, the cultivator was better off with closed-door seclusion.

Over time, this secret technique was about to be lost.

But there were still those who knew about it, and Jing Yue was one of them. He informed Qin Yanzhi of the secret method, and the other party said, “You take the ones belonging to Wan Se and Shan Lei. I’ll take Zhan Xian’s.”

Jing Yue didn’t refuse. Although he took the bigger advantage, the human race could only absorb the Yao inner core with the same spiritual root attributes. Qin Yanzhi simply had no use for Wan Se and Shan Lei’s inner cores. If the situation was reversed, he wouldn’t frown either.

Qin Yanzhi, “Should we refine it now?”

Jing Yue, “We…”

Suddenly, the space shook violently, and the stone house quickly collapsed. In the blink of an eye, the two were once again submerged in cold water.

But this time, the restrictions of the law disappeared, and Jing Yue was finally able to connect with the Haotian Realm.

“I’ll get Ji-ji back.”

Jing Yue told Qin Yanzhi before he disappeared. The next moment, he appeared outside the stone door in the Inner Sea.

Author’s Note:

Ji-ji: Taiqing, why did you turn into a girl and deceive Jing-jing?

Taiqing: Mind your own business.

Ji-ji jumped: Ji-ji officially announces that Ji-ji hates you!

…

Ji-ji: Jing-jing, I feel that you’re about to fall off the high horse.

Jing-jing: …I can still rescue it.