C431 Blood Altar
Upon the ocean's surface, the Python Queen, Xu Zixi, commanded seven menacing pythons. They surged forth like lightning before violently colliding with the Azure Veil.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The seven massive pythons, each dozens of meters in length, shimmered with sparks as they struck the Azure Veil and recoiled forcefully.
Xu Zixi, whose mind and vitality were in sync with the pythons, felt a sudden loss of control over the vast vitality stored within the Profound Gate acupoint of her middle elixir field.
Her body, refined through the spell of the evilkind, ached intensely.
Halting abruptly, she focused intently and immediately perceived the presence of the Azure Veil.
Xu Zixi was taken aback. "Has the Embers Sea been sealed off?"
With this in mind, she altered her course, attempting to break free from the sea region from different angles.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After repeated collisions, Xu Zixi reluctantly accepted defeat, realizing that even with her Spirit Walk cultivation and the bolstering demon energy of the seven pythons, she could not penetrate the Azure Veil.
"What on earth has happened at the seabed?"
This thought had barely formed when an oppressive force that sent shivers through her soul emanated from the distant islands housing the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep.
"Demonic Eyes!"
A drop of lifeblood flared at the tip of Xu Zixi's finger.
Her eyes transformed into an eerie emerald hue, granting her vision of events miles away.
High in the sky, she expended her lifeblood and Soul Power, gazing into the distance.
Her expression turned gravely serious, as if laden with the weight of impending tears.
To her astonishment, she saw a colossal blue crystal materialize in the sky above the islands she had just left.
The crystal, shaped like a teardrop, hung suspended in the air.
Illuminated by the moonlight, the crystal glistened flawlessly, emitting a radiant glow that was both breathtaking and enigmatic.
The teardrop-like crystal resonated with an extraordinary vibration that seemed to beckon the souls of all who beheld it!
Even from such a great distance, Xu Zixi, using her Demonic Eyes, was horrified to discover that her three souls of heaven, earth, and man felt drawn to the blue crystal, as if on the verge of being absorbed into it.
Whoosh!
A beam of gray light shot out from the brow of a Lunar Spirit cultivator from the Cloudwater Sect, instantly entering the blue crystal.
The female cultivator from the Cloudwater Sect, who had been suspended in midair, lost control of her body as her three souls were extracted following the disappearance of the gray light. She plummeted into the sea below.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
She wasn't the only one; the leaders of the Thunder Sect and Winter's Bite also had their souls ripped out just as they attempted to take flight.
Their three souls were forcibly drawn into the blue crystal, and their bodies, in mid-escape, continuously dropped into the sea.
In just a short span of time, the floating blue crystal had consumed the souls of six prominent cultivators within that region.
Once there were no more living people in the vicinity, the blue crystal spun in the void, seemingly scanning for other souls and vitalities.
Once it had locked onto a new location, it sped through the void in search of fresh targets.
Xu Zixi, along with Hei Xun and Dusk Raven, had all vanished without a trace. Their whereabouts were unknown.
After observing through her Demonic Eyes for some time, Zixi was relieved to see that the blue crystal, shaped like a teardrop, was not heading in her direction but elsewhere.
"It's not me. The new target isn't me..."
She whispered to herself, her face deathly pale.
She realized that the teardrop-shaped blue crystal was hunting the elders who had brought trial-takers from the various sects in the skies above the Embers Sea.
It was after those of Lunar Spirit, Spirit Walk, and possibly even Hei Xun and Dusk Raven!
She was not the target, primarily because she was far from the blue crystal and, being alone, she wasn't deemed worthy of pursuit by the crystal.
"But if I can't break through this deep blue barrier, I'll eventually become a target for that thing."
Standing before the Azure Veil, Zixi sensed the terrifying psionic power lurking within. "What could it be that it covers such an expansive area? The entire Embers Sea is under lockdown, above and below the surface!"
She was baffled and felt utterly powerless.
She attempted to reach out to Dusk Raven using the mystique of Shadow's Keep.
The eighth-level Dusk Raven, presiding over the Embers Sea, had vanished without a trace, leaving no response whatsoever.
Despair began to take root in Xu Zixi's heart.
...
Beneath the sea.
A vast dark blue shadow, like an enormous specter, slowly spread over the golden bull.
The bull's pitiful cries, amplified by the arcane techniques of evilkind, could be heard for dozens of miles.
The blue shadow kept advancing, eventually engulfing it completely.
The cries ceased abruptly with a splash.
Simultaneously, a lifeless body, stripped of its three souls, plummeted from the heavens.
Passing through the Azure Veil, the body descended like a shell into the depths of the sea.
This was the corpse of a Lunar Spirit elder from the Forgeroses, who had honed his physique. After the blue crystal above consumed his three souls, his soulless flesh plummeted into the ocean.
Surprisingly, the Azure Veil, which barred trial-takers from breaching the sea's surface, did not stop the soulless corpse from penetrating its barrier and sinking into the deep sea.
It seemed to facilitate the passage for the blue shadow.
Indeed.
The blue shadow that had captured the evilkind's golden bull was stirring at the sea's bottom, ensnaring the elder's corpse from the Forgeroses as well.
...
Within the Nebula Gem.
Lu Baichan, having faced repeated setbacks at the hands of Yu Yuan and Liu Ying, was enveloped in gloom.
Every glance at Tang Cen reminded her of her own misjudgments, which she attributed to Tang Cen and Lin Zhuyun, ultimately leading to Yu Yuan's departure.
Yu Yuan's departure triggered a domino effect, resulting in the Skyblight Cult, Ruby Hand, and Sword Sect severing ties.
Ultimately, they had barely reunited with the Fallen Star Eyes before being abruptly separated again without a chance for explanation.
Suddenly, a sound wave, charged with demon energy, struck the gem's shield.
Lu Baichan, the gem's controller, concentrated her spirit and quickly deciphered the message, her expression turning grave.
"The evilkind's golden bull was consumed by a blue shadow. Realizing its inevitable demise, it sent a desperate message infused with demon energy. It's furious we didn't come to its rescue and is warning us to leave the Embers Sea immediately!"
Lu Baichan inhaled deeply, her gaze shifting between the members of the Ebon Star and the Sunlit Order. "Yu Yuan is right," she declared.
The Fallen Star Eyes darted across the ocean floor. When Yu Yuan revealed that the "Tears of the Azurefiend" was the last remaining Blood Altar of the Azurefiend Otherkin, the revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd. Those unfamiliar with the Tears of the Azurefiend but who had heard of the Blood Altar began to shout in alarm, pointing fingers at the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep.
In the midst of the chaos, Fei Yi stepped forward, indicating his desire for a thorough discussion with Yu Yuan.
With a sudden splash, a corpse breached the Azure Veil and plummeted into the sea.
"That's an elder from our sect!" Chi Yin of the Taintborn Sect exclaimed, her face betraying a flicker of concern.
"Why would a corpse fall from above?" Luo Yiyi of the Cloudwater Sect asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
"The Blood Altar is split into two levels: the upper is the Spirit Altar, and the lower is the Blood Altar," Lin Yue of the Colddeath Sect explained, his demeanor unshaken. "The Spirit Altar is likely above the sea, targeting the souls of the elders left to guard it, drawing out their three souls of heaven, earth, and man. Once the souls are extracted, the bodies fall into the sea to be consumed by the Blood Altar below."
Chi Yin, regaining her composure, agreed, "That must be it."
"So, the Blood Altar at the sea's bottom is the one hunting evilkind and moving about?" Fei Yi questioned. "Yu Yuan, are you absolutely certain?"
He had intended to have a detailed conversation with Yu Yuan, but that was before witnessing the grim reality. He had hoped Yu Yuan wasn't just spouting baseless claims.
The existence of a Blood Altar on an island within the Embers Sea was undoubtedly connected to the Shadow's Keep and the Devil Palace. With the Shadow's Keep's members all dead, and as the current spokesperson for the Devil Palace, he felt compelled to step forward and defend its honor.
But before he could voice his planned defense, the sight of a Taintborn Sect elder's corpse falling, along with Lin Yue and Chi Yin's explanations, left him no choice but to believe.
"The Tears of the Azurefiend," Yu Yuan explained with a smile, gesturing above, "is what the Azurefiend call the Soul Altar. The good news is that it's no longer beneath the sea but has risen to the surface. Right now, it's only the Blood Altar that's active on the ocean floor."
