Chapter 96: Ancient Sacrifice (5)

“See the chairman out,” the elders said, and then hurriedly used the resentment of living souls to turn each corpse into a mass of crimson flesh.

At this moment in Coastal City.

A dark figure appeared in Sea Mountain, which had long since been sealed off. The black-robed man’s spatial singularity easily pierced the barrier of the magnetic field blockade. He emerged upon the mountaintop where the living sacrifice had once been held, standing quietly as he waited for the aberration beneath him to awaken.

“So, you have finally come!”

Soon, the entire Sea Mountain began to tremble. The aberration that had slumbered here also awoke, and thick tentacles made of flesh and blood stretched out from the mountain’s depths. The rumbling within the abyss formed the words the black-robed man heard.

“Yes, the time has come! You may hand over the body left behind by that one to nourish the soul to me,” the black-robed man said calmly, showing no surprise at all as he looked at the crimson tentacles dancing in the air above Sea Mountain.

“After waiting so long, this world is finally ours to rule. Gah-gah-gah~” the Sea Mountain aberration cried out in wild excitement. Its crimson tentacles kept lashing at the surroundings, smashing the nearby rocks to pieces, a clear sign of its agitated mood.

At that moment, the passage that had once supplied flesh for the living sacrifice began to writhe slowly, as though it were alive. From within the tunnel, a little girl dressed in ancient white robes, looking to be only sixteen or seventeen, was slowly carried upward by the Sea Mountain aberration.

Dark liquid similar to shadow seeped out from the black-robed man’s body, forming a black ribbon that wrapped around the unconscious girl and drew her to his side. He examined the little girl suspended in the air as if inspecting a piece of merchandise.

“Very good. After all these years, she is still sleeping, and her body remains as it was back then. You have done well. Now wait patiently for heaven and earth to change masters.” As he spoke, the black-robed man flicked his sleeve, and he and the girl who served as a spirit-nourishing vessel vanished in a distortion.

“This world is finally about to change hands! Gah-gah-gah~”

After the black-robed man left, Sea Mountain echoed with the aberration’s utterly frenzied laughter. Horrifying. Bone-chilling.

In the blink of an eye, the black-robed man appeared with the little girl at the Northern District Military Headquarters in Coastal City. A black space resembling a confinement chamber enveloped the prison, and before the spirit investigators inside could react, the imprisoned Jack Chen was taken away.

The black space disappeared. Inside the prison, everyone else immediately erupted into chaos, both the inmates and the guards alike.

The entire northern district of Coastal City descended into disorder, and no one noticed that the chairman of the Purification Society had once been there. By now, at the altar already filled with the flesh and blood of five five-star powerhouses, the black-robed man had brought the sleeping little girl to the site.

With the girl’s appearance, the specters within Shadow, Violet Tong, and Han Bai all instantly grew restless. They took a keen interest in every ounce of flesh and blood in that girl, who weighed less than fifty kilograms.

But a surge of black mist instantly shrouded the entire altar, and the three eagerly stirring specters were at once suppressed into perfect obedience. Even the specter within Shadow, which had already shown signs of rebellion, became utterly still.

A nourishing body for the soul.

The same thought flashed through the minds of all three at once.

The resentment of living souls that filled the surroundings, under the black-robed man’s control, began to flow into the grooves of the altar, driving the flesh within to move as well.

Then he pointed at Jack Chen outside the altar and said, “Your brother is over there. After the sacrifice is complete, take him home and let him recuperate. The specter inside him has already been destroyed by the spirit investigators of the Empire, so you can help him find another one. All of you, go down for now.”

“Thank you, chairman!”

Shadow thanked him at once and hurried down. After Shadow left, the other three also stepped away from the altar. Soon, only the black-robed man and the little girl remained.

As the resentment of living souls flowed through the flesh, the meat in the grooves began to glow red, and the power belonging to those five five-star experts was awakened. One blue light, two white lights, and two green lights, five beams in all, faintly shone within the five heads.

While controlling the surging resentment of living souls, the black-robed man spoke words in a language none of the people below had ever heard.

“Ruba zen ya! Begin the ancient sacrifice!”

The moment his voice rang out, the light within those five heads shot skyward.

The once-bright sky grew grim. Dark clouds gradually covered the entire civilized ancient kingdom of Ael. The spirit investigators of Ael thought it was some sudden and bizarre celestial phenomenon, and people were immediately sent to inspect the area near the altar.

“Who calls me?”

Within the dark clouds, an enormous pair of eyes slowly appeared, filled with cold indifference. At the same time, a voice like thunder resounded throughout the whole kingdom of Ael, though no one but the black-robed man knew what it meant.

The black-robed man pointed at the five heads one by one. Light burst from them even more fiercely, and then they rushed into the clouds.

Then the black-robed man began a long chant:

“We, the human race, willingly relinquish our place as the favored children of heaven and earth. Let these heads of our kin, who have cultivated the arts of old, and this newly born vessel of human destiny bear witness!”

“Is that so?”

The giant eyes in the clouds looked toward the black-robed man, as if confirming once more.

“Yes!” the black-robed man answered without hesitation.

“Then I shall seal the fortunes of the human race for now. If no ancient sacrifice is offered to report to heaven’s will within three years, it shall be deemed an automatic renunciation of the human race’s place as the favored children of heaven and earth!”

As that final sentence rang through the minds of every human on Blue Star, the clouds covering Ael dispersed at once, and light returned.

Yet every human being felt as though something vital had been torn away. Countless people undergoing magnetic-energy awakening at that very moment exploded apart. Even many awakened ones in magnetic-energy enhancement chambers coughed up mouthfuls of blood, and those with weaker fortune suffered a decline in cultivation.

On the altar where the ancient sacrifice had been performed, the five heads fell from the sky as the clouds scattered and landed back in their original places.

The energy within them had been completely drained. Under the black-robed man’s control, the heads drew in the remaining flesh from the grooves around them. Stripped of their former appearance, the five heads became as translucent and lustrous as black crystal.

Then, as though they had come to life, the five heads devoured the little girl the black-robed man had placed at the center of the altar, leaving not a trace behind.

A fierce power of resentment radiated from their bodies. Merely as heads, the resentment contained within them already surpassed that of a six-star specter, and in a short time it was pressing toward the level of a seven-star one.

The black-robed man used the resentment of living souls to suppress the five heads tightly. Soon, the raging heads calmed down.

“You four, take one each and control them with the resentment of living souls. Return them to me in three years. For these three years alone, you will be able to rapidly merge with your specters and reach a state in which the flesh cannot be destroyed.” With a wave of his hand, the black-robed man caused a skull to appear before each of Violet Tong and the others.

“Thank you, chairman!”

The four of them bowed and took the skulls into their bodies. At once, the specters within them began to fuse with them at high speed.

Even Shadow, whose inner specter had previously suffered severe damage, now had half of her head already turned into black liquid. At most, within a few months, she should be able to fully merge with that ghost spirit. By then, she would be able to attempt the fusion of a second specter.

The black-robed man suddenly looked up at the sky, then said to the others, “I will also be entering seclusion to cultivate. Before I emerge, the four of you will temporarily oversee the society’s affairs.

“As for the awakened ones, if there are any who wield long swords and possess power that suppresses specters, hunt them down with all your might! Make sure their flesh is devoured clean, their bones ground to ash, and their souls reduced to nourishment! Not a single trace is to remain. Do you understand?”

“We obey!” Violet Tong and the others said at once, bowing.

By the time they looked up again, the black-robed man was already gone from the altar. Immediately afterward, the patterned altar began to crack bit by bit. Very soon, the huge altar had become a pile of shattered stone fragments.

After the black-robed man left, Shadow immediately helped the unconscious Jack Chen to his feet, and the two of them dissolved into black liquid and vanished.

“Since the chairman has handed the Purification Society to us, how are we supposed to manage it?” Han Bai asked, looking at Violet Tong and Zhang Meng, who had not yet left.

What he meant was obvious: none of the four would服 the others, so the best solution was to divide up the territory. But some territories were better than others, and where each person went would make a great difference.

“Let the western side stop here. I’ll handle expansion into the countries to the west,” Violet Tong said, pointing at the shattered altar.

Violet Tong was rather shrewd. The western side of the altar happened to be the Great Metropolitan Region, where the Purification Society had already penetrated most deeply. As the society’s first elder, her standing within it had never been low, and this choice immediately won her a large number of supporters.

“Hmph, then I’ll go south!” Han Bai snorted, knowing full well that he could never outcompete Violet Tong in the Great Metropolitan Region. After all, her alluring figure was enough to seduce plenty of fools in the society into dying for her. Better to settle for the next best thing.

“Then I’ll take the north. It’s too cold there. If Old Five goes, I’m afraid his body won’t be able to take it!” Zhang Meng said with a simple, honest grin, scratching the back of his head. He even seemed quite thoughtful toward Shadow, who was not present.

Violet Tong and Han Bai both gave him a long, deep look. Neither of them was foolish. The west was the Purification Society’s old stronghold, the south had the largest population, and though the north was barren, the resources in the sea were the richest.

Only the east, though also populous and abundantly supplied, was different. The Empire of China had two ancient monsters on par with seven-star aberrations. Anyone trying to build power there would likely be beaten to death in no time at all.

This Zhang Meng is not as simple-minded as he looks. He knows how to avoid the big pitfall.

At that moment, Violet Tong and Han Bai both had much the same thought.

“Then it’s settled. As for Shadow’s side...” Han Bai said, turning to Violet Tong. Since Violet Tong had gained the greatest advantage this time, let her be the one to deal with the unpleasant task of offending someone.

“I’ll have someone notify her,” Violet Tong replied before Han Bai could finish.

She had already been cursing inwardly over Shadow’s first merit in securing the big head. If Shadow had gone to ask for even a little of this, she would naturally not be afraid of offending her.

If you were going to ask the chairman for some fine reward, I might still fear you a little. But you brought back a half-dead Jack Chen instead. Let’s see what you have left to catch up to me with.