Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Under the joint attack of Monk Zhou and the Deputy General Manager, the seal was finally torn open after just ten seconds.
When they opened the tent, their blood ran cold. Just their junior brother Xiao’s headless corpse was left in the tent. His head was thrown coldly to the side, and the pain he had suffered before his death was still apparent on his face, along with confusion and surprise.
Monk Zhou rushed over and inspected the corpse, his expression extremely gloomy. “His head was instantly chopped off. Even his soul was extinguished.”
“The orange-robed Wood Clan language’s expert who entered first must have done it! Wasn’t he an outer sanctum’s elder of the Returning Principal Palace? Why did he…” The heart of the Deputy General Manager sank, and he felt his limbs becoming ice-cold.
The Deputy General Manager didn’t need to say it, because it was already obvious. The outer sanctum’s elder had been bribed by the Central Prefecture.
The outer sanctum’s elder had hidden patiently, using the tent’s seal, as well as Junior Brother Qian’s arrogance and vanity, to successfully kill Junior Brother Qian despite his protection. He had even used his own spatial talisman to successfully escape.
They were done for! Everything was done for! They didn’t have Junior Brother Qian, so who would deal with the two great Wood Clan Language’s masters, Qin Lin?
They now just had some Wood Clan Language’s experts with superficial knowledge left. How could they face two masters?
Both Monk Zhou and the Deputy General Manager had a bad feeling about this affair. The situation was extremely grave. Their situation hadn’t been this terrible in any previous sacrificial ceremony.
The other Wood Clan Language’s experts were all shocked, and they shivered in fear. Their faces, which had been filled with confidence, were now filled with despair. Their skills didn’t reach even a third of Junior Brother Qian’s skill. So, how could they face two great masters?
This time, they would surely suffer a disastrous defeat, and the valuable elixir store construction quotas would be taken by the Heavenly Knife Region. They were worth an astronomical figure.
The Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands would be left with just half of its domain, and half of it would be embezzled. As time passed, most of Tianya City would end up controlled by the Heavenly Knife Region.
They had made a grave mistake, and it wouldn’t be just the several Wood Clan Language’s experts who would bear the two sanctums’ anger. Even Monk Zhou, the General Manager, and the Purple Cloud Palace’s General Manager would face their ire. This affair’s consequences were dreadful!
It was at this moment that a mocking voice echoed outside the camp. “Well, what happened here? Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ sirs, why are you all wearing such a sad look? Did anyone important die? Why are your expressions this unsightly?”
When the crowd looked over, they witnessed Hu Wangui standing at a distance. He had his hands clasped behind his back and wearing a mocking look.
“Hu! Wan! Gui!” Monk Zhou flew into a rage. His eyes became bloodshot, and it was obvious that he was greatly infuriated.
As for the Deputy General Manager, his expression was gloomy, and a murderous aura emanated from him.
If two Level Seven Divine Masters vented their anger on a trifling Level Five Divine Master like Hu Wangui, he would instantly lose his life.
“Hehe, are all Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ people this rude and insolent? It’s one of your own camp people who died, so why do you want to vent your anger on an outsider?” An aged voice echoed, while a white blur flickered, and instantly teleported next to Hu Wangui. It was a white-robed old man.
When this old man materialized, surprise appeared on the faces of Monk Zhou and the Deputy General Manager. They spoke in surprise. “Stars Plucking Old Monster, you unexpectedly came here, too!”
Stars Plucking Old Monster was one of the Heavenly Knife Region’s Master famous and powerful subordinates. His cultivation was at the Level Eight Divine Master Realm, and it would be difficult for anyone at the same level as him to block his Stars Plucking Technique.
Even if Monk Zhou and the Deputy General Manager joined hands, they still couldn’t face him.
“If you want to make sacrifices, then do it peacefully, but if you want to cause trouble, I won’t mind the chance to exercise my old body.” Stars Plucking Old Monster laughed eerily as he spoke in an ice-cold tone.
Monk Zhou and the Deputy General Manager clenched their teeth. Their enemies were stronger than them, and they mustn’t have a fight with them. “Our Purple Cloud Palace will remember this affair, and we will surely pay you back in the future.”
“I will be looking forward to it. Hehe, you should also get ready because the sacrificial ritual will shortly start.” Stars Plucking Old Monster again emitted a peal of eerie laughter, and brought Hu Wangui with him, as he swaggered off while wearing a nasty grin.
“Hateful!” The Deputy General Manager clenched his fist, while hatred welled up in his heart. They had obviously killed their most important member, Junior Brother Qian, yet were still threatening that they would attack them if they caused a scene.
They were altering the facts and inverting the right and wrong, while still insulting them maliciously. They were bullying them intolerably!
“Seniors, please calm down. They already killed that person, so why would they come here just to mock us? Don’t fall into their traps and their provocative tactics,” Su Yu said.
The Deputy General Manager and Monk Zhou were both people with a great cultivation base, and it was inevitable that they would be impulsive at times. However, after Su Yu’s voice reached their ears, they immediately came back to their senses, and regained their composure
Junior Brother Qian had already died, and if they attacked their opponents, they would lose more miserably in the sacrificial ritual.
The Deputy General Manager looked at Su Yu and forced himself to smile. However, his face became gloomy once again. “The Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ industries in Tianya City are facing a precarious situation. Junior Brother Qian was killed by a vile man, but we still have you all. We need you to pull yourselves together, and fight for our sanctum, and for the Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ glory.”
After the Deputy General Manager and Monk Zhou had encouraged them, they all got back some of their composure, but they were still in low spirits.
Deputy General Manager and Monk Zhou then decided on the order in which they would all offer sacrifices. Lu Chuyi would go first because she came from the same sanctum as Junior Brother Qian, and she should have learned much from him. The several Wood Clan Language’s experts, who had interacted with Junior Brother Qian the previous day before, would go next. The last ones to go would be Master Gao and Su Yu.
Master Gao and Su Yu were at the end because they hadn’t interacted with Junior Brother Qian, and they didn’t hold any hope into them.
“You should all follow me. We still didn’t reach the last juncture, and mustn’t give up,” the Deputy General Manager shouted at them, even though he was more desperate than anyone else there.
If they depended upon such a confused team, they would suffer a crushing defeat. However, what they could still change was just how disastrous their defeat would be.
What they were thinking about was just how could they explain and report recent matters to their superiors. They all went to the Desolate Evil Jungle in deep thought.
There was a three-hundred-meter long altar before the forest. It was made wholly of wood, but it was a special wood. Even though it had existed for countless years, it had not even begun to rot. However, time still left its mark on it.
There was a flat and spacious terrain at the highest region of the altar, but its ground was filled with countless small characters. They were as numerous as the stars and emitted a boundless aura. There were characters of the Wood Clan’s Language, but it was a pity that they were too crowded together, and none could recognize and discern what they meant.
“When the sacrificial ceremony starts, some of the Wood Clan’s Language’s characters on the altar surface will start shining and reveal a certain message. The first person among the Wood Clan Language’s expert participant of the Heavenly Knife Region and Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands to translate will earn a point, and once someone surpassed his opponent by more than ten points, his opponent would be eliminated.”
“The more we progress toward the last stage of the ritual, the more difficult it will be. So, you should all remember at all costs to just translate the first part. Even the two great Wood Clan Language’s masters Qin Lin are helpless in front of the last part. You shouldn’t worry about the difficulty in the last part.” The Deputy General Manager prepared them for the task ahead.
Su Yu mulled it over and then asked, “May I ask which is the early part, and which is the intermediate part, and which is the last part?”
“The first hour will be the simplest, and if Junior Brother Qian was still present here, we wouldn’t face any difficulties in it. The intermediate part will appear in the second hour, and translating this part is extremely difficult, and Junior Brother Qian was always defeated by the two great masters at this part. As for the third and last hour, it is the final part, and many strange Wood Clan’s Language’s characters will appear in it, and no one is able to understand them.”
Su Yu then understood this matter clearly.
Four hours passed. There were more than a million martial artists standing on the altar, and flying in the sky above it. They entirely filled the region.
The master of ceremonies wore a grave look as he announced the start of the sacrificial ritual. Large quantities of offerings were delivered to the front of the Desolate Evil Jungle. As long as Wood Clan’s Language’s words appeared on the altar, they would need to offer a corresponding spiritual object.
“Both sides’ members should go to the stage,” the master of ceremonies shouted loudly.
Lu Chuyi went to the stage calmly, and stood on the left side of the altar, while two men came from the other side. No, precisely speaking, it was just a single man, but he had a body with two heads. Two heads with different facial features were growing out of his neck, and they both were old and gray-haired.
His abnormal appearance seemed hideous, but both heads wore a calm look and had sharp and bright gazes. He seemed refined and cultured, and it would be difficult for one to discriminate against him.
“Those are the two languages masters, Qin Lin.” The Deputy General Manager’s gaze was brimming with killing intent. The Heavenly Knife Region managed to occupy many regions of Tianya City thanks to these two masters, and if they didn’t manage to eliminate them, the Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ factions would be sooner or later driven out of Tianya City.
However, Qin Lin was always accompanied and protected by two late-stage Divine Masters anywhere they went. So who could harm them?
“It’s just a young lassie. Hehe, doesn’t the Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands have anyone else?” the left head laughed arrogantly.
“Don’t be careless, and let’s make an all-out effort.” The right head was more composed than the other.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
All of a sudden, the altar beneath the stage started revolving slowly. The diverse characters beneath their feet seemed now like stars. At first glance, it would even seem like a map of the starry sky, and if glancing at it further would make one dizzy.
All of a sudden, several characters started shining.
The two masters, Qin Lin, immediately took a jade ornament and used their Vital Energy to inscribe several characters on it. They then handed it to the master of the ceremony, who handed it to Hu Wangui.
Hu Wangui handed it over to the person in front of the Desolate Evil Jungle who was responsible for sending offerings.
The person in charge took the jade ornament and observed it. He could see several words written on it: “In the southeastern side, a third-grade demonic beast, three Mysterious Water Caltrops, and three low-grade spiritual artifacts…”
The person in charge followed the instructions and threw all those objects on the Desolate Evil Jungle. They could hear a rustling sound echoing from the forest, while a demonic beast’s miserable scream echoed for a moment before it disappeared, and the jungle resumed its silence.
As for the stage beneath Qin Lin’s feet, a wave of pure energy, which seemed primal, surged out of the stage and engulfed him.
Su Yu was surprised by it. That energy was strangely too pure and didn’t contain any impurities as if half of it was once semi-purified by the Milky Way Star Sand.
“Where did this energy come from?” Su Yu thought to himself.
When it was Lu Chuyi’s turn, she managed to recognize those Wood Clan Language’s words only with great difficulty, and it was only after a long while passed that she finished writing down their content, and handing it over to the person in charge of the Purple Cloud Palace’s camp.
They had also started throwing offerings there according to Lu Chuyi’s instructions, but when they had just thrown half of them, an angry roar echoed from the jungle, while the stage beneath Lu Chuyi’s feet didn’t emit any response.
The master of the ceremony said, “Qin Lin got a single point!”
Lu Chuyi didn’t become flustered, and was still calm, while the contest continued on, and the second round started.
In the second round, Lu Chuyi managed to successfully translate the Wood Clan’s Language’s words, while Qin Lin also didn’t face any difficulty.
In the third round, she failed, while Qin Lin succeeded.
In the fourth round, she succeeded, and Qin Lin succeeded.
It continued on until an hour passed, and it was only then that Lu Chuyi ended up accumulating ten losses, while Qin Lin didn’t fail even a single time. Everything proceeded smoothly for him.
Qin Lin surpassed Lu Chuyi by more than ten points, and she ended up eliminated. However, the two people Qin Lin’s sacrificial ritual still didn’t come to an end, and they reached the intermediate part, and it was also the part, which was slightly difficult. Their previous relaxed expressions disappeared, and they became grave.
