172: Chapter 172 Altar and Totem! Blood Moon Relic!

Dead silence.

A dead silence, as if an eternal glacier had frozen over, persisted for a dozen breaths before being torn apart by an even more violent commotion.

"Hoo... hoo... gah!"

"Gu la... hiss!"

Fear, suppressed to the extreme, erupted from the depths of the Black-robed People's throats, transforming into a series of fragmented and primitive syllables. This was no longer conversation, but a trembling and instinctive wail from the depths of their Souls. They hunched their bodies, their beast-claw-like knuckles unconsciously digging into the hard bone gravel of the ground, making a teeth-grinding friction sound.

The gazes they cast toward Su Changge had undergone a complete transformation.

The previous mix of greed, scrutiny, and murderous intent had been washed away completely. At this moment, those faces hidden in the shadows of the hoods held only a kind of awe when facing the divine might of a god, a fear engraved in the deepest parts of their Bloodlines, and a near-collapse bewilderment born from witnessing a power beyond the scope of their understanding.

One finger, collapsing a mountain.

The meaning represented by these words perhaps exceeded their meager cognition. But they clearly understood that the existence capable of silently erasing the bone mountain they relied on for survival—which they viewed as an insurmountable barrier—was no longer an ordinary creature, but a god walking on the earth, the embodiment of the Blood Moon will they believed in!

The Patrol Captain watched as his clansmen were finally completely subdued, and on his face, flushed with excessive excitement, appeared a fanaticism that felt natural. He faced Su Changge once more, his entire upper body bending deeply, his head almost touching the bone armor on his chest; this was an ancient ritual that would only be performed in the presence of the supreme totem within the tribe.

After the ritual, he did not straighten up, but maintained a humble posture, turned his body to the side, and extended his thick arm, pointing far toward the deepest part of the tribe, the center of darkness that even the light of Soul fires could not fully illuminate, in the gesture of inviting a god.

There, stood an even more magnificent plaza, the Holy Land of the entire Bone City.

Su Changge's Dao Heart was as calm as an ancient well, and he naturally understood the other party's intention.

This was an invitation, and even more so, a pilgrimage.

His pace remained unchanged, still unhurried, as he continued forward along the direction pointed out by the captain.

"Clatter—" The Black-robed People in front of him, like a tide pushed aside by an invisible great hand, scrambled to retreat to both sides, their movements filled with panic and chaos, fearing that their mortal bodies might touch the hem of this "God's Envoy." They prostrated on the ground, burying their heads deep, not daring to profane the white-clad figure walking slowly with their gazes. Some of the older clansmen even performed the great ritual of prostration, muttering ancient and obscure prayers.

A few young clansmen with weak wills, as Su Changge passed by, could not even withstand that invisible aura; their legs went soft, and they collapsed to the ground, trembling like chaff.

Led by the Patrol Captain, Su Changge crossed this road paved with awe and fear, and finally stepped onto the plaza in the very center of the tribe.

Upon stepping in, his indifferent gaze was attracted by the behemoth standing in the center of the plaza.

An altar.

An altar carved entirely from the skull of an unknown primeval Vicious Beast!

The skull was simply too huge; lying on the ground, it occupied nearly half the area of the plaza. It was covered in mottled traces of erosion by time, its grey-white bone texture harder than metal. Those two deep eye sockets were like caves that devoured light and Souls, large enough for dozens of people to hide inside. The surface of the skull was not smooth, but branded with countless twisted and eerie Dao marks; those traces were neither words nor pictures, interweaving into an extremely complex array, emitting an aura of wild, desolate antiquity.

Above the altar stood a giant pillar ten feet high.

It was actually a totem pillar formed by stringing together the entire spinal Dragon bone of an unknown giant beast that supported the sky!

Section after section of thick and ferocious vertebrae were interlocked, with petrified black vines wrapped between the joints, and countless dense patterns carved upon them. At the very top of the totem pillar was a vivid carving of a blood-colored moon.

Beneath the Blood Moon were dense, countless reliefs of small figures kneeling in worship. Those small figures had various postures, but without exception, they maintained a pious posture of prostration, their expressions a mix of fanaticism, pain, and ecstasy, as if they were conducting some kind of bloody and sacred sacrifice.

The entire altar and totem pillar exuded a sacred majesty that transcended barbarism and bloodshed, bordering on the "Dao," echoing the real Blood Moon hanging high in the sky, as if they were conducting some kind of communication across eternity.

The Patrol Captain led Su Changge to the foot of the altar and stopped in terror. He did not dare to take another step forward, but once again performed that ancient grand ritual to Su Changge, and then extended his finger, trembling as he pointed to the top of the altar.

His intention was self-evident.

Please, God's Envoy, ascend the altar, accept the tribe's worship, and prove your identity to the God of the Blood Moon.

Su Changge looked up at this altar exuding endless vicissitudes and blood Qi, his thoughts racing.

He knew that this was both supreme glory and the final test.

The Patrol Captain's performance had successfully intimidated the entire tribe, creating the identity of "God's Envoy" for him. But words were ultimately illusory; these tribes living in a cruel environment believed more in the power and miracles they saw with their own eyes.

They needed irrefutable proof, a response from a god.

And this altar, this totem pillar resonating with the Blood Moon, was clearly the key to communicating with the god.

In this situation, there was no turning back.

If he showed the slightest hesitation or retreat at this moment, all the majesty and mystery he had built up would instantly collapse. What awaited him would be being torn into the most primitive fragments by these believers who had fallen into madness after their faith collapsed.

Since he had stepped onto this path, he had to walk to the end.

With this thought, Su Changge's heart had no more ripples.

His sleeves moved slightly, and he raised his right foot, stepping onto the stairs paved with smoothed animal leg bones.

"Clatter."

The crisp sound echoed in the dead-silent plaza, knocking clearly on the heart of every Black-robed Person.

His pace was unhurried, steady, and rhythmic. Every step he took seemed to land on some invisible node, causing the entire altar to emit a slight hum.

There were more than thirty steps, corresponding to the extreme number. The bone surface of each step, due to being soaked in the blood of sacrifices for many years, presented a dark, blood-jade-like color. Over countless years, who knows how many creatures' blood and Souls had been sacrificed here, becoming a part of this altar.

Below, all the clansmen held their breath, even suppressing the beating of their hearts. They tilted their heads, watching with the most pious gazes as that solitary white-clad figure climbed step by step to the supreme Holy Land of their tribe.

Several of the oldest Black-robed People had excitement and complexity in their turbid eyes. In their long memories, no one had dared to ascend this altar for too many years. The last person qualified to stand on the top was the High Priest from decades ago, who had triggered the Blood Moon phenomenon but died from exhausting his life force. Since then, the Holy Altar had gathered dust, and no more miracles had descended.

Finally, Su Changge finished the last step, and his figure appeared on the top platform of the altar.

He stood alone in front of that ferocious totem pillar, his small figure forming a sharp contrast with the heaven-supporting Dragon bone. However, the Dao Rhyme on him, which transcended worldly things and viewed all things as nothingness, made him naturally tower over this totem, as if he were the center of this world.

He knew that all eyes were on him, waiting.

Waiting for a miracle.

Su Changge's gaze fell on the huge totem pillar and finally fixed on the blood-colored moon carving at the top.

He could feel that the power of the entire altar and the faith of the entire tribe were gathered here. This was the key to leveraging everything.

His Divine Thought moved slightly, and a plan had already taken shape.

Amidst the countless tense, expectant, and awestruck gazes below, Su Changge slowly raised his right hand. He stepped forward, ignoring the cold aura emitted by the totem pillar that was enough to freeze the Divine Soul of ordinary creatures, and walked to its front.

Then, he extended that slender and fair palm, and under everyone's gaze, he gently pressed it onto the Blood Moon carving at the top of the totem pillar.

The carving felt cold to the touch, its texture like real ten-thousand-year cold jade, with the lingering charm of some ancient power remaining on it.

The moment his palm touched the pattern, Su Changge muttered in his heart.

"System."

"Consume a small amount of emotion points, activate micro special effect—Divine Grace Halo!"