166: War with the Gods

This stone stele had seen better days, and a sense of desolation rushed toward him, pulling him into a distant era.

Xu Jingzhe reached out and gently touched the broken part of the stele; it was as clean as new, without a speck of dust.

He found it strange; in a place that had been uninhabited for so many years, there wasn't even a speck of dust on the stele.

Looking at this eerie island, Xu Jingzhe remained on high alert.

Past this beach, a marble-paved road lay ahead, flat and smooth, like a celestial ladder leading straight into the depths of the dense forest.

Towering trees grew on both sides of the road, their deep green canopy high above like massive green clouds, casting large patches of shadow.

Once on the marble path, a chill rose from the depths of his heart, making his teeth want to chatter.

Marble carvings appeared on both sides of the road, also damaged and scattered everywhere, stretching from beneath Xu Jingzhe's feet deep into the distance, densely packed.

Xu Jingzhe was stunned to see a lifelike monkey, every strand of hair carved so vividly it looked like real fur stuck onto it.

Beside the half-bodied monkey lay a broken staff, with a few ancient characters carved onto it.

Ruyi Golden Hoop Rod.

"Could it be that the legendary... gods are buried here?" Xu Jingzhe wondered aloud.

Moving his gaze away from the stone monkey, he saw a human-bodied, pig-headed figure with big ears, smiling kindly at him.

The Nine-Toothed Rake was also broken, with only three teeth remaining intact.

Xu Jingzhe stood there, dazed, carefully pondering the Ritual Arts that Tang Ruyi had mentioned—summoning departed spirits to fight for oneself.

Could it be that these characters from 'textbooks' were real, and could be summoned using the Ritual Arts?

Thinking of this, he strode forward to find Tang Ruyi.

The scattered stone carvings included men, women, the old, and the young; each piece was exquisite, and even someone without an aesthetic background could see their extraordinary nature at a glance.

The road was long; even at Xu Jingzhe's pace, it took half an hour to walk, and during this time, damaged stone carvings continued to appear along the way.

Reaching the end of the marble-paved road, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a large clearing.

The clearing was a mess, covered in dense sword marks, each one hundreds of meters long.

An alloy Tang blade was stuck in the ground, and beside it lay a person, unconscious or dead—it was Tang Ruyi.

Xu Jingzhe stepped forward, wanting to help her up. However, an invisible transparent wall blocked him.

"Tang Ruyi," Xu Jingzhe called out.

Tang Ruyi, lying on the ground, twitched her fingers and slowly opened her eyes, looking at the ribbon-like clouds drifting across the cyan sky. After a long while, she leaned against the Tang blade and struggled to rise, her body riddled with bloody holes.

The shape of each bloody hole was actually different, as if she had been wounded by different weapons.

She limped out and collapsed weakly beside Xu Jingzhe, smiling for the first time.

Though it could hardly be called a smile.

It was just a twitch of the corners of her mouth.

"Found it, found it. This is the burial ground of the Ritual Arts," she said, enunciating each word clearly.

"You obtained the Ritual Arts?" Xu Jingzhe asked with mixed feelings.

Someone like Tang Ruyi, who already possessed an Ancient Battle Skill and now had obtained the Ritual Arts—her future path was enviable.

"Cough..."

Tang Ruyi coughed up blood and said self-deprecatingly, "It's not that easy. You can go in now; once you're inside, you'll know everything."

After Tang Ruyi walked out, the clearing before them gradually returned to normal, flat and smooth.

As if nothing had ever happened.

Xu Jingzhe wanted to ask more, but she had actually fallen asleep, and there was even a faint snoring sound.

It was clear she was truly exhausted.

Looking at Tang Ruyi's delicate, exhausted face, then at the alloy Tang blade, Xu Jingzhe finally stood up, dusted himself off, and strode forward.

The moment he stepped into the clearing, a grand sound of sacrificial rites rang in his ears, piercing straight into his mind.

Xu Jingzhe's vision went black, and he nearly fell to the ground. He circulated the energy within his body, his spirit jolted, and his gaze gradually cleared.

Before him appeared golden phantoms filling the sky, standing there like 'gods and buddhas'.

Each 'god and buddha' had their hands clasped together, eyes closed.

As if sensing the energy fluctuations from Xu Jingzhe, the golden phantom at the very bottom opened its eyes, stepped out, and bowed slightly to Xu Jingzhe.

Then, he raised his right hand, golden light flickered, and a large golden bow appeared in his hand.

The large golden bow was carved throughout with vines and patterns in full, vibrant bloom. At the two ends of the bow were a crescent moon on one side and a cute little rabbit on the other.

He drew the bow, aiming at Xu Jingzhe, and a red arrow, about two meters long and blood-red like agate, appeared out of thin air.

He drew the bow and nocked the arrow.

"Twang~"

The blood-red arrow shot out; the clearing was engulfed in a bloody mist, with the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling, and an overwhelming power blanketed everything.

In that instant, Xu Jingzhe couldn't move at all, as if tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand.

He tried his best, the energy stored within his body and his Golden Contamination Core circulating frantically, overflowing with golden light.

But!

He could only watch helplessly as the blood-red arrow shot toward his chest.

"Puff!"

Blood splattered, and Xu Jingzhe was carried hundreds of meters away by the blood-red arrow, pinned to an invisible transparent wall. From afar, it looked as if Xu Jingzhe was pinned in mid-air.

Bright red blood flowed from the wound, dripping onto the ground.

This terrifying arrow nearly finished Xu Jingzhe off. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and he stared coldly at the golden phantom, knowing who it was.

"Yi!"

The peerless powerhouse from legend who shot down nine suns.

With pain deep in his bones, his muscles torn apart by the power of the arrow as if bitten by a wild beast, Xu Jingzhe invoked the recovery power of a werewolf.

The golden phantom drew the bow again, and another blood-red arrow came, its speed too fast to track.

"Puff!"

This time, it hit his right chest, and the two blood-red arrows hung him in mid-air.

Xu Jingzhe passed out, and the energy in his body gradually calmed down.

"Thud~"

The blood-red arrows vanished, and Xu Jingzhe fell from mid-air. Yi clasped his hands together, bowed slightly, and the golden longbow disappeared. He returned to the midst of the 'gods and buddhas' phantoms, back to his original position, and closed his eyes.

It is unknown how much time passed before Xu Jingzhe slowly woke up. The cyan sky was just as it had been, with ribbon-like clouds drifting by, and mysterious radiance spilling over the entire island.

He stood up, energy fluctuating within his body as his injured body was being restored.

Yi opened his eyes, stepped out from the golden phantoms, clasped his hands together, and bowed slightly to Xu Jingzhe.

He raised his right hand, the golden longbow appeared in his hand, a blood-red arrow manifested, blood mist filled the air, and the world seemed to crumble.

"Puff!"

Xu Jingzhe was pinned to the transparent wall again, blood splattering. It was like a flower as red as fire blooming fiercely, seductive and romantic.

As he passed out, Xu Jingzhe only managed to curse one thing.

"Damn it, you hacker!"