120: Mysterious altar, suppressing the heart of the Five Realms Sea Demon

Late at night, as the hour of the Rat arrived, a slight tremor shook the floating islands. Immediately following, green Secret Realm portals began appearing out of thin air across each of the islands.

"Enter!"

As Li Yi's command fell, each squad, led by their captains, surged into their designated Secret Realm entrances.

When Jiang Yan followed his Revered Master, Li Yi, toward the upper entrance of the central island, the two shared a glance, nodded, and stepped inside.

"Buzz..."

The moment he stepped into the portal, the world before Jiang Yan's eyes suddenly distorted. Countless streaks of colorful light shuttled past him, and ancient whispers echoed in his ears.

Revered Master Li Yi's figure flickered ahead of him, his voice coming through intermittently: "Steady your mind... beware of the Sea Race's traps..."

Before the sentence could finish, Jiang Yan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness as he was forcibly yanked out of the teleportation channel by some mysterious force!

Bang!

Crashing heavily onto a blood-colored wasteland, Jiang Yan immediately rolled to his feet and began surveying his surroundings.

This was not the intended upper level of the central island. As far as the eye could see, there were only broken weapons and skeletal remains. More terrifyingly, what floated in the air was not Spiritual Qi, but a thick, tangible... Resentment!

"Holy crap... this is interesting," Jiang Yan said, licking his lips. "It seems someone doesn't want me following the plan."

Just as he was finding it amusing, the Golden Core within his body vibrated violently. The golden light on the left and the black glow on the right separated of their own accord, and the Secret Realm core they surrounded instantly projected a 3D map. At the far end of the map sat an altar constructed from massive skulls!

"Damn, is this a cheat code? It can actually project a map of this island?"

Jiang Yan was somewhat shocked to find that the environment projected by the Secret Realm core was identical to his actual surroundings.

"Truly the GOAT! It's like having high-precision GPS inside a Secret Realm!"

Excited, Jiang Yan zoomed in on the island map. After locating the monsters and the Heaven And Earth Treasures, he sprinted straight toward the area containing the treasures.

As for that altar... it wouldn't be too late to head there after he finished gathering all the treasures.

Swoosh...

Jiang Yan's figure flitted across the blood-colored wasteland like a phantom. The map projected by the Secret Realm core floated before his eyes, precisely marking every resource point and danger zone.

"One hundred and thirty zhang to the northeast, a cluster of 'Nine Nether Netherworld Orchids.' Guardian beast: Fourth Realm Blood-Scaled Python..."

Jiang Yan's lips curled into a smirk. His right hand formed a seal, and the Niu Mao Gold Needles in his sleeve were ready to strike.

As he neared the target, the ground suddenly caved in. A Blood-Scaled Python as thick as a water bucket erupted from beneath the earth, its bloody maw lunging straight for him!

"Die!"

A handful of Niu Mao Gold Needles, infused with Spiritual Qi, were precisely driven into the python's seven-inch weak point.

In the moment the giant serpent stiffened, Jiang Yan deftly plucked the cluster of orchids glowing with a faint blue light, and casually shoved an Explosive Talisman into the python's mouth.

Boom!

Amidst the roar of the explosion and the python's wails, Jiang Yan stepped through the air and decapitated the serpent with a single sword strike.

[Killed Fourth Realm Demonic Beast: Blood-Scaled Python. Gained Experience: 35,000. Gained life span: 1,234 years. Gained life span: 3,412 years.]

[Current Experience: 58.97%]

[Plundered Blood-Scaled Python essence: 1.2]

After packing up the Blood-Scaled Python's corpse, Jiang Yan rushed toward the next marked point.

"One hundred zhang due west, 'Mystic Yin Spiritual Spring.' Guardians: Five Core Formation Realm Sea Race Corpse Puppets..."

This time, he directly summoned the Soul Burning Banner he had snatched from the Old Man. With a sweep of the black banner, the five Sea Race Corpse Puppets were drained of their Yin Qi before they could even react, turning into true corpses.

[Suppressed Fourth Realm Evil: Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet. Gained Experience: 36,000. Gained life span: 5,325 years.]

[Current Experience: 60.27%]

[Plundered Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet Spell: Soul Snatching]

[Plundered Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet dao intent: 0.7]

[Suppressed Fourth Realm Evil: Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet. Gained Experience: 36,000. Gained life span: 5,401 years.]

[Current Experience: 62.07%]

[Plundered Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet Spell: Extraction]

[Plundered Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet dao intent: 0.7]

...As the four corpse puppets became lifeless husks, Jiang Yan casually hopped into the spiritual spring. While bathing, he muttered, "Is this even an adventure? It's basically a self-service picking farm!"

If anyone saw him bathing in the Mystic Yin Spiritual Spring, they would likely try to kill him. This was a top-tier Heaven And Earth Treasure, yet it was being used as bathwater... After fifteen minutes, Jiang Yan felt he'd soaked enough and began bottling 'his bathwater.' As for which lucky 'little darling' would end up with it later, that was none of his concern.

Another fifteen minutes passed.

As Jiang Yan cleared out the last resource zone on the map, the Secret Realm core in his body began to vibrate violently.

The map automatically zoomed in on the altar area, and the previously blurred details now appeared with crystal clarity.

A beating heart was suspended in the center of the altar. With every pulse, thick gore dripped down.

And the spots where that gore hit the ground... were exactly the resource points Jiang Yan had just scavenged!

"Hey! Dammit!" Jiang Yan jumped up. "Did I just become a free laborer?"

He suddenly realized that all the Heaven And Earth Treasures he had collected had unknowingly formed a sacrificial Formation. And the eye of that Formation... was he himself!

The heart on the altar suddenly beat faster, and the gore coalesced into words of blood: [Come quickly, I have waited for you for a long time.]

"Interesting!"

Jiang Yan narrowed his eyes, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Instead of fleeing, he strode toward the altar. With every step he took, another Talisman appeared beneath his feet.

"Since you want to see me so badly... I have no reason not to go." Jiang Yan rubbed his hands excitedly, a thick bundle of soul suppressing talismans suddenly appearing in his grip. "Let's see who ends up consuming whom!"

As Jiang Yan stepped onto the final tier of the altar, the entire island shook violently.

The path he had walked suddenly exploded with waves of Qi. Immediately after, countless soul suppressing talismans transformed into chains, wrapping around the heart on the altar layer by layer.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan's Golden Core hovered above his head. The golden light on the left burned the heart like a scorching sun, while the black glow on the right acted like an abyss, swallowing the gore!

The heart struggled violently, and a terrified silhouette of a Sea Monster Race member appeared on its surface: "How could you..."

"How could I know your scheme?" Jiang Yan laughed menacingly, his right hand forming a seal. "Because I'm using a cheat! And it comes with built-in navigation!"

"Boom!"

Jiang Yan's Golden Core erupted with earth-shattering pressure. The entire altar began to collapse, and the soul suppressing talisman chains binding the heart suddenly flowed in reverse, forcibly dragging the Sea Monster Race silhouette out of the heart!

[Suppressed Fifth Realm Evil: Sea Demon Heart. Gained Experience: 45,000. Gained life span: 9,982 years.]

[Current Experience: 64.31%]

[Plundered Sea Demon Heart Spell: Symbiosis]

[Plundered Sea Race Suppressed Corpse Puppet dao intent: 1.2]

"No! Impossible!" The phantom of the Sea Monster Priest struggled frantically, its fish tail lashing out waves of blood. "How could my race's century-long planning for the Blood Sacrifice Formation be..."

"Be broken by a cheater?" Jiang Yan sneered and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

With the sound, the Golden Core hovering in the air suddenly split into nine small dao seeds, forming a profound Formation.

Each dao seed shot out a different colored pillar of light: gold, black, crimson, blue, purple... finally merging into a single beam of Chaos, pinning the Sea Monster Priest's phantom in mid-air!

"You might not understand what a cheat is, but you should probably recognize this Nine-Aperture Dao Seed!" Jiang Yan leaned close to the distorted fish face. "This Golden Core of mine can even withstand Heavenly Punishment!"

The Sea Monster Priest's phantom seemed unwilling to accept this, letting out a piercing shriek just before the Chaos beam exploded.

A rain of Spiritual Qi began to fall across the island. The souls of past Cultivators who had been consumed by the Blood Sacrifice Formation now rose as specks of golden light. Then, a portion of that light transformed into wisps of golden Qi, flying toward Jiang Yan.

Feeling this surge of Karma, Jiang Yan looked genuinely surprised, as he suddenly thought of the monk, Heartless!

'Whoa, this amount of Karma would be enough for Heartless to transcend countless evil spirits!'

Just as Jiang Yan was commenting on the Karma, the skull altar slowly opened a white portal.

Seeing this unique portal, Jiang Yan didn't hesitate for a second and walked right in.

As he entered the teleportation, a beam of white light shot up from the ground, piercing the sky and streaking across the Secret Realm's night toward the nearest floating island.