82: Blood Sacrifice Ceremony

Su Qingyue's always cold eyes were fixed on the familiar yet strange young man before her.

How did he get in?

How did he bypass the heavily guarded checkpoints outside?

How did he, so effortlessly, break the lightning Restriction that could trap a Spirit Body Realm expert?!

A series of questions, each enough to drive anyone mad, crashed wildly in her mind!

However, she was not an ordinary woman after all.

After a brief moment of daze, she forcibly suppressed all the turbulent waves in her heart, and her exquisite face once again resumed its perennially cold expression.

"This place is not safe for long," her voice was still as cold and concise, "Let's leave here first."

Lin Ye nodded, not uttering any more unnecessary words. He first walked to the corner of the cell, and for each of Han Meng's cronies who had already fainted, he delivered a swift hand chop, ensuring they would "sleep soundly" until dawn.

Then, he dragged the equally unconscious "idiot," Han Meng, from the cold ground like a dead dog.

"Let's go."

...The process of leaving the dungeon was far more perilous than when they infiltrated.

After all, Lin Ye was no longer alone. Behind him was Su Qingyue, who, despite her formidable combat power, was not skilled in stealth, and the cumbersome Han Meng.

"Follow me closely, step in my footprints, and conceal all your Qi."

Lin Ye's voice, like a mosquito, clearly entered Su Qingyue's ears.

Su Qingyue said nothing, only nodding silently. A trace of imperceptible solemnity flashed in her cold eyes.

She was horrified to discover that not a single trace of Qi leaked from the young man walking in front of her! He was like a true ghost, non-existent in this world, perfectly integrated with the surrounding darkness!

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, even with her Divine Sense at the Spirit Body Realm, it would have been impossible to detect his presence!

How many secrets was this guy still hiding?!

Under Lin Ye's miraculous stealth technique, the three of them, surprisingly and without incident, once again passed through the heavily guarded Treasure Vault, through the gloomy passage where countless innocent commoners were imprisoned, and finally, returned to the spiral stone stairs leading to the surface.

"Hoo..."

It wasn't until she breathed the slightly fresh air on the surface again that Su Qingyue's constantly taut mind quietly relaxed a little.

She looked at the slender figure in front of her, still as calm as still water, and the shock in her heart was already beyond measure.

"What are you going to do next?" she asked in a low voice, "Force our way out?"

"No." Lin Ye slowly shook his head. He casually threw the dead-dog-like Han Meng to the ground, his dark eyes looking out of the study at the deep, dark expanse that seemed to hide endless evil. "We can't leave yet."

"Why?" Su Qingyue frowned slightly, "That Demon Cultivator could return at any moment!"

"Because there are still people below." Lin Ye's voice was calm, yet filled with undeniable power. "Those innocent commoners who are imprisoned, and our fellow disciples."

Su Qingyue fell silent.

She looked at Lin Ye's profile, which appeared somewhat pale but incredibly resolute in the moonlight, and her long-frozen heart trembled suddenly, for no apparent reason.

"You want to save them?"

"I don't want to," Lin Ye slowly turned his head, his dark eyes looking at her seriously, "but... I must."

"You, alone?" A hint of worry, which she herself hadn't noticed, entered Su Qingyue's voice. "That's a Treasure Body Realm Demon Cultivator! You..."

"Don't worry." Lin Ye calmly interrupted her. "I know what I'm doing."

He tossed the heavy Storage Pouch, filled with countless treasures, to Su Qingyue.

"You take this idiot and our fellow disciples, and find a safe place to hide. Remember, no matter what happens, don't come out."

"In this Storage Pouch are some things I 'conveniently' took just now. Perhaps... they might come in handy."

After speaking, he didn't give Su Qingyue any chance to retort. His figure flickered, and he once again, like an ink wash painting, slowly merged into the deep darkness, disappearing without a trace.

Only Su Qingyue remained, standing alone, clutching the heavy Storage Pouch tightly in her hand, watching the direction he had left, unable to recover for a long time... A strange aura, filled with suppression and ominousness, began to spread like an invisible tide from the deepest part of the City Lord's Mansion, slowly permeating in all directions.

Lin Ye's figure, like a phantom in the dark night, silently moved through the heavily guarded pavilions and towers.

His goal was clear—

The Blood Sacrifice Ritual!

He had to find its exact location and find a way to... stop it before that wicked ritual, capable of devouring all living beings here, began!

Soon, following the increasingly Rich, cold, and bloody strange Qi, he arrived at a seemingly ordinary... back garden.

In the center of the garden was a vast, empty square paved with black stones.

And in the center of the square stood a three-zhang-tall, bizarre altar, made of an unknown material!

The altar was entirely dark red, as if soaked in endless blood for thousands of years, and its surface was carved with countless ferocious ghost faces and twisted runes exuding an evil aura!

Around the altar, there were hundreds of Profound Iron pillars, each as thick as an arm!

On each iron pillar, a numb-looking, hollow-eyed sacrifice was bound with cold chains!

Those were the innocent commoners who had been imprisoned in the dungeon earlier!

And at the very top of the altar, Qian Wanshan stood with a fanatical expression! In his hand, he held an ancient demonic tome emitting a dense black Qi, and in his mouth, he chanted ancient syllables filled with evil and death!

As he chanted, visible crimson Qi, filled with despair and pain, began to be forcibly extracted from the bodies of the hundreds of sacrifices!

This crimson Qi, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, surged wildly towards the top of the altar, eventually converging into a fist-sized, constantly wriggling... sphere of blood-colored light!

And directly beneath the altar, the Demon Emissary, completely shrouded in a black robe, sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly closed.

His face, hidden beneath his hood, was facing the growing sphere of blood-colored light, emitting a horrifying, almost greedy... gasping sound!

Clearly, he was waiting, waiting for the "Blood Soul Pearl," condensed from the essence, Qi, and Divine Soul of hundreds of living beings, to fully form!

Then, to... swallow it whole!

Lin Ye perfectly hid himself in the shadow of a rockery. He looked at the Hell-like scene before him, his dark eyes already completely filled with bone-chilling, monstrous killing intent!

He could clearly feel that as the blood-colored sphere of light grew stronger, the Qi of the sacrifices around the altar was rapidly weakening at a visible rate!

At most... another half stick of incense time!

Their Divine Souls would be completely drained, turning them into cold... mummies!

He couldn't wait any longer!

However, just as Lin Ye was about to reveal himself and forcibly interrupt this wicked ritual—

"Jie jie jie..."

Beneath the altar, the Black-Robed Demon Envoy suddenly let out a spine-chilling, hoarse laugh.

He slowly stood up from the ground.

He raised his head, and his eyes, hidden beneath his hood and glowing with crimson light, seemed to pierce through the endless darkness, precisely landing on the rockery where Lin Ye was hiding!

"Little mouse..."

His hoarse voice, like a demonic sound from the depths of Hell, slowly echoed in the silent night.

"Hiding for so long, watching the show for so long..."

"Isn't it time... to show yourself?"

He was discovered?!

Lin Ye's heart sank suddenly!

He never expected that his Profound Rank stealth technique, which had already reached the Minor Achievement Realm, would still be seen through by the opponent!

Since that's the case... then, he wouldn't hide anymore!

Lin Ye slowly walked out from the shadow of the rockery.

He showed no panic, nor any fear.

His handsome face was as calm as an ancient well.

His dark eyes were as still as stagnant water.

He walked calmly, step by step, into this Asura field, shrouded in endless blood and sin, facing the two gazes on the altar that were filled with shock and disbelief!

"It's you?!"

On the altar, Qian Wanshan looked at the familiar figure who should have been sent to Hell by him, and let out a cry of alarm!

And beneath the altar, the Black-Robed Demon Envoy never expected that after waiting for so long, what he got was such a... young man with a cultivation of only the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Realm, who looked as weak as an ant?!

"Interesting... truly interesting..."

His hoarse voice was full of playfulness. "Little one, tell this Emissary, how did you escape from the inescapable net that this Emissary set up?"

Lin Ye did not answer his question.

His gaze calmly swept over the innocent commoners around the altar, whose eyes were already vacant and whose Qi was fading, finally resting on the constantly wriggling sphere of blood-colored light at the top of the altar, which exuded an aura of endless evil.

He slowly raised his right hand.

"This farce..."

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but every word was clear, like a thunderclap, exploding in the silent night!

"It's time... to end."