First glimpse of the altar

The Sea of Nothingness truly lives up to its name.

The moment Nightmare stepped into it, he felt as if he had sunk into an endless, viscous quagmire. The familiar world was gone, replaced by twisted, chaotic colors and bizarre, fragmented light. Space here seemed to lose its meaning, at times stretching, at times compressing. A massive, silent Sea Eye vortex slowly rotated in the distance, emitting a terrifying suction that threatened to devour everything.

Even more terrifying was the omnipresent Law Erosion. Chaotic fragments of time and space and shattered Dao Laws acted like invisible scraper, constantly eroding his protective vital energy, attempting to invade his body and distort his perception. Strange whispers and hallucinations frequently echoed in his ears, and bizarre, fragmented images flashed before his eyes.

An ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator here would likely lose control of their mind within an hour, either assimilated into chaotic energy or swept into the Sea Eye, leaving no trace of their bones.

Nightmare fully circulated his Cultivation Technique, and the myriad poison nascent soul in his Dantian emitted a faint glow. The special Demonic Essence, a Fusion of Nirvana and extreme poison, formed a resilient barrier, stubbornly resisting the environment's erosion. The Flowing Cloud Illusory Annihilation Art's Mind-Cultivation Technique also spontaneously activated, allowing him to maintain a shred of mental clarity amidst the numerous illusions.

Following the guidance of the crude sea chart, he cautiously avoided the areas marked as extremely dangerous and the centers of the Sea Eyes, heading towards a "Law Disorder Zone" relatively close to the edge.

The journey was monotonous and perilous. Besides fighting the environment, he also had to be constantly wary of the terrifying existences bred within the Sea of Nothingness.

He had once seen a group of transparent, jellyfish-like Void Phantoms drift by in the distance; they could silently devour Divine Sense. He had also encountered a resentment aggregate resembling a giant whale but composed of countless pale arms; its wails could directly tear apart the Divine Soul, forcing him to take a very long detour. He was even chased by a suddenly appearing spatial rift spanning thousands of miles, barely escaping by the skin of his teeth.

Here, every step was like treading on thin ice.

Days later, based on the sea chart and his perception of the surrounding chaotic Laws, he was sure he was approaching the target area.

The chaotic colors ahead became more intense, and even large, solidified blocks of Law Crystals, like colored glass, began to appear, floating in the Sea of Nothingness. The spatial distortion here also became more severe, often showing interwoven flashes of past image fragments and vague future premonitions.

And it was at the edge of this area that Nightmare discovered some artificial traces.

These were enormous, broken black chains, forged from an unknown material, which had not completely decayed in this extreme environment. Their surfaces were covered with ancient Seal runes, somewhat similar to those on the sealed stone pillars he had seen in the Forbidden Ground of the Lost Village, but even more ancient and domineering.

One end of the chains extended into the depths of the Void Realm, while the other end was broken and floating, with a cut surface as smooth as a mirror, as if instantly severed by some Sharp Weapon.

“These chains... what were they used to lock?” Nightmare's heart felt a chill. He cautiously proceeded in the direction the chains extended.

Gradually, some massive, damaged platforms and architectural remnants began to appear. These buildings were extremely ancient and magnificent, definitely not of any current Cultivation world sect, but rather like enlarged and perfected versions of the ruins in the Lost Village. Many remnants still showed signs of fierce battles: craters from Magic Treasure impacts, tears from sharp claws, and large patches of bloodstains that had long dried and turned dark.

This place seemed to be an ancient battlefield ruin.

Nightmare's heart rate involuntarily quickened. The Azure Qi and Blood within him once again resonated faintly, guiding him deeper into the ruins.

Finally, at the end of a relatively intact, vast plaza paved with some kind of white divine jade, he saw the goal of his journey—

A colossal altar!

The altar was entirely constructed from dark red giant stones, as if soaked in countless fresh blood, towering into the chaotic Void Realm. Its scale was far beyond imagination. The altar's design was ancient and ferocious, with nine huge stone pillars standing around it. Unlike those he had seen before, these nine stone pillars were not for sealing, but were covered with twisted, painful, struggling creature reliefs, exuding a strong aura of blood and resentment!

In the center of the altar was a bottomless Blood Pool. Although the pool was long dry, it still emitted a nauseating stench and towering resentment. Around the Blood Pool, countless extremely complex and sinister runes were carved. Most of them were dim at the moment, but a few core runes still flickered faintly, as if drawing chaotic energy from the Sea of Nothingness to maintain minimal operation.

What made Nightmare's pupils constrict the most was that around the altar and on those broken black chains, dozens of Cultivators were actually imprisoned!

These Cultivators were of various races: Human Race, Yao Race, and even a few exotic races with peculiar auras, their cultivation ranging from Golden Core to Nascent Soul. They were all emaciated, their eyes numb and despairing, like livestock, with chains piercing their shoulder blades or bound to stone pillars. Their life force was being slowly extracted by the sinister runes on the altar, converging into the dry Blood Pool in the center!

This was "The Fisherman's" "altar"! This was their purpose for capturing "newcomers"—Blood Sacrifice!

Nightmare hid behind a massive ruined remnant, his Breath Concealment Art operating at its peak, observing coldly.

Around the altar, more than a dozen Cultivators wearing Sea Hook Gang uniforms were patrolling and guarding. The leader was a one-eyed big man whose aura had reached the Late Nascent Soul Stage! In addition, above the altar, a figure in a dark golden robe, his face shrouded in the shadow of his hood, was suspended. This person's aura was even more obscure and profound, giving Nightmare an extremely dangerous feeling; he was probably an old monster in the Soul Transformation Stage! He should be the person in charge here.

“Hurry up, everyone! The quality of this batch of 'bait' is too poor; the vitality provided is simply not enough for the 'Sacred Seal' to absorb! If we delay the envoy's important matter, we'll all become nutrients!” The one-eyed big man harshly reprimanded his subordinates.

A subordinate said with a troubled face, “Vigilant Wolf Protector, it's not that we aren't trying our best! This damned place is getting more and more restless; recently, no newcomers dare to come, and suitable 'bait' in the Ruins Market is also getting scarcer...”

“Useless! Can't you go further to catch them?!” Vigilant Wolf Protector cursed.

Just then, the dark golden robed figure above the altar suddenly spoke faintly, his voice hoarse like metal rubbing together: “Silence. The 'Sacred Seal' is restless again; it seems to have sensed new, high-quality 'sacrifices' nearby.”

His gaze swept across the surrounding ruins like an eagle, as if he had detected a hint of abnormality.

Nightmare was startled. What keen perception! He immediately reined in his aura to the extreme, like an unmoving stone.

Vigilant Wolf Protector and the others immediately became tense, looking around warily.

The dark golden robed man carefully investigated for a moment, seemingly finding no specific target, and mused, “Perhaps it's a passing Void Realm demon beast... heighten your vigilance. In three days, this Blood Sacrifice will be complete; no mistakes can be tolerated.”

“Yes! We respectfully obey Elder Mo Sha's decree!” Vigilant Wolf Protector quickly bowed in response.

Nightmare quickly calculated in his mind. One Soul Transformation Stage, one Late Nascent Soul Stage, and more than a dozen early and Middle Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators... Forcibly breaking in to save people was absolutely impossible. But letting so many Cultivators be blood sacrificed was not what he wanted either. Moreover, the so-called "Sacred Seal" in the center of the altar and its method of absorbing vitality always made him feel a strange similarity to the Heavenly Dao's method of devouring the nutrients of the child of destiny.

This "The Fisherman" organization's ambitions are definitely not small!

He had to find a way to do something.

His gaze fell on the imprisoned Cultivators, then on the complex and sinister altar runes, and a daring plan gradually formed in his mind.

Destroying the altar was beyond him. But if he could create immense Chaos at the last moment of the Blood Sacrifice, he might have a chance to save some people, or even... interrupt their ritual!

And the best way to create Chaos... Nightmare's gaze turned towards the depths of this area, in the direction where the Laws were most chaotic, and where the roars of terrifying Void Realm beasts could occasionally be heard.

A cold and dangerous arc curved at the corner of his lips.

The risk was immense, but it was worth a try.

He silently retreated, like a poisonous snake melting into the shadows, stealthily heading towards that true death trap.

It was time to give these "The Fisherman" an unexpected "great gift."