After realizing the flaw in the Blood Sacrifice, Li Zhi carefully comprehended the principles recorded in Stealing Heavenly Secrets.
No wonder sacrificing living beings produced the best results, yet was not encouraged. Instead, later generations were warned to exercise the utmost caution.
Li Zhi now understood why Stealing Heavenly Secrets placed greater emphasis on using Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as sacrifices.
Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures had been nurtured by the power of Heaven and Earth in the first place. After being sacrificed, it was equivalent to returning them to Heaven and Earth. The karma attached to the Cosmic Luck borrowed through this method was naturally minimal, almost nonexistent.
Fortunately, the sacrifice he had used the first time he employed the Blood Sacrifice was Li Changqing, a mortal who had wanted to kill him.
If Li Changqing had not developed murderous intent toward him this time, then after arriving at Beidou, Li Zhi might have been unable to resist choosing the Blood Sacrifice method, capturing some cultivators who had no grudge against him but behaved wickedly and offering them as sacrifices.
At that point, what kind of trouble he would have attracted would probably have been beyond his ability to predict.
After all, Li Zhi's innate fortune was not particularly strong. Once the Cosmic Luck suddenly ran out, his innate fortune probably would not be able to protect him.
In the eyes of Heaven and Earth, cultivators had no distinction between good and evil. Whether good or wicked, they were all treated equally.
What Laozi had said—that Heaven and Earth were not benevolent and regarded all things as straw dogs—was not without reason.
As Li Zhi's comprehension of Stealing Heavenly Secrets deepened, his understanding of the Cosmic Luck continued to deepen as well.
In everyone's eyes, after Li Zhi finished laughing, he simply stood there lost in thought.
His strange behavior caused many people to classify him as a "madman," making them even less willing to associate with him.
As a result, the Five-Colored Altar fell completely silent.
Only the howling of the sandstorm outside drifted across the altar without end, and the sound showed signs of growing louder and louder.
No one dared to speak up and condemn Li Zhi, nor did anyone speak out in defense of Li Changqing.
Li Zhi was not Ye Fan. He was completely unfamiliar to them, and they had not the slightest affection for him.
If it had been Ye Fan, perhaps after he was ambushed, before the attack had caused any real harm, those classmates would have shamelessly tried to persuade him to be magnanimous with words like "we're all classmates."
But Li Zhi was clearly not Ye Fan. His attack just now had embodied the three essences of "steady, accurate, and ruthless." Anyone could tell he was a hardened member of society who was merciless and decisive.
They knew perfectly well what attitude they should adopt toward someone like that—someone who was ruthless but spoke little.
Lin Jia quietly walked over to Ye Fan and asked in a low voice, "Ye Fan, has your neighbor killed anyone before?"
Ye Fan nodded slightly, then said softly, "There are some things I can't conveniently tell you. But remember one thing: Brother Li's experiences are completely different from ours."
Lin Jia was an exceptionally intelligent girl. Seeing how certain Ye Fan was, as though he had personally witnessed Li Zhi killing someone, she immediately understood what Ye Fan meant. Then she asked, "Then have you also..."
Before she could finish, the light screen surrounding the Five-Colored Altar suddenly began to crack.
"Bang!" It sounded as if something had smashed into a glass window, bringing it to the verge of shattering.
Everyone was startled. Then they saw something seeming to drill through the cracks in the light screen and enter the protective barrier around them.
A streak of black light flashed past. With a "pfft," a male classmate's forehead was pierced through. Several splashes of blood flew out, and the man fell backward with his eyes wide open, as though his soul had been devoured. He instantly fell silent.
"Grab the Buddhist artifacts!" Some of the classmates who had experienced similar attacks on their way back immediately shouted.
The altar descended into chaos. Especially those who had no Deity's relics in their hands— they frantically ran toward Liu Yunzhi, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Pang Bo, Ye Fan, Lin Jia, and the others who possessed Buddhist artifacts, hoping to share their protection.
"Clang!" At that moment, another metallic striking sound rang out across the altar.
Only after grabbing the Buddhist artifacts did the others see that Li Zhi, who had still been standing there like a Demon King, had somehow appeared beside the dead classmate. He had slapped a thumb-sized, pitch-black Little Crocodile with no limbs to death.
Li Zhi then went to the edge of the altar and stared solemnly in the direction of Great Thunderclap Temple.
Behind him, Ye Fan's classmates began discussing the identity of the Little Crocodile.
Finally, an unnamed female classmate with a very Shrouding the Heavens-style explanation revealed the Little Crocodile's origins. It seemed to be a descendant of the vicious Crocodile Ancestor suppressed by the Buddha in the first level of Hell, commonly known as the Divine Crocodile.
"Awooh!"
Suddenly, a soul-shaking roar came from the sandstorm outside. It was earth-shattering, as though an unparalleled Great Yao or demon had broken free of its seal and emerged into the world once more.
"If you don't want to die, get back into the coffin immediately." Seeing the Demonic Aura surging toward the Five-Colored Altar, Li Zhi turned and shouted at Ye Fan's classmates.
Unfortunately, his words were wasted. The classmates seemed not to have heard him and instead began discussing the source of the sound.
"The sound came through from the direction of Great Thunderclap Temple."
"Great Thunderclap Temple has already been destroyed. Could it be that the demon suppressed beneath it has emerged?"
"What is that thing?"
"Could it be that the Buddha really suppressed an unparalleled demon beneath Great Thunderclap Temple? Now that we've taken away the Magic Artifact suppressing the demon, did we free it?"
"..."
It had to be said that Ye Fan's classmates were truly extraordinary. Even in such a situation, they still had the leisure to discuss these irrelevant matters.
The commotion outside grew louder and louder. The increasingly dark sandstorm even made Li Zhi feel a sense of dread.
Then, a clanging sound rang out against the light screen.
It seemed as if thousands upon thousands of Little Crocodiles were striking the light screen.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
A moment later, the sound of arrows tearing through the air rang out repeatedly within the light screen. More Little Crocodiles broke through its restraints and shot toward the people on the altar.
Even with Li Zhi's current eyesight, he could only see streaks of black light and could not make out their true forms.
Without a word, he directly swung the Luoyang Shovel in his hand, smashing apart several black streaks of light near him with a flurry of crackling blows.
The remaining black lights were killed by the Buddhist artifacts that suddenly erupted in Ye Fan and the others' hands when they reached them.
Seeing that the light screen could hold no longer, Li Zhi immediately turned and ran toward the Bronze Giant Coffin.
Seeing that Ye Fan and the others still had no intention of entering the Bronze Giant Coffin for shelter even after killing the Little Crocodiles, Li Zhi was utterly dumbfounded by their stupidity.
"Why aren't you running? Do you want to die?"
After shouting, Li Zhi charged straight into the Bronze Giant Coffin.
Whether he had run too quickly, the others had failed to react, or the commotion around them was simply too loud for them to hear him, no one followed him inside after Li Zhi returned to the Bronze Giant Coffin.
Once inside the Bronze Giant Coffin, Li Zhi ran straight to the innermost corner. He immediately took the Snakeskin Bag from his backpack and dumped the fruit inside all over the floor, then removed his coat, wrapped the Snakeskin Bag around his body, and put the coat back on.
Although he had killed several Little Crocodiles with the Luoyang Shovel, he had already tested their strength just now.
With his current physical strength, he simply could not withstand the piercing force of those Little Crocodiles.
After putting his coat back on, he suddenly felt the Bronze Giant Coffin shake violently.
At the same time, the Five-Colored Altar outside also began to tremble. Ancient runes of five colors appeared in the sky, and soon summoned the shadow of a Bagua Diagram, seemingly preparing to open the Starry Sky Gate once more.
Only then, after seeing the Bagua Diagram, did Ye Fan's classmates seem to realize that the Nine Dragons Coffin Transport was about to set off again, giving them a chance to escape Mars.
They then swarmed back into the coffin.
Even after entering the coffin, their mouths showed no sign of stopping. They continued chattering about everything they had seen earlier.
Of course, Li Zhi was not among the subjects of their discussion.
It was as though Li Zhi, hidden in the darkness, did not exist at all.
Perhaps this was the effect of being blessed by good fortune. When he wholeheartedly wanted to conceal himself, others would subconsciously overlook him.
Li Zhi did not want to expose himself before the Crocodile Ancestor, so he hid himself as thoroughly as possible in the corner.
Who knew what trouble that ignorant Crocodile Ancestor might cause if it discovered him?
Besides, Li Zhi, sitting in the corner, was not doing nothing.
Instead, he silently recited the Lingbao Heavenly Lord Salvation Scripture there, afraid that the Deity's Thought of the Great Completion Holy Physique would come looking for trouble.
Before entering the bronze coffin,
Ye Fan and his group had engaged in a bloody battle with the group of Little Divine Crocodiles. Li Zhi had no idea where they had found the courage.
In particular, the artifacts in their hands did not look like proper Magic Artifacts at all. They seemed more like someone was operating them remotely. Even more absurdly, those artifacts automatically provided protection as soon as they were held.
In Li Zhi's eyes, it was simply ridiculous.
Perhaps because he knew more, Li Zhi found it utterly absurd that a group of mortals waving those already "self-awakened" Magic Artifacts could kill the clearly sentient Little Divine Crocodiles in groups. It was practically rubbing his intelligence into the ground.
Could it be that the Crocodile Ancestor was an ignorant monster? How had such a strange scene not struck it as strange?
Or had it been suppressed for too long, leaving its brain completely addled?
One had to know that it possessed cultivation above the Saint realm. Even if it had just emerged, it should have been able to erase all these mortals with a single glance.
Even if those people were holding so-called Magic Artifacts.
But then something even more eye-opening happened.
After absorbing the divine energy attached to those Buddhist artifacts, the Five-Colored Altar opened the Starry Sky Gate. The Crocodile Ancestor actually made the foolish choice to seal the Starry Sky Gate.
It even tried to seize the Ancient Bronze Coffin.
In the universe, the Nine Dragons Coffin Transport was practically a taboo existence.
No one knew where it had begun or where it would end. It traveled through the universe eternally.
Any living being that tried to make it their own, or even sought to destroy it, would suffer calamity.
Before you continue