Su Hongtu had chosen the site for the Evil Weapon Limit Break ritual in an open valley southeast of Hu Mountain.
Mountains enclosed it on three sides, their cliffs towering like walls holding up the sky, while the fourth side faced a tranquil, far-reaching deep lake shrouded in dense white mist, its full appearance impossible to make out.
Moreover, unlike the forest's grim chill, where snow drifted down from time to time, this valley was pleasantly warm. Lush trees grew all around, flowers and grasses bloomed in thick clusters, and a group of creatures lived off this source of water.
However, after Su Hongtu arrived, he used his unmatched cultivation to drive away every beast, insect, and snake.
He also expended an unknown amount of effort to construct a ritual altar that Meng Zhao and the others could not quite understand, yet found deeply shocking.
This ritual altar was arranged according to the Mystical Directions and corresponded to celestial phenomena. It was a finely carved, three-tiered platform, seven feet across, built from pure white Mountain Stone and Jade Stone.
Upon it stood an Alchemy Cauldron whose fire never went out, heaps of all kinds of medicinal herbs piled like small hills, and a dazzling array of weapons steeped in fresh blood-red and slaughterous baleful aura, including sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, axes, battleaxes, hooks, and forks...
Beside the ritual altar, several somewhat rough and simple Stone Houses had been hastily built, barely enough for people to rest in.
Recently, Su Hongtu and his two Vajras, Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian, had been recuperating there, regulating their breathing and making their final preparations.
After Si Peng's group arrived, Su Hongtu did not show himself. Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian received them instead.
The two had brought out quite a few fine