Night of the Blood Sacrifice

Li Yuan's emaciated arm was gripped tightly by palm-like hands, leaving him no room to struggle. Two expressionless family guards in black, like escorts for prisoners, dragged him out from the cold pile of straw and hauled him away, walking silently through the deeply shadowed family estate.

No explanation, no declaration, just an unspoken, suffocating sense of dread.

Li Yuan did not resist, nor did he struggle unnecessarily. He lowered his head, his messy hair obscuring his eyes. His frail body trembled slightly in the cold wind, like a withered leaf on the verge of being torn apart. This submissive posture, however, made the guards escorting him relax their vigilance slightly.

But his heart was far from at peace.

Deep within his consciousness, that speck of crimson "embers" had not been extinguished. Instead, fueled by his extreme calm and suppressed will to survive, it was perceived more clearly than ever before. It was faint, yet it burned stubbornly, emitting a warmth so negligible it was almost imperceptible, resisting the intensifying cold from both outside and within him.

The path led towards the family's forbidden grounds, towards that eerie bluestone altar.

As expected... this day had finally arrived.

He was roughly dragged through layers of guarded sentries, finally arriving at the familiar clearing filled with the scent of blood and a chilling cold. The altar glowed with a dark, greenish light under the pale moonlight, its grotesque runes seeming to come alive, writhing slowly.

Several high-ranking family members stood around the altar. Leading them was the Third Elder, his face cold and his eyes holding a hint of fanaticism. He didn't even glance at Li Yuan, as if he were merely an object about to be used.

"The time has come. Prepare the sacrifice, and welcome the Ancestral Spirit!" the Third Elder's aged and majestic voice echoed through the night sky.

Li Yuan was unceremoniously dragged onto the altar. The cold bluestone instantly pierced through his thin clothes, sending a chill to his bones. He was forcibly pressed down onto a sunken spot in the center of the altar, carved with the densest runes. His wrists and ankles were shackled with specially made, rune-engraved metal restraints, their icy touch raising goosebumps on his skin.

He lay on his back, able to see the pitch-black, starless sky above, like a giant shroud covering him.

The Third Elder began to chant obscure and difficult incantations, his voice rising and falling, carrying a strange rhythm. The family elders around him also lowered their heads, joining in the chant, creating a dizzying wave of sound.

As the incantations progressed, the runes on the altar lit up one by one, emitting a ghostly green light. The chilling aura in the air suddenly intensified, becoming thick and viscous, as if transforming into tangible tides surging from all directions, pressing in on the space around the altar.

The "Yin Sha Curse" within Li Yuan boiled with unprecedented activity! It was no longer a slow erosion, but a violent devouring, madly draining his already weak life force and blood, channeling it through some invisible connection to the unfathomable depths beneath the altar.

Agony! Indescribable agony!

Ten times, a hundred times more intense than any previous flare-up! It felt like countless icy blades were churning within him, slicing through his nerves, stripping away his soul. His blood grew cold, his muscles withered, his consciousness began to blur, and his vision was gradually swallowed by a deep darkness.

He could clearly feel his life rapidly draining away, like the last grains of sand in an hourglass.

"...Am I going to die...?"

A thought flickered through his dissipating consciousness. Unwillingness, anger, resentment... various emotions surged in his heart like magma, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by a greater coldness and despair.

Just as his consciousness was about to completely sink--

"Buzz--"

A low hum, not from the outside, but from the depths of his soul, resounded.

Above the pitch-black tablet enshrining the "Ancestral Spirit" at the center of the altar, space violently distorted. A mass of dense, churning darkness appeared out of nowhere. This darkness was not void; it had form, writhing like a living creature, extending countless tendril-like shadows.

It exuded an extreme cold, a deathly stillness, and an ancient, evil aura.

This was the "Ancestral Spirit"? This was what the family worshipped... an "Abomination"!

It sensed the presence of the sacrifice and let out a silent, yet soul-piercing shriek of greed. A thickest shadow tendril, like a viper striking from its den, shot out, precisely piercing towards Li Yuan's chest on the altar!

This was not a physical contact, but a direct devouring targeting the very essence of life and soul!

"It's here!" the Third Elder and the others held their breath, their eyes burning with even greater fanaticism.

An icy, absolute touch of death instantly enveloped Li Yuan.

His body arched violently, his eyes snapping open, but his pupils had lost all focus. His last conscious thought flickered like a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished.

However--

Just at the critical moment when absolute stillness and darkness were about to consume him entirely!

"Boom!!!"

Deep within his consciousness, that dormant, faint crimson "ember" seemed to have been completely ignited by the extreme external evil energy and the threat of death!

It didn't simply light up; it was like an ancient, slumbering Fierce Beast opening its crimson eyes!

A searing heat! An unparalleled, domineering heat that seemed capable of burning all things in heaven and earth erupted outwards from the "ember"!

"Ssss--!"

Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water!

The shadow tendril piercing Li Yuan's chest let out a piercing shriek, not of the physical world, the moment it came into contact with this scorching power! It was as if it had encountered its natural nemesis, twisting and recoiling frantically, trying to escape.

But it was too late!

The erupting power of the "Crimson Sun" revealed its ferocious aspect—devouring!

An incredibly powerful suction generated from within Li Yuan. No longer was the Yin Sha Curse passively being drawn out; the "Crimson Sun" was actively and greedily seizing it! It turned the tables, clinging tightly to the shadow tendril, and even followed the invisible connection, ferociously charging towards the churning darkness itself!

"Roar--!"

The "Abomination" let out a terrified roar, its entire dark form trembling violently, churning as it tried to sever the connection. It felt the scorching power madly devouring its essence! It was an absolute suppression on a fundamental level!

Around the altar, the fanaticism on the faces of the Third Elder and the others instantly froze, replaced by shock and disbelief!

They saw the dark energy representing the "Ancestral Spirit" thinning and dimming at a visible rate! And the young sacrifice on the altar, who should have been drained dry, was now faintly radiating a faint, ominous crimson light across his body!

"What's happening?!"

"The Ancestral Spirit... the Ancestral Spirit's aura is weakening!"

"A backlash! It's a backlash! Stop him quickly!" The Third Elder was the first to react, shouting in a mixture of rage and panic, attempting to rush onto the altar.

But the activated eerie green runes around the Altar were now flashing violently, the energy becoming extremely unstable and forming a chaotic barrier that temporarily blocked them.

Li Yuan was unaware of this.

His consciousness was pulled into a strange realm. On one side was the cold, dead silence of darkness, representing the "Abomination" and the Yin Sha Curse within his body; on the other side was the nascent but incredibly domineering crimson heat, representing the "Crimson Sun" that had just awakened.

At this moment, the crimson was crushing and devouring the darkness!

The origin of the "Abomination," its pure and vast Yin Sha energy, was forcibly plundered and torn apart by the "Crimson Sun," then drawn into Li Yuan's body. The terrifying Yin Sha, enough to instantly freeze a giant elephant to death, was burned and refined the instant it touched the "Crimson Sun." Impurities were removed, leaving only the most fundamental, gentle, and vast energy, like a bursting dam, feeding back into his battered and nearly depleted body!

The bone-chilling pain rapidly receded, replaced by an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if bathing in a hot spring, and a feeling of fullness as power madly surged!

His dried-up meridians greedily absorbed this energy, like parched land receiving sweet rain; his shriveled muscles trembled slightly, beginning to regain their fullness; beneath his pale skin, a faint rosy glow could be seen.

This process seemed long, but in reality, it only took a few breaths.

When the last trace of the darkness's origin was completely devoured by the "Crimson Sun," the darkness representing the "Ancestral Spirit" completely dissipated into nothingness. The eerie green runes on the Altar also dimmed and finally extinguished.

The night sky returned to silence. Only the wind howled past.

Li Yuan lay in the center of the Altar, still bound by shackles. But his previously faint-to-the-point-of-being-imperceptible breathing had become steady and powerful. His eyes were tightly shut, his complexion no longer ashen but holding a peaceful tranquility, as if in sleep.

Below the Altar, the Third Elder and the others stared with pale faces and stunned expressions at the empty space above the Altar, then at Li Yuan on the Altar, who seemed... "completely unharmed."

A deathly silence fell. Only the wind stirred the dust on the ground, making a rustling sound, as if mocking their ignorance and futility.