Blood Sacrifice

After about half an hour of walking, the passage ahead suddenly widened, opening into a vast cavern.

The sight at its center brought everyone to a halt. They held their breath.

There, an altar stood tall.

Strange crimson patterns covered its surface, slowly flowing and giving off a blood-red glow that made their hearts pound.

In front of the altar stood three dark-red metal stakes. A man was bound to the middle one!

His head hung low, his long hair hiding his face. His life force was almost gone.

A dark-red spike had pierced his chest, pinning him firmly to the stake as it slowly drained his blood.

"That's Liu Wen from Chiyan Peak!"

"Who did this?" Su Muxue's face turned icy, a flash of anger in her beautiful eyes.

"Look over there!" Chen Feng pointed behind the altar.

Following his gesture, everyone looked toward the shadows beyond the altar. Three figures sat there, barely visible.

All three wore gray cloaks that concealed their faces.

They sat in a triangle behind the altar, hands forming strange seals, their bodies exuding a chilling aura that put everyone on edge.

They seemed to be maintaining some kind of ritual. They showed no reaction at all to Lin Ye and the others' arrival.

"Blood Fiend Hall scum!" Su Muxue gritted out.

"What kind of ritual are they performing?" Chen Feng said gravely.

Lin Ye said nothing, his gaze fixed on the gray-robed figures.

He could feel an immense energy gathering at the center of the altar.

Liu Wen, pinned to the stake, was a "sacrifice." This sinister energy was draining away every last bit of his life force.

"They're using the blood and souls of their fellow disciples to nourish this altar," Lin Ye said quietly, his thoughts racing.

"We have to stop them!" Su Muxue gripped her sword, murderous intent blazing in her eyes.

"How?"

"Those three aren't weak, and there's something seriously wrong with that altar."

"Senior Brother Liu's still alive, but he won't last much longer."

Lin Ye's gaze flickered as he looked toward the gray-robed figures behind the altar.

He had a vague feeling that if their ritual was completed, something even worse might happen.

"Chen Feng, Su Muxue, fall back with the other two. Get to the passage entrance and be ready to help," Lin Ye said suddenly.

"Brother Lin, you..." Chen Feng stared at him in surprise.

"I'll give it a try."

"If things go south, I'll retreat at once. Don't rush in."

"It's too dangerous for you to go alone!" Su Muxue cried urgently.

"I know what I'm doing." Lin Ye offered no further explanation. He took the Earth Dragon Core from his robes and gripped it in his hand.

Without another moment's hesitation, Lin Ye drew the Star-Shattering Sword and headed toward the blood-red altar.

As he approached, the waves of sinister energy crashed over him, making his heart pound.

The three gray-robed figures seated behind the altar still showed no reaction, as if they hadn't noticed Lin Ye drawing near.

He stopped about ten zhang from the altar, at the very edge of the blood-red glow.

"Blood Fiend Hall?" Lin Ye called out.

At last, the gray-robed figure in the middle reacted.

He slowly lifted his head, revealing a pair of pitch-black eyes. He looked at Lin Ye without a trace of human emotion.

"Another sacrifice delivered right to our door."

"So you were waiting here for more than just him." Lin Ye glanced at Liu Wen, then at the two empty metal stakes.

"Blood sacrifice requires fresh souls and flesh."

"Your aura is unusual. You seem delicious—far more valuable than this piece of trash."

"Is that so?" Lin Ye's eyes turned cold. "We'll see if you can stomach me."

"Heh heh..." The gray-robed figure let out a sinister laugh. The other two raised their heads as well, fixing their gazes on Lin Ye.

"Attack!"

The gray-robed figure in the middle barked the order and vanished from where he stood! In an instant, he appeared to Lin Ye's left, his hand slashing toward Lin Ye's throat with a shrill whistle.

A gray-robed man attacked from the right, a short blade appearing in his hand as he thrust it at Lin Ye's ribs.

The third figure darted about, circling behind Lin Ye and unleashing an invisible mental assault.

The three moved in perfect sync, sealing off every avenue of escape in an instant.

"Just what I wanted!"

A cold glint flashed in Lin Ye's eyes. Instead of retreating, he pressed forward, his body gliding free of their combined attack like a willow leaf riding the wind.

The Star-Shattering Sword became a streak of light, stabbing toward the wrist of the claw swiping at him from the front!

Clang!

Sword and claw collided. The Star-Shattering Sword failed to sever the claw, leaving only a white mark and making the gray-robed man's attack falter for an instant.

Lin Ye spun sharply, dodging the black blade stabbing in from the right. He clenched his left fist, unleashing the violent power within him, and punched at the gray-robed man behind him!

His punch tore through the air and slammed into the dark-red shield the gray-robed man had hastily conjured.

The shield rippled violently, caving inward under Lin Ye's blow. The gray-robed man staggered back several steps.

In the span of a single breath, Lin Ye had easily broken through their three-way assault—and even gained the upper hand.

"Interesting..." The gray-robed figure in the middle shook out his wrist. "You're a little stronger than I expected. But the game's over."

With those words, he formed a seal before his chest and began chanting under his breath.

With those words, he formed a seal before his chest and began chanting under his breath.

As he chanted, the other two gray-robed figures began forming seals as well. Rich crimson light burst from all three of them.

The dark-red liquid in the crimson channels across the ground seemed to answer their call, flowing faster and faster.

An even more immense and terrifying aura rose from deep within the altar.

The blood-red glow surrounding the altar turned into tendrils of mist that curled toward Lin Ye.

"Blood Sacrifice Array—Spirit Binding!"

The gray-robed man's icy voice rang through the cavern.

Lin Ye's expression changed. He could feel the misty tendrils bearing down on his soul, trying to bind it.

He made his decision at once, retreating rapidly in an attempt to escape the altar's blood-red glow.

"Trying to run? Too late!"

The three scattered instantly, surrounding Lin Ye in a triangle. Their hands shifted through a series of seals, and the tendrils of mist surged toward him from every direction.

Above the altar, the dark-red spike blazed with blood-red light. Liu Wen let out a muffled groan of pain as his life force was drained at a terrifying rate.

"Lin Ye!" Su Muxue's face paled. She was about to rush forward, heedless of the danger.

"Don't come!" Lin Ye barked.

He drew a deep breath, a trace of madness in his eyes.

He took a step toward the gray-robed leader. His left hand clenched hard, crushing the Earth Dragon Core.

Boom—

Pure earth-element energy surged into the meridians in his left arm like a flood bursting through a dam, and his strength skyrocketed.

His left hand became a fist, and he punched.

The gray-robed leader changed his hand seals. The tendrils of blood mist around him converged at once, forming a massive dark-red shield before him.

Thud—

A deafening boom exploded through the cavern. The entire cave shook violently, and rubble rained down!

Countless cracks appeared across the dark-red shield. They writhed like living things, trying to swallow Lin Ye's entire arm.

Lin Ye felt a chilling power crawl along his arm, savagely eating into his flesh.

"Heh heh... The harder you struggle, the more delicious your soul becomes," the gray-robed leader sneered.

A sudden gleam lit Lin Ye's eyes as he looked past the gray-robed leader at the blood-red altar.

A wild thought flashed through his mind.

Instead of meeting the shield head-on, he used its force to rock his body backward slightly. The Star-Shattering Sword in his right hand shot out like a fine line of dark gold.

It flew straight toward the dark-red spike atop the altar.

"What are you doing?" The gray-robed leader's face changed drastically.

Crack!

The Star-Shattering Sword cut a hairline fissure into the dark-red spike.

Pfft—

Liu Wen, pinned to the stake, suddenly spewed a mouthful of black blood. The spike's draining of his life force abruptly faltered.

Bzzz—

The crimson patterns flowing over the entire altar flickered violently, and the blood-red glow enveloping it wavered.

"Now!"

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Ye's eyes as his left fist erupted with power!

"Break!"

The blood-mist shield exploded, and a vast cloud of mist was hurled backward!

The gray-robed leader grunted as the backlash sent him stumbling several steps. Fury and shock twisted his face.

Lin Ye used the recoil to leap back, then reached out and drew the Star-Shattering Sword back into his right hand.

"Stop him!" the gray-robed leader shouted, steadying himself.

The other two gray-robed men reacted at once, turning into two gray blurs as they pounced on Lin Ye.

"Trying to run? Not a chance!"

Without turning around, Lin Ye swung his sword backhanded, deflecting the attack that came at him from behind.

He didn't dare get bogged down in a fight. Using the recoil to gain speed, he dashed out of the area covered by the altar's blood-red glow and rejoined the others.

"Go!"

Without another word, Lin Ye barked an order and charged into the passage they'd come through.

Deep in the cavern, three gray-robed figures stood before the altar, their murderous intent already creeping after them through the passage.