Blood Sacrifice

After traveling for about an hour, the passage ahead suddenly widened, revealing a massive cavern.

The scene in the center of the cavern made everyone stop in their tracks, holding their breath.

There, an altar stood tall.

The surface of the altar was carved with eerie blood-red patterns that flowed slowly, emitting a heart-palpitating crimson halo.

Directly in front of the altar stood three dark red metal stakes. A person was bound to the middle stake!

He hung his head low, his long hair obscuring his face, his breathing weak to the point of vanishing.

A dark red spike pierced through his chest, pinning him firmly to the metal stake and slowly draining his blood.

"It's Liu Wen from Chiyan Peak!"

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

"Look there!" Chen Feng pointed toward the back of the altar.

Following his lead, the group looked over and saw three figures sitting cross-legged in the shadows behind the altar.

All three wore gray cloaks that concealed their faces.

They sat in a triangle behind the altar, their hands forming strange seals, their bodies radiating an unsettling, cold aura.

They seemed to be maintaining some kind of ritual, showing no reaction to the arrival of Lin Ye and the others.

"Scum from Blood Fiend Hall!" Su Muxue gritted her teeth.

"They are performing some kind of ritual," Chen Feng said in a low voice.

Lin Ye did not speak, his gaze locked tightly onto the gray-robed figures.

He could feel a massive amount of energy gathering at the center of the altar.

Liu Wen, pinned to the stake, was a "sacrifice," his life force being drained by this evil energy.

"They are using the flesh, blood, and soul of our fellow disciples to nourish this altar," Lin Ye whispered, his mind racing.

"We must stop them!" Su Muxue gripped her sword, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"How do we stop them?"

"Those three guys don't have weak auras, and this altar is extremely sinister."

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

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

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

"Chen Feng, Su Muxue, fall back. Take the other two and retreat to the tunnel entrance; be ready to provide support at any time," Lin Ye suddenly said.

"Brother Lin, you..." Chen Feng was stunned.

"I'll go try."

"If it's impossible, I will retreat immediately. Do not rush forward recklessly."

"It's too dangerous for you to go alone!" Su Muxue urged anxiously.

"I know what I'm doing." Lin Ye didn't explain further; he took the Earth Dragon Core from his robes and held it in his hand.

Lin Ye then hesitated no longer, drew the Star-Shattering Sword, and walked toward the blood-red altar.

As he approached the altar, the waves of evil energy rushed toward him, causing his heart to palpitate.

The three gray-robed figures sitting behind the altar remained motionless, as if they hadn't noticed Lin Ye's approach at all.

He stopped about ten zhang away from the altar, already at the edge of the crimson halo.

"Blood Fiend Hall?" Lin Ye spoke up.

The gray-robed figure in the middle finally reacted.

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

"Another sacrifice delivered to our doorstep."

"It seems you were waiting for more than just him here," Lin Ye's gaze swept over Liu Wen and then toward the other two empty metal stakes.

"Blood sacrifices require fresh souls and flesh."

"Your aura is very special; it seems quite delicious. Much more valuable than this piece of trash."

"Is that so?" Lin Ye's eyes were cold. "That depends on whether you have the appetite for it."

"Heh heh..." The gray-robed figure let out an eerie laugh, and the other two figures also raised their heads, locking onto Lin Ye.

"Attack!"

The gray-robed figure in the middle let out a low shout, and his figure vanished from the spot! He instantly appeared to Lin Ye's left, clawing fiercely at Lin Ye's throat with a shrill, piercing sound.

Another gray-robed figure attacked from the right, a short blade appearing in his hand to stab directly at Lin Ye's ribs.

The third figure moved erratically, circling behind Lin Ye and releasing an invisible mental shock.

The three coordinated perfectly, instantly sealing off all of Lin Ye's room for evasion.

"Well come!"

Lin Ye's eyes flashed with cold light. Instead of retreating, he advanced, his figure slipping out of the three-way pincer attack like willow catkins in the wind.

The Star-Shattering Sword transformed into a streak of light, striking at the wrist of the claw attacking from the front!

"Clang!"

Sword and claw collided, yet the Star-Shattering Sword failed to sever it, leaving only a white mark and causing the gray-robed figure's claw to pause for a split second.

Lin Ye's body spun sharply, dodging the black short blade thrusting from the right. He clenched his left fist, the violent power within his body erupting as he slammed a punch toward the gray-robed figure behind him!

The wind of his fist whistled, colliding head-on with the dark red shield the gray-robed figure had hastily condensed.

The shield fluctuated violently, caving inward under the force of Lin Ye's punch, and the gray-robed figure was sent stumbling back several steps.

In the span of a single breath, the three-way pincer attack was easily neutralized by Lin Ye, who even gained the upper hand.

"Interesting..." the gray-robed figure in the center shook his wrist. "Stronger than expected. But the game is over."

As his voice fell, he formed seals with his hands in front of his chest, chanting under his breath.

As his voice fell, he formed seals with his hands in front of his chest, chanting under his breath.

Following his chant, the other two gray-robed figures began to form seals as well, and a rich, blood-colored light erupted from the three of them.

The dark red liquid in the blood-colored gullies on the ground seemed to be summoned, beginning to flow with increased speed.

A more massive and terrifying aura emanated from the depths of the altar.

The blood-colored halo around the altar transformed into tentacle-like blood mists, coiling toward Lin Ye.

"Blood Sacrifice Array—Spirit Binding!"

The cold voice of the gray-robed figure echoed throughout the cavern.

Lin Ye's expression changed; he could feel that those blood mist tentacles carried a binding force aimed directly at the soul.

He made a prompt decision, retreating violently in an attempt to escape the range of the altar's blood-colored halo.

"Want to leave? Too late!"

The three figures instantly scattered, surrounding Lin Ye in a triangle. As they changed their hand seals, the speed of the blood mist tentacles surged, lunging at Lin Ye crazily from all directions.

On the altar, the dark red spike glowed with intense blood light, and Liu Wen let out a muffled groan of pain as his life force was rapidly drained away.

"Lin Ye!" Seeing this, Su Muxue's expression changed drastically, and she prepared to rush forward regardless of the danger.

"Don't come over!" Lin Ye barked.

He took a deep breath, a hint of madness appearing in his eyes.

He took a step toward the leader of the gray-robed figures. His left hand exerted sudden force, crushing the Earth Dragon Core.

"Boom—"

Pure earth-attribute energy, like a bursting flood, surged madly into the meridians of his left arm, causing his strength to skyrocket.

He turned his left hand from a palm into a fist and threw a punch.

The leader of the gray-robed figures changed his hand seals, and the surrounding blood mist tentacles instantly converged, condensing into a giant dark red shield in front of him.

"Thud—"

A deafening, muffled sound exploded in the cavern. The entire cave shook violently, and gravel rained down!

Countless cracks appeared on the surface of the dark red giant shield. The cracks on the shield's surface writhed like living things, attempting to swallow Lin Ye's entire arm.

Lin Ye felt a cold, sinister power traveling up his arm, crazily eroding his flesh and blood.

"Heh heh... the more you struggle, the more delicious your soul will be," the leader of the gray-robed figures sneered.

Lin Ye's eyes suddenly brightened as he looked at the blood-colored altar behind the leader.

A crazy idea flashed through his mind.

He stopped fighting the blood mist shield head-on. Instead, using the force of the rebound, he leaned his body back slightly, and the Star-Shattering Sword in his right hand shot out like a thin, dark golden thread.

It flew straight toward the dark red spike on the altar.

"What are you trying to do?" The leader of the gray-robed figures' expression changed drastically.

"Crack!"

A tiny fissure was carved into the dark red spike by the Star-Shattering Sword.

"Pfft—!"

Liu Wen, pinned to the stake, spat out a large mouthful of black blood, and the speed at which the dark red spike was draining his life force suddenly stuttered.

"Hum—"

The blood-colored patterns flowing across the surface of the entire altar flickered violently, and the blood-colored halo shrouding the altar began to fluctuate.

"Now!"

Lin Ye's eyes flashed with intense light, and his left fist erupted at this very moment!

"Shatter for me—"

The giant blood-mist shield exploded with a roar, transforming into a sky full of blood-mist that surged backward!

The leader of the gray-robed figures let out a muffled groan, staggered back several steps from the recoil, and wore an expression of shock and fury.

Lin Ye used the force of the recoil to retreat rapidly, grabbing at the air with his right hand to summon the Star-Shattering Sword back into his grip.

"Stop him!" the leader of the gray-robed figures steadied himself and shouted.

The other two gray-robed figures reacted instantly, their forms turning into two gray shadows as they lunged toward Lin Ye to kill him.

"You want to leave? Stay here!"

Lin Ye didn't even look back, swinging his sword behind him in a backhand motion to block the incoming attacks.

He dared not linger, using the force of the recoil to increase his speed even further, rushing out of the area shrouded by the altar's blood-red halo and returning to the side of the others.

"Go!"

Without a word of nonsense, Lin Ye let out a low shout and charged toward the passage they had come from.

Deep within the cavern, the three gray-robed figures stood before the altar, their cold killing intent already silently pursuing them down the passage.