Half a day later.
Su Ye walked woodenly through the silent mountain forest. He was going absolutely crazy inside, wishing he could pin the person calling to him down and rub them into the dirt—and then do it again.
Damn it.
After taking control of someone, couldn't you at least make them run?
Why force them to walk?
The Great Wilderness was vast. Was he supposed to walk until the end of time?
That was right.
Su Ye hadn't been controlled. He was only pretending to be, hoping to find out who was behind this bizarre business.
As for the danger?
Su Ye wasn't too worried. If the other party were powerful, they wouldn't target an ordinary village of fewer than a thousand people. They'd go straight for a tribe with tens of thousands of members.
Soon, following the call in his mind, Su Ye arrived at a mountain range.
The range was eerie and utterly silent. There wasn't even the chirping of insects or birds.
After crossing the range, Su Ye arrived at an enormous valley. It was spacious inside, and many people were gathered there.
They were all kneeling on the ground, their faces blank. Every one of them was bowing toward the deepest part of the valley.
Seeing the people kneeling before him, Su Ye immediately realized they were the ones who had disappeared from those deserted villages.
He looked toward the valley's depths. A massive altar stood there, and a figure sat cross-legged atop it. Beside the figure stood an enormous Ancient Bronze Pillar, covered in strange patterns and emanating an unfathomable power.
When Su Ye's gaze fell on the pillar, his eyes went vacant for a moment. This wasn't an act; he had truly blanked out.
In that instant, his consciousness seemed to enter another world—a resplendent, sacred world, where divine radiance filled the air. Bathed in that light, he felt as if he had become a god, and the sensation was intoxicating.
This power was bizarre. It could assimilate a person's consciousness, but against Su Ye, who possessed the Samsara Eye, it wasn't strong enough to control him.
Profound patterns appeared in his eyes, revealing what the naked eye couldn't see. Fine strands radiated from the pillar atop the altar, connecting to every person in the valley.
"This is... the power of faith?"
Su Ye's expression changed. As someone from a tribe, how could he not know about the power of faith? It came from the thoughts and devotion of all living beings.
In this era, there was a special kind of being: the Sacrificial Spirit. People offered up their devotion to the Sacrificial Spirit through rituals, and the Sacrificial Spirit protected them.
This was especially true among humans. Since humans were naturally frail, every human tribe had its own Sacrificial Spirit. Even some villages had one to protect them.
But what was happening here...
This was definitely no ordinary sacrificial ritual.
"Oh? You weren't purified?"
A surprised voice rang out. The middle-aged man in black robes sitting atop the altar opened his eyes. They were unfathomably deep, as if they held the sun, moon, and Star River within them. Looking at Su Ye, he smiled scornfully. "You don't look very old. I'd guess you're at most in the Cave Heaven Realm. What's a little brat like you doing here?"
Since the youth hadn't been controlled here, he clearly hadn't been controlled before, either. He hadn't come here under someone else's influence. He had come of his own accord.
Whether he was confident or conceited, now that he was here, he wasn't leaving.
The black-robed man swept out a hand. The sky and earth lost their color, then thundered. Endless black clouds gathered above the valley, and within them appeared the terrifying phantom of a demon god. It reached out and grabbed at Su Ye.
Su Ye looked up at the phantom in the sky and felt an immense, terrifying force. At the same time, he saw a dreadful scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was the complete opposite of the sacred vision he had seen before. The entire world was soaked in blood, countless people wailed, and all creation had become a wasteland.
Eerie and terrifying.
Su Ye steadied his mind. Runes swirled around his body as he dodged the enormous hand. His expression was grave, and runes appeared in his eyes.
His opponent was in the Spirit Transformation Realm and could also draw on the power of faith. With that power bolstering him, he had the strength of a Marquis Level fighter.
Buzz.
Runes on Su Ye's body stirred the heavens and earth. A boundless radiance shot skyward, and within it appeared a massive fierce bird.
The Wind-Chasing Sparrow.
It was one of the Wind Clan's inherited Treasure Arts.
Su Ye seemed to transform into an ancient Fierce Beast, the Wind-Chasing Sparrow. He spread his wings and soared into the heavens, tearing the giant hand apart.
A gale rose.
Runes blazed across Su Ye's body as he commanded the winds of heaven and earth. Runes coiled around his arm, and his hand transformed into a bird's claw, tearing through space.
Of course, it hadn't truly torn through space. The force was simply so terrifying that it warped the air, creating the illusion.
Five razor-sharp blades of wind sliced through the dark clouds and killed the demon-god phantom within them. The gale raged, scattering the clouds.
Wind coiled around Su Ye, allowing him to stand proudly in the air and look down at the figure on the altar, his gaze sharp.
"You do have some skill. No wonder you came here despite knowing the danger."
The black-robed man saw Su Ye break his Treasure Art and showed no particular concern. Instead, he smiled and looked Su Ye over. "To have such terrifying strength at your age, you must come from some powerful faction. Didn't your elders ever tell you to mind your own business when you were away from home?"
"No. My elders only ever told me, 'When you see injustice, raise your voice; when it's time to act, act.' So today I'm going to act, kill you, and rid the world of evil."
Su Ye spoke with conviction, then dove toward the black-robed man to kill him.
"Rid the world of evil?"
The black-robed man let out a scornful laugh, his expression full of contempt. Then he reached out to grab Su Ye. Space rippled, condensing into a giant handprint of spiritual energy.
It was the Art of Materialization, an exceedingly common Treasure Art. But common didn't mean weak—especially with the power of faith bolstering him. He could easily draw on the power of heaven and earth, making the giant hand terrifying.
The enormous palm erupted in brilliant light. Then space seemed to freeze, and Su Ye felt as though he were trapped in a swamp, unable to move.
The powerful palm swept toward him. Su Ye struggled to breathe, as if he were about to suffocate. The terrifying force left him unable to resist.
This was the power of faith: mighty and mysterious, far beyond ordinary power. It could even defy Heaven's Punishment with ease. And right now, Su Ye was merely at the peak of the Blood-Moving Realm.
A cultivator's realms were the Blood-Moving Realm, the Cave Heaven Realm, the Spirit Transformation Realm, the Inscription Realm, the Array Formation Realm, the Venerable Realm, and so on.
Su Ye was now in the Blood-Moving Realm. Although the black-robed man was in the Spirit Transformation Realm, the power of faith made him comparable to someone in the Inscription Realm. There were three whole major realms between them.
"Break!"
Su Ye roared. His blood and qi surged within him, unleashing terrifying power. The invisible force binding him shattered at once.
The power of a hundred thousand jin erupted, making the very air thunder. His blood and qi surged through him like a rushing river, rumbling like thunder.
"What a terrifying body! He can actually shake heaven and earth. He must be no ordinary Blood-Moving Realm cultivator. I'll need to run as soon as I've killed him."
The black-robed man cursed his bad luck inwardly. He hadn't expected to run into such a monster. Though he knew the youth's background had to be extraordinary, he had no intention of letting him go.
He rose from the altar, and terrifying power burst from within him, as if a god were awakening. The heavens and earth rumbled violently.
Before you continue