Become Our Blood Feast!

What lay before him was not a narrow mineral vein awaiting excavation.

Instead, it was an expansive ritual ground, with several grotesque heads hanging high above the sacrificial altar at its highest point.

Six figures in loose black robes sat cross-legged at six different positions, absorbing the bloody energy from the surrounding blood pools.

There was no telling how many people had died on that bloodstained altar.

A vast artificial blood pool surrounded the altar, and four utterly bizarre statues stood directly opposite him, each wearing a different expression.

Yet a vicious gleam seemed to lurk in their eyes as they glared at the central altar.

Corpses littered the blood pool, both demonic beasts and humans. Their bodies were utterly shriveled, yet dark red energy still surfaced from them.

A path wide enough for only two people stretched from beneath Li Xingtian's feet straight to the center of the altar, then continued across it to the other side.

His eyes widened in shock. He looked at the people around him, only to find that none of them seemed to notice anything amiss.

They apparently still believed they were inside a cramped passage, squeezing through a tiny mine tunnel toward its deepest reaches.

Was this... a large-scale illusion?

Did the Foundation Establishment Realm grant immunity to this kind of illusion, or was something else allowing me to resist it?

Li Xingtian suppressed his unease and chose to keep following the crowd for now. First, he had to figure out what exactly the Clearwind Sect was doing and what kind of entity stood behind it.

The moment he saw this scene, his entire plan might have been turned on its head.

Could the Clearwind Sect truly be an evil cult at its core?

With his head lowered, Li Xingtian cautiously followed the crowd and slowly crossed the altar in the middle of the path.

Beyond the altar, farther inside, lay an ordinary mining site. Everyone held mining tools, ready to dig.

For now, the mine appeared to be a genuine mine, but... what exactly was that sacrificial ritual?

The moment the first miner raised his pickaxe and began digging, Li Xingtian suddenly understood.

With every swing, a faint wisp of dark red energy drifted from the crown of the miner's head and flowed toward the blood pool.

Every miner inside was the same. Those wisps of dark red energy gradually gathered into a force that could not be underestimated.

Li Xingtian stared intently at one miner and abruptly realized that this dark red energy seemed to be squeezed out of his spiritual root.

It was not merely the miners' flesh, blood, and spiritual energy being consumed. Even their spiritual roots, the very foundation of cultivation, were being worn away.

No wonder those miners looked so skeletal. With their flesh and blood squeezed out of them while they worked every day, how could they be anything but skin and bones?

This was a technique used by evil cultivators, pure and simple, and one he had never even heard of. Worse, the formation covered such an enormous area!

Li Xingtian dared not start digging. From what he had observed, the amount of bloody energy supplied depended on the quality of one's spiritual root and cultivation level.

If he started digging and his cultivation and spiritual root were drained, the energy coming from him would certainly not emerge in wisps. It would be at least as thick as an arm.

That would make him far too conspicuous among these people.

I need to find a way out first and notify Master.

As for Ning Qianqian's father, his master had instructed him that when the situation was unclear, protecting himself took priority.

He could only wish the man safety.

Li Xingtian could sense that the six black-robed figures were around the Foundation Establishment Realm.

If the necklace he had been given really was reliable, fighting his way out might be a good idea, especially since he was quite confident of his chances.

On the day Li Xingtian successfully reached Foundation Establishment, his master had also given him a divine ability that suited him perfectly.

It was even an exceptionally high-quality divine ability, as though it had been prepared long ago and was only waiting for him to reach Foundation Establishment.

Li Xingtian had thought he had pierced a little of the fog surrounding his master, but this made his master seem shrouded in mystery all over again.

None of that was the main concern, of course. His master had saved his life. From the very beginning, as long as his master did not truly wrong him or act like the Clearwind Sect, Li Xingtian had intended to remain in the sect and repay that life-saving kindness.

But after spending this time with them, this tiny sect of just three people had made Li Xingtian feel incredibly warm.

His eldest senior sister was somewhat mischievous, but she seemed to treat him, her junior brother, just as she would a member of her family.

She really did catch beasts for his cultivation every day, and she really did urge him to cultivate diligently.

Although she sometimes looked at him with a hint of disdain, her actions were sincere.

As for his master, there was even less to fault, though his master sometimes seemed frivolous and lacking in steadiness and maturity.

Yet his master possessed a uniquely compelling charm. It seemed somewhat out of place in this cultivation world, but it also inspired trust with remarkable ease.

Apart from that sinister alchemy technique learned from who knew whom.

His master's treatment of him was genuinely beyond reproach. From handing over an opportunity already secured at their very first meeting to everything that followed, rather than saying Li Xingtian had contributed anything, it would be more accurate to say his master had been giving selflessly all along.

If he had initially stayed only because he owed his master his life and could not bear to reject his savior's kindness, then after these days together, Li Xingtian truly felt that he had willingly joined this little family of a sect.

From cultivation methods to divine abilities.

Li Xingtian naturally treasured all of them as priceless finds, but an exceptionally high-quality divine ability was also exceptionally difficult to master.

After all... not everyone possessed his senior sister's heaven-defying comprehension.

Still, if he borrowed just a little of its power and combined it with the divine ability from his previous life, his combat strength should be fairly impressive.

He certainly did not believe that the six black-robed figures before him would possess divine abilities too.

After sweeping his gaze around to confirm his surroundings, Li Xingtian stuck to his usual approach: strike first and reap the rewards! Strike late and suffer the consequences!

He abruptly tightened his grip on his pickaxe, turned around, and headed straight back toward the altar.

A Clearwind Sect disciple standing guard immediately noticed Li Xingtian and barked:

"What are you doing?!"

A trace of timidity appeared on Li Xingtian's face. As though his legs had gone weak, he slowly edged toward the Clearwind Sect disciple who had shouted at him:

"I... I need to use the toilet."

"We're on a tight schedule! Even if you shit your pants, you keep working! Get back!"

Once he was close enough, Li Xingtian exploded into motion, appearing before the Clearwind Sect disciple in an instant as the spiritual power within him erupted.

The divine ability from his previous life-Nine Heavens Mysterious Net Saber-combined with the divine ability he had only studied roughly-Immortal-Slaying Soul-Transforming Nine Nether Saber.

Since both were saber techniques, borrowing a little from one was still possible.

The pickaxe in Li Xingtian's hand suddenly became like a great saber, dark red energy carrying boundless might as it cleaved toward the Clearwind Sect disciple's head.

The Clearwind Sect disciple had no time to react, especially against a divine ability, a technique of such astonishing speed!

He felt his entire body freeze, his soul cowed by that aura.

He could only show a look of terror before Li Xingtian burst his head with a single strike.

As the blow fell, Li Xingtian cursed inwardly.

Fuck, that used a bit too much.

Li Xingtian felt that the strike had squandered nearly half the spiritual energy within him!

He had never expected that borrowing just a little of its power and circulation pattern would double the consumption of his original divine ability once he actually used it.

Still, the effect was tremendously potent.

What Li Xingtian had not expected was that, as he mobilized his spiritual power just now... he seemed to have faintly sensed the energy in the pool as well.

Before Li Xingtian could sense it any further, the six black-robed figures abruptly rose and turned to face him.

One of the black-robed figures roared in a hoarse voice whose gender was impossible to discern:

"Where did this wet-behind-the-ears brat come from, daring to make trouble here?!"

"And you're at Foundation Establishment, too?! Today, you'll become our blood feast! We'll teach you the true meaning of cultivation!"