The Altar at the Bottom of the Blood Thorn

Qin Yu's gaze remained fixed on the ancient painting. The Blood Soul Pool in the painting was empty, without a trace of blood, yet it perfectly matched the churning sea of blood before him.

He remained silent for a moment, then slowly rolled up the ancient painting again. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, "Let's go. This ancient painting is no ordinary scroll. Since it can record the original appearance of the Blood Soul Pool, it might just be the key to unlocking the true secret of this Blood Pool."

Looking at Qin Yu's resolute expression, Qian Wenwan, who had initially hesitated, gradually calmed down. She nodded gently, hugged the ancient painting back to her arms, and said softly, "In that case, let's give it a try." The two then left the ancient hall and returned to the edge of the Blood Soul Pool.

The churning sea of blood still exuded a suffocating stench, with countless vengeful spirits rising and falling and wailing amidst the blood waves, seemingly oblivious to the arrival of the two. Qin Yu stood before the Blood Soul Pool, slowly unfurling the ancient painting and laying it flat in mid-air. Then, he closed his eyes, his divine sense gradually merging into the painting.

As the divine sense continued to penetrate deeper, an extremely subtle layer of restrictive patterns gradually emerged within the originally calm and still ancient painting. These patterns were hidden so deeply that they were almost completely integrated with the entire scroll. If the Ring Master Soul Diagram had not been able to perceive the origin, anyone would probably have mistaken it for an ordinary piece of paper.

A slow smile crept onto Qin Yu's lips as he said softly, "As expected... there's another seal inside." Qian Wenwan, standing to the side, her beautiful eyes brightened slightly. She took a step forward, her voice tinged with joy, "Young Master Qin, is there really a seal?" Qin Yu didn't answer, but simply nodded, then slowly raised his right hand.

The next instant, a vast and ancient scroll slowly unfurled from the void; it was none other than the Primordial Hongmeng: The Great Luo Heavenly Chapter.

The moment the scroll was opened, the entire underground space trembled slightly. The ancient pages moved without wind, and endless chaotic Daoist rhymes flowed out slowly, like a scroll of civilization spanning the long river of time, slowly unfolding between heaven and earth.

Qin Yu's eyes reflected the entire ancient painting as he slowly turned the pages. "Time, Pages." The yellowed pages were gently turned, and the traces of time on the ancient painting began to reverse little by little, the seal of time left over from millions of years ago being peeled away.

"Space·Word." Qin Yu tapped his fingertips lightly, and the word "Jie" slowly emerged, exuding vast divine brilliance, and turned into a bright golden river, slowly submerging into the scroll. The space restrictions hidden inside the entire ancient painting suddenly began to vibrate violently, and the space lines that had been blocked for millions of years continued to break apart.

"Rules and Grammar." The scroll opened again, and countless golden runes slowly flew out from the pages. They swirled around the entire ancient painting, each rune landing precisely on the weakest point of the seal. The originally unbreakable restriction began to lose its original order as the rules were constantly rewritten.

"Logic and Narrative Clues." Qin Yu slowly finished the last stroke. The sealing logic that had persisted for millions of years within the ancient painting was completely overturned and rewritten in an instant. This formation was no longer a "seal" that imprisoned all things, but rather—a complete "opening."

Boom--!!

Just as the last chain of logic shattered, a deep, ancient roar suddenly emanated from within the ancient painting. The entire scroll trembled violently, and countless dried ink marks began to fade away little by little, finally revealing the true Dao patterns hidden within.

Qin Yu slowly put away the Great Luo Heavenly Chapter and gently exhaled. "The seal..." "It's broken." As soon as he finished speaking, the ancient painting broke free from Qin Yu's control on its own. Buzz—the scroll slowly rose into the air, flying higher and higher, and finally hovered quietly above the Blood Soul Pool.

The next moment, the previously dry and empty pool of blood in the painting suddenly rippled with rings of dark light, and then the entire ancient painting began to spin wildly with a deafening roar!

The sky and earth suddenly changed color, and the entire underground world began to shake violently.

Above the Blood Soul Pool, countless crimson blood clouds gathered wildly, and a huge vortex, hundreds of thousands of feet in size, slowly unfolded from the ancient painting. Deep within that vortex was the empty blood pool in the painting.

An irresistible force of suction suddenly descended! Whoosh--!!!

The once calm and turbulent Blood Soul Pool suddenly erupted with towering blood waves. Hundreds of millions of feet of blood, like a crimson river stretching across the heavens and earth, were forcibly drawn out of the pool by that force, transforming into countless blood-red torrents that blotted out the sky, rushing madly toward the ancient painting.

A surge of blood erupted skyward! The heavens and earth trembled! One after another, crimson blood dragons coiled in the sky, carrying the mournful cries of countless vengeful souls, constantly being drawn into the scroll. The entire Blood Soul Pool began to drop at a visible speed. Hundreds of feet... thousands of feet... tens of thousands of feet...

The crimson sea of blood that had once submerged everything receded continuously, revealing layers of dark red blood crystals that had been solidified for millions of years on the pool walls. The stark white bones that had been deposited at the bottom of the pool began to see the light of day again. Countless vengeful spirits entwined in the blood kept letting out desperate howls. They struggled desperately, trying to return to the sea of blood, but were still sucked into the ancient painting along with the blood by that irresistible force.

Meanwhile, in the ancient painting, the huge blood pool that was originally cracked, parched, and barren began to change little by little. The first stream of scarlet blood slowly flowed into it, followed by the second, the third, and countless streams of blood-red torrents continuously converged.

The pool of blood in the painting began to rise rapidly.

The once cracked and parched earth was once again completely submerged in scalding blood, with crimson ripples spreading outwards in layers. The blood pool within the painting became increasingly vivid, full, and perfect, as if all the blood flowing through this world should have belonged to this painting.

In reality, the Blood Soul Pool continues to dry up, while the Blood Pool in the painting is endlessly replenished and expanded. The two Blood Pools, spanning millions of years, break free from the shackles of time and space, and at this moment complete an Ultimate exchange that shakes the heavens and the earth.

The entire underground world trembled violently, as if some Ultimate secret, buried for millions of years, was about to break free from the dust of time and be fully revealed to the world as all the blood in the world receded.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn slowly passed, and the roar of the rolling blood waves could no longer be heard between heaven and earth. As the last stream of scarlet blood was completely absorbed by the ancient diagram, the Blood Soul Pool had lasted for millions of years, finally dried up completely.

Boom—The last wisp of blood mist slowly dissipated, and the world that had been hidden in the deepest part of the Blood Sea was finally fully exposed to the world for the first time. Qin Yu and Qian Wenwan slowly landed on the edge of the Blood Soul Pool, their eyes simultaneously looking towards the bottom of the pool.

Both of their pupils contracted slightly at that moment. There was no mountain of corpses, no sea of blood, and no Blood Soul Array as they had imagined. In the very center of the Blood Soul Pool, there stood only an ancient altar they had never seen before.

The altar was an indescribable grayish-white color, neither made of stone nor metal, but rather resembling the massive skeleton of some ancient creature that had grown naturally. It consisted of nine tiers of circular altars, each tier several times wider than the one above, ascending in layers until finally supporting the central altar, which was no more than a hundred feet in size.

But what's truly bizarre isn't the altar itself, but the dense, crisscrossing patterns on its surface. Those patterns don't look like they were carved by human hands; they're more like... incredibly thick roots.

They meander and climb upwards from the bottom of the altar, intertwining and entwining each other, like the roots of an ancient tree that obscures the heavens, forcibly sealed within the altar.

Within each pattern, a faint nine-colored glow flowed: blue, red, white, black, gold, purple, silver, dark blue, and mixed colors...

Nine completely different Source Dao rhythms flowed slowly within those root-like patterns, yet they did not conflict with each other in the slightest; instead, they formed a near-perfect cycle.

Around the altar stood eighty-one towering stone pillars, each engraved with countless ancient and unfamiliar characters. These characters were not cultivation techniques, nor did they resemble supernatural powers; rather, they seemed to record some ancient life form. Qin Yu merely glanced at them, and the Ring Master Soul Diagram began to operate on its own, his Fate Soul origin generating a rare sense of intimacy.

At the very center of the altar, there was a huge circular groove with a diameter of tens of feet. The groove was empty, yet all the patterns on the entire altar converged here. It was as if... a supreme treasure that supported the operation of the entire altar was once placed here, or perhaps... this was originally the location where a towering ancient tree grew.

Qin Yu slowly gazed at the root patterns that covered the entire altar, his eyes growing increasingly profound. He vaguely sensed that the entire altar wasn't meant to suppress anything, but rather... to protect something beneath it. Qian Wenwan also stared at the scene before her, her beautiful eyes filled with shock. She took a deep breath, her voice involuntarily softening.

"Young Master Qin..." "I feel..." "These patterns don't look like an array." "Instead, they look like..." Qin Yu nodded slowly. "Like tree roots."

The two exchanged a glance, and the same thought arose in their minds at the same time: beneath this altar... there was very likely a far more powerful ancient tree hidden there.

At the same time, the ancient painting suspended in the sky finally stopped shaking. The empty blood pool in the painting was now filled with an endless sea of blood. The entire painting slowly rolled up on its own, and ancient seals reappeared on the surface of the painting, resealing the churning sea of blood inside.

Qin Yu slowly extended his right hand, and the ancient map gently flew into his palm. He gazed at the map in his hand for a long time, then slowly closed his palm and said softly, "It seems... the true purpose of this ancient map is not to record the Blood Soul Pool, but to completely seal it."

He gazed slowly at the now-peaceful underground world, a hint of relief in his eyes. "It has now resealed the entire Blood Soul Pool within it." "Let it remain here." "The resentment of a million years of blood souls should also slumber with it."

Qian Wenwan looked at Qin Yu and nodded gently, her eyes also calming down. "Yes." "After we leave here," "I will personally destroy the altar that opened this place from the outside world." "From now on, no one will ever find this place again, and no one will ever reopen this Blood Soul Ancient Diagram."

Qin Yu smiled slightly. He didn't put the ancient map into his storage crystal core. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand. A faint chaotic light slowly spread from his palm. The ancient map then slowly flew up. It passed through layers of rock walls and flew into the deep underground, finally landing quietly in a naturally formed void crack.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Yu raised his hand and gently pointed. The spatial characters within the Primordial Hongmeng Great Luo Heavenly Chapter slowly descended, and an ancient character "Hidden" gently merged into the heavens and earth. The entire crack began to slowly close, and existence, cause and effect, space, and aura all disappeared without a trace.

It was as if this ancient painting had never existed. After doing all this, Qin Yu slowly withdrew his right hand and turned to look at the ancient altar that lay silent at the bottom of the pool. His gaze slowly fell on the empty groove in the center of the altar.

Then she said softly, "Let's go." "The real secret..." "It should be beneath this altar." Qian Wenwan gently gripped the Compassionate Joy Divine Sword, slowly approached Qin Yu, and the two exchanged a glance before stepping into the Blood Soul Pool, walking step by step towards the ancient altar that had been silent for millions of years.