Ritual Altar

As the golden light settled, a Daoist Gate altar appeared out of thin air.

The altar was several tens of feet long and wide, entirely dark yellow, with nine layers of earth forming steps, layer upon layer like a miniature Heavenly Court gate. On the base of the altar, sixty-four apricot-yellow banners moved without wind, fluttering in the breeze; each banner was painted with different Divine Dao runes, Cloud Seal Script and thunder patterns moving about as if they were alive.

The altar is divided into eight directions, each with a bronze beast statue, its eyes like lightning, exuding a majestic aura. Above the altar, a huge mirror hangs high, with faint lightning flashes in its reflection, as if thousands of bolts of lightning are surging and endlessly churning in the sea of clouds.

There is a corner in each of the eight directions, and in the center of each corner, eight divine tablets representing thunder, fire, plague, water, fighting, wealth, mountain, and surveillance occupy their respective positions. Although the divine tablets are still, they seem to have an indescribable gaze cast down from the depths of the Heavenly Court.

Su Yao sat upright in the center of the altar. His entire aura changed, his vast divine power descending upon the world like the might of heaven, resonating with the invisible laws of heaven and earth. The bells at the four corners of the altar rang out without wind, clear and solemn.

The Kuiwu man, who was about to completely subdue Li Chaoxue, merely glanced at her sideways and sneered:

"A dying fledgling thinks he's a Orthodox God just because he's set up Heavenly Court? Who does he think he's fooling?"

Before he finished speaking, he flipped his left hand, Heavenly Chaos Qi condensed into a calamity star the size of a millstone, which he then smashed down on the altar.

That calamity star moved with incredible speed, trailing a long, black and red tail of flame, leaving behind a trail of charred, peeling away inch by inch of the Great Void.

Before they even reached within a hundred feet of the altar, the four bronze beasts on the altar simultaneously opened their eyes, shooting out eight beams of mysterious light that landed on the calamity star.

"Snap."

A soft sound.

That calamity star, like an ice bead thrown into a furnace, failed to even cause a ripple before being pulverized into countless fragments by the eight beams of mysterious light and extinguished completely.

The Kuiwu man's cold smile froze.

Li Chaoxue, Ni Polu, and Yang Nan also looked shocked and uncertain as they stared at the altar.

Li Chaoxue still had blood on the corner of her mouth, but she ignored her injury and murmured:

"What's this..."

Ao Xiao was the first to recognize the altar.

His face turned deathly pale, even his lips lost their color. It was a fear that came from his very bones, an instinctive fear that was completely different from the hesitation he had shown when weighing the pros and cons earlier.

He almost blurted it out:

"Qixia Ritual Altar... How could you have brought this item to Nanzhao as well?"

Before he could even finish speaking, and before he could even say "go" to the Kuiwu, the lake water beneath his feet exploded, and he transformed into a black dragon over a hundred feet long, its mane bristling, and it soared into the clouds and disappeared. The dragon's body coiled like a black mountain, and its speed was astonishing. In just one breath, it had already covered a hundred miles.

"Brother Ao! You..."

Kuiwu was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting the mighty Three Divine Ability Lake God to run away so easily, let alone that he would be so frightened that he would reveal his true form.

Su Yao seemed to have expected this. He didn't even look at the fleeing dragon. Instead, he stood in the altar, slowly raised his right hand, put two fingers together, and pointed in the direction Ao Xiao had fled.

Heavenly Thunder, transforming into crimson-gold talismans that bound Ao Xiao.

It was the Divine Ability of Heavenly Thunder that "Rebuke the Disloyal"!

Ao Xiao was terrified.

Born in the Dragon Palace of the South Sea, he knew this Daoist Gate altar all too well. This altar could borrow the power of the Thunder Bureau God without harming Su Yao's own cultivation, which was equivalent to gaining five Divine Ability out of thin air.

If the Investiture of the Gods were still in its heyday, with all eight departments present, let alone a dragon with three Divine Ability, even Purple Mansion Peak cultivator with five Divine Ability might not have fared well.

Now that the list is shattered, only the three departments of Fighting, Thunder, and Wealth remain to be borrowed. Even so, now that Su Yao has summoned the power of the Thunder Bureau's Exorcism Court and borrowed a wisp of Heavenly Thunder, it is even more of a nemesis to this dragon.

"Buzz!"

The crimson gold talisman arrived through the air, its runes crackling with lightning, and the aura of heavenly laws and decrees made his dragon soul tremble violently.

Ao Xiao dared not take the hit head-on. He suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a jet of dark black water. Inside the water jet was an ancient bowl that was entirely black, which was the Spirit Treasure he had used earlier.

With a tilt of the vessel, a torrent of Fu Water poured out, like Yunmeng, pressing down on the crimson-gold edict.

"Boom!"

The imperial edict struck the Fu Water, unleashing a burst of lightning and igniting Heavenly Thunder. The encounter between the Fu Water and the Heavenly Thunder was like boiling oil being poured into scalding water, creating a cloud of white mist.

The crimson-gold talisman paused slightly within the water curtain, but only for half a breath, before forcefully piercing through the layers of water curtain and heading straight for Ao Xiao.

Ao Xiao's eyes widened, no longer daring to hold back. With a flick of his tail, his entire dragon body shot backward like an arrow.

At the same time, he spat out a mouthful of his natal dragon essence, causing the Fu Water to surge. The ancient black bowl once again poured out a ring of water, enveloping his entire body like a cocoon.

"Boom!"

The talisman finally struck the water cocoon, sending Ao Xiao and the cocoon flying. The water cocoon shattered, dragon scales flew off, and Ao Xiao spat out a mouthful of dragon blood, but ultimately did not let the talisman get close.

He actually withstood the first blow.

At this moment, the Kuiwu's expression completely changed.

He was Heavenly Chaos Qi True Person, and his sensitivity to Heavenly Thunder lightning was in no way inferior to Ao Xiao's. Previously, he had only thought Su Yao was bluffing, but now that he had personally witnessed the sea of crimson-gold lightning on the altar and felt the aura of heavenly might as well as a mountain, how could he possibly have any fighting spirit left?

"Walk!"

With Kuiwu roar, the burly man retracted his silver mace, transforming it into a streak of starlight as he fled in another direction.

He didn't want to fight anymore.

But Su Yao wanted to keep more than just Ao Xiao.

"Since you two are here, please stay."

Su Yao's voice came from the altar, carrying the majesty of a deity.

"Oversee All Spirits!"

The eight divine tablets on the altar lit up simultaneously, and crimson-gold lightning surged like a tide, spreading outwards from the altar in all directions. Ten thousand bolts of lightning wove together, forming a massive lightning net within a radius of hundreds of miles. Kuiwu and Ao Xiao's escape lights simultaneously faltered, as if trapped in quagmire.

"Viewer!"

Li Chaoxue and the other two could no longer contain themselves. Ni Polu shouldered his spiked club, Yang Nan transformed into Subterranean Water, and Li Chaoxue held up her Dusk Snow Flute, ready to charge into the battlefield.

"All of you, step back."

Su Yao's voice was extremely loud, yet it sounded like heavenly music falling to earth, causing the three of them to freeze simultaneously.

"I borrowed the divine might of the Thunder Bureau's Evil-Slaying Court, which is not something you can get close to. If you enter, you will be the first to die."

Li Chaoxue bit her lower lip, frost forming on her lips, but she ultimately did not take another step.

"Nobody should interfere," Su Yao said in a deep voice. "Just watch."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand.

"Slay the Evil and False"

The first bolt of crimson-gold Heavenly Thunder descended from the sky, as thick as an ancient tree, and struck the Kuiwu.

The Kuiwu turned around in shock, his long, silver mace held horizontally.

"Boom!"

The star patterns on the long mace shattered inch by inch, from the tip to the handle, breaking into countless silver flakes like glass.

Kuiwu was sent flying like a tattered sack struck by Heavenly Thunder, his body charred black and his flesh torn apart.

He struggled to his feet from the Great Void, half of his body scorched and withered by the lightning, the Heavenly Chaos Qi leaking from every wound, like a deflated sack.

But he was still True Person of Three Divine Ability after all, and even though he was injured to such an extent, he still did not die.

The Divine Ability "Draw the Comet's Light"

He gritted his teeth and retaliated, a streak of light shooting into the sky and crashing into the altar.

The bronze beast at the east corner of the altar opened its eyes, and eight beams of mysterious light swept down, tearing the comet's rays to shreds like paper.

"Falling Star Rain!"

He drank again, and starlight rained down.

The altar remained completely still.

Taking advantage of the moment when Su Yao attacked Kuiwu, Ao Xiao struggled with all his might to break through the lightning net and try to find a way out. But the crimson-gold lightning was like a leech, and with every bit of struggle he made, the lightning net tightened, scorching his dragon scales and causing black smoke to billow.

"Su Yao! If you let me go, I'm willing to hand over the Cibi Water Palace to you!"

Su Yao didn't even look at him, but just sneered:

"What right do you have to negotiate?"