Chapter 90 Part 1

In ancient times, there were the Nine Rites, each ritual step in the sacrifices to heaven, earth, and the gods carrying its intrinsic meaning.

The Great Xia Cauldron, as an ancient ritual vessel, was entwined throughout with the merits and faith power left behind by countless generations of the Great Xia Dynasty and their descendants after sacrificing to heaven, earth, and the gods.

This power was neither spiritual nor demonic; it was a profoundly mysterious force that permeated the threads of time and space, containing causality and karmic obstacles.

Before the words “Yanshen” appeared, the Great Xia Cauldron was merely an activated ritual vessel.

Even though it possessed tremendous power, its most fundamental function remained releasing merits through sacrifices to suppress the Earth Core Fire.

But Zhang Sizhe had fallen into this Great Xia Cauldron.

Zhang Sizhe had inherited the teachings of the Nine Spirits Sect, which was a branch inheritance of the ancient great sect, Yanshen Sect.

The core of Yanshen Sect’s cultivation differed slightly from that of the Nine Spirits Sect.

In ancient times, Ancient Great Demons and gods and demons rampaged freely, their strength far surpassing that of ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators.

At that time, some Human Race Qi Refining Cultivators, in order to obtain the power of the Demon Race and gods and demons, offered their own divine souls as sacrifices, praying for the favor of the gods, demons, and great demons and beseeching them to grant power.

Yanshen Sect’s essential meaning was “deriving the spirits of sacrifice,” the second and most important offering rite among the ancient Nine Rites, through which one respectfully invited the gods to descend by sacrificing one’s own soul.

The later Nine Spirits Sect Master had altered the steps therein, inverting the positions of both parties: instead of Qi Refining Cultivators begging the Demon Race and gods and demons for power, it became suppressing and extracting Demon Race bloodlines, refining them into one’s own Totem Spirit.

From this reversal of primary and secondary in the technique, it could be seen that the status of the Human Race had already risen to the pinnacle, becoming heaven’s favored child under the Heavenly Dao.

The Great Xia Cauldron, which had inherited the lingering glory of the ancient era, collided here across time and ages with the method that had inverted the primary and secondary, turning the demon gods once respectfully invited into sacrificial offerings from whose Bloodline Divine Ability could now be freely extracted.

Zhang Sizhe was dead, and dead he might as well be, but the Nine Spirits Totem Secret Art he used before dying not only dragged Xie Linlang, Shen He, and Pei Jiye into it but also thoroughly awakened all the latent power of the Great Xia Cauldron.

Thus, after Xie Linlang slew Zhang Sizhe, in a true instant, the illusion shattered. The Great Xia Cauldron erupted with terrifying golden-red energy, and everything before their eyes shattered like fractured glass into chunks of crystalline facets.

Vast and majestic power washed over everything like a great river, catching Xie Linlang off guard. He was struck by this immense force and swept into an invisible torrent.

Shen He was directly engulfed and vanished, and Pei Jiye, who had rushed down, suffered the same fate.

But his strength surpassed that of Xie Linlang and Shen He. Even as the Great Xia Cauldron went berserk, madly and terrifyingly releasing power to indiscriminately suppress all living beings before it, attempting to crush to dust these insignificant fools who dared extract great demon bloodlines, Pei Jiye relied on Boxia’s secret art to barely maintain his form.

The black bird let out shrill cries, using sound waves to repel the crashing energy flows while carefully searching for Xie Linlang.

In a certain instant, the chaotic flows below abruptly solidified, then silently split open into a pitch-black fissure.

Pei Jiye was greatly startled, a faint sense of trepidation rising in his heart!

What was that fissure?

Pei Jiye’s attention was drawn to the pitch-black fissure for a moment, and just then, the corner of his eye caught a faintly glowing figure.

Pei Jiye immediately whipped his head around and could not help but rejoice—it was Xie Linlang!!

Without thinking, he dove toward him.

Xie Linlang struggled to maintain his form amid the golden-red energy flows.

His strength was insufficient; he simply could not protect himself in such terrifying and powerful torrents. Thus, upon sensing something amiss, he immediately tore off two of the highest-grade Protective Talismans given by Le Qingping.

Oh, thanks to Le Qingping’s salesmanship, and thanks to Silent Night Palace’s willingness to accept loans.

Xie Linlang naturally also noticed the pitch-black fissure below. That thing looked far from benign; of course, he did not want to fall into it!

But Xie Linlang could barely protect himself, let alone control his direction of advance.

As he bitterly held on, a vast shadow suddenly descended from above.

It was a massive Mysterious Bird. It spread its wings like clouds hanging from the heavens, rapidly flying toward him as if to enfold him.

Xie Linlang was stunned. The youth looked up at the enormous Mysterious Bird, the golden-red flows around him roaring ferociously like fire dragons, time seeming to freeze in that moment.

Inappropriately, Xie Linlang thought of a dream from the past.

When he and Pei Ji had explored an ancient secret realm together, Pei Ji had gone missing, and during his search, he had unconsciously fallen into a dream.

In the dream, there had also been such a bird, carrying him through the heavens and earth, overlooking the world.

But that had only been a dream, traceless upon waking.

Yet the bird before his eyes…

Xie Linlang met the black bird’s eyes; those pupils seemed familiar—they were crimson.

Huh, could it be that kill-mat senior from Silent Night Palace? It could grow this big?

Xie Linlang’s mind swirled with these jumbled thoughts.

He should not have been distracted at such a perilous moment, but for some reason, his body relaxed before his mind did.

It was as if this place were not amid dangerous energy flows, as if he had not been impacted by the immense power—as if it were extremely safe here, and the person beside him extremely safe.