novelraw Chapter 736: Blood Sea Altar
Chapter 736: Blood Sea Altar
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Today is the day for the start of the third round of the great competition!
Today, the Minghai Celestial King used a divine skill to raise an altar from the depths of the inner city ground!
This was the Yanqiu Altar established by the First-Generation Slaughter Emperor, consisting of three layers paved with Blood Pattern Marble.
At the center of the third layer of the altar stood a giant stele, towering 100,000 zhang high, embedded with ten million fingernail-sized blood-colored crystals that shone brightly like stars.
The jade platforms on both sides of the altar were already filled with the Old Monsters of East Heaven.
Below the altar stood Ning Fan at the forefront of a hundred participants.
The third round tests the spirit sense!
Participants climb the altar and touch the stele, lighting up the blood-colored crystals with the evil qi accumulated from their slaughters.
During the process of lighting up crystals, participants endure several times their own evil qi torment.
Those with an unstable spirit sense will suffer backlash from the evil qi.
Those with a firm spirit sense can, depending on the number of crystals lit and the strength of their spirit sense, gain varying degrees of evil qi enhancement.
The Slaughter Hall’s divine powers mostly correlate with the strength of the evil qi.
For Slaughter Hall Masters, the stronger the evil qi, the stronger the divine powers.
This Blood Sea Altar can enhance evil qi; generally, it opens only once every ten thousand years. Any Master wishing to enhance their evil qi via the altar must spend a significant amount of Slaughter Value to do so.
Similar to the Tower of Heaven, using the altar to enhance evil qi costs countless Dao Crystals; the greater the enhancement, the more Dao Crystals are consumed.
Even if no one uses the altar to enhance their evil qi, merely activating the altar once requires nearly four trillion Dao Crystals.
The last opening of the Blood Sea Altar was 3,700 years ago.
Other Slaughter Hall Masters still have to wait 6,300 years before they can have the opportunity to enhance their evil qi using the altar.
"The Minghai Celestial King’s grand gesture — opening the Blood Sea Altar simply for a small disciple acceptance ceremony..."
"The Tower of Heaven last time, now the Blood Sea Altar this time; the Minghai Celestial King seems to particularly value this cohort of participants."
"No wonder the Minghai Celestial King values this cohort of participants; after all, there’s Ning Fan among them."
Some old monsters were whispering when suddenly a soft cough reverberated throughout the inner city.
The old monsters turned to the sound’s source, their faces changing color.
The one coughing softly was indeed the Minghai Celestial King.
His brows furrowed slightly with a somewhat displeased gaze; he disliked being discussed behind his back.
Seeing the displeasure on the Minghai Celestial King’s face, all the old monsters obediently shut their mouths, not daring to speak further.
For a time, the entire inner city fell deathly silent, with only the sound of a pin dropping audible.
"Qiantuzi, announce the rules." The Minghai Celestial King said blandly.
"Yes!"
Qiantuzi respectfully clasped fists toward the Minghai Celestial King, then had someone bring over a copper box, placing it before him, and loudly addressed the direction of the hundred participants.
"Inside this copper box are the name plates of all you esteemed young talents. I shall randomly select name plates; whoever is drawn will ascend the altar and light the crystals with evil qi."
"If the participant’s spirit sense falters, suffering backlash from evil qi, their score for this round will be zero. Each successfully lit crystal increases the score by 1 point. After this round, the top ten overall scorers will advance to the fourth round."
Scores from the first two rounds already affect the third round.
Besides Ning Fan, everyone’s score for the first round was zero.
In the second round, only 76 had scores; the other 24 who advanced by lottery still had zero scores.
It seems their chances of entering the ten spots are quite bleak.
Ning Fan glanced at the copper box, his eyes flashing slightly.
This copper box has no openings on its six sides, is inscribed with isolation and teleportation formation patterns, ensuring spirit sense cannot penetrate and allowing random intake and output of the soul plates.
Qiantuzi smacked the copper box, causing its patterns to flash momentarily, transmitting a name plate from within the box.
The name plate floated mid-air for a breath, then disintegrated into powder.
The name plate had the name Ren Xiao etched on it.
"Ren Xiao, ascend the altar!"
With Qiantuzi’s command, a rogue immortal white-robed man stepped out from the crowd, ascending the altar step by step.
His name was Ren Xiao, hailing from the Middle-Level Cultivation Star — Demon Sea Star.
In the Demon Sea Star Region, he was known as a notorious young demon, having committed numerous slaughters, his evil qi quite formidable.
Pausing beneath the massive stele, Ren Xiao took a deep breath, and his imposing evil qi scattered across his surroundings, striking the stele with a palm.
Instantly, thousands of crystals on the stele illuminated successively!
"3852 points, huh... Ah, quite formidable evil qi, but unfortunately, this one’s spirit sense is too unstable. Despite much slaughter, he’s far from a suitable candidate to cultivate the Path of Killing..." Qiantuzi muttered to himself.
His voice barely dropped before an evil qi several times stronger than Ren Xiao’s rushed out from the stele, transforming into a blood light that engulfed Ren Xiao.
Under this ferocious evil qi, Ren Xiao’s eyes gradually turned blood red, being invaded by the evil qi.
A pain surged in his chest; he staggered back several steps, suddenly dropping to one knee, coughing blood continuously.
As his hand left the stele, the torrent of evil qi blood light instantly vanished.
Ren Xiao looked bitterly at the stele, knowing he wouldn’t be able to claim his 3852 points.
The score is related to the amount of killing done in one’s life. It’s not only about the number of killings but also the cultivation gap between the killer and the victim.
Frequently slaying those of higher rank results in a naturally high score.
If one relies on rogue immortal cultivation to massacre mortals, even if killing hundreds of billions, they earn no score.
Ignoring Ren Xiao, Qiantuzi once again tapped the bronze box and looked at the soul plate flying towards the sky, speaking loudly.
"Next, Wang Yu!"
A scrawny young man with rogue immortal cultivation stepped onto the altar, placing his palm on the stele.
He illuminated a total of 4274 crystals, but unfortunately, he also couldn’t withstand the Evil Qi pouring from the stele.
His score in this round is zero...
"Lu Jia!"
"Ding Feng!"
"Bai Hong!"
...
A series of thirty-five rogue immortals, not one could withstand the Evil Qi backlash from the stele, resulting in scores of all 0.
The thirty-sixth person to ascend the altar was a scholarly young man.
After he stepped onto the altar, he didn’t fully release his Evil Qi, letting out only a little, thus illuminating 1000 crystals.
He wasn’t unable to illuminate more; it’s just that if he did, he likely couldn’t withstand the backlash of the Evil Qi.
By releasing less Evil Qi, the backlash remained within his tolerance.
"This one is clever, knowing the art of compromise. Although 1000 points is few, it’s certainly better than zero."
Qiantuzi nodded and tapped the bronze box again to take out the next soul plate, calling up the next person to the altar.
After the example set by the scholarly young man, many contenders followed suit, refraining from fully unleashing their Evil Qi.
As a result, some illuminated 1200 crystals, some 800, others 1500, and most managed to earn some points.
Though the points were few, they far surpassed those who scored zero.
However, this approach was contrary to the significance of the Blood Sea Altar.
Ning Fan watched coldly as one contender after another ascended, each preparing tricks before stepping onto the altar, all showing timidity.
They were afraid of the killings they committed, afraid of the accumulated Evil Qi.
Such behavior of admitting defeat before the fight, even if joining the Slaughter Hall through tricks, what future could they possibly have?
Someone who admits defeat without fighting naturally lacks a strong spirit sense.
One who fears facing their sins can’t have a strong spirit sense.
Ning Fan spread his hand, looking at his fair hand, his brow tightly knit.
This hand appeared clean, yet it was already stained with blood, filled with sin.
Along his path, he had waded through countless seas of blood, committed too many acts of slaughter.
He never evaded the sins he committed; he’d never kill someone and then justify it to relieve his conscience.
His killings weren’t born of evil, nor were his abstentions of virtue.
The world’s sorrow can’t be explained with mere words like good and evil!
As a Master, once the path of cultivation is embarked, one must be prepared for both killing and being killed!
"Next, Yu Kun!"
"Next, Zhao Qing!"
"Next, Chi Zhen!"
"Next, Ning Fan!"
Ning Fan stared at his hands, memories of blood sea grievances echoing in his mind.
He forgot to check others’ scores, only awakening to reality as it became his turn.
Beside him stood Yu Kun and Chi Zhen, both smiling wryly.
"I illuminated 12,490 crystals, Brother Yu illuminated 9455 crystals."
Chi Zhen seemed aware that Ning Fan had been distracted, not noticing his scores, explaining softly.
Both released their full effort, letting out all their Evil Qi, and ultimately endured their respective backlashes.
Their spirit senses were strong, each a choice of the moment, yet unfortunately met Ning Fan in this grand competition, ultimately missing entry to the Slaughter Hall.
"Brother Ning, I hope you surprise me once more." Yu Kun encouraged.
"I didn’t climb the altar to illuminate crystals. The existence of this altar isn’t solely for illuminating crystals."
Ning Fan’s gaze shifted from clarity to confusion, gradually sensing a somber atmosphere from the Blood Sea Altar.
Few can perceive this feeling of sorrow.
Only those who truly face slaughter, those long journeying through bloody seas, weary in body and mind, yet compelled to fight, can perceive this sorrow!
Step by step, Ning Fan ascended the altar, standing beneath the stele, closing his eyes, hesitating to reach out and touch the stele.
He stood there for an entire day!
In his mind, scenes of slaughter replayed.
He stood upon the altar, as though merging with it as the days passed!
"Strange, why does Ning Fan tarry in lighting the crystal, what is he doing?" countless immortals of the Eastern Heaven wondered, clueless.
Only the old monsters above the True Immortal level could vaguely discern that a naturally formed Dao resonance was gradually solidifying on Ning Fan.
And only a very few high-ranking members of the Slaughter Hall knew that Ning Fan was doing something rarely achieved by anyone!
Fei He’s eyes widened like camel bells, extremely excited, seeing a more perfect Ning Fan!
Yao Qingyun watched Ning Fan in disbelief, biting her silver teeth, with only one sentence echoing repeatedly in her mind.
"Separating cause and effect...he actually can do it! The Great Elder guessed correctly! Such a thing, even elders like us in the Slaughter Hall cannot achieve! Why can he do it!"
Minghai Celestial King’s gaze suddenly grew immensely serious; he spared no expense to activate the Blood Sea Altar, all to witness Ning Fan in the act of stripping cause and effect!
No, not just to see Ning Fan separating cause and effect; he wished to witness another intriguing scene!
A secret known only to the First-Generation Slaughter Emperor and the Great Elder!
The task far more difficult than severing cause and effect!
What Minghai Celestial King wanted to see was precisely that scene!
If he truly can achieve this, then the Slaughter Hall would not seal the Blood Realm or disappear from the Eastern Heaven! There is possibility for continuation!
One day, two days, three days...
Ning Fan stood upon the altar, stood there for ten days!
His eyes clearly closed, yet it seemed he could feel the sorrow of the entire Slaughter City, the sorrow of the entire Blood Sea Star, the sorrow of the entire Blood Sea Star Realm!
That sorrow was the helpless sigh of entering the cultivation realm, never able to turn back.
That sorrow was the self-reflection and self-damage of entering the bloody seas, eternally trapped in the evil path.
Ning Fan sensed vaguely on this Blood Sea Star, there was an entrance leading to another middle realm.
That middle realm was the Slaughter Blood Realm.
Within the Slaughter Blood Realm, there were masters and mortals coexisting without frequent disputes.
As if a voice was telling Ning Fan, the Slaughter Hall’s existence was initially to protect the Blood Realm’s descendants...
To protect these descendants, hence the Slaughter Hall was established...
No one is born desiring to be a demon; no one is born desiring to slaughter the world and bathe it in blood.
No one is born eager to join the Slaughter Hall, becoming a demonic killer...
To protect the Blood Realm, Slaughter Hall cultivators kill ruthlessly.
This altar is not merely for enhancing the evil qi of Slaughter Hall masters; more, it aims to aid them in cause and effect release, sin cleansing.
This altar worships neither heaven nor earth but the slain souls of Slaughter Hall cultivators!
All grievances end with death, dissipating into smoke.
Finally, Ning Fan’s eyes opened, clear and bright like the stars of the North Dipper.
He felt, at this moment, that he and the altar were becoming one.
Spreading his palm, he sensed an indescribable profound and mysterious divine skill.
Suddenly, a majestic divine power spread from the altar, empowering Ning Fan.
In astonishment, Ning Fan found himself slightly shorter, appearing frailer.
He reverted to his youthful appearance, and his cultivation seemed to vanish in an instant!
Yet, he remained undisturbed, his eyes still calm, as though aware of what was to unfold next.
He quietly watched the huge stele; after a long time, several blood-colored figures in the form of Vein Opening youths emerged from it.
These blood-shadow youths had Vein Opening 2, 3 realm cultivation, led by Ning Feng of Vein Opening fourth level.
Ning Feng and others had once tried to spy on Ning Qingqing bathing with malicious intent but were lured into a wolf pack and perished in the jaws of wolf spirits by Ning Fan.
That, counted as Ning Fan’s first act of murder, killing a cultivator with a mortal’s body!
Several blood-shadow youths looked at the youthful Ning Fan, eyes filled with resentment.
The young Ning Fan pointed a finger, and the blood-shadow youths immediately transformed into blood light, merging into the young Ning Fan’s body.
"You pursued me; I caused your death in the wolf pack. Our past enmity is now resolved!"
The old monsters gradually came to their senses.
They did not know Ning Fan was stripping cause and effect, cleansing sins; they could only vaguely perceive that this scene on the altar represented Ning Fan’s act of killing cultivators with a mortal’s body.
"A mortal killing cultivators! This child was already so ruthless before entering the cultivation path!" some old monsters exclaimed in admiration.
Who was never weak? Who did not start the path of cultivation from a mere mortal?
There were countless powerful individuals, yet none could achieve such a feat with a mortal’s body. From this point alone, Ning Fan was already quite extraordinary.
A flash of radiance on the altar; Ning Fan’s stature increased slightly, his cultivation rising to the fifth level of Vein Opening.
From the giant stele, a black-robed Harmonious Spirit stepped forth—Wu Dongnan, the elder of the Heaven Separation Sect once plotting the paper crane.
"Fifth level of Vein Opening, slain Harmonious Spirit!" This time, many old monsters showed surprised expressions.
Ning Fan killed Vein Opening with a mortal’s body, Harmonious Spirit with a Vein Opening body; was his path always one of surpassing levels in slaughter?
Wu Dongnan’s blood-shadow gazed at Ning Fan, eyes filled with hatred, yet overwhelmingly fearful.
"Our enmity is over; you, disperse!"
Ning Fan flicked his finger, and the blood shadow instantly dispersed into a stream of blood light that entered Ning Fan’s body.
A flash of light shone upon the altar, making the young Ning Fan appear slightly taller, his cultivation already at the early-stage Harmonious Spirit.
This time, countless blood shadows of Heaven Separation Evil Sect cultivators flew out from the giant stele.
Among them, there were even Golden Cores!
These cultivators had all perished under the Shanhe (Mountains and Rivers) Reversal Formation!
"A Harmonious Spirit slaying Golden Cores, and not just one Golden Core at that!" More and more old monsters displayed expressions of surprise.
The blood shadows of Heaven Separation Evil Sect were not the entirety, as Ning Fan had slain quite a few during his Harmonious Spirit phase.
Countless blood shadows of ghost cultivators from Demon Sinister Forest and blood shadows of demonic mounts swarmed out from the giant stele.
Among those blood shadows, there were numerous Golden Cores and even Nascent Souls!
"This youngster actually killed Nascent Souls during his Harmonious Spirit phase!" Some old monsters showed looks of astonishment.
"Past grudges, wiped clean!"
Young Ning Fan pointed a finger, and countless blood shadows exploded into blood light, merging into his body.
With a flash of light, young Ning Fan transformed into a young man, becoming a Nascent Soul cultivator.
From the giant stele, countless Nascent Souls from Endless Sea flew out, and even Transformation Divinities!
Among them were Transformation Divinities from the Black Buddha Sect, Transformation Divinities from the nine divisions of the Lu Clan, and numerous blood shadows of Fake Wild Beasts!
"A Nascent Soul slaying Transformation Divinities and massacring Wild Beasts! And so many at that!" Sounds of gasping in horror echoed from both jade platforms.
"You all, disperse!"
Young Ning Fan pointed a finger, and the blood shadows of many who had already perished shattered into blood light, merging into his body, intensifying his Evil Qi.
The altar flashed once more, and Ning Fan transformed into a Transformation Divinity cultivator.
During his Transformation Divinity phase, under the name Lu Bei, he swept through the nine divisions, slaughtering the ocean of stars, and under the name Zhou Ming, he ravaged the Endless Sea, infamous across the realms!
The giant stele continuously released the blood shadows of powerful figures, filling the heavens.
"The entanglement of the past, resolved today, disperse!"
Ning Fan waved his sleeve, and countless blood shadows shattered into fragments of blood light, merging into his body.
Once again, the altar flashed, and Ning Fan reached Void Refinement cultivation.
During Void Refinement, he bloodily battled hundreds of sects, swept across the Heavenly Cloud, destroyed the Vine Palace, exterminated the Puppet Emperor, executed the Rain World, and slaughtered the cloud lions!
When one by one, the powerful aura blood shadows of Void Fragmentation walked out from the giant stele, numerous old monsters assumed serious expressions.
Finally, with a flash of light on the altar, Ning Fan returned to Fracture Summit cultivation!
Innumerable blood shadows of Void Fragmentation and Fate Immortals streamed out from the giant stele!
Among them, there were 146 Fate Immortals from the Yao Sect Star Region and even Fate Immortals from the fourth revolution Dan Refinement Master!
Some old monsters shifted their gazes, finally understanding why Ning Fan dared to put a bounty on the Sect Master of the Pill Sect.
It turns out Ning Fan had long been at eternal odds with the Pill Sect!
The number of blood shadows was too vast for anyone to take in all their faces.
Yao Qingyun, gazing at the blood shadows of the Yao Family’s entire clan, closed his eyes sorrowfully, tears streaming down.
"Yao Family, take care on your journey, from now on we owe nothing to each other..."
Ning Fan, looking at the blood shadows with expressions of either shock or anger, maintained an expression as calm as water, as cold as starlight.
"Ning Fan’s lifetime of slaughter had nothing to do with right or wrong. Those he killed might have been innocent, yet it was unavoidable. This path of cultivation does not allow for mercy! Disperse!"
Ning Fan raised a finger, and the formidable figures of the Yao Family shattered into streams of blood light.
The blood shadows of other formidable figures shattered likewise.
An inexhaustible stream of blood light merged into Ning Fan’s body.
All of the blood shadows vanished, and without further words, Ning Fan tapped his storage pouch, taking out a jug of wine, pouring the finest Spiritual Wine beneath the giant stele.
There was no grief, only solemnity.
At this moment, he was not honoring his foes but, as a fellow cultivator, paying homage to those who fell at the hands of the cultivation world.
Then, with a single palm strike, he shattered the wine jug!
Ning Fan suddenly stepped forward, Evil Qi soaring to the sky, the bloody glow reddening the sky, and with a palm, struck the giant stele!
In an instant, 790,000 crystals illuminated the giant stele!
At the same time, more than ten times Ning Fan’s Evil Qi reverberated from the stele, forming a massive blood-colored fist that hurled toward Ning Fan’s chest.
Ning Fan’s black hair fluttered wildly, his gaze demonic, and with a single swallow, he consumed the fist shadow without any backlash!
This was his Evil Qi, his slaughter, and he neither fled nor avoided, merely faced it squarely!
In the moment of consuming the Evil Qi fist light, Ning Fan’s Evil Qi within his body surged more than tenfold!
Ning Fan made a decisive look, striking the stele once again.
This time, all ten million blood-colored crystals shone brightly!
And a blood-colored treasure light shot skyward but then swiftly dove into Ning Fan’s storage pouch.
"That is!" For the first time, joy revealed in the eyes of the Minghai Celestial King! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for it with your recommendations and monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)