Legacy of the Spirit Stone

Chapter 23 – Bloodburn Spirit Sacrifice

Yang Lingrui clapped his hands and said, "It has to be Sister Qing, analyzing everything so thoroughly."

Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu looked at Yang Lingqing, impressed by her articulate explanation, nodding frequently in approval.

Having a descendant like Yang Lingqing, who is both quick-witted and calm, is something many families can only dream of.

"Lingqing is right, no wonder only you can communicate with the Spirit Stone."

After the battle with the Beast Tide, the Yang Clan had changed how they referred to Chen Yang.

Outwardly, if anyone asked, they would still say it was a Strange Stone, but privately, they had begun to call him the Spirit Stone.

Everyone's gaze once again turned towards the Forbidden Zone's ancestral hall.

Yang Guanfeng led the other four inside, where Chen Yang was quietly placed in the central position.

The five stood still, and Yang Guanfeng respectfully cupped his hands toward Chen Yang, saying, "Thank you, Spirit Stone Senior, for protecting the Yang Clan during the Beast Tide. We are eternally grateful for your life-saving grace!"

He then led the other four in bowing to Chen Yang.

His words were sincere and heartfelt, without any pretense.

Indeed, without Chen Yang, they wouldn't have even waited for the Fox Demon to appear; just the Qi Condensation Fourth Layer monkey demon could have wiped out all three hundred members of the Yang Clan.

After confirming that Chen Yang might possess intelligence, Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu meticulously reviewed everything from the beginning.

When they first encountered the Four-Leaf Spirit Grass in the Minor Secret Realm of Earth Treasures, it was Elder Yu who sensed a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation, leading them to notice Chen Yang in the corner.

After bringing him home, Wang Lie used a magnet to disrupt the formation, and Chen Yang emitted another fluctuation, awakening Yang Lingqing and preventing Wang Lie's sneak attack from succeeding.

Later, during the Beast Tide, he continuously warned Lingqing and Linghu of the approaching demonic beasts and, at the most critical moment, instantly killed the Fox Demon, saving the two children.

Looking back now, everything that happened was no coincidence.

In fact, from the very beginning, this Spirit Stone might have already possessed intelligence!

In other words, it wasn't that they brought the Spirit Stone out of the Secret Realm, but rather that the Spirit Stone chose the Yang Clan!

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Elder Yu even imagined more scenarios and concluded that even their route through the Secret Realm might have been guided by the Spirit Stone!

Upon confirming this, the Yang Clan dared not be negligent and quickly moved Chen Yang from the courtyard's high platform to the ancestral hall, placing him in the same position as their ancestors.

The other four also attempted to communicate with Chen Yang, but unfortunately, only Yang Lingqing occasionally received a response when she spoke to him; for others, he remained as unresponsive as a dead object.

After analysis, they believed it was because Lingqing frequently communicated with the Spirit Stone and had earned its recognition.

Now, in the ancestral hall, the Yang Clan's cultivators decided to use a special method to repay Chen Yang for saving the entire Yang Clan.

As Yang Guanfeng finished speaking, he took a fire talisman from his sleeve and placed it in his palm.

With a thought, the fire talisman ignited fiercely.

He then extended his other hand, gathering spiritual power to break through his fingertip.

A drop of blood, glowing with spiritual light, flew out.

Elder Yu and the three children followed suit, each extracting a drop of blood.

This wasn't ordinary blood; it was the unique essence blood from the Dantian after a cultivator condenses their Qi Palace, extremely precious.

Losing even a drop requires a significant amount of time to re-condense.

A deficiency in essence blood prevents a cultivator from using spell techniques, and a depletion would cause their cultivation to regress.

Yet, here were five cultivators from the Yang Clan, each offering a drop.

They channeled their spiritual power to guide the essence blood toward the flame in Yang Guanfeng's palm.

The moment the essence blood touched the fire, it burst into an extremely bright orange light, illuminating the entire Forbidden Zone.

If not for the formation's isolation, those at the foot of the mountain might have thought a second sun had appeared.

The five drops of essence blood merged and evaporated in the light, transforming into a strand of crimson spiritual energy as the light faded.

This peculiar spiritual energy slowly drifted toward Chen Yang.

"Hmm? This aura... it smells so good!"

The scent of the crimson spiritual energy was intoxicating to Chen Yang, who immediately activated his spiritual power to draw it into his body.

Seeing Chen Yang absorb the crimson spiritual energy, Elder Yu's face lit up with excitement, "It truly is a divine object! Excellent! Excellent indeed!"

This method is known as the Bloodburn Spirit Sacrifice Technique.

Elder Yu, once a disciple of a sect, learned of this method in the Scripture Repository.

It's a secret technique for refining spiritual treasures, often used for national or sect treasures.

Cultivators offer their essence blood to cleanse and purify the spiritual treasure, establishing a connection through the blood.

Whenever a cultivator who has sacrificed essence blood breaks through a realm, the spiritual treasure receives a portion of cultivation in return.

It's said that if a spiritual treasure has developed intelligence, it will actively absorb the crimson spiritual energy produced by this technique.

Otherwise, it requires the cultivator's guidance to infuse it.

The Yang Clan members couldn't hide their joy at this sight.

A self-aware spiritual treasure is a legendary treasure!

Not even sects like the Myriad Transformation Sect or Lone Moon Mountain, nor the Tiger-Chasing Dynasty, could possess such a treasure.

Yet, by chance, the Yang Clan had obtained such a treasure.

Just as Yang Guanfeng was about to smile, his expression suddenly turned serious.

"Having such a treasure is a blessing for the Yang Clan, but it could also be our doom," he said in a low voice.

The three children turned pale at his words, and Elder Yu nodded in realization, "The patriarch is right. The Yang Clan's fate rests on a single stone. If a great cultivator discovers this treasure, not only will we perish, but the entire Yang Clan, along with the villages at the foot of the mountain, could be wiped out!"

Yang Lingrui and Yang Linghu's expressions grew solemn, as if facing a great enemy.

At this moment, Yang Lingqing spoke, "In my humble opinion, there's no need for the two ancestors to worry so much. As the ancestors once said, we cultivators are gamblers defying the heavens. Since the Yang Clan has obtained this treasure, we must fight for it!"

Lingqing's words eased the elders' expressions, and they nodded in approval.

"Indeed, since the Spirit Stone has chosen our family, there's no reason to hand it over. However, this matter must remain a closely guarded secret, as it concerns the survival of the Yang Clan!"

Yang Guanfeng immediately led the four in making a blood oath to protect the secret of the Spirit Stone with their lives.

As they spoke, Chen Yang also experienced a change.

As the crimson spiritual energy coursed through his body, Chen Yang was surprised to find that his white space seemed to be raining, with drops of pure spiritual power falling within.

In just a quarter of an hour, the spiritual power generated was equivalent to five years of his breathing exercises!

This demonstrated how precious a cultivator's essence blood was and how effective the sacrificial refining was.

And this was just from five Qi Condensation cultivators. If the Yang Clan grew stronger, with more cultivators and higher realms, the effect of the spirit sacrifice would multiply.

A few breaths later, the crimson spiritual energy dissipated.

In that instant, Chen Yang felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if he had undergone a full-body rejuvenation, making his entire being feel lighter and his internal spiritual power flow more smoothly.

At this moment, through introspection, Chen Yang discovered five clusters of red soulfire within himself.

Two large and three small, each with subtle differences.

The two larger soulfires, one was bright and vigorous, while the other flickered slightly dimmer.

Chen Yang immediately understood.

"The vigorous one is Old Yang. The old man, due to his age, has a soulfire the same size as Old Yang's, but comparatively dimmer."

"The remaining three, the one with the lively flame should be Linghu, the steady one is Lingrui, and the one constantly sparking is the little girl Lingqing."

Chen Yang later verified this through aura recognition.

This way, his connection with the five members of the Yang Clan became even closer, allowing him to observe their real-time status by watching the soulfire within.

Through this connection, Chen Yang could directly link his consciousness to the five's minds to convey messages, no longer needing to emit spiritual energy fluctuations as before.

"The spirit sacrifice is complete, Lingqing, try what I taught you!"