Chapter 0202: The Power of the Sacrificial Map

Huang Long glanced at the stunning Sea Queen Euman beside him, then shook his head at the Sea God Apton: “No!”
Marry a young girl as his wife? And she’s a fish?
Though she was a mermaid, Huang Long, one of the nine dragon gods of the Pangu Dragon Clan and once the ruler of the four seas, had countless beautiful concubines—none of whom were inferior to Sea Queen Euman. He truly disdained her.
Moreover, whether Sea God Apton meant it sincerely or not, this was a transaction of interests. How could Huang Long marry this Sea Queen Euman just for the Endless Sea?
Abolish the Sea Clan’s sacrificial ritual? It was a ceremony passed down by the Sea Clan for tens of thousands of years. He couldn’t just abolish it at will. Did Sea God Apton really think Huang Long was only sixteen?
At Huang Long’s refusal, Sea Queen Euman’s delicate body trembled, her eyes flickering.
The various Sea Clan tribes were also surprised. The Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Thunderflame Mansion reacted differently—the Dragon Clan and others looked slightly relieved, the Phoenix Clan remained unchanged, and Ze Wei from Thunderflame Mansion clearly sighed in relief.
With Huang Long’s outright refusal, Sea God Apton stared at him expressionlessly.
After a while, a smile suddenly appeared on Sea God Apton’s faceless expression: “I was just joking earlier.”
Though he spoke to millions of Sea Clan members in the square, he still kept his gaze on Huang Long, then glanced at the little witch Zhao Ying among the crowd. He then said to Huang Long, “Huang Long, if you want to save this girl—or even these ten thousand people—it’s fine. For this sacrificial ritual, we need the blood and souls of ten thousand people to awaken the power within the sacrificial map on the altar. As long as you can awaken that power…”
Sea God Apton pointed at the sacrificial map in the center of the altar, several hundred meters in size. A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes—clearly, someone like Huang Long could never accomplish this.
Even if Huang Long were the strongest person below the divine level on the Hengyuan Continent, it had nothing to do with strength.
The sacrificial map was actually a painting depicting the images of various Sea Clan tribes along with countless mysterious symbols.
Though Sea God Apton hid his mocking gaze well, Huang Long still caught it. He ignored it and focused on the map instead.
Upon closer inspection, Huang Long realized the map resembled some of Pangu’s restrictions—restrictions that required the blood and souls of ten thousand people to break, thereby unleashing the power hidden beneath it.
With Huang Long’s strength, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to rescue Zhao Ying and those ten thousand humans directly. But for now, he didn’t want to conflict with the Sea Clan.

After all, this was not conducive to the establishment of the Aquatic Empire on Chishui Island, and the Blue Whale clan would also be affected.
A moment later, Huang Long retracted his divine consciousness and said indifferently, “Good.”
As Huang Long’s voice rang out, chaos ensued in the square.
The Sea Tribe’s sea sacrifice always required the blood and souls of humans to awaken the power of the sacrificial map. Could Senior Huang Long find a way without using human blood and souls? Was there another method?!
Yino, the ancestor of the Dragon Clan, sneered, “Does this Huang Long really think he’s omnipotent?”
“Wait and see how he awakens the power of the sacrificial map!”
“If he can’t do it, hehe!”
Barnay remained silent, lost in thought.
Xinpu from the Phoenix Clan, however, said to Yino, “Hehe, who knows?”
Yino’s face flushed as he snorted coldly.
“Can this Huang Long really awaken the power of the sacrificial map?” Ze Wei murmured in the Leiyan Mansion.
Although he also thought it unlikely, what if Huang Long wasn’t sure whether to agree?
Wendy, the Goddess of Life from the Dark Forest Temple, who had remained silent until now, spoke softly, “It’s possible!”
Chatter filled the square below, while Apton, the Sea God on the altar, was waiting for Huang Long to back down. To his surprise, Huang Long agreed. Before he could think further, Huang Long suddenly made a series of strange gestures. Then, strange and mysterious symbols appeared and were inscribed on the sacrificial map.
A few blinks later, Huang Long stopped.
Apton, the Sea God, looked puzzled.
On the altar, the sacrificial map showed no reaction.
The square fell silent as millions stared at the altar.
Below the altar, Yino, the ancestor of the Dragon Clan, burst into laughter. “I told you! This Huang Long is just too proud and trying to show off temporarily.”
“Could he really awaken the power of the sacrificial map just by making a few gestures?”
Amidst his laughter, Yino glanced at Xinpu from the Phoenix Clan with clear mockery in his eyes.
The Dragon Emperor Fli also couldn’t hide his glee and satisfaction.
Xinpu snorted and ignored him.
The chaos in the square grew louder.
Many took pleasure in Huang Long’s overconfidence, secretly mocking his arrogance.
In the past, after the blood and souls of humans were absorbed by the sacrificial map during each sea sacrifice, the map would gradually emit light before unleashing its power.
But now, more than a dozen blinks had passed since Huang Long stopped moving, yet the sacrificial map still showed no reaction. Naturally, most of the Sea Tribe in the square believed Huang Long’s gestures were just a bluff.

Thinking about it, the Sea Tribe’s Sea Festival has always been passed down this way—using human blood and souls to awaken the power of the sacrificial diagram. How could there be any other way?
Huang Long, the one who had always created miracles, ultimately failed. This time, he failed to create another miracle.
After waiting for a while, when Sea God Apton was about to speak and urge Huang Long to back down, suddenly, the altar began to shake violently. At first, it was just the altar, then the shaking spread to the square, and finally to the entire Eternal Island.
What was going on? Everyone cried out in shock.
The intensity of this shaking was far greater than when Sea God Apton and Sea Tribe Empress Euman had summoned the monstrous waves. Many people even felt unsteady on their feet.
Seemingly, there was a huge beast hidden beneath the Eternal Island, and this beast had suddenly been awakened, trying to break free from the ground.
The Dragon Clan, the Phoenix Clan, and several powerful gods from the Thunderflame Palace also changed color slightly, unsure of what was happening.
Just as millions of Sea Tribe members in the square were shocked, suddenly, the Eternal Island stopped shaking. Everything became calm.
Everyone’s eyes were filled with confusion. Then, beams of golden light burst forth from the altar, extremely bright and dazzling. The golden light covered almost half of the sky above the altar.
After that, images and symbols appeared, floating in the air before finally settling in mid-air above the altar.
These images and symbols swayed like the flowing sea, with streams of golden light moving within them.
What was this?!
Millions of pairs of eyes stared in astonishment at those images and symbols in the sky above the altar.
Sea God Apton, Sea Tribe Empress Euman, as well as the Sea Tribe warriors on the altar and the crowd of ten thousand all looked up at the sky.
“The power of the sacrificial diagram has truly been awakened!” After a long while, the Dragon Ancestor Yino said, staring at the images and symbols in the sky.
Banei beside him was also stunned.
Zewei from the Thunderflame Palace and Simpu from the Phoenix Clan also widened their eyes.
Especially Simpu from the Phoenix Clan felt complex emotions. Earlier, he had argued with Dragon Ancestor Yino and didn’t believe that Huang Long could truly awaken the power of the sacrificial diagram alone.
This Huang Long had actually done it!
Simpu’s eyes flickered as he stared intently at the figure on the altar, as if trying to see through Huang Long.
What secrets did Huang Long hide?
This sacrificial diagram was created jointly by more than a dozen powerful gods of the Sea Tribe in ancient times.

“Apton, isn’t it time to release them?” Seeing that the Sea God Apton was still staring at the images and symbols in the air, Yellow Dragon waited for a while before having to remind him.
Only then did the Sea God Apton come back to his senses, staring intently at Yellow Dragon with a changing expression. He had initially planned to mock him, but the other party had actually managed to awaken the power of the sacrificial map! Just like Simp from the Phoenix clan, he wanted to see through Yellow Dragon.
“Of course!” After a while, the Sea God Apton slowly spoke, then waved his hand, ordering the sea warriors to release the ten thousand humans. Given the situation, he couldn’t go back on his word. However, he only agreed to release them—the restrictions on those ten thousand people weren’t lifted. He wanted to see how Yellow Dragon would remove those restrictions. After all, these restrictions were their sea clan’s secret techniques; aside from the successive Sea Gods, the Empress, and the Sea Clan Elders, even the four Sacred Kings of the sea clan didn’t know them.
Yellow Dragon also saw through the Sea God Apton’s intentions. Watching those ten thousand humans still struggling as they came before him, he sneered inwardly. For him, those restrictions were nothing but trivial. Without taking any further action, he simply waved his hand—like a gust of sea breeze—and the ten thousand people immediately moved freely. Under the astonished gaze of the Sea God Apton, they all began to thank Yellow Dragon for his kindness.
Over these days, the little witch Zhao Ying had suffered greatly, and now all her emotions burst forth. In front of Yellow Dragon, she wept bitterly, “Cousin, you’ve come! I thought I’d never see you or Father again!”
Everyone was stunned. Cousin?!
A glint appeared in the Sea God Apton’s eyes as he glanced at the Sea Clan Elders on the altar who were responsible for capturing the ten thousand humans. Those blind fools! he thought coldly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a predicament.
The Sea Clan Empress Youman looked at Yellow Dragon with a complex expression. Yellow Dragon had awakened the power of the sacrificial map and saved the ten thousand humans—only to end up like this!
Everyone was shocked as they watched Yellow Dragon take the ten thousand humans back to the Blue Whale clan, their thoughts filled with complexity. After a while, the sea sacrifice ceremony continued.
“Rise, the Drum of the Sea God!” With the Sea God Apton’s thunderous shout, the altar was filled with the sound of a powerful drum. The images and symbols emitted by the sacrificial map, once glowing with golden light, seemed to be drawn by the Drum of the Sea God, emitting even brighter light that pierced the heavens and dispersed the clouds.
Following the Drum of the Sea God came a series of complex worship rituals. Various ceremonies lasted for over an hour before the sea sacrifice was finally completed.

The sea festival is over, and next, it’s time for the various sea tribes to resolve their conflicts on the altar.