Chapter 8: Li Ran’s Strength (Part 1)

Guo Shier said, “It’s like this…” He recounted what had happened below and concluded, “That’s why we pulled back—because of these two Abnormal Spirit Dragon.”
Li Ran said, “That can’t be right… Abnormal Spirit Dragons are different; they’re far stronger than mutated Spirit Beasts. Hmm, it seems I won’t be able to watch the excitement… You two stay here and don’t wander around. I’ll go take a look.” His figure flickered slightly before he appeared beside Chou Mo.
Chou Mo shouted in the midst of his busy tasks, “What are you doing here?”
With a loud explosion, the entire ancient rune array collapsed, revealing what was beneath.
Li Ran pointed at the Abnormal Spirit Dragon soaring upward and said, “There’s something good coming up. Hehe, one for each of us!” Before the dragon reached them, the two started dividing up the loot.
Chou Mo’s eyes gleamed as he repeated, “Great stuff! Great stuff! Your eyes are really sharp—how did you know there would be such treasures here? Fine! One for each!”
As the 200-meter-long Abnormal Spirit Dragon emerged, the two rushed at it separately.
The Abnormal Spirit Dragon had no wings and resembled an enlarged lizard. Its streamlined golden-yellow body was extremely beautiful. It had a long neck, a blood-red horn on its triangular head, two pairs of crimson pupils, rows of spikes along its spine, and countless tiny ancient runes surrounding it, forming clusters of rune mist.
Guo Shier exclaimed, “What a beautiful Spirit Dragon! Even more beautiful than my Giant Perch Dragon!”
Eagle Demon said, “Your Giant Perch Dragon is only level 8. The Abnormal Spirit Dragon must be at least level 14 or higher, right?” He wasn’t sure just how powerful it really was.
Guo Shier replied, “It’s probably even stronger! Let’s back off a bit. The pressure… we can feel it even from this distance.” The two flew back simultaneously.
Chou Mo’s two disciples, along with their subordinates, also quickly retreated. Since the old man wanted to enjoy the battle alone, the disciples didn’t need to get involved.
As these people passed by Guo Shier and Eagle Demon, they used virtual runes to lift the two and fly backward swiftly. After flying for a short distance, they heard a thunderous roar. A circular gust of wind rushed toward them, which they countered with virtual runes. It wasn’t until they had retreated several kilometers that they landed.
From here, it was no longer possible to see the battle clearly; they could only feel the tremors of the earth and hear successive explosions.

Guo Shier stared blankly. He had originally thought that the people from the Zhu family were extraordinary masters, but now it seemed that Li Ran and Chou Mo were the true top-tier professionals. Recalling the first time he met Li Ran, Guo Shier realized that this guy was the real master who pretended to be weak while being extremely skilled. Chou Mo’s disciples and followers brought the two here but ignored them, gathering together to chat. Guo Shier understood that in these people’s eyes, neither he nor Eagle Demon counted for much. If it weren’t for his acquaintance with Li Ran, they might not even have taken him to avoid the impact of the battle. Guo Shier and Eagle Demon stared into the distance, but apart from the smoke rising from the battle, they couldn’t see anything clearly. Eagle Demon asked worriedly, “Shier, can we go back?” Guo Shier still hadn’t figured out how Li Ran had predicted that he would discover the Ancient Soul Altar upon arriving here—it was too mysterious. He felt even more that Li Ran was inscrutable; he had no idea what he actually did, but it certainly wasn’t anything related to business. After a while, the roaring sounds gradually faded, and the dust dissipated. Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “Is that it? Damn… they’re too strong!” Li Ran appeared smilingly in front of Guo Shier and said, “We’ve gained a lot. Hehe, let’s go downstairs and take a look.” He swept up Guo Shier and Eagle Demon and vanished. Guo Shier’s vision went dark and then clear again as he found himself standing beneath the Ancient Soul Altar. Soon after, Chou Mo’s disciples and followers appeared. Chou Mo was standing in front of the altar, constantly moving his hands. Guo Shier knew this was him casting spells. Strings of virtual talismans flew out and landed on the altar. The life altar above Chou Mo’s head was rotating slowly. Only then could Guo Shier clearly see what Chou Mo’s life altar looked like. Compared to the Ancient Soul Altar before him, Chou Mo’s life altar had a very different shape. It was a square platform that appeared trapezoidal from the side, with the top smaller and the bottom larger. The life altar was covered in countless dust-thin runes and many ant-sized spirit beasts. One of those spirit beasts was clearly that abnormally mutated Spirit Dragon, lying in the center of the altar, looking barely alive. The altar had two layers—the lower layer was extremely low, while the upper layer was very high, giving it an awkward appearance. Above the life altar floated a delicate, bell-like object that was also rotating slowly, occasionally spewing streams of runes. It was both beautiful and strange.

Li Ran saw Guo Shier staring at Qiu Mo’s life altar and smiled, saying, “When you reach the level of a high-ranking Great Sage, you can also start constructing your own life altar. Hehe, many Great Sages… don’t even know about the existence of life altars. You’re lucky to be able to see one—it will be very beneficial for your future development.”
Guo Shier asked, “How do I construct a life altar?” Although he had heard Xuan Ai talk about preparing a soul altar, he still wanted Li Ran to explain it again, as their understandings were different.
Li Ran laughed loudly, “Shier, you’re too impatient. Reaching the level of a Sage at your age is due to both your strength and luck. But… to reach the point of constructing a life altar, you still have a long way to go… By the time you become a Great Sage—well, a high-ranking Great Sage—I might be able to help you.”
Guo Shier nodded, “I will definitely become a Great Sage!” After thinking for a moment, he asked again, “What else do I need to prepare?”
Li Ran was surprised, “Prepare what?”
Guo Shier replied matter-of-factly, “Of course, the materials needed to construct a life altar!”
Li Ran nodded and said, “Good. You actually thought of that. Well, there are three main materials, seven auxiliary materials, and hundreds of other necessary materials, all of which need to be collected by yourself… The most crucial thing is to gather the three main materials and seven auxiliary materials. As for the rest, it depends on what kind of life altar you want to build—it depends on opportunity and luck…”
Guo Shier asked, “What are the three main materials?”
Li Ran shook his head and smiled, “You’re really persistent… Alright, I’ll tell you. The three main materials are Anluo Stone, Zhuli Wood, and Blood Soul Stone.”
Ying Mo couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He had been listening all along and didn’t expect that these three materials were used for a life altar. No wonder people from the advanced continent said they were precious materials—they were used to construct life altars.
Guo Shier calmly continued, “Oh, I see. Then… what are the seven auxiliary materials?”
Li Ran said, “Hehe, you kid… Well, the seven auxiliary materials are… Hidden Symbol Water, Yin Cocoon Silk, Taihao Pure Gold, Purple Symbol Fire, Shining Spirit Wood, Yellow Yan Soil, and Sealing Spirit Jade. Among them, Sealing Spirit Jade is used in the largest quantity.”
Guo Shier was stunned. He only had one auxiliary material, which was Purple Symbol Fire—thanks to his master, who helped him collect it in the Yanhu Secret Realm. He had never heard of the other auxiliary materials before. He said with a wry smile, “Where can I find these materials?”
Li Ran laughed, “Why are you in such a hurry? Visit more secret realms, and you’ll have everything.”

Guo Shier said, “Are there that many secret realms to go to? You have to be lucky to get in, and you don’t even know what kind of secret realm it is.”
Li Ran smiled and said, “I do. I have the coordinates to many secret realms. Hehe, do you want them?”
Guo Shier was overjoyed and said, “I want them! Of course I do…”
Li Ran said with a smile, “Is this a reward for you discovering the Ancient Soul Altar? How about that?”
Guo Shier immediately became wary and said, “Wait a moment. What reward were you planning to give me? Let me see if it’s worth it!” He acted like a little money-grubber.
Li Ran laughed heartily and said, “It’s hard to fool you, haha! Let’s wait until Uncle Choumo takes control of the Ancient Soul Altar first.”
Annoyed by his teasing, Guo Shier muttered, “Don’t be so teasing!”
Suddenly, the ground started to tremble. Li Ran said, “Let’s fly up and watch. Don’t stay on the ground.” The three of them flew off the ground and watched from above as Choumo took control of the Ancient Soul Altar.
Choumo’s disciples and followers formed a circle. Together, they shot countless virtual talismans at the Ancient Soul Altar.
Suddenly, the Ancient Soul Altar emitted a dazzling light. Countless ancient runes condensed into thousands of pale silver talisman blades, which, along with the altar’s vibrations, shot out violently. Choumo shouted, “Use the Elephant Crow Shield!” In an instant, everyone cast a spell, creating a circular barrier that emitted a pale blue glow.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
Explosions rang out like rain, forcing Choumo’s disciples and followers to retreat. Choumo roared angrily, and a sesame-sized virtual talisman suddenly rose from his main altar. In less than a second, it expanded to several meters in size.
“Stabilize!”
The virtual talisman swelled to about a hundred meters in size before plunging downward. The entire altar trembled violently.
Guo Shier didn’t understand at all. He asked softly, “Brother Li, can the Ancient Soul Altar attack?”
Li Ran’s expression became very serious, with a hint of excitement in his eyes. He murmured, “It’s developed sentience! This is too much… No, it’s not sentience… What is this?”
Choumo’s virtual talisman plunged straight into the Ancient Soul Altar. The entire altar seemed to be pressed down by a giant hand and gradually stabilized.
Choumo’s disciples and followers kept firing virtual talismans, trying to help him gain control of the Ancient Soul Altar.
Guo Shier and Eagle Demon watched in terror, their hearts pounding. In just a few seconds, hundreds of pale golden blades suddenly emerged from the Ancient Soul Altar and shot out like a storm.
Choumo snorted coldly, “Is that all you’ve got? Elephant Crow Shield!”

His disciples and followers once again produced ring-shaped elephant-black shields. The elephant-black shields, formed from illusory symbols, were shattered by the blades with deafening explosions. This wave of blade attacks completely destroyed the elephant-black shields.
Chou Mo shouted, “Speed up!”
His disciples and followers chanted spells even faster, with illusory symbols falling like a rainstorm, gradually taking control of the Ancient Soul Altar.
Suddenly, a giant head emerged from the top of the altar, its appearance extremely primitive. As it was an illusory shadow, it looked terrifying.