Chapter 1: Natural Altar (Part 2)

Guo Shieru hid behind Juehu Miluo, cursing himself for being talkative.
Master Ling said, “No matter who said it, isn’t that right?”
Bao Chengyong replied, somewhat embarrassed, “Move just a little further, shift a bit more…” He was already in second place; with one more move, he would be ahead of Feng Xilong, meaning this guy wanted to be the first to try his luck at obtaining the Ancient Ink Lotus.
Feng Xilong cursed, “You greedy old fool! You’re already second—what more do you want?”
Bao Chengyong said earnestly, “What if you succeed first? Wouldn’t I have come for nothing? All that blood spitting and effort—it’s not easy!”
Everyone was speechless; this guy was quite unscrupulous. Master Ling also grew angry and said, “Will you do it or not? If not, leave!”
Yan Ruodai advised, “Bao Chengyong, you’re a top-tier professional, not an ordinary person. Keep your word. Stop messing around and act now.”
Shi Yanxilong snorted coldly.
Seeing that it might provoke everyone’s anger, Bao Chengyong had no choice but to yield. He had only wanted to test things out, but now he didn’t want to really offend anyone. He hurriedly said, “Alright… alright. Sigh, I’m just a poor wretch. I’ll go first. There aren’t many chances—let’s all give it our all!”
In just a short while, the giant rock grew larger again. Realizing they couldn’t delay, everyone quickly prepared to act.
Bao Chengyong stood on the altar, pointed at the black sword once more, and another mouthful of blood sprayed out, landing on the sword. The black sword flew out and transformed into a giant sword eight hundred meters long.
Zhou Xiaoling stuck out her tongue and said, “Is he spitting blood? How can he endure spitting so much? It’s pitiful.”
Guo Shieru whispered, “It’s fine. He’ll get used to it after spitting it a few times…”
Pfft!
The Eagle Demon turned its head.
Cough, cough! Cough!
Juehu Miluo clenched his face, coughing nonstop. Those words were simply too shocking.
Zhou Xiaoling pushed Guo Shieru and said, “You always talk nonsense.”
Bao Chengyong danced around on the altar, incorporating countless virtual talismans into the black sword. The sword grew even larger, reaching a thousand meters before stopping. He roared, “Everyone, get ready! I’m going to act now! I’m going to act now!”
Everyone prepared to act, except for Guo Shieru and the others. It was Juehu Miluo’s first time acting, so he said, “Sit behind me. Don’t move around or talk nonsense!”
Guo Shieru and the others immediately kept their mouths shut. This was a life-or-death moment—no mistakes were allowed.

Bao Chengyong formed a hollow grip with both hands, as if holding an invisible sword, and suddenly roared, “Slash!”
Zhou Xiaoling closed her eyes in fear. Guo Shier still managed to hold on, straining to keep his eyes open. This was a rare opportunity—he wanted to see if this sword could indeed split that mountain-like boulder.
The sound emitted by the thousand-meter-long sword was astonishing, with a rumbling noise like thunder cracking across the sky.
The mountain-sized boulder suddenly spun rapidly. Ling Zhenren realized something was wrong—moving at such speed, it would be difficult even for the sword to shatter it. He shouted loudly and threw a palm strike. The virtual palm flew out of the altar and transformed into a hundred-meter-wide giant palm, slamming down on the boulder.
With a loud explosion, the palm left a huge imprint on the boulder. Its rotation stopped for a moment, and at the same time, the black sword slashed fiercely at it.
Along with a series of earth-shattering explosions, a deep crack appeared on the boulder.
Feng Xilong roared, “Not enough! Not enough! Bao Chengyong, slash again!”
Bao Chengyong’s old face was twisted in agony. Gathering his remaining strength, he cast another thousand hand spells, raising the sword once more. He screamed, “This is our last chance! If it fails, we’re all doomed… Open it up!”
Guo Shier was sweating profusely—this was too terrifying.
Ling Zhenren shouted, “Focus on one spot and keep attacking! Expand that crack!”
The giant rock began to move, with continuous rumbling noises, heading straight toward everyone’s heads. Luo Zhan tilted his head back, his mouth wide open. Ying Mo looked grim, while Guo Shier and Zhou Xiaoling held hands tightly, watching the moving rock—it was truly awe-inspiring.
The sword slashed again.
Ling Zhenren acted next, followed by Yan Ruodai, then Feng Xilong. The six top professionals struck in succession, and the giant rock finally couldn’t withstand it, cracking into large pieces. Ling Zhenren roared, “Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
Boom!
The entire boulder collapsed. Just as everyone retreated a hundred meters, Ling Zhenren shouted, “Charge forward!”
Once the boulder shattered, the seal of the magic array disappeared. The six altars spun around and started moving at lightning speed forward.
Bao Chengyong was completely exhausted. He sat down, retracted the black sword, and panted heavily, muttering constantly, “Damn it, damn it… I’ve lost big!”

Six altars were connected together, appearing rather clumsy, but under the command of Master Ling, they moved with great agility, dodging falling boulders and speeding past them. When encountering smaller stones, they would simply use the sacrificial treasures to shatter them, allowing them to pass through in just a few seconds. Without the locking effect of the talisman array, the altars moved much faster than flying.

Guo Shier heard the rumbling sounds coming from below and said, “Finally we made it. Uncle Eagle Demon, from now on, stay as far away as possible from any natural talisman arrays—they’re terrifying.”

Eagle Demon nodded and said, “Mm.”

Zhou Xiaoling asked curiously, “Shier, can you really dodge them?” She didn’t believe it at all.

Guo Shier replied seriously, “My life is more important!”

Juehu Miluo was so angry that he almost threw him off the altar, scolding, “Can you be a little more determined?”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “Uncle, we’ve arrived!” He once again successfully distracted Juehu Miluo.

Master Ling said, “We’ve finally broken through. This natural talisman array, though extremely powerful, isn’t that complicated. As long as you have absolute strength, you can enter. Hehe, we’ve succeeded.”

Bao Chengyong sighed, “It won’t take many years before… I can’t recover. Sigh, it’s too devastating.”

Guo Shier said, “I can’t see anything—such thick fog! Have we really entered?”

Feng Xilong said, “I’ll lead the way. Don’t let go of the altars; move together.” He took the lead in operating the altars. When one of the six altars was activated, the others followed suit. Moments later, a space resembling an open courtyard appeared before their eyes, surrounded by thick fog, but illuminated in the center.

The area wasn’t large, about a kilometer square. The ground was clean, covered with fine sand. There were no footprints or plants to be seen. In the center lay a huge black disc, layered like a broken pinecone.

Guo Shier estimated it and said, “It’s about ten meters in diameter. Is this the Ancient Ink Lotus? It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with lotuses… Is its color white? No, it’s silver-white…”

Juehu Miluo said, “Descend. I need to retract the altar.”

Guo Shier and the others flew down. As soon as their feet touched the ground, the sand began to flow, and a powerful suction force dragged them downward. Terrified, he flew upward desperately, shouting, “Don’t touch the ground! Uncle Eagle Demon, pull me up!”

Zhou Xiaoling, who was right beside him, grabbed his wrist, while Eagle Demon grabbed his collar and pulled hard. With their combined strength, they pulled him out instantly.

Guo Shier felt lingering fear and said, “Damn, what the hell is this? It can actually trap people! Once trapped, it seems like the soul gets trapped too—really terrifying. I feel powerless. If it were just ordinary mud, I definitely wouldn’t feel this way. This seems like a trap designed specifically for professionals.”
Ling Zhenren said, “This is quicksand. You can’t step on it. If the quicksand reaches your chest, even we won’t be able to save you. Trying to pull yourself out forcefully will tear your body apart.”
These words sent chills down Guo Shier’s spine.
Feng Xilong and the others flew over to the Ancient Ink Lotus and examined it carefully one by one.
Guo Shier and the others were also curious, so they followed and went to the Ancient Ink Lotus. Zhou Xiaoling said, “It smells so good! The fragrance is very pleasant. Shier, can you smell it?”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “It doesn’t seem to be smelled through the nose… it’s felt by the soul.”
Upon getting closer, they realized the Ancient Ink Lotus was extremely beautiful, with a texture like white jade, faint silver glimmers, and slow waves spreading out—something the soul could sense. Along with these waves, there seemed to be a strange fragrance spreading in the soul, giving a very pleasant feeling.
It was unclear what the Ancient Ink Lotus was made of. It didn’t look like jade, metal, or a plant. It strangely hovered a meter above the ground, rotating extremely slowly.
Guo Shier counted carefully and found there were seventeen layers in total. Each layer had about a hundred or so petal-like structures stacked on top of each other. Up close, it resembled a lotus, but overall, it looked more like plates combined together, giving a strange impression. The top part resembled a platform.
Zhou Xiaoling said, “It seems like an altar…”
Guo Shier agreed that Zhou Xiaoling was right—this thing indeed resembled an altar.
Juehu Miluo said, “It’s already a natural altar, but it hasn’t been refined, so it can’t become a true altar… Of course, once successfully acquired, the Ancient Ink Lotus can become a powerful sacrificial treasure. It’s extremely useful, but very difficult to obtain. Without proper luck, even seeing it won’t help.”
Guo Shier pointed below the Ancient Ink Lotus and asked, “What’s that?”
Ling Zhenren said, “That’s demon liquid. It can be used to refine the altar…”
Guo Shier was surprised and said, “Is this the demon liquid? There’s not much of it. It looks like colorful clouds. I thought demon liquid would be a liquid like water.”

Whether it was Bao Chengyong, Feng Xilong, Shi Yanxilong, or Yan Ruodai, Ling Zhenren, Juehuxi Moliu — everyone’s gaze toward Gu Mo Lian resembled that of an old pervert staring at a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Guo Shier even could hear their heavy breathing.

After a while, Feng Xilong said, “I’ll go first… If it works, hehe, Gu Mo Lian will be mine…” He rubbed his hands, looking determined to succeed.

Bao Chengyong said, “Wait!”

Feng Xilong’s face darkened as he asked, “What? Are you backing out?”

Bao Chengyong replied confidently, “Who’s backing out? I never go back on my word!” Everyone curled their lips. This guy had already backed out once, only to be suppressed by the others.

Feng Xilong said, “It’s not about backing out. Then why are you stopping me?”