Chapter 6: The Salt Monster (Part 2)

Racing ahead at full speed, the voices behind them gradually faded. Guo Shier felt a slight relief and said, “It seems we’ve shaken them off.”
Nanyou shook his head. “It will be easy for the Salt Monster to catch up to us unless we enter a passage right away.” He pulled out a horse-like face and said, “Actually, we should ally with He Dabird to jointly suppress the Salt Monster… That’s the safest approach. With all three of us working together, we might not be able to defeat the Salt Monster, but we can at least make him hesitate and not pursue us further.”
The handsome old man said, “Good idea. That’s a more sensible approach than just running away.”
Guo Shier also realized this. If they were still at the edge of the Starlight Secret Realm, he would have fled without hesitation. But now they seemed to be near the center of the realm. It would likely take a whole day to reach the edge, and in that time, the Salt Monster could easily kill He Dabird before chasing after them—by then, there would be no way to escape. Most importantly, the Salt Monster was a master of the second-tier altar, not the despair-inducing third-tier altar master.
“Alright! Let’s turn around. Nanyou, you go down to the altar.”
Nanyou responded by flying down and unleashing his virtual altar, saying, “Let’s go together!”
After brief discussion, they decided to use a surprise attack, aiming to seriously injure the Salt Monster or at least make him cautious. Once decided, they split up and approached from both flanks.
He Dabird was already in great danger. With his first-tier altar strength, fighting against a second-tier altar master was extremely difficult for him. He had tried to escape, but the Salt Monster’s tracking ability was extremely strong, coupled with long-distance teleportation, making escape impossible. Forced to fight head-on, he was on the verge of collapsing.
He Dabird knew that if he could gain even a little time to recover, he could keep delaying things. But the Salt Monster wouldn’t give him any chance, forcing him to suffer greatly and filling him with despair.
The Salt Monster laughed triumphantly, “Haha, He Dabird! This time, I’m going to turn you into a dead bird!” With a wave of his hand, another palm formed from a virtual talisman and slammed at him. Before it could hit, yet another virtual talisman palm appeared, forcing He Dabird to retreat repeatedly.
“I’ll fight you to the end!”
He Dabird fought desperately in anger. The Salt Monster sneered and said, “Fight to the end? With you, a stupid big bird? Die!” His tone was filled with mockery and scorn.

He pointed with his hand at Lan Han Fen Yu, and a torrent of extreme cold instantly descended upon the altar of He Da Niao. He Da Niao frantically cast a series of spells, but the altar could still not withstand such intense cold. The two severely injured great sage masters lying on top of the altar were frozen solid by the cold wind, losing all life force instantly.

He Da Niao’s face turned deathly pale. Glancing at the two frozen corpses, his eyes seemed to blaze with rage. A mouthful of blood sprayed onto the Dagger of Sacrifice, causing it to expand immediately and hover horizontally above his head, its tip aimed at Salt Old Monster.

Standing atop the altar, which seemed to be dragged backward by chains, He Da Niao cast countless spells, with numerous spectral symbols appearing on the Dagger of Sacrifice. With a ferocious roar, he said, “You want me dead! Well, I’ll make sure you suffer too!”

Salt Old Monster’s expression grew serious. He realized He Da Niao was truly determined to fight to the death, but he still remained somewhat careless and continued to provoke him, “Tsk tsk, planning to blow up your sacrificial treasure? He Da Niao… you’re just a stupid bird trying to struggle in your death… it’s useless! Haha!”

Although Salt Old Monster was mocking him, he wasn’t slow either. A master of the altar who was ready to fight to the death wouldn’t be ignored by him. With another touch of Lan Han Fen Yu, circles of blue light flashed, quickly enveloping the entire altar. Then, with a gesture of Bone Hand, the bone hand spun in front of him, rose rapidly to his head, and expanded into a giant bone hand.

He Da Niao roared again, spitting more blood onto the Dagger of Sacrifice. The entire sacrificial treasure emitted a dazzling red light, and a stench of blood filled the air. He screamed frantically, “Salt Old Monster, die! Die!”

With a loud boom, the Dagger of Sacrifice transformed into a hundred-meter-long giant sword, slashing toward Salt Old Monster.

Salt Old Monster sneered and sharply slapped the bone hand, which immediately flew out to grab the dagger. At that moment, his expression changed drastically, and a terrifying sword howl sounded. He looked up to see a translucent, red-glowing blade descending.

Then, a black bead flew in from the side. It wasn’t large, only half a meter in diameter, but purple flames flickered from it. Salt Old Monster immediately realized that this sacrificial talisman bead contained a great deal of purple talisman fire. In terror, he roared and tried to teleport away.

“Stop!”

The cold voice of the handsome old man came through. Salt Old Monster’s face turned instantly pale as he realized his altar couldn’t be used for teleportation.

All three attacks were approaching, and it was then that Old Salt realized the guy who had fled earlier had turned back. What was even more terrifying was that both attacks were at the altar level—clearly attacks emitted by sacrificial treasures, not as he had initially assumed. Actually, his initial judgment wasn’t wrong; he just hadn’t expected there to be a sacrificial spirit on Ancient Ink Lotus, and this spirit’s strength was no less than his own.

The Moon Blade slammed down on Old Salt’s altar. The first thing it encountered was the altar’s defense. As the Moon Blade rushed forward, the blue light emitted by Lan Han Fen Yu instantly solidified into blue ice the moment it touched the altar.

Boom!

Crack! Crack!

The Moon Blade struck the blue ice. Although the ice formed by Lan Han Fen Yu shattered, it still managed to block the Blade’s strike. Guo Shieru widened his eyes and cursed, “Damn it… it’s so hard!”

Boom!

Nan You’s attack also hit Old Salt’s defense. The sacrificial treasure talisman bombarded explosively, with countless purple talisman flames flaring and sparks flying, instantly burning through that layer of ice. Just this brief delay allowed Old Salt to recover slightly. He frantically cast hundreds of spells, roaring, “Bastards! How dare you launch a sneak attack! Ah…”

Boom! Crack!

The bone hands and spear collided head-on. Old Salt’s bone hands made cracking sounds. It wasn’t that they were weak, but at that moment, he couldn’t provide enough support, allowing the spear to pierce through them.

He Da Niao also hadn’t expected Guo Shieru and the others to return for support. What excited him even more was that these two were experts in altar combat. He shouted, “Surround and kill him!”

Old Salt roared, “Bastards!” He slammed his hand on the top of the altar, raising two layers of defense in succession. Reaching out, he grabbed a Spirit Beast, squeezed it hard, and the beast let out a mournful cry before turning into a mass of spirit energy, which was immediately absorbed by the altar. A layer of blue light and a layer of grayish-white light quickly enveloped the altar.

At the same time, the Moon Blade swept down again with a howl. Nan You’s sacrificial treasure talisman also struck once more.

Guo Shieru said, “Elder Shuai… the Moon Blade isn’t powerful enough to break that guy’s defense!”

Elder Shuai replied calmly, “Don’t rush. We can’t reveal too many of our tactics…” In other words, he wanted He Da Niao and Nan You to attack first and make a decision based on the situation. He had far more experience in battles between altar experts than Guo Shieru—whether in judgment or in using sacrificial treasures, he was far beyond Guo Shieru’s comparison.

Guo Shier didn’t say more and continued to control the Moon Blade, slashing repeatedly. With each slash, the Moon Blade grew by over ten meters. After three consecutive slashes, combined with Nan You’s assistance, they finally broke through one layer of defense. But the opponent still had another layer.

Salt Old Monster was filled with rage. He activated two layers of defense and used a sacrifice—the soul of a level-14 mutated talisman beast. Even a master of two-layer altars would feel immense pain at this. Fueled by fury, he said darkly, “None of you will escape! I’ll turn you all into sacrifices!”

Suddenly, the Bone Hand twisted and slapped. With a loud noise, Crane Bird spat out a mouthful of blood, and his Spear of Thrust immediately cracked, being flung away by the Bone Hand’s strike. His altar also retreated rapidly, with the only two remaining Grand Saints rolling around on it, unable to stabilize themselves.

Salt Old Monster turned to look at Nan You. It wasn’t that Nan You was unlucky; in Salt Old Monster’s perception, Nan You posed a slightly greater threat. The Bone Hand flew back suddenly, with a pure beast soul merging into it, quickly sealing the cracks. He said, “A wretched guy from a mere illusory altar dares to threaten me? Fuck you!”

Frightened, Nan You recalled his Sacrificial Talisman Pearl, and his altar quickly raised its defenses.

The Bone Hand had no flesh or blood—only bone joints emitting a white glow, covered in countless ancient runes, including natural runes and various enhanced runes, flowing layer upon layer across it, making the entire hand appear jade-like. It had now transformed into a giant bone hand over thirty meters in diameter, rushing toward Nan You’s illusory altar with a howling sound.

Guo Shier knew Nan You couldn’t withstand such a blow and hurriedly shouted, “Elder Shuai, block him!”

In an instant, Elder Shuai took control of the Moon Blade and roared, “Don’t worry! I’m here!”

Crane Bird reached out and grabbed a sacrifice—a level-13 soul beast—crushing it in his hand before sucking its soul into the altar. He clearly understood he couldn’t let Salt Old Monster defeat them one by one. No matter how difficult it was, he had to launch an attack.

The cracks on the Spear of Thrust also absorbed a soul force, quickly healing. Crane Bird gritted his teeth and spat out more blood. He was already severely weakened, and now even more so. But he knew that if he didn’t fight desperately now, he would never get another chance, so without hesitation, he spat out more blood infused with soul power.

The Moon Blade slashed sideways with force, hitting the Bone Hand in one strike. It was the Moon Blade controlled by the old man Shuai, and Salt Old Monster immediately sensed something was wrong. With a loud explosion, the Bone Hand began to crack. Though it hadn’t shattered completely, its striking power had been reduced by at least half, and it was knocked off its original trajectory. It had originally been aimed at the altar in Nanyou, but now it had deviated slightly.

Nanyou desperately moved the altar away, feeling despair rise in his heart as he realized he was under lock. When the Moon Blade struck the Bone Hand, he felt the locking sensation disappear. Overjoyed, he quickly moved the altar aside. The Bone Hand whistled as it passed by the side of the altar. Even so, he couldn’t fully avoid it—the Bone Hand’s thumb smashed into the altar’s defenses.

With a screech, the defenses were instantly broken, and a massive force sent the altar flying.

Nanyou cursed, “Damn it…” Cold sweat dripped from his face. If it weren’t for the Moon Blade’s slash, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to resist at all and would surely have been killed in one strike.

The Bone Hand spun back and slammed into the Thrusting Sword with force.

Salt Old Monster was formidable, leaving Nanyou, Guo Shier, and He Dabiao utterly helpless. But he too was in a difficult situation—the three of them launched consecutive attacks, preventing him from dealing with each one separately. Just as he sent the Thrusting Sword flying, the Moon Blade struck his altar again, shattering its last line of defense. Frightened, he summoned a huge blue ice crystal to block the Moon Blade.

Boom! Crack…

The ice crystal shattered, and the Moon Blade was sent flying back into the air due to the massive impact.

The old man Shuai said regretfully, “This guy reacts quickly. Damn it, the Moon Blade is too weak!”

The Moon Blade was already covered in cracks. Several forced slashes had relied on the old man Shuai’s powerful spiritual energy, but its quality wasn’t enough to compete with the opponent’s second-grade sacrificial treasure. Guo Shier understood that if this happened again, the Moon Blade would likely be completely destroyed. The old man Shuai retracted the Moon Blade and said, “Let’s see this old man’s sacrificial treasure instead!” He planned to use his own sacrificial treasure.

Salt Old Monster had been struck by the Moon Blade from the old man Shuai. If not for his quick reaction, he would have been hit. Furious, he roared, “You bastard! If you want to die, I’ll give it to you! Damn it, I’ll kill you first!” His anger turned toward Guo Shier.

Salt Old Monster spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed directly on the Bone Hand. The bone hand, once like jade, suddenly transformed into a giant blood hand that slammed down fiercely.

The old man Shuai said coldly, “Really damn arrogant. Go!”

A black ring flew out, followed by thousands of spells. The handsome old man exhaled pure soul energy, as a palm-sized black bracelet slammed forward with force. Then, with a flick of his finger, the Flame Sacrificial Treasure rose and hovered in front of him. A jet of flame erupted, transforming into thousands of flame threads that flew along with the bracelet.

An intense sense of unease suddenly surged in Old Yan’s heart, but he couldn’t think of any threat from the opponent. Although he recognized that Guo Shier possessed the Ancient Ink Lotus, it wasn’t at the level of a Void Form Altar—it was merely that of a high-ranking Great Sage. He roared, “Dare to resist… I’ll crush you!”

The black bracelet was one of the fourth-grade sacrificial treasures belonging to the handsome old man. During his lifetime, it had been a sacrificial treasure he had discarded.

A fourth-grade sacrificial treasure was far more powerful than a second-grade Bone Hand Sacrificial Treasure. The bracelet silently struck the bone hand.

The handsome old man sneered and said, “Let’s see who’s stronger!”