Chapter 1: The Fire Sacrifice (Part 1)

Guo Shier never felt so desperate before. Even when he was nearly killed in the Secret Realm of Tongyou, he hadn’t felt such terror as today. It wasn’t out of fear, but due to the terrifying spiritual pressure. He had no idea what kind of soul could exert such a fearsome pressure.

Both Guo Shier and the old man had only one thought in mind: run, run desperately, as far as possible.

The unknown is the most terrifying—Guo Shier now understood this deeply. At his speed, he reached the teleportation array in just a few dozen seconds. There wasn’t a soul there. Then he heard the old man curse, “Damn it… it’s over!” The teleportation array shattered instantly.

Guo Shier’s vision went dark. He thought, “Am I going to die here?”

But the old man remained calm. He said, “Check the coordinates of the interdimensional talisman!”

To his surprise, the rules restricting the use of teleportation talismans had lost some of their effect. He could use one coordinate—one he had left on the Red Gold Continent—while the others remained unusable. Overjoyed, he immediately activated the interdimensional talisman and rushed out in one step.

The destination of the teleportation was his residence in Jin City. As soon as Guo Shier stepped out of the portal, he shouted, “Uncle Eagle Demon!”

The courtyard was silent, but outside it was noisy. Guo Shier’s expression changed slightly as he rushed into the room—only to find it empty too. In anger and panic, he turned around abruptly. The courtyard door was suddenly smashed open, and more than a dozen professionals rushed in. One of them shouted, “There’s someone from the Gunan family here!”

The professionals who entered were all from the Gujin family, all mid-to-low-level disciples, with the highest being at the Saint level. Guo Shier felt uneasy. It wasn’t these professionals he feared, but Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan. Before he entered the Red Gold mine veins, Luo Zhan had been leveling up.

At that moment, a red glow descended. Guo Shier reached out and grabbed it—it was a message talisman. After a quick glance, he breathed a sigh of relief. Luo Zhan and Eagle Demon had already fled.

It turned out that while Guo Shier was in the underground world, the Gujin family launched a massive attack, defeating the Gunan family’s army. It was then that Ancestor Nanqiang and Nanyou left. Although Ancestor Nanqiang had also sent a message talisman, the complex terrain underground prevented it from reaching Guo Shier.

Without wasting time, Guo Shier caused the altar, which had shrunk to the size of a grain of rice, to suddenly expand. He leaped up and said coldly, “Get lost!”

The professionals of the Gujin Family were terrified, as the altar-level experts killed them as easily as crushing ants—there was no way to resist. Everyone started shouting and rushed to escape.

Guo Shier received news from Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, learning that they were unharmed, which relieved him. He no longer wanted to kill these low-level disciples, as it would bring him no sense of achievement. He instantly teleported to high altitude and exclaimed in shock, “Elder Shuai, look!”

The massive Red Golden Mountain Range, resembling a giant dragon, seemed to twist slightly, with a rumbling tremor faintly audible. Guo Shier and Elder Shuai exchanged glances—this was terrifying. If he hadn’t experienced those adventures underground, Guo Shier would have thought it was just an ordinary earthquake. But having felt that terrifying soul shock, he knew there was something underground—a thing even Elder Shuai, at his peak, wouldn’t dare provoke.

The shockwaves spread across the ground, turning the earth like water. Countless trees fell, and the entire city began to shake violently. The talismans on the buildings emitted flashes of light, but many still collapsed under the force. Another wave of impact followed.

Watching in dread, Guo Shier asked, “Elder Shuai, what do you think that thing is?”

Elder Shuai shook his head slightly. He also stared at the Red Golden Mountain Range. After a long while, he said, “I don’t know what it is, but I know that once it emerges, this continent will be completely destroyed.”

Guo Shier exclaimed in horror, “What?”

Elder Shuai replied, “Such a powerful soul… means unparalleled strength. Whatever it is, it’s extremely dangerous. Boy, I suggest… quickly find your companions and leave this continent!”

Guo Shier immediately took out a message talisman, left his message on it, cast a spell, and the talisman flew away as a red glow. He said, “Wait a moment longer for their reply… then we’ll leave.” Without the talisman, he wouldn’t be able to find Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan. The continent was vast, making it as difficult as searching for a needle in a haystack.

Shortly after the talisman was sent, before any reply arrived, a streak of light appeared, revealing an altar. The Gujin Family couldn’t tolerate the existence of an altar expert from the Gunan Family in the skies over their territory.

It was a strange altar expert with only two layers of altars. Guo Shier didn’t hesitate to laugh—he no longer cared much about experts with just two layers of solid altars. After all these battles, he had a rough idea: he could defeat experts with one or two layers of altars; although he couldn’t beat those with three or four layers, with Shuai Lao Tou’s help, they would almost surely win; as for experts with five layers of altars, even together with Shuai Lao Tou, they could only resist but not conquer them.

So Guo Shier ignored that guy and kept his gaze fixed on the Chijin Mountain Range in the distance.

That man had never encountered such an arrogant person before, and anger surged within him. He shouted, “Who are you? Register!”

Guo Shier roared, “Shut up!” He noticed that the Chijin Mountain Range was twisting even more violently, and a trace of soul pressure was emerging, which filled him with even greater shock.

The man across from him was furious. He was an elder of the Gujin Family, and being treated so lightly by Guo Shier was unbearable. He yelled, “I am an elder of the Gujin Family, Uncle Jinwu!”

Guo Shier replied absentmindedly, “I know.”

Uncle Jinwu was almost driven mad by anger. He had never heard such an arrogant response before. Even experts with three or four layers of altars would be polite when meeting. How dare a guy with only two layers of altars ignore another professional of equal strength? He couldn’t stand it any longer. He summoned his life altar treasure and shouted, “Kill!”

His life altar treasure was Quegou, a second-tier altar treasure. As soon as it was unleashed, it emitted a series of flashing red lights and slashed forward at high speed.

Guo Shier turned his head, raised his hand, and slashed back, saying, “Annoying. Get lost!” The Moon Blade flew out. After being continuously refined by Shuai Lao Tou and enhanced with many rare materials, including natural runes, Fire Fiend, and Gold Fiend, its power was already approaching that of a fourth-tier altar treasure.

Boom! Crack!

Uncle Jinwu was terrified. A casual strike from the other side had nearly shattered his life altar treasure. How could he fight now? He quickly retreated. Strangely, Guo Shier didn’t pursue him but hovered in the air, gazing into the distance.

Uncle Jinwu’s altar treasure was covered in cracks. Since a life altar treasure is connected to one’s soul, damage to it meant damage to the soul. He suppressed the urge to vomit blood, grabbed a sacrificial spirit beast, crushed it, and injected its spirit into his life altar treasure, finally stabilizing it.

Whoosh!

A red glow flashed, and Guo Shieru reached out to grab it—a message token landed in his palm. He took a quick look and breathed a sigh of relief. The Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan had already reached the outskirts of the battlefield, right at the ancient Guinan clan’s camp. The token also included a topographic map showing the route to get there.

Guo Shieru glanced at Uncle Jinwu, stopped observing the Chijin Mountain Range, and ignored him. He followed the map on the token and flew away. Just a kilometer away, he heard a massive roar—earthquakes and tremors shook the land as the Chijin Mountain Range exploded.

In an instant, an unparalleled soul pressure surged. Guo Shieru nearly fell from the sky. He cursed, “Damn it, it’s here again!”

The old man said, “Run fast!”

Uncle Jinwu was terrified by Guo Shieru’s cold glance, his heart almost stopping. He realized then that even though both were experts at the same level of altar, there was still a huge gap between them. Before he could recover, the Chijin Mountain Range exploded again, and the soul pressure made his soul tremble violently as his altar plummeted straight downward.

Fortunately, there was only one wave of soul pressure. Uncle Jinwu managed to control his soul just before hitting the ground. His face was covered in sweat as he asked, “What is that?”

Boom! Boom! Boom…

Dozens of plumes of smoke mixed with countless streams of molten lava shot into the sky. To Guo Shieru, it felt like dozens of nuclear bombs had exploded, or like dozens of volcanoes were erupting simultaneously, spewing out along the entire Chijin Mountain Range.

Guo Shieru couldn’t help but ask, “Old man, could it be that we caused this? It’s too terrifying!” As he spoke, he drove his altar to flee frantically. In an instant, countless Holy Masters and altar experts all took to the air, staring at the Chijin Mountain Range.

The old man said, “These idiots! They’re still watching…”

Guo Shieru said, “Watching… can also get you killed!”

The old man replied, “Exactly. Anyway, that thing isn’t something we can withstand or see. If we do see it… it might be the last time. Run fast…”