Chapter 1: The Fire Sacrifice (Part 2)

The professionals of the Gujin Family were still in confusion, staring in shock at the changes in the Chijin Mountain Range. The earth trembled, the sky burned, and massive flows of magma burst forth, rushing down the mountains. Vast amounts of volcanic ash were ejected into the air before drifting down like snow. At this point, the Gujin Family’s professionals hadn’t thought of fleeing. This Chijin ore vein was extremely important, and the eruption of volcanoes across the entire mountain range left them stunned.

Then, an even greater eruption occurred. By then, Guo Shier had flown over a hundred kilometers away. Even from that distance, he could clearly hear the deafening explosions. Uncle Jinwu and a group of experts from the tangible and intangible altars activated their altar defenses, watching in disbelief. Massive flows of magma erupted, turning the entire mountain range into a fire dragon. Everything beneath the mountains was burned to ashes. Even worse, the magma streams were heading toward the city.

It was only then that the Gujin Family’s leaders realized they couldn’t hold out. They immediately activated the teleportation arrays in an attempt to evacuate. But to their surprise, the arrays no longer functioned, seemingly bound by some invisible rule. The Gujin Family’s professionals panicked. Under the command of their ancestral master, they activated the city’s defenses. However, these defenses had only partially recovered, their strength less than half of what it used to be. The Gunan Family had destroyed most of the city’s defenses when retreating.

The defensive shield was raised not to save the city but to buy time for the professionals to evacuate. Countless flying vehicles took off, carrying many mid- and low-level disciples. Most Holy Masters and Supreme Holy Masters flew on their own, while the altar-level experts provided cover from behind. They didn’t know who their enemy was.

Magma surged, flames lit up the sky, and thunderous noises echoed across the land. The Gujin Family’s professionals were pale with fear. As chaos reigned, an overwhelming spiritual pressure swept in. In an instant, everything in the air—whether flying vehicles, Holy Masters, Supreme Holy Masters, or altar-level experts—fell to the ground. Only a few altar-level experts at the third or fourth level managed to keep their altars afloat.

The flying vehicles crashed to the ground, igniting huge fires, with cries of agony filling the air. By now, a catastrophe had unfolded. Guo Shier had flown hundreds of kilometers away. Like the old man Shuai, he didn’t dare look back and just kept fleeing desperately. Thanks to the old man Shuai’s extensive experience, Guo Shier might not have been able to escape so quickly otherwise.

The magma surged violently, hitting the city’s defense shield at high speed and piling up along it, creating a terrifying sight. People in the city, whether professionals or ordinary citizens, fled desperately toward the other side of the city. No one dared to fly anymore; they had to run on foot, which was much slower.

The defense shield held out for only a few dozen minutes before exploding loudly, allowing the magma to flood into the city.

The soul pressure grew increasingly intense. Many ordinary people died silently, their souls shattering and dissipating without any visible injuries as they collapsed to the ground. Some apprentice-level professionals also fell dead one after another. Mid- and low-level professionals struggled to escape, but the overwhelming soul pressure made it impossible for them to run fast.

A translucent figure rose from the erupting volcano, gradually taking shape. Towering thousands of feet high, it raised its head toward the sky and let out a thunderous roar that shook the earth and sky. Guo Shieru drove the altar forward desperately. The roar nearly made him lose control, but fortunately, the old man helped him stabilize the altar. Both of them turned around at the same time.

Guo Shieru said in horror, “What is that? A human? A human-shaped… monster?”

The old man trembled violently and said, “Good heavens… there really is… someone… who has reached such a height. It’s… too terrifying…”

Guo Shieru pushed the altar hard and asked in a hurry, “What? What height?”

The old man trembled and said, “An existence beyond the ninth-tier altar… That… that’s a legendary being…”

Guo Shieru asked, “Are you sure?”

The old man gave a bitter smile, his face pale, and said, “I’m not sure… Hurry up and find your companions and leave this continent.” He seemed extremely panicked. In Guo Shieru’s memory, the old man had always been calm and composed; he had never seen him like this before.

Guo Shieru could already activate the interdimensional talisman, but he wouldn’t flee alone until he found Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan. He said, “We’re almost there…” Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were not far from the Red Golden Mountain Range, about a thousand kilometers away. At Guo Shieru’s speed with the altar, it would take just a few dozen minutes to reach them.

Along with the thunderous roar, the translucent figure gradually shrank, and more magma erupted.

Numerous professionals tried to open their talisman gates to escape, but ordinary talisman gates simply wouldn’t open. Only those professionals who had fled far away, and a few of them who possessed interdimensional talismans, could barely open them. Even then, they could only take a few people with them and hurriedly enter, barely escaping by luck. Most professionals could only run outward in despair.

A young man in a bright red robe suddenly appeared above the city, walking leisurely in the air as if there was solid ground in the void. He glanced indifferently at the crowd below fleeing desperately, a hint of mockery on his lips. Two altar masters from the Gujin family saw the figure in the air and immediately flew up, one of them being Uncle Jinwu.

Uncle Jinwu shouted, “Who are you?”

The man in red continued to watch the fleeing crowd, ignoring Uncle Jinwu’s question completely.

Furious, Uncle Jinwu remembered that Guo Shier had acted the same way last time, with a look of disdain. Angered and annoyed, he pointed at his life altar treasure. A glint of light emerged from the Sparrow Hook, which suddenly slashed toward the man in red.

The other altar master, also left to hold back the enemy and a master of a two-tier altar, saw Uncle Jinwu attack and immediately launched his own attack with his altar treasure—a long, light blue knife, his life altar treasure of the ice element.

The man in red turned his head, two red rays shooting from his eyes, as a fierce soul pressure crushed everything in its path.

Uncle Jinwu screamed, “No!” His body suddenly exploded into a cloud of blood mist. The other altar master also exploded, his flesh flying everywhere, his life altar treasure emitting a mournful sound before shattering into countless tiny pieces. The man in red reached out into the void, and the two altars, as if pulled by steel cables, rushed toward him at high speed. Then he clenched his hand tightly.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out. Whether it was people reduced to pulp, souls about to escape, or altars turned to powder, all were transformed into purple-black mist by his mere gesture and swallowed by him. He licked his lips and said indifferently, “Altar-level professionals… why are there so few?”

His figure vanished suddenly from the air and reappeared above the fleeing crowd. With a slight upward curl of his lips, he said calmly, “There aren’t enough people… I’ll have to make do for now.” He glanced back at the Chijin Mountain Range, which resembled hell, and said, “Finally out!”

“Fire Sacrifice!”

He bent his hands as if lifting heavy weights, fingers curled like claws, and tore downward violently. Ten deep trenches appeared on the ground, causing countless people to fall in. Immediately afterward, streams of molten rock gushed from those trenches.

The man in red still seemed unsatisfied. He punched the air, and with a loud boom, massive jets of molten rock were shot high into the sky, killing hundreds of thousands in an instant. Then, with a roar, a powerful sound wave erupted from his mouth, shattering the souls of those who had narrowly escaped the molten rock.

“Summon!”

The man in red lowered his head and drew in a deep breath. The air, which had been rising due to the heat, began to spin rapidly, creating an unparalleled suction force. The souls of all the dead were drawn out and, along with the swirling hot air, fell into the man in red’s mouth.

In just a few minutes, aside from a handful of lucky ones who managed to escape, millions were killed, and their souls were devoured by the man in red.

The man in red glanced coldly downward. After a long pause, he muttered to himself, “Too few…”

……

The earth trembled, and the sky turned a fiery red.

Guo Shieru sped the altar forward. He could already see the main camp of the Gunan family. The old man suddenly froze, turned back, and exclaimed in horror, “A fire sacrifice! It’s a fire sacrifice! Kid, teleport!”

Without asking why, Guo Shieru immediately teleported away. After two more teleportations, he entered the Gunan family’s main camp. Since he had the identity token of the ancestor, the defenses of the camp were unlocked for him. He descended like a meteor and rushed into one of the tents.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were sitting inside the tent. Without wasting time, Guo Shieru shook his hand and sent out a message token—a token meant for Anqiang, the ancestor. This news had to be delivered to them immediately. Then he activated the interdimensional token and shouted, “Shut up and follow me!”

The old man yelled, “Hurry!”

Eagle Demon leaped into the token portal, followed by Luo Zhan. Nan You happened to walk into the tent just then. He asked, “What’s going on?”

Guo Shieru said, “Nan You… come with me! Hurry!”

Nan You mumbled confusedly, “This…”

The old man, extremely impatient, waved his hand and fired a series of virtual token chains, instantly binding Nan You. He shouted, “Enough nonsense! Let the old man in!” He threw Nan You into the token portal using the virtual chains and ordered, “Kid, go!”

Guo Shieru rushed in quickly.

After emerging from the token portal, Guo Shieru watched it gradually disappear. He patted his chest lightly and said, “I was scared to death!”

Eagle Demon asked, “Huh? Is this the Wind and Rain Secret Realm?”

Guo Shieru replied, “That’s right. From here, we can return to Great Diving Fortress.”

Nan You struggled violently and screamed, “Let me go! Damn it, let me go!”

The old man waved his hand to retract the virtual token chains. Without any explanation, he ducked back into the altar. Guo Shieru stored the altar inside his body before saying, “Good luck. We finally made it out.”

Nan You was so angry that his face turned red and his neck swelled. He cried out in frustration, “Ancestor!”

Guo Shier’s hair stood on end at being called “ancestor” by him. He placed a hand on Nan You’s shoulder and said, “Don’t blame the handsome old man; he’s saving your life. If it had been any later, I might not even have been able to open the interdimensional talisman. Ah, it’s terrifying.”
Nan You asked in confusion, “What happened?”
Guo Shier briefly recounted what had taken place and said, “I think everyone from the Gujin family is done for—they can’t escape… The handsome old man said that guy is a being beyond the ninth-tier altar. Though it can’t be confirmed, it’s really terrifying. Just a little bit of his soul pressure was enough to overwhelm me. It’s too scary.”
Nan You’s expression turned extremely grim. He said, “Good heavens! Our Gunan family still has a large army of professionals there. What… what should we do?”
Guo Shier replied, “I’ve already sent a message talisman to Ancestor Nan Qiang. It depends on him to figure out a plan. Also… it depends on whether he believes it or not. If he doesn’t… that will be troublesome.”
Now, all they could hope for was that Ancestor Nan Qiang would believe Guo Shier. Nan You didn’t suggest going back—he wasn’t stupid. Not to mention a master from the ninth-tier altar, he had only seen a master from the sixth-tier altar once in his life, and that was already a top-tier expert at the peak of professionalism. He simply couldn’t imagine what a master beyond the ninth-tier altar would be like.
“I hope the ancestor will believe us!” Nan You said, lacking confidence.
Eagle Demon said, “Ancestor Nan Qiang is very aware of Shier’s abilities. He should know that Shier wouldn’t make things up.”
…
At this moment, Ancestor Nan Qiang was holding the message talisman, filled with confusion. A master beyond the ninth-tier altar? What nonsense?