Chapter 2: Preparation (Part 2)

Guo Shier’s expression changed slightly, Nan You wore a bitter smile, while Ying Mo and Luo Zhan’s eyes gleamed coldly as they stood silently behind Guo Shier. Guo Shier said calmly, “Please come in!” He understood why Ancestor Nan Qiang had come, though he was surprised by the speed of his arrival. Yet, having resolved to leave, he appeared quite composed.

Ancestor Nan Qiang entered with a group of altar masters. He said, “Ancestor Guo, thank you for the signal token—it saved many of us from this disaster.” He stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

Guo Shier replied, “Ancestor Nan Qiang, you’re too kind. Since I encountered this situation, I would definitely let you know.” He also bowed politely.

Ancestor Nan Qiang suggested, “Let’s go inside and talk.”

Guo Shier invited them in, saying, “Please!” The group of altar masters sat down on the floor.

Ancestor Nan Qiang slowly sat on a thick fur cushion and remained silent for a moment before saying, “Ancestor Guo, our family would like to ask you to…”

Guo Shier interrupted him, “Ancestor Nan Qiang, I plan to leave Da Qian Fort and venture deep into the depths of Ba Zhi Da Mi Tian, refusing family missions for now.”

Ancestor Nan Qiang was stunned. He hadn’t expected Guo Shier to refuse so decisively. After a long pause, he gave a bitter smile and said, “If we don’t kill that man… he’ll destroy countless ancient clans. Only altar masters can have a chance against him—we’re not enough in number.”

Guo Shier shook his head. “He… is beyond our reach. Unless you have altar masters at the ninth level, they might be able to fight him, but that man seems to be above even the ninth level. Going up there… is suicide.” He added earnestly, “A professional master who can kill millions in an instant—his strength is beyond our imagination.”

Ancestor Nan Qiang was astonished. “What? Beyond the ninth level? How is that possible?”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “He’s a master who can shatter entire continents. Do you really want to confront such a person?”

Ancestor Nan Qiang paled, and the altar masters around him began discussing it. After a while, he said, “But… he keeps killing. Countless people and professionals have died at his hands. We can’t ignore this. What… what advice do you have?” He always found Guo Shier mysterious—someone who could defeat altar masters at the second level against those at the third or fourth level.

Guo Shier replied, “My advice… is to stay away from that guy. This world is big enough. As long as we leave, we can avoid him.”

The Ancestor of Nanqiang let out a long sigh. He could escape, but his family couldn’t. The entire Guunan clan occupied so many hidden realms across the continents—how could they all flee? After a while, he said, “I can pay a high price to invite you to join us…”
Guo Shier shook his head. “No matter what the price, life is more valuable. Once a person dies, everything else is meaningless.”
Realizing he couldn’t persuade Guo Shier, the Ancestor of Nanqiang sighed deeply. At that moment, an elder of the Guunan clan said coldly, “Guests are always like this—they want benefits when they exist and run away when they don’t. Ancestor, we’re not short of people…”
Guo Shier sneered and ignored him.
The Ancestor of Nanqiang shouted, “Shut up!”
The man fell silent in anger, but his gaze toward Guo Shier was clearly hostile.
The Ancestor of Nanqiang said, “Don’t take it personally. He’s just anxious and didn’t mean to offend you.”
Guo Shier replied calmly, “I never get angry at someone who’s about to die.” His strength was roughly on par with that of the Ancestor of Nanqiang, so he didn’t care about those people and spoke without hesitation. The man’s face turned red with fury, clearly at the extreme of anger. The Ancestor of Nanqiang smiled bitterly inwardly. He reached out to stop the man from exploding further and said, “Nanjian, go back first.”
Nanjian glared hatefully at Guo Shier before getting up and leaving.
The Ancestor of Nanqiang said, “Nanyou, come with us. All the experts from the altar must participate in this mission.”
Nanyou was drenched in cold sweat. He didn’t know what to say.
Guo Shier remained silent. Nanyou forced himself to say, “Yes…” His gaze fixed on the thick fur mat, revealing a hint of unwillingness. He was extremely disappointed. Even though he had advanced to the Virtual Form Altar, he was still just a pawn for his clan. According to Guo Shier’s description, experts from the Real Form Altar were killed instantly by that person—going there himself meant certain death.
The Ancestor of Nanqiang nodded in satisfaction and said, “Let’s go. Ancestor Guo, if you change your mind, you can come to me. For this mission… if you accept it, the reward will be three basic natural runes, plus a precious material.”
Guo Shier shook his head slightly. No matter how good the rewards were, one needed a life to use them. He wasn’t going to be lured into death by such things.
The Ancestor of Nanqiang left with a group of altar experts. Guo Shier noticed that Bo Luoli and Han Huang, the two hired guests, were not there. He wondered if they had also refused the Ancestor of Nanqiang’s mission, but he didn’t care. After the Ancestor of Nanqiang left, he asked, “Nanyou, are you going back or coming with us?”

Nan You gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Guo Shier didn’t find it strange. There was great terror between life and death, and no one would willingly face death. He said, “Then let’s get ready a bit. We need to replenish some supplies. Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, you two are in charge of this supply replenishment. Be quick—we need to set off as soon as possible and leave this place. Nan You, you should get ready too. We’ll leave together once everything is ready.”
Nan You nodded in agreement and went out with Eagle Demon Luo Zhan.
Guo Shier summoned the altar and asked, “Elder Shuai, how should we proceed to avoid that man?”
Elder Shuai poked his head out from above the altar and said, “I don’t know. Just stay as far away as possible. That man has killed so many professionals; his goal is clear—collecting souls. Well, maybe he’ll stop killing once he’s satisfied with the number of souls he has. Strange… How did we disturb him?”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Countless people died in the battles around the Chijin Mountain Range. Most of their souls…”
Elder Shuai suddenly realized and nodded. “Ah, that’s right. We’ve collected some souls, but most of the rest must have fallen into his hands. Perhaps that’s why… he was awakened.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly again. “It’s just a guess. Besides that man himself, no one else can know the real reason. I just find it strange that there’s such a skilled person in this world. If there were a few more like him, this world would be extremely unsafe… That bastard absorbed so many souls at once. Isn’t he afraid of dying from overconsumption?”
Elder Shuai said, “This world is big enough for such skilled people to wreak havoc. The unlucky ones are those with insufficient strength.” Then he added, “Young man, work hard to improve your strength. Once you reach the level of the seventh-tier altar, you’ll be able to dominate this world. No one will be able to kill you.”
Guo Shier casually asked, “Weren’t you also at the seventh-tier altar once?” As soon as he said it, he regretted it and hurriedly added, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
Elder Shuai didn’t mind. “No need to apologize. Back then… I had to fight desperately. If I had left in time or not gone at all… Ah, forget it. Let’s not talk about it.” He was already a master at the seventh-tier altar when he perished. If not for his skillful tactics and retention of some soul memories, he would have been completely destroyed.
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “A seventh-tier solid altar… How much material is that going to take?”

The handsome old man shook his head and said, “Materials can always be gathered. The key is soul power. Without enough soul power, you can’t advance. The most important thing for altar masters is to enhance their own soul power. By the seventh layer of the altar, the required soul power is… extremely strong. Not to mention the eighth and ninth layers—those require an enormous amount of soul power. Relying solely on self-practice to accumulate it is unrealistic.”

Guo Shier said, “Is this why that person started killing indiscriminately as soon as he appeared?”

The handsome old man nodded. “Although this method of obtaining souls is cruel and has many drawbacks, it’s the fastest way.”

Guo Shier asked, “Obtaining so many souls at once— isn’t he afraid his own soul will become chaotic?”

The handsome old man sighed. “In the magma lake beneath the Red Gold vein, you know very well how powerful that person’s soul is. Just a trace of the soul pressure he emitted nearly cost us our lives. His soul is strong enough to suppress the souls he acquires.”

Guo Shier rubbed his face vigorously, puzzled. “Handsome Old Man, is this also the first time you’ve seen such a powerful professional?”

The handsome old man replied, “That person is too strong. To be honest… it is indeed my first time seeing someone like him. In our era, there were many altar masters, but I’ve never seen anyone reach this level. He’s definitely someone who has surpassed the ninth layer of the altar.”

Guo Shier asked, “If you encountered an altar master at the ninth layer, could you escape?”

The handsome old man said, “If he were targeting me, it would be very difficult for me to escape. Of course, it’s not impossible, but it would be extremely dangerous. Besides… how could I possibly anger or provoke an altar master at the ninth layer? Unless I wanted to die.”

Half a day later, Ying Mo and the other two returned.

Nan You said, “Many altar masters have come to Da Qian Fort. Representatives from various ancient clans have also arrived. There are at least a thousand altar masters, and it’s said that many more are on their way.”

Guo Shier was surprised. “Uh, that many?” It used to be rare to see even one altar-level master. After all, the ancient clans had deep roots and could quickly assemble so many altar masters.

The handsome old man sneered and said, “I know what they’re planning.”

Guo Shier asked, “Could killing that person bring any benefits?”

The handsome old man replied, “Of course. If we can kill that person, his altar will fall, becoming a heritage altar. An altar that surpasses the ninth layer… means we can obtain even more advanced legacies from it. Such temptation… how many people can resist it?”

Guo Shier felt a chill in his heart. Both sides were scheming—one wanted to obtain souls to enhance their own strength, while the other wanted to kill the opponent and gain their legacy. This world was truly insane.
“It’s terrifying. We won’t participate!”
Guo Shier had no trace of greed; he wasn’t interested in such benefits at all.
The handsome old man said, “It’s a pity for those professionals. They have no idea how formidable experts at this level really are.”