Chapter 1: The Natural Altar (Part 1)

Luo Zhan, dizzy and disoriented, asked, “Where is this?” Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Uncle Luo, welcome back to the human world!” Zhou Xiaoling gently patted him and said, “Such a smooth talker! Hand over the talisman pill to uncle quickly!” She too had suffered minor injuries.
“This is another node of the talisman array; we can make some adjustments here. I never expected this array to be so powerful. If it weren’t for us working together to break in, we might have been trapped inside,” said Master Ling with emotion.
When they were outside the array, no one had imagined it would be this powerful. At this point, they had no choice but to keep moving inward; it was now impossible to exit.
Guo Shier only had low-grade talisman pills, but they were very effective. After the four of them took the pills, their injuries healed immediately.
Eagle Demon said anxiously, “We really shouldn’t have come here… Just a slight collision almost ruined us!”
Juehu Miluo said, “Don’t worry. With me here, nothing will happen to you.” Although he was the weakest among the six, he was still a professional with two layers of an altar, so protecting a few people wasn’t difficult for him.
Master Ling said, “Let’s go down and put away the altar first, then rest for a while.”
The group descended again. Below was a desert. Upon closer inspection of the sand grains, Guo Shier noticed that most of them were tiny fragments of bones, with only a small portion being fine sand formed from weathered rocks. Seeing Guo Shier examining the sand, Master Ling explained, “This sand was blown in from outside. Look over there…” He pointed into the distance, where sandstorms were swirling.
Guo Shier mused, “Is this also ground up by the talisman array?”
Master Ling nodded. “That’s right.”
Bao Chengyong took out a green talisman pill, swallowed it in one gulp, and said angrily, “Damn it, this array is insane! It was almost impossible to block!”
In fact, everyone knew he had already been unable to block that attack earlier. He barely managed to use his sacred treasure to deflect it, giving Master Ling and Yan Ruodai a chance to strike from the side and destroy the giant sword formed by the array. It took all three of them working together to break through. But no one disagreed with him; they all knew he was extremely frustrated.
The group ate something briefly and rested for a few hours. Then Master Ling said, “Alright, there’s one more hurdle to overcome. After that… we can enter the core area of the talisman array. Feng Xilong, I hope there really is an Ancient Ink Lotus in there. Otherwise…”

Feng Xilong said, “From what I know, there must be something here! But… if someone got there before us, it’s hard to say. We’ll only know once we go in.”
Guo Shier and the others hurried to eat and rest. They hadn’t fought or taken action, yet even sitting on the altar, they were injured and exhausted.
The group set up the altar again, and Guo Shier and the others sat on it. Ling Zhenren said, “I’ll take the shortest route. The attacks from the talisman array aren’t very strong. The difficulty of the final stage should be similar to the last one. Stay focused, and we’ll get through as quickly as possible.”
The six altars formed another talisman array. After rotating once, Ling Zhenren said, “I’ll go first.” Then he rushed forward.
A fierce wind blew.
Guo Shier narrowed his eyes and watched as the wind carried countless rocks, striking the altar’s defenses before being shattered by them. The dust that rose was immediately scattered by the wind. As they went deeper, the rocks grew larger—from the size of fists to the size of footballs.
Ying Mo whispered, “Are these rocks also formed from void talismans?”
Guo Shier nodded. “This is just the beginning!”
The rocks that were originally flying chaotically grew larger, gradually turning into boulders the size of adults falling from above, making the altar’s defenses flicker. Ling Zhenren shouted, “Be careful! Strengthen the defenses and get ready to attack!”
Guo Shier tilted his head back, terrified as the rocks grew bigger. By now, no one could rely solely on the altar’s defenses against the falling rocks, so they all started attacking them to shatter them.
As they moved forward quickly, the falling rocks grew even larger, including some as big as six or seven meters in diameter. Juehu Miluo stood up and kept attacking. Bao Chengyong’s black sword transformed into countless thin swords, forming a defense at the top of the altar to crush the boulders.
Suddenly, Ling Zhenren roared, “Move aside!”
A giant rock the size of a small mountain crashed down.
Under Ling Zhenren’s leadership, the six altars skillfully moved aside. Guo Shier watched as the roaring rock missed the altar’s edge and crashed down. The violent wind even affected the stability of the six altars. Unconsciously, sweat covered his forehead. He whispered, “Damn, I think I’m going to get heart disease from this.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked curiously, “Heart disease? What’s that?”
Guo Shier couldn’t explain and said, “Uh, it’s a kind of illness.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “Are you sick?”

Guo Shier looked at her helplessly and said, “Don’t talk nonsense…” In his past life, he would have definitely said, “You’re the one who’s sick,” but here he couldn’t say that, because people in this world had extremely strong physiques; the concept of getting sick hardly existed—only the concept of getting injured. Even if they fell ill slightly, they could endure it thanks to their robust health.

Zhou Xiaoling looked at Guo Shier and noticed his strange expression, so she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Guo Shier pointed at the sky and said, “It’s coming again!”

Zhou Xiaoling looked up and saw a huge rock, hundreds of meters in diameter, rushing down toward them. Terrified, she screamed and rushed into Guo Shier’s arms.

“Attack!”

All six of them struck at once. With a loud explosion, the giant rock shattered, and the altar emerged from the swirling dust. Guo Shier turned back and saw a massive cloud of dust gradually dissipating. He was terrified—if he had been under that rock, he would have been crushed to pieces with no chance of survival.

He gently patted Zhou Xiaoling’s back and comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s okay…”

Zhou Xiaoling raised her head and said, “Ugh, you scared me to death…” As soon as she said that, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She began to realize she couldn’t speak carelessly anymore.

Guo Shier, holding Zhou Xiaoling in his arms, felt slightly relieved. Zhou Xiaoling sat up straight and said, “I wonder if we can make it across.” Her face turned slightly red as she broke free from Guo Shier’s embrace.

Everyone looked up at the sky, none of them noticing the two of them.

After what seemed like a long time, everyone felt extremely exhausted. A few large rocks weren’t that scary, but it was the continuous barrage of rocks that was terrifying. Eventually, those rocks targeted only their altar, making it difficult to avoid them. They had no choice but to smash them, but there were so many that even top experts like Ling Zhen found it hard to cope.

Guo Shier sighed, “Human strength will eventually run out. With so many rocks falling continuously, people can only struggle to deal with them, hardly having any other options. This talisman array is really well-designed.”

Juehu Miluo turned around amidst his busy tasks and said, “Pfft! I’m exhausted!”

Zhou Xiaoling couldn’t help but giggle. She loved seeing Guo Shier in a tough spot.

Guo Shier bent his finger and tapped her forehead, saying, “Why are you laughing? Look up!” He used this trick to distract her attention.

Zhou Xiaoling grumbled, “You’re bullying me again!”

Ying Mo shook his head and said, “You two…”

Guo Shier and Zhou Xiaoling blushed and looked up at the sky, pretending not to hear.

Suddenly, all six altars stopped at once, and everyone’s gaze focused ahead, leaving them feeling uneasy. In the air hung a rock as big as a mountain, shaped like an olive, suspended mid-air, slowly rotating while growing larger by the second. Guo Shier estimated the rock to be at least 2,000 meters tall with a diameter of several hundred meters. Thinking of the mountains in his past life—where 2,000 meters was already considered high—how could anyone avoid such a giant rock falling from above? He couldn’t help but shiver.

Ling Zhenren said, “Should we shatter this rock first or rush through quickly from below? Damn, this talisman array is insane; it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this…” He too couldn’t help cursing.

Guo Shier noticed that this giant rock wasn’t aiming straight at them like the previous ones. It seemed to guard a passage, ready to crush anyone who tried to pass through.

Luo Zhan asked in confusion, “Is it really hard to rush through at the speed of the altars?”

Guo Shier replied with a bitter smile, “It has nothing to do with speed. Once inside the rock’s range, we’ll be locked by the talisman array, and we won’t be able to run fast…”

It was normal for Luo Zhan, who had received a relatively poor inheritance, not to understand. He nodded and said, “I see. I thought we could just rush through right away.” After thinking for a moment, he added, “Then we should shatter it…”

Guo Shier said, “It’s very difficult. Look… this rock is still growing. It’s not a real rock but one formed by virtual talismans, far more powerful than real rocks.”

Soon, the six people on the altars reached a consensus. Ling Zhenren said, “One person’s strength isn’t enough to shatter this rock. We should work together, use all our strength to break it apart, then rush through quickly.”

Bao Chengyong asked, “Who will take the lead attack?”

Feng Xilong replied, “Of course, you should take the lead. Your sacrificial treasure… has the most powerful attack!”

Bao Chengyong frowned and said, “Feng Xilong… Sir Feng, I only have a piece of Cypress Dragon Wood. You’re pushing me to my limits… Ah, don’t you know I was already injured earlier? If this happens again… I might lose my life! I’ve suffered too much!”

Feng Xilong said, “Ask everyone’s opinion.”

Ling Zhenren said, “Bao Chengyong, your sacrificial treasure is extremely powerful. The first strike is crucial. I think Feng Xilong is right—you’re the only one who can do it.”

Yan Ruodai also smiled and said, “I agree!”

Shi Yanxilong said, “Agreed.”

Juehuxi Miluo didn’t speak but kept nodding.

Bao Chengyong shouted, “This is too much! You can’t treat me like this…”

Elder Ling said, “Bao Chengyong, stop shouting. No one is more suitable than you! You can’t expect Guo Shier to take action, right? Even if he agrees, it won’t help.”
Guo Shier thought to himself, “Damn, you old man needn’t belittle people like that.” He couldn’t help but interject, saying, “Elder Bao Chengyong… he just wants a bit more benefit.” As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood.
With his intentions exposed, Bao Chengyong cried out, “Who said that! Who’s spreading rumors!”