Chapter 2: Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon (Part 2)

Guo Shier repeatedly supplied some soul power to the old man. He knew that if the old man ran out of strength and allowed the Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon to escape, capturing it again would be nearly impossible.
Yet the old man wasn’t worried, as he had discovered that the Ancient Ink Lotus was extremely powerful. With this treasure, he could save a lot of soul power. Coupled with Guo Shier’s tacit support, he was confident he could subdue this Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon, though deep down he still disdained this dragon-type spirit beast.
Chains were the most commonly used skill by professionals, especially those in the spellcraft profession, who favored virtual rune chains. It was a skill everyone knew, easy to learn but difficult to master. The old man was undoubtedly highly skilled in this skill and had even developed his own variations.
Eagle Demon stared at the Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon and said, “It’s almost reduced to fifty meters…”
Xian Ru Dai said, “It’s almost here. It’s so amazing.”
Under the restraint of the chains, the Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon roared as its body shrank to seven or eight meters long. Sitting on the Ancient Ink Lotus, Guo Shier glanced secretly at the old man and clearly saw the fanaticism in his eyes. The old man frantically summoned countless virtual runes while muttering, “Ah, it’s not working. I have to rely on hand seals… Before, just one thought would generate countless virtual runes. How annoying… Little reptile, just give up. Why keep struggling?”
Guo Shier felt a chill at hearing this.
The old man continued muttering, “Little darling, little reptile… Little treasure, come here!”
Crack, crack!
Continuous cracking sounds arose. Suddenly, the old man snapped, “You little brat! You’d rather die than surrender, huh?”
Guo Shier watched in shock as the Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon shattered. Confused, he asked, “What’s going on?”
The old man didn’t answer. He raised his hand again, creating a virtual palm that grabbed the Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon and squeezed tightly, shouting, “Condense!”
Puff! Puff!
In an instant, the dragon turned into a ball the size of a leather ball, which the old man sucked up. Shaking his head, he said, “What a stubborn Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon, trying to shatter its soul… Too bad you ran into me!” He casually put the ball back into the Ancient Ink Lotus.
Guo Shier asked, “What is soul shattering?”
The old man replied, “Soul shattering means splitting oneself into seventeen or eighteen pieces and then escaping. As long as one piece escapes, it can reassemble, but its strength will be greatly reduced!”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Why haven’t I seen this before?”

The handsome old man said indifferently, “Only spirit beasts at level 15 or above possess such skills.” He glanced at the altar not far away and added, “Give me a bit more soul this time; the consumption was quite high.”
Guo Shier nodded. He knew that the battle just now had cost the handsome old man at least one foot.
Zhang Yaojin rushed toward the altar without saying a word. Standing beneath the towering altar, he took a deep breath, prayed silently, then carefully stepped up the stairs.
Guo Shier and the others remained silent, watching him quietly.
As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, silence surrounded him. His heart sank—the altar showed no reaction. He stepped onto the second step and stood there for a long time before suddenly screaming, “I’ll do it… I’ll fuck your mother… Aahhh… Bastard! Damn it…” A string of curses erupted as he went crazy.
Guo Shier shook his head helplessly. He understood Zhang Yaojin’s feelings. It wasn’t that the Gu Dai family’s inheritance was bad, but rather that it wasn’t suitable for him to cultivate. If he persisted, he might turn into a demon, or even a human-demon. If he were the one to receive such an inheritance, he might also go crazy.
Zhang Yaojin rushed to the top of the altar, pointed at the sky, and cursed, “Damn you, bastard!” Then he crouched down, holding his head, his shoulders trembling violently. Everyone knew he was crying, but no one went to comfort him, as there was nothing to say. Professionals didn’t need comfort.
The handsome old man said indifferently, “Getting so depressed over such a small setback? Hmph, you won’t achieve much! Well, I’m going back. Remember, I need souls!” Without waiting for Guo Shier’s reply, he retracted into the Gu Mo Lotus. The Gu Mo Lotus quickly shrank and disappeared above Guo Shier’s head.
Luo Zhan asked, “Shier, once we’ve tamed this Iron Spine Silver Scent Dragon, can we use it in battles?”
Guo Shier shook his head slightly and said, “No. This isn’t a beast talisman. Such spirit beasts are sacrifices and cannot be used in battles.”
Luo Zhan looked confused. What was a sacrifice?
Xian Ru Dai asked, “Uncle Luo, don’t you know what a sacrifice is?”
Luo Zhan smiled bitterly. “I don’t. Maybe only when I become a Great Sage will I understand.”
Xian Ru Dai laughed and said, “Have you heard these old sayings?”
Luo Zhan asked, “What old sayings?”
Xian Ru Dai replied, “Talismans are professions, weapons are sacrificial treasures, spirit beasts are sacrifices, and altars are graves. Hehe, one of them says that spirit beasts are sacrifices—referring to the captured spirit beasts.”

Guo Shier asked, “Is the altar a grave? That sounds terrifying… Does building our own altar mean building our own graves?”
Xian Ruidai nodded and said, “That’s right. Actually, the original words are: Spells are your profession, weapons are your sacred treasures, spirit beasts are your offerings, and the altar is your grave—that’s what it means to be a professional.” She spoke these words in ancient runes, giving them a soul-stirring effect, and everyone felt a bit sad.
Guo Shier pondered for a while before saying, “The altar is your grave… It’s a strange feeling.”
Luo Zhan laughed and said, “Maybe… I won’t get to enjoy this in my lifetime.”
Guo Shier said, “Why worry so much? Being alive is better than anything.” His honest words immediately lightened the heavy atmosphere.
Xian Ruidai nodded and said, “These are just old sayings. I heard them from my great-grandmother.”
Guo Shier said, “Wait a moment. I’m going up to the altar. You can search around it; maybe you’ll find something.” He flew up to the altar.
Zhang Yaojin had already stood up, staring into the distance in silence.
Guo Shier went over to him and called, “Brother Zhang.”
Zhang Yaojin stared at Guo Shier and asked, “Shier, what do you think… what should I do?”
Guo Shier replied, “I don’t know. All I know is… in this world, as long as you have strength, you need fear nothing.” It was a comforting remark. He knew that saying anything at this point was useless; he had to figure it out on his own.
Zhang Yaojin let out a sigh and said, “Maybe. But I’m not willing to give up.” He turned and flew down from the altar.
Without delay, Guo Shier crouched down and pressed his hand against the top of the altar.
As expected, the ancient Ink Lotus in his soul began to spin, but this time faster than ever before. His soul also felt dizzy, with countless threads piercing into the altar through his palm. He now understood that these were the threads that bound souls, seemingly a unique skill of the ancient Ink Lotus, not something emitted by Old Shuai. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but smile slightly—it was these threads that had trapped Old Shuai inside the ancient Ink Lotus in the first place.
This time, Guo Shier didn’t compete with Old Shuai for the souls drawn out; instead, he fed them all into the ancient Ink Lotus, allowing Old Shuai to repair his own soul.
This soul altar was complete, with many pure souls, which was like a great tonic for Old Shuai.

The handsome old man was overjoyed. In just a moment, his body fully reformed, and much of his memory returned. He started shouting again, “It’s still not enough… Not enough! It’s far worse than before. I still need more… The more, the better! Ugh… Why is it gone again? More! Just a little more—just a little! Damn it!”
Guo Shier stood up reluctantly. He noticed that Gu Mo Lian was drawing souls even faster, but it still wasn’t enough to satisfy the handsome old man’s demands. He said, “Handsome old man, stop shouting. I’ll go look again.”
After flying down from the altar, Guo Shier asked, “Did you find anything valuable?”
Xian Ruidai returned happily, smiling and saying, “I found something really good.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “What good thing? Let me see!”
Xian Ruidai took out a palm-sized blue fragment and said, “It’s this. It’s a pity it’s a bit damaged.”
Zhou Xiaoling picked it up and examined it carefully for a while before saying, “What kind of junk is this? I can’t tell what it is. Sister Xian, why were you looking for this?”
Xian Ruidai replied, “How come you, who’ve inherited our Gu Dai family’s legacy, can’t even recognize a fragment of a sacrificial artifact? If handled properly, this fragment can be broken down into many useful materials. It’s a shame we can’t find the complete sacrificial artifact.”
A fragment of a sacrificial artifact.
Guo Shier immediately became interested. He said, “Let me see. There’s actually a fragment of a sacrificial artifact here!” He was shocked, knowing how hard it was to find such artifacts.
Xian Ruidai said, “What’s so strange about that? This is an ancient battlefield with so many altars. We should be able to find a sacrificial artifact.”
Guo Shier certainly understood the importance of sacrificial artifacts. So far, he only had one, and he didn’t even know what rank it was. He had obtained it when inheriting the Gu Miluo family’s legacy. Back then, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also each got one. Without their own altars, these sacrificial artifacts couldn’t be used.
The handsome old man could hear Guo Shier’s words and also know what others were saying through Guo Shier’s soul. But he couldn’t see outside or speak. He could only communicate with Guo Shier through soul vibrations: “Kid, go look for a sacrificial artifact too. I really need one here!”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. His soul trembled slightly. “Handsome old man, how can I find one? Sacrificial artifacts are so small and lie unnoticed on the ground.”
The handsome old man replied, “That’s your problem, not mine.”

Guo Shier didn’t pay him any more attention. Come on, this isn’t an archaeological excavation. Even if there are sacred treasures, most of them are buried in the soil. Without special methods, it’s impossible to find them. He certainly doesn’t have time to search slowly.
Eagle Demon asked, “Should we keep going inside?”
Xian Ru Dai said, “We’ve already encountered Level 15 Spirit Beasts here. Going further in… who knows what dangerous things we might run into? I think our strength isn’t enough.”
Zhang Yaojin said calmly, “I’ll still go inside.”
Guo Shier was a bit hesitant. He understood that going further in would be very dangerous, leaving him in a dilemma.
Zhou Xiaoling said, “Shier, you decide.”