Chapter 10: Sharing (Part 1)

The Altar Head also felt humiliated. The recoil from earlier had injured him as well. What annoyed him even more was that Guo Shier was unharmed. Moreover, the Virtual Symbol Chains prevented him from making large movements, while Gu Mu Lian’s rotation gradually restricted his space.

The handsome old man shouted, “Die!”
The golden spear grew longer again, reaching a hundred meters in length, standing upright in the air like a giant pillar, its tip pointing downward. The old man waved his hand, and the golden spear suddenly soared high into the sky. He then yelled, “Shier! Step back!”
Guo Shier immediately ordered Gu Mu Lian to retreat. The Virtual Symbol Chains on Gu Mu Lian dragged the Altar Head backward for a distance. The Altar Head struggled desperately, using his umbrella-shaped sacrificial artifact to protect his body and resist being pulled away. His two thick arms clung tightly to the altar.

The Altar Head searched for his other sacrificial artifacts. Soon, he let out an angry roar, realizing he only had one left—all the others were gone. The umbrella-shaped artifact was defensive, not offensive. Now, apart from attacking with his soul, he had no weapons to fight against his opponent.

Damn!
Guo Shier seemed to hear the howling sound of shells before they fell in his past life. He looked up and saw a flash of golden light descending rapidly.

Boom!
The golden spear plunged fiercely into the umbrella-shaped artifact. The artifact spun quickly, its seven rings flying up and wrapping around the spear tip layer by layer. Under the flickering purple light, it pushed upward, neutralizing at least half of the spear’s attack. But the spear artifact was extremely fierce—not only was it sharp enough to pierce armor, but it also exerted immense pressure.

The Altar Head’s entire body sank downward. He focused on the umbrella-shaped artifact above his head. With it, he temporarily blocked the old man’s attacks.

Guo Shier watched in awe as the two fought using their sacrificial artifacts, deeply envious of their power.

The poor Altar Head could only defend passively. His umbrella-shaped artifact could only deflect attacks but couldn’t threaten his opponent. Meanwhile, with Gu Mu Lian’s protection, the old man had the upper hand. He commanded the golden spear to launch wave after wave of attacks.

Guo Shier said, “That umbrella… is really great!”
The old man replied, “If it’s good, then take it!” He seemed somewhat insane. The Altar Head had greatly angered him. While attacking with the golden spear, he shouted, “Kid, attack the altar below!” This was a ruthless move—destroy the altar, and the Altar Head would no longer have any reason to exist.

Guo Shier said, “Good!” He was now one with the old hero—sharing weal and woe alike—and once again unleashed his Moon Blade.
Gu Mu Lian and the altar were directly facing each other, though Gu Mu Lian was in mid-air, allowing Guo Shier to attack from above. The Moon Blade spun rapidly along the ground, forming a circular blade wheel that circled the altar several times.
Guo Shier said, “Old Hero, distract him!”
The old hero understood what Guo Shier wanted to do. He laughed loudly and said, “Good!” His golden spear instantly transformed and swept horizontally, crashing into the umbrella-shaped protective barrier of the altar. The impact caused the altar’s head and body to shake violently, causing its already solid form to become blurred again, reducing its strength by at least 30%.
Seizing this opportunity, Guo Shier slashed downward with his Moon Blade, causing a corner of the altar to collapse with a loud crash.
The altar’s head was left helpless. With Guo Shier and the old hero attacking together, it found it impossible to defend itself—unable to guard against attacks from above or below. It also realized that if the altar was destroyed, it would be finished.
With a roar, a giant hand stretched out from the altar, trying to grab the slashing Moon Blade.
The old hero snorted. His giant spear suddenly turned into a flaming spear that pierced through the giant hand in an instant, shattering it completely.
The Moon Blade slashed at the altar again, sending debris flying and causing it to shake.
The altar’s head couldn’t withstand the combined attacks of Guo Shier and the old hero. It struggled desperately, screaming in despair.
In truth, the old hero was also terrified. He knew well that without Gu Mu Lian’s help, he would never have been able to defeat the opponent. He was secretly relieved that Guo Shier had chosen him first; if he had chosen that other guy instead, it would have been him who would be doomed.
With repeated slashes from the Moon Blade, the entire altar gradually collapsed. Realizing the situation was dire, the altar’s head chanted a series of spells. The umbrella-shaped protective barrier above it rapidly expanded, growing to a height of a hundred meters. From afar, it looked like a giant holding an umbrella—a rather strange sight.
The old hero shouted, “Be careful! This guy is going all out!” Suddenly, a bead appeared above his head and swelled up, emitting a dazzling light like the sun. It continuously cast virtual talismans, with a beam of light shooting straight at the opponent’s umbrella-shaped barrier. He cried out, “Stabilize!”

Guo Shier also grew anxious. He could sense the fluctuations from the opponent’s sacrificial treasure and realized that the altar head intended to explode it. Unable to continue damaging the altar, he immediately amplified the power of the Ancient Ink Lotus, sending countless virtual talisman chains down from it. Thousands of these chains wrapped around the umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure as he tried to take control of it.

The old man’s soul gradually contracted, channeling all his strength into the gem above his head. Under its pressure, the umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure began to shrink. He roared, “Seize it!”

The altar head experienced intense spiritual tremors. The old man shouted, “Damn it… I’m making you self-destruct! I don’t want your soul anymore…”

Guo Shier desperately used the chains to hold back the opponent. This guy wanted to undergo a soul self-destruction—he was also panicked. If the opponent exploded, they wouldn’t only fail to obtain his soul but would also suffer a massive shock. Who knew if the Ancient Ink Lotus could withstand such an impact?

The old man roared, “Die!” Dozens of thick tentacles suddenly descended from the Ancient Ink Lotus. Guo Shier was stunned—those were the tentacles of Gu Xi Bi.

Those tentacles pierced through the protective barrier of the umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure and plunged into the massive body of the altar head.

An incredible light flashed in the altar head’s eyes as its soul fluctuated. “Ah… Soul Devouring Beast… Ah, ah… No… Not…”

Dozens of tentacles writhed together, causing countless cracks to appear on the altar head’s body. A wave of desperate spiritual energy emitted, “No! Ah…” With a loud explosion, the altar head was torn to pieces, turning into a pure soul. Gu Xi Bi excitedly waved its tentacles, beginning to devour the soul.

Guo Shier shouted, “Old man… Retrain Gu Xi Bi!”

The old man cast several spells, and the Ancient Ink Lotus generated immense force, pulling Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles back.

Seizing the opportunity, Guo Shier amplified the power of the Ancient Ink Lotus and quickly absorbed the scattered souls. He reached out and grasped at it, and the uncontrollable umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure fell into his hands.

Overjoyed, Guo Shier fiddled with the sacrificial treasure like a toy. The chains emitted by the Ancient Ink Lotus swirled around the altar, preventing the altar head from reassembling its body. A large number of pure souls were drawn into the Ancient Ink Lotus. The old man also returned to it, beginning to frantically absorb souls.

The number of souls in just this one altar was greater than the sum of all the souls from the previous altars combined.

Guo Shier tried the umbrella-shaped sacrificial artifact a bit before also starting to absorb souls. He wasn’t too polite, as there were an enormous number of souls this time—even the old man couldn’t absorb them all at once. Some were absorbed by Gu Mu Lian, some by Gu Xi Bi, while the vast majority were absorbed by the old man and Guo Shier themselves.

The number of souls this time was truly terrifyingly large. The old man communicated with Guo Shier using their souls: “Kid, we can at most absorb over half of this guy’s soul. There’s still a part that we simply can’t absorb no matter what. Should we let Gu Xi Bi take it?”

Guo Shier asked, “Can’t we keep it?”

The old man replied, “There’s no time… If we don’t absorb these souls in time, they’ll dissipate quickly.”

Guo Shier said, “Alright, then give it to Gu Xi Bi… Wait, old man, can these souls be sent to my companions?”

The old man said, “Yes, through Gu Mu Lian. They can’t absorb them directly; they need to be filtered through Gu Mu Lian first.”

Guo Shier was overjoyed—this would help his companions grow stronger, which had been his wish. An individual’s strength was never as great as that of a group. He shouted, “Everyone, come over!”

Gu Mu Lian had already shrunk and was hovering above his head. Guo Shier sat on top of the altar, while Eagle Demon and the others landed on it. Xian Ruy Dai said, “Brother Shier, you won! It’s a shame that one sacrificial spirit was destroyed.”

Guo Shier said, “Everyone, sit cross-legged and stay still.”

Among this group, Guo Shier already had considerable authority—even Xian Ruy Dai and Zhang Yaojin respected him. Everyone sat cross-legged around him.

Guo Shier said, “Use your own cultivation methods.”

Xian Ruy Dai murmured, “What’s the big deal… So mysterious…” Then she also sat down and began cultivating.

Guo Shier gently tapped Gu Mu Lian above his head, and countless fine threads flew out, landing on everyone’s foreheads. He said, “Be careful, don’t move around. Absorb the souls I’ve sent over!”

Streams of pure souls were sent over—this was the first time everyone had received such a benefit. In this world, the most powerful thing was soul energy. Everyone’s soul energy was limited. Only by having an altar and sacrifices could one’s soul grow rapidly, as an altar and sacrifices allowed one to truly strengthen their soul.

Before having access to the altar, every professional struggled to rapidly grow their souls, having to hone and train slowly to gradually advance. Guo Shier was different; just like Luo Jieqinan, he took a unique path to advancement.
Guo Shier said in a deep voice, “Stabilize your mind—stay calm!” He could already sense the crowd’s ecstatic emotions.
Two days passed before the group managed to divide up the souls from the altar’s heads.
Everyone advanced in succession—Eagle Demon, Zhang Yaojin, Zhou Xiaoling, and Qian Ruidai all reached the rank of Advanced Great Sage Master. Even the lowest-ranked Luo Zhan successfully advanced to Junior Great Sage Master. If not for his souls being completely exhausted, he could have continued to advance.