Chapter 6: The Salt Old Man (Part 1)

Guo Shier thought for a moment before asking, “How many stars have we collected?” The old man with the handsome appearance poked his head out from the Ancient Ink Lotus and said, “We’ve collected many. Not only is there enough for you to craft a sacrificial treasure, but there’s also plenty left over that can be used for exchanges.”
Nan You asked, “Do we have to leave this place?”
Guo Shier nodded. “There’s no need for us to get involved. We don’t have the strength. If a master with a third- or fourth-tier altar appears, none of us combined can match them. We’d still have to flee. Besides, we only met He Da Niao once; we have no close relationship, so there’s no need to take risks.”
Nan You nodded. “Okay, let’s leave this place.”
Guo Shier said, “Everyone, come on up.”
It wasn’t that Guo Shier’s Ancient Ink Lotus was particularly powerful, but in this place, to move together, they had to use an altar; otherwise, it was easy to get separated. Nan You folded up his virtual altar and flew onto the Ancient Ink Lotus, saying, “There’s no time to predict. Let’s head over there.”
Guo Shier identified the direction briefly before steering the Ancient Ink Lotus to fly toward the distance.
Although the Starlight Secret Realm was a small secret realm, it was still large enough that it wouldn’t take long to reach its edge. The old man with the handsome appearance took control of the Ancient Ink Lotus and propelled it to fly at high speed.
Boom!
Distant stars exploded, with countless stars scattering in all directions. Suddenly, an altar appeared ahead, with He Da Niao standing awkwardly on it. Guo Shier, with his sharp eyes, noticed that several of the great masters on the altar were missing—only four remained, two of whom were lying on the altar, clearly severely injured.
He Da Niao’s expression turned dark. As soon as he saw Guo Shier and the others, he shouted without hesitation, “Be careful!”
Guo Shier’s face changed drastically. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, he was still pulled in, thinking to himself how unlucky he was. But it was already too late to escape, as the attack had arrived.
A rune-covered giant hand slammed down from the sky, reaching fiercely toward He Da Niao’s altar. Realizing the danger, Guo Shier didn’t dare interfere. Fortunately, the old man with the handsome appearance was quick-witted and steered the Ancient Ink Lotus away swiftly.
He Da Niao roared in fury. Clearly enraged, the long, thin spear hanging above his head shot out abruptly, striking at the giant hand like a venomous snake.
Whoosh! Crack!
Although the long spear was dozens of meters long and as thick as a bucket, the giant hand was even larger. The spear pierced through the hand and flew onward, while the damaged hand still slammed down, hitting the altar’s defenses with a crack. The altar fell, followed by He Da Niao’s furious roar.

That strike damaged his altar, and its defense shield shattered. He Da Niao cast thousands of spells in succession, then snapped his hand—resulting in a level-12 mutated spirit beast breaking apart into a cluster of spirits that were absorbed by the altar. The cracks on the altar quickly healed, and its defense shield reappeared.

Although Gu Mo Lian moved away, they were still too close to escape in time. An altar suddenly appeared not far away. Guo Shier immediately recognized it as a two-layer altar, which made him break into a cold sweat. After all, he was only a high-level Grand Sage, not a true master of altars.

“Run!”

Shuai Lao Tou also knew that fighting at this moment would be disadvantageous for Guo Shier, so he immediately used Gu Mo Lian to teleport away.

Guo Shier felt a prickle on his scalp. He had seen Chou Mo’s power before—Chou Mo was also a master of two-layer altars. He understood that this guy was not someone to mess with, and he certainly didn’t want to fight such an opponent.

But the owner of that altar refused to let them go. How could they just appear in front of him and then turn around to run? It was like a fierce dog encountering a passerby—if the passerby stayed still, it was fine, but if they ran away, the dog would definitely chase after them.

Guo Shier said urgently, “Shuai Lao Tou, I’ll control Gu Mo Lian. You take care of the attacks!” He believed he didn’t have the ability to fight against a master of a two-layer physical altar, but Shuai Lao Tou was different. Although he was a spirit of an altar, he had been extremely powerful in life. Even if his strength had declined now, he should still be able to hold his own for a while.

Shuai Lao Tou replied without hesitation, “Okay, you take control. Be careful and dodge!”

Guo Shier increased the amount of soul energy he poured in to control Guo Mo Lian as they fled desperately.

The professional master of the two-layer physical altar wasn’t taking it too seriously. His main target was still He Da Niao. He had already realized that Guo Shier only possessed Guo Mo Lian and was not a true master of altars, so he didn’t pay him much attention. This guy had two sacrificial treasures: a blue feather and a bone hand that resembled jade.

The giant palm earlier was an attack using a virtual talisman from the bone hand. If the bone hand were used directly for an attack, its power could increase several times over, but it would also consume a significant amount of soul energy.

The man stood on the altar and sneered, “Run? Where can you run? Go!”

The blue feather suddenly emitted countless tiny blue ice crystals, and in an instant, a wave of extreme cold hit Guo Mo Lian.

The man ignored Guo Shier and the others, disappearing into the air to continue chasing after He Da Niao.

An extremely cold aura surged over. Guo Shier tried his best to steer the Ancient Ink Lotus to escape, but even teleportation couldn’t save them. He quickly shouted, “Elder Shuai!”
Nan You’s face turned pale. “It’s a sacrificial treasure crafted by Lan Han Fenyu… Good heavens, this cold aura can freeze everything!”
Guo Shier feared cold the most. As the icy aura attacked, it immediately penetrated the Ancient Ink Lotus’s protective barrier and struck everyone. In an instant, he felt his whole body stiffen.
Elder Shuai said coldly, “Lan Han Fenyu is indeed a fine treasure, but sadly… it’s useless to us!”
A circular sacrificial treasure flew out, with a flame rising over a meter high. This flame-based treasure was designed to counteract all kinds of cold auras. In an instant, countless flames spread out, sweeping away the icy aura completely.
Elder Shuai shouted, “Kid, don’t get distracted! Run faster!”
Nan You’s eyes were almost popping out. He knew what quality this was—this was a high-grade sacrificial treasure. He also realized it was made from tens of thousands of flames, making it extremely powerful both for crafting items and attacking.
Guo Shier sped along on the Ancient Ink Lotus, hoping to reach the edge of the secret realm soon. Once they entered the passage, they would be safe. But before they could go far, another loud explosion was heard, followed by furious curses: “You damn old bastard, Yan Lao Guai… As long as I’m alive, I’ll never let you go!”
It was He Da Niao’s voice.
Guo Shier turned around and continued to flee, wondering, “Damn it, it was right behind us—how did it end up in front of me…?” He cursed inwardly but was quick-witted, turning around as soon as he heard the sound.
“He Da Niao… keep cursing. Haha, who would’ve thought I’d meet you in the Starlight Secret Realm? Haha, back in the day, weren’t you just an idiot? Now you’re in trouble, huh? Die!”
Boom! Boom!
Two loud explosions. Then Yan Lao Guai laughed loudly, “Haha, I’ll crush you! Run… let’s see where you run to!”
Guo Shier said with a bitter smile, “Nan You, we’re really unlucky. He Da Niao is clearly Yan Lao Guai’s enemy.”
Nan You replied, “It’s not surprising. There are many enemies among high-level professionals. Here, as long as you stay clean, no one knows if you’ve killed anyone. So… we need to run faster. If we can escape, it’ll also help He Da Niao.”

Guo Shier immediately understood that as long as someone escaped, even if He Dabiao was killed, news of who killed him could spread, and Salt Old Monster would be pursued by He Dabiao’s family. This was something Salt Old Monster could absolutely not tolerate, so after killing He Dabiao, he would surely kill Guo Shier and the others as well.
Salt Old Monster’s laughter came from afar. Guo Shier could only force a bitter smile. It was uncertain how long it would take to reach the edge of the secret realm—several hours might not even be enough—so he had no choice but to fly at full speed.