Chapter 7: The Great Submergence Fortress (Part 1)

The black bracelet suddenly swelled. It was unclear how the handsome old man controlled it, but the bracelet wrapped around the Bone Hand and held it suspended in midair. Salt Old Monster was stunned to the point of numbness—he never expected his Bone Hand to be trapped by someone else. How absurd! The other party was just a great sage—where did he get such a powerful sacrificial artifact?

The Bone Hand was Salt Old Monster’s strongest offensive sacrificial artifact. He frantically tried to retrieve it, but the handsome old man’s sacrificial artifact was no ordinary item. After firmly securing the Bone Hand, thousands of flaming threads wrapped around it.

He Big Bird was both astonished and overjoyed. He swung his spear forward with a whoosh.

Nan You wasn’t surprised. He had always believed Guo Shier was strong. He wouldn’t miss this opportunity either. His sacrificial artifact, the talisman bead, was thrown again, striking Salt Old Monster hard.

As the flaming threads gently wrapped around the Bone Hand, Salt Old Monster let out a agonized scream. After all, the sacrificial artifact was connected to its owner’s soul. The thousands of flaming threads instantly refined the soul imprint he had left in the Bone Hand, dealing him severe damage as blood gushed out wildly. Seeing Nan You and He Big Bird’s sacrificial artifacts approaching, he had no choice but to teleport away.

Under the refining effect of the flaming sacrificial artifact, the handsome old man forcibly stripped Salt Old Monster of his soul imprint. Even if Salt Old Monster wanted to shatter the Bone Hand, he wouldn’t have time to do so.

Without his strongest sacrificial artifact, Salt Old Monster was like a tiger without claws. Relying solely on Lan Han Fen Yu, he couldn’t defeat those three altar masters. Fuming in anger, he roared violently, but he also knew he couldn’t continue. Once Guo Shier freed up, things would get much worse for him.

Before the handsome old man could fully refine the Bone Hand, Salt Old Monster had already escaped.

Neither Nan You nor He Big Bird dared to chase after him. He Big Bird was severely injured, and Nan You’s strength wasn’t enough to threaten Salt Old Monster. Even without his strongest sacrificial artifact, Salt Old Monster was still beyond Nan You’s reach.

A moment later, the Bone Hand contracted rapidly and was swept up by the flames, returning to the Ancient Ink Lotus.

Guo Shier was also stunned. The handsome old man was truly amazing—he had managed to snatch Salt Old Monster’s sacrificial artifact. He reached out and grabbed it; the Bone Hand landed in his palm. Only then did he get the chance to examine this strange sacrificial artifact closely.

The first impression was that the bone hand was crystal clear, emitting a faint jade-like glow. It was about the size of a human hand, with each joint exquisitely detailed. Layers of runes as fine as sesame seeds appeared from time to time, and holding it gave a warm, soothing sensation. Although it resembled a human hand, Guo Shier knew this bone hand, a sacrificial treasure, was by no means made from human bones.

The handsome old man also observed it and said, “It’s of average quality, but quite beautiful.”

Nan You folded up the altar and flew down to the Ancient Ink Lotus, then came over and said, “Shier, you’re amazing! You actually managed to snatch their sacrificial treasure. Hehe, I bet that Salt Old Man will cry.” He seemed very excited. At this moment, he had no doubts about Guo Shier’s strength, not realizing that it was all the work of the handsome old man.

He Da Niao forced himself to fly over, landing not far from Guo Shier and the others. Standing atop the altar, he bowed respectfully and said, “Thank you for your help, senior!” He was secretly relieved that he hadn’t harbored evil intentions when he first saw Guo Shier and the others; otherwise, he would have been dead by now.

Guo Shier replied, “You’re welcome. We were just protecting ourselves.”

He Da Niao stretched out his hand and sent out a talisman, saying, “Brother Guo, I won’t say much in thanks. This is the continent where our Guhe Ming family resides. If you ever come to our Guhe Ming Continent, be sure to come look for me!”

Guo Shier took a quick look and saw that it contained the coordinates of a continent. Smiling, he said, “If I get the chance to visit the Guhe Ming Continent, I’ll definitely come to see you, Brother He.”

He Da Niao took out several message talismans and exchanged them with Guo Shier and Nan You, saying, “Brother Nan, thank you too for your help. See you again soon!” He didn’t dare stay any longer. On one hand, he was eager to find a place to heal himself, and on the other hand, he was afraid that Guo Shier and Nan You might turn on him. If a fight broke out, he wouldn’t be able to resist, even though Guo Shier and the others had no intention of taking advantage of the situation.

Guo Shier said, “See you again soon!”

He Da Niao used the altar to fly toward the edge of the secret realm.

Guo Shier put away the bone hand and said, “Let’s go too. We can’t stay here for long. Who knows if Salt Old Man will bring allies to take revenge?”

The handsome old man nodded and said, “Let Nan You calculate the route. He’s very good at finding places.”

Nan You agreed, got off the Ancient Ink Lotus, took out a black talisman disk, and made another prediction. After a moment, he said, “Go in this direction.” After finishing the prediction, he flew back onto the Ancient Ink Lotus.

Guo Shier said with a wry smile, “That’s the direction Salt Old Man fled in!”

Nan You asked doubtfully, “Are you sure it’s this direction?”

Guo Shier replied, “Of course!”

Nan You said without hesitation, “Then it counts as if I never said it!”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan laughed heartily. The earlier battle had terrified them, and it was only now that they began to recover.
The handsome old man said, “Let’s go in that direction. What’s there to fear? With an old man around… there’s nothing to worry about!”
Guo Shier thought to himself, “You’re not afraid, but I am… Never mind, I’d better follow the old man’s advice. It won’t hurt to do that.” He nodded and said, “Okay, let’s head that way. If we encounter Old Salt Monster, we’ll grab one of his feathers too, hehe.”
The handsome old man said nothing, secretly smiling bitterly. Using a sacrificial artifact required consuming soul power. Although his soul was strong, using it to power such an artifact was still very taxing. It wasn’t a big issue inside the Ancient Ink Lotus, but sending the artifact out to confront enemies caused tremendous depletion. After seizing the Bone Hand, he found himself at least 10% weaker.
Yet the handsome old man was a fearless man who would never show weakness in front of Guo Shier.
As they flew, Guo Shier sat on top of the Ancient Ink Lotus, fiddling with the Bone Hand, and asked, “Handsome Old Man, can I refine this sacrificial artifact… and make it my own?”
The handsome old man dismissed him with disdain, “This Bone Hand is quite ordinary. It relies solely on strength, with no variations or attribute boosts. Why refine it? It’s better to break it down into materials for me!”
Guo Shier shouted, “No!” Come on, is it that easy to refine a sacrificial artifact? Even without attribute boosts, even if it relies on strength, it’s still a second-tier sacrificial artifact. The handsome old man, having seen many high-tier sacrificial artifacts, dismissed it, but Guo Shier wasn’t giving up.
“Keep it for me. I’ll refine it, and it can be used right away. It’s far stronger than the Moon Blade!”
The handsome old man curled his lips and said, “Although the Moon Blade is weak now, its potential is much greater than this Bone Hand. Fine, as you wish. By the time you have a third-tier altar, this thing will be trash anyway, and it still can’t escape being broken down by the old man.”
Guo Shier was speechless. After a moment of silence, he insisted, “I still want to refine this Bone Hand!”
The handsome old man retracted his head and returned to the Ancient Ink Lotus. He was too lazy to argue with Guo Shier any longer.
They flew for about a day. During this time, Gu Xi Bi inside the Ancient Ink Lotus continued to stretch out its tentacles, drawing in surrounding stars into the lotus. The Ancient Ink Lotus had vast space, enough to hold countless stars.
As they approached the edge of the secret realm, Nan You exclaimed, “Look! Old Salt Monster!”

Salt Old Monster sat on the altar, nearly at its edge. He suddenly turned around, staring viciously at Guo Shier. Losing his bone hand had inflicted severe trauma on him—not physical, but spiritual. Having barely escaped here, he could no longer move forward and could only stay to try to restore his damaged soul.

In the blink of an eye, Guo Shier’s Ancient Ink Lotus approached Salt Old Monster’s altar. Nan You asked, “Shier, do you want to kill him?” He was very worried, because if a master of a two-layer solid altar fought desperately, even a master of a three-layer altar would have to avoid him. At this point, there was no need to engage in a life-or-death struggle with such a master.

Guo Shier shook his head. “No, we can’t kill him.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kill him—he also didn’t want to let this guy go. Having an enemy among the altar masters would keep one awake at night. But the opponent was too strong; he wasn’t sure he could leave Salt Old Monster behind, not even with Nan You and Old Shuai’s help.

Salt Old Monster was also scared. He still didn’t understand why Guo Shier could forcibly seize his sacrificial treasure and inflict such severe damage on him. The moment he saw Guo Shier, without saying a word, he used the altar to teleport away. This teleportation caused him to spit out more blood, worsening his injuries.

Seeing Salt Old Monster disappear suddenly, everyone found it strange. How could this guy just run away without saying a word? Were they really that powerful?

Eagle Demon said, “Strange, why did he run?”

Luo Zhan said, “Who knows? Maybe he needed to pee?”

Everyone burst into laughter. Nan You laughed, “That’s a good reason. Haha, needing to pee… If Salt Old Monster heard that, he’d die of anger.”

He then added, “Shier, pick any passage. I believe your luck is extremely good now!”

Guo Shier wasn’t modest either. He steered the Ancient Ink Lotus, taking Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, Nan You, and Old Shuai, who was hiding inside the lotus, along with the sacrificial spirit. The five of them quickly entered a passage. As the entrance disappeared, it became impossible for anyone to follow them.

……

It was a passage with a faint red glow. As they flew through it, they didn’t encounter a single attack. Guo Shier was puzzled. “The two passages we took before had attacks. Why none this time?”

Nan You explained, “A passage without attacks… is just an ordinary passage. The place it leads to will be rather disappointing. Hehe, if there are attacks, it means the place the passage leads to is usually a good place… Your luck is poor this time.”

Guo Shier said, “Just now you still said my luck was extremely good… Why did you change your mind so quickly?”
Nan You smiled and said, “I’m more practical!”
Looking at his annoying face, Guo Shier thought, “It really looks like a horse’s face!” He then said, “Well, it’s the first time we’ve used an ordinary passage. It’s no wonder since it’s our first time seeing one.”
Nan You was speechless. After a while, he asked, “Is this the first time you’ve used an ordinary passage?”
Guo Shier replied with a smile, “Yes!”
Nan You sighed deeply and said, “I won’t say anything else.” In other words, apart from this ordinary passage, Guo Shier and his group had used other distinctive passages. But what he didn’t know was that this was only the third passage they had used.