Chapter 6: Killing to Silence (Part 1)

The handsome old man said, “Extreme Cold Flame—this thing is extremely useful to me. Alas, I’ve never been able to find a good Cold Flame. Who would have thought that idiot would use it as a sacrificial treasure? I’ve never seen such a foolish guy. Haha, this Cold Flame is now mine! I wonder where he got it from.” As he spoke, he summoned another sacrificial treasure.
A small umbrella flew out spinning.
At first, this umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure was only the size of a palm, moving at great speed as it spun upward above the Cold Flame.
This was a special type of sacrificial treasure—not a weapon-shaped attack artifact. The “umbrella” wasn’t actually an umbrella but merely took its shape. Its surface was a crystal-clear white, emitting waves of cold air, with an even smaller surface beneath it. This umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure had two layers; the second layer was black and hard to discern unless one paid close attention.
The handle was wrapped in fine, thread-like strands that emitted a faint blue glow. The ribs supporting the umbrella surface were all as white as jade bones, crafted from the bones of mutated talisman beasts.
The umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure spun slightly above the Cold Flame, and threads made of tiny runes descended, piercing straight into it. Only then did the handsome old man draw out his Soul-Annihilating Gun. Earlier, he had used the gun’s power to suppress the Cold Flame’s outbreak. Now, he turned to the umbrella-shaped treasure to suppress it and seize the Cold Flame by force.
Jin Longqing wasn’t stupid. He quickly realized something was wrong and immediately tried to claim the Cold Flame. He had spent a great deal of effort obtaining this Cold Flame from the secret realm and then spent over a decade refining it into a sacrificial treasure for attack, though its power was relatively weak. If it weren’t for his urgency to counter the Soul-Annihilating Gun, he wouldn’t have used it.
The umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure was also of Grade 6 and could be upgraded to Grade 7 with a little refinement. In fact, the treasures used by the handsome old man had all been Grade 7 before. But with his downfall and the passage of time, their grades had dropped as well.
The Cold Flame sacrificial treasure hadn’t even reached Grade 3, barely reaching Grade 2—how could it compare to the umbrella-shaped treasure? With just a slight rotation of the umbrella’s surface, Jin Longqing felt his soul tremble in fear, forcing him to give up. By then, the handsome old man had lifted the lock and was focusing entirely on dealing with the Cold Flame sacrificial treasure. He had never considered Jin Longqing to be a threat.

Jin Longqing teleported away, and only then did he take a close look at the altar, tears almost welling up in his eyes. This battle had cost him almost all his sacrificial treasures—the wooden needles were completely destroyed, not a single fragment left; the Ice Flame Sacrificial Treasure was forcibly taken away; of the seven wooden rings, five were ruined, with only the golden mace remaining intact, though it was also covered in cracks.

Guo Shier didn’t chase after him. He now understood the dangers of challenging someone beyond one’s rank. In fact, due to the old man’s intervention, Jin Longqing had ended up as the one challenging beyond his rank, which was why most of his sacrificial treasures were destroyed.

For a professionist at the altar level, the damage to their sacrificial treasures meant a loss of both offensive and defensive capabilities—like a tiger having its claws cut off and teeth pulled out; it still had strength but could no longer hunt.

The umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure captured that mass of cold flame, rapidly shrinking before turning into a streak of light and returning to the altar, disappearing straight through its top. Guo Shier didn’t even get a chance to watch. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly, “Cheap old man.” Yet he still admired the old man greatly—thanks to his intervention, Jin Longqing hadn’t even had a chance to fight back. He was truly formidable.

Guo Shier controlled the altar and roared as he charged straight into the crowd of professionists from the Gujin Family. Whether it was Jin Yishou and Jin Gui, or Jin Longqing and Jin Daya, they were so terrified they turned and ran. But there were still many mid- and low-level disciples in the crowd, whose speed wasn’t as fast as that of the altar-level professionists. In an instant, countless tentacles stretched out and swept through the crowd.

Each professionist had a dozen or so tentacles at their disposal. In just a few breaths, the top of Guo Shier’s altar was filled with disciples from the Gujin Family. He captured over seventy of them in one go. The others fled frantically as if they’d seen a ghost.

Jin Longqing shouted, “Stop!”

Guo Shier tilted his head and said, “Stop? Why? Weren’t you the one who wouldn’t let me go? Weren’t you the one who said you’d let me go if I released the captives? Your promise was as worthless as farting… Weren’t you the one who wanted me dead?” His anger grew as he snapped, “Keep fighting… Fuck you!” His Moon Blade slashed violently.

Jin Longqing’s face turned pale. Jin Daya didn’t say a word, turned around, and flew away, even dropping the escaped mid- and low-level disciples on the top of the altar. After witnessing Guo Shier’s tactics, he realized he was no match at all, so he fled without hesitation.

Jin Longqing couldn’t fight anymore, nor did he want to risk using his remaining sacrificial treasures. Fuming, he howled, “Wait for it…” He teleported far away in one leap, and after several more teleportations, he disappeared.

The only one who remained foolishly in place was Jin Gui, entangled by the tentacles on Guo Shier’s altar and dragged to the top of it. He didn’t even try to struggle, knowing it was useless. If Guo Shier could defeat experts from the third and fourth levels of altars, how could a professional of the Virtual Form Altar level compete with him?

Guo Shier wondered, “Why don’t you resist?”

Jin Gui said dejectedly, “What’s the point of resisting?”

Guo Shier replied thoughtfully, “It’s useless. Can’t you run? You’re already so big—how come you know nothing?”

Nan Ming and Nan Zhi Chun broke into cold sweats hearing this.

Jin Gui said, “I surrender. Just give me my son back… As long as Jin Gui Zi is safe, I’ll surrender.”

Guo Shier nodded. “Mm, I can promise that. But you need to return to our base first.”

Jin Gui sat cross-legged and said, “Okay.” He had no intention of resisting. Since Guo Shier had agreed, he felt relieved. With his strength, though he couldn’t defeat Guo Shier, escaping wasn’t a problem. He had deliberately stayed behind to be captured—after all, if a master of the Virtual Form Altar level was captured, the Gu Nan family would take it very seriously.

Nan Ming and Nan Zhi Chun were completely awed. Their gaze toward Guo Shier had changed completely. This guy was truly too powerful, able to challenge someone two levels above him. Defeating Jin Daya had already shocked them, but defeating Jin Longqing went beyond shock—it was terrifying. They never imagined his strength could be this great.

Guo Shier said, “We should go back. Directly to the family’s main camp in the Wind and Rain Secret Realm.”

Nan Ming and Nan Zhi Chun nodded in agreement. The Gu Jin family had sent experts from the third and fourth levels of altars. Even if they were masters of the Virtual Form Altar, they had no safety in the wild.

……

Jin Longqing put down his altar on the ground. Usually fierce in appearance, with a face full of fleshy muscles and being a patriarch-level figure, he was feared by almost everyone in the Gu Jin family. Yet here, on the Donghuan Grasslands, he had suffered such a heavy defeat, being utterly beaten by a junior with a second-level altar and almost killed.

He plopped down in a pile of grass, extremely upset, staring gloomily at the direction he came from, wondering, “Who is this guy… How is he so strong? Just a second-level altar, yet he made me unable to fight back. Damn it.”

As they were lost in their thoughts, a beam of light descended from the sky. Then Jin Daya said, “Alright, all of you, go down from the altar and return to your camps. Damn it… keep your mouths shut. If you can’t stand living, find a knife and slit your own throat. Stop talking nonsense. Do you understand?”
“Yes… Ancestor!”
“But, Ancestor, how should we explain this…”
“Ancestor, only I’m left in our squad. When I go back, I… I don’t know how to explain it…”
Jin Daya roared, “Shut your damn mouths!” He had no choice. This matter was likely impossible to cover up—it was too humiliating, and over seventy people had been captured at once. He would rather all these disciples be killed than captured.
Jin Longqing slowly stood up from the bushes and was immediately noticed by the disciples.
“Ancestor… the Ancestor is here!”
Jin Daya sneered, “Putting on an act!”
Jin Longqing flew into a rage and shouted, “What did you say?”
Jin Daya casually shook his head and said, “Can’t understand? Tch!”
Jin Longqing, who already liked to take out his anger on others, finally got a chance to vent the fury accumulated after being beaten mercilessly by Guo Shier. He roared, “I’ll kill you, you bastard!” and rushed at him.
The two immediately started fighting, trading punches and kicks. The disciples were all stunned, none daring to step in to stop the fight or say anything. Two ancestors fighting—just thinking about it was terrifying.