Chapter 4: The Land of Inheritance (Part 1)

Qingdao City was the greatest inheritance city of the Gu Mi family, boasting dozens of inheritance altars of various sizes. Guo Shier and his companions fought their way here. It was Chen Tianyao who told them about this place, prompting Guo Shier to decide to head straight there immediately. An inheritance altar was the foundation of a family; destroying them would surely cause deep pain to the Gu Mi family’s elite.

Along the way, Qi Nanshan advanced to the seventh-tier altar. Having passed through two cities during their journey, Luo Jie hardly fought at all, leaving all the killing to Qi Nanshan so that he could advance. Before entering Qingdao City, he successfully reached the seventh-tier altar. Thus, among their group, there were now two experts at the seventh tier.

Qingdao City was located by a vast lake. In Guo Shier’s eyes, this lake was comparable to the oceans of his past life—immensely large, with clear waters and an endless expanse.

Beside the lake lay Qingdao City, a massive metropolis with a population of millions.

There were not many altar-level experts stationed here, as it was the heart of the Gu Mi Continent, making it difficult for enemies of any family to reach. No one expected that someone would actually invade Qingdao City this time.

The ancestral master guarding Qingdao City had returned to Gu Mi City. The strongest altar-level professionals here only reached the second tier and were utterly incapable of resisting. When he saw Guo Shier and his group appearing over Qingdao City, he fled without hesitation, taking several high-ranking officials with him. He had already heard news of Mi Zhengfeng’s death—a fifth-tier expert killed—so he didn’t think he could confront them.

As a result, Guo Shier and his companions encountered no resistance from altar-level experts. As for those professionals like Grand Masters and Supreme Masters, after hundreds of them being killed, they too vanished without a trace.

Guided by the traitor Chen Tianyao, Guo Shier and the others quickly located the extremely famous giant altar in Qingdao City. It was said that this altar was left behind by a former ancestral master of the Gu Mi family at the time of his death. It was a high-level inheritance altar of the Gu Mi family, intended for experts above the Virtual Form altar level.

Standing in front of the massive inheritance altar, the group was stunned. The altar was incredibly tall, like a mountain. Guo Shier couldn’t help but ask, “Is this the highest inheritance altar of the Gu Mi family? Damn, which tier’s expert left it?”

Chen Tianyao said, “The Eighth-Level Altar was left by the most powerful expert in the Gu Mi family’s history when he perished. All the other altars were created after that, which is why Qingdao City is also the destination for altar-level experts from the Gu Mi family. They usually choose to come here when they are dying.”

Guo Shier sat on the altar, hovering above that giant altar. The handsome old man poked his head out of the altar, staring intently at it with a greedy expression on his face. He said, “There’s a powerful soul inside this altar…”

Guo Shier replied, “I already have you as my altar spirit. I don’t need another… Uh, do you want to swallow him? The soul of an Eighth-Level Altar expert… you can’t swallow that, can you?”

The handsome old man said dejectedly, “Even with Gu Xi Bi, it won’t work. My strength isn’t enough. That soul is too powerful.” Suddenly, noticing Luo Jie’s gaze, he quickly retracted into the altar out of fear. He truly feared Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan—both were experts in soul altars who could counter his soul body.

Luo Jie asked, “Is this your altar spirit?” He recognized the handsome old man’s identity at a glance.

Guo Shier laughed and said, “Yes, a very handsome old man. But it seems he’s quite afraid of you…” The handsome old man stamped his feet inside the altar and shouted, “Kid, stop talking nonsense! Who’s afraid of him? I’m not afraid… I’ve never been afraid, hmph!” He kept shouting wildly but refused to show himself.

Luo Jie stared at the altar and said, “Hehe, I also need a soul body as an altar spirit… Since you’re an elder of the Gu Mi family, then… sorry for you!”

The handsome old man jumped around anxiously, saying, “I want it too… I want it too…” At that moment, he acted like a child begging for his favorite candy.

Guo Shier sighed and said, “Handsome old man, you can’t defeat that soul body. It’s the soul body of an Eighth-Level Altar. If you force yourself to swallow it, you might be replaced. Don’t take risks. I don’t want to lose you…” He had long regarded the handsome old man as part of his family, even though he was just an altar spirit—a grumbling old man.

The handsome old man refused to give up, saying, “That’s the soul of an Eighth-Level Altar! If I swallow it… Sigh, I can not only restore my strength but also make a huge leap forward!”

Guo Shier looked around and asked, “Chen Tianyao, there must be many more altars here, right?” He had already seen various altars scattered throughout Qingdao City.

Chen Tianyao said, “There aren’t a hundred, but at least fifty or sixty. This is the most important inheritance site of the Gu Mi family.”
Guo Shier said, “Elder Shuai, did you hear that? There are so many altars. We can’t swallow those powerful ones, but the weaker ones aren’t a problem. You can’t become fat in one bite; we’ll take it slow. Besides, an eighth-tier altar… even if it’s an inheritance altar, we can’t break it.”
Elder Shuai quickly calmed down. He also knew he couldn’t deal with such an inheritance altar. After a while, he said, “Alright, let’s devour the souls of other altars…”
Eagle Demon asked, “Shier, can you get me a sacrificial spirit?”
Only then did Guo Shier realize that neither Eagle Demon Luo Zhan nor Nan You had sacrificial spirits. He said, “Okay, I’ll help you get one…” With Gu Xi Bi and Elder Shuai by his side, extracting souls from altars wasn’t difficult for him. If it were an altar left by a professional of the eighth tier, his abilities would certainly be insufficient, but other mid-to-low-tier altars couldn’t stop Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles.
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan hovered on either side of the altar. Even though Luo Jie had reached the level of an seventh-tier altar, he still needed Qi Nanshan’s help to obtain the souls inside. This wasn’t about destroying souls but seizing them, which was an extremely difficult task.
Fortunately, both of them were experts in soul altars. To soul entities, these two were the most ferocious enemies. When the Flame of Souls appeared, the eighth-tier altar suddenly emitted light and formed a defensive barrier. Then, a giant head rose from the top of the altar, roaring, “Who are you?”
The roar shook the heavens and earth.
Luo Jie smiled and said, “I am… your master!”
The figure immediately flew into a rage and shouted, “Who are you? How dare you speak such arrogantly!”
Qi Nanshan said, “We are your enemies. To be precise… we are enemies of the Gu Mi family. So, you deserve this misfortune!”
Guo Shier and the others stepped back a distance. Although this person had long died, his soul remained intact in the altar, still retaining 60-70% of his strength. They simply couldn’t withstand him. Without Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan, they would be utterly helpless against this inheritance altar.

Although that soul had activated the altar defense, it didn’t possess any sacrificial treasures—those had all been left to its descendants. It never expected them to let the enemy reach its altar, filling it with anger and urgency. With its complete memories intact, it knew these two were Soul Altar professionals. Even if it were still alive, it might not have stood a chance against them, let alone now that it was merely a soul entity.

“Get out! Go away!”
It waved its arms wildly, half of its body exposed.

Guo Shier smiled and said, “This guy is nervous.”

The old man cautiously poked his head out and said, “Pity… If he had met us, he could have blocked our attacks with just the altar defense. But his masters are Soul Altar professionals, exactly the right opponents for him. He… can’t escape this fate.”

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan ignored his roars entirely. They cast countless spells, unleashing waves of Soul Fire.

Luo Jie softly said, “Spark spreads to the wilderness!”

Qi Nanshan shouted, “Endless life!”

Countless sparks landed on the altar’s defense shield. With Luo Jie’s command, they instantly turned into flames that spread along the shield. Then, Qi Nanshan directed the flames, and together they made the fire rise even higher. The soul entity screamed in terror, “Stop! Stop! The Gu Mi family won’t let you off…” It sadly realized it had no means to resist and could only threaten them verbally.

Qi Nanshan sneered, “The Gu Mi family won’t let us off? Haha, they’ve already abandoned us—destroyed our homeland continent. So we’ll destroy the foundation of the Gu Mi family! Haha!”

The soul entity was now desperate. It never imagined its family would make such a grave mistake by provoking two super experts with Soul Altars. It said solemnly, “Can we reconcile? What are your demands… tell me, and I’ll resolve the conflict between you and your family!”

Luo Jie replied indifferently, “How? Our clans and sects were wiped out, our professionals slaughtered, and the entire continent’s population was plundered to become slaves of your Gu Mi family. Heh, tell me… how do we resolve this?”

Such an act of genocide was something even the Gu family wouldn’t dare to commit, yet the Gu Mi family not only did it but also did it thoroughly. Realizing there was no turning back, it wasn’t surprising they were so ruthless—these people were here to fight to the death. It wasn’t scary for an ordinary person to fight to the death, but it was terrifying when a group of elite professionals did the same.

As the Flame of the Soul burned more intensely, the protective barrier began to emit faint cracking sounds, with beeping noises that made the soul entity tremble violently. He kept casting spells in an attempt to strengthen the defense, but this came at the cost of consuming his soul. Moments later, his soul entity weakened significantly.

The handsome old man stared at the altar for a long time before saying, “What a shame. Such a pure soul entity… What a pity.”

The flames surged, and the cracking sounds grew louder.

Suddenly, the soul entity roared, “If that’s the case… then don’t even think of getting me!”

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan’s expressions turned grim. The handsome old man said, “Bad! He’s about to self-destruct!”

The soul entity began to shake violently. Luo Jie shouted, “Hurry!” He and Qi Nanshan continuously sent out soul shock waves in an attempt to prevent the self-destruction.

Guo Shier said anxiously, “I’ll take care of it! Handsome Old Man, use the Stabilizing Pearl!”