Chapter 8: The Unsolved Mystery (Part 1)

This time, Li Ran deployed his altar. Although one could fight at levels beyond the ninth layer without using an altar, people have habits. Before reaching those levels, whenever he fought fiercely, he would sit on his altar. Thus, deploying it signified intense battles for him—it gave him a different feeling.

Four chains hung down from Li Ran’s altar, extending directly to Guo Shier, Hong Yuguang, Hong Mu, and Zhen Wuji’s altars. This served as a means of communication as well as a protective measure for Li Ran. In times of crisis, he could offer timely assistance. Once the chains touched the four altars, they disappeared completely, invisible to the naked eye.

Yet Guo Shier could clearly sense Li Ran’s presence. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel it clearly, knowing he was under protection. The handsome old man couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn, he’s so strong…”

Li Ran shouted, “Charge with me!”

In an instant, the five of them formed a diamond-shaped formation, with Li Ran as the target of their attacks, which plunged straight into the sea of beasts.

Guo Shier suddenly felt his blood boil. With an excited roar, his Moon Blade shot downward like a gushing spring, rapidly forming a massive tornado-like attack. Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles stretched out swiftly, positioning themselves at the center of the tornado. In an instant, Guo Shier’s altar emitted colorful light—as he activated the characteristics of his Heavenly Altar for the first time, the power of his soul surged rapidly.

As a result, all the aberrant beasts attempting to attack from below were torn to pieces by the tornado-like attack created by the Moon Blade. Among them were mutant symbol beasts at levels thirteen or fourteen. It was as if a plow was quickly carving deep furrows in the ground, shattering everything in its path—whether ice or aberrant beasts.

Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles swiftly drained the souls of the beasts, while Li Ran casually sent out a few silver flashes, instantly cutting a one-kilometer-long passage. Hong Yuguang and Hong Mu unleashed their sacred treasures from either side, instantly killing any aberrant beast that dared to attack.

The only one who seemed relatively relaxed was Zhen Wuji. He stayed at the back. As long as the mutant beasts didn’t attack the team from behind, he wouldn’t intervene, preserving his combat strength. His sacred treasure hung above his head, rotating slowly, ready to be activated at any moment.

The five-member team immediately attracted the attention of many professionals. Some exclaimed in shock, “Good heavens! An eighth-layer altar… a ninth-layer altar… an altar beyond the ninth layer… Hurry, chase after them!”

Soon, many teams followed. Zhen Wuji smiled slightly—he had no intention of turning down such free combat power. Those who wanted to follow could do so; after all, he wasn’t responsible for their lives or deaths.

Professionals who had surpassed the ninth-tier altar possessed terrifying charisma. Any professional who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but follow them, instinctively feeling that by joining such professionals, they would be able to capture numerous prey.

Li Ran’s lips curled upward. He had known this would happen. Calmly, he said, “If you want to take advantage, keep up closely. I don’t have time to wait!” His voice wasn’t loud, but delivered with soul power, it could be heard by all professionals on the battlefield. Immediately, more professionals joined in.

Guo Shier also didn’t expect that professionals could form such a fierce force. With Li Ran paving the way and tearing a gap in the sea of beasts, as the five of them advanced, a huge conical fan shape formed behind them. As Li Ran pushed forward frantically, the fan shape grew larger and larger, with countless professionals joining in.

Altar-level professionals, once allowed to attack freely, were each extremely terrifying warriors. They were top figures in their own homelands, the pillars of their families. When they fully unleashed their power, even aberrant beasts could hardly withstand their might.

Guo Shier suddenly let out a long howl. Li Ran couldn’t help but turn back in shock. The howl was filled with soul power, and along with it, a wave radiated from Guo Shier’s altar. That wave was multicolored, as dazzling as a rainbow, sweeping over all humans and beasts in an instant.

When the wave touched the professionals, everyone became excited and frenzied. It was as if they had been blessed with immense power, each feeling like an invincible master. In an instant, thousands of aberrant beasts were slaughtered wildly.

Zhen Wuji murmured to himself, “Is this the power of the Heavenly Altar? It can even drive professionals mad!” He too was filled with excitement. Originally sitting calmly on the altar, he even stood up, roared loudly, and swung his sacred weapon.

Among those present, the only one unaffected was Li Ran. His strength was too formidable—Guo Shier’s level wasn’t enough to shake his soul. Yet, the impact on him was still significant. He also realized the power of that wave; the skills of those professionals had improved dramatically in an instant.

The handsome old man jumped up and down excitedly, repeating, “Amazing! You’ve actually unleashed the power of the invisible talisman from the Heavenly Temple… Wow, the effect is really good—just like taking medicine. It’s insane! Haha, I like it…”
Guo Shier felt helpless and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. What do you mean ‘just like taking medicine’…?” He thought to himself that he should talk less about past lives with the handsome old man—even mentioning medicine had led to such revelations.
The power that erupted greatly accelerated their progress. Strangely enough, with Guo Shier’s loud cry, the colorful light waves spreading through the sea of beasts could suppress the strength of the mutated beasts, slowing their movements and reactions. Even Guo Shier couldn’t explain these changes.
Li Ran sped up again. His sacrificial treasure was truly terrifying—several silver lights flashed by, and no mutated beast could block them. As they slaughtered their way forward, Guo Shier, who was following behind, reaped great benefits. Li Ran had killed countless mutated beasts, including those at levels 15 or 16, as well as those at levels 11 or 12. After these beasts were slain, Guo Shier’s Guxi Bi tentacles forcibly extracted their essences. Some extremely rare mutated beasts and abominations were also seized by the handsome old man.
The handsome old man was highly skilled and well-informed. Once he spotted rare mutated beasts or abominations, he would immediately store them in his talisman storage space. He could also divide these captured carcasses within the space, cutting out the most useful parts while discarding the rest right away on the altar, thus making the most of the storage space.
According to Guo Shier’s estimate, the sea of beasts contained at least hundreds of thousands of talisman beasts, with the vast majority being huge ones—giant beasts stretching a thousand meters long were everywhere. There were also at least hundreds of thousands of mutated birds. Slaying all of them in the sea of beasts was incredibly difficult, even for Li Ran.
Therefore, the five-member diamond-shaped team would occasionally change direction, sending Zhen Wuji forward to charge, allowing Li Ran to gain precious respite time and keep the team’s attacking power strong.
There were seventy or eighty thousand professionals following behind the team. Due to their weaker strength, they gradually fell behind. Guo Shier knew that these people could only make a push at first and gain some advantages, but over time, they would surely retreat. None of them dared to venture into the sea of beasts.
Half an hour later, when Guo Shier looked back, he saw no professionals following anymore. The five of them had already sunk deep into the sea of beasts.

Looking at the endless mutated beasts around him, Guo Shier felt a slight tremor in his heart. In his past life, not to mention a sea of beasts, even facing just one mutated beast, he would have been unable to stand his ground. But this time, he only trembled briefly before calming down. He knew that as long as Li Ran was there, the five of them would be safe.

The five-person team was like a bullet in flight—any mutated beast that came close to them met certain death. A trail of blood stretched straight ahead. The number of mutated beasts Li Ran killed along the way was minuscule compared to the entire sea of beasts, having no significant impact on it. Even if he killed a dozen mutated beasts in one go, it would be nothing in the face of hundreds of thousands of them.

Unless Li Ran used the “Sky Burial” technique, which might allow for mass killings, but according to Guo Shier’s reasoning, this technique would consume a great deal of soul energy. Even Li Ran would likely not be able to use it repeatedly. For now, there was no need for him to employ such a powerful spell.

There were also advantages in the sea of beasts. Most mutated beasts focused on what was ahead, and battles occurred with those blocking their path. So as long as the blocking beasts were killed quickly, the ones around them wouldn’t have time to react—this required immense strength.

In just a short while, Guo Shier gathered another hundred or so Soul Bead orbs, including seven from relatively rare mutated and abominable beasts. The old man was overjoyed and kept cheering. He didn’t even have time to show himself at the altar; instead, he hid in his spell storage space, frantically processing the corpses to collect useful materials.

Every ten minutes or so, Li Ran would clear the way ahead, followed by Zhen Wuji doing the same for a few minutes before switching back. This back-and-forth went on, and even Zhen Wuji began to feel exhausted, yet Li Ran remained unfazed. Only Guo Shier understood that Li Ran was also very tired.

Suddenly, Li Ran asked, “Shier, roar again!”

Guo Shier let out a long howl, and immediately waves of energy spread out from the altar. Hong Yu and Hong Mu cheered loudly, “Great!”

These waves of colored light were most beneficial to the couple. They helped Zhen Wuji to some extent but had the least effect on Li Ran. However, Li Ran valued their impact on the mutated beasts—it was an excellent way to slow them down.

Sure enough, as the waves of colored light passed by, everyone could clearly feel the mutated beasts around them slowing down. Li Ran took advantage of this to speed up. By now, he had begun deliberately avoiding attacking the stronger ones, instead trying to pass through them, which made his progress even faster.

Zhen Wuji secretly admired him. He realized that Li Ran wasn’t only extremely powerful but also very wise—preferring to avoid fights when possible. Their goal was to get through the beast herd, not to engage in a battle with them.
The noise made by the five-person team grew quieter. Li Ran instructed everyone not to attack frequently, unless the mutated beasts attacked first; otherwise, they shouldn’t take the initiative to attack the mutated beasts running around them.
It was only after that loud howl that Guo Shier understood the trick. In fact, he didn’t really need to howl—what was called a howl was just a strange cry or roar that caused vibrations in the sky altar. These vibrations were fascinating, as countless talismans would be infused into them. This was the most basic form of enhancement. Guo Shier realized that even for such a skill, he still needed to learn and adapt, as he couldn’t yet use it skillfully.
Suddenly, Li Ran felt the pressure lessen and exclaimed happily, “We’re almost out of the beast sea!”
Guo Shier said, “The mutated beasts are becoming sparser… Damn, the Great Ice Plain…” The mountains were already behind them, and what they saw was an endless expanse of vast ice plains, with countless mutated and aberrant beasts wandering around. Aberrant birds circled from time to time, but they seemed unable to fly high, instead flying close to the ice plains.
Zhen Wuji stared into the distance for a long while before saying, “I’ve finally fucking made it in… It wasn’t easy at all!”
Li Ran led the four of them forward at high speed. Since all five of them were humans and quite small in size—even including the altar—they weren’t particularly large. The mutated beasts ignored them from afar. Only when they got close to one of the beasts would they pay attention. However, Li Ran and his group noticed that these mutated and aberrant beasts didn’t have a strong desire to attack, at least not unless provoked.