Chapter 5: Advancing to the Seventh-Level Altar (Part 2)

The handsome old man said, “There should be no problems. I’ll go organize the materials. Hmm, the Soul Calming Cauldron can now hold souls.” He retracted into the altar. As a sacrificial spirit, he was a hundred times busier than Guo Shier, with countless tasks to handle.
Guo Shier pointed at the Soul Calming Cauldron. A virtual symbol entered its body, causing it to rapidly shrink into a fist-sized miniature cauldron. It spun a few times in the air before flying into Guo Shier’s mouth and appearing in his Sea of Souls.
A large number of souls poured into the Soul Calming Cauldron. Sitting on the altar, Guo Shier felt a slight tension. The cauldron acted like a vortex, constantly devouring souls. Gradually, he felt dizzy. Frightened, he immediately began consuming Soul Beads, fortunate that he had collected many of them beforehand.
The Soul Beads exploded within the souls, one after another, quickly replenishing those lost to the cauldron. Not daring to slack off, Guo Shier silently recited his Soul Scripture. Waves of energy spread out, purifying the somewhat mixed souls.
Guo Shier knew this was because black substances had entered the cauldron, causing the rapid influx of souls to control it. So he remained calm, continuing to consume Soul Beads and reciting the Scripture to rapidly strengthen his own soul. He ate dozens of Soul Beads before the cauldron’s absorption needs were met.
After wasting half a day, Guo Shier sighed, “It’s not easy. This Soul Calming Cauldron is truly tormenting.”
The handsome old man poked his head out and said, “Of course. It’s your most powerful sacrificial treasure! Though it’s a bit unreliable… hehe.”
Ignoring him, Guo Shier steered the altar upward. He was very satisfied with his gains this time in the mountain valley.
The handsome old man muttered a few more words before returning to the altar, as he still had much to do.
The altar quickly rose to the mountain pass, where a violent snowstorm and howling winds prevailed. Sitting on the altar, Guo Shier looked outside but saw nothing but white chaos, even with the vision-enhancing spell in place.
He sent out a message token and sat quietly on the altar, waiting. In moments, a message token returned. Guo Shier grabbed it, inspected it briefly, and immediately directed the altar southward toward the foot of the mountain. Soon, he saw Li Ran, Zhen Wuji, Hong Yuguang, and Hong Mu. He asked, “Brother Li Ran, how’s it going?”
Li Ran replied, “Everything’s fine. We’ve been waiting for you to return. We’re ready to leave this place.”

Guo Shier nodded. The mission of coming here had been completed—they had gathered enough Spirit Beasts, so they wouldn’t have to worry about sacrifices in this world anymore. They also found plenty of materials, leaving them all with loads to carry back.

Guo Shier thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s not rush back yet. The Gu Miluo family has also contributed a lot this time. What they’ve collected isn’t much, hehe. But this place is a huge treasure trove. Why don’t we bring them here to collect some things too, before other professionals arrive?”

Guo Shier was still very grateful to the Gu Miluo family. Not only had he received their heritage, but he had also obtained the Jian Bainazhu Sacrificial Treasure, which had been of great help to him. Coupled with the several times the Gu Miluo family’s professionals had helped him, he always wanted to repay them.

Li Ran said indifferently, “Okay, but how are you going to bring them here?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “It’s easy. I just need to send them the coordinates of this place. They can come using a talisman gate.”

Li Ran laughed and said, “That’s a good idea. Hehe, I’ve been running around alone all this time. I never thought of using such a method.”

Guo Shier took out a message talisman, entered the coordinates of this place, left a few messages, and then sent the talisman away. A red light disappeared into the heavy snow.

A moment later, a talisman gate appeared out of thin air, pushing aside the fierce wind and snow. The professionals from the Gu Miluo family quickly flew out of the gate.

Feng Miluo, Hai Miluo, Fang Miluo, Yang Miluo, Fan Zhen Tong, Mi Luo, Pu Zhe, along with other altar-level professionals from the Gu Miluo family, stepped out of the gate one by one.

Feng Miluo asked with a smile, “Have you found anything? Is this the core area of the Great Abyss Pool?”

Guo Shier replied, “Great, everyone’s here. This is Gushan, the core area of the Great Abyss Pool. Let’s go down first. The wind and snow here are too strong. We’ll act again once it stops, hehe. There are many valuable things here.”

Hai Miluo spotted Zhen Wuji at first glance and asked, “Who is this?”

Guo Shier introduced him, “This is Zhen Wuji, an altar professional of the ninth level.”

The group of Gu Miluo family professionals were stunned in shock, and Hai Miluo was also taken aback for a moment. An altar professional of the ninth level was absolutely rare in this world, and only such places might have one. This continent had already become a gathering place for high-level professionals in this world.

Gu Mi Luo immediately greeted them with a smile, respectfully stepping forward to sign up. Everyone else also hurried forward to pay their respects; no one dared ignore Zhen Wu Ji, such a highly capable professional. Even if they couldn’t bring him into their family, they still wanted to maintain a friendly relationship. Ancient families were practical and utilitarian—anyone with strength would be treated with respect by any family.

Li Ran and Zhen Wu Ji flew toward the ground, with the others following closely behind. In the blink of an eye, they landed. Here, snow had piled up to over ten meters thick, completely covering the traces of the battle. The professionals from the Gu Mi Luo family had yet to discover the mystery— they didn’t know there were countless corpses of mutated talisman beasts beneath the snow.

Fang Mi Luo said, “It’s very desolate here. It seems like there’s nothing… Hmm, strange. There’s a faint smell of blood…” She wasn’t sure at first, so she sniffed hard before confirming, “Yes, it is the smell of blood.”

Guo Shier said with a laugh, “It’s already very faint. If it weren’t for the snow and wind, the smell of blood here would be so strong it could form red clouds.”

Fang Mi Luo was surprised. “Such a strong smell of blood… Were mutated talisman beasts killed here? That’s impossible. Killing a few mutated talisman beasts wouldn’t produce such a strong smell.”

Guo Shier replied, “If hundreds of thousands of mutated talisman beasts were fighting each other, you wouldn’t find it strange.”

Everyone was horrified. Feng Mi Luo joked, “Stop joking. How could there be hundreds of thousands of mutated talisman beasts fighting each other?”

Guo Shier said, “Beneath your feet… are all corpses of mutated talisman beasts. If you don’t believe it, check for yourself.”

Fang Mi Luo was a rare female high-level altar professional who was decisive in action. She raised her hand and launched an attack, lifting a large amount of snow. Sure enough, there were countless corpses of mutated talisman beasts beneath, seemingly dead not long ago. Thanks to the extreme cold, the corpses were well-preserved.

The professionals from the Gu Mi Luo family exclaimed in amazement.

“Good heavens! This is a Level 13 Abnormal Snow Dragon!”

“Next to it is a mutated flower crocodile. And that… that’s an Abnormal Snow Talisman Wolf…”

Several professionals immediately acted, lifting more snow to reveal even more mutated talisman beasts and their corpses. Everyone was so excited they trembled, shouting nonstop.

Guo Shier said with a laugh, “Since everyone is so enthusiastic, go and divide up the materials. We need to rest for a while.”

Li Ran also realized that these professionals from the ancient Miluo family would definitely not want to wait until the snowstorm passed before taking action upon seeing the corpses of rune beasts everywhere. He said, “Good. Let’s find a place to rest. You guys go gather materials. Well, if you want higher-quality materials, it’s best to head up the mountain. This is at the foot of the mountain. Although there are many mutated and aberrant rune beasts here, their levels are not as high as those on the mountain.”

Seeing that Li Ran had reminded them, Guo Shier didn’t say much more. He found a relatively quiet spot, compressed the snow, created virtual runes to stabilize the ground, and then summoned a hidden rune house. Li Ran casually arranged a rune array to push away the falling snow and block the bitter cold wind.

Guo Shier, Li Ran, and Zhen Wuji went inside, while the other professionals didn’t want to rest at all. They rushed to Bone Mountain in droves to start their treasure hunt. Even Hong Yuguang and Hong Mu followed. The couple had already been on the mountain for a long time but still couldn’t resist collecting more.

Li Ran and Zhen Wuji didn’t enter the house. The two sat on the compressed ice surface. Guo Shier said, “I’ll go back inside to rest. Call me if anything happens.” He entered the rune house and immediately felt relieved. Sitting in the room, he ate a little marinated meat and flatbread, drank some fruit juice, and then fell asleep right away.

Although his soul was vast and didn’t need sleep, he had been extremely tired lately. Plus, having consumed many soul beads, he needed some sleep to recover. He slept soundly, not even having a dream.

Guo Shier slept through five days and five nights in one go. This sleep brought many benefits—his soul grew stronger again, and he fully mastered the Soul Calming Cauldron. However, he himself wasn’t aware that he had completely taken control of it. His only feeling was being refreshed and filled with endless strength.

It was then that Guo Shier was surprised to discover that he had already become a professional at the seventh-tier altar. This tier of the altar had been completed by the old man while he was sleeping. Due to Guo Shier’s rapidly growing soul, he advanced immediately. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Old man, old man! How… how did I advance to the seventh-tier altar?”

The old man, looking very tired, poked his head out and said, “You could have advanced long ago. You just didn’t have the time. While you were sleeping, I was busy finishing the structure for you. This time, with sufficient materials, it was easy to construct. With your soul power, you easily took control of it… What’s there to be surprised about?”

Guo Shier expressed his gratitude sincerely. The handsome old man waved his hand and retreated back to the altar, saying, “What’s there to thank for? If you’re fine, I’m fine… Stop talking nonsense. There are still some talisman arrays that need to be set up by you personally; I can’t do it instead.” Knowing the handsome old man’s temper, Guo Shier wasn’t angry. He immediately began to address the shortcomings in the seven-layer altar. By adding talisman arrays layer by layer, it only took him three days to complete it entirely. Being a professional at a seven-layer altar meant he had entered the ranks of true top professionals, and he was overjoyed inside. Only after everything was finished did Guo Shier step out of the Hidden Talisman House. Then he heard Li Ran say with a smile, “Wow, you slept for eight days straight! You really can sleep a lot… Huh? Have you advanced?” With his keen eye, he could see that Guo Shier’s soul power had surged dramatically. The only explanation was that he had advanced again. Zhen Wuji said in disbelief, “Are you joking?”