Chapter 6: Soul Sacrifice (Part 1)

The Eagle Demon flew over. Seeing Ao Ao and Zhang Lang’s anxious expressions, he couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Old Ao, you two should immediately gather people and move everyone away. There will be more upheaval soon, so we need to keep them safe from being affected.”
Zhang Lang was shocked and said, “More upheaval?” He thought to himself, “Damn, this is already catastrophic—what more is needed? To advance to the ninth-tier altar… does that mean destroying an entire city?” But neither he nor Ao Ao dared take risks, so he quickly said, “I’ll go inform them.”
A few minutes later, the professionals began retreating to the periphery. The Eagle Demon said, “Move farther away. No one knows how wide the impact will spread. Be careful, or it might be too late to cry.” He spoke bluntly.
Ao Ao sent a series of messages, ordering the disciples of the Star Sect to organize the retreat. Initially, he didn’t plan to inform the professionals from other continents, but given the Eagle Demon’s words, it seemed everyone needed to stay away, so he had no choice but to order the Star Sect disciples to carry out the task.
Luo Zhan also notified Huo Bao and the others to retreat.
The crowd fled desperately toward the periphery. Fortunately, the city was very large. The area affected by Guo Shier’s advancement was just a corner of the city, not the entire city. After all, this wasn’t his attack—it was merely the fluctuations from his advancement, which weren’t particularly strong. Even so, ordinary professionals or those at lower-tier altars couldn’t withstand them.
Guo Shier and the Old Handsome Man were discussing things. He said, “The positions for the natural runes are almost arranged. There are still some replicated natural runes that need to be placed. How many natural runes have you replicated… is it enough?”
The Old Handsome Man replied proudly, “Don’t worry. I’ve planned every step of the advancement. The number of replicated natural runes is just right. I’ve prepared a large number of them, all real runes, enough for your use.”
Guo Shier nodded and added, “We’ll also need a lot of rune fire, especially some exotic types.”
The Old Handsome Man smiled and said, “We have them. You can use them once you’ve implanted the replicated natural runes. I can work with you. In the final stage… as long as we’re careful, there won’t be any problems.”

A large number of natural runes were needed. Even if Guo Shier didn’t have them all, he had gathered most of them. For the missing parts, he managed to obtain replicated runes. As for the natural runes he had, the old man took time out of his busy schedule to imprint them and turn them into artificial runes that could be used as such. Their effectiveness was slightly lower, but it was sufficient and did not hinder the advancement of the altar.

Guo Shier needed to create an absolutely sturdy altar. Just to leave this world with Li Ran, if the altar wasn’t strong enough, it would be difficult to achieve their goal.

Embedding the imprinted natural runes into the altar, Guo Shier calculated that there were over two thousand such artificial runes. He inserted them one by one and created virtual runes to connect them to the altar. With each rune inserted, a loud explosion sound would occur, with the bangs echoing continuously. The old man helped create the virtual runes from behind.

The two of them strengthened the altar under everyone’s watchful eyes. At this time, Guo Shier was at his weakest and couldn’t be disturbed. Fortunately, there were no ancient clans or large sects here. With Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan around, defense was sufficient.

When all the imprinted and replicated artificial runes were embedded in the altar, instantly, an earth-shattering pressure spread out. Even professionals outside the city couldn’t help but sit on the ground, struggling to resist. Those who were a bit closer turned pale, with sweat pouring down their faces. Every professional felt as if their souls were about to leave their bodies.

Ao Ao and Zhang Lang’s expressions changed drastically as they retreated desperately. The pressure made their minds tremble, and their souls seemed on the verge of escaping their bodies, leaving their faces pale. Thankfully, they were both altar-level experts, and as they moved farther away, they gradually recovered. Apart from Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, they were the ones closest and thus suffered the greatest impact.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were also retreating, but after all, they were professionals at the sixth-tier altar, with much greater resistance than Ao Ao and the others.

Rings of colored light surrounded the altar, looking incredibly beautiful from a distance.

Just as everyone was amazed by the beautiful colored light, a thunderous roar echoed above the altar. In an instant, countless colored lights turned into swirling streaks, spreading wildly in all directions. Then, a stunning scene unfolded: each streak of light transformed into mutated virtual rune beasts that roared and howled in the air, with countless shadows flying around.

Guo Shier and his altar were completely submerged in colorful illusions of light. Everyone felt their souls tremble, overwhelmed by an unparalleled sense of fear, as if they were facing those terrifying mutated and alienated beast symbols. The professionals in the city were so frightened that they became numb and dizzy. Pity them—they had endured several shocks in just a short while.

Ao Ao stared in shock for a long time before saying, “Group sacrifice… It’s a soul sacrifice, and a group one at that. Terrifying…”

Zhang Lang swallowed hard and said, “It’s not just terrifying. This shows that his altar is the most dreadful Heavenly Altar… possessing the power of heaven. Thankfully… thankfully we’re not their enemies.”

The professionals in the city kept retreating further as Guo Shier’s altar emitted immense pressure, forcing everyone to back away. Guo Shier didn’t care about these things; he was busy adjusting his altar. At this point, he had basically stabilized his advancement and could be considered a true professional with a ninth-layer altar.

Elder Shuai couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ninth layer already…” He felt both joy and sorrow. He was happy to have helped his master reach the pinnacle of the ninth-layer altar, but sad that he himself had never reached such a height in his life.

Guo Shier said, “Elder Shuai, thank you.”

Elder Shuai shook his head and said, “Young man, no need to thank me. We are one. If you are well, I am well…” He understood clearly that only if Guo Shier was safe could he truly be safe, which was why he spared no effort to help Guo Shier advance.

Finally, the professionals in the city felt the pressure vanish completely, and the huge altar that had stood tall disappeared as well, indicating that the professional with the ninth-layer altar had completed his advancement.

Guo Shier retracted his altar and looked down, saying, “The Star Sect is going to be upset now. We destroyed many buildings.”

Within a three-kilometer radius centered on the courtyard where Guo Shier lived, all buildings had collapsed. The original courtyard had turned into a huge pit nearly a hundred meters deep, created by the force of the altar’s advancement. Its bottom was like glass, forming a semi-crystalline structure. Guo Shier immediately understood that this was the result of extreme heat and pressure.

Ao Ao and Zhang Lang exchanged a glance and immediately flew toward Guo Shier. Before they even reached him, Ao Ao laughed loudly, “Haha, congratulations, senior! Celebrate with me…”

Zhang Lang also said, “Congratulations on your successful advancement, senior…”

Huo Bao muttered, “Sycophant!”

Chen Bing also said, “That’s right. The professionals of the Star Sect are all domineering. When have we ever seen them so humble?”
Wu Chongren said, “They have to be humble. Hmph, look… After destroying so many buildings, they don’t even dare to fart and rush to flatter us. These guys are really despicable.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also flew over. The two said with smiles, “Guo Shier, congratulations on your success.” They knew in their hearts that Guo Shier had successfully reached the pinnacle among professionals, which would bring even greater benefits to them. Having been with Guo Shier for so long, the three of them had become like family, so their congratulations were even more sincere.
Ao Ao could actually hear Huo Bao and the others’ discussions. He and Zhang Lang pretended not to hear, with a hint of murderous intent flashing in their eyes, though they concealed it well. They flew over to Guo Shier and said, “Senior, we’ve arranged another place. Hehe, please go there to rest.”
Guo Shier laughed and said, “You’re really a good person!”
Ao Ao and Zhang Lang looked flattered, while Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan struggled to hold back their laughter. Guo Shier’s words were simply too insulting. Huo Bao and the others didn’t understand his words and wondered in their hearts: If all professionals of the Star Sect are bastards, where does a good person come from?
Ao Ao and Zhang Lang led Guo Shier and the others quickly to another corner of the city. There was another courtyard belonging to a grand elder, with dozens of houses. Ao Ao and Zhang Lang drove the owners away again and rearranged everything.
Guo Shier happily led everyone inside. He even went out of his way to see Ao Ao and Zhang Lang off, praising them as good people one last time. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were speechless: Was this insulting or mocking? When did Shier learn to be so mean?
Actually, Guo Shier was already ready to leave. He didn’t want to stay here too long. He was very satisfied with having advanced successfully. Moreover, meeting Huo Bao and the others this time and being able to help his childhood friends before leaving left him with no major regrets. If Huo Bao and the others could successfully reach the Virtual Form Altar, it meant they had entered the upper ranks among professionals, giving them the ability to survive anywhere on any continent.
To celebrate everyone’s successful advancement, Guo Shier prepared over a dozen different dishes, and everyone enjoyed a hearty meal. This was Guo Shier’s habit—he always believed that eating well was more valuable than anything else. Only food that went into the stomach was real food, so his way of celebrating was through eating. According to Old Shuai, he was the reincarnation of a starving ghost.

Although the old man’s words were harsh, they hit the mark regarding the suffering Guo Shier had endured in his past life. He had truly been starved to the point of desperation in his previous life; those who survived great famines developed an obsessive attachment to food.
This meal filled everyone to the brim. Guo Shier had prepared a huge amount this time. People in this world had extremely large stomachs, and it was no easy feat to eat their fill. Guo Shier lay on the ground in an ungraceful position, rubbing his stomach and saying lazily, “Finally full. Sigh, it’s not easy to get enough to eat in this world…” The downside of having a large stomach was that eating dozens of pounds of meat and bread didn’t even make one feel full.
Fortunately, food was not scarce in this world—it could be said to be truly abundant. As long as one knew how to forage and hunt, they wouldn’t starve.
Huo Bao also lay on the ground, rubbing his stomach vigorously as he complained to Wu Chongren, “Shier is amazing at cooking, but it’s easy to overeat if you’re not careful…”
Wu Chongren lay next to Huo Bao, curled up and holding his stomach, groaning, “I know what it’s like to be hungry, but I didn’t expect being full to be even worse… Ugh, I’m so full. What should I do?”