However, the murderous aura grew stronger the deeper he ventured into the crimson land. As he continued to advance, even humanoid aura figures that measured 30 meters tall were not an uncommon sight. Even Ling Han lacked the confidence to battle against them, and he would skirt far, far away whenever he caught sight of one.
The spiritual attacks of such humanoid aura figures were on par with those of elites at the Sun Moon Tier, so even Ling Han was no match for them.
A mountain appeared before him.
‘Hmm?’
Ling Han immediately shook his head. That was no mountain. Instead, it was a sacrificial altar! However, it looked like a mountain at first glance because of its enormous size.
This sacrificial altar was genuinely massive, measuring a full 3000 meters in height. Its body was in the shape of a triangular pyramid, and it was built from stone slabs that were all bigger than houses. It was entirely red, and under the dim glow of night, it looked much like a sleeping beast.
Why did Ling Han think that this was a sacrificial altar?
This was because a sanguinary smell of blood flooded into his nostrils. Such a pungent smell was definitely the result of at least several million beings being killed, not just a few thousand or several tens of thousands. In fact, the stone slabs of this sacrificial altar hadn’t been red to begin with, but had been dyed red from the blood that flowed down its surface.
Mountains of corpses were still piled next to the altar, and although they weren’t piled as tall as the altar, they covered an area of several hundred kilometers wide. After seeing this, the figure of several million was truly a severe underestimation. At least ten times that number of beings had been killed here.
What on earth was the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire scheming?
Chapter 1062 - Prison Cage
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At least a dozen giant aura figures surrounded him. Ling Han quickly ducked into the Black Tower, and then moved along with the direction of the impact. Coincidentally, he just happened to be floating in the direction of the altar.
He saw a group of carts steering over from afar.
Those carts… were prison carts!
Every prison cart was shockingly huge. Some were even over a dozen meters tall, and various types of powerful Demonic Beasts were caged within them. These Demonic Beasts were all roaring from the carts, and some had even released their divine sense with a roar, spewing out curses.
Not only were there powerful Demonic Beasts, there were also ordinary animals. There were even humans, and they were all treated like animals, being transported towards the altar.
Was this a living sacrifice?
As the carts drove over, they naturally became attacked by the aura figures as well. However, when the humanoid aura figures rushed over, multiple divine patterns on the carriages lit up, interweaving into a brilliant light. Bang, bang, bang , and the figures were all bounced back.
‘This should be the work of a Heavenly Body Tier elite,’ Ling Han thought. There were some humanoid aura figures that had practically reached the peak stage of the Sun Moon Tier, yet they still collapsed with a single blow. The level of these divine patterns should be about Heavenly Body Tier.
He looked closely, and there was a paper talisman stuck on each cart. It was the paper talisman that was glowing, and forming the divine patterns.
The carts travelled openly, and the aura figures were completely incapable of stopping them.
A thought flashed in Ling Han’s head, and a bold idea formed in his mind. All of a sudden, he appeared from the Black Tower. Weng , Demonic Qi immediately enshrouded his body, completely concealing him.
Now, no matter who saw him, there was no way they would be able to recognize him, and even if they met once more in the future, they could not possibly link him with his current appearance.
Xiu, xiu, xiu . In a few steps, Ling Han had caught up with the prison carts, and directly pounced over.
On the horse cart, a cart driver coldly uttered, “You are courting death!” He did not have the intention to make a move.
The decree of a Heavenly Body Tier was on this cart, so how could any Mountain River Tier cultivator hope to be able to come nearby?
Although this Mountain River Tier cultivator was indeed a bit odd, his whole body exuding black Qi, and having an unknown evil feeling, with the decree of Heavenly Body Tier here, what was all that worth? He would be directly turned into pieces by the power of the decree.
Hm?
The cart driver was stunned. He obviously saw that man pounce over, so why had he suddenly disappeared!?
Could it be that he had been turned to dust, not leaving behind even the slightest bit of flesh or blood?
He was a bit confused. However, the inauspicious air here was powerful, so if he had been turned into bits of flesh and blood, then combined with the inauspicious air, it would indeed be difficult to distinguish.
“Big Ironhead, did anything happen?” someone asked loudly from a carriage behind. “I just saw a dark figure pounce on your carriage.”
“Nothing. It was a Mountain River Tier cultivator, possibly someone that slipped away. He should have been turned into dust by His Majesty’s decree!” the cart driver that had been addressed as Big Ironhead replied.
“Haha, that thief wanted to open up the prison carts to release these prisoners and create chaos? He was really too naive. With the decree of His Majesty, whoever comes, it would be useless!” The cart driver behind laughed loudly.
“Of course.” Big Ironhead nodded, and drove the cart forward once more, no longer thinking of the figure that he had glimpsed just now.
Ling Han sat quietly. The instant that he pounced at the cart, he had entered into the Black Tower. It just happened to fall inside the cart. The Black Tower could not be invaded by anything, and naturally would not be stopped by the divine light of the decree.
This cart contained over a dozen prisoners, and they were all Demonic Beasts of the Mountain River Tier. There were fierce tigers with four eyes, some with the head of a bull but the tail of a snake, and giant golden goats, but they were all forcibly compressed by a secret technique, so they were about the size of normal wild animals.
Their cultivation had been restricted. Though they possessed powerful strength in their bodies, they were unable to channel that strength. All of them looked enraged and hopeless.
By the time they had reached this cultivation level, Demonic Beasts were not that much different from humans in terms of intelligence. They were naturally aware that this was an altar, and they were the offerings.
This enraged them, and made them roar, but a while later, they stopped.
They had lost hope.
The carts slowly proceeded to the altar.
Underneath, there was a tunnel, which was big enough to allow these carts to pass through easily. Its width was slightly shocking.
The surrounding environment became dark. Though there were torches in the tunnel, they were not bright enough, which made their surroundings seem oppressive and eerie.
The tunnel quickly reached its end, and a wide space appeared suddenly ahead.
The inside of this altar was hollow. On the other three sides, there were various prison cells partitioned out. They turned and twisted, densely packed together, extending from the lowest floor all the way to the top. The majority of prison cells contained either humans or Demonic Beasts, with some prison cells left empty.
The bottom of the altar had been dug out. The depth was unknown as it had been filled with bright red blood.
Even in the Black Tower, Ling Han felt like he could smell that powerful stench of blood. Even if the bottom of this altar had not been dug very deep, the amount of blood needed merely to fill this slightly was immeasurable.
No wonder there were so many corpses outside. This was really a massive slaughter.
Within the blood pool, or rather, it
could even be called a blood lake, there was light flickering vaguely, exuding a shocking coldness.
Tong!
The blood lake gushed, and a huge Demonic Beast was tossed down from above. Its head had been severed, and as its corpse fell into the blood lake, it created ripples. But, very soon, someone would fish its corpse out, and then toss it to one side.
One after another, the prison cells were opened, and the humans and Demonic Beasts brought here by the carts were stuffed in. Then, the bodies were piled into the carts, and would then later be transported out of the altar. The bodies would then be delivered outside to be disposed of.
Ling Han took advantage of the hurry and confusion to get off the cart. Then, he ducked back into the Black Tower as he waited for everyone to leave.
Among the terrible screams, the slaughter was still continuing. One after another, Demonic Beasts and cultivators were thrown down from the top of the altar, dropping into the lake of blood with a splash. The newly arrived prisoners were all snarling in rage at that, knocking strongly on the iron bars of their prison. The “seniors”, though, were already numb, and did not react at all.
The carriages carried off their full load of corpses. Later, there would be a second and third batch of carriages arriving, carrying new sacrifices. At the same time, they would also be taking away the bodies of those that had just been sacrificed.
Aside from the repeated screaming, as well as the splashes, this was actually quite a quiet place. There would be a cultivator patrolling every floor, but because this altar was really too big, one round of patrolling would take a very long time.
Thoughts streaked quickly through Ling Han’s head. When the patrolling cultivator of this floor passed by, he suddenly appeared out of the Black Tower, and grabbed at that man.
The man was astonished. Who would have thought that someone would appear out of nowhere and attack him? He quickly clenched a fist and punched out behind him. In his hurry, he only managed to channel less than 30% of his full power.
Weng , Ling Han used the Seven Kill Subduing Soul Technique. The man did not even manage to release a grunt before he was directly knocked unconscious. At this time, Ling Han’s hand had just gripped onto the man’s neck. With a thought, he drew him into the Black Tower.
He pressed down on the other man, and with a wave of Origin Power, the person released an exclamation of shock, and suddenly regained consciousness.
“How dare you!” the man immediately rebuked. He then raised his voice, and called loudly, “There’s an enemy—”
His scream suddenly stopped. He suddenly realized that he was no longer within the altar!
He couldn’t help but be shocked; what was this place? How long had he been unconscious?
“My master wants to ask you a few questions. You had best cooperate obediently, or I shall devour you!” The Asura Demon Emperor appeared, baring his mouth, his extremely sharp fangs rubbing against that man’s face.
It had to be admitted—the Asura Demon Emperor was really quite suited to this kind of work.
Chapter 1063 - A Frightening Conspiracy
“You, you…” The man was scared witless. What kind of dog was this, having a sinister, malevolent expression? It was obviously an engineered puppet, yet it could actually speak human language. Moreover, it was completely acting like a vile character, which was something he could not accept.
“You? What you!?” The Asura Demon Emperor used Ling Han’s authority in this place as an intimidation tactic, one paw clapping onto the man’s head. “I am the glorious Little Asura, and this is my master, an even more glorious being! Now, Master is asking you questions here, and answer whatever you know the answer to. Otherwise, I will first rip off your four limbs, then devour your ‘fifth’ one[1]!”
The man suddenly felt a chill between his legs, and involuntarily clamped his legs together. He only felt that this huge dog was utterly perverted and cruel, actually wanting to eat his d!ck.
However, with such a scare, the man became well-behaved. He had somehow been captured, and had appeared in such a strange place, so being now threatened by the Asura Demon Emperor, his willpower had long since crumbled.
“Why have you all built this altar?” Ling Han asked directly.
“This…” the man stammered. “Ah…!!!” He instantly released a terrible shout as one of his arms had been ripped off by the Asura Demon Emperor.
The Asura Demon Emperor was no nice guy. In the first place, he was from the Netherworld, and in his eyes, all the living beings of the Immortal Realm were equivalent to ants, which he did not take to heart at all. Thus, putting aside the fact that he had just torn off one arm, even if it was tearing apart the man’s neck, he did not mind at all.
When the man saw that the Asura Demon Emperor’s wolf eyes had turned to focus on his other arm, he was almost scared witless, and quickly answered, “It is to use blood sacrifices to dispel the violent air of a treasure underneath, or there would be no way to collect it!”
‘What?’
Ling Han was slightly surprised, and asked, “The operation this time round was ordered by your emperor?”
“Yes, it is by order of His Imperial Majesty!” Since the man’s mouth had loosened, he no longer had the intention to resist thereafter, and replied truthfully.
“This involves a decree and the army, which clearly means that your emperor places great importance on this treasure, yet he did not come personally to collect it himself, which means… that even your emperor has no way to collect it, and has to use blood sacrifices to dispel its violent air, and only then will he be able to collect it!” Ling Han deduced.
Pa, pa, pa, pa. The Asura Demon Emperor immediately clapped his wolf paws together in applause, and praised, “Master is wise, Master is intelligent, Master is this Little Asura’s bright sun that has lit up a path of light in front of me!”
“Ah…!” The captive once again let out a loud scream. He looked innocently at the Asura Demon Emperor. Why had you bitten me all of a sudden?
“My master has made such a brilliant, wise deduction, and you actually dared not applaud. Are you planning on rebelling?” The Asura Demon Emperor glared out of its wolf eyes, looking monstrous.
The captive couldn’t help but be sullen. If he currently had supreme power, the first being he would suppress would definitely not be Ling Han, but rather this damn dog. It was too f****** devious.
“What treasure is it?” Ling Han asked.
“I don’t know.” The captive shook his head. “Ah…!” he yelled. His other arm had been suddenly ripped off by the Asura Demon Emperor. “I really don’t know,” he quickly called out, not wanting both his legs to be ripped off too.
The Asura Demon Emperor turned to Ling Han and said, “Master, looks like he really doesn’t know.”
The captive was incredibly aggrieved. ‘You really turn to violence too easily at the slightest disagreement, don’t you?’
Thankfully, after one had entered Immortal level, it was a piece of cake to regrow any severed limbs, and it only required a little time. However, if one was wounded by an elite, and the latter’s martial intent was still left behind in the wound, the limb could not possibly be regrown without expelling the foreign martial intent.
Ling Han pondered, a hand on his chin. The Asura Demon Emperor dared not disturb him, and quickly signalled to the captive to go to one side. He was going to start a second round of interrogation to find out everything the latter knew so he could win Ling Han’s favor.
The Eternity Sky Emperor used the invasion of the Golden Lion Nation as a cover, while his purpose was the treasure buried under that place. Furthermore, he had gone through so much trouble, which was proof that the significance of this treasure had to be extraordinary.
All the way here, he had seen that the land within 1000 miles of this place had been dyed crimson, all living beings completely eliminated. He surmised that they had to have been captured to become sacrifices. Not only humans and animals, ev
en living beings such as plants and trees were unable to escape this calamity.
Even if ordinary people were mere ants in the eyes of Immortals, such actions would still be considered deranged. No wonder the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire wanted to seal off the furious river. Otherwise, should he allow this matter to leak out, it would definitely incite the terrible fury of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire.
However, the truth always came out. This matter would be known to the world sooner or later. Then, Ling Han came to two possible truths.
Firstly, the treasure here was precious enough to make the Eternity Sky Emperor willing to bear such infamy, and even take the risk of starting a war with the other two Majestic Empires just to obtain it.
Secondly, this treasure was a supreme God Tool. As long as he could obtain it, the Eternity Sky Emperor’s battle prowess would be enough to crush all life. Even if the truth came out then, so what? Only he would be able to suppress others, and who would be able to go against him?
In this world, it was ultimately the strong who made the decisions. When one’s strength was enough to crush all opposition, what need would he need to consider the opinions of others? Would others even dare to disagree?
‘This is far from good. This art of blood sacrifice is practically demented, and would incite public fury. Yet the Eternity Sky Emperor still did it, which means that what he conspires is far larger than the consequences of being subjected to the combined assault of the two Majestic Empires after everything is over.
‘I must wreck it!’
Ling Han clapped his hands once, and made his decision.
The best method was to first snatch the treasure in this place so the Eternity Sky Emperor’s efforts would be wasted. But, even the Eternity Sky Emperor had to use blood sacrifice to dispel the violent air of this treasure before he could even think about collecting it. Then, what would qualify Ling Han to obtain it first?
The violent air that had merely seeped out could take human form and attack the spirit. Then, how terrifying would the violent air exuded by the “treasure” itself be? Was it something the current Ling Han could withstand?
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 545