Chapter 650: Breaking into the Sacrificial Altar Battlefield
At this moment, what Ning Zhuo recalled in his mind was the advice of the Buddhist Doctor, Meng Yaoyin.
She had once told him that the reason she had gathered a batch of spoils of war before leaving was because her spiritual intuition had been triggered, allowing her to divine that these items might be of great help to Ning Zhuo.
“My mother is also skilled in the art of divination.”
“What she foresaw before must have been referring to this very moment!”
This clue greatly increased Ning Zhuo’s confidence.
Ning Zhuo controlled the Light Goose, making it hold the half-section of the Returning Silence Winding Path Candle in its beak.
This step was easy to accomplish, but the candle body could not burn, making it no different from holding a piece of stone.
“The power of the Light Goose seems to be the disintegration of all things, not the ignition of candles.”
“I still need a candle wick and a flame.”
“Do I have a wick?”
Ning Zhuo examined the pile of spoils that the Buddhist Doctor Meng Yaoyin had given him.
He did not find any wick.
“Was it not picked up? Or…”
The wick of the Returning Silence Winding Path Candle had originally been made from yellow-brown burial shroud cloth, twisted together with a woman’s green silk hair in a spiral.
After being affected by the power of the Tai Su Dispersing Form Ruler, it had separated into burial cloth and green silk strands.
Ning Zhuo saw many scattered materials, and those two items were among them.
But he was not a Funeral Music Ghost Performer and did not know which of these scattered materials had originally formed the wick.
“Even if I knew, it wouldn’t help.”
“These materials must have undergone some kind of spell refinement.”
“I have no idea about the method of this refinement. Even if I did, would I have the time to reforge it now?”
For a moment, Ning Zhuo found himself in a dilemma.
“Could it be that I must plant a fire seed?”
Ning Zhuo possessed the fire seed Wood-in-Wood Fire. It had been a major spoil he obtained when he led troops in Liangzhu Kingdom’s Thousand Peaks Forest during the battle that burned Ten Miles of Forest.
With a fire seed, igniting the candle body would certainly be possible.
However, any fire seed was extremely rare, and Wood-in-Wood Fire was even part of the Samadhi True Fire.
Ning Zhuo was someone capable of making decisive choices; at critical moments he would not hesitate to pay a price.
“But the problem is, Wood-in-Wood Fire is a fire of fuelwood—it is a human fire. In the Ten Miles Burning Forest operation, the human fire was used as the fire seed. On the surface, it refined various artifacts, but in truth it gathered incense offerings from the masses to refine the Fire Crown Divine Cedar.”
“The candle body of the Returning Silence Winding Path Candle is clearly inclined toward Yin and ghost attributes. It is completely different from human fire and might even conflict with it.”
Ning Zhuo fell into a crucial decision.
If he chose wrongly, inserting the fire seed might not activate the candle body at all. Instead, the two might exhaust each other, both the candle body and the fire seed suffering losses in mutual consumption.
And that would cause Ning Zhuo to miss his final opportunity to sabotage the Lord of Wangchuan Prefecture’s grand plan.
Seeing Ning Zhuo hesitate, Qing Chi asked with concern, “Xiao Ma, are you trying to light this candle?”
“I can help. You can use my fire.”
Ning Zhuo looked at Qing Chi, his heart stirring.
Her Green Flames were indeed extremely powerful and contained a mysterious vitality. They were mysterious because these flames could heal ghost cultivators.
This had already been proven many times on the battlefield earlier.
Within the bodies of ghost cultivators, vitality and death energy coexisted. Ordinary healing spells that merely stimulated vitality could instead harm ghost cultivators. Strong vitality would suppress and expel death energy, destroying the fundamental composition of the ghost body and producing even worse results.
But the Green Flames could avoid this problem.
Ning Zhuo still did not know the origin of these flames, though he had asked Qing Chi about them before.
Qing Chi had naturally kept nothing from him, but she herself knew almost nothing about the Green Flames, only that they were formed from her innate talent.
As for what kind of innate talent it was, Qing Chi did not know.
She told Ning Zhuo that ever since her talent manifested, her father Qing Yan had secretly investigated it, yet found no answers. It was very likely a completely new innate talent.
This was entirely possible.
In the earliest times, the cultivation world had almost no innate talents.
Only after reaching a certain stage did such talents appear on a large scale.
And while many talents became widely known, entirely new ones would still emerge from time to time.
Qing Chi might very well be such a case.
“Qing Chi is also a ghost. Her innate talent originates from the same foundation as the ghost race, so it is compatible and harmonious with them.”
“The body of a ghost contains death energy, which can occupy half of it. Because of this, ghosts can naturally survive both in the living world and in the Netherworld.”
“Humans are different. Normally their bodies are filled only with vitality. Only the severely ill, heavily wounded, or dying carry large amounts of death energy.”
Ning Zhuo silently deduced that Qing Chi’s Green Flames might actually be more suitable than Wood-in-Wood Fire.
“Which one is correct?”
“Or is there another option?”
Ning Zhuo subconsciously touched the Mechanical Ring on his index finger.
No matter which option he silently considered, the Mechanical Ring gave no response.
“Do both options work? Or…”
Ning Zhuo subconsciously looked up at the sky, the worry between his brows deepening.
“Young Master,” Luo Si gently reminded from the side.
Ning Zhuo’s heart jolted. He realized he had delayed too long in making a decision.
Delay could breed unforeseen changes.
“Jiao Ma, let my daughter try,” Qing Yan suddenly said.
Ning Zhuo stared at him intently. The latter’s gaze did not waver and was filled with confidence.
Ning Zhuo’s heart moved. He turned to Qing Chi.
“You do it.”
Qing Chi giggled. With a leap, she landed before Ning Zhuo and stretched out her hand, releasing Green Flames onto the candle body.
The Green Flames burned fiercely. At first they were emerald green, but as the candle melted, they quickly transformed into white fire, like frost, spreading icy air.
“It worked!” Ning Zhuo exclaimed with joy.
The others also cheered. They had a deep impression of this candle flame.
Sure enough, frost drifted through the spreading chill, beginning to influence the surrounding space.
Ning Zhuo did not dare delay. He decisively controlled the Light Goose and plunged straight into the thick Turbid Qi Barrier.
The Light Goose’s power disintegrated the turbid barrier, and the burning Returning Silence Winding Path Candle created a temporary path upon that foundation.
It was a pitch-black winding path. On both sides of the path were countless ghostly silhouettes layered upon one another, like a procession of hundred ghosts carrying a coffin.
The Lone Wild Goose holding the candle pierced the Heavenly Veil—it succeeded!
At once, the Qingjiao Army erupted into thunderous cheers.
“Just as I thought! He is the savior of White Paper Immortal City, the enlightened lord of my life.” Luo Si’s heart shook violently, though his expression remained calm.
Jiao Ma’s father trembled with excitement, his whole body tingling.
Qing Chi jumped and shouted happily, “Amazing, Xiao Ma! You’re incredible!”
Ning Zhuo turned to look at her, revealing a bright smile.
“Qing Qing, you helped me greatly.”
Receiving recognition from the one she admired, Qing Chi placed her hands on her hips and burst into hearty laughter.
Qing Yan looked as though he wanted to speak but held back, his gaze complicated.
The Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God was stunned.
What… what is this?
It had never expected that the most secure defensive strategy it chose would instead end up smashing its own foot with the stone it had lifted.
If it had known this would happen, it would have been better to rely on the formation boundary instead!
“Qing Qing, we must incorporate Luo Si into our army,” Ning Zhuo immediately ordered.
Qing Chi nodded heavily. “Mm!”
“Luo Si, you will command us,” Ning Zhuo said, trusting him without doubt.
Luo Si felt a surge of emotion from that trust, though his expression remained calm. He immediately issued orders, and the entire army set off.
The Qingjiao Army rushed onto the winding path and charged toward the core of the sacrificial altar.
“That’s… the altar!”
“This is the core area!”
“Hahaha! Follow Young Master Jiao Ma and seize the final victory!”
The Qingjiao Army saw the massive altar at a glance, their morale soaring.
“Damn it!” The Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God nearly ground its teeth to pieces.
Forced by circumstances, it had no choice but to temporarily abandon wearing down the Cold Abyss Ice Coffin Candle and instead launch a head-on attack against the Qingjiao Army.
Soul Formation level!
The overwhelming aura of the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God was completely unrestrained, sending shock through the entire Qingjiao Army.
They had not expected such a terrifying opponent!
How could they fight this?
Even with a cultivation army, the enemy was Soul Formation level!
The gap in cultivation was simply too large.
No army like the Qingjiao Army could make up for that difference.
“Stay inside the passage. All military strength—channel it to me!” Luo Si shouted as he rushed to confront the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God.
The cultivation levels of Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and the others were far too distant from the Soul Formation level.
Even with military strength as leverage, the gap could not be crossed. The Qingjiao Army was still a new army!
In truth, even if there were an elite army capable of leveraging enough military strength to reach the Soul Formation level, Ning Zhuo and Qing Chi still would not be able to bear such immense external power.
Their physical bodies, souls, and dantians were still limited by their cultivation. They could not endure such tremendous power.
Luo Si shot forward like lightning and clashed directly with the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God in midair.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God remained where it stood, only taking a single step back, while Luo Si was blasted backward.
Luo Si’s entire body went numb from the shock, and the fist he had used to clash lost all sensation.
The Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God stood nearly three zhang tall, its entire body jet black, as if carved from the most ancient black iron mountain.
Its massive muscles resembled the cracked riverbeds of dried ten-thousand-year rivers, each groove unimaginably deep, exuding a sense of overwhelming weight.
Thick dark-red molten veins ran through it like imprisoned rivers of lava deep underground.
Just this appearance alone carried terrifying intimidation.
“Soul Formation!”
Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and the others widened their eyes.
Even geniuses like them were seeing a Soul Formation-level existence with their own eyes for the first time.
Luo Si’s expression had never been more solemn. Just one exchange had made him feel the enormous gap between them.
“Young Master, I cannot hold him for long,” he transmitted with spiritual sense while taking out a bronze war chariot.
Standing atop the chariot, Luo Si charged the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two clashed violently, each collision like meteors striking the earth, creating terrifying shockwaves.
With the help of the treasure-level war chariot, Luo Si compensated for the difference in physical strength.
But the faces of the Qingjiao Army grew ugly, their auras weakening.
This was because the war chariot consumed military strength. It was a military weapon—ordinary mana would be highly efficient, but military strength was the opposite.
And fighting a Soul Formation-level enemy consumed military strength at a terrifying rate.
Although the Qingjiao Army had already rested and was in peak condition, after only a few exchanges they were already struggling to endure.
This forced Qing Chi to reveal one of their hidden cards early, using the military supplies stored within the military branch.
Those supplies were already limited, and now they were being rapidly consumed to fill the massive gap created by draining military strength, preventing the army from collapsing immediately.
Driving the bronze war chariot, Luo Si circled the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God continuously.
After another collision, the chariot was forced back more than ten steps, its surface cracking heavily.
Standing atop it, Luo Si nearly lost his balance and fell.
The Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God seized the opportunity and raised its massive black-iron arm.
Martial Art—Mountain-Crushing Fist!
There were no dazzling spell lights—just the simplest and most direct punch.
The filthy air ahead was compressed into a wall of pressure.
Space itself groaned under the strain.
The molten veins on the fist’s surface surged violently, filling the punch with terrifying heat.
Luo Si’s heart trembled. With his battle experience, one glance told him he must not take this hit.
Military Art—Secret Passage to Chen Cang!
On the surface he turned the chariot toward his allies, but in truth he suddenly retreated.
Boom!
The terrifying punch struck empty air.
Luo Si escaped disaster but frowned deeply.
The bronze war chariot had accumulated too much damage, reducing its speed and defense, making it even harder to entangle the enemy.
Amid the chaos, Luo Si glanced toward the passage and saw the Qingjiao Army already in a terrible state.
“This new army is still too weak. Even powering this chariot with their military strength is barely enough.”
If he had been commanding a complete imperial guard army, he was confident he could leverage military strength to fight the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God for many rounds.
But now he could only rely on himself.
Luo Si roared and poured a large amount of Nascent Soul mana into the war chariot.
Buzz!
The chariot emitted bronze radiance as runes across its body shone. It drifted sharply sideways, barely dodging another punch.
Boom!
The Mountain-Crushing Fist grazed the rear of the chariot as it slammed down.
Crack.
Just the pressure from the fist shattered the tail of the chariot.
The bronze glow dimmed instantly.
Luo Si felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, his chest tightening.
“With such a situation, I must attack to defend and buy time!”
He suppressed the shock, a fierce light flashing in his eyes. Passive evasion would only lead to death.
He swung out a fishing rod. Attached to it was the Wangchuan Guiding Line, with the Three-Lives World-Hanging Hook dangling from the line.
Using fishing techniques, the hook moved with incredible agility, the line flashing like lightning around the Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God.
In the next moment, the god was tightly bound by the fishing line.
Luo Si poured in all his mana. The line tightened fiercely, embedding deep into the god’s body.
The hook soared into the air and plunged straight down toward the god’s head.
The Earth-Fiend Turbid Filth God struggled in place as thick black smoke erupted from the holes in its skull.
The smoke piled into clouds, blocking the hook.
Crack… crack…
Luo Si’s expression changed.
The hook and line were still fine, but the fishing rod itself had begun to crack with fine fractures.
“Luo Si is no match for this Soul Formation clone!”
“I must seize every second to reach the altar and completely destroy the Lord of Wangchuan Prefecture’s century-long scheme.”
Ning Zhuo had already begun moving.
But although the altar stood right before him, he was forced to stop.
The river roared.
A Wangchuan Tributary blocked his path.
The tributary flowed like a jade belt, circling the altar. Whenever Ning Zhuo attempted to break through from a direction, it flowed there to obstruct him.
“This is Wangchuan River water… how can I cross it?” Ning Zhuo had no choice but to halt and ponder a method to break the deadlock.